Chapter 1: Rude Greetings

Chapter 1

Ah, the lake. Such a soothing place. It's no wonder why our parent's picked this place as our 2nd home. The view is just breath-taking. You can even see the gorgeous mountains in the back, with little white blankets of snow on top of the peaks. There is also a forest near the lake, with trees going off into the mountains and surrounding the lake on the right side. There were barely any clouds at all, and the grassy fields next to the Lake feel like their tickling your bare feet. With the sun's heat beating down on me, I would have been running towards that Big bright lake in my new swimming trunks.

"I said no."

Well I would have if I wasn't interrupted midrun to it by a scrawny elderly man. He was wearing a colorful coat covering his 6 foot body, crazy during the middle of a hot day like this. He had black hair, but had a white moustache and white eyebrows. What was weird was the shoes and socks he was wearing that were mismatched and that he had one canine tooth and yellow eyes.

"Are you sure?" said the strange looking man. "It could be a whole lot of fun. You can even be whatever you want when you're there."

"What part of 'no' didn't you understand?" I stated. This was getting ridiculous. This guy comes out of nowhere, offering to take us to some "Equestria" as he calls it, just for free. This guy obliviously is either mentally crazy or on some doped up drugs. I'm leaning more on the drug's idea.

"Well, the kid seems to want to go." says the stranger.

I look down to my right to see my brother's blue eyes pleading for me to accept the ludicrous offer.

"Can we please go to Equestria, Will?" Drew said with an expression of pure happiness. Drew's my little brother, my only sibling for that matter, and the only member of my family that still wants to talk to me. It's usually just us, so we look out for each other. I protect him from harm like a big brother should, although we do mess around alot with each other. Even get on each other's nerves too, but what sibling doesn't?

"It's like, every bronies dream to go there and meet the characters! The guy even said that he could take us both, so we won't have much to lose! I can even be a pegasus. Oh, think of the fun I could have with Pinkie Pie....." Oh god there he goes on rambling about the idea of being a pony again.

First, let me just state that I don't hate bronies. In fact I like the whole idea of "love and tolerate", as Drew says. It could probably bring less hate in the world. It's just how Drew reacts to it is what kinda sets me on the edge every time I hear the word 'ponies' come out of his mouth. He goes on and on about how he one days wishes to be a pony and tries to imagine himself in it and what he would do while at this "Equestria". Some people may see that as just a kid with an hyper imagination, I see it as an addiction that just needs to be taken down a bit. It does explain why he's a bit eager to go and take up on this man's insane offer.

Drew always tries to show me the TV show, My little pony: Friendship is Magic, but I was usually busy or just plain tired every time he tries. Heck, this was one of the few free times in a week we had to spend with each other before I had to go, and this weirdo just had to go ahead and ruin "brother bonding time" as my parents would say. Not that they know what the word "bonding" even means.

"Why would you even want to go somewhere else? We got all kinds of stuff at home. Hell more stuff than most people in this world. We're the lucky ones in life, and you want to go and just throw that away?" I said to Drew, with my voice raising a bit.

"No, but I want to go so I can actually have friends. Not people who want to hang around with us just because we have tons of money." Drew said depressingly. "In Equestria, the ponies are friendly with everone, no matter if your rich or poor." Drew may be only twelve, but as far as he tells me, he has had people ignore him and leave him alone with no one around. That is until he reveals that we have rich parents, then people want to suddenly be 'friends' with him. As far as I know, Drew has no real friends, so I can see why he would want to leave them.

"Awww," the stranger said bending down to Drew's level. "Is the kid gonna cry cause he's lonely? You should definitely leave this world then. Not much you can do in this one anyways, but in Equestria, you can do some much," the stranger rose back up. "for me." He coughed.

"He's not lonely. He's got me," I said, glaring back at the stranger, moving my right hand in front of my brother. "and your starting to piss me off."

"Hey now, hot-shot, no need to get defensive." He said, putting both hands up. " Just stating fact is all. Besides, I know what the kid wants, but what do you want to be when, I mean, IF you decide to go to Equestria?"

"Are you serious?" I said, still glaring at him. This guy really doesn't get the hint to leave does he. Maybe if I tell him, he can finally leave this meadow. Sun is seriously getting hot, and that lake is looking oh so enjoyable right now.

"Fine then," Hmmm now that I think about it, if I did go to another world, would I really want to be a pony? He did say anything. Maybe a...

"If, AND I SAID IF, I did happen to magically appear in this Equestria," I said, moving my hands mystically when I said magically. "I wouldn't be a pony. No I would be something bigger and stronger than a pony. I'd be a BIG FREAKING DRAGON, With razor sharp teeth and claws, with scales to protect me from most harm. Hell, I don't even need to have wings, I can just run or jump high."

"Hmmmm, a dragon, how original." the old man said lamely. "Well, what else would you want that would make you unique from the others than?"

Unique? Others? Ok this guy is taking things WAY to seriously. I honestly thought he would leave after I just told him what I would be. Can't this guy just take the stupid answer and leave?

"I don't know. I'll have rocks on my arms or fire hands or something." I replied.

"Hmmmmm, well I guess that's ok. Still could use a bit more creativity if you ask me." the stranger said "I could do something like that, but is that really all you want from me?"

Now he's doubting my creativity. I'm really starting to get pissed with this guy.

"You want to honestly know what I want from you?" I said through my gritted teeth.

"Oh yes." He said with a that smug face of his. That smug look was the last straw.

"TO GET YOU THE FUCK OUT!" I yelled, walking up to his face. "NOW LEAVE US OR I'LL REPORT YOU TO THE AUTHORITIES, OR EVEN WORSE, I'LL DEAL WITH YOU MYSELF!" I pointed behind him to have him leave. I could feel the steam come out of my face just by how angry I was. He seemed a bit shock at my sudden outburst.

I turned, hoping this junkie would actually leave, and walked back to my brother. He had his hand on his chin, while his eyes were staring at the grass in front of him. He seemed to be contemplating about something, so I tried to listen in on what he was trying to say.

"A dragon would be pretty cool, I've seen some in the show as well. They're pretty mean though, kinda tall too. Well, except for Spike, he's the nicer one and pretty short. Who knows, maybe not all dragons are mean. Then again..." Drew was apparently talking to himself again.

Great. I actually choose a creature that was in My Little Pony. Isn't it meant for little girls? What would a dragon be doing in a show like that, how do dragons fit in with little ponies? Is there any other mystical creature other than ponies and dragons in it as well? Now it's definitely sounding like a more interesting show. Maybe I'll watch one episode or two with Drew after a fresh dip in the lake.

"Well, if that is what you want, then I shall do as you request." I heard the stranger said behind me.

Finally, this guy was leaving and good timing too, the sun is really getting unbearable. Oh lake, soon I'll be swimming all over you, and you shall be mine. All mine for the taking!

Before I could do anything, however, the stranger took me by surprise, grabbing the back of my throat. Damn, did this guy have a strong arm. My brother broke from his thinking to see me being lifted from the back, choking from the stranger's left hand. His eyes got wide, and without a moment's hesitation, he ran up to the man. "Let go of him you meanie pants!" he yelled while running towards the stranger. "Or you're going to regret it!" Meanie pants? Really?

"Really? Meanie pants? How old are you?" the asshole said. Hey, no one insults my brother expect for me!

Drew couldn't even bring the first punch before the stranger picked him up with his other hand, by his head, lifting him up to my level. Now, I can understand how he picks up Drew, he's just 4'10, pretty small for his age, and barely weighing anything, but keeping me up, a 5'11 215 pound teen, with just one scrawny arm? Hell, if anyone else tried to tell me the exact same story, I would think they were as crazy as this fucker was. What kind of drugs was this guy taking to have such strength?

He then attempted to throw me to a tree close by. *SMACK* umm, SUCCEDDED is more like the right word.

"FUCK" I said. I was rubbing the top of my head when I felt a familiar wet mark on it. "Well shit." I look from where I was thrown to find myself watching a horror scene.

With my brother being held by both of the fucker's hands, he looked towards the lake and grinned. Before I knew it, he threw my brother into the middle of the lake, with Drew screaming from the sudden launch. I then saw my brother submerged into the middle of said lake then disappearing. I got up as quick as I could and ran for him, ignoring the prick's laughter as I swam towards the middle of the lake. I swam with all my might while calling Drew's name, hoping he would respond. What scared me shitless was when there was no air bubbles coming up from the lake. I could see a faint glow come from the bottom of the lake, but when I tried to see what it was, the light disappeared. Diving down to the bottom more than a couple of times, I couldn't find Drew's body or any sign of the light. Looking back at the shore, I see the stranger starting to leave. Like hell I'll let that happen now.

Swimming back to shore, I ran pretty fast towards the stranger, tackling him to the ground, with me pinning his arms, and my soaking body on top of his. I'm not one for violence usually, more as a guy who just barks, and doesn't bite, but when my brother gets hurt or is in danger, then I get pissed, and when I get pissed, I get physical.

"WHERE IS HE YOU FUCKER?" I yelled at the strangers face. "TELL ME WHERE DREW IS NOW BEFORE I BEAT YOUR FACE UP SO BAD, YOUR OWN MOMMA WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO TELL IF YOUR HER SON OR NOT."

"My, my. Temper, temper. I told you earlier about my offer. He accepted, and you didn't. So I took the liberty of taking him to Equestria, doing as he requested, and me leaving, doing as YOU requested. Now please get off me, you ape, or else." He said while glaring back.

"BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM FUCKING BACK RIGHT NOW!" I continued, a few spits landing on his face. Soon I felt a shift in his body, then before I knew it, I was off of him and on my back looking up at him, as he stood towering over me.

"I can't bring him back, silly human." the stranger said, looking at his nail nonchalantly. "He already decided on his own will to be there, and by the sound of it, he seems he would rather want to stay there than here. Not much I can do to bring him back. Sorry." He then turned and continued to leave. I thought about it for a few seconds, then decided something really stupid and crazy.

I'll have to follow my brother and this guy was my only ticket to get to him.

"WAIT." I exclaimed, getting up, with my hand motioning for him to stop.

He stopped his walk and turned his head to look at me, with his back still facing me. "Yeeessssss?" he said like he was innocent.

"If you can't bring him, then take me to him," I said, gulping for fear of what this fucker would do. "I want to know if he'll be safe for sure."

He put a finger and a thumb on his moustache and began stroking it, apparently thinking if he should accept. I slowly walked up to him, still feeling a pain on the top of my head that was really killing me. He probably isn't going to accept, but I need to try right?

"No" the stranger said .

"What? Why the hell not?" I shouted. So much for trying.

"Because, you already denied my request, and I don't really give second chances, especially to those who tackle me to the ground and spit all over my face. Now, I really must get going. Chaos to bring and what not." the stranger said, entering into the forest.

"Come back here!" I shouted after him. I started to run towards the stranger, seeing him turning right on the first tree. As soon as I turned right myself, he was gone. I stood there in disbelief on what just happened, then tried to replay everything in my head. Stranger walks in out of nowhere and offers a deal. Brother gladly accepts, but I deny, finding it to be really stupid. Stanger then starts to get me mad and I yell at him, turning my back towards him. Then, he grabs me and throws me to a tree while he throws my brother into the middle of the lake, having Drew suddenly disappears. I chase after stranger only to have him disappear as well. Right... Well fuck what do I do now.

"FUCK!" I screamed as I hit the closest tree with my right hand, leaving a bruised mark on my hand. It started to burn, but I didn't care, I needed to get back at this asshole and find my brother. I started walking back, looking at the ground as I thought of a plan to get to Drew. Realizing I couldn't really do much, I sigh, looking up to see... a women in a bikini sunbathing near the lake? What is up with people coming out of nowhere?

"Hey lady," I said towards the mysterious women. "This is private property, and as much as I love to see a women sunbathing in my backyard, I need to ask you to leave." I already had enough problems for one fucking day.

The women just stayed silent as she wore her sunglasses, looking almost directly into the sun. How do people do that? Staring at the sun just makes me blind, even with sunglasses. I was now standing right above here, in the way of the sun, hoping she would leave. She did have something interesting about her: Her hair had multiple colors in it as well as it moving all on its own, even thought there was no wind at the moment.

"Hey, didn't you hear me? I'm asking you politely to leave now." I said, raising my voice hoping she would hear me the second time.

"I can help you see him again, you know?" The woman finally said. Her voice was really calming yet at had an authority like voice. Wait, see him again? Did she know what happened here?

"What do you mean by that?" I said trying to see if she knows more about what happened earlier.

"I mean that I can take you to Equestria as well, and you can find your little brother." She said as she started to get up. "I can't, however, take you directly to him, for I don't know exactly where in Equestria he was sent. So that would be your job to do so." Is she seriously going to be like the stranger from earlier? She did say that she could take me to the same world as Drew to help me find him, at least, so she can't be all that bad. Right?

"Ok, fine then. Please.....Take me to him. I need to see if he's safe at least." I said to the now standing women. She was a bit taller than me, looking straight into my eyes through those sunglasses, feeling as if she was looking into my very soul. I guess she was trying to see if I was being sincere or not about finding Drew. In all honesty, I was, but a part of me just wanted to get back at the asshole who basically stole my brother from me.

She then smiled and said, "Ok, close your eyes and I'll take you to Equestria. I do hope you find your brother and please don't do anything to hurt my little ponies."

Her little ponies? Am I really going through with this? Might as well listen to her, I don't really have much to lose now, do I. So I closed my eyes shut and hoped that whatever she was going to do, she would do it quick. "Also, one quick question," I heard the women said

"Do you like, hmmmmmmmm, bananas?" What kind of question is that? Better hurry and answer just to hurry this up.

"Um.... yes?" I said with my eyes still closed. Before I know it, I feel like I'm being flung straight towards the sky, unable to open my eyes due to the velocity of how fast I was going. I was starting to lose feeling in my feet, then my waist and body, and soon I couldn't feel anything at all. I was losing conscious, but before I did, I heard the women say something. Something that I feel was of importance, but I couldn't understand at the time.

"TO THE MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!"

This is a really fucked up day.

Chapter 2: A New Challenger has Arrived!

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Chapter 2

Ok, so good news: I'm alive, still breathing, albeit a bit slow, but nonetheless breathing, and regaining conscious, meaning I'm still alive. Now, bad news: I'm feeling an awful lot of wind, plus a sense of falling. Wait....... falling?

I open my right eye to see, hmmm stars? Well that's quite a pretty site actually. Out of the corner of my eye, though, I see a bits of flames past me. Something's on fire? I don't think it's me cause I don't feel like I'm burning up or anything. I soon realize that I was actually moving away from the pretty little stars in the sky, and actually passed a few clouds. Wait a second here...

Stars. Clouds. Flames off the side of my vision. Sense of me falling into my doom.

Computing...

Computing.....

Computing.........

*Ding* Oh joy I really am falling.

"AGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" I screamed as the sudden realization hits me. I sealed both my eyes shut, hoping wherever I was going to land, It would be on ton's of mattresses with feathers and fluffy kittens to soften my fall. Besides, it can't really hurt that much right?

Suddenly, I landed on a nice pile of leaves and twigs.

*BOOM*

Ok, so I CRASHED and made a big boom into the earth full force from the drop. Details, details.

Let me tell you though, no matter how many times you imagine the pain, it always hurts worse than how you ever imagined it. "GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" I screamed. "STUPID MUTHERFUCKING GOD DAMN LOSEY..." MY GOD, was the pain unbearable. How I'm still awake is a matter of pure mystery to me. I could feel every single one of my bones ache, although they did feel a bit weird. Everything felt so different and a bit rearranged. Hell, it doesn't even feel like my body at all. Calming down, I try to think of what was making my body feel different. Hmmm, I wonder if I can move my hands at all.

"SON OF A MOTHER FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT-RIDDEN ..." Ok, I think that was a bad move. Let's try the eyes at least. Slowly, I opened one eye, then the other, and now noticed that I was looking straight at the sky, but from the ground now. I thought when people traveled or were teleported from different dimensions, that they didn't awake till they were at least on the ground or something, not while mid-fall. Well there goes that theory out the window. Ok let's look around. I spy with my little eye, something that is....... a snout?

I was staring at a snout, my own snout apparently, red with scales and nostrils on top. If I remember correctly, I didn't have a snout and I'm pretty sure I wasn't covered with red scales. Ok that means I changed, whether it's for better or worse. I know for a fact this isn't a dream because of all of this unbearable pain I'm feeling. By the looks of it, I really did change a bit, so it does explain why I feel so different. I wonder what else is different.

I tried lifting my head, only to have a multiple sudden stabbing pains come from my neck and head. "SHIT, NOT AGAIN." I shouted, putting my head back down. Don't want any more pain, pretty sure I had enough of that already. Right now I'm too much in pain and I can't really do anything after that fall. I can get some shut eye at least, then I'll find out what and where I am later. Afterwards, I'll find Drew, wherever he is. After thinking of a game plan, I felt a familiar darkness engulf my eyes as I fell into sleep.

What I didn't know was what was going on while I was asleep. As I was falling, I apparently grabbed some attention from some of the creatures that were nearby.

Elsewhere

One group of these creatures was a bunch of dogs, standing like a bunch of bipedal creatures, known as diamond dogs. After an unsuccessful hunt of trying to find slaves and food, they saw a 'shooting star' fall towards the earth. One of the smaller members tried wishing, hoping to find a lost pony at least, so they could capture them to please the alpha. The D-dogs then realized it was heading straight towards the ground, at such a high speed. They had no idea where exactly it was going, but decided to follow because their curiosity got the best of them.

They left the clearing and headed into the forest, hoping to see where the fallen star will land. For a moment they were lost, having no idea which way to go. Until they heard a sound of an explosion, followed by a sudden earthquake. Once the earthquake subsided, the D-dogs followed the source of the explosion.

The 5 D-dogs soon left the forest, now in a different clearing, with some of the nearby trees on fire, and a huge crater about as wide as about 45 feet, in the middle, with few fallen trees and fires around. They were wondering what could be in the crater, the leader of the group taking a step closer, only to hear a massive shout with a few strange words emit from the fiery crater. Surprised, the leader retreated a couple of step, eyes wide in fear for what was inside the crater, waiting to see what happened. After a few more colorful vocabulary words were said, there was then utter silence, with the exception of the fires that were still burning logs and grasses. After about 10 minutes of this silence, the leader then decided to finally see what was inside the crater.

Carefully taking steps towards the crater, as to not provoke whatever was inside, the leader finally reached the edge of the crater. Bending his head to look inside, he saw something that completely baffled him.

Inside the burning crater, was a big red dragon, with his body laying against the earth. This dragon had to at least be 10 feet, maybe 11 feet judging from how he was laid out. It's underbelly scales was looking silver as if made of steel, slowly rising and falling, indicating that it was asleep. It's claws were about 2 inches long and very sharp, looking like it could tear the diamond dog to shreds with just one swoop. The dragon also had something very peculiar about it, the arms of the dragon seemed to be attached to a crystal shaped shield. The shield itself was dark, if not blacker than its own underbelly scales, and was really long, with the tip starting from the tip of its claws, ending past the elbow. It's head had three horns on it's head pointing behind him, with the middle one looking like the shield as well. What was stranger was that this dragon had no wings.

"So how dragon able to fall from such height?" the pug-faced leader said, speaking out loud in his broken language. The other D-dogs were now next to the leader, wide eye and wondering what the dragon was doing in the middle of the crater and why did it those weird shield things on its arm. Soon, the youngest dog, the one who wished upon the star, said "Is.. is that a dragon?" He never really been out of the cave system, in fact this was his first hunt out.

"Yes," one of the other D-dogs said "and a sleeping dragon too. We can bring it with us to have it become our slave." The leader grinned at this idea. Think about it, a dragon, working for the diamond dogs as slaves. Such role reversal may even bring some of the other diamond dogs to revolt against the dragons that have plagued their land for so long. This would be an excellent idea indeed. Soon the dragons would be afraid of the diamond dogs, rather than the other way around. "And we shall," the leader said. "Quick, carry him, then we shall bring it back to the alpha."

The 4 D-dogs then went down the crater to try and lift the sleeping dragon... only to find out that 4 diamond dogs are not enough to lift up the whole dragon, let alone carry it back to the tunnels. This did not amuse the leader one bit. "Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr, fine. We leave for now, but we will be back with more of us to lift the scaly-beast." The leader then left, with the rest of the group following behind him, entering back into the forest towards there clan, just as the sun was arising over the tree tops.

The warm ray of light was soon washing over the forest landscape, covering it with all of its light and warmth, with only a few patches of clouds that are in the way. A particular beam of light shined directly on a sleeping dragon's face, causing him to stir and slowly wake up.

"Agh, five more minutes." I said, trying to get some more sleep. I tried moving my arm to block the sun, but it just felt so heavy and sore. Then a sudden jolt of pain from moving the arm went through my body, giving me a harsh wake up call. "GAH alright. I'm up. I'm up." I said as I slowly opened my eyes to see that it was beginning to be morning.

Slowly, I lift myself up, albeit a little bit painful, but nothing serious. I was now standing on my two feet, using the claws to help me stay steady on the ground, while my right hand was hold the side of the crater to keep me up........ wait... something seems very wrong here.... I look down, past my snout, to see that my feet were actually bigger than normal, and that they had 3 claws out on the front, with one out the back of my feet. I stared at my own feet for about 5 minutes, till it hits me like a brick.

"I HAVE FUCKING CLAWS?!?!" I shouted.

As I tried to understand what was going on, I look to my right hand very slowly, wondering what else has changed. "I have claws.... I have fucking claws...." I whispered, having my eyes locked on to the 3 clawed fingers and a thumb that were holding me up. My eyes then turned more to the black shield like thing that seemed stuck to my new scaly arm. ".... AND WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS THING?" I shouted again, trying to slowly comprehend what was going on. Then it hits me like another brick, *WHACK* only this time it was actually a rock from the top of the crater I was in. My mind was remembering everything: from the lake, to the old man, to my brother and said old man disappearing, talking to the a mysterious women, and something about going to the moon.

As I remember everything slowly, my eyes became wide and my scaly hands were on my head, trying to stop a massive headache as I realize what was going on. I was actually in the place the old man and women were talking about, "Equestria" was it? Where there are magical talking ponies and apparently dragons as well, and judging by the scales and claws, I am a dragon, does this mean I have wings too?

I turned my sore neck slowly to see my own back, to find that I didn't have any wings, just three spikes on each side, the middle spike being red, while the rest were white, and a red tail going out about 2 feet. After the claws thing, I barely seemed surprised about the tail thing as well. Wait how am I able to see my back? I then noticed that I was actually standing pretty tall too, about 11 feet, and as I stretch out my neck, I see that my neck is actually pretty longer than it was before, being able to look around 360 degrees. "This is not fucking happening." I said, looking over myself some more, trying to figure out how to move my tail.

I tried to understand why I was turned to a dragon, until I remembered the old man asking me what I would want to be. The women sent me here, so that means that they must be working together, or that she overheard our conversation. The old man and women are somehow beings that are able to transport others, to do the dirty work for them and/or probably for entertainment. Meaning that one of them had to be watching me, right?

"Hey!" I shouted towards the sky, still in the crater the size of about half a football field. "I know your there! Come out and tell me what the hell is going on?" I really hope it was the women who could tell me, and not the old man. Fucking asshole...

What I didn't expect, though, was to have a dog head pop out of the side of the crater. "Awwwwwwwwwww." I said, putting both hands underneath my now long chin. "What's a little cutey wutesy doggy like you doing in a place like this." I was using the baby voice, cause I mean come on, that dog had a pug face, which is pretty cute in my book.............. Shut up I'm weird.

The dog then did some things I thought I would never see or hear in my life time: It stood on its hind legs like a human, and then began to speak english. "The dragon is awake, take it while it's still weak." It shouted.

Before I know it, dogs starting to appear all around the edges of the crater, surrounding me. "Ok wait, there's one, two..." I started counting all the dog like things that were surrounding me, while the said dog-human things started to get restless, some growling at me while others had fear in their eyes. "... seventeen, eighteen. 18 of you, dog like abominations. I don't see this as fair at all." I pouted, putting my scaly hands on my hips. My sarcasm was getting the better of me. I always knew it would get me killed some day, just not by talking, standing dog things.

The 'cutesy-wutesy' dog then shouted "Take him now! For the Alpha!", clearly upset that I called his race an abomination. Alpha? So they have a leader and it's not this dog thing? Well, that doesn't really matter right now, focus on what's important.

Some of the dogs were now skidding down the slope of the crater, each having various weapons and armor, while the few that stayed above had bows and arrows aiming at me. Arrows were shot, so reacting on instinct to the best I can, I pulled my arms in front me, deflecting the arrows with the shield I had attached to me. "Ok, I don't know what this thing is, but I'm already loving it." I said, looking at my shield, checking for scratches. After confirming there wasn't anything, I look up to see 13 of the dogs were at the bottom of the crater with me. Oh, this is gonna be good, if I can't beat the crap out of the asshole who took my brother, might as well do it to these guys.

I took a stance, while I curled up my claws into a fist, glaring at them to make a move. They seemed intimidated at first, none of them wanting to make any sudden movements.

That is, until a few arrows shot my shoulder, not making anything bleed, but the impact was strong enough to knock me off balance and get on my hands and knees. The dogs, seeing this as an opportunity, charged at my right side, some holding their weapons above their heads, swinging them down when they were close enough. Hearing them about to swing based on my new ears, I brought my right shield arm to block off their attacks, some taking steps back from the force that was sent back to the owner. I then moved my arm in a swing, bringing two of the dogs to be hit and knocked out on the ground by my black shield. I get back up and bring my left arm to block another two arrows that were aiming for my head. I grinned at the groups of dog, making a mad dash towards them with one arm cocked back for a punch.

As I proceeded to beat the shit out of one poor dog, I was feeling a sensation of pure joy. Pure joy for beating these dogs, feeling as if it was the most adrenaline like thing I have ever done. The sensation of running and just punching or scratching or, hell, using my tail to smack someone against a wall was just a fantastic feeling. The beginning of the fight was a bit weird though, not used to moving some body parts in different directions, but I got used to it during the fight.

Before I know it, 8 of the dogs in the crater were either knocked out or bleeding to death because of my claws, and one above the crater had an arrow stuck in his chest when I threw an arrow back at him. Could have been worse, could have shot him in the knee.

With the 5 remaining solider dogs on the ground and 4 archers remaining up top, I decided to just try and let them leave, spare the remaining lives. They didn't deserve to die, they just wanted to capture me, following orders from the 'alpha' as it were, and they just pissed me off is all. Don't want any more blood on my new scales right?

With the thrill of the fight slowing down, I point to the group of dogs that were talking to each other, trying to plan something. "Hey," I yelled at them, gaining their attention. "I'm giving you one last chance, leave me alone for good and never bother me again, and you and your unconscious friends here get to live another day." Surprised, the group talked to each other, with me overhearing a few things like "dragon", "alpha", "scary", and "oatmeal", although I have no idea what the last one had to do with anything. It also seems like the archers were gathering to do the same, probably talking to the pug face dog giving the orders. The dogs in the crater with me then said "We accept dragon. But what is your name?"

I thought about it for a bit. I could use my real name, William Donald, but that would just get boring, plus I need to think of something that will make these guy fear my name, so they won't come near again. Hmmmm what's a cool dragon name? After a minute of me thinking, I finally decided on one.

"My name is Komodo." I said with a hint of pride of my new name. "Now get lost." Komodo sounds pretty cool, right? Like the komodo dragon back on earth?"

"Thank you, Komodo." I heard a dog said. "Be warned though. Other clans will not stop to attack a dragon like you. The other diamond dogs will try and prove dominance. Komodo has been warned." So these guess call themselves 'diamond dogs'? Heh, better than 'abominations' I guess. Thinking about it, I'm probably more of an abomination then they are.

"Yah, yah. Just get out of here before I change my mind about killing you." I said, still having my claws on my face. The dogs then dug underneath them, disappearing into the earth. Huh, didn't know they could do that. Probably would've been smart to start off with a sneak attack like that then just go on guns blazing. I can see why I easily beat their asses, they're not the most intellectual types, especially judging by their speech. I looked around the bodies that have been left, a few unconscious, and 3 dead from bleeding out.

Suddenly, under the unconscious ones, I see holes being dug underneath them, then seeing the bodies dropped into it, soon having the hole filled up from the inside. Good, at least they're smart enough to cover the holes they make, thank god they're not THAT dumb. Hopefully, I won't have to face anymore troubles when I'm finding Drew.

I look up towards the crater edge to see the archer's leaving, and dragging something with them. My guess It's the dog with the arrow in its chest. Eh, It's only a flesh wound, no big deal.

The pug face one looks at me, giving me a glare, then snarling as he turned to leave. This dog doesn't like to be called cute. I'll remember that. I look around, examining the mess that I made. There was a few blood spatters on the rocks, some fires as well from when I crashed here, and apparently, the dogs left the 3 bodies here. Probably finding no use to them. Good, that means I can get some free stuff.

With me telling myself that this is my reward for staying alive and not looting the dead, I retrieved all I could from the 3 dead dogs. There was pouches full of some coins, which I presumed to believe are the currency of this world, 2 broken spears and a steel sword, and 2 bags full of shiny gems. For some reason, looking at the gems just made my stomach rumble. I guess I'm hungry. Weird, I didn't feel hungry when I was fighting. Must be the after effects of the battle, probably also explains why I'm not feeling as sore as when I landed.

While examining the loot, I decided to take some of the clothes and armor as well. Well, the ones that would fit a dragon. I started off looking at some of the armor plates they were wearing, bringing it up to my chest, I sighed. "I always have trouble finding the right size." I joked to myself, throwing the chest plate over my shoulder. This is gonna take awhile.

Afterwards, All I gained was steel armor for my left shoulder, seeing as the right one from the dog was broken, Some currency, gems and a map, Which are being held by an adjustable belt, and a bandana, which I decided to tie around my long neck, having it fall to the base. The bandana was yellow, with splotches of red from the blood, sort of giving me a good look to it. "Well don't I look smashing." I said with a fake british accent to no one in particular. Reminding myself that I was alone and that I had a mission to do, I walked up the slope, out of the crater. By the looks of things, I must've landed in a middle of a forest, which one, I had no clue.

"The map can't really help me cause I don't know any real land marks other than tree, tree, rock, and tree." I joked. I talk to myself a lot when I'm lonely, makes me feel as if someone was actually there. Sighing, I looked up to the sun. "If the sun works like it does back home, north should be that way." I said, pointing towards where I believed to be north. With nothing else to do here at the crater, I began my journey towards finding my brother and hopefully beating the crap out of that old man when I see him again.

Chapter 3: Getting Nowhere

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Chapter 3

"Well this is just fan-fucking-tastic." I said with sarcasm, throwing my arms up in the air. It's been about a few hours since the fight with the so called "diamond dogs", and the sun was starting to set. With me wandering around aimlessly through the forest, the trees covering what little light there was, and still being unable to find any real landmarks, I decided to find a random spot in the forest and set up camp there. I found a spot that could actually fit me and my size to lie down on. With a pile of wood ready to fire up, I decided to test out if I really was a dragon because dragon's should breathe fire, or at least anything magical, right? That apparently wasn't the same case for me.

"I can't even breathe fire! All I get is some shitty sparks coming out of my mouth like it's the fucking fourth of July!" I wasn't really pleased about the whole, non fire breathing. I love fire, which was one of the reason why I even choose the dragon. This, though, this is like a big middle finger from fate or something.

"Well, might as well make the most of it." I sighed, "Stupid lousy sparks..." As I was muttering my annoyance, I gathered as much leaf and twigs that I could to at least start a fire.

With the leaves catching fire due to my spark, the fire started going, bringing warmth to the forest area. Good timing too, because the sun is finally down and it's getting really dark. In fact, I think this is the only light source in this forest, other than the stars and the moon. Should keep my guard at least, in case any animals or more of those diamond dogs show up.

I decided to lay down for a bit, with my body still sore from the crash landing and from the fight. I don't care if my scales stopped some arrows, they still bruise like a female dog. Or is it female diamond dog here? Actually now that I think about it, can other animals talk english and stand on their hind legs?

My thoughts were interrupted by a rustling in a nearby bush. Oh please, oh please don't tell me it's more of those stupid dogs. I wanted to get up, to at least prepare myself, but my body was refusing to listen to me, still being sore from today's events. I heard the rustling increase, with the sound of something stomping, getting slowly closer and closer. Ok, body doesn't want to move, but maybe I can still entertain it to death with my fireworks. Lifting only my neck, I prepare for whatever, hideous, monstrosity was about to come out of those.....

"Awwwwwww, look at the cute wittle bunny." I said, using my baby voice again. I just can't help it, it's like a problem for me every time I see something adorable...... again, shut up.

What had emerged from the bushes, was a cute white bunny, with its white fur, cute ears and small beady black eyes. It even had a fluffy white tail too, and started scratching it's ear with its foot. "DAWWWWWWWWW" Stop it! Don't look into its eyes! You'll be trapped by its adorableness!

The bunny then seemed to be attracted to the fire, probably for warmth or light, and was sitting opposite of me from the fire. I continued to stare at it, feeling a bit of drool fall down my scaly lips, as it went from bathing itself to scanning the surrounding area, until it's little black eyes stared into my eyes. I'm going to be honest, even though I know that I'm a dragon, I still want to know what my face looks like. Especially now, because once the bunny's eye were looking into mine, it looked like it had seen a horrible beast with sharp teeth, scales, and looking at it like as if said monster is about to kill it, and............. oh wait I'm a terrifying dragon staring at it like it's my dinner. Well I may be hungry as hell right now, but I'm not going to eat the bunny....... while it's awake.

As if the bunny has read my thoughts about slowly roasting it and dripping it with barbeque sauce, it fled back into the bush. "No, wait. Come back!" I shouted after him "I only want to eat you! Is that so bad?" It's the cycle of life right? The strongest survive while weaker ones die off? Oh god I'm so hungry, I'm resorting to killing animals........ like those dogs back at the crater.

"Oh god," I whispered, as I felt the realization hit me. "I killed something.... I actually killed a living thing....and three of them are dead in the crater....." I never really thought about it till now. I killed a living breathing, intelligent sentient creature. What caused me to do it? Was it the thrill of the battle.... or... was it because......... I'm a dragon now? Being a dragon means I have all this new rage now, so I have to control it if I want to stay sane and not kill any more creatures, right?

"I don't know any more..... I just want to get Drew and go back home... is that too much to ask?"I said, lowering my head to my hands, laying down and closing my eyes. I started to feel a tear forming, but it stung a bit. I used one of my claws to dry my eyes, only to see that I'm not crying tears, but I'm crying blood.

I then started to think about why I was even here in the first place. It was to find Drew and see that he's safe... or was it so I could finally leave my parents and others behind? They never did watch over us, usually letting the nanny do that for them, until I was old enough to look after both myself and Drew. My dad always put business first ahead of family, while my stepmother just spend most of his money on useless things, only for herself. One of the few thing that they did right was to take us to school, although it was a public school and not the most safest for us. Those cheep pigs.

I can still remember all those kids in elementary school, asking me for money, saying it's to help their alcoholic mother or their gambling father. I actually believed I could help them with their problems, but all they did was waste it on themselves for candy or the newest game. In high school, I just ignored people's begging and pleads for financial help. They soon became threats on my life and my families with how they would tear me limb from limb and have my father burned. I didn't believe or cared at first, until a certain event happened that showed my demon side, making people stay away from me.

I was beginning to remember the nightmare, until my thoughts were interrupted again by another rustling sound, coming from where the bunny ran off.

"Bunny? Is that you?" I said, trying to bring to bunny back, hoping not to scare it again. "Listen, I'm sorry that I look terrifying and that I was thinking about eating you, but I.... HOLY SHIT!!"

I was cut off as a huge creature appeared out of the bush. It wasn't the bunny that was for sure. This was a fucking beast, with a head like a lion, and bat like wings, with a scorpion tail coming out from behind, it's height probably going up to my chest, meaning it was a big motherfucker. By the looks of it, it seems to be very hungry, and I was a sitting duck.

Shocking my body with the sudden scare, I quickly try to stand up to full height, thinking I could intimidate the beast, only to have me knock back by the beast's pounce. Apparently, me being a dragon doesn't really register into its mind. So, it must be REALLY hungry if it thinks it can take a dragon on for a meal. I had my body pinned as it was on top of me, trying to bite my neck as I was holding it back with my claws. Quick, think of some way to have this god damn thing get off.... OF COURSE!

As the idea hits me, I breathe in my breath, then unleashed my sparks onto the poor manticore's face. Roaring, it jumped off my body, and landed next to a tree, leaning on it for support as it tried to clean it's face off. With adrenaline starting to flow through my body, I took the opportunity of the beast's distraction and rammed it against the tree it was just leaning against, having both me and the beast crash right through the tree. As splinters fly everywhere, the tree itself fell, landing in the campfire that was still burning, cause the tree to catch ablaze.

As I got off the lion beast thing, I noticed that the fire was spreading fast, causing the forest to start to burn. I saw little critters coming out of their homes, running from the flames so they could survive. What made it worse was when some of the trees starting to fall due to the flames, and crashing either in front of or on top of some critters. As I watch in horror from the gruesome scene, I saw the bunny from earlier, dead under a fallen tree, with one of its ear's burning. Oh god, what did I do.

Before I could think of a way to stop the fire from spreading any more, the lion thing attacked me from behind, holding my shield arms down, so I couldn't retaliate with them. This lion thing was strong too, must be from desperation for food that's driving it to have such strength. Thankfully, I have a new limb to help me out. With my tail, I whipped the creature off of me, throwing him into another tree, hearing a satisfying *CRACK* as he landed against it.

Getting back to my feet, I look around to see that I was surrounded by fire, from all sides there were burning trees and leaves, surrounding me and the beast in a circle. "What is this? a fight to the death?" I said, as I saw the lion beast arise once again, with a burnt face from my sparks and what looked like a dislocated arm. "Well looks like I'm going to win. Come on pussy cat! I'm right here." I teased. The lion beast took the bait, lunging again, thinking it can work again after a third try.

My mind wasn't really thinking, with only the instinctive thought of "kill or be killed". So, I blocked his two claws with my shield arms, holding him down. That is, until he used his tail to strike me on my unprotected shoulder.

"GAHHHHHHH" I roared, as I felt the tail go through my scales, filling my veins with poison. With this, the manticore kicked me with its leg, having me land on my back again and clutching on my shoulder, feeling the pain spread through my system. As I try to cover most of the beast's attacks with my attached shield, I felt a sense of hopelessness.

I guess this is it..... dying by the hands of a hungry beast.

Such a shame really, I actually thought you could do better. I heard a familiar voice in my head said.

But... I got to survive this, if I want to see if Drew safe at all.

You can't. You're too weak to do anything. Can't even breathe out fire like a regular dragon, let alone beat a manticore to save your own ass. So how do you expect to protect Drew?

I'll just....

Just what? Beat the beast to death? Try to play guardian angel for your little brother? You can't your too weak.

Just shut up...

Weak little dragon can't save his own brother.

I said shut up!

No wonder Drew left you, he knew you were too weak to even protect him. That's why he would rather have ponies protect him then you.

SHUT UP I SAID!

And now your powerless to stop me from doing what I planned to do to Drew in the first place. The voice said as I felt a familiar smug grin.

"BURN IN HELL!!" I roared

using my right arm to push the manticore off of me, tossing him to my right. Now I'm fucking pissed. I will see that Drew is safe, and NOTHING WILL STAND IN MY WAY. Not even this stupid manticore!

As I slowly rise, I felt a heat coming from my hands, as well as anger pushing every fiber of my body to move, ignoring the pain of the venom and scars from the claws. I looked down at my claws to see black flames emitting from it, coming out of the scales and claws of my own hands. I look back at the manticore to see it taken aback from the sudden rage and black flames, but determined to make me it's dinner. Not in your life, you fucking cat.

For some reason, I heard a familiar tune sound off in the back ground, giving me a crazy idea with the new black flaming claws. Oh this is going to be good. I was suddenly grinning like a mad man with this idea, feeling determined to be the victor in this match and to survive.

"HERE I GO"

"This hand of mine is burning black!" I shouted at the beast, having my right hand in front of my face.

"Its loud roar tells me to grasp victory!" Feeling the flames on my hand burn with more intensity, I glared at the manticore. It seems as though it was ready to strike again with that tail of his. Fine then, bring it on.

" ERUPTING! BURNING! FINGER!!!" I yelled, as I charged at the beast, pulling back my right hand ready to attack. The manticore leaped at me, believing that the force of the leap could bring me down. What a dumbass. Using my burning left hand, I grabbed the manticores tail as it tried to strike again, singeing it. The manticore, roared out in pain, with a body part now being burnt. Simultaneously, I used my burning right hand to penetrate through the manticore's body, having it start to burn. The manticore definitely didn't like that. Raising the manticore above my head, I stared into its almost lifeless eyes, seeing it's regret to attacking something like me.

Good. Nothing will get in my way.

"AND NOW, HEAT END!!" I shouted. Before I knew it, the black flames were spreading all over the manticore's body, covering the whole body in my black flames. The manticore was now dead, with my hands still holding his tail and inside his chest.

Slowly, I slid my claws out and let go of his tail, having it fall limp on my feet, still burning with black flames. As the adrenaline started to slow down and my hands extinguishing from the fire hands, I felt the poison flowing through my body again. Clutching my right shoulder from the poison, I look around the forest area, seeing the damage that I've done.

The fire was starting to die out, with burnt trees here and there. The bunny was now just a smoldering piece of ash on the ground. The forest was starting to look darker than usual, even with small flames producing light. Oh wait, that's just me dying from the poison. Before I know it, I was on the ground now, with a familiar darkness surrounding my eyes and the pain of the poison in my body slowly killing me. Just before I lost complete conscious, however, I heard the sound of wings flapping nearby, as well as wind blowing from somewhere.

"So much damage from such a lost youngling. Let's take you back to where you belong."

Chapter 4: Not Getting Any Easier

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Chapter 4

I realized something. While under the effects of manticore poison, you can't really feel anything. No muscle movements, no blood pressure, no outside pain. The pain from bruises, scars, cuts, and other wounds, all of it is gone. So it was no wonder why I didn't initially feel the wind rushing past me on my scales.

"Ugh.." I groaned, feeling the sun's light go over my eyes. I tried to move my right hand to get some of the sleep, only to find I have a stinging pain all over it. Slowly, I open my eyes to find myself falling backwards again. I really hope I'm not doing what I think I'm doing. A passing cloud only helped confirm my suspicions.

Of course, I'm falling again.......

"AGHHHHHHHHHH!" I screamed, feeling a sense of déjà vu.

What the hell am I doing falling again? Last time I remember, I was on the ground, fighting for my life against a fucking manticore. So, when did I get from the burning forest to the freaking sky?

"RAAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHH" The fuck was that?

While still free falling, I look to my right to see..... "A HUGE FUCKING DRAGON!!!! SHIT! GET AWAY! GET AWAY!!!"

Before I could do anything to avoid the dragon, gravity decided to start playing matchmaker, with me and the ground as it's choices.

"GAHHHH," I screamed, breaking through a tree branch and landing on the ground below. "FOR FUCK'S SAKE!!" Ok, falling is no problem. It's always the landing part that I never seem to be good at. Feeling the familiar soreness come back on my left side, I hear something crash a mile away to my right, shaking the earth a bit. What the hell could have crashed?

The only thing that was in the air that I could have seen was me and the..... dragon. Did.... did the dragon fall from the sky as well? But I saw it have big fucking wings, although they did seem a bit tore up. Now I going to find out.

Deciding to at least find the dragon and see what happened, I slowly got up, feeling nothing in my right side and slight pain on my left, I trekked towards the crash. Oh, I'm just treating this new body swell. In fact, I think I might be getting used to the pain. That wasn't really the case, seeing as how I was literally dragging my right leg across the dirt, with my tail trying to keep me balanced. Hmmmmmm, I could always try going on all four legs, instead of standing.....

I was soon limping, walking like a dog, on my way to the crash zone, seeing the smoke close above the leaves... Ok so I know I'm still in the forest, meaning I must be close to where I was. Then again, it is day time, so I could be in a completely new forest. Just how big is this "Equestria" anyways? Is it only full of forests? As far as I know, I haven't even seen any ponies. So I could actually be in a completely different world with talking dogs and manticores.... and that women at the lake got it wrong!!

"Oh, come on!" I shouted, slowly losing feeling on the right side of my neck. "Did she really put me in a completely different fucking world? I haven't seen one fucking pony, let alone civilization! So how the fuck am I suppose to find Drew? I'm losing feeling in this stupid fucking body, all cause of a fucking lion thing that's apparently called a manticore, and I don't know how to even fucking cure myself! WHEN I SEE THAT WOMEN AGAIN, I'M GOING TO GIVE HER SO MUCH SHIT AND... where did all the trees go?"

I must have been ranting too much to notice, but I wasn't in the forest any more, let alone anywhere near vegetation. I was now in the middle of what looks like a wasteland, with the place only having volcanoes, dead trees, dirt, a dragon in a crater with smoking coming out and ponies with a bird thing surrounding it, and more dead plants with.......

I took me awhile to figure it out, but now I knew what I was seeing. The dragon, with purple scales and shredded wings, was laying on its side, looking like it was bleeding a bit from the wings. There were what looked like 3 ponies, two with horns and one with wings, looking at it with a lion bird thing. What was really weird was that the ponies were actually pretty colorful, one of the ponies with a horn was red with orange messy hair, the other was brown with short yellow hair, and the one with wings was blue with white long hair. The eagle-lion mix was brown, but with some white feather's near its neck.

The red pony seemed to be wearing armor around all four of its legs, from hoof to the ankle, looking a bit like gauntlets, but for ponies. It was also wearing a coat of some sort covering the rest of its body, while it looked like it was carrying a bow with a quiver of arrows on its back. By the looks of it, the red pony seemed like it was trying to tell a joke to the brown one, laughing afterwards at what looked like a failed attempt, seeing as it was the only one laughing.

The brown one seemed to have his horn glowing, with metal light armor covering the ponies entire body, except for its hooves and from the neck up, and seems to have a staff on its back. The brown one had its eyes closed, looking like it was concentrating on something, but what for? More importantly, Why was its horn glowing? I vaguely remember hearing Drew talk about how some ponies had the power of magic, called unicorns, while others had the ability to fly and control weather, those called pegasus. Was this unicorn trying to use magic?

Looking at the blue pegasus, I could see it was flying around the downed dragon, probably inspecting the damage. By the looks of it, it wore light armor, protecting only certain vital parts. What was really weird was that it had a tattoo of two blue lightning bolt on its flank. Must've had one too many drinks one night or something. It seemed to also have dagger on each side on its body and a bow with a quiver of arrows resting on its back. Probably a rogue like pony, with wings helping it to be faster than the rest. Maybe not as fast as the eagle-lion thing, though.

I had no idea what it was called. I couldn't remember Drew telling me anything that sounded remotely like that thing. Then again he did seemed to miss out a few detail about Diamond dogs, dragons, and fucking manticores. Whatever that thing was, It seemed to be trying to talk to the fallen dragon, even though the dragon was barely keeping awake. It also seemed to have bow and arrows with it too. Must be the archer, with me thinking how it must have a bird's vision, with it being part eagle or something.

I stood there, shocked that I was actually seeing ponies, wearing armor and having weapons no doubt too. Weren't they suppose to be friendly and lovable, like Drew said?

"Mystery women, I take every mean thing that I said about you and putting me in the wrong place." I said, talking to the sky as if the women could actually hear me. I turned around, not really wanting to be a part of whatever is going on over where the dragon was.

*WHACK*

That is, I was about to.... if I wasn't attacked by a hidden pony with a giant ass sword from behind.

*WHACK*

.......Twice.

Sliding towards the pony group, I feel a tremendous pain in the back of my head and back, the impact zones from the sword. The attacking pony now had one of his legs holding my neck down, choking me slightly, when he brought up that sword of his to my face.

"Well, look at this, boys. We got ourselves another one." the sword pony shouted towards the group.

Examining the pony, I saw that he had a green coat, with white and darker green spiky hair. He was definitely bigger than the rest of the group, probably 4'8 or taller, and he didn't really seem to have any horns or wings on him. He was wearing a brown coat over himself, with only two steel shoulder pads and some metal bracers on his forelegs. His blue eyes were glaring at me, while he had his giant sword in front of me, preventing me from getting up. The sword was so big, it would have looked like the twin brother of the buster blade, and it had what looked like a special hole at the handle, with his hoof holding it.

"Sweet man. Think you can keep it there while we finish holding this one down?" The red unicorn shouted back, keeping his attention focused on the purple dragon.

The green pony was now looking through my pouch that I had on me, finding the gold coins, gems, and map that I had on me.

"Well what do we have here?" The sword pony said. "Are you holding some bits and gems for us? How thoughtful."

With the sword pony being distracted holding the pouch of gems and bits, I used my left shield to smack the pony off of me, pushing him away from me and the group. It may have not been my best plan, seeing as how the blue pony now saw and was heading my way.

Quickly getting up as fast as I could, I try to run away from it all, just hoping to stay out of trouble. Didn't really work out well, with the blue pegasus in front of me, holding two dagger, ready to fight. "Where did you think you're going?" He said sternly. Wow, this pony moves fast. By the sound of it, he's pretty serious too. Wait a minute.... am I actually being threatened by a pony?

I would have been laughing at the whole craziness if I didn't have a pegasus with two dagger ready to attack my face off. I decided I could at least take on one simple pony right?

Heating up my hands with the black flames, I attacked the pegasus, hoping to at least burn his wings off.

That wasn't really the case, seeing as how I could barely move my right hand at all and I was starting to lose feeling in my left shoulder. I stood there looking like an idiot, with two fire hands limping next to my body, as I strained myself to try and attack the flying pony. Not my best plan, but not my worst one.

I was then kicked by the pegasus, landing on my back again with my black flames extinguished, but not really feeling the pain because of the poison. I tried to get back up, but with the combination of soreness, poison, and lack of nutrition, I could barely find any strength left to even keep my eyes open.

I soon felt my body being dragged by the a horn on my head, going towards the fallen dragon and the group. Once there, someone dropped my head on the ground, making me groan from the sudden impact. Opening my eyes, I see I'm near the now unconscious dragon's head and that it was the green sword pony that apparently dragged me here. Must be a strong ass pony to have dragged my whole body. Just what the hell are these guys?

"Again, great job boys," The sword pony said, facing towards the group and dragons. "We caught two dragons today. What's that make our total now, Mix?"

"Counting these two? Five in total, sir." The brown pony replied, still eyes closed and horn still glowing.

"I say we go to the nearest tavern and celebrate! Drinks on me once we finish off these overgrown lizards and turn in their scales." The red pony cheered happily. Wait what? finish off and turn in scales? What the hell are these guys, dragon hunters? "Heck, even though your a griffin, I bet I can still beat your feathery flank in a drinking match." He was now looking at the eagle-lion, giving off a smug face.

"We still have to finish our job here, you dimwit." The griffin replied, glaring angrily at the red pony. "We're not gonna drink until we find a few more dragons to skin and bring it back to our employer." Ok these guys are really scaring me. They have to be dragon hunters and, oh joy, I'm a dragon. Come on body, get out of here!

"That one dragon is weird though, with those shield things connected to its arm. Doesn't look like scales, but more like a rock or a gem maybe. What do you think of it, Lancelot?" The blue pegasus said. They do know that I can hear them still right? Oh if only I could breathe fire at them right now.... Oh that's right, all I can do is shoot FUCKING SPARKS.

"I have no idea, but I guess that means its more special then. We can always skin it off of him afterwards, sell it to a blacksmith back in Equestria." The green sword pony replied. I guess I'm not in Equestria at the moment. Where the hell am I then? I still see ponies, so now I'm very confused.

Lancelot then looked at me and grinned, trying to make me fear him. To tell you the truth, it was working. Say something to get these guys to go away!

"Ghat tah phunk ahway prum eh." I mumbled

....... Ok that is definitely one the top five stupid things that I have said. I guess the poison is finally in my mouth. Great now I sound like a man who just came back from the dentist and filled his mouth with marshmallows. Man, I still am really hungry. When was the last time I ate?

Before I knew it, I heard a laugh from Mix, with him pointing his red gem staff at my face.

"Hahaha. Would you look at this? The dragon is trying to talk." He sneered. "He also seems to have some poison in his blood system. Must have had a fight earlier, somewhat explains why it was easy to capture this one."

"Oh come one. Don't ruin this moment for us." The red pony said, seeming a bit downed by the news.

"Like you did anything to help!" Mix snapped, facing him.

With the red gem glowing in front of my face, I could smell a familiar scent of cherries in the air. I was getting really hungry all of a sudden and this staff is starting to give me cravings. Do dragons eat wood... or the gems?? I couldn't really stay focus with all the poison, soreness, and hunger. My stomach was starting to rumble from having the sweet scent of cherries filling my nostrils.

Eat it! Eat the gem!

Doing what my stomach said, I lunged my neck with all the strength I could muster, chomping down on the staff and swallowing the gem. I gotta tell you, not eating anything for the past 2 day can really make a dragon hungry, so once that gem hit my stomach, I felt complete bliss from just having had something to eat.

Mix was just horrified, seeing his prized staff just chomped on by a dragon, almost having my teeth come close to his hoof. Ha! That's what you get for sticking a damn staff in my face.

*WHACK*

Before I knew it, I was now dazed, eyes closed and tongue sticking hanging out my mouth, but my other senses were still working. That bastard must've hit me with the side of his sword again. I am not a ragdoll!

"Be careful next time, Mix!" I heard Lancelot's voice shout in a commanding tone. "Just because it's poisoned and paralyzed, doesn't mean that you should just go ahead and get distracted near it. This is why you're still learning! Now get back with Sparky so you can focus on trying to communicate back to the ship." So the whole reason for the glowing horn was because he was trying to make contact with someone. Ok, but with who on the ship?

My ears were now slightly twitching to a new sound, like the sound of something flapping in the air. It was actually pretty irritating once it sounded like it was getting closer. Oh please, oh please, don't let it be their ship....

"WE GOT ANOTHER ONE," Lancelot yelled, "AND THIS ONE IS COMING IN HOT!"

Another one? So it's not a ship, but what is that sound then?

"RAGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

Oh sweet jesus, I'm so going to die today. It can't get any worse, can it?

Wait, who's getting closer?

*WHACK*

Me and my big mouth.

Chapter 5: A Deal with a Goddess

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Chapter 5

"Ughhhhh..... stupid pony dragon slayer...." I mumbled, grabbing my head to stop the banging of drums inside of it. Slowly opening my eyes, I see.... alot of darkness. Hell, I can't really see anything at all.

"Hello? Any other stupid animals that want to kill me?" I shouted. Well it's true so far. Lets count, we had dog-humans, lion bat scorpion mix, ponies, a griffin, and I think that dragon ate me, meaning that I'm right now.....

"Dead........."

I felt myself stand up, while at the same time trying to grasp the situation of me apparently going on to the next life. I can't really be dead can I?

"Well shit. All I see is blackness, I feel a bit ripped off."

"Then allow me to shed a little light on the situation." I heard a feminine voice said.

That voice, wait a second!

Before I could respond, A bright shining light shined underneath my feet, blinding my eyes, forcing me to bring my arm shields to block my face. Once the light faded, I opened my eyes to see that I was standing in the middle of what looked like a sun platform. What was more noticeable was that I wasn't a red dragon anymore, but I was actually my human self again, and still in my swimming suit!

"Well I do hope this is better than the darkness. Sort of reminds you of that one game you keep playing doesn't it?" The feminine voice said. Where is that voice coming from? Then again I am dead, so what's the point of finding out.

"Three things: One, you're not dead, just in a coma state while someone heals that poison you have in your system, so don't be all depressing right now. Two, I'm actually right behind you."

Turning my body, I see that it was the women that was sunbathing back on earth, this time fully clothed in a white summer's dress, wearing a sun hat as well, covering most of her hair.

"And three, You have a reason to live, don't you?" The women said, with a bright smile.

Part of me wanted to relax from that smile, but my body just seemed to tense up, remembering what she did to get me to Equestria, or wherever I was at.

"Oh relax will you," She pouted, "I just want to talk while you're in this coma state. No need to get so tensed." She waved her hand in front of her. Just as she did so, she summoned a coffee table and two arm chairs facing each other.

"Please sit. We need to talk." She smiled.

With not much options, I took the seat closet to me, while she did so as well. Once she was seated, a tea pot with two cups appeared on the table.

"Would you like some tea?"

"How are you doing this?" I asked, ignoring her question.

"Hm? Oh well this isn't real at all. There are actually many different ways to call this, but let's just call it "daydreaming" for the sake of it. Now then, would you like some tea? Or I guess I should say imaginary tea, now that you know?" She giggled.

"Um.... sure, I guess." I had no idea how to respond. I'm in a coma, meaning I must be still alive. This women isn't threatening me, or torturing me, so I guess I'm safe for now. She also did say that someone is healing the manticore's poison that's in my body, but who?

"You'll find out later," She replied, sipping her tea. "Now let's get down as to why I even brought you in this world, seeing as I wasn't actually that specific when we first met. Then again, you were desperate to find, um... Drew was it?"

"Actually," I said, grabbing my tea cup and blowing on it. "I would like to know your name and why your showing up again, seeing as complete strangers went and took me and my brother away, I might as well get those answered." I wanted to steer the conversation so I can know more of about this lady.

"Yes... I'm quite sorry about that, but you looked like you needed help, and this is why I'm talking to you now. Plus I was a little busy preparing for the gala. So I thought I would take a small break." She replied, seeming a bit tired. I guess she must be really busy planning out this gala thing.

"Anyways, my name is Princess Celestia, one of the rulers of Equestria. I control the sun and look after all my little ponies, doing my best to protect them"

*PHHHHTTTTTTT*

SHE CONTROLS THE SUN?? Oh god, remind me not to get on her bad side. I knew she was a goddess or something like that, but not one that can control the sun...

Oh shit, I just spilled tea all over a princess......

I'm dead.... So very, very dead.

"Relax. It's imaginary tea remember?" She laughed, suddenly being dry again. "Now all joking asides, I need to clarify our contract a little bit. So, once you do find your brother and see that he is safe and sound, you have to be part of a certain game I'm a part of. In fact, you being in this world has already made you a part of it, but I just want your consent this time."

"So there was a catch." I said, putting the tea down. "And what are you talking about? I'm going to stay with my brother once I find him and see that he's happy. That is my purpose."

"Do you really believe so?" Celestia said. "If I recall correctly, he wished to be a pony, while you are here, as a dragon. As much as I would like for you to visit Equestria, you can't really stay unless you want some of my ponies to revolt against you. That and the other chess masters would think your just a waste of space for not even participating and force me to just send you back."

So I'm in the same world as my brother but I can't even stay with him? What a load of bull!

"Relax please." She said with a soothing voice. "You can still visit him, you just have to be careful with the ponies you run into. Besides, we're going off topic a bit. So do I have your agreement to partake in this?"

I thought for a moment, thinking of different scenarios with their own outcomes.

"What would happen if I declined?"

"I would have to send you back to your world, back at the same place from where you last were, but with no recollection of any events that had transpired to you here." Great. So I would be back, but have no memories of anything that happened here. Just peachy.

"What would happen if I accept, but don't follow your rules and just stay with Drew once I find him?"

"Then your brother would be endangered by the ponies he's with, as well as the dragon slayers that you have met earlier, along with other pieces that you might meet." Another wonderful conclusion. That wouldn't help with protecting Drew at all, just have more harm than good.

"What are the other pieces you're talking about?"

"Ah ah ah. I can't really tell you much, all I can say is that there are other's like you in this world as well, part of the game I was talking about. Some that other gods have brought, others that I brought myself." So there's other people here like Drew and me? Guess I should watch out for them. Humans aren't the most nicest of creatures. Then again, neither are any of the other creatures I have met here so far. So why....

"Why are you even helping me?" I asked, this one being the most curious of all my questions. "Surely a princess from a completely different dimension that also controls a part of the solar system, wouldn't really want to help someone like me get their brother back."

Celestia's smile slowly turned into one of regret and sadness. She gently placed her cup down and stood up, walking around the sun platform.

"I had a sister lost from me once, but not in the same way as yours. It may not be the exact scenario as yours even, but I still know the pain of having your sibling gone, the feeling that you should protect them because you're the older, stronger sibling, but also feeling powerless to bring them back. I have my sister back now though, after a thousand years of waiting. I'm happy now that I'm back with her, but I still have the memories of regret, for not doing anything sooner, or even doing something different to prevent her from leaving."

She.... has a sister? And even with all that power, to control the sun, to rule a kingdom, she still couldn't do anything to prevent her sister from leaving her. She had to wait a thousand years as well? Thats.... wow.

"Hehe, it's a bit funny actually. Usually Luna does all of these dreams states, but your one of my pieces, so I thought it would be fair that I get to talk to you. Although we do have little time left." She said, looking down at the platform.

I look down as well to one side of the platform being engulfed in darkness clockwise around the sun platform. Wow, guess there's a time limit to this "day dreaming."

"So, to keep time short, I'll ask again: Do you officially accept to be part of the games, once you find your brother that is?" She said, having that genuine smile again.

"Heh, sure. I accept then. I'll keep playing as part of the games once I see that Drew is safe. On two conditions though: One, that I have some kind of power to show me where Drew is, and two, that once I do find him, I can see him at least once a month, to make sure he's still safe and sound." I may not be able to stay, but I still want to see him. I still think these rules of not being with him are stupid.

Celestia put one hand on her chin, the other on her elbow, thinking about the conditions to our contract.

"Alright, I accept your conditions. You can see Drew once a month, after you have found him." She starting walking towards where I was seated. "As for finding him, I don't know his exact magic signature, seeing as how discord was the one who sent him here. So, I'll do this instead."

She went up to my face, her face only a few inches from mine. I could honestly feel her breath on me. It was actually kinda hot. She's... she's not gonna kiss me is she?

Before I could do anything though, she flicked my left eye so hard, that I fell with the chair backwards.

"GAHHH!" I yelled. "What the hell was that for?" My left eye was really starting to hurt at first, but was then calming down a bit.

"You now have the ability to see other humans while in my world. Since the magic signature is different for humans than from other creatures here, you should be able to find Drew easily. Be warned though, once you do find your brother, it will disappear forever. So don't get too used to it. Don't want anyone being too overpowered now do we?" Ouch, still didn't have to hurt so much. Some way of getting power. Wait, speaking of powers.

"I actually have one more question." I said, standing back up with my left eye covered. "When I was a dragon, what the heck was on my arms? I mean it's pretty durable, feels tough yet lightweight, and has a certain aura about it. What's it made out of?"

"Well, since you have a sense of protection for your brother, I decided to give you a pair of shields that will be attached to your body, like a knight piece. I also did a little something special with it: I made it out of meteorite. So what you basically have is a space rock attached to you. What I didn't foresee was that it would drain your magic fuel for your fire breathing, and have it end up in your hands. That's why you can only do sparks instead of a full fledged flamethrower. What I also didn't know was that it would turn your fire black like the shields itself."

........ So my awesome shields.... is stopping me from my love of fire breathing?

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-

Wait actually, black fire hands are still pretty cool too.

Hmmmmm, Fire hands with space shields or fire breathing. Fire hands and shields or fire breathing.... Ok fire hands and shields wins this time.

"Oh my. Well our time is up. I should get going, I have to go back to the gala and attend to my guest. I have a feeling it's going to be quite the party this year. Good luck with your search for Drew, William. Or should I say Komodo now." She giggled, turning to leave, seeing as the sun platform was starting to lose some light. Before she walked off though, she turned back grinning like a..... troll. This can't be good.

[Stop song here]

"Oh I almost forgot. Are you sure you like hmmmmmmmm bananas?" She said trying to sound innocent, pointing her finger at me. Oh god, not this again. Quick, you said yes last time and that didn't really work out, sooo...

"Um... No." I said cautiously. Please be right answer, please be right answer, please be right...

"Well I know where you can't find any bananas?" Her finger was now starting to glow white. Oh god, I screwed up roya....

Before I could finish thinking, I was suddenly flying through the darkness, seeing as the platform was no longer there. I heard Celestia's words right before I fell.

"ON THE MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON~!"

********************************************************************************

"NO! GET AWAY FROM ME, YOU EVIL BANANANA!" I screamed, waking myself up from a nightmare. I'm.... I'm alive? Oh thank goodness. I'm grateful for the princess's help, but that banana thing, just scares me. I'll never look at fruit the same way again after that dream.

As my heart slowed to a steady pace again, I looked around my surroundings to see that I'm at a mouth of a cave. I must have been sleeping against the wall of it this whole time. I also appear to be back as my dragon form, with the map still attached to me, but not my gems or bits. Which reminds me, I'm still as hungry as a horse, or maybe it's pony here. I gotta ask Celestia the next time she visits my "daydream" to see if they even have any horses, rather than just ponies.

The sun was still up, having the cave be illuminated by some of its ray. The cave appears to be in a mountain, seeing as I can see over the vast landscape. And let me tell you, the landscape is not that pretty.

There's little to none trees anywhere, no water in sight, the skies have spots of gray clouds overhead. If anything, this place was a desolate wasteland. Looking to the inside of the cave, I spy..... The purple dragon from earlier, sleeping with a pile of gems behind it.

I know there's a giant dragon nearby, but those gems look oh so appetizing. Carefully getting up, I rise and start to tip toe towards the gem pile, only to be stopped because something had caught my tail. Looking behind me, I see that a pile of boulders were on top of it.

It wasn't until I say my tail, that I felt the pain from all the boulders on it.

"OW OW OW OW..." I said between my shut teeth. I don't want to wake the dragon but my tail is REALLY starting to hurt from the pressure.

"Well, looks like someone is finally awake." I heard a scratchy voice said from the mouth of the cave. Turning slowly, I was soon faced with a white dragon with a green underbelly and wings folded to his side. His green eyes were staring at me, surprised that I was even awake now. He seemed to be carrying some heavy metal buckets in each hand. He walked closer to me, then set a bucket down in front of me.

"Here, drink up. Your probably thirsty as tartarus." The white dragon said. He then went to sit on the opposite side of the cavern, drinking from his bucket.

I sat and stared at the bucket, wondering if it was poisoned or not. I took a sniff out of it. Nothing oddly bad about the smell. I look down at it, to see my reflection on my face, then gasped a bit in surprised.

I expected a dragon's face, sure, but what I did expect was that I would have meteorite in the middle of my head, with it being crystal shaped as the shield, but more curved, going behind my head. I guess I have a stronger head than most dragons. My right eye was yellow, with a reptilian look to it, but my left eye was different. It had a sort of red symbol on the yellow. I couldn't tell what it was though. I must have been staring at the bucket of water for awhile now cause the white dragon was looking worried.

"It's not going to kill you. Just drink the water or else I'll take it back. Water is pretty scarce around here." The white dragon said, finishing up his bucket of water.

Well, no pain, no gain. With this mindset, I drank the water carefully. Once I was content that there was no actual poison in it, I drank the water hungrily, satisfying my thirst.

"*cough* Thanks *cough cough*." So I sort of drank the water a little bit too fast. I was thirsty ok?

"Who *cough* who are you?" I said, clearing my throat. Is this dragon the same one from earlier, and if so, what happened to the dragon slayers?

"Hm? Oh well, my name is Rex Emerald and that dragon over there is Firewing, but I just call him gramps, cause... well, he's my gramps." The white dragons smirked.

"Right... Well my name is Komodo. Your um... gramps, how is he? He didn't seem to look well last I saw him." I looked at Firewing, still seeing his wings torn, looking like ragged cloth on sticks. By the looks of it, he seems pretty tired, and probably doesn't look like he's going to be able to fly anytime soon.

"He's fine. Those damn dragon hunters shot his wings off with poison filled arrows. His wounds healed a bit, but I don't think he can fly for awhile. And what about you? What were you doing in a mess like that?"

"I know as much as you. One minute, I'm laying down in a burning forest. The next, I'm falling from the sky with your gramps falling with me. It's pretty weird actually. I'll have to ask him something once he wakes up." Like why the hell was I falling with him. Oh god I'm feeling the pain in my tail again. Stupid rocks.

"By the way, where the hell are we?" I said while I went to take off the rocks from my tail.

"What, you mean you don't know? Where have you been living this whole time?" Rex said. Um..... can't really say I'm not from this world, that would make me seem crazy. Guess I'll be playing the amnesia card then.

"Actually I don't know. All I remember is my name and that I'm a dragon. Anything else is just a blur." I said, sounding as confused as possible.

"Amnesia huh? Yikes, that's pretty bad, especially for a dragon. All those years of living, just wiped away from your memory. That is, until you can remember again." Great, now I have to remember at some point and tell him a fake past.

"Anyways," He continued. " Your at the home of the dragons, known to some of the equestrians as "The Badlands". We do whatever we can to survive here. Some rarely leave and go to our neighboring countries such Equestria, for a greener, peaceful life. Others go to Gem Fido, to have some of those diamond dogs dig gems for them. By the looks of it, you could use a few." He said as I took the last rock off my tail.

He went over to the pile that was near his gramps, who was still sleeping, and grabbed two handful of gems. My mouth was really watering now. I'm going to take a wild guess and say that gems are a dragon's food source or something, remembering from that gem staff that tasted oh so much like cherries.

"Here, have some." He offered, giving me one of his handful. I hungrily accepted the offer and began gorging myself in the rainbow colors of gems. Let's just say that they tasted SOOOOO GOOD after almost starving myself for the first day. Apples, Grapes, heck I think one tasted like steak, but it must be the hunger making me think that.

"Heh heh, hungry eh? Well, considering you also had poison in your system, I can see why." Rex said, taking a bite out of a ruby. Wait, I was poisoned, so how am I better?

"If you're wondering why your better now, it's because I had had my sister help with some magic to heal both you and gramps. She's really quite good at it. I can barely do much, but then again I prefer physical contact, like what I did with those dragon slayer wannabes. Sent them packing with their tails between their legs." He snickered.

He..... single handedly drove the dragon slayers away? Why is almost everyone in this pony show a badass? I definitely feel a bit of regret for not watching the show a bit sooner.

"Of course, I didn't do it by myself. Had my some of my friends help me with some of them. Then they helped me carry you and gramps back here." Ah well, so much for being a badass. He did still save my ass, so I should be grateful for that. What other info can I get from him...

"Hey, it's getting late, and as much as I would like to answer and ask more questions, we should get some sleep. Sun's going down and we need to rise early if we want to get back to the hoard." Rex said. He went to the mouth of the cave, then spread his wings to full height. "I'll see you tomorrow, at sunrise. If stuff tries to attack, you can handle yourself right?" He's leaving? I guess he wants to go back to his sister or something. At least he knows where his sibling is.

"Of course. I can handle myself." I said trying to sound like I can handle anything. I don't really think I could, but doesn't hurt to try and sound like I can.

"Heh, right. See you tomorrow then." And with that, he flew out of the cave and into the landscape below. The sun was now starting to set between some mountains. Guess I should sleep as well.

Finishing the last of my handful of gems, I laid on the best pile of dirt I could find. It actually wasn't as bad, seeing as my scales cushioned my back a bit. Laying down, I rest my eyes for once and actually tried to get some sleep, now with a full belly and no poison in my blood.

Things are starting to look up. Tomorrow, I'll see if I can get a feel for the area, hopefully get some more information of the place. The map could be a bit useful with locations. I still have to ask the Firewing why he grabbed me from the forest. I'll do it tomorrow though.

Don't worry Drew, things are actually looking up for once.

*SNOOOOOOOOORRRREEEE*

....Something tells me I won't be getting that much sleep thanks to 'gramps'.

"GAHHH! Those stupid dragons! We lost profit because of them!"

"Hey, don't worry Mix. We got 3 already, so that's still better than none."

"OH SHUT UP FLARE. Why not you just drink yourself to death, seems to be the best thing your good at."

"Hey! I resent that!"

"It's true though. You should be more careful on how much you drink."

"Not you too Heck! Why I oughta..."

"QUIET! ALL OF YOU! It doesn't matter if we lost some of those damn dragons today, we can always get them later. For now, we turn in what we got, then try and see if we can't find that shield dragon again. By the looks of it, probably high value shield he has."

"He did have poison in his system, so maybe he's already dead?"

*CREAK*

"Gentlecolts"

"Who the hay are you and how did you get on this airship?"

"Now please, no need to point your weapons at me, I just came here to offer you a job."

"Why should we take a job from YOUR kind?"

"Because I pay very handsomely"

*CLANG*

".....That's... That's alot of bits..."

"And there's more if you do what I ask."

"And what is it that you want us to even do?"

"Simple, just capture a certain pegasus in this village, but make sure that you cause some chaos and destruction while you're there to get people distracted."

"But that's a pony settlement!"

"And we don't do jobs that don't involve capturing or killing dragons."

"Oh trust me. Once you do what I ask, there will be a dragon. A very angry dragon. I believe you met him already."

"What's the purpose of this?"

"To simply capture a pegasus for me. While you can attack or kill to your heart's content against this dragon."

"I don't know about this Lancelot..."

"Quiet for a minute Flare. This dragon, do you know his name?"

"He has two names actually, but I believe he will only recognize one while he's here."

"And that name is..."

Komodo.

Chapter Extra: Vision of the Future (Komodo's POV)

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Chapter Extra: Visions of the Future

“Tsk tsk. I expected more from you. All you had to do was kill me, and half the army could have disappeared, but you're holding back. And for what? Just so you can find out where I hid your dearly beloved brother?” The monster said in the shadows.

This wasn’t working at all. The plan was supposed to be simple: Get as much info about this commander, then kill him or let the other pieces take care of it. What I didn’t suspect was that he would be so fucking powerful. He’s like a god if I didn’t know any better and he never stepped out of the shadows yet, already hurting me with just mere magic.

This was seriously getting ridiculous: I was ordered to rush in and find out who was commanding this section of the enemy army. What I didn’t suspect was that he found my brother and captured him, and that just ticked me off. I just ignored orders and attacked this man with blinding rage, ignoring my brain’s function to stay with the mission.

Now here I was, on my right a cliff overlooking the battlefield, with the desolation of the blood and bodies everywhere on the floor from both the enemy and our own army. My left was the remains of a forest, after the great travesties of the smooze invasion.

The smoke from other battles were rising to our height, while I picked myself back up, ready for another round.

“Hmmmm? Really now. This is why you humans are so naive. Thinking that if you keep doing the same ridiculous thing over and over, you expect to get a different result. I believe they call that ‘insanity’.” The creature smirked, with his one yellow dragon eye on me, and his left eye closed. Who is this thing? I remember fighting someone similar to him, but he should be long dead thanks to Knightmare.

“Well, I could just spare you the trouble, and tell you where he is.” The creature said, stepping out of the shadow. “That is if, is your brother more important than this war?”

Stepping fully into the red sun’s light, I could clearly see who this monster was.....

And I regret even trying to face him alone.

“Did you really forget who I was so quickly, Will? I am shocked and appalled. I would have thought that a smart human like yourself would have realized what he was going up against. And all alone too! Bravo for the bravery of coming here alone! Or is it stupidity.” The monster said, putting a claw on his chin to look as if he was actually debating which was the correct answer.

Standing before me was no monster, but a demon. He was a failed experiment, a regretful mistake, a forgotten man, and the cause for most of the destruction on this battlefield already. He was only a half dragon, the other half was human. In a human form, but with claws, black and purple scales, a tail, and only one wing. His face was still that of his human form, with the only difference being that he was covered with scales and instead of hair, he had white spikes instead. His right eye had that of the dragon, while his left, had the unforgivable power of the king....

Geass.

Closing both of my eyes, I focused on my left eye, seeing only him in a human aura. The rest of the world was only outlined, but him and I were the only ones colored in green, meaning that I can still see him. Thank Celestia she decided to give me back this power for the war. I would have already lost if I looked into his eye.

“Oh? I see you remember I had this power. The power to control people against their own will: Geass. I really should thank the people back in tartarus for giving this back to me. Especially after you ruined the last one.” The outline of the demon said, taking another step closer.

“You should be dead!” I shouted with my eyes still closed, but ‘sensing’ him coming closer. “Knightmare and I killed you!”

“All you did was delay the inevitable.” The half-dragon said calmly.

Seeing his outline step closer to me again, I turn and run towards the dead forest, hoping to get away from the freak and warn the others.

”Accelero.” ‘Acceleration’ I shouted, hoping that with the meteorites extra magic boost, that I would actually get away from him in time.

”Terra culmen.” ‘Earth column’

Before I knew it, a huge rock wall surrounded the area, keeping me trap with the monster. With my speed, I could just run up the wall, but then he would just keep me here, using more of his magic to control the surrounding area to his will. No, running away is useless. I have no choice...

“I’m not going to let you run away so you can warn you the other pieces. No, I’m going to gut you slowly, and skin you alive!” He said, emphasizing the his point by pretending to skin me

“Then I’ll have both your precious brother with me and your ‘oh so powerful’ shield. Oh! You remember that offer I gave you earlier, the one where you could just walk away once I give you your brother’s location? Well it’s gone now, because I am going to ENJOY this.” The demon said. He raised his right claw in the air, looking at it through the bloody sun.

“Animus messor” ‘Soul Harvester’

Suddenly, his hand turned into that of a bloody scythe. “I actually had to make a deal to still be alive for this. Turn in more souls, and I can still be kept alive. ‘A soul a week’ they said. So imagine what this war will do for me.” The demon smiled.

Dear god, ‘a soul a week’? With all the massacre, the bloodshed of all these battle, this war itself, he could live for about....

“Eternity...” I said dumbstruck, My eyes going wide at this. I could feel my legs shaking, with the magic of acceleration already dying down, I knew it was fear that was running throughout my body. I really wish I could teleport out of here or at least have wings to fly.

“Well... not eternity, but pretty close.” The half-dragon said, flaring his dark wing out. “But I could care less about eternity. I just want to live long enough to make sure you humans don’t come here anymore.”

“I just have to kill or control Celestia, Discord, and all other gods who even tried to bring you all here. Once that’s over, Equestria will go back to being what it once was: A utopia! Free of any trouble and human knowledge. With this geass I can have all traces of humanity erased from this world! Than I can be its guardian, watching over all creatures to see that all is what it once was in the past! I SHALL KEEP THIS WORLD PURE! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” He proceeded to laugh maniacally, sending more chills down my scaly spine.

This guy is completely insane! Does he really think that with geass and some hell power, that he can do such a thing?

“You're completely crazy, Adam! You have to stop....”

“DON’T CALL ME BY THAT NAME! I AM NOT A HUMAN ANY LONGER! MY HUMAN SIDE DIED WHEN I WAS SENT TO THAT TARTARUS PRISON MORE THAN 1000 YEARS AGO! I AM THE DEMON TO BE FEARED! THE ONE WITH THE POWER OF THE KING! THE DEATH OF HUMANITY!! I AM GOD HIMSELF!!” He shouted, getting suddenly furious that I called him by his human name.

“I AM ADAM NO LONGER!

RAGNAROK!!!” He screamed, opening his geass eye.

Thankfully, both my eyes were closed, only depending on my ‘human sensor’, to avoid making contact with his eye. I can still feel his anger though, or if anything, the heat of the battle below.

I could run, but all that would do is tire me out and i'll lead him to back to base. I could just wait, but will whoever come and help be enough for us to kill this monster? I could fight, but then.... I'll break my promise if I die.....

"He he......"

I'll do whatever I can to stay alive then! For What I promised!

With no way out, I couldn't help but feel sadden at this inevitable end. Everything seemed to slow down as I started to concentrate on my fire.

“......I guess I have no choice then.” I said softly to myself.

Feeling the familiar black flames on my scaly claws come back one last time, I prepared my final assault against Ragnarok.

This is it...

“Here I go!” I suddenly shouted!

For this world......

“This hand of mine glows with an awesome power!” The black flames was growing with immense heat, as was my desire to live for a promise.

......For all the creatures that are fighting for their lives here......

“It’s burning grip tells me to defeat you!!” I grasp my hands together, bringing out the flames to imitate that of a black burning sword.

.......For Rex and the hoard. For my family.....

“Take this!"

.......I'll take this bastard with me.

"My love!”

Drew...

“My anger!”

...I’m sorry...

“And all of my sorrow!!!”

...I’m going to have to break that promise we made...

Seeing this as the time to strike, Ragnarok went straight for me, bringing his scythe back to swing at me when close. I began running straight at him with my burning black sword.

With this, we were only a few feet away from each other, dashing at mad speed, so timing was everything. We were both screaming at each other: One out of madness, the other out of determination, with the bloody sun watching over our heads. I brought down my sword, while he curved his sycthe to attack. Only mere inches now...

***************************************************************************************************************************

“Where the hell is Komodo?” Jack said to Knightmare, killing off another swarm of the enemy with fire.

“I don’t know, does it look like I’m his babysitter?” Knightmare snapped back, while striking 10 more of the enemy with his guitar. “Stupid creatures.” He muttered.

Before Jack could reply back, a huge black flamed explosion erupted behind the enemy lines, just on the cliff nearby.

“ERUPTING! BURNING!! FINGER!!! SWORD!!!!!!!!!” They heard. That was defiantly Komodo's signature move, though it was a big ripoff from that gundam show.

‘Why is Komodo doing that attack?’ Knightmare thought. ‘The last time he needed to use that was when we fought....’ The sudden realization hit him as he looked at the fiery explosion, seeing only one survivor was standing in the burning blaze, with his burning red eye looking down at his fallen enemy....

**********************************************************************************

… I will meet you sooner than expected......

......Drew

(Song ends.)

**********************************************************************************

“GAHHHHHHHHHH!” I shouted, startling myself awake. This is like waking up to that banana dream again, only this time it felt more.... real and scary. What the hell does it even mean?

I look around the cavern to see that It was now night outside, and that the elder dragon was still asleep next to his pile of gems, not snoring this time though.

Adam.... I haven't heard that name since high school... Am I feeling a bit of regret from what I did 3 years ago?

...No, it was his fault and he deserved everything I did to him. It just my conscious trying to have me remember that stupid past.

But what was with the part with me breaking a promise? I don't think I ever made a promise like that before.

"Heh, must be from eating all these gems. I should probably cut back on it." I said, satisfying myself momentarily that it was just too much food that caused the dream.

With a heavy sigh, I lay back down to sleep, hoping that whatever I just dreamt, was only just that: a dream....

or a horrible, horrible nightmare.

Tick tock,
turn the clock.
Let the pieces play.

Tick tock
turn the clock.
Because they're here to stay.

Tick tock
start the clock.
Let the pieces run.

Tick tock
Ragnarok
is going to have his fun...

A/N: Well, I gotta say this was actually pretty fun thing to write, and yes the nursery rhyme at the end was influenced by 'Doctor Who'. ANYWAYS, this was my take on the whole 'vision of the future', like what Forevermore did with his story called "Skeleton Jack." It's in the same world/ dimension as Komodo, so might as well read it. Wayyyy better than mine, that's for sure. Go on.... DO IT! DO IT NOW!!

Oh yah, and also the other guy, Knightmare, come from JJ Malcolm's Story: "From Nobody to Knightmare." Defiantly read both great stories.

Chapter 6: Regretful Past, a Hopeful Future

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Chapter 6

It’s been three days since I was saved by the white dragon, Rex, and in that time, I’ve learned a lot thanks to him and “Gramps”. We walked and talked (flew for Rex, Gramp’s wing was still broken) from the cavern, towards Rex’s hoard, while I tried to learn much about this world as I can, mostly about both the land and the creatures that inhabit this world.

From what Rex and Gramps were telling me, this whole world is still yet unexplored, but the lands that are known, are split into boundaries. I used the map to see what’s known, only to find out that the map is only for Equestria and not the whole continent that I’m on. Pretty useless, since Rex said I was in the ‘Badlands’, also known as dragon country. Still, should be pretty important so I guess I should keep it.

Gramps, with his rough voice, then started to explain to me about the different countries there are. Starting from the North most point, from east to west: Dominion (Griffin territory), Gem Fido (D-dog territory), and Badlands (Dragon Territory. I pictured a ‘You are here’ over a imaginary map I had going in my head). The southern part, from east to west, has the black marsh (told to avoid that area), The Great Southern Rainforest (Home to some exoctic creatures and some cat-people) and the Volcanic Waste (Home to scums, bounty hunters, and a uncle named Crackle who lives near there. Weird).

Equestria is apparently Smack dab right in the middle, taking control of most of the land, with the Ring sea on both sides of it. I guess whoever controls the most land, gets to be on TV? It’s just a stupid theory for now. I still need to ask Celestia about it, although she doesn’t seem to be contacting me anymore. Oh well, whenever she’s ready I guess.

I learned quite a few things about the dragons as well. We are omnivores, although we can basically eat almost anything we want thanks to our plentiful amount of canine teeth. Gems are our main source for food, being that they supply all nutritions that we dragons need to live. Firewing also said that we are all cunning, wise, and live up to ten millennia, but Rex says he knows a few drakes that are an exception to that.

Dragons are also able to not just breathe fire, but other magic and elements as well. Rex can breathe a forceful galestorm out of his mouth, and can control other small elements of the wind, allowing himself to be quite rapidly in the air. Firewing says that he earned his name, going fast in a race in a game with another dragon, he gained speed until even his wings were ablaze with fire. He still doesn’t know how he does it, but it’s been useful to him, until now that is.

There is also a long and complicated hierarchy of dragons, based on the color of our scales, which also apparently determines how our body works. Its also funny how they are like the seven deadly sins. I’ll try and explain it in a more shorter explanation.

Starting from Weakest to Strongest:

Green scales- Envy.

Yellow scales- Greed.

Pink scales- Lust.

Blue scales- Sloth.

Purple scales- Pride.

Red scales- Wrath.

Black scales- Gluttony.

Any other color scales are considered 'Insignificant', and based on what Rex told me, certain hoards won’t take such ‘weak’ dragons, so they either kill them or banish them away from the hoard. Sometimes, it happens to even young dragonlings, most who don’t even know how to speak, and they die alone and unwanted, while these seven colored scales are highly rewarded, with the black scales usually the leader of the hoard.

Kinda made me wonder though why black scales where the strongest, until Rex explained is that it was because of all the gems they eat, the high nutrition gives them a bigger size and tougher scales than the rest of the dragons. Right..... avoid black and pink dragons, because I rather not fight with something stronger than me........or be raped by some pink dragon. Yeah, that’ll be a fun bar story.

I also found out that it was Firewing who grabbed me from the forest and was bringing me closer to the hoard, until those dragon slayers interrupted that and attacked his wing, stopping his flight, and having us both fall from the sky. He said that he was on his way back from seeing crackle at the Volcanic Wasteland that he saw me in a forest somewhere in Equestria. Great, so I was in Equestria, just taken out of it thanks to Gramps over here.

Anyways, it was now the last night of rest before we would reach Rex’s hoard, Firewing was fast asleep, while I stayed on guard with Rex. He seemed like a decent guy.... er dragon, to be around. He was even generous enough to share some of his gems with me, while Firewing was still picky about sharing. I found it odd, seeing as he was acting differently than what most of the dragon’s sounded like to me.

We were overlooking a cliff, from another empty cave near the top of a mountain. Above, you could see the precious moon and stars, which I found out was controlled by Celestia’s sister Luna, and how they glistened in the sky. Looking at the Badlands, I can see a few burning dead trees here and there, with a weird orange glow coming from some of the mountains. Lava most likely. I decided to strike up a conversation with Rex, since both of us didn’t feel like sleeping anytime soon.

“Soooo, from what you and Firewing told me, you have to be a certain color to be counted as a strong, fearful, dragon. Yet, your still in a hoard, even though your scales are...” I turned to face him, to see that he had a grieving look on his face. “....white.” I finished lamely.

“Um... everything ok buddy?” I said, walking up to him and putting my hand on his shoulder. He seemed like he was about to cry, but I remembered that dragons can’t cry tears, only blood, so I was a little worried if he might start crying blood. God, that must be freaky to see blood streaming down your face.

“Yah.... just remembering stuff is all...” He said, staring at his own hands. Oh god, is he really going to play the ‘regretful past’ card? I don’t even do that shit! GROW A PA.....

“I’m just remembering how my father treated me, and how I was banished from his hoard for just being an ‘insignificant son’.” He continued, now looking at the luna’s moon, with his feet dangling over the cliff.

….. Right, forget I was about to say anything then.

“Want to talk about it?” I questioned lamely, sitting next to him over the cliff. Seriously, I’m not really good at talking anything personal with any other people except for my brother, and even that’s on rare occasions.

“Do you really want to listen about my past?” He said, giving me an ‘Are you serious?’ look. Should I be honest, or just keep lying like my ‘amnesia’?

“Not really, but it's best to at least let it out to someone, so I’ll just pretend that I am while nodding my head up and down.” I replied back with a grin. Brutally honest it is!

We both chuckled for a bit, till he sighed and looked like he was about to tell a long story. I should have brought some gems to eat if he was going to talk during the whole night.

******************(Warning: Long backstory incoming)******************

“Well, it all started back when I was born about 130 years ago...”He started. WHAT??? HE’S ABOUT 130 YEARS OLD??? I thought he would still be pretty young, even though dragons live for a few millenia.

Rex ignored my surprised face and continued. “The great horde, as it was called, lived in the more center region of these lands, where the majority of the volcano and dragons are. My father was the leader of the horde, a red and purple dragon named Arkose, who took great pride in his horde and how he ran it. He had multiple mates, my mother being the first one out of all of them.”

“My mother, Seyr, was a beautiful creature, with green and pink scales that adorned her body. She was his first love, and soon they were to have a child, me. Even before I was born, they named me Rex, hoping that one day I would take over his place..... that is, until I was born.”

“When I was born, there was no other creatures nearby, other than my father, mother, and a pony doctor who volunteered to help with the birth. We were all alone at the bottom of the horde’s mountain, in a cave to have no unwanted visitors. My father was so anxious to finally have his first born, someone who would take control of his horde. Well he was, until I finally came out of my mother’s womb.... and my father saw my white scales.”

“He was devastated that his first born, his successor, has white scales, a color that is not even close to leadership. Heck, it’s not even a color at all. He ignored me, thought I was a nuisance and a bad sign for the days to come. My father didn’t want anyone to know about his ‘abomination’, so he told the rest of the horde that I died in a miscarriage and that my mother is grief stricken and wishes to stay in the cave, while in actuality, my mother was taking care of me and watching over me. The pony doctor that was there was threatened by my father, that if told a single soul about this, the great horde will attack his village with no mercy.”

“I learned all I could from my mother, from what to eat to how to fly, while my father didn’t even recognize me as his son, just kept calling me ‘It’. He didn’t even talk to my mother.... until he wanted to try again. When I was 33 year old, the horde only thought of me as a stranger that joined the horde, though none of them even accepted me. That was when I found out I was about to have a sibling.”

“ Soon, me, my mother, and the same pony doctor who helped with my birth, were all in the same cavern, awaiting for my now known sister to be born. My father was there, though he never made eye contact with me. When my mother gave birth to her, my father was overjoyed to see that the baby had all black scales, a sign of a great dragon.... Until the doctor said that she was blind and that she might not live that long as the other dragons. My father than just gave up, and left my mother for another mate.”

“My sister was still known as his daughter, while I was just the ‘outcast’ of the horde. Some of the dragons just kept wondering why I was even part of their ‘oh-so-great’ horde. Some even threatened me to leave. Others actually taking actions, and before I know it, I’m surviving everyday against at mountain, surviving as much as I can just to live the next day. However, out of the ‘kindness’ of his black heart, my father banished me and my sister, away from the horde and our mother, when I was 64 years old, and my sister only 31."

“We survived on what we could, either finding our own food or stealing from other dragons. I usually did all the work, while sis just stays and hides. After about 6 years of this, we actually found something remarkable, our long lost Grandfather, Firewing.”

He looked back inside the cave at the sleeping elder inside, and couldn’t help but smile a toothy smile. “At first, I thought he was just a crazy old dragon, telling random stories about ‘the good old days’, until Safyre said that he was related to us. My sister may be blind, but can see more than others. She needs... no.... she DEPENDS on her magic to live. She says she learned something from our mother before she left, something to help her see who is who. I don’t know how it works really, but I trusted her when she said that was our gramps. So from then on, we were traveling with our gramps, learning all kinds of history from him, like the gryphon war.” He turned his head back on at the glowing orange light coming from the volcanoes in the distance.

“I admit, I wasn’t really fond of him at first, with him yapping away about the whole history of Equestria and how he knew Celestia way back when....”

Wait what? Firewing knows Celestia? Dang, is Celestia really that old, heck, even older than that dragon? Heh, small world. Maybe a LONG time ago, they were buddies or something. Makes me wonder though, if this world really is like the tv show. From what Rex says, dragons have it really REALLY rough. I wonder if gryphons, diamond dogs, or hell, even ponies have it as rough as this. Wait, why, out of all of what he said so far, did this interest me to ignore the rest of his stor.....Oh shit, Rex is still talking, I hope I didn’t miss too much...

“.... And that was how Equestria was made.” He finished with a toothy smile.

….......

Shit....

….........

I feel like I missed something really important in that short moment of time....

“Anyways, thanks for listening. I do actually feel better.” Rex started to get up. “I think I’m gonna hit the sack. Tomorrow you get to meet MY horde. Should be pretty fun to see you meet them. Just don’t make fun of Sludge if you know what’s good for you.” With that, Rex went into the cavern, and went to sleep against a stalagmite.

…..

Eh, I‘ll find out what I missed later.

Heh... So this is what I’m doing, going to meet a horde of dragons led by a banished dragon, while my brother is probably off somewhere in danger. What if he turned into a pony like he wanted, but landed here in the badlands?

…...

No stop thinking like that, he’s probably fine.

….......

Shit, I got to find him now, but I don’t know where to start.

Looking back at the cave, I tried to distract my mind from the worst case scenarios, like what I was going to do once I do find Drew. Maybe I can hang with these dragons for awhile.... They don’t seem that bad actually, compared to some of the humans back home. Like Adam....

Leave him alone Adam!

Like hell I will! Just give me the money, and everyone leaves happy!

If I find even a single hair cut off from Drew I swear.....

Yah. Yah. Just hand over the briefcase if you want to see you ‘precious brother’.

You’ll regret threatening me and my brother...

It’s a good thing that pest is taken care of.... but why did I have that dream then.... I really hope I don’t see that shit-face ever again. I might just lose it....

“Heh. Look at me, remembering my past.” I looked up to the moon, thinking that maybe that other princess could hear me. “I really hope that Celestia takes good care of you like I do for Drew,” I look at my hands near my knees. “and I really hope that I can at least find Drew before anything bad happens to him.” With that, I decided to get up and get some rest as well. My last thoughts before falling into slumber was back at the lake, imagining the fun me and Drew would have had if we weren’t interrupted.

“Come on Drew. Hurry! We’re going to be late to Shiningstar’s party!”

“I’m coming Sol! I’m still not use to these wings, so I’m trying!”

“Do I really have to keep teaching you how to properly fly? You look more like a chicken falling from a cliff than a pegasus flying.”

“HEY! I’M NOT A SCOOTALOO!”

“Scoota-what now? You’re talking crazy again...”

“And I’m proud of it! Hehehehehe...”

“HAHAHAHA. Well, looks like we’re here...... Oh boy.”

“Damn, I thought I was going to avoid her at the party. What are we going to....”

“Hello Sol...... and Drew.”

“Hey there.... Sharp-wing... he... hehe.”

*SNIFF*

“I see you didn’t make it home last night.”

“I... what? Whatever Sol, just get inside.”

“Thank you.”

*CLOP CLOP* (Walking, not what you think..... perverts.)

“Thanks for that Sol.”

“No problem. What are friends for! Oh boy. Here comes mister grumpy pants. I’ll take care of him.”

“Be careful...”

“Ahhhh. Stone-edge, here we are again.”

“This is a party, Sol. I don’t want you or that thing disturbing the other guests.”

“Right right... *Sniff sniff*..... and is your wife away from long?”

“Oh don’t pretend you worked that out. Somepony told you that.”

“Your deodorant told me that.”

“...... My deodorant?”

“It’s for stallions.”

“Well of course it’s for stallions! I’m wearing it!”

“So is Sharp-wing over there.”

“.......... Now look. Whatever your trying to imply...”

“I’m not implying anything. I’m sure Sharp-wing just came around for a nice little chat and happened to stay over........... and I assume she scrubbed your floors, judging by the state of her knees.”

“...........”

“Have fun now!”

“.......Dude....... THAT WAS AWESOME!!!”

“Thank you, thank you!”

“I’m glad you’re my friend so I don’t have to face your deduction ability.”

“It’s my cutie-mark after all!"

"HAHAHAHAHA...... Hey Sol, what do you think that thing is in the sky?"

“I don’t know. That looks like a boat but with two giant balloons attached to it. Kinda looks like a ship the dragon hunter's.....”

*BANG*

“WHAT IN TARTARUS WAS THAT?”

“I think that was the ship!”

“Why would they attack....”

*Shrieeeeeeek*

“ATTENTION ALL RESIDENTS OF DRAGON’S GATE! WE ARE HERE TO APPREHEND A PEGASUS BY THE NAME OF DREW! IF YOU DO NOT RESPOND WITHIN TWO MINUTES, WE SHALL BEGIN SEARCHING FOR HIM OURSELVES, DESTROYING EACH HOME WE COME ACROSS! THIS IS YOUR FIRST AND ONLY WARNING!”

“........Why..... Why are they after me? I didn’t do anything wrong!”

“Do you think it’s because they know your.... you know.... not really a pony?”

“I don’t know...... I just really wish Will was here to help. He would usually help solve things like this. He's actually a fast thinker if he’s determined”

*FWOOSH*

“Nothing can save you now..... little pony....”

A/N: Hello everyone! Just wanna say that this chapter...... I don’t know, it just feels off to me. No matter how many times I rewrite it, it still comes off weird. Oh well, I guess it’s the explanation of the world and Rex’s backstory that really got me. I added a few random things to it, but.... eh oh well. Anyways, the next chapter will hopefully have more action in it. See you then!

Chapter 7: Obstacles

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Chapter 7

“Wait wait..... So one thousand years ago, Celestia sent her OWN SISTER..... to the moon?” I asked in disbelief. I am SO going to have to talk to Celestia on how to properly treat siblings.

“Well, Princess Luna was corrupted into Nightmare Moon because of a evil being known as the ‘Nightmare’. Nightmare Moon then tried to have the world into an eternal night, and to rule Equestria all by herself.” Firewing explained to me. “Princess Celestia had to make a very hard decision at the time: Either protect all of her kingdom and her little ponies from Nightmare Moon using the elements of harmony herself, or try and reason with a possessed goddess. She made the decision to save all her little ponies, but the princess was devastated by having to lose her sister. That is until recently, when Nightmare Moon escaped and the new elements of harmony users used the elements to turn Nightmare Moon back into Princess Luna.”

Wow........ This world’s history is kinda fucked up for a little girls show..... I really wish I was back home watching it now. Still, those... Element of Harmony? I’m kinda curious on how those work. Maybe if I ask nicely, Celestia will let me see them.

Before I could ask more about how he knew so much about Equestrian history, I smelt a very distinct smell of...

“Smoke? Is there a barbecue going on nearby? No, smells more.... deadly. I can’t place my finger on it... What do you think Rex?” I asked the white dragon, as he was lazily flying backwards.

“Hmmmm, I smell it too. In fact....” He then turned and flew straight up to see if there was any signs for the unusual smell. Now, in the Badlands, there’s usually always smoke and fire in the lands, but where we were walking, we were in the Equestrian border, almost to Rex’s hoard. From my understanding, Equestria has green grass and clear blue skies, nothing about smoke nearby. So that’s why it was a surprise, that while Firewing was telling me more of Equestrian history, I started to smell the smoke..... but from where?

“I see smoke.” Rex shouted as he was making himself back down to ground level. “It’s due south-west from here. I could easily reach there by air.” He seemed to be thinking about something as he looked between me and the direction of the smoke. “Hey gramps, think you can take Komodo here to the hoard, you know and introduce him to the gang. I’m gonna quickly take a peek on what's going on.” Oh hell no.

“Like hell I’m going.” I said, standing my ground. “I’m just as curious as you about this and no offense, but I rather not meet a whole hoard without its leader around. So I’m sticking with you.” Ok, that was bullshit. I really just have hope that the village would have Drew alive in it. Doesn’t hurt to try looking for him now right. I just hope he’s not the reason for the fire...

Rex examined me, debating whether he should bring me or not. Firewing looked like it didn’t really matter for him, as long as he still went back to the hoard to get some rest for his wings. They started to look much better than when I first saw them, but still looks like they are unable to fly.

“Alright then. Gramps, think you could tell the hoard I’m going to be a bit late, and that we might also have a new potential member with us.” Wait really?

For a few moments, all there was between the three of us was silence, until the elder finally spoke. “If that’s what you believe is for the best. I’ll tell the others, just don’t be gone for too long or Safyre might start to worry, and you know how she gets when she starts to worry.” He then started his trek towards the hoard.

Rex then turned and glared at me,and spoke when Firewing was out of earshot. “So you really don’t remember anything other than your name?” Oh shit! He’s on to me! ABANDON SHIP! ABANDON SHIP!

“Nope, not a thing.” I said, keeping the best poker face I could muster. “Other than what happened after I crashed, I don’t seem to remember anything much about this place.” Partial truth, I really don’t know much about this whole darn world other than what they told me.

“All right then.” Rex then turned and flared out his wings. “If you can’t beat me to the smoke, then you’ll just have to start walking back towards the hoard." The hell! I can't even fly! That so bull! "I’ll even give you an hint, use the dragon language.”

With that, Rex then said some rather peculiar words.

“Ieiumium volans”

That’s what I heard at first, till my mind started to understand what he was saying.

‘Fast flying!’

Duh fuck? What was that.... I actually understood what he said! That... that sounds like latin a bit actually... is that the ‘dragon language’ as he said.... I should try and use it as well... HEY WHERE DID HE GO?

As it turns out, when I was figuring out how I understood his words, he was now flying fast towards the smoke, taking a huge head start.

That bastard!!

Quick, think of some latin.....

….........

…..........

I don’t know any..........

….......

Well shit.

NO WAIT! I remember a language professor back at college. He was very strict and always demanded that we go faster. When he got really mad though, he started to speak latin, which was just really funny to me cause no one knew the insults he was trying to say. What was the word for speed though.....

“Is it... ‘accelero?’” I said, tempting fate. I felt different for a bit, until the feeling died away fast.

“I could have sworn it was ’accelero’. Maybe I have to say it a few more times. Accelero. Accelero. Accelero! Accel....” I continued to shout the word, starting to feel a growing difference in my body. When I finally stopped after feeling ridiculous for saying the same useless word over and over again, I noticed that my black shield were starting to glow brightly in the sun. What’s the deal with that?

“Ok, forget this. It’s obviously not working. I might as well just start run- HOLY SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!” I screamed as I just brought my foot down on the ground to begin my run towards Rex, only to have me blasting off at a breakneck speed. Thinking back, I realized when I kept on saying ‘Accelero’, I was apparently stacking up the energy for it in my shields, and when I finally used an action, this being running, I unleashed all that pent up energy from my shield, making me move at an un-FREAKING-imaginable speeds.

At first, I was freaking out as I kept on running, sometimes smacking into branches, breaking them off as I sped past them. Soon, I got my bearings and was laughing like a maniac. I mean COME ON, this speed is just so FUCKING COOL. I’m like Sonic with this speed! Hey wait is that Rex? Oh fuck yeah. Payback.

I was now focusing on catching up to the flying, cheating white dragon, who was within my sights and closing in. I was dodging as best as I could from trees, rocks, and the occasional animal that happened to be in my path. Thank god these animals are smart enough to get out of my way, else they would be roadkill.

I was soon under Rex, him being oblivious that I was even near him. I then shot past him, passing through a small clearing in the woods. I looked behind me to see his shocked look all over his face, probably not believing I’m actually going this fast. Then again, I barely am either. Hmmmm, lets rub it in his face at least.

“Your too slow!” I teased, bringing my thumb up to my nose and sticking my tongue out at him. Hehehe and they say you never really learn anything from video games. TAKE THAT, OVERPROTECTIVE PARENT!

Apparently all that did was push Rex to go faster, with a smirk and a large flap of his wing, he was now flying next to me. Oh hell yes, now its a race!

Neck and neck, we were now glaring at each other with a smirk on his face and a huge grin on mine. This is freaking fun! Oh my god! I don’t even remember why I was even running so fast. I could just keep running like this fore...

*WHACK*

…......

…........

….....

So... much.... pain......

…....

Fucking tree.

I should have watch where I was going, because if I do the math right: High speed + Stare off against Rex + Tree= Face first into said tree.... with my snout stuck in the bark.

I could hear Rex laughing like an absolute idiot behind me. I would have socked him if my face wasn’t stuck in the DAMN TREE! Maybe I should work on controlling my damn speed before continuing to do something like that... GOD I wish I could just burn this stupid tree. GET OUT OF THE TREE YOU STUPID NOSE!!

***********************************************************************

After 10 mins of me cussing, bashing, then finally burning the tree with my fire hands, Rex and I were finally starting to get close to the smoke. We decided to both walk towards it to rest up after that little race we had, which I won by a nose (Thank you! I’ll be here all week). We were finally close to the smoke that we could start to feel heat coming from behind the last hill. Walking to the top, we were finally able to see the reason for the smoke.......

….....................and it was a horror to behold.

***********************************************************************

‘Welcome to Dragon’s gate’ was what the broken stone sign said. The village itself looked anything but welcoming. Fires was everywhere: in the forest, around the stone gates, in the homes and buildings of the residents.

Well, now ex-residents. There were bodies littered all over the streets. Most of the bodies were that of ponies, the few exception being griffons and diamond dogs.

These bodies though.... were just gruesome. Most were on the floor, some being on the roofs of these homes, and they were just.... broken, torn, split in half, or just ashes.

As I walked through the the streets, watching the desolation of the fire engulf the village, everything felt like it was in slow-motion. There was what looks like a blue pegasus pony pulling her mate, a purple unicorn, through the streets, until a sudden explosion burst right in between the two. Their cries were mute to my ears, but I can see the horror look on the female’s face as she was separated from, what I presumed, was her lover. That is until a second explosion wiped both of the innocent ponies into oblivion.

I could have saved them....

They never did anything for you....

Doesn’t mean I couldn’t have tried.....

Too late now....

The smoke from the fire was filling the streets as well as all of the blood of the innocent. I saw random explosions happen all around me as I continued to go through the town. I was running now, not wanting to be like that poor couple that exploded near me. I took a right turn into an alley between two houses, hoping that I could avoid any other catastrophes. All those bodies....... All that blood....... I can't keep thinking about it or else I'll.....

*BLAAAAARG*

....... I've been known to have a strong stomach and have seen some very gruesome things, but this was just too much. I was now holding myself up with the wall, leaning over a now filled trash can as I try to forget what I just say.

"Hey, you ok?" I heard a familiar scratchy voice said close by. I responded by releasing more of my now empty stomach.

I was still trying to understand why all this chaos was happening. What's the cause of it all? Who is doing this? Why here? Why now? and more importantly....

"Why are we here?" I asked once I was able to catch my breath. Is it because I believe Drew will be here? I hope that not true anymore..... I don't want him to see all of this mayhem. Or be a part of it.

"We're here to see the cause of all of this smoke, but then you decided to run straight in this town. So I just followed you." He then looked towards the end of the alley from where we entered. "Shame about these villagers though. Last I remember, they never really cared about race here. Ponies, griffons, diamond dogs, even dragons were welcomed here, but by the looks of it, there are none that might survive this attack."

"Who the hell is attacking this village?" I was starting to get my bearings now, and my rage was returning as well.

"I didn't get a good look, but I believe there's an airship somewhere up there called the 'Avalon'. Could be those griffon pirates I heard so much about...... No this isn't their style..... so what if..." Rex's thinking was interrupted by loud screech followed by a voice from above.

*SCREEEEEEECH*

"Attention Dragon's Gate! Since you have failed to still bring in what we have wanted, we now have no choice but to erase your whole town from the face of Equestria! You all still have another 10 minutes till my patience wears thin. Do not take us for granted!"

..........

That damn voice...... That damn sword pony!

ITS THOSE FUCKING DRAGON SLAYERS!!!

WHY IN ALL HELL WOULD THEY ATTACK THEIR OWN PONY VILLAGE JUST TO FIND A STUPID.......

.......

What the hell do they even want?

"Well we know who and why now." Rex said, flaring out his wings again. "I don't usually do this, but this is actually a nice village and I really REALLY hate these dragon slayers. Komodo, help me evacuate all the remaining survivors to the hill we were just at, then we can take care of these idiots." He then shot up out of the alley and went towards a random direction.

I continued out of the alley on the other side to see a green pony child (a colt I believe), crying over two splinter filled ponies, while in a broken, unstable house that had the front half blown off. The house itself looked like it was barely standing itself, the only thing supporting it was a single wooden support beam, and by the sound of it, it was going to break any sec.

"HEY KID! Get out of there! The house is going to break any minute!" The kid apparently did hear me or didn't want to. He was still weeping over what I presumed to be his now deceased parents. I heard the beam over him *CRACK* as the roof of the house slowly start to fall.

I WON’T LET THIS ONE DIE!

”Accelero. Accelero! Accel...” I kept on shouting, hoping I could get to the kid fast. Lets just hope I am fast enough though, or else I'll see more innocent beings die....

*CRASH*

“Hey kid...... this shit is really heavy as fuck...... think you can move out of the way now?”

I.....I actually made it...... I was now covering the kid with my body, my shield arms protecting him from getting any dust on him, while my body was covered with the roof and house debri. The only thing that wasn’t covered was my neck and face, which was now staring intently for the kid to move so I can get this all this wood and stone off me without harming him.

“Why....... “ The kid asked softly, still staring at his parent’s unmoving body. Why what? Why did I save you? Cause I really hate to see a kid cry or be sad. That’s why....

“Why did they have to die?” The kid finished as he then proceeded to cry with all his tear and might. Shit.... I don’t have time for this, this is getting extremely heavy now.......

…....

Sorry kid, but this is for you own good.

I did the best I could think of doing at the time: Grabbing the kid with my teeth from beneath my body, then tossing him ahead, away from the broken down house..... and his family.

I then lifted myself off, with the debri falling off my body as I roared. That.... was..... a heavy house. I then realized what I’ve done.....

I buried the child’s parents underneath all that rumble.....and the fire is now engulfing their bodies....

“NOOOOOO...” The kid shouted, limping his way to the now burning rumble. “DON’T GO! MOMMY! DADDY!! PLEASE NO!!!” I grabbed the kid before he could get himself hurt from the blazing fire....

“Rex!” I shouted towards the smoky sky, hoping for the white dragon to hear me. Soon, Rex flew down at high speeds, but stopped himself from crashing to the ground. His usually white scales were now covered in soot and black scorch marks.

“What is it?” He sounded very aggravated.

“This kid here, I need you to take him to the hill.” I handed him the crying child, hoping to get him out of all this destruction. “I’m afraid if he’s an orphan now.” Rex was surprised at first, then went to his calm face.

“Lets get you to safety, little one.” With that, Rex was off with the child screaming to be back with his parents.

….....

Poor kid....

….....

He didn’t need to see any of this......

I’ll make these damn assholes pay.

I walked down the street I was in to see three shadows in the smoke. One was a griffon, another a pony, and the last was that of a diamond dog.

*SWISH*

…....

Or half of a diamond dog.

“Stupid dog, made me look bad.” I heard a voice said.

The smoke soon cleared in the streets, revealing the shadows to be that of those damn dragon slayers. It was the griffin and the sword pony, Lancelot. By the looks of it, the diamond dog was just another civilian here, and since Lancelot didn’t get what he wanted, he took care of it.

The griffon then turned his head at my direction, going wide eyed at first, then an evil grin appeared across that stupid face of his. I swear he reminds me of the stupid old man back at the lake.

“Well lookie here. Seems we found that shield dragon again. You think we should tell him what we finally found, Lancelot?” The griffon turned to the earth pony, who was now staring directly at me.

What was weird was that when I looked at Lancelot, there was a green aura around him. Was that his anger? His power? I remember seeing that type of aura before..... but from where?

Lancelot just stayed quiet, his coat and armor now dirtied from the fire and smoke, staring at me with his red eyes...... wait, when were they red?

“I’ll take that as a yes then.” Heck replied, looking back towards me. “We finally found what we were looking for, and now we’re just cleaning up so no one knows what happened here. A certain drake told us you know who we have with us. A certain pegasus that goes by the name of Drew?”

…...........

….............

…...........

They have Drew........

And did all this damage just to find him.......

…........

…...........

….........

…..........

I’ll kill them...

I’LL KILL THEM ALL!!!

I’LL MAKE THEM BURN!!!

“Make peace with your gods.....” I said in an unusually calm voice. It was only temporarily though.

“BECAUSE I’M COMING FOR YOU NECKS!!!!!”

I flared my hands with the black flames, and ran with what leftover speed magic I had in my shields. I was making a mad dash at these assholes, and I swear on my life, I’m going to make them talk.....

…...Hell, even make them scream till they say mercy, and then......

…. I WON’T GIVE IT TO THEM!!!

"NO MERCY!!!"

Chapter 8: Knowing the Enemy

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CHAPTER 8

A/N: Quick heads up, I didn't really have this chapter proofread yet, so I know there will be some errors. I just decided to give this to all of you before I left for awhile....again... ENJOY!

~~~ Rex’s Perspective ~~~

“Shhhhhh. It’s ok little pony, it’s ok..” I said to the still crying colt. I was now starting to land on the hill, where other evacuated villagers were gathered.

“*Sniff* Why did they have to go?” The child whimpered. Poor kid, lost his family, his home, basically his whole life just because of this raid. What reason though, for an important artifact or something? These dragon hunters are going to regret ever attacking this village.

Landing on a clear spot on the hill, I slowly lowered myself until I was on a nice patch of grass. Great, now what do I do with the kid? I still have to help out evacuate the rest of the town. Damn it, why do I have to do this?

Before I could answer myself, a rough, stallion-sounding voice interrupted my thoughts. “Squall? What are you with that dragon? Where’s your mother and father?” I turned and looked to see a brown coat, black mane earth pony, making his way up the hill towards us. I set the young colt down so that he can be with someone familiar at least.

“Uncle Edge......There gone... Mama and papa are gone...” The kid then ran towards the stallion and hugged him with his forearms and wings, crying his eyes out again on the uncle’s shoulder. The uncle’s face was that of pure shock, with his green eyes wide and his mouth ajar, I couldn’t help but look away from the saddening scene before me.

Looking at the others on the hill with us, there wasn’t really many survivors with us. Most must still be in the village, alive or dead. The survivor had smoke and wreckage in their hairs and coats. Some were bleeding from the multiple blasts, others coughing from the immense amount of smoke. All were mental scared though for the lost of loved ones and the lost of their home.

“Why are they doing this? All just for that stupid half-pony?” I heard the uncle said. A half-pony? Is that who they want for all this?

Before I could ask who the Half-pony was, I heard an explosion behind, with a sudden earthquake... What the tartarus is going on?

I turned to look over the broken village to see that the west side of “Dragon’s gate” now burning with a new fire that is slowly engulfing the entire village. I soon heard scared and concern voices coming from the villagers behind me. Shit, what’s going on?

*BOOM*

Another one?

“NO MERCY!!!”

Was that Komodo? Oh no please don’t tell me that.....

*BOOOM*

The new fire suddenly turned black with the third explosion, burning more buildings in its path. Komodo, whatever you’re doing.....

Without a second thought, I flared out my wings flew back into the smoky skies....

As I left the hill to go help my fellow drake, I heard the uncle’s words echo in my head.

“Why must the innocent suffer for something they haven’t caused?”

I don’t know...

************************************************************************

~~~ Sparky’s Perspective ~~~

“What did we do to deserve this?” Flare asked his comrades.

“Treason. That’s why.” Mix snapped back. He was definitely getting annoyed for still being in the same situation as us. Being tied up didn’t help him get any happier, either.

“For what? Not wanting to attack a pony village. OUR OWN VILLAGE! The same village we all grew up in, Mix. Shoot, we even met Lancelot here as well! That’s where we made that oath, after the second dragon raid.” Flare looked to me for support. “Remember Sparky? We swore by the princesses, that we would hunt down all those damn dragons, to protect this village and our loved ones.”

Flare’s usually cheeriness suddenly vanished as he looked at his own hooves that were dangling off his body, barely touching the floor.

“So... Why would Lancelot go against his own oath because of some money? That’s not his way. Mix’s way sure, but not Lancelot.”

“Just....Shut up, Flare...” I said to the distressed unicorn. “Please.... just shut up about it.”

This was all really odd. Lancelot, the pony that would rather give up his life than turn on Equestria, was now destroying the very same village he swore to protect. Was it all because of all those damn bits? Was greed really the reason for him to turn on his promise? I blame that damn greedy gryphon, Heck. We trusted him, and he was the one who instantly wanted to go for the deal. When we all declined, that dragon wanted to talk Lancelot alone before we made any “brash decisions.” Then out of the bucking blue, Lancelot started agreeing with the damn drake. Heck was with him for the money, but Flare, Mix and I knew that it was wrong to endanger a whole village, for ONE dragon.

Now, we’re chained to the walls, in the jail room of our own airship, their horns magically cut off by rings, and my wings tied to my sides by more rusty chains. I can hear all the explosions from our cannons blasting away at the poor villagers, which even wonders me more how Lancelot, or that strange drake, was able to even convince our ace mechanic, Gearlock, who helped build this flying ship.... but never for this reason.

Flare stayed quiet, hearing all the fire and explosions from the village below us. He looked up at me from across the cell, and said “I wonder.... I wonder if Sol made it out alive.....” Heh... haven’t heard that name in awhile. He was one of us too, till he left us to help and stay protect the village, rather than attack the dragons with us. He was our friend, Flare’s cousin in fact, and now, for all we know, he could be part of the carnage going on.

*BOOM*

By Celestia’s beard? We don’t have enough firepower to make a big enough explosion like that! Did the villagers finally upgraded their defense? No, then they would have used it sooner. Maybe we attacked an expl-

“NO MERCY!!!”

….. That voice... is it really that shield dragon from before?

*BOOOM*

Is that dragon causing these new explosions? Such power, but should be expected from a dragon.

“Anger...”

“What?” Mix said to the broken unicorn.

“That dragon. He’s attacking in pure rage...” Well, no shit, Sherclop. “This rage though... is for family. This dragon, this Komodo, He’s fighting for somepony dear to him. Is the pegasus really worth this much trouble?” There he goes again with his ability to read feelings. With all my time spent with Flare, I never really could understand how he does it, even with his magic cut off. Well, it is his cutie-mark.

“From what I could gather before being thrown in here, this pegasus is what that dragon needs to be “free”, whatever that means.” Mix answered. “So he must be pretty important to these dragons. Tsk, still think we should have stayed out of it, even if the money was tempting.”

“Too late for that now.” I responded. The others turned their heads towards me, wondering what else I was about to say. “Now... we wait out the storm...

and pray to celestia that the village, and Lancelot, are still intact by the end of it.”

***********************************************************************

~~~ Sol’s perspective ~~~

This is bad.

This is very very bad.

I turn back from Drew for a sec, then that celestia damn griffon comes out of nowhere and takes him! Now I have no idea where they even went!

Soaring through the smoky skies, I try and see if there would be any logical reason as to why they would take Drew. Maybe they were hired? But then they would have left already since the ship is still here firing. Did Drew piss anyone off? No, he’s a happy kid that tries to do good. Besides, he never left the village ever since he arrived here. This is so Confusing. I could have sworn I heard some explosions and somepony saying something around this district, but I can’t seem to find anyp-

“Help! Please! I’m stuck!”

Is that it? No, it’s a different voice, but somepony still needs help!

I just need to go find help, and then-

“We swear, by the princesses, that we, The Guardians, would do all we can to protect this village, Equestria and all creatures, from all harmful dragons!”

…....

Celestia damn it!

Beating my wings, I head towards the distress call of, by the sound of it, a mare in agony. Landing near what was once the village bakery, I search and look through the rubble and smoke to find the said mare. With the intensity of the heat, and my focus on searching for the mare, I wasn’t initially able to notice the change of the fire’s color.

“Where are you?” I cried out, trying to find the trapped mare.

A voice responded, sounding closer than anticipated, coming from a building to my right. “Hello? Is there actually somepony there? Oh praise Celestia! I’m near the-”

*BOOOM*

An armor wearing pony came crashing through a burning building to my right, having the said household collapse on itself. Covering my eyes from the dust that was forming, I turned my head to see that the fallen pony was... Lancelot?

…..

WHAT IS HE DOING HERE?

Lancelot should be in Canterlot, trying out to be a royal guard, not here in this mess!

When the dust settled, I looked back to see a red dragon with twin black shields on its arms, standing atop of the debri of what was once a house. What was really odd was that he had raven-colored flames covering his hands, rather than just blowing fire like the rest of the dragons. Is he part of this attack too?

I notice that there is no more sounds coming from the once trapped mare. That must mean that the mare was in the house.... meaning I failed...

“IS THAT ALL YOU GOT?!?” A voice shouted from the smoke above. Suddenly, 3 arrows shot through the smoky skies, aiming for the raging dragon’s head. The dragon brought up his shield up to his face, blocking the incoming arrows... only for Lancelot to tackle him back behind the rubble, leaving me alone in the middle of the broken streets, staring at what just happened.

…..

“What?!?”

Descending from the black clouds, a griffon appeared with a quiver of arrows oh his back and a bow and arrow in hand. He landed in front of me, a smirk on his face, as he said “Listen, walking glue-stick, I suggest you get going before that fight comes back here, and believe me, that crazed pony that attacked that dragon? Yah, he won’t care for collateral damage, so you better hurry or else you’ll end up like that mare under all that wood and nails? Comprende?”

He knew that mare was trapped down there and he didn’t do anything about it? Who does this griffon think he is? Besides, I know what Lance is capable of and I also know he wouldn’t be going around and destroying this town or the ponies in it. Somethings not right and this griffon knows what’s going on I bet. Better follow him in secret.

“Uh... y-yes sir...” I stuttered. “I... I don’t want end up like her, no sir. I’ll get g-g-get going now.” Thank celestia for acting classes. With that said and done, I hightailed it outta there, flying into the smokes to avoid being seen by the griffon. Once I sure I was out of his line of sight, I went to the nearest roof and roof hoped to where I just left, having the smoke be my ally of the shadows.

When I was on the roof of our village’s tailor shop, closest to where I last left, I spotted the rageful dragon battling out with Lancelot and the griffon from earlier.

And by the princess, that dragon looked like it was never going to stop till it gets what it wants.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~ Komodo’s perspective ~~~

Hehehe, never thought this battle would escalate this quickly. This... this is getting pretty fun actually. So much destruction... so much fire... Hell even that damn dragon slayer is making this interesting. I couldn’t help but chuckle at this. Me, actually enjoying destruction? I hardly even recall doing such things. But this was just so fun to do. Hell, I threw the guy through a damn house! Tell me thats not kickass. Maybe I could continue doing this even after I finish off this damn horse.

NO! I have to find Drew and make sure he’s safe. Just need to focus on finishing this fight, have them tell me where they took him, find him, and then..... well, I’ll figure out more when I come to it. For now, these damn dragon slayers.

Panting from the battle, I look back at Lancelot to see that he was leaning against his sword, breathing heavily as well from the fight. This fight’s been going on for awhile now and I have a feelings it won’t be stopping anytime soon. I need to find out where this guy’s weak point is though, but I can’t really tell. He was very quiet though, much more than when I first met him.

Soon the damn griffon landed next to him, with his bow drawn and aiming for me. Probably gonna try and hit for my face again.

*SWOOSH*

That fucker.....

If it weren’t for these shields, I probably would’ve taken quite a beating by now. Lowering my shields from blocking my face, I tried to think of what my next move should be. It’s obvious I have to stay and fight, so running isn’t an option. I guess I just have to beat them senseless until I can get information out of them. Then I could leave them to the villagers to let them take care of these ass-clowns...

During this whole stand still, I was muttering under my breath ‘accelero’, to help recharge my shield. Fun little fact, I don’t always need to keep saying it, I just need to keep saying a certain latin for a few times (20 being the most so far) and it will charge up, each word increasing the duration and strength of the magic, then I just unleash it all. Lets just say its been really helpful to not keep muttering latin while focusing on a fight.

Taking one more breath, I prepare myself into a fighting stance, looking directly in sword pony’s red eyes. He noticed me, and got up himself, preparing for another round. This should be easy, just need to knock these two out.

“Bring it on, you overgrown salamander!” The griffon taunted, drawing out his bow for another shot.

…...

I only need one of them alive to know where Drew is, right?

[Quick! A wild song has appeared! Click it so the fight sounds more epic!]

Keeping this in mind, I shot forward at the two dragon slayers, releasing all that pent up speed, cocked back my flaming fist, and aimed right for the sword pony’s head. Lancelot brought up his sword to block the damage, but the force of the punch and my speed brought us crashing through another household, having it collapse behind us as we exited the broken building.

Getting back up, I spied Lancelot swinging down his sword over his head. I bring my shield up to parry his attack, then using my free hand, jabbed Lancelot right in the gut, having Lancelot collapse from the loss of air.

Believing that I won the match, I stand at full height to look down at the fallen pony, thinking he was down for the count. Even if he recovered, he now has a nasty scorch mark on his armor. Heh, too easy.

As if he read my mind, His eyes shot wide open, surprising me at how he quickly recovered from the jab. He grabbed for his sword and swung at my legs, attempting to attack while he had the chance. I jumped back to the best of my abilities, but he still managed to break a few scales and left a gash of blood on my left leg.

I landed on my back, feeling the burning pain of blood on my leg slowly drip out. I look back to see the damn pony was now gonna try and cut my gut with that stupid sword of his.

Like hell that will happen!

I grab one of his back legs, tripping him on the spot and burning his leg as well. His sword was now on the ground right next to me. I pick myself up and grabbed the sword before he could recover again. I aimed it at his neck, as he glared back at me.

“Not so strong without your sword, are ya?”

As if fate loved to keep proving me wrong, a sudden crystal appeared underneath my foot, tipping me off balance and dropping the sword.

I get up to see that Lancelot was up as well, with a pendant around his neck glowing an omnius green. Before my eyes, green crystal shards were appearing from the ground near him and around his feet. His scorched feet was soon encased in the green crystal.

I couldn’t believe it. Earth ponies aren’t suppose to use this powerful magic. I better have been told good info from Firewing or I am so gonna have a talk with him later.

The earth pony just Continued to glare at me with his red eyes. I swear something is up with him! It’s like he’s possessed or something.

Lancelot took a sudden step towards me as I got up and leaned on a wall for support. More crystals were slowly starting to come up, some even floating around him.

Before I could think of a new plan, He was now in front of me, grabbing me by the neck and bringing me down to stare at his face.

[End music here.]

“Wrong.” Lancelot sternly said as he brought back his free hoof. “Dead wrong”. His hoof was soon covered in the same green crystal.

Oh god this is gonna bruise.

[Another song has appeared! Click it! You know you want to.]

He brought his hoof straight towards my face, breaking my snout and having me flung back towards the ground. I was right! That hurt like a bitch!

Getting back up, I feel my face first to see that my snout is bent crooked. With a quick snap, I fixed my nose, though it hurt like hell when i did. I looked back at the pony and decided it was my turn to retaliate. I dashed at the dragon slayer, hoping to bring some real harm to him.

I bring both my black fire fists forward, only to have him bring his crystallized hoof to catch one and headbutt the other. This pony is insane! More crystals appeared underneath me tipping me off balance again and dropping to the floor on my back.

Looking up from my position, I see the pony slowly walking for me, looking as intimidating as possible. And damn is it working. I can’t fight a monster like him! And I’m a fucking dragon!

Are you really going to give up that easily?

No! But I sure as hell can’t beat that thing alone!

Do you honestly believe you’re here alone?

What are you talking about?

“HEY! DRAGON SLAYER! Forgetting something?” I heard a familiar scratchy voice said.

Oh thank god! Now Rex and I can die together! Oh so fucking joy!

….You’re really something, you know that?

Before I could retaliate to myself, the griffon from before suddenly dropped in between me and Lancelot, with his wings looking bent the wrong way and an arrow lodged in his chest. He looked like he was still breathing, albeit barely.

“I know what you and your friend were here for. Some half-pony named Drew, am I correct? Your associate there may be a griffon, but he sure can talk when given the proper motivation.” Rex said as he landed to my right, picking me up from the ground.

Lancelot didn’t say anything, just stared at Rex now, instead of me.

“I think I’ll be taking over the fight, Komodo. See if you can make that chicken talk anymore about where the pony is.” When I was stable enough to stand on my own, I nodded at the now smokey colored dragon, giving him the heads up to knock himself out.

With that he dashed at the crystal pony, and brought him up into the darkened skies, away from me and the village. I hope you can hold your own Rex.

[Song ends here]

[Music to help set the mood]

I look down at the broken griffon with his back on the floor. Seeing him like this was almost pitiful. Almost.

I grab my leg as I start to feel the sting of the cut come back. Not yet! not till I know where the hell drew is!

With a sharp kick to his ribs, I wake the griffon from his state of unconsciousness. Time for some answers.

“Where’s Drew?” I said, quickly getting to business. The griffon just stared at me with his mouth open and then turned his head to avoid answering. I am really starting to loose my patience!

“Where the hell is Drew?!?” I was raising my voice, hoping he could understand the kind of predicament he was in.

Scared, he kept his face away from me, but finally answered. “I... I don’t know. The weird dragon that hired us *COUGH* took him and left in all of this.” Weird dragon? Why would they want Drew?

“Ok, then tell me where the weird dragon is?”

“I don’t know. He never said what he would do with the pony. Just *COUGH COUGH* find the pony and kill you.” Kill me? Why am I part of this? Damn it! I need more answers!

“Ok, tell me this: your contractor! Who was it? The one that hired you, who told you to go after Drew and kill me. I want a name.”

“Nooo...” He sounded like he was dying. I’ll make him talk...

“Your dying, but there’s still time to hurt you. Give. Me. A. Name.”

All he could do was shake his head ‘no’. The hell with being nice! I want to know who the hell has Drew now! With new anger, I stomp on his arrow wound, making the griffon gasp for air from the sudden jolt of pain.

“A name!!” I shouted. “Now!!”

He still could only gasp for air as more pain was flowing through his body. Just answer the damn question! I’m getting tired of this shit already!

“THE NAME!!!”

“RAGNAROK!!!!”

With his last word screamed into the heavens, the griffon finally died from all the jolts of pain that were going through his beaten body. I could only stare right at the griffon's limp body underneath my feet.

Ragnarok.... That was only in my dream right? Only part of that nightmare from before....

He’s not real.... right?

“LET GO OF ME!”

“My my, aren’t you stubborn like your brother? I should have brought duct tape to hold that big mouth of yours.... Ah, we're here!”

“Where... where the hell are we?”

“You said it yourself.”

“What?”

“Welcome to hell, Drew! Or what these equestrians prefer to call it as “Tartarus”. Silly ponies.”

“This... this is h-h-hell?”

“Now now, don’t sound too scared. You’ll get used to it. You are taking over my place afterall.”

“What?!?”

“Oh, I didn’t mention that? Well, this hell cell was specifically made to keep a half-dragon in like me, but lady luck decided to bring you here, Drew, to replace me in the prison! Isn’t it wonderful that you couldn’t decide which creature to be, so discord gave you both! Half-pony, half-Dragon!”

“That was discord? But..... how can you tell?”

“Please, I know that chaos handy work anywhere. Why do expect I look like this? Now then, off you go!”

*CLANG*

“Get me out! I don’t want to be here! ARGHHHH”

“Good bye forever Drew! Enjoy eternal damnation! I know I have!”

“NO! ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! HELP! SOMEONE!! ANYONE!!!! HELP!!!!!!!! GAHHHHHHHHHH-”

“Hehehehehe. An eye for an eye, eh Will?”

[Hopefully the music ends here]

A/N: My my, quiet a scene we have going on eh? I do hope this pleases most of you, it was a bitch to write, that's for sure. BUT, REGARDLESS OF MY PAIN, I hope you enjoyed that chapter. NOW ONTO THE NEXT ONE!

Chapter 9: Human vs. Human

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Chapter 9

Back on the hill, the remaining survivors of the destruction could only watch as their own village, their own home, was being burned and destroyed by a still unknown force. The only thing the survivors know about the attackers is that they have a airship named Avalon, floating above their once peaceful village. The smoke from the fire was covering said ship though, obstructing its image from their sights. What was more odd though, was the sudden ceasefire from the cannons.

The ship itself seemed to stop firing on the already decimated village. What are they doing? Did they leave already? Does that mean it’s safe to go back to the village... well, what used to be the village.

On the top of the hill was the mayor of the town, Angel Hoofingten, overlooking at her once prized town. The young, white unicorn could only stare at the fire consuming her home and everypony in it. Tears flowed from her golden eyes as she knew that she could do nothing for this town now until the airship finally flies away.

She heard heavy hoofsteps stepping closer behind her, only to see it was Dragon’s gate’s own guard captain and her close friend, Stone-Edge, who seemed to be carrying a small foal on his back. The brown earth pony stopped next to the mayor, looking her right in the eyes.

“What should we do now, Ma'am?” The captain asked, waiting for his orders.

“...You can speak freely Stone. The town’s gone, and so is my position in it.” She responded solemnly.

“If you insist,” Stone then turned to the rest of survivors, looking over their sad expressions. “Who do you think is attacking us?”

“I don’t know...”

“Should we attack back?”

“I don’t know.....”

“Or should we just stay here like fools and die waiting for an answer?!?”

“I DON’T KNOW!” Angel shouted at the captain. She wasn’t used to these types of situations. The last event that caused catastrophe on Dragon’s Gate was the second dragon raid, when the last mayor was eaten by a big red dragon. The only reason they even survived that attack was because some ponies decided to attack back, with the Lancelot in the lead of the retaliation. If only they were here now.

*BOOM*

“OH FOR BUCKS SAKE!!” Angel screamed, having enough of this. She soon say the airship through the smoke, slowly losing altitude. Did something happen to...

Wait! We can use this to our advantage! We can see who’s attacking us!

“Captain Stone-Edge!” Angel said with sudden authority.

Hearing this new attitude come from the mayor, the captain stood at attention, ready for his orders. “Yes Ma’am!”

“Bring any pegasus you can find to help bring some clouds in and stop all this rain! Then take any surviving guards and as many volunteers that you can and go to where the airship is most likely to crash. The crew of the ship would most likely still be inside it, so I need you to go and arrest them for further questioning. Is that understood?”

“Yes Ma’am!” Stone-edge Saluted then went back down the hill to the remaining villagers. "Ok you lot.." Angel drowned out to rest of the captains barking words.

Angel looked back and the slowly crashing ship, seeing it lead to the center of the town. Angel closed her eyes and prayed to celestia that things can finally start to go back to order soon.

Lancelot, wherever you are, please help us.

~~~~~~~~~~ Meanwhile ~~~~~~~~~

“FUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCK-” WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED? One minute, I’m trying to understand what the hell that griffin said about Ragnarok, the next I see Rex and Lancelot duking it out and then crashing through the airship, WITH ITS CRASH COURSE AIMING RIGHT AT ME!

Now, I know what you're thinking: ‘Oh, but don’t you have your speed magic to help you move faster?’ Gee, Einstein, I never really thought of that. Let me just move real fucking fast with A DAMN LIMPED LEG AND BRUISES ALL OVER MY BODY TO AVOID THE DAMN THING! I’M SURE I’LL BE FAST AS HELL!!

I continued to limp away towards the right, being smart enough NOT to continue running straight with the ship following me. When I was at a distance away from the ship, I turned to see that it had finally landed neatly near the village...

*CRASH*

Ok, so the ship crashed into the town hall, which I’m presuming it to be the center of the village. I started to limp towards the intact ship, when suddenly a shadow looked like it was walking towards me. It was hard to make out, but for a moment, I actually believed that it was Rex coming back.

Boy, was I wrong...

Emerging from the smoke and fire was a crystal covered pony, leering at me with its red eyes. He seemed to have lost all emotions, all except anger. He was glaring at where I was standing, slowly walking closer and closer. I could honestly say I was shitting myself with fear from this monster. When did he get this powerful? He wasn’t this strong when I first met him!

Before I could do anything, Lancelot shifted his right hoof, making the earth shake for a bit, then momentarily stop. I look around trying to figure out what exactly he was doing, until green crystal spikes shot out from underneath me, trapping my body and arms. I futilely tried to move my limbs, but I couldn’t do anything at all. I look back at the green crystallized stallion as he was now right in front of my body, staring into my eyes.

He lifted his right hoof to his right, where soon crystals formed and shaped his hoof into that of a sharp sword.

“Now... I shall do what his majesty commended!” The terrorizing pony said in a trance. Wait... his majesty? God damn it, HE IS IN A TRANCE, ISN'T HE?!? I bet it has something to do with that damn Ragnarok! Wait... What the hell does he have on his chest?

On Lancelot’s chest was a shining amulet from before. It was a green diamond shaped crystal, with gold rims and chains surrounding the pony’s neck. I realized that once that amulet started glowing, that was when Lancelot started using his crystal magic... Meaning once it's off....

Before he could make the final blow to me, a group of armored ponies (with the exception of a few griffins and diamond dogs), turned the corner and was trying to comprehend what they were seeing. I bet it looks weird, with a crystal pony about to kill a trapped dragon, with a crashed airship in the back.... Wait now that I think about it, where’s Rex? This damn pony didn’t kill him... did he?

“OI! You lot! What's going on here?” A tall brown earth pony said, interrupting my thoughts. Lancelot just turned his head towards the group, producing the guards to gasp at seeing his face.

“Lancelot? Is that you?! What in bloody tartarus is going-” The pony was disrupted by a sudden crystal wall erecting from the ground, blocking the group from disturbing us.

“None shall get in the way!” The dragon slayer shouted.

Move you idiot!

I can’t! The damn crystals got me trapped!

Your a fucking dragon with magic shields! Think of some latin to break this already!!

…..

You don’t know any, do you?

...... wait, I got something! The crystals are controlled by magic, meaning...

“Disrumpat magica!” ‘Disrupt magic!’ My shields glowed for a few seconds, until a small shock wave emitted from the magic shields, causing the crystals that were once trapping me to now be nothing more than minerals on the floor. With my body now freed and new adrenaline rushing through my body, I couldn’t help but grin like a madman at this pony. I know his weakness, and once I get that damn crystal out of the way, he’s so dead!

I reached out with my arm and yanked the necklace off of his body while his attention was still towards the crystal wall. With the amulet off of him, I expected all the crystals to disappear or something of the sort, but they were still attached to his body and the wall was still up. Oh well, I can still beat his ass!

Lancelot shoved me with one of his hooves, then looked at me with his blood-colored eyes and slowly stood on his hind legs, readying himself almost like a human, his sword-like hoof aiming at me. “I’ll send you to hell, you overgrown pest!” Wait a sec... ponies say "tartarus", not "hell"... meaning...

Did you finally figure it out yet? He’s human.

Lancelot’s a human?!?! What the hell?!?

I’m more surprised that you forgot about the power that Celestia gave you.”

So those green flames from earlier, they show who's human in this world? How was I supposed to know?!

You should’ve noticed that he was different from the other ponies. I mean come on! A pony dragon slayer? Really?

….. Shut up!

Shouldn't you be focusing on the pony rushing you now?

...Wait what? “GAHHHHHHHH!”

Indeed, Lancelot saw me distracted and took the opportunity to strike. With my defenses lowered, he pushed me back towards the nearest building behind me, having me drop the amulet, and him holding me up against the wall as he had his crystal sword cocked back to strike. Yahhh... no, it's not gonna be that easy bub.

"Hehehe, guess what?" He gave me a puzzled look, cocking his head to the side. I then blazed my hands with the black flames that I love oh so much. I then uppercutted him, having him take a few steps back.

"HADOUKEN!" Hehehe, got ya. Wait is it raining? Looking up, I see some pegasus moving clouds through the smoke, to put out the fire around the town and of the crash site. Guess the villagers are more confident now that the ship crashed. I look back to see something that made me grin again.

The crystal around his face was have detached themselves, some even falling off his face now. Guess this means I can break off all those crystals off him. This should be easy...

"Hadouken? Your... h-human?" His blue eyes were looking at me with signs of compassion, totally different from when I first saw him and how he's acting now, while he had a faint hint of a smile. Is the control over him over? Is there hope we can stop this and he can just help me get my brother? That hope was dashed when his eyes flickered back red, and he let out a wordless scream that echoed through the town. Some of the pegasus that were over us flew away from fear, leaving the rain clouds above the crash site and above our heads.

"Right... that would've been too easy... Ok then..." I shifted my body as I took a fighting stance, noticing my legs were more tolerable of the pain. Guess dragon blood helps with healing. I glared at the now raging pony, as he shifted in his bipedal form into a similar one, sword hand still formed. We stared at each other as the rain ran down our bodies, no noises being made except of that of the rain's pitter patter on the ground.

This bastard stole Drew from me when he was so close, ruin a whole village, and killed off my only damn friend in this god forsaken world! You think I'll just let him go after all that? Yah...... no. Not that easy. This fucker is GOING TO PAY!!!

[HEY! LISTEN!]

"HEAVEN OR HELL?!?" I shouted, finally getting impatient of the silence.

"THIS SHALL BECOME YOUR GRAVE!!!" He shouted back, suddenly rushing me with some crystals glowing. He jabbed with his sword, as I blocked with my left shield. I brought my black flaming claws and shot forward, aiming for his pony, but the bastard grabbed with his hoof, only breaking a few gems off his body.

How do they grab without fingers?

Really?!? Isn't it obvious? Just use your head!!

If you insist...

I brought my head back, then headbutted him straight on his exposed face. With me having the shield head, it barely effected me, but the bastard was now bleeding from the attack.

While he was still dazed, I grabbed his bleeding head and shoved his face into the mud, repeating a few times for good measure. "ACCELERO!" 'Acceleration!' With his face still full of earth, I ran across the street, dragging him behind me as I sped through the rain. Then as we closed towards a building, I lifted him in front of me and slammed him into the wall, having him gasp for breath. I then dropped him to the floor and looked at him now.

His face was covered with blood and mud. Most of his crystals were off him, only a few stubborn ones being on his forelegs and back. Looking behind me, I see a trail of broken crystals spread out across the street, with a trail of his blood skidding on the mud.

"Hehehe, you made quite a mess. shame loser has to clean u- GAHHHHHHHHHHHHH" I felt a sudden pain on the left side of my ribs.

"Segmentum..." 'Slice' I heard a weak voice said from behind. Bastard knows magic! How though?

Pushing myself away, I see that his crystal sword seemed abit more sharper than before, as well as glowing and covered with my blood. I guess the gems have magic in them as well. Oh fucking joy and I thought things weren't interesting enough. I grabbed my sides as the blood started to fall down my wet scales.

He dashed at me, slashing his sword with every step he took. I dodged and block as best as I could, though his relentless swings made it more difficult to catch a break. He kept swinging until he made a small opening, exposing his gut. Big mistake!

Curling my fire hands into a fist, I jabbed at his now exposed spot, causing him to lose his second wind. While still gasping for air, I grab the sides of his head with both of my burning claw and brought my knee up to his snout, having him recoil back from the pain. Looking at him, he had burn marks all over his face, steam coming off of his fur. Even the rain didn't help soothe the burn marks, I bet.

He roared at me, frustrated at his fruitless efforts to end me here and now. I let out a fierce roar of my own, shaking the ground a bit from the shout. The force of my roar made him stumble back a bit. I was mostly playing around, but it felt so good to let out all that anger.

Unfortunately, I had my eyes closed while roaring, so when I stopped to breathe, I expected that he would be stunned to move or at least a few feet away from the blast of the roar. I was proved wrong though when the pony slashed across my chest diagonally, breaking a few scales and leaving a scar there. I tried to grab hold of his damn foreleg, but he dodged my grip and jumped back to avoid any more tries.

Alright, I'll just have to be fast enough so I can hit him so more. Let's try something...

"ULTIMUS ACCELERO!! 'Ultimate Speed!' My shields more glowed ferociously, as I felt more energy run through my body than before. I took a step and....

[end song here.]

ZOMGIMGOINGTOOFASTHOLYFUCKINGSHITTHISISSOCOOLYETICAN'TCONTROLTHISSHITSOMEBODYHELPMEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

Luckily I was in front of the earth pony, so when I took the step, I ran full speed and crashed into the pony, stopping me from going any further and halting my magic. The force of the speed made us tumble for a bit on the dirt.

When I stopped playing ragdoll, my back was on the mud, feeling the rain hit my face. I stared up towards the dark clouds as I suddenly felt extremely exhausted now. Why though?

Wow. Didn't think you would use that much magic. Sheesh, now your all out of juice.

So... I'm this tired because I overused magic?

Eeyup

Fucking joy. I should've known that before I did that stupid move.

As I continued to pant for air, I turn my head to my right to see Lancelot out for the count as well, with all his crystals gone and off him. I was starting to lose sight as darkness soon overcame me. The last thing I saw before losing concious was a familiar white dragon landing between me and Lancelot. Heh, lucky bastard made it out alright. That makes one of us.

Chapter 10: My little God

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Chapter 10

Darkness. A little cliché, but it’s the truth here. I was in the familiar pitch blackness, unable to see anything in front of me, let alone my own body. What am I doing here? Last I remember, I was finishing off a fight against Lancelot. Am I dead?

No wait, I remember now. Can't believe I thought I was dead again.

“Well shit, here we go again...” I said, hearing my own voice echo through the darkness. Guess Celestia wants to talk again. I decided to wait and see if anything was going to happen soon. Unfortunately, I waited for what felt like hours for anything to happen. Nothing.

"Honestly, least she could do is not make me wait and at least be on time." God, I sound like my Ex.

A sudden bright light flashed in front of my eyes, blinding me again. I had to block the light from my eyes it was so bright.

“Ok, what is it you want this time Celestia?” I sounded a bit rude, but come on! I had to wait for like hours before she did this. With my hands still covering my face and eyes still closed, I couldn’t really see anything, but I could now feel myself on a rough type of surface. Then I heard a rather manly voice speak out.

“So this is the piece you got me? Doesn’t seem all that special. Kinda.... funny looking, if you ask me.” Who is this person?

“You did say you wanted to participate in this game, I only help bring him here for you. He did accept all the rules to be part of the game as well, so please be happy with him.” Celestia is talking to this stranger? About me?

Lowering my hand and adjusting my eyes, I notice that we’re not in the same platform as the “daydream” area, but a somewhat barren rocky landscape. I scanned the area only to see everything was covered in fog off in the distance, and I can see only one figure in front of me in the fog. It looked like Celestia with her white summer dress

“Hey? Princess? Is that you? Why’s everything so different?” I said, starting to walk towards her. I was really wondering what the hell was going on. I know I’m not dead, cause I can still feel everything like the last time I was in ‘daydream’. So what’s with the different setting?

Emerging from the fog wasn’t Celestia that I remember, but a pony version of her, with a white coat, long horns and wings. Wait... she said before that she was ruler of the ponies, meaning...

“This is how you really look like, isn’t it Celestia?” The pony nodded her head, smiling at me. “Looks.... um....” I tried to think of the right words to say, but couldn’t think of any. The princess face turned from pleasant to a “Not-amused” face. I couldn’t help but grin sheepishly. “Heh, right sorry. So, what's with the new set up here? And who was that voice earlier?”

“That would be me!” I heard a rather happy voice say. I looked around to find no one else around but me and Celestia. It wasn’t the princess... was it?

“No, you idiot. Up here.”

Looking up I see a shadow up in the distance, slowly getting bigger and bigger. Something’s coming down fast, and it’s big. Coming down from above I see....

….

“Who the hell are you?”

Landing next to Celestia was a weird humanoid creature. He stood at about 6’2, Wearing a vest colored white on his right and black on his left, with a collared shirt underneath that had the same style but switched. His Pants was the same as his shirt, but were covered with metal looking boots that went up to his knees. He had wings as well, but one was that of a skeleton wing, another an angel wing. His face looked normal as any human, but what was scary about this guy was that he had no eyes, just blackness, yet he was looking straight at me, as if looking straight at my soul. The only thing to make up for his creepy no eyes was the red fez that adorned his black short hair.

“Oh you know. Just your friendly neighborhood spiderman is all. I’m going to be your god now! Hooray!!” The humanoid smiled wide, showing off his pearly whites as well as some fangs. Please god, don’t let him be a vampire. Actually scratch that, don’t let him be a sparkling vampire. There’s a BIG difference. Anyways, getting off topic... No talking about sparkling vampires, focus on this fool.

“Are you serious?” Surprised, I turned to Celestia hoping she could clarify some things. Celestia turned her head to face the ‘god’ next to her and spoke to him in a motherly tone. “Now, technically, you’re not a god yet. You still need some more training to be a proper one. Let’s also not forget that you hardly have any real powers to be one yet.”

[Click the music for a more enjoyable scene]

The ‘god’ acted like he was suddenly shot in the heart, pretending to be wounded. “Ow, Celestia! Don’t have to bring it up in front of the kid!” I’ll show you who’s a damn kid. “Besides, I’ll gain more strength later in this game. But it doesn’t mean I can’t have abit of fun now and then.” He then looked at me and suddenly had a frown on his face. “But do I really have to be with this guy? He choose to be a dragon for pete sakes!” What’s wrong with being a dragon?

Celestia looked at me and gave a comforting smile. “Yes, but you must admit, it’s better than choosing to become another pony. Or as a two headed dragon.” She shuddered a bit, but then continued on. “And I did add some meteorite shields on him for some diversity.”

The ‘god’ crossed his arms and just continued to frown at me. “Yah I guess. But I mean COME ON! A dragon? Really? Where’s the imagination in that?!” I thought it was a pretty good idea at the time... “You should have chosen to become something different. Maybe.... Like a wolf with wings!” Ok that does sound a bit cool. “OH! Or as a samurai wolf with stop motion powers!” That sounds cool, too. “OH OH! Or as a bugbear! No one thinks of bugbears! With a robotic arm!! And a bazooka! NO! A magic crossbow!” I think this guy is getting too excited with this. “OHHHHH! Or as a god, but lost your powers when you entered this world, then you’re actually really sex-crazed!” …... This is just ridiculous now... “OH! Could’ve been a griffin named Griffin, and then have yourself try and change how the government works and be king of the griffins!!” …...Really? “Or maybe as a mute diamond dog that bangs Daring-”

[Music ends here.]

“ALRIGHT I GET IT! I’M UNORIGINAL! UNIMAGINATIVE!! PLEASE FOR CHRIST’S SAKE, JUST STOP TALKING!!” I snapped at the rambling humanoid. It’s one thing to hear you’ve made a mistake and it’s another to hear how they could have done it multiple ways better. I’m already starting to dislike this guy.

“Actually, all those have already been used and taken.” Celestia said sheepishly. The ‘god’ looked at her surprised.

“Really? Even a Changeling that’s supposed to be used for mating, but decides to be a rock star?” The princess nodded her head. She then grinned as said "Oh don't worry, he's still mating." Ew, gross!!

“Oh.... well... even a dragon with split personality?” He continued, ignoring what she just said earlier. Wait, split personalities are like voices talking to you in your head. “I hear a voice in my head, does that count?” Am I admitting that I’m crazy? Wait, why did I say that? I don’t even like this guy!

“No, that doesn’t count. That was actually me talking to you in your head. Surprise!”

I couldn’t help but stare at the ‘god’ when he announced he was the voice in my head. I honestly thought I was just crazy ever since I got into this world. But no. He was alongside me this whole time. What the hell man? I bet he’s not even really that smart.

“Ok, ‘God’,” I spitted with venom. “How many fingers am I holding up?” I put both of my hands behind me, and held up three fingers. No ways he can get-

“Three” he simply stated.

Shit! Ok lucky guess, I’ll just change it. Now Two. No-

“Two” DAMN IT. Change!

“Four” COME ON!

“Nine” For pete sakes!

“Six” Damn it!

“Eight” FUCK.

“One”

…...

“Ok then.” I mashed my hands together snapping them, hoping he would get it wrong. Actually this is just getting silly. BUT I WON’T LOSE.

“How many now?” I started off with seven, but switched before he said anything to five.

“Seven” FUCK YAH!

“AH HAH!” I shoved my fingers into his face, showing him my five fin-

…..

Well that’s new...

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!” HOW THE HELL DID I GET SEVEN FINGERS! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFFFFF!!

The ‘god’ just shaked his head while laughing, suddenly snapping his fingers and... I’m a dragon again? Who cares, MY FINGERS ARE NOR- and their claws again... with only eight total digits....Fuck.

"You know," He started, flying slowly towards me, examining me. "This is actually the first time I got to see you with my own eyes," HAH! "rather than just be in that empty space you call a brain." He was now circling me, and then stopped to inspect my shield. "These shields are rather impressive though. Meteorite shields. Quite useful things they are. Both in magic enhancement and restraints, and LOOK AT THEM! Their almost as big as me!" He shifted his fez to the other side of his head, Smiled again, then turned to Celestia and said "I think he's kinda cute too!"

............

W-what did he say? Did he just call me cute?

.....

I DO NOT SWING THAT WAY!

"Whoa there buddy!" I instantly said, backing away from him and holding up my claws. "I don't go that way. I am a hundred and ten percent heterosexual and last time I checked, I love girls, HUMAN girls." I may be a dragon now, but I really don't intend to find any loving while in... whatever the hell world I'm in.

"And this is why you have little imagination! Your tiny brain can't even go beyond that I was just complimenting you? I'm straight as well, but still. Open minded! You should try using that thing in your head you humans call, a 'brain'!" He teased. I swear, I'm gonna kill this fucker one day. Why wait? I can just kill him now!

Before I could attempt to beat down on this.... thing, the princess intervened between us, blocking my way to kick his ass and giving us both a stern look "William, please control your temper, it seems to cause more harm than good."

That's not entirely true!

Yes it is.

SHUT UP! For christ sake's you're right next to me!

"And please, Ava! Control yourself! You’re acting like an immature child again. Please act like a proper god. What will the others think of you?" Ava crossed his arms and pouted again, mumbling about not being his mother or something of the sort.

"Now then, whether you like it or not, Ava you need a piece to participate in this game, correct?" The pouting god made more mumbling noises, but nodded his head. The princess then turned to me. "And William, you need a god so that can stay in this world to find your brother, yes?"

"Yes, but I don't see why you can't just be it for me?" Can't she just watch over me so I don't have to deal with this fool? I don't really need to switch my deal with someone else, when I perfectly fine being with Celestia.

"Because a certain changeling might become a little jealous if I share myself. Then again, he's really all I need." She started to drift off with her thoughts, grinning so big, it would make the cheshire cat cringe. She’s probably thinking about that changling again...

Again.

Ewwwww.

She shook her head to regain her focus "Besides, you two can be perfect for eachother. Well, as long as you don't bother each other that much."

"Heh. Yah, consider yourself lucky you have a friend like me." The god-in-training stated, having a rather cheerful music starting to come out of nowhere. My mood was NOT the same as the music to say the least.

"What are you talking about?"

"William! I don't think you realize what you got here! Why don't you just ruminate, while I illuminate the possibilities." He magically lifted me onto a random chair while the music started. Oh boy...

Well, Terra had them billion leaves
Poseidon had about a thousand whales
But, William you're in luck cause up your sleeves
You got a brand of magic never fails.

The room suddenly changed to be me inside a boxing ring, with Ava rubbing my shoulders.

You got some power in your corner now
Some heavy ammunition in your camp

You got some punch, PIZZAZZ, Yahoo and how
See all you gotta do is think with me
And I'll say

The ring disappeared, suddenly having me in human form but inside a fancy restaurant with Ava as the waiter now.

"Mister William, friend
What will your pleasure be?"
Let me take your order
Jot it down

Yeah you never had a friend like me
No no no

Life is your restaurant
And I'm your maitre d'
C'mon whisper what it is you want

Yeah you never had a friend like me

Yes friend, we pride ourselves on service
But I'm the boss, the king, the god

Say what you wish
It's yours, true dish
How 'bout a little something more abroad

The restaurant changed, now fitting to a more illuminated wasteland, but with more flashy colors.

Have some of column A
Try all of column B
I'm in the mood to help you dude

You ain't never had a friend like me

Random puppets of himself fell from the sky, dancing around loosely with Ava and scatting with him.

Oh my!
Oh no!
Ha ha ha

Can your friends do this?

Ava started to juggle with random elemental orbs.

Do your friends do that?

He tossed them in the air, creating fireworks.

Do your friends pull this out their little hat?

Ava’s hand went into his hat, and pulled out a full grown black dragon. The dragon then blew out red flames towards my still human form.

Can your friends go, poof?
Well, looky here

Fire spirits were then formed from the flames and dancing around me.

Can your friends go,
Abracadabra
Let 'er rip
And then make the sucker disappear?

The fire spirits and dragon vanished into smoke.

So doncha sit there slack jawed, buggy eyed
I'm there to answer all your midday prayers
You got me bona fide, certified
You got a god for your chare d'affaires

I was now back in dragon form, looking as Ava was dancing around me.

I got a powerful urge to help you out
So what-cha wish? I really wanna know
You got a list that's about three miles long, no doubt
Well, all you gotta do is think like so
And oh

Mister Komodo, friend, have a gift or two or three
I'm on the job, you big nabob

He then started to summon a whole lot of random creatures, ranging from juggling elephants to dancing walruses.

You ain't never had a friend, never had a friend
You ain't never had a friend, never had a friend

You ain't never

Tap dancing diamond dogs! Gleaming piles of gems!

Had a

Roller coasters with loopty loops! Gold as far as the eye could see!

Friend like me!!!

Ava and all the creatures started dancing even more wacky. Laughing like a maniac was Ava in the middle going even crazier than before.

You ain't never had a friend like me
Hah!

Immediately, after the performance, all the creatures and amusement rides he created disappeared into his fez. Celestia appeared besides me again, and started clapping enthusiastically, while Ava just laid there on his stomached, hand under his chin and just grinning with the fez sprouting out a sign saying "Applause". I stared wide eyed at the being in front of me. He just did Aladdin's "Friend like me" with some tweeks, and he sung it extremely on key, even though his natural voice is all deep. He may be a good performer, but I still wasn’t happy about what he said.

"Hey, lighten up, my friend!" Ava said to cheerfully. How can this fool tell me to lighten up. After all that I've been through, with little results to prove it. "As I said before, you are very lucky to have a friend like me." He still has the damn grin on his face. The same one that looks like that fucking old man!

“Lucky to have a friend like you?” I slowly raised myself up, unpleased with his choice of words. Celestia started to back away from me, while Ava fixed himself up, surprised that the performance barely did anything. He moved out of my vision as I stared at the floor beneath me, clenching my fists.

“Lucky. LUCKY!! LUCKY!!!” Yah I was mad.

“IF I WAS SO DAMN LUCKY, I WOULDN’T HAVE TO BE SEARCHING FOR MY BROTHER IN THIS GOD DAMN WORLD!” I shouted with my dragon voice, making Celestia wince a bit. I couldn’t see what Ava was doing, but I had a feeling his mood changed with mine.

“If I was so damn lucky, I would be at home with my brother, probably swimming in the lake, away from this DAMN GAME! IF I WAS SO LUCKY, A GOD DAMN OLD FUCKER WOULDN’T HAVE TAKEN HIM FROM ME! IF I WAS SO FUCKING LUCKY, I WOULDN’T HAVE TO FACE AND KILL THOSE DIAMOND DOGS, THAT MANTICORE, AND THAT FUCKING DRAGON SLAYER!”

I was starting to cry as I remembered again that I killed real living beings, how I just ruthlessly murdered them because ‘it felt right to do at the time’. I listen to my god damn instincts again, but ended up killing. Being just a damn murder with no real reason. I cried when I remembered that I lost my brother out in this world. A world which at first glance looks innocent enough, but is just a cover for all the real shit that goes underneath. Slavery. Murder. Kidnapping. Stealing. I realized I’m starting to slowly lose everything I ever had right underneath me.

“IF I WAS SO DAMN LUCKY, I WOULD HAVE DREW BESIDES ME AT LEAST, AND NOT WITH SOME GOD DAMN DRAGON NAMED RAGNAROK!” Celestia’s eyes widen greatly, her pupils dilating at the sound of that name. She started to stammer a bit, but I didn’t give her a chance with my yelling.

“WHY IS LUCKY ME NOT ALOUD TO EVEN BE WITH HIS BROTHER AFTER I SAVE HIM?!?! IF I FUCKING SAVE HIM!! WHAT KIND OF SHITTY RULE IS THAT ANYWAYS?!? I’M NOT ALOUD TO STAY WITH MY OWN BROTHER?!? AFTER ALL THE SHIT HE’S PROBABLY BEEN THROUGH?!?”

My voice got higher with my rage, crying blood as it stung and dripped onto the bare floor. I’ve only been here for less than a week, and I’m already breaking down... I’ve already killed creatures, lied to my only friend here, destroy a village in rage, and ruined many lives... and that kid pony...

“That poor kid. He watched his own parents die in that village raid... a raid that was meant to find both me and Drew... AN ATTACK, THAT WAS MEANT TO KILL ME AND STEAL DREW!!! THEY DID ALL THAT BECAUSE OF ME DAMN IT!! BECAUSE I WAS SENT INTO THIS WORLD!!”

I pointed an accusing finger at Celestia, who was now starting to tear up as well. Ava was still no where within my sights, but that was because I was only focused on the goddess now.

“WHY?!? WHY THE FUCK AM I EVEN IN THIS WORLD!?!? TO BE A PUPPET IN YOUR STUPID GAME?!?! TO BE JUST ANOTHER GOD DAMN PIECE OF A PUZZLE?!? A PIECE IN A GOD DAMN CHESS GAME?!?”

My voice started to tremble a bit, thinking again to the deaths of many that were caused BECAUSE OF ME. No... because of her. She did this to me. SHE STARTED THIS!

“Y-you did this to me!!! Y-y-you made me into a killing machine!! INTO A FUCKING M-MONSTER!!! YOU CAUSED ALL THIS PAIN AND SUFFERING!? WHAT KIND OF A GODDESS ARE YOU?!?!” I was now running to her, my hands burning with fire, being fueled by my rage against her. The blood from my tears rolled down my scaly face as I charged at the guilty pony, who was surprised at the sudden treachery. “YOU WANT ME TO BE A MONSTER?!? I’LL BE A MONSTER NOW AND END YOUR LIFE!!!”

I reached out with my claws, having every single intention of attacking her, destroying her, and making her wish she never had disturbed me and Drew’s peaceful lives. I was so close, her eyes shut, but her horn glowing. I know magic can barely affect me, a little helpful advice I got from Firewing, which is why I have every intention of still running full speed ahead. Nothing will stop-

*CLICK*

*BANG* *BANG* *BANG*

With a sudden noise, I was ferociously tumbling at max speed into the fog, and away from the frozen pony. I tried to stop myself from tumbling but the mysterious force was just so powerful, my bruised body just kept on rolling on the dirt. When I finally stopped and had a breather, I look in the direction I was blasted from to see I was now faced with a very angry god-in-training, holding a .49 LC revolver in my direction, with its smoky barrel aiming just for my head.

“You really are an idiot, aren’t you?” He quietly said, having it so that I could barely hear him. I tried to rise up, but he just shook his head and pointed his gun down, as if commanding me to stop whatever I planed on doing. I obeyed so I won’t be anymore wounded.

“Princess Celestia is not the cause of your pain,” He started. “That would be the old man you mentioned earlier. And as for why Drew was taken, it’s because fate is a harsh mistress that can’t always be controlled by gods. If we could control everything, the world would be such a boring and different place. With no real freedom. No real spirit. No real lives to live. You wouldn’t be living now, if we could control fate.” He seemed to be quiet for a bit as he collected his thoughts more. Meanwhile, I heard the distant sounds of clopping going at a fast pace. Must be that damn goddess to see that I’m not dead or some shit.

“Now, as for the reason for those killings.” He looked directly into my eyes, his soulless, while mine was still burning with rage. “You did what you had to survive. You also didn’t kill that dragon slayer, just wound him, but thats besides the point.”

“If you didn’t, you would’ve been dead. Just a corpse in the dirt, along with the rest. I would be without a piece in this game.” The selfish bastard! Who does he- “And Drew would be without his brother. Without his protector. Without his guardian. He would lose his only family member he has with him in this world, and he would be lost and alone. He will still be in the clutches of Ragnarok. Which leads me to my last point.” I was stunned as I couldn’t think of what else to say. I haven’t honestly thought about what would happen if I did die now.

Celestia was now able to been seen at a distance, sprinting her way over to us, with a look of worry on her face. I turned back to Ava as he still aimed the gun at me.

“If you keep up with this hatred, you’ll be exactly the same as him. As Ragnarok.”

…..

…....

“W-what?” I finally said, the rage quickly dissipating from me and soon replaced with fear.

“You’ll end up just like Ragnarok.” He repeated when Celestia finally caught up to us, stopping and panting a bit next to Ava. “He was once a human like you, sent to from his world on a purpose to just test out the transformation and dimension-traveling spell. There was a mistake though in the imperfect spell, and it caused him to be only half of what he wished to be, and sent him more than 1000 years into the past.”

“He was nice at first, a regular brony if you will. But he soon grew darker and more hatred for what he became. He blamed Celestia, who performed the imperfect spells on him, and eventually corrupted luna, pushing her into becoming Nightmare Mood herself. He was one of the commanders in the griffon war. Was very skillful in the art of latin magic.”

“After Nightmare’s banishment, Ragnarok was imprisoned inside a tartarus cell. Celestia didn’t want to kill him, but didn’t want him roaming around the world after what he had done. He was erased from all history and memory, thanks to a few powerful spells, and was never to be heard about again.”

“Celestia then learned from her future’s imperfect spell, and perfected it during her spare time, now being able to do both spells, with little to no problem. Ragnarok’s hatred, led him to his demise and was erased from all existence because of what he did.”

Ava finally lowered his weapon after the lecture and history lesson, and held out a hand. I just stared at it, contemplating whether I should trust it or not. Going against my anger, I grabbed his hand and was lifted back to my feet.

“You saying that he has your brother, means that he is released from his cell, and that he is now out and about in this world. Meaning that the cell is either destroyed or...” He paused as if expecting me to finish for him. I just stayed quiet, expecting him to go on, until Celestia out roared “He’s been replaced with another half-dragon!”

“Exactly,” Ava said grimly “The cell was only meant to hold down a half dragon, with human essence in him. Drew just happened to fit that description, so Ragnarok took the advantage and switched himself with Drew before the spell could react. He would need to release a ton of magic to even stun the magic in the cell to let him free, and only temporarily too.”

“Well, he most likely has been storing up energy while trapped for a 1000 years.” Celestia added in.

“Meaning he’s now free to take his revenge upon you. You must be more cautious now.” The goddess just smiled and said “I have my shining knight to protect me, so no need to worry that much. I’ll take my leave then”

Her face then turned to one of anguish when she then faced me. “And I’m so sorry I couldn’t prevent what was about to happen to both you and Drew as well as unable to help you now... I’m so sorry, William.” I turned my head away from her, not wanting to see the goddess at the moment. Celestia was more saddened by this sudden action and decided to leave, not wanting to cause more harm. She turned and started to trot towards the fog.

Before she left, I felt a sudden pull of guilt in my heart, a feeling I really don’t like to feel, especially with a crying women...pony... goddess.

“Celestia,” The pony in question turned her head towards me. “I’m sorry as well. It wasn’t entirely your fault, but I still accept your apology, if you accept mine for snapping at you earlier.” The shiny alicorn smiled at this. “Of course I do, William. Now I will see you later. Hopefully in a better mood.” With that, she vanished into the darkening fog, leaving the confused player with his piece.

“What’s with the sudden change of heart?” Ava raised an eyebrow as he asked. I just stared blankly at my claws, which has caused more harm than good ever since I arrived here. “You said hatred is what caused Ragnarok’s downfall, correct?” The fez wearing god only nodded his head. “Well, what I’ve done so far is just became angry at everything, not really helping myself at all. I need to learn how to control this rage, so that I won’t have to murder anymore out of pure rage.”

Ava chuckled a bit, then smiled. “You know what, Celestia was right, I’m liking you already.” Wait what? “Your learning from your mistakes. Adapting. One thing you humans seemed to have learned quite well.” He held out his right hand again. “I propose, a deal.”

“What kind of deal?” I suspiciously said.

“Well, you help me win this game, helping me finally become a full fledged god, and I’ll help you control that rage of yours, so you won’t end up like Ragnarok. Heck, even help you try and find where Drew is.” I thought for a few secs, seeing if there were any loopholes that he could use to his advantage, or any that I could use. After some careful thinking, I grabbed his hand with mine and gave a firm shake.

“All right, I accept.”

I don’t know if I just got an answer to some of my problems or if I just made a deal with the devil himself.

“Hehehe, good,” Ava then put both of his hands on my shoulders, looking at me with what felt like sympathy, and smiling a heart warming smile. Was he really just trying to be my friend? I thought it was just to put a show on in front of Celestia, but he genuinely wants to help me. This guy might not be such a bad-

“Do you like oranges?” He said, tilting his head to the side as he waited for me to answer the dreaded question.

........

I hate this guy so much...

Should I answer it like before or just keep quiet, so I won't be flung out of the world again, but wait, this is an orange, not a banana, so does it mean something different? I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO?!?!?!?

Before I could think of anything to say about the sudden change in fruit, he moved his hand to the side of my arms and launched me into the fog filled skies, shouting:

“Orange you glad I didn’t say banana?”

“THAT WAS REALLY LAME!!” I shouted back as I flew through the air. I have a bad feeling this is going to be happening alot with me.

~~~ Meanwhile ~~~

“I hear it again, mama.” The young drakling said, staring at the ground beneath her as she tried to find the source of the scraping noise. The hoard had finally settled down inside a nice crater, away from all the recent commotion going on throughout the world. A small red youngling was busy sleeping next to his giant mother as they laid near the center of the resting hoard. That is, they were until the youngling heard noises coming from underneath him.

“I believe it’s just your imagination, young one. Please get some rest for tomorrow.” The mother kindly said to her child as she went back to her resting her tired body. The noise continued for the child, until he started to dig towards it again. When he only had a handful of dirt dug out, the noise immediately stopped, ceasing any more annoying sounds. The young dragon, pleased with the new silence, went towards the mother’s belly, circled around in his spot, and then curled up near his mother, quickly drifting off into slumber.

Only to be suddenly awakened by a loud roar, and a sound of a new voice echoing throughout the crater..

“Look at you, you so called “Great beasts”, all of you just sleeping here, tired and exhausted.” The heads of all the dragons searched for the source of the voice, only to find a misshapen figure at the edge of the crater, staring down at them all.

The figure’s right side looked like any other black dragon, but his left side was concealed with a cloak reaching down to his scaly legs. His head was scaled black, with White spikes down the middle, but his left side was concealed with a mask covering his forehead down to his chin. The dragon’s would have mistaken him for any other dragon, if not for the awkward size of his small body, but with an enormous sized dragon wing on his right. The figure brought out his right claw, extending it to all the creatures within the crater, then spoke with high authority.

“You dragons have once been kings! Have once been such strong creatures, not once been challenged by such underlying creatures except amongst yourselves. NOW LOOK AT YOU!” He dramatically shifted his hands to his right, as if this was nothing but a play to him.

“You now die so quickly to the very things that used to fear you. That used to tremble beneath your quaking claws. You die so easily by the griffins! The diamond dogs! Even those damn ponies!” Some of the dragons were muttering between each other, while others were starting to anger and impatience, wishing for the mysterious intruder to hurry and make his point.

“When in actuality, they’re all JUST DIFFERENT CREATURES IN DISGUISE! These creatures are humans, even more insignificant than the ponies! You will all keep dying under these creatures! Unless...” The figure extended out his hand, showing as much care and trust he could muster on his face. “You join me, and we can rebuild that once powerful reputation you all had! We can rebuild a kingdom under a new order! MINE! What do you all say?!”

Silence filled the crater as all the dragons considered the mystery figure his offer. All was silent with the dragons, all the eyes staring at this awkward dragon as he stood there on the edge, smiling a genuine smile, awaiting their answer.

Finally, a large purple dragon with torn wings laughed hysterically, with some of those near him joining in on the amusement. Soon, the whole hoard was laughing with the old drake, making the figure suddenly frown at their antics.

The drake coughed a bit, then got his breathing back from all the laughter.“You honestly think we’ve lost our way? We’re not weak as the others say, we also know that no such creatures known as ‘humans’ have existed in this world. So take your leave stranger,” Firewing growled, showing his razor sharp teeth at the figure. “Or else we’ll rip you to shreds.” The other dragons followed the elders lead, growling and snarling at the lunatic.

“If that’s how you see it, so be it. One last chance though, before I end you all.” The crazy dragon pressed his claws against his silver mask, clutching it with both of his eyes closed. “Join me, or die!” The stranger harshly said a second time. The dragons still stubornly ignored the ‘kind offer’ and those that had wings, flared them out, showing their authority and strength, tempting the stranger to do what he threatened.

“Very well.” The dragon removed his claws from his mask that was still attached to his face, then glared at the hoard as he reached out with his left limb, which was a weird fleshy texture with a peach like color to it, and had 5 digits, instead of 4. The weird creature then put his finger and thumbs together and commanded:

“I will end you all with just one word. The last word anyone of you will hear before you all die. A word that you will hold onto as you breath your final breath in this slowly rotting world.” With these words, the creature snapped his odd digits, causing a sudden earthquake to happen underneath the angered dragons.

The now confused dragons looked around, wondering how such a creature can cause all this with just a sudden snap. Before any dragons were smart enough to respond to the quake, the floor underneath all of them collapsed all in one go, bringing down all the dragons into the deep dark abyss below. Those with wings tried to fly themselves to safety, but were quickly knocked back by the falling depri of the stones and dirt above.

All the dragons soon landed into a dark cavern, anything but natural made. The walls were high above then any of the dragons could reach, with small tunnels all around too small for them to hide into, with the only ray of hope up above from where they fell. Many of the dragons were wounded, but some were only bruised from the fall. That was until a glowing gem-tipped arrow shot them onto their scales, exploding upon impact. Many of the dragons looked up to see that the creature was now surrounded with diamond dogs, each having their own bow and gem-tipped arrows aiming at fallen drakes.

With another snap from the creature, all the arrows shot down in a rain that blocked the only ray of light unto the cavern, exploding upon impact from the touch of the ground and the touch of the scales of the dragons. Dragons were exploding left and right, some losing limbs, while most were bleeding from such damages. Mothers did their best to protect their young, but where only blasted away from the hellfire arrows that decimated them all. All the drakes within the isolated cavern were struck with the explosive arrows, unable to find real shelter and cover, other than that of the dead corpses that now filled the floors of the cavern.

When the firing stopped, the drakes looked around to find that their own brethren destroyed, their own limbs missing from the explosion, and the younglings shocked at what happened. When they took the chance for a breather, the dragons soon realized they were surrounded by hundreds of hungry diamond dogs, each having steel armor and weapons among them, and their eyes filled red under the command of their leader.

The dogs looked up towards their master, awaiting the command to attack, as the few handful of dragons prepared themselves for the strike. The creature smiled at all of his pets fine work, how they stealthily dug underneath the drake’s own nest without their notice, making it deep enough for them to be able to simply fly out, and small enough for the drakes to have little room to maneuver with the many of them there. He supposed he could give them this at least.

With just one word, he unleashed the fury of the diamond dogs upon the wounded dragons. One word that seems so innocent, but has now caused fear within the shrunken hoard. He said it so easily, but had it mean so much for the dogs. One little word...

“Fetch.”

The hundreds of diamond dogs all ran towards the dragon, under the command of their leader, attacking without restraints, without fear, without any feelings, other than to please their ‘majesty’ and pleased he was very at how much of a show they performed for him underneath, as he watched the carnage from above. How the dragons tried their best to stop the attackers, but the relentless assault made them weary, and soon, was just a contest on how much a diamond dog can make a dragon bleed.

An alpha ran up the hill towards the creatures position, disrupting the creature’s enjoyment from above. He panted for a bit as he waited for his lungs to be filled with air. When he was more calmed, the light grey diamond dog stood at attention.

“Your majesty,” He started, having trouble to speak correctly. “A blue dragon is escaping! Should dogs shoot down dragon to amuse his majesty?” The creature turned behind him to look at the tired alpha, then look past him to the barren horizon to see a small blue prick in the distance, running from all the mayhem.

Besides the alpha, another diamond dog had his bow drawn back, squinting and aiming for running speck. He was about to release the gem-tipped arrow until someone told him otherwise.

“No,” The half-drake simply stated, holding out his right claw to stop the shot. “Let it run. We want our message to be heard.” The archer dog nodded his head, then proceeded back to shoot at the carnage below. The alpha stared at his master, tilting his head in confusion. “What message would that be?”

The beast began his trek down the hill, away from the crater and ignoring his alpha. The alpha, seeing that his master was taking his leave, followed with him. “Have the our survivors bring the dead bodies back to the den, so we may use it for weapons and such. Also, if any dragon survived that, I want you to bring them to me personally. I will deal with them myself.”

“Master, You still did not answer alpha’s question: What is our message?” The alpha wondered, before he would go back to follow the orders. The creature stopped in his tracks, still looking towards the horizon, noticing the small speck was no more.

“The message is simple, my little friend,” The alpha felt a sudden wave of fear overcome him as his majesty spoke, tingling his spine and pricking his fur high. The creature turned to him, and grinned like a mad psychopath, showing his dread teeth.

“The beast is back for the princess.” With that, Ragnarok continued down the hill, laughing like a maniac. The alpha stood there, still trying to figure out what the message meant. giving up, he turned back to the crater, where he went to do his orders.

“Yes, Ragnarok is back...”

“And all those who stand in my way shall know true pain!”

Tick tock

goes the clock

all must fear the beast.

Tick tock

goes the clock

for he wants a feast.

Tick tock

break the clock

fear the judgement day.

Tick tock

Ragnarok

will make them all pay.

A/N: Well that was a long, bipolar-ish chapter. AND YES! New official god for Komodo! So very happy! As well as some story improvement for Ragnarok. Hehehe, I'm honestly loving how I'm making him... maybe I need to make him a bit more evil.... OH WELL! ON TO THE NEXT CHAPTER! ALLONSY~!

Edit: Also, Extended the metro 2033 song just a bit. Hopefully that will help!

Chapter 11: Recovery

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Chapter 11

I groaned as I tried to get my senses working again, hoping the blood flow starts picking up. My body just felt so sore all over, with everything just aching when I try to move. I don’t remember ever being this sore before. Never hurt this much back home.

Having some of my senses more awake now, I realize I’m now on my back, laying on what feels like a soft pile of fluffiness. As if it was the clouds itself. I moved my hand to try and get the sleep out of my eye, only to have something restrict my movement from doing so. Too lazy to figure out why I’m restricted, I blinked my eyes a few times, finally able to see my surroundings.

Finally able to see, I appeared to be in some steel framed bed, with myself above the green covered mattress and my head on a white pillow. I was in a big framed tent, with a few lanterns hanging on the supports, giving off the some of the lights, exposing more of the insides. The bed was on the opposite side of the entrance, which was left closed, only having little rays of sunshine escape through the crack of the opening.

Now the funny part was that I was surrounded by both ponies and a dragon. One pony was brown pony, the guard captain from earlier, another a blue pegasus, who I vaguely remember seeing in the village, and Rex, who seemed both tired and bruised all over. Both ponies were near the entrance, with what seemed like a very heated discussion, though I couldn't tell what it was about. Rex was on the ground by the left side of the bed, wings by his side and arms crossed as he had his head lowered, eyes barely open.

The even funnier part? When I tried to move my claws to get Rex's attention, it was restricted by what seemed like chains. Looking around my dragon body, I notice that I am chained to the steel supports of the bed, my arms chained to the side, my legs chained together and locked. Hell, even my hands where covered with some weird cylinder water container thing.

This is really weird.

Please, this isn't even close to what I woke up to once.

Oh fucking joy. Your still here in my head.

It involved a cow, a monkey wrench, five stripers, and myself tied and anchored to the deep end of the pool. With piranhas everywhere. Ahhh, I miss Rio.

..... What the fuck?

I try to grasp the situation of waking up to this, when I heard a voice from the far side of the tent.

"Ah, your awake now."

It was the blue pegasus, who was now walking towards my bed along with the armored guard, who seemed a bit angered at the moment. By the sounds of the voice, Rex was suddenly more awake, as he rubbed his face from exhaustion. The pony stopped at the end of the bed, blankly staring as he looked over my chained body.

"Hmm, I bet your wondering what is going on at the moment, correct?" I merely nodded my head as I continued to look around my surroundings.

"Right, well then. First things first, introductions. My name is Solar Radius, but you can just call me Sol. I am a consulting investigator here at Dragon's Gate. This here is Stone-Edge, the commander of the village guards." Sol pointed a hoof at Stone-Edge, who just 'hmph' once his name was said.

"Now, we have some questions, and I bet you have some too, so this is what's going to-"

"Why the fuck am I tied to a bed?" I know it was rude to interrupt, but for fuck's sakes, I'm chained to a fucking bed! Either they're going to interrogate me, or do some kinky shit with these chains, both of which I do not want!!

"Um... Well, you see.... um.. how do I put this delicately?" The pegasus stammered.

The hell is he afraid of? I'm not gonna eat him or anything.

True, but when was the last time you had meat? My stomach rumbled at the mention of the delicious substance. That's what I thought.

Shut up.

The earth pony jumped in before Sol could react to the sudden tremor from my belly. "It's because you destroyed the west side of our town, as well as causing more fire and damages in it. Not to mention scare off the townsfolk. This is all just a safety precaution so a dragon like you doesn't go off on a rampage again."

I raised my eyebrows and turned towards Rex. "Why isn't he tied up to a fucking bed then?" Great, sell out your dragon friend out. That'll bite you in the ass later.

"That's because the dragon here actually helped evacuate some of the villagers to safety, as well as help put out the fire. You're lucky you have somepony - er, someONE- like him." Before I could make a remark about how I helped as well, a sudden white mare with short red hair walked into the tent, caring a tray full of medical supplies on her back, being balanced by her wings.

"That's enough now." The mare said to the other ponies. Her voice was soft, yet strict in tone, as if she was disciplining children at a daycare center. "Visitors please leave the tent while I diagnose the patient." Stone-Edge grumbled a little then walked out of the tent. Sol merely smiled and nodded, then turned to leave. Rex got up, but had to slouch his back as to not disturb the top of the tent.

"We need to talk after this." He doesn't sound happy at all. He slouched even lower and left the tent, leaving me with the nurse.

Great, I pissed off the dragon.

Told you it would bite you in the ass.

Oh shut it Ava.

The white pegasus looked at me with a warm smile, then frowned when she saw I was bond to the bed. She turned to the open entrance. "And for Luna's sakes, please rid of these chains, they make it harder for me to perform these tests with rusty chains in the way." She wants these chains off? I like this pony already.

"But ma'am," Stone-Edge said, poking his head out of the opening. "That dragon might attack at any minute if we let it loose." Hey! I'm not an it! I'm a dude, I even have the balls to prove it..... Wait, where are my genitals? OH SHIT! I'M NEUTERED! NO NO NO NO! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!

"This patient was found exhausted on the floor next in the village floor. I don't care what species he is, he needs medical treatment for his wounds and scar. Now please, somepony, remove these chains, or so help me, you'll need Celestia herself to stop me from whooping both of your flanks!" Damn! This girl gots some spunk!

The mare interrupted my emergency freak out thoughts when she spoke about my wounds. Looking over myself again, I realize that she was correct about my wounds. I had few scratches and scraps all over my scales, and dry blood spots and dirt over my body. What was more impressive was that straps of white bandage over my chest, showing some blood on the tight bandage. All of these where from the aftermath with my fight in the village.

Instead of Stone-Edge making a retort against the nurse, Sol pushed past him to walk back inside, with a key in between his teeth. He smiled as he was glad to help out the pretty nurse in need, unlocking a few of the locks that bound me. The nurse turned her attention away, placing the tray on a nearby table, looking over the medical supplies.

When the chains keeping my hands and feet were all that was left, I waited for the blue pegasus to finish unlocking, only to find out that he wasn't going to do so. "Um.... what about these?" I asked as he started to leave.

"Got to keep some restraints on you, so you don't go raging on us. Besides, the nurse can still perform her test while you're like that." I glared at the pony as he chuckled like a kid and went out the tent. The nurse suddenly blocked my view of the entrance.

"I can work with this. Don't want you clawing at me once I put this little thing in." She giggled as she seemed to be dragging something behind her, having both of her front hooves trying to lift the object, grinning like a mad mare.

When the nurse finally moved it into my point of view, I saw...

Oh sweet merciful neptune, THATS A BIG NEEDLE!

"Get that thing away from me!" I screamed, scrambling away from the crazy pony as she pointed the sharp needle at me.

"Now hold still, please. I need to give you this so we can safetly perform other tasks and the reason for it being so big is because you're a big dragon, right dear?" I nodded my head as I listened and stared at the horrific sight of the giant shot. "Well, we have to up the dosage so the effects can still work for a dragon your side. Sorry dear, but don't want you getting any more harm. Now then..."

She lowered the shot near my thigh holding it with her wings and front hooves. I closed my eyes and bit my lips, hoping it would just be a simple prick. Who knows, maybe it won't hurt as much if I don't think about it. Soon, the needle made contact in between my scales, finding the soft tissue underneath. The nurse then pushed the needle forward, jabbing into my skin.

And then........

Pain.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Don't you be lying to me boy! I can smell liars miles away, and you starting to reek!" The steel colored mare threatened, glaring at the guilty pony.

The room was bare, having nothing but a one sided window, a sealed door, and a table with two wooden seats, both occupied by the fastest guard in the village, Sharpwing, and one of the 'traitors' of the village, Mix.

The interrogations have been at it for hours, ever since the former defenders were captured. Each time she tried to get answers, none of the 'Dragon Slayers' would cooperate with her.

The mechanic of the ship, Wrench Wheel, was jittery the whole time, being unable to answer or even stay still in his chair. Flames would ramble on about the good ol' days, never staying focus on what she was asking, and giving her a massive headache. Sparky would stay silent, never answering to any of her questions and her threats, while Lancelot was chained and locked inside a still standing structure within a cell.

The brown unicorn was sitting on his chair, looking calm and obnoxious as he inspected his hoof. This was really getting on Sharpwings nerves and she might snap at any minute.

"Listen. Babe. I don't know who you think you are, but I suggest you stop. We're hired help now, not you're 'local defenders'. We get paid to do stuff like this, rather than just do it freely like before. So, why don't you be a doll and take these cuffs off me, as well as this magic resister." A vein popped on Sharpwings forehead, having the final straw break from when this ignorant pony talked so low to her. Now the gloves are coming off.

Sharpwing causally walked around the table, taking her time as the restrained pony continued. "And who knows babe, maybe after all this, we can forget this ever happened, then you and I can go out on a date. Say, tonight? at seven?" The brown unicorn grinned, while he looked at her with some distasteful lust in his eyes. Silverwing's not gonna allow such talk to her.

When she was finally next to him, she grabbed the wooden table and suddenly flipped it, scaring the poor colt. She then kicked the chair from under him, having Mix lay on the floor, groaning from the contact with the floor. She moved her hoofs to hold him by the neck, and glared into the now choking unicorn.

"Listen here and listen well, you dumb colt. I'm not interested in scums like you. How you were ever one the village protectors, I'll never know, but you make me sick. Now," She picked up Mix and held him against the wall.

"I will see to it that you spend the next 10 years in prison getting flanked-bucked! If the others don't like how I treated you, I will personally hire a big tall stallion to flank-buck you for the next 10 years. So if you're a flank-bucking fan, you go ahead and mouth off!" The chained pony was shivering at the new threat that this mare made.

Sure, he knew in the back of his mind that she would never really do it, but in the moment, he was too scared to tell if it was the truth or not. He began to stutter as she was still holding him up, having his legs dangle from the wall.

"Now, 'babe'," The mare teased. "This isn't my first time dealing with somepony like yourself. I dealt with my fair share of troublesome colts. Now then, are you going to cooperate, or am I going to have get to get my secret weapon that I use to deal with your type?" Mix went wide eyed when she taunted him. He was stupidly about to ask what the 'secret weapon' was, until a sudden scream interrupted his answer.

"GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! FUCKING NEEDLE!!!! GAHHHHH!! IT HURTS SO FUCKING MUCH! FUCKING PIECE OF-"

The scream kept going, babbling more about some poor colt's mother and some more inappropriate language that I rather not put into text. Both the ponies in the room were wide eyed when the scream started. Then, the mare decided to use this opportunity to scare the criminal one last time.

"Ah, I see somepony else is testing the equipment for my secret weapon." As the screams continued, the mare dropped the shocked pony, leaving him staring with eyes like saucer at the mare as she turned to leave. "Well, I'll be going to get the equipment ready for you," she turned her head and raised an eyebrow. "That is, of course, if you rather not, and just tell me what I want to know?"

It took Mix awhile to get his composure together. When he was about to respond with another snarky remark, he was reminded by more colorful language and screams coming from celestia knows where.

"I CAN'T FEEL MY FUCKING LEGS!! OH GOD THE INHUMANITY...."

"Alright! I'll tell you all you want to know! Just please, don't let me come near that darn equipment!" The terrified pony said, backing away from the mare and into the farthest corner from the door.

Sharpwing smiled coly, having her bluff win her some more information, as she turned back towards the scared pony. Whoever was in pain, she would have to thank personally for the assist.....

And hope to Celestia the poor filly stops screaming over a silly needle. With some soap to put into her mouth as well for all that language.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Quit your wining. It barely did anything!"

"Barely did anything? I can't feel my legs! What kind of shot is that for anyways?!" I complained like a little kid. What? I HATE needles and this one went UNDERNEATH what I thought were my strong as hell scales. Apparently not!

"It's suppose to knock you out while I do the real tests, hon."

........

"That wasn't the test?"

"Nope," She replied, putting the needle away and going over some of the things on the tray. I did my best to sit upright on the bed, trying to get a good look of what she was preparing.

Hahahahaha! You scream like a little girl! Hahah!!

I do not! I swear Ava, don't you have more important things to do?

Nah! I'm too busy going through your past memories. I must say, That's a lot of porn you looked through. I felt my face redden at having someone look through my personal life.

Get the fuck out of my head now!

Pshhh, fine, but I have to say, that’s quite a collect you have here....

"GET THE FUCK OUT!" I screamed out loud. "OR I SWEAR I WILL FUCKING BURN YOU AND RIP YOU A NEW-

*THUNK*

The needle did its work. I was out cold and laying flat on the bed with my head over the side of the bed and my body completely numb from any feeling whatsoever. The nurse looked back at my limbed body, looked down and shook her head in disappointment.

"*Sigh* This dragon needs to learn how to keep that colorful language to himself. Oh well. Back the work."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

"Come on now, ladies! Just two more hours till you can go home and kiss your wives! Put your backs into it!" The chief ordered his men as they continued to work vigorously in the dank cavern. The whole cave was near the new established village known as Dragon's Gate.

The village quickly soon became known for its mines and mineral collection. Best in Equestria, as far as any traveler would say. Any other day, the workers down in the mines would've already been home by now, but a certain attack gave the village an idea. They just need the supplies for to work.

"Geez, Rocko is working us overtime eh?" A dirt covered pony said to his companions. Him and his two co-workers were heading towards the north side of the mines this time, just following orders.

He was a brown unicorn, following the eldest of the group, a orange earth pony, towards their section of the mines. The last of their group, a topaz looking earth pony was hooking up the chains of carts on his back, ready for another day.

"He's working us because the mayor finally gave the ok on the wall idea.” His eldest friend replied in a thick. “We're digging up as much stone and minerals as we can to help build it."

"I heard that Dragon's Gate was attacked by some dragon and a few ponies!" The last of the ponies said, worried about his family back home.

"Why you think we're trying to get wall up? So it doesn't happen again."

“I heard the dragon’s gonna help us around here with us, as well as help build the wall.”

“Damn dragon. First he destroys our village. Now we’re giving him our jobs. Damn him to tartarus!”

"Enough talk. Let's just do the work to keep up with the others, k?"

They reached the end of their tunnel, where some other ponies, with a few diamond dogs, were already mining out the tunnel. The group unloaded their tools, and started digging up the rocks in one corner, smashing away at the stones and few gems in the way.

"..... Hey, who's that colt?" The first pony pointed to a young looking yellow unicorn as he continued to mine.

The orange pony looked over his shoulder and chuckled."I forgot you're new here in the mines. He ain't got a name to him. He came out of nowhere a few months ago. Started working here all of a sudden. All he has to him is his own pick and the clothes on his back.”

The eldest shook his head as he watched the colt work. “We tried talking to him, but he ain't responding at all. We tried to kick him out, but he'll just be stubborn and ignore us. So, we let him work on the mines with us. And the colt has been fine with it all ever since."

"Geez..... What about his family?” The newbie asked.

"Far as I know, He ain't got one. He's a lonely fella."

“But why work here in the mines? Shouldn’t he be out playing with the some other fillies and colts?”

“I don’t really know. ‘Sides, he looks old enough to take care of himself. He ain’t that young. Now quit your staring and get a move on! We gotta finish filling these carts up before the end of today.”

“Geez, you almost sound like Rocko.” The brown pony giggled. The orange elder gave him a stern look, showing how little he enjoyed that comment. The pony’s chuckled quickly died off and returned his attention back towards hammering away at the rocks underneath his hooves.

While the group of workers went along and mined at the stone ahead, the lonely colt was busy mining away, living in his own little world. He was busy digging and humming a soft tune to himself that no one else in the mines seemed to know.

After a final strike to a stone, breaking it to bits, he stopped dead in his tracks and looked towards the exit of the tunnel. He stared at it with his ears pointing straight up, as if it was a dog hearing a disturbance. The group of ponies from before noticed this, but before any of them could ask what’s wrong, the lonely pony quickly strapped his pickaxe to his back and made a dash for the exit.

“What’s wrong with the colt, Hard Hat?” The brown pony asked the elder.

“I honestly haven’t got a clue.” How could he? The pony that came out of nowhere, now making a mad run for the exit. What could’ve gotten the colt all worked....

A series of loose rocks fell on Hard Hat’s head, answering his question.

“What this?” He examined the rocks on the floor, wondering why the sudden drop. Only then did he hear a faint sound from the end of the tunnel slowly echoing towards him. Was this what the colt hea-

*BOOOOM*

The earth shook as a sudden explosion blasted within the cavern. All workers immediately stopped what they were doing and looked around for each other for answers.

“What’s going on?!”

“I don’t know! We weren’t scheduled for any demolition and explosions this week!”

“Doesn’t matter! RUN FOR IT, EVERYPONY!”

A series of explosions and earthquakes erupted from within the tunnel as every creature ran for their lives, not wishing to be trapped by the rocks they mined themselves. Tools and carts were left behind as the ponies and diamond dogs ran, dodging falling debris and rocks from above.

The crew was turning left and right, going through the maze as the earth shook.

“Why is this happening?”

“This isn’t the best time for questions! Just keep running!”

The group turned a final left corner, knowing that it will lead them to their sweet freedom out of their tunnel. Unfortunately, fate had other plans for them.

“Horseapples! The exits blocked!!”

Hard Hat looked around at the now exhausted co-workers. Six unicorns, nine earth ponies, three diamond dogs, and hell, even a pegasi was trapped with him. He quickly formed a plan.

“Alright guys! If we want to get out alive, we do this fast and by the books!”

“Hat! What are yo-”

“Unicorns!” Hard Hat interrupted. “See if you all can get a shield going around us and the exit, to block anymore rocks from falling. We need all of us to be safe through this whole ordeal. Those who don’t know any protective spells, start grabbing rocks and tossing them to the side now!” All the unicorns nodded in understanding and went to accomplish their task.

“Those that brought any tools with them, start mining away for freedom! Dogs, help dig as well! Aim towards the southern end! Those without tools, start doing what you do best, and buck the tartarus out of these caves! We created this cave, but sure as tartarus we ain’t gonna die in it!” The miners all saluted to him, then went off to dig out the blocked exit.

The explosion seemed to ceased within the caves, but the tunnels still shook the area. Hard hat went to help the ponies dig and claw away for freedom, sweating while moving the rocks away. He was grateful that at least the three of the unicorns could bring up a shield spell. Soon, within ten long agonizing minutes, a small light broke through rubble, giving the trapped workers much hope. They continued to whack and claw at the light till it was soon wide enough for them all to leave.

Thank celestia! Freedom!

[Mood setting music]

As each pony, with the few diamond dogs, exited out of the trapped tunnel that enters into the enormous cavern, they all froze near the entrance, blocking some of the light and view from those still trapped.

“Hey! What’s the holdup now?” Hard Hat asked, being one of the last to crawl out of the rubble. He then noticed two things: One, it's extremely too quiet, meaning that the explosions and earthquakes must have stopped. And two....

“W-w-what in the...” He couldn’t finish what he started. He was even hoping to just stay inside the trapped tunnel, as it would’ve been a much easier sight to see. None of them could move, all standing still, to paralyzed at the atrocity they see before them.

All over the floors were those of their friends and workers. Ponies of different origins, dogs from many clans, with tools and carts littering the floors.....

Dead.

All of them.

Blood spilt everywhere.

Limbs torn from the torsos.

White, lifeless eyes staring wide.

Blood on the coat and fur of many ponies and dogs.

Bodies stacked on top of each other, piling high up.

And on the top of the pile, was the yellow, lonely colt, as he was crying his eyes out.

A hole from the ceiling leaked moonlight into the cavern, shining a natural spotlight on the pile, and more importantly, the whimpering pony. His face was covered with blood. His pick was in his two hooves, drenched from the red liquid of his victims. He just sat on top, crying. Asking himself one question quietly. Just a simple question he wants answered.

He looked up to the new arrivals of the scene, as he spoke for the first time in forever since they ever knew the colt. He tried to ask them, but all he could do was stutter. Soon, he asked them the only question on his mind.....

“W-w-what did I do?”

A/N: I HAVE AN EXCUSE AS TO WHY CHAPTER RELEASES ARE SLOWING DOWN......... school. 'Nuff said. Now then! Hope you enjoyed this chapter! And I hope I didn't over due with the whole font change and coloring..... hehehe.

Chapter 12: Home

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Chapter 12

“What do you mean you’re leaving?” I asked.

“I’m sorry, my friend, but I’ve been away for too long,” The white drake replied, looking down at the floor. “My hoard. My family. They need me.” Rex smiled at me as he stood at the entrance of my tent.

“I understand, family is important,” I nodded sagely, knowing the importance of family. I still didn’t understand one thing... “but do you really have to leave me alone in this village? I don’t think I’m on best terms with them.” Still stuck to my bed, I looked over to the tired blue pony, Sol, who was nodding off in his chair.

It was barely morning, with the sun just rising off in the distance, so not many peo- er ponies were awake at this time. I was um... ‘put to sleep’ earlier than the others, so I was the first to awaken, only to see Rex preparing for his departure back to his hoard. It has been awhile since he’s seen his sister and grandpa.

“Don’t worry, my friend. Just remember they don’t hate you entirely because you’re a dragon, so keep on smiling.” I smiled at Rex’s encouraging words. I never really noticed till now, but Rex is actually one of the few friends I ever had, that wasn’t after anything, like my money. Now, here in a new world, I started all over. I have nothing, and yet he’s the first friend I made since I arrived. It’s always nice to know that I actually have a friend in this world now. Someone who can actually raise my spirits and-

“Though, they will try to kill you because you destroyed their village. So good luck with that.” Rex grinned. Oh wait... This bastard is leaving me dead to the dogs. Rex! You asshole!

Before I could make a comeback against him, he exited the medical tent, leaving me alone with the blue pegasus. I heard the sounds of wings flapping and soon, he was off towards the skies going back home.

Home. A place of comfort and warmth. A setting where you can be at peace. Sanctuary from the hostilities of the outside world, where you feel like you belong to the one’s you love. It’s not suppose to be a prison or a jail cell, but it’s where your heart is at. Yet, I have no home now. Not in this world, nor this town. My real home is back on earth, with Drew. I really hope he’s ok now, safe at least until I reach him.

I started to think of what his captor was doing with him and quickly shaked my head, not wanting to imagine the possibilities.

I looked at the slumberous pony, who has just fallen off his chair and was still knocked out with drool coming out of the corner of his mouth. From what I heard, ponies will be keeping a close eye on me, and from the mumbles of Sol, I guess I’ll be busy with some debts to pay.. Guess that means I have to be here for awhile. Meaning this will be my new home.

With that thought, I sighed and leaned back against the bed to the best of my abilities, trying to get some rest. Hopefully tomorrow will be better than today.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I told you! I didn’t do it!”

“That’s a load of manure! We saw you fight against those ponies. You even burned down all those homes!! I bet that crashed airship is yours too!” Stone-Edge accused, tugging at the rusted chains that restrained me. Stone-Edge and I were just having a pleasant little chat while Sol went out to grab some lunch or something.

“Why the hell would I have a fucking airship, you dumbfuck?!”

Very pleasant indeed.

I get it, but this was getting ridiculous! They’re accusing me of destroying their village and capturing Drew. Are these ponies really that racist to blame another species rather the obvious truth?

“‘Cause, you scaley freak, you got no wings! An airship like that could easily hold your weight,” He then slapped me across my face, which just confused the hell out of me. “And watch your language, drake! Or I swear by Celestia’s sweaty tampon, I’ll put broken glass in your mouth, Close it shut and sew it all together if you keep it up!”

I immediately shut my mouth close and thought of my next few words carefully. For ponies, these threats are seriously NOT for children. I’m really regretting not watching that show now.

Few things: First, he just called you fat. Hehehehe. *Ahem* Second,you just got bitch slapped by a pony! HAHAHAHAHAHA! *Cough Cough* Hmmm, right. And third, you can survive glass, you idiot! You’re a dragon! With razor sharp teeth that can chew through gems! GEMS! You really are a dumb piece. Maybe I should have taken that two-headed dragon piece. At least two heads are better than one.

“Oi! Shut up! I’m smarter than a damn two-headed dragon, I’m not fucking fat, and if that pony tries to slap me again, I’ll bite his hoof off!”

“Is that so, huh?” The captain said, glaring daggers at me.

I froze as I realized my mistake. Instead of thinking with my mind towards Ava, I acted on rash impulse and shouted my response. Meaning Stone-Edge heard all what I just said.The pony walked heinously towards my bed, slowly taking his time as his dagger eyes kept piercing my body.

Annnnnnnnnnd you're screwed. Welp, I’ll see you in the afterlife... and by that, I mean Tartarus. Say hi to Jack for me! Tell her I’ll give her back her virgins soon, just not as virgins when she gets them.... In fact, avoid talking about me as it is with her.

Before I could make a proper response to who the hell Jack was, a blue blur rushed through the entrance of the medical tent, crashing onto Stone-Edge and landed in an awkward position with the blue blur on top of the captain.

“Ummmmmmm.... H-hey there, S-Stone.” The pegasus stammered.

“Solar, you got ten seconds to explain why you’re INTERRUPTING MY INTERROGATION!” Interrogation? More like false accusations! I’m innocent!

“Ummm.. uh... well you see...” Sol sputtered, glowing red in his cheeks.

“That’s because this dragon’s innocent, Captain.” A strong, but feminine voice spoke. We all turned towards the entrance to see a young looking white unicorn trott in, wearing a blue collared shirt with a yellow bowtie. Her cutie mark was of that of two angel wings, which relaxed me somewhat. Cutie mark means that it’s the ponies special talent. That must mean that she’s a very kind-hearted person- errrr... pony.

I really hate changing the person to pony.... I need to meet more humans.

….

Wait a minute...

She has fire around her....

“Um... Mayor Hoofington! What are you doing here, ma’am?” Stone edge said, struggling to get the pegasus off of him.

“Hi Angel!” Sol casually waved towards the white unicorn, him sitting on top of the brown earth pony.

“Hello colts,” Angel genuinely smiled, while she fixed a stray hair from her short, blue mane. “Love to stay and chat, but I need to talk to this drake in private, if that’s ok?”

“Wait a minute... You’re a hum- MMMMMPHHHH” I felt my entire jaw snapped shut from a strong force. Looking at the mayor, I noticed her horn was glowing a faint golden color, as she angrily glared at me. “Even if he is innocent, I need to speak with this dragon in private.”

She turned to faced the captain, as he just pushed Sol off him and stood at attention. “Also, Stone-Edge, you’re needed at the mines, asap. There was an unscheduled explosion in the tunnels and the miners down there are still trapped. So double time it, Captain. You got lives to save.” Stone-Edge saluted the mare and galloped out of the tent, fulfilling his orders like the soldier he was.

The mayor turned her gaze towards Sol, who was sitting awkwardly on the floor, rubbing his left hoof over his foreleg, while whistling a tune. After a few minutes, the mare got impatient of the clueless pegasus and cleared her throat quite loudly, grabbing the attention of the pony. Once Sol realized he wasn’t really needed in the tent, he nodded towards the white unicorn and exited the medical area.

Once he left, I felt the pressure on my mouth relaxen as Angel sighed and shook her head. “Confound these ponies. They drive me to drink.” She muttered. I couldn’t help but chuckle as she facehoofed herself.

Looking back towards me, Angel’s horn suddenly glowed again, giving off some more light than before. I anticipated for her to break my neck or torcher me now that I was alone with her. With this thought I closed my eyes and waited for death to hurry. After a few seconds, I realized I wasn’t being murdered. Opening my eyes again, I looked around and noticed that the tent itself was glowing all around, with the same glow as the one from the unicorn’s horn.

Soon, the magic dispersed, making the room darker and filling it with an odd and eerie silence.

“The hell was that?” I finally asked after a few minutes of silence. Looking at the unicorn, she was panting a bit, wiping some sweat from her forehead. When she was much calmer, Angel cleared her throat as she trotted over towards the bed. “Noise cancelation spell. Learned it from the library. They can’t hear us and we can’t hear anyone outside.” She explained.

“So now they can’t hear us say, oh I don’t know, that you’re HUMAN?!” I screamed the last part, wondering if the magic really worked. A few more minutes of silence proved that no one can hear us and that we can’t even hear the outside world.

“How did you know I was human? I thought I hid it pretty well.” She pouted as she sat on the bed with her hind legs sticking out.

“Well for one, I don’t think ponies are able to sit like that without hurting something unless they know what they are doing,” I pointed out, to which she blushes slightly on her mistake. “and another thing is that you didn’t freak out so much when I cuss or say ‘hell’. Either you’re a very disturbed pony or you were human once too, and now living with the ponies.”

“Wait, you were a human too?” She asked with hope in her eyes.

…..

Great going, genius. Guess THAT secret’s out. Any more you want to tell her?

That didn’t go as planned.

Well you better start explaining yourself!

Before I knew what she was about to do, Angel had her forehoofs on the bed as she looked sternly in my eyes. “So you’re human as well? Well, then I’m going to do to you what I’ve only done to one other pony, so don’t get too scared.” She grinned as she gazed upon me with half open eyes.... Oh god.

Oh me! She’s gonna either kill you or rape you! Quick, scream for mercy! No wait, don’t. Rapist like it when you scream. Just don’t move and you’ll survive with minimal damages. Actually, theres the psychological trauma, so that’ll take six months or more to heal. Theres also the-

You’re not helping at all! I’m sure she doesn’t mean anything like that.

Just don’t move and you’ll be fi- AHHHHHH, HERE SHE COMES! SAVE YOURSELF!

AHHHHHHHHHH!

Just as Ava and I were screaming our heads off in my mind, the mare suddenly had me in a chokehold with both her hooves around my neck, constricting the life out of me. It wasn’t really rape, but it was still close to killing me. I started choking on the mare’s death grip, wondering why god would do something like this to me.

I NEED AND ADULT! I NEED AN ADULT!

I’m the one about to die!

Well, I’m stuck in YOUR mind! Meaning I’ll die too! HELP! RAPE!

Shouting isn’t helping!

IT IS FOR ME!

Ignoring more of Ava’s screams and protests, I noticed that my chest was getting wet and that the unicorn wasn’t purposely trying to strangle me, but was an attempt to hug me. Looking down, I saw the poor thing crying her eyes out, whimpering and muttering a few nonsensical words. Not wanting her to feel down like this for too long, I tried to hug her back and rub her mane to calm her, but the chains restricted me from doing so.

So I just layed there awkwardly chained to the bed as a mare on top of me cried her golden eyes out. After ten minutes of uncomfortable, one-sided hugging, I decided enough was enough.

“Um... Not to sound rude or anything, but can you please get off me and tell me what the hell is going on?” The mare loosened her hold, though not completely letting go. She looked at me with tear filled eyes as she simply said. “Thank you.”

“Uhhhhh.... What?” I’m am confused as all hell.

Is the rape over? I had my eyes closed the whole time.

There was never any rape and you don’t even have eyes!

Well I like to pretend, ok? Don’t have to be such a meanie pants.

Sighing, I look back towards Angel, who was now off my body and standing on the floor next to me. I couldn’t help but wonder what made the mare cry all of a sudden.

“What’s with the sudden crying... and what did you mean one other pony?” I asked, curiosity getting the best of me. It really didn’t make sense, it was like a child was writing out her story and didn’t know what he/she was doing. *Cough* Yah... let’s not go too far and break the fourth wall now.

“I never really hugged any other person before, let alone a pony. There was only one I would allow, because he was.... different.” Still doesn’t explain why she would hug me. Has she never seen another human in a long time?

“Who was the other person then?” She ignored my question as she examined a chain with her hoof.

“*Sigh* You know, I wasn’t always the mayor of Dragon’s Gate.” She said as her horn started to glow.

INCOMING SAPPY BACKSTORY!!

Shush! I want to hear what she’s saying.

Fine, fine...... I’ll get the popcorn.

“I became mayor after the town’s second dragon’s raid. Only a handful of dragons attacked, but it was enough against the newly established town.” I heard some clattering noises coming from the locks. Looking at my restraints, I noticed the locks on my chains were being unlocked as she continued.

“A giant red dragon swooped down and swallowed the previous mayor. I was actually about to be consumed next... If he didn’t save me.” Angel had a sudden smile on her face as she thought about her savior. “This pony was an old friend of mine. He came out of nowhere having only armor and sword. With some help from some of the local villagers, they killed off the red dragon and saved the town.”

With her face still damp from tears, she giggled a little as she retold her adventure. “After that pony saved me, I couldn’t help but fall heads over heels for him. He was strong, determined, handsome, and very humorous. He always seemed to look after me and wanted to protect me. Then... we had to hold an election to see who would be the next mayor,”

Her face scrunched up as she continued to work on the last stubborn lock. “I didn’t want to even be mayor, but apparently the ponies thought it would be best. When the voting was over, I was it. He even tried to be supportive... till he had to leave to help. He left me thinking that he can help the world if he gets rid of all the harmful dragons.” Wait.... hates dragons? Oh please don’t tell me that it’s....

*CLICK*

“Ah! There we go. Anyways, he left with his friends a few years ago and I haven’t seen him since,” She wiped away a tear as she magiced off the last of the locks off of me. She turned her head away from me as I finally moved my body off the bed.

I started to stretch more as Angel sat on the floor and sighed before saying. “Well I haven’t seen him till now.”

“Now? What changed? Can’t be th-”

“The attack on the village? Yes. That, and you being here.”

“.... What?” I is confuzzled as well.

“You brought him back here. You brought back my husband.” Brought who back? All I had with me was Rex, and he’s gone now. It can’t be Rex... Can it? Her? With a dragon? But... How does it fit?

Ignoring Ava’s stupid questions, Hey! It is a legit question!, I decided to just be blunt about it and ask her straight forward., “Your husband.... Mayor, your husband doesn’t happen to be-”

“My Husband is sir Lancelot Hoofington, the infamous dragon slayer and protector of Dragon’s Gate!”

…..

Well... I didn’t see that one coming.... I need to work on NOT being surprised by details like this.

I couldn’t help but stare wide-eyed and jaws dropped as I looked at the mare. My mind seemed to have turned to mush from hearing this new information.

Angel either ignored or never saw my surprised look, but when she turned to face me, she went to a full on tackle. The tackle had me come back to reality and gasp for air. Still standing, I look down to a laughing unicorn, with tears streaming down her face. This was when I realized these were not tears of joy.

“You brought him back... and here he is, mad. He’s delusional.... He wants to do nothing but kill ‘the shield dragon’. What happened to him?” She clutched onto me again, hoping to find some comfort in hugging the dragon that almost killed her husband.

For christ sakes, don’t you start getting emotional too.

I almost killed a mare’s husband!

Almost! Doesn’t mean you did. So don’t start crying and just help this girl back to her feet.... errr hoof. Damn this equestrian language. Besides, you help her, she can help you!

Yah... I guess you’re right.

I know I’m right! I’m a god, so you can trust me.

Technically, you’re not a full fledge god yet, Correct?

…..

Right, that’s encouraging....

Deciding to help calm the mayor, I sat down on the floor and held the mare as she kept on going saying “He wasn’t always like this.” and “Why would he attack the village?” Things that I couldn’t answer. I still need to find out what made Lancelot tick that way. According to Angel here, he was nice and kind... but what turned him?

When I was still thinking about what could have changed the sword pony, she calmed down and looked at my face, wiping a tear away from her eye.

“D-do you think y-you can do me a favor?” She asked. I thought about it before accepting it. She’s just a broken mare whose husband tried to destroy the village. Might as well try and help out a fellow human.

Can’t be anything that bad....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I have to do what?!?” This can’t be serious! I thought I was out! Freed! I didn’t even think that I would have to work that much while I was here! Let alone do some task as tedious as this!

Sol waved his hoof dismissively, laughing at my response to his request. “Oh, quit complaining. A dragon like yourself should easily be able to do this!”

Sol and I were just outside the village limits, looking over at the area around us. The smell of the sweet scented air filled my lungs as I took everything in. It’s been a few days after Rex had to leave for his family.It felt great to be able to finally move out of the medical tent and walk on my own two feet. I healed quite quickly and was able to even be unchained after some convincing. Though it didn’t explain why I had to BUILD A FREAKING WALL AROUND THE WHOLE DAMN TOWN!

I heard more begging and pleading than convincing. Actually had one of the guards tear some mane out before he took you off your chains. You are sooooo mature.....

Shut up. I don’t need a childish, god-in-training to bother me in my own head! Don’t you have something more important to do than bother me?

Hmmmmm well...... Hold that thought

I felt lightheaded after he said that, having myself quickly shake my head to clear the pain.

“But what you’re asking requires at least a team of strong me- um.... stallions to help build this. I’m only one dragon. ONE! I can’t do this by myself!” I’m gonna be honest, I don’t do much outdoor work. Usually the gardener does the menial things for the yard, but neither me nor my brother have done any physical task in..... well we never did, from what I can remember. We were rich back home, so sue us.

Sol turned his back towards me, facing the village ahead. “Complaining isn’t going to get the job working.” He shouted back. “Besides, you owe the village if you want to repay your debt. This is a start.” With that, he flared out his wings and took off towards the village, leaving me alone with the piles and piles of stone bricks near me.

“Well... That was awfully nice of him. I think he likes you.”

I froze as I heard the voice whispered. Slowly, I turned my head to face the voice, wishing that I was just going crazy and not actually believing who it could really be.

“‘Ello sweetie!” There in front of me, was Ava floating in mid air, having his wings flapping to hold him up. Both of his hands were under his chin and his two dark holes stared at me wide as he smiled at me creepily.

Ava was out of my mind.....

Out of the ‘daydream’ area...

And in front of me....

Calling me sweetie?

…..

“What the hell are you doing here?!” I flipped out, falling flat on my ass. I glared at Ava as he moved around, now crossing his arms and giving off a smug look.

“Well, I was on my way to this gay, gypsy, bar mitzvah for the disabled, when I suddenly thought-”

“NO! NO! NO! Please don’t finish that thought!” I picked myself off from the surprise summons and looked over the floating god-in-training. He seems to be real and acts the same way as he did in the ‘daydream’, when he’s not serious apparently.

“Awwww, you’re no fun,” He teased, floating over to one of the piles of stones and smirking. “but you should probably start already. Don’t want to piss off the village anymore with your destruction. Besides, you don’t want to have a crying pony on you again, do you?”

I tried to grab Ava for reminding me of the reason why I was doing this, but as soon as I did, my claws only fazed through him as if he was nothing more than a ghost. My eyes went wide as I looked at this crazy humanoid, as he nonchalantly looked over his nails.

“Good luck with that, trying to strangle me. Whether you like it or not, I’m out here now! Out of your head, just how you like it. Though, I can’t really do anything to anyone else except you....” He gave a more devious grin as I went to grab a random stone from the top and angrily placed it on a line that was marked for me, not exactly enjoying how things will be going for me now. I sighed as I knew this was going to be tedious, time consuming, and more importantly a waste of my goddamn time.

“Um..... I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” The pre-god moved around to be in my field of vision, looking at the first stone I placed down.

“The hell are you talking about?” I asked, grabbing another heavy stone brick, grunting at the weight of it.

“That’s not the right one either...” Ava said.

I dropped the stone I was holding, having it land near both my feet, and looked sternly into the wannabe- god’s eye..... sockets.

“What do you mean by that, huh?” I said with venom spitting out. Ava just floated around the line that was guiding my build curiously.

“Well, you’re gonna need stronger material on the bottom to help hold the other stone bricks on top. That brick right there,” He pointed to the first one I layed out. “Isn’t going to help much.”

“Well, if you know so much, why don’t you do it then?” Ava gave me the “Are you serious?” look and went to grab the stone that was on the line, only for his hands to go right through it.

“Hello! I phase through things, whether I like it or not!” He spoke with heavy sarcasm. “Can’t really help you. Sorry ‘bout that.”

“This is stupid. I’m not building a damn wall!” Annoyed, I sat on the stone brick that was near my feet, thinking of a way out of this town. “I mean this village isn’t really the nicest and not all of them believe that I’m innocent just because I’m a dragon! This town’s racist! Rex even said this was one of the few places that dragons are accepted into pony society. I sure don’t feel accepted.”

“You know you could just always, oh I don’t know, get up and leave. Nothing here really holding you back.” Ava said as he floated towards the open field, moving away from the village.

…......

Oh yah.....

Slowly getting up, I started to follow the fez wearing god-in-training, knowing full well that if I leave, I can’t come back without trouble happening. Good riddance then. These racist ponies... God, I hope I don’t meet more ponies or any creatures that are so accusing and racist as them... Something tells me thats not gonna happen.

Passing the white guideline for the stone wall, I stepped over it, towards freedom. Freedom from doing such manual labor. However, when I was only just a few feet away from the white line, I remembered something very important.......

*BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT*

…...

“RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-”

Ponies have magic. Which means they can put up electric-psychic barriers to block me from my sweet, sweet freedom. Smart little devils. The force of the electricity was the same as if it were a thunderstorm was striking lightning at a repairman who was working on an open circuit at the powerplant.

In other words... “AAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH-” Very, very painful. Once the electricity stopped flowing through my body, I stood there, paralyzed and dazed as smoke from my now burnt body filled the skies.

Ava floated besides me, magically summoning a drum set next to him. He grinned like a madman as I stared off into space.

“You could say that that was quite.... Shocking.” After the horrid joke was said, the drums did a rimshot, while Ava bowed towards no one in particular. “Thank you! I’ll be here all week! Tip your waitress.”

I lost consciousness before I could give a rebuttal. At least now I’ll get some peace and quiet...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The mayor was watching inside her small room, through the only window that looked on at the chained prisoner. Guards inside the room with the prisoner did their best to try and restrain him as the monster tugged and wrestled against the stallions. The room was dimly light as there was only one lantern to brighten the viewing room.

Angel just stared through the window, not moving a single muscle, as she sat and watched the struggle go on. She didn't know how to react to this. All she could do was stare with tear-filled eyes as the beast punched yet another stallion across the room

Just then, Sol came bursting into the room, screeching to a stop just next to the mayor. Angel turned her back towards the hyperactive pony, whipping her eyes from past tears, as she said. "W-what is it you want, Sol?"

The blue pony seemed to ignore the mayor's question as he sat next to her and looked through the window. "So... this is how he's acting now." He said as a guard's face smashed against the window and slid down the glass, leaving a small trail of drool. "Kinda sad to see him like this, you know. What do you think happened to him?"

Breathing in, Angel regained her composure and and looked onward as well, seeing now the guards were using a different tacit to subdue the prisoner.

"He keeps saying that he has to finish his mission. Something about killing a William or something... Anyways, Sol," She said, ignoring the guards finally chaining the monster against the wall. "What do you need now?"

"Oh! Yah." Sol faced the mayor with a smug look on his face. "That red dragon tried to escape, but apparently your spell worked, Angel."

"Well that's good then." The mayor smiled, glad to see her plan worked out. "We should probably go see if he's ok though. Honestly don't remember how much volts I set it too."

Sol nodded and both ponies turned to leave to viewing room. Just before the door closed, however, Angel looked back to see the exghausted guards all leave the prison room, as the angered beast yelling and screaming for freedom, thrashing around in his magic chains. She felt a single tear fall down her eye as she turned to leave the poor beast.

"I'm so sorry Lance.... I'll find out what's wrong and fix you soon. I promise."

With that, the doors shut behind, leaving the ex-dragon slayer to scream against the heavens, his mind controlled and rewritten to do one thing.

"I'LL KILL YOU WILLIAM! ONCE I'M FREED, I'LL END YOU AND YOUR MISERABLE EXISTENCE!!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Waking up, I found myself looking up towards the now cloudy skies, with the sun about to set off in the west. Laying on some burnt grass in the fields, I recalled what happened to me and why I feel so sore again. Looking around me, I was surprised to see the Sol sitting next to me, staring at me curiously with his head slightly tilted, and the mayor standing over the white line, looking quite regal and proud in her attire, but her face showed she was annoyed.

“I see you tried to run away, but it’s not going to be that easy.” Angel smirked. “I had a feeling you would do something like that. So during the silence spell, I took the precaution of adding another spell to the mix.”

“Hmmmm, well that explains why she was so tired from such a simple spell. Hehehe, I like her!” Ava giggled behind her, excited at the change of events.

Groaning, I lifted up to a sitting position as I grabbed my throbbing head. Rubbing my forehead gently to soothe the pain, I ask, “What kinda of a fucking spell does that?”

Sol’s facial expression changed drastically, from the curious smile to a now disappointing frown. Angel ignored my vulgar language though, already used to it since she is human.

“It’s a bit of a complicated spell, really. Lets just say that I had to mix a shield spell with an elemental one, making sure the magic doesn’t contradict each other and then have it only sync up with your genetic structure with-”

“She just made it so you can’t leave the village without seriously getting fried,” Ava Interrupted as Angel continued to explain about how she got the spell to work. “In other words, you’re stuck with the ‘racist ponies!’” Oh fucking joy. Well, at least I got the simplified version.

I’m not that big in science, let alone the explanation of it. Usually, if something can’t be solved by science or hasn’t been proven, I’ll just call it magic till then. As much as I want to know about magic and all the science behind it, I rather not have a whole detailed explanation telling me how it should and should not work, and where it comes from. I’ll just stick with “It’s magic, deal with it!” Sure, I have magic in me now, but I rather not judge it or question where it comes from and just be happy I have it. Though I am confused at why the language has to be latin....

“I’m more surprised you hadn't figured it out yet...”

“Figured what out?” I whispered as the mayor continued on with her explanation, aiming it towards Sol as she used hoof motions to help explain.

“You know that story where you learned latin from that professor back at school?” Where’s he going with this?

“Ummmm, yah. I remember. He kept saying crazy latin words when he was angry, then telling us what they meant when he was calmer. What about it?”

“I.... um.... may have just implanted that memory while going through your head when you first arrived here.”

….

“YOU DID WHAT?!?!” He implanted fake memories in my head?! What else did he do while he was in there? That son of a mutherfuckin-

“Um.... Did I say something wrong?” Angel asked from where she was sitting.

“Uhhhh... I meant that could you repeat please? I’m having trouble hearing with electricity going through my head right now.” I smiled sheepishly to help prove my point. Sighing Angel started back over, something about how dragon’s can’t be affect themselves, but my shield could be traceable to have the barrier know when I leave, or something of the sort.

Turning back towards Ava who was now besides me, laughing his ass about what just happened.

“Don’t think you’re out of this! What do you mean you implanted memories into my head?! What were you even doing in it?!” I harshly whispered to the fez wearing psychopath.

“Hehe... Um *ahem* Well, to be honest, I didn’t want a dumb piece going around, right?”

“You’re not helping yourself, you know that?” I angrily growled at Ava.

“Well it's true! Anyways, Latin here is what is used to help unleash all that dragon magic you have in you. I gave you that dumb excuse of ‘Teacher got mad, now I know Latin!’ to not raise any suspicions that I sorta... cheatedandhadyouunderstandandspeaklatin..... for a good cause, of course.”

“.... We’ll talk about this later!” I snarled at Ava, who flinched involuntarily. Realizing that Angel was about to be done explaining, I refocused my attention back to the conversation at hand.

“... And then I said ‘Oatmeal? Are you crazy?’” Angel said bewildered as she waved her hoof up towards the air for added effects. Sol clapped happily while Ava and I stared dumbstruck at what just happened. The mare somehow went from the explanation of how she mixed two spells together to the creation of Equestria. How do ponies keep doing that?

“Um... that’s great and all, but I think it’s getting late.” I said, quickly changing the subject so they wouldn’t noticed I missed out the entire talk. Only to add emphasis to my point, Sol covered his mouth to try and hide a yawn, but failed.

Angel looked at the sleepy pegasus. “Go ahead and sleep, Sol. I’ll see you in the morning.” Lazily nodding, Sol brought out both his wings and took off towards the town, though at a rather sluggish pace.

Angel then looked at me and sheepishly smiled. “Sorry to do this to you, but I made a promise to this village to help protect it. You have to do this at least. Pwease? For me?”

She then proceeded to try and use her sappy puppy dog eyes on me, which had no effect on me what so- Oh god now she’s pouting. No, stay strong, William. You can say no to h- Oh god now the she’s whimpering like a little doggy.... You can do this! Stay str-

“LOOK AT HER!” Ava shouted, throwing both his hands in her direction. “HOW CAN YOU RESIST THAT CUTSIE WOOTSIE FACE?! JUST HELP FINISH THE DAMN WALL AND BE DONE WITH IT! If anything, it can even further prove your innocence and have the villagers trust you more.”

Mumbling on how the world is against me, I agreed to help the damsel in distress. In which she responded quickly, changing her sadden look to instant happy. Noticing that the sun was now gone and that she got what she wanted, Angel led me towards the now deserted town, as everyone was turning off their lights in their cabins to get some shut eye. It was actually pretty peaceful, without all the ponies glaring at “the damn drake” who “destroyed our village”.

Sighing at the thought, I mindlessly followed the merry unicorn as we were en route for my tent. Looking towards the mayor, I asked. “Isn’t there any place more comfortable to sleep on? Say... a bigger bed?” As a response, the unicorn only laughed hysterically at my question and started a return trek back to her home.

Sighing, I went inside the medical tent to find everything was where they were last left off.

“Well, can’t get any worse, right?” I said to Ava as I dragged myself towards bed and flopped on top of it, emitting creaks and cracks from the body slam. Ava only chuckled as he snapped his fingers, changing his clothing to that of pink pajamas with a weird curly haired pink pony all over the cloth. He also still had his fez on too.

“I have to ask, what’s with the fez?” That’s what I said, but what I actually sounded like with the pillow covering my mouth was, “Mwaaah wahaa maaah haa?”

“Oh this?” He pointed to the red colored hat that adorned his head. “Why not? Fezzes are cool. That’s what a good friend of mine said...” But I didn’t hear what he continued on about, cause I was out like a light. Cause, you know, being struck by a magical lightning bolt can wear you right out.

Once Ava realized that I was counting sheep, he sighed as he looked around the room. "*Sigh* Well, I still can't believe I'm stuck with you again, and you don't even remember. I just hope I don't make the same mistake twice...... Hehehe, or else HE would have my head on a platter."

Ava giggled like a maniac as I started to snore loudly through my sheets. Deciding he should get some rest to recharge some energy, he summoned a queen size bed out of his fez, and tucked himself in as he cuddled with a mint colored pony with a lyre as a cutie mark. “Whoops! Wrong one.” He chuckled as the doll disappeared in a flash, only to be replace with an exact replica except for one tiny detail we shall not go into.

“Who knows, maybe I'll let you remember tomorrow.” He sleepily said. He eyelids gained weight as he slowly closed them to drift off to dreamland

“What could possibly go *YAAAWWWWNNN* wrong?” And like that, he was out, happily dreaming in his own little world.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On a full moon night like tonight, the usually darkness of the outside world seemed brighter, if not more calmer to the captain. The brown earth pony was wearing his uniformed armor, steel and all covering his hooves and body. He marched in tempo with five other night guards that were on the same mission as him.

Under the mayor’s orders, Stone-Edge and his men were to find out what caused the unexpected eruption and get the trapped miners out of the mines. That’s what the mayor told him, that’s what he told his fellow guards, and that’s the order they will carry.

Exiting out of the trees and bushes, the guards soon come face to face with the mountain that held their trapped villagers. At the base of this gigantic stone mountain was the entrance to the infamous Dragon’s Lair, an old dragon’s cavern that was turned into a mining facility.

Once the dragon “disappeared”, the empty cave was manufactured into the center of the mining operation, with multiple tunnels going off in different directions to try and grab as much gems and rocks as possible. These tunnels were filled with rich minerals, being Dragon’s Gate main source of profit. Except there was one small problems with mines.....

“What are we gonna do about the rocks blocking the entrance, sir?” a young guard asked, as the whole team surrounded the entrance of the cavern.

“We move the darn rocks, that’s what! Cobalt, Mythril, and Adamantite, see what you can do about the entrance.” The captain ordered the trio of unicorn brothers. They immediately nodded and set off to work, using their magic to demolish and move the rubble that stood in the way of their mission. “Steel Wing, fly around and see if theres any survivors nearby. Some must’ve escaped from the explo-”

*AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH*

The leader was interrupted by a uneasy screech coming from the rubble, scaring the trio still from their work. All guards were wide eyed and quiet, listening for any more sounds that might emit from the cavern. Frozen for a minute or so, Stone-Edge shaked his head to regain control of the situation.

“Forget everything else I said. All units, dig now! There’s a survivor in there and we gotta move it. Double time!” At his command, all the guards used their magic and hooves to smash the rubble. Soon, after enough damage, the ruble collapsed, leaving a small opening into the mouth.

Taking a small breather, the captain told his plan to his comrades: Go into the mines and find as many survivors as possible. A simple plan, but after that scream, they had to be prepared for what’s to be in there. Going more into the details of his plan, the team decided it would be best to go into teams of three, so that at least one unicorn will be in each team to teleport the ponies out in case of trouble.

Before they could even begin their trek down to the miners, the rescue crew could see something manifesting from the caves. It looked to be something big and on four legs... and running fast!

“A survivor?” Not taking any chance the captain was ready to give the orders. “Quick Cobalt see if-”

“HELP ME!” Voices screamed off in the distance. “PLEASE! HELP! GET THIS MONSTER AWAY FROM ME!” The sound of multiple hooves were echoing in the cavern, meaning multiple ponies were running from something.

“Horseapples! Come on ponies! Lets get a move on.” As soon as those words left, more screams echoed loudly in the tunnels, having a poor rookie shake vigorously in his metal boots. The sounds of hooves seemed to stop for a moment, then continue onwards faster, but yet with less noise.

Before anyone could react, the erupt sounds of huffing and heavy breathing filled the echoes of the hooves. The sight of a lonely earth stallion sweating, galloping for his dear life soon was seen by the guards.

“Ponies?! OH THANK CELESTIA! Please! You have to get us out of-”

*WHACK*

The guards stood rigged as they saw the ponies body drop and skid on the gravel below him, with a new tool attached to his body. A steel pickaxe being carried by magic was struck directly on the pony’s head, bashing out the skull and red liquids oozing out of his new wound. The tool of destruction was covered with a familiar aura of unicorn magic, as red eyes pierced through the shadowy depths of the entrance tunnel.

The guards, even with all the training and procedures, were slowly backing away in fear. Even Stone-Edge couldn’t help but stare wide-eyed at the pick that had just murdered an innocent pony.

A harsh voice echoed throughout the cavern as the pick returned to the owner hidden in the darkness. A voice so childish, yet very stern and crossed that nopony would dare go against it.

“STAY AWAY FROM MY HOME!!!”

The strength of the voice alone rebounded off the stoney walls, having the entrance to the cavern collapse as all the guards covered their eyes to protect from the dust and rocks.

“*Cough cough* What *cough* what do we do now *cough, sir?” Cobalt asked as he used his magic to fan the dust away. The rest of the guards were dusting themselves off as Stone went to look at the blocked tunnel.

“Well, we don’t go in there *cough* for now... Wait..” The captain started a head count, only to find that two heads were missing. “Cobalt... where’s your brothers?” The captain asked. Cobalt’s eyes were as wide as saucers as he hurried to look at the remaining guards.

“No... no no NO NO NO! NOOOO!” The stallion panicked as he looked around his surrounding, hoping that his dear old brother’s would still be alive, at least breathing or teleported away to escape the rubble.

Cobalt’s answer’s were praised when he heard their voices come from behind the rubble..... and then his prayers diminished as he heard two bone shattering cracks and screams. Cobalt’s face only stared in horror of what monster could’ve done this.

“Cobalt,” Silver Wing said with sympathy, holding onto the now crying stallion’s shoulder. “We need to retreat back to the town and update on what’s happen. You’re the only unicorn with us outside, so we need you to teleport us... please?”

The poor pony sniffed and wiped his still crying eyes as he nodded his head, understanding that the faster they get help, the faster they can rescue his brothers from down in those depth.

“They’re not dead, they’re just trapped.. o-or captured and used as hostage. Y-y-yah, that’s it. Lets get help right away!” The group could only feel sorry for the crying pony as he told himself excuse after excuse on how they could not be dead. With a false hope, the unicorn charged his magic, aiming for his teleportation spell to take them back to the village.

“I’ll be b-back, guys. I-I promise!” He shouted through the rubble, as the magic teleported the whole team away and back home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Home. A place of warmth and comfort. Where your loved ones are there to love and nourish you the whole way. Where you can feel safe and protected from the most dangerous things. A place where you feel belonging. Now, home is gone..... for so many....

For the drake, flying home to an empty hoard and an empty family.

For the guard, returning to a home with grave news of his brothers.

For the dragon slayer, trapped like an animal, with a loss of his freedom and a loss of his mind.

For the mare, confused as ever as to whether her judgements are righteous or not as she lays on a lonely bed made for two.

For the colt, who has no belonging, no name, no family, and no peace, believing slaughter is the way to live now.

And for the piece, whose only real place of home is when he’s with his only beloved brother, following a demented fake god to play in a game thats corrupted in itself.

Home is where the heart is at.

Unfortunately, these broken hearts have no home.

A/N: Quick thing I want to point out.... I have no idea what I'm doing, but it's somewhat working.... That is all! Now to the next one! Also, if there's any grammar mistakes, please let me know. Kinda hard to do this without an editor... Oh well, Ciao~!

Also a big thanks to SwiftEthan for looking out for a TON of grammar mistakes! You are the man!

Chapter 13: Restless Nights

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Chapter 13

Down in the the taverns of Dragon’s Gate was where most of the miners would go to relax, to let loose and complain about their jobs, home, and wives. A salvation from the outside world, never a real worry about what goes on. All that matters are the booze and entertainment.

The bar was named The Granite Pint for all the miners that ended up there after a hard days work. They would usually come into the bar and order up some good ale and rum to ease their tired bones. It was always full of cheers and laughter, with plenty of shouting and cursing from the drunken patrons. The windows were always bordered with wooden planks because, well-

*CRASH*

Customers are sometimes too much to handle.

“And stay out of me bar, ye good for nothing drunk!” The barkeeper shouted to the sprayed out pony in the streets. With that said and done, he brought more boards beside him and went to work hammering in the planks.

Inside the drunken haven was all the miners that were left off early. All of them were talking about their missing workers, as well as some rumors about a bloodlust kid. Some of the workers were even scared to enter the mines anymore, thinking about quitting the mines and find a more safer environment.

A certain diamond dog ignored all the commotion going on and simply sipped on his cider. The diamond dog was not a local to town, nor any place in equestria. His odd orange fur simply blended in with the interior of the bar though, not being noticed by the rowdy drinkers. His right green eye simply stared into his mug, looking at the reflection of his own muzzle, with the scar across his left eye that adorned his face.

The fedora he wore blocked the scar from showing to the others, having only his good eye to be seen. The clothing he wore was also curious for his species. A green jacket was what he had around himself, it’s purple trims contracting his orange fur. Around the dog’s wrists and knees was black bracelets, looking as if they were meant to be cuffs.

The dog took a small sip from his wooden mug when his ears perked up hearing some interesting news about the cellar down below.

“...And then we simply bet our bits on which creature wins. I won seven times in a row with my luck. Its all good fun, and no one dies. Well usually.”

Without moving his head, the dog’s eye wandered the room till he found the source of this information. A pony, cleaner than the rest of the customers, happily holding on to his bag of bits, was sitting on a round table in a corner as he talked with his fellow crew members. The dog couldn’t help but grin at the plans he was conjuring if he had that many bits on him.

“Yer interested, aren’t ya?”

The dog’s attention snapped back by the sound of the old scottish voice. His eye turned to a well-aged earth pony, who was busy cleaning off a mug from a drunken guard.

“What those loud colts be talking about, ye want to be a part in it, don’cha ye lassie?” The red stallion said as he inspected the glass mug for any smudges.

The dog’s eye was wide at first, then relaxed as he chuckled with amusement.

“Just listening to some drunken ponies talk is all.” The dog closed his eye as he enjoyed the sweet nectar from his mug. The bartender couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow as he continued to scrub the stubborn cup.

“Aye, that be true. By the way, ye speak might fine equestrian for a mutt like yourself.”

“I guess I learn things quickly.”

“Aye, I bet ye do.”

Silence fell on the two as the bar continued going on with its excitement. The dog was preoccupied searching through his bags for bits while the bartender was now squinting his eyes as he continued on the same celestia damned stain. After ten minutes of vigorous scrubbing on the bloody mug, the bartender sighed then threw the mug across the bar, shattering it once it made contact with the wall.

“Bloody thing... Oi!” The dog’s ears perked up, as the bartender grabbed the attention of the diamond dog. “So are ye interested or no?”

“Uhhh... sure, I guess. Could be some good fun.”

“Haha! Oh, it’ll be a riot alright. One tartarus of a time!”

Chugging the rest of his drink, the dog left out a sigh of enjoyment as he slammed the empty mug down. The bartender glared at his new opponent, ready to clean this new mess. Grabbing ahold of the mug with his hoof, the pony went to work scrubbing the darn thing with a rag. The dog looked around the bar, wondering about his next move and where he must go.

“Sooooo....”

The eldered pony pointed with his free hoof to the right of the dog, while focusing on the mug.

“Follow the counter, take a left and there’ll be a door waiting on ye. Knock three times, wait for three seconds, then knock twice. The lass there will tell ye what ye have to do.” The orange diamond dog nodded in appreciation, dropped his bits from his pack, then went to follow the wrinkled pony’s instruction.

Guess this will be easy pay for me. The naive dog thought. He turned the corner just as he heard the bartender say. “Come on now, Cobalt. Ye can’t be sulking around in me bar. Best to be going home now.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Begin the brawl!]

Dodge, weave left, left jab. Will attempt wild swing. Dodge then retaliate with sweep kick...

All the spectators watched in awe as the fight went on. The stakes were high for this match right here. The brawler griffin champion, Razor, vs. the newcomer dog, whose name still eludes us.

Duck, strike over-extended arm, take punch, attack exposed stomach...

Bets were all placed on the griffin, the majority rooting for their champion. His attacks were all strength with such rigorous velocity. By the looks of the fight, it was too evenly matched to tell a solid victor, but the ponies and griffins all around were rooting for the champion, wanting to bring home the bits that they won.

Attacking with wild slash, duck and jab three times in the abdomen....

The arena was only blocked with wooden planks to sure the rowdy gamblers won’t cheat and help the fighters in the ring. Not that the champion needed it.

“Come on, you bloody mutt! Stop hitting like a sissy and fight!” The griffin shouted as he cocked his arm back.

Dodge heavy pun-

“GAHHHHHH.” The dog was struck straight across the face, knocking him down to the cold stoney floor. The griffin grinned as he watched the dog handle his face with care. He spread his wings, challenging the dog to even try and get back up. The fallen fighter groaned as he crawled to a wooden plank and picked himself up. He adjusted his jaw carefully, checking sure that it was still intact with his head.

*SNAP*

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHH-”

Now it is.

The griffin chuckled as he curled his talons into fist, ready to go another round against the mutt. With him leaning against the wood and nursing his jaw, the dog scanned the area of the crowd, seeing their excited faces, all grateful that they made a wise bet with their bits.

I think that’s enough of a show for now.

Slowly standing tall, the dog held his muzzle as he casually walked towards the gate, passing the confused griffin.

“HEY! Where do you think you’re going?”

“I’m done. You bested me, good sir! I’ve lost. Now if you excuse me, I’m gonna go grab myself a drink.” He said as he reached over the wood for his fedora and jacket, holding the hat steady in his claws. It was all good fun, and he didn’t want to humiliate the poor griffin. He did nothing wrong against-

*HAAK- PTOOOE*

…....

Did... he just spit at me?

The dog stood rigid as he felt a new wet spot adorned the back of his furry head. Slowly, he moved his paw as to confirm his suspicions of the moist fur. He could feel the griffin grinning, knowing that the dog was not about to leave any time soon. The room fell silent to the dog as he began his cold calculation on the bird.

[End song here]

This mustn’t register on an emotional level.

Looking down at his jacket and hat, he placed the jacket back to hang on the wood as he turned to face the fighter once more.

First, distract target...

He moved counterclockwise around the griffin, having his right paw trace the planks gently.

Then block blind jab, counter with cross to left cheek...

The griffin was now getting anxious, wanting to finish off his prey and prove he was victor of the ring by fights, not by having the enemy leave out on him.

Discombobulate. Dazed, will attempt wild haymaker. Employ elbow block and body shot...

The dog now was tapping his index finger to his own beat as he continued to slowly analyze the future situation.

Block feral left, weaken right jaw. Now, fracture...

The dog was now on the opposite of the gate, now looking curiously at his own fedora in his own two paws. The griffin, as well as the crowd, was getting too impatient.

Break cracked ribs, traumatize solar plexus. Dislocate jaw entirely....

“Come on now, you stupid mutt! Show me what you got.”

Heel kick to diaphragm....

“Tell you what,” The griffin teased. “You beat me and I’ll even give this shiny necklace I found on the streets!” The griffin maliciously grinned as he showed off the jewelry that he kept in one of his pouches. Can’t let such fine gold go to waste...

In summary: ears ringing, jaw fractured, three ribs cracked, four broken. Diyafram hemorrhaging. Physical recovery: Six weeks....

“But if I win, I’m gonna take that pretty hat of yours and shit all over it if you keep staring at it like its your lover!”

For psychological recovery: Six months. Capacity to spit back at head: Neutralized.

The dog stared coolly at the mad griffin, both waiting for the right moment to strike. Just have to wait for the right timing to commence.

…..

…...

Now.

With that, the dog threw his hat in the griffin’s face, blocked the blind jab and countered with a shot to the bird’s face, then smack both sides of the head, causing the griffin to stumble backwards. The griffin threw a savage swing, only to have the dog block with his elbow and return a jab to the ribs proceeding then to crack his chest, face, neck and elbows. In a final assault, he shoved his claw foot straight towards the foe, knocking him back and crashing into the wooden gate, having splinters fly everywhere.

Thank you sherlock, you wonderful teacher. Still an ass, but a great teacher.

The crowd was stunned, seeing the griffin groan as the dog stood tall, breathing easy from such an offense. Looking around himself, the diamond dog found his fancy hat on the floor and placed it on his head, having his ears hold the fedora carefully on top.

The dog looked around the shocked gambler’s faces, silence having filled the basement room. The tension was high too, having so many drunken ponies just lost their bettings. The dog had to think of something quick if he wanted to leave without harming anyone else unintentionally.

Eh, might as well give them some more fun.

With this thought, the dog lifted both his paws into the air and shouted...

“DRINKS ARE ON ME!”

The once quiet audience was now uproaring in merriment and cheers, forgetting that they’ve lost their wagers, but instead, using the prize money for their drinks. Which most of it would’ve ended up being used for drinks anyways.

As the gamblers all filed out of the room to tell the bartender what to drink, the dog looked down and smiled at the fallen griffin, who was now knocked out cold on the cellar floor.

Bending his knees for a clearer look, the dog couldn’t help but grin at wounded fighter.

“I believe you said you owe me a necklace of some sorts?”

Using his paws, he reached into the griffin’s pockets, prodding through the sack for the item that was wager to him.

“Ah hah! There you are.”

His paws slowly lifted a golden chain out of the pockets, smiling all the while at his new reward. He grinned a toothy smile at the reflected amulet that was linked with the chains. The green gem that centered the amulet shined a dim light as the dog held the chains.

“Hm... This is a pretty necklace alright,” He said as he slowly got up and placed the amulet around his neck. “I think I’ll hold on to this. Pleasure doing business with ya.”

With that said and done, the dog went up to the party upstairs, the drunk all drinking with their prepaid beer and rum, all laughing and recalling about the fight that happened just moments ago. Ponies, diamond dogs and griffins all lining up and being joyful with one another, not a care as they drank hardy.

The dog could only smile at the small happiness he accomplished. He casually walked back towards the counter with the now busy bartender.

“I don’t know how ye did it, but yer making this place more lively.!” The happy owner laughed as he went to fill out more drinks. “They be going on about how ye won the match against Razor. Crazy drunkards.”

“It’s true though, I did win.” The dog cheekily smiled. “Plus I’m using the winnings to help pay for everypony’s drinks.”

The bartenders froze what he was doing, mugs filled to the brim in both his hooves as he gawked at the dog. Shaking his head, he hurried and delivered the drinks, only to come back and say. “Really! Ye even won against Razor!? And using the winnings to pay for everypony?! Mutt, I don’t know whether ye be mad or generous.”

“Just helping out some ponies is all. Gotta keep them smiling now.”

“Aye, no kidding. After all that’s been happening the past few years, we need some happiness in our lives. What’s yer name, mutt?” The bartender questioned as he gave the dog another apple cider.

The dog placed his left paw on his fedora as he tipped his head back and chugged the sweet apple product down in one sitting. Once he finished the fine drink he smiled a toothy smile as he stated his strange name to the bartender.

“My name is Sigma,” The dog answered, tipping his hat. “At your service.”

The red pony raised a curious eye at the dog. “Sigma, hm? Aye, a strange name for a strange mutt, such as yerself. I have to ask ye though, what’s a diamond dog like yerself doing in this little town of ours?”

Sigma tapped his chin with his finger, giving some thought before carefully answering the bartender. He could trust him with some of this information.

“You see... I’m building this.... Idea.” The diamond dog hesitantly said over the rowdy drunks singing an out-of-tune song. “I looking for a few things to help me with this idea. Iron, granite, steel, gems. Heck and sturdy mineral I can find. Oh and a blacksmith too. Know where I can find these?”

The red pony leaned in, squinting at the dog as he whispered “I may know where ye can find a blacksmith. He’s an old friend of mine. The question is lassie, why would ye need all them minerals?”

The dog grinned wide, showing off his sharp, pearly whites. The bartender physically flinched and inched back slowly, afraid for what the diamond dog might say. Instead, Sigma reached into his pack and pulled out a blue rolled up sheet. Placing the blue mysterious paper on the counter, he unrolled it with his paws slowly, holding the edges so it wouldn’t roll up again. He turned the blue paper towards the bartender, so that he can get a better picture of this idea Sigma had.

However, to the pony, this was all alien to him. Examining the paper, the bartender couldn’t make out much, other that it was a design for something..... unique. He recognized number and distances, but most of the words seemed foreign to him. He never seen something like this before, and he’s seen ALOT of things as a bartender. Just nothing like this.

Curiosity getting the better of him, the pony just had to ask “What, erm... What the hay is it?”

“A blueprint.” The dog simply stated as his eyes looked over the exact same paper.

“A blueprint? For what exactly?” The bewildered pony questioned.

“For protection....” With that said, the orange diamond dog lifted his paws off the paper, having the blueprint roll back into its original shape.

“Well... Like I said, the blacksmith might be able to help ye, though I doubt even he would understand what that is. Thats the good news.” The diamond dog raised his eyebrow as he was returning the design into his sack. “The bad news is getting all them minerals ye need. See, the rumors ye been hearing around the bar now. They be true.”

“There be a killer colt out loose in those mines. He murdered every pony in there. Even this poor guard’s brothers.” He pointed to the diamond dog's left, back towards the guard from earlier, though instead of drinking, he was literally passed out on the counter. The tear streaks on his face was noticeable to both Sigma and the bartender.

The elder pony let out a heavy sigh as he looked on towards the blue guard. “*Sigh* Poor lass. Lost alot this week. He’s been drinking ever since he came back from them mines. No miners been down there for awhile now. Prices on gems and minerals have spiked since it happened. So, unless ye got more bits to pay for ye supplies, which I highly doubt, mutt, ye ani’t getting any of yer supplies soon.”

The dog stayed silent as he pondered, still looking at the snoozing colt besides him. He needed those supplies for his idea. An idea that he could gain quite an upper hand against anything that went against him. If he can get the materials, this idea can become a reality for him and only him.

Meaning.....

“I guess I got no choice then...” Sigma reluctantly said as he sat up from the bar stool. The bartender nodded his head sagely, seeing that the dog had no real choice to-

“I’ll be heading off towards the mines then!” The diamond dog happily cheered. He grabbed his bag and swung it over his shoulder, a new excitement washing over him. With that, he left the happy patrons to their singing and dancing as he went out the front door. The orange diamond dog was off into the night, towards the cursed mines, awaiting to make his idea a reality.

The bartender was still nodding his head absentmindedly, not realizing what the diamond dog exactly said straight away. When he did, his eyes shot wide in realization of two things.

One, that diamond dog wasn’t coming back alive any time soon. Luna rest his soul.

and two...

“PONYFEATHERS! Damn mutt doesn’t have enough winnings to pay for all these drinks! Why I oughta....”

A/N: New character has arrived! Yes, I am going to keep the ‘idea’ a secret for the time being. Yes, I realize my chapters are being somewhat...... Meh. Yes, I do need to fix that last chapter. When I have the time of course. So for now, enjoy!

Chapter 14: Restless Nights pt2

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Chapter 14

“Oh come on Will. Just watch this one episode with me. ONE. You won’t lose any manliness because of it.” My brother pleaded, continuing his begging for me to watch just one episode of his new favorite show. Something like My Little Pony or something. “Not that you had much to begin with.” He muttered at the end.

“Hey, I heard that!” I shouted. Drew physically flinched in his seat, eyes wide as he realized his mistake.

It was an average day for us, one busy doing work and the other busy with..... nothing really. Drew was just setting up the television so he would be able to watch his favorite show, while I was across the room, busy with a stupid calculus problem that was just irritating me.

“Besides, I have to finish this work and then...” I was cut off with our parents entering the living room, the sound of yelling and directing being made as they walked closer to us. They were both in their early forties, mom wearing her black secretary dress with stylish belt around her waist, and father in his suit, all formal and prep for business.

And as usual, they were both busy on their own cell phones, hurrying to put on their black shoes as they rushed towards the door for the garage.

“Hey dad!” Drew beckoned to our distracted father, hoping that this one chance, he can finally answer him. To have a parent finally acknowledge him. His hopes were raised as the father stopped in his tracks, moving his phone away from his face to finally answer his precious son. Something I rarely seen since.... ever. Mom just kept walking, not wanting to be included in this morning’s discussion. And that made father different from her. He actually stopped to acknowledge Drew. He may actually love-

“Ughhhh, what is it, Anthony? Can’t you see daddy is busy right now?” The annoyed father patiently said, poison sneering from his word as he gritted his teeth. You could see that he was not in a good morning mood, nor was he expecting any interruptions from his workload of a schedule.

“I-it’s Andrew, actually.” My brother corrected him, stuttering all the while. He hadn't expected his own father to attack him like this. Just for a simple question. “Um, I-I-I was w-w-wondering if-f-f...”

“‘If-f-f-f-f...’ Spit it out already! I got a schedule to keep and I rather not be late to the nine o’clock appointment because my own son doesn't know how to speak proper english to me! Now what is it, you little brat?” Father snapped, slamming his phone on the counter and raising his fist towards the child to hurry and speak his mind.

Drew stepped back in fear, tripping over his own legs and falling flat on his back. He didn’t want to feel his father’s wrath. Not after seeing what he did to me last time. Just because I disturbed him for some homework help. I think I still have a scar somewhere....

“N-n-nothing dad. Nothing at all.” Drew said in defeat, lowering his head in shame for disturbing his father.

Father sighed in annoyance, muttering as he hurried towards the garage door. “Stupid child. Wasting my god damn time. Now I’m two minutes late because of the stupid brat....” With those last villainous words, he slammed the door behind him, having the once happy room to be filled with sadness and rage for the remaining party.

I could only glare at the garage door as the sound of two cars starting on the other side filled the room. The nerve of them, father just yelling at Drew just because we kept him from working less than a fucking minute, and our mom leaving, not wanting to help my brother against this monster. I should have done something, but against a man like that, what could I do? Next time.... Next time, I’ll beat his ass if he dares talk to Drew like that. I’ll give him a big fucking....

The sound of a young boy crying grabbed my attention back from my own thoughts. I turned my head only to see Drew, hugging his knees while still sitting on the frigid tile floor. Tears were slowly falling down his eyes as he cried into his arms. I could hear some whimpering as well, having my heart crushed by the droplets that were splashing against the floor.

I can’t just leave him like this. He’s my brother, damn it. Unlike my parents, I actually care about him. I have to help cheer him up....

Still sitting in my chair, my eyes darted around the room to think of the right words to say. Unfortunately, all I could think of was:

“Hey.... you ok?”

….

God damn it, I’m terrible at this....

He lifted his head slightly, my crying brother whimpered only a “mmmhmm.” Drew had most of his tears gone, but his face still showed signs of distress. I honestly didn't know what to do much, seeing the only real affection I got was from my teachers saying “Good job!” on a test. I need to help him smile again. No, I have to do better than that...

Thinking of something to comfort him with, I went up to Drew and held him close. I held him tight in my arms to tell him it’s ok. To tell him that I’m still here, that I’ll still be here to protect him and that I won’t be leaving him. Not like those our parents.

I held him close, not wanting to let go of my own brother. He didn't need to be yelled at for such a stupid reason. He’s just a kid, a lonely kid that has no one to pay attention to...... not even me.

I squeezed Drew tighter in my arms as we both sat on the floor. I should.... No. I need to be a better brother. I’m just like my parents, too damn busy to take care of him. No, I will never be like them damn it! I won’t leave a child alone to a monster, not like what mom just did. I won’t attack my own flesh and blood like father. And I swear I won’t leave Drew all alone, not like his ‘friends’. I will love and cherish him. He’s... he’s the only real family I have with me. And I’m all he really has left as well...I will protect him

I’m his brother damn it! And I will do what I can to protect him... to protect my own little brother.

I...I will be his Guardian.

I held Drew in my arms as we both sat there on the floor. Whispering into his ears, I tried to tell him that it was all ok, while he kept on sniffling in my arms. I wanted my brother to be happy, not like this. As I continued to comfort him, I looked around the room from my lower perspective, only to see something that made me scared. Something that was important....

The sound of mechanical motors were heard from behind, having my heart race, realizing what will occur soon. If I’m gonna be Drew’s guardian now, I need to start acting like one. Meaning to hurry and get him the hell out now, before he has to face another rage attack.

“Drew... go to your room...”

“Why?” Drew sniffed as he lifted his head curiously, wiping his eyes

“Because... if you don’t, you’ll be in more pain. Now please, listen to your big brother and go before-”

“WHERE THE HELL IS MY PHONE?!?!”

Shit...

Too late...

Drew and I both shot up to a stand at the sound of the shouting. Slamming the door wide open, our now red-faced father stormed into the room, his eyes darting all around the house for his precious device.

“I know my phone is somewhere in this room! I must’ve left it when YOU distracted me from work! Stupid little brat!” He yelled as he pointed at Drew. Drew flinched, suddenly hiding behind me for protection. Our father continued searching until he found his desired technology, grabbing it and returning back to his car. Come on now, defend him damn it.

“Hey! It wasn’t Drew’s fault, you know! So stop blaming him!”

The man froze in his tracks with his back facing towards us. Silence swept the room as I could suddenly realize what I did. I could hear the my father’s breathing grow slower and angrier.

“What... did you say?” Our father slowly turned, his eyes stabbing dagger into my flesh as he did so. I felt Drew’s hands grip with more force as he glared our way.

“I...I said it wasn’t Drew’s fault! S-so stop b-blaming him!” Am I losing confidence already? Oh god.... What am I doing?

“Are you saying that I’m wrong? ME?! Your own father... wrong?” He stepped closer, his eyes never losing focus as he spoke. I cringed as I remembered a crucial information.

You never, EVER, tell father he’s wrong.

“Are you saying,” He continued, placing his phone into his pocket as not to damage it. His fingers curled up slowly, but tight as his face seemed to turn an even brighter shade of red. “That I.... made a mistake? That it wasn’t this little BRATS fault I now missed my nine o’clock meeting with the CEO!!”

“Drew.... get to your room... now...” I quietly said to the scared child behind me.

“But Will...”

“Go. Now, Drew.” I could sense Drew’s hesitation at first, but he finally obeyed and let go. I could hear his little footsteps go towards his room, meaning that he was going to be safe for a little bit.

“Hey! Where do you think your going, you little shit!!” Our tempered father shouted after the running boy..... Wait, what the fuck did he call Drew?

“He’s just going to his room. Nothing wrong with that, right?”

“Of course there is! He’s leaving without his punishment! DREW GET BACK HERE NOW!!”

“He doesn’t have to listen to you!”

“Like hell he does! I am his father and he will obey me!”

“Since when do you act like a father at all!”

“THE FUCK DID YOU SAY TO ME?!?”

“I’M SORRY LET ME REPEAT SO IT CAN GET THROUGH THAT THICK HEAD OF YOURS! I SAID ‘SINCE WHEN DO YOU ACT LIKE A FATHER AT ALL?!?’ YOU’RE NEVER HERE FOR US, YOU NEVER SHOW THAT YOU CARE, YOU’RE ALWAYS YELLING AT US! YOU-”

“YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE FATHER FOR YOU SHIT HEADS! WHO FEEDS YOU? I DO! WHO GIVES YOU A HOME? I DO!! WHO GAVE YOU LIFE?!? I DID!!! I DID EVERYTHING FOR YOU BOTH AND THIS IS THE THANKS I GET?”

The monster lifted his fist high in the air, having me able to see the past bruises on his knuckles. And then.....

“YOU UNGRATEFUL FUCKING BRAT!!!”

*WHACK*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Present Time

Inside a large green tent, a troubled dragon was having difficulties going into a deep sleep. His body was sweating profoundly as he kept tossing and turning in his bed, muttering to himself about protection and a horrid monster. Sheets and pillows were all on the floor, the dragon moving himself as he felt more and more pain in his own mind.

His player, Ava, just sat next to the sweating drake, rocking himself back and forth in his own imaginary chair. The god-in-training stared off into space as he was deep with his own thinking.

“William.... Why do you even risk so much for this brother of yours?” He asked the slumbering dragon, with his focus towards the opening of the tent. He sighed in frustration, pinching the bridge between his eyes.

“Cause this love, while precious, will get yourself killed. And I rather not have a dead piece on me already.”

The concerned deity got up from his rocking chair, which poofed from existence, then stretched out his wings and arms, and sighed again. He was watching and training Komodo for about a week now, each with only little improvement.

At first it was going well, during the day Komodo would eat gems, repair some of the burnt homes, and build the wall, while being ridiculed and blamed for the destruction of the town. He could handle the ridicule with Ava being there, always telling him the optimistic side of it with “Oh, at least you’re famous now!” or “I bet they called you a female dog only because of that thin figure you have!”

The night, though, was all focused on training him in the ‘daydream’, teaching him more and more about the history, techniques, and his limits. It was all a good plan at first.... till the ‘nightmares’ came.

“I should have known... I should have remembered.... Stupid side effect.... We were pushing it too much and now this is happening. I should’ve stopped when it started but he wanted to get stronger... Just for his little brother...” Ava groaned as he exited out the tent for fresh air.

The thing he forgot was that even though the ‘daydream’ is an excellent place to learn and communicate while living in a dream, the side effects were suppressed memories that people would have to relive and feeling every single senses that took place in those memories. Komodo was now feeling the same pain, over and over again, from the overuse of the imagination land.

The god-in-training could only do so much for his piece, now being limited to help. He couldn’t go back into Komodo’s mind for awhile now, it would only accelerate the nightmare’s effect. There was no known cure for ‘nightmares’. Nothing that that the trainee god knew. He could only try and control the drake during the day as he was for the past three days. In the night, he could only wait it out...

The ‘nightmare’ caused Komodo to be more aggressive towards the townsfolk during the day, sometimes snapping back at them from their insults or even threatening to eat them. One time, he was so close to biting off the mayor’s hoof when she just asked him to rebuild a section of the wall to extend it. If it wasn’t for Ava stopping him at the last minute, the mayor would’ve been walking on one less hoof.

Nonetheless, he still took out his anger by blowing up the wall that needed extending...... and then some.

“*Sigh* There has to be something... something that can help him instead of just waiting....” The vest wearing god said to himself as he scanned the area. All he could see were closed homes, dark windows, and burning lanterns in the streets. He scratched his head in thought as he tried to come up with a plan.....

…...

“Well. I got nothing.....”

…..

“Shit...”

Sighing in frustration, the god-in-training looked up towards the moonlight night, with nothing but the stars and the shining sphere that filled it. Both of his empty eyes stared directly into the moon, doing the one thing that he hated. One of the reasons for why he even aimed to be a god was to escape it... but now, he had to do it, to get help for his piece... for his friend.

So...

The god closed his voided eyes, went down on his knees.....

Then he begged...

He begged to the princess of the night for help. To help with his friend’s sickness, that it doesn’t pain him anymore.

Not for more power as a god.

Not for an impossible cure.

Just something to help ease the pain...

Be there for him.... He needs you

“GAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH...”

The troubled screamed escaped from the tent just as Ava heard an answer. The god-in-training sighed heavily, then made his way back to the tent. He froze just at the entrance, his hands gliding over the flap for the door.

Be there for him eh?

The player looked back towards the sky, having a small smile be seen only by the moon herself.

“Heh... if you say so, princess....”

With that, the player went back to his piece... No, his friend, to help ease the burden of the nightmares.

"But I’m sure I’m the one that needs him....”

Chapter 15: Oh! A rock! (Mines part 1)

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Chapter 15

Warning: Some disturbing imagery in the following chapter, hopefully I won’t have to make it mature, but we’ll see. Enjoy!

“What the hell did I get myself into...” I said as I stared at the towering mountain. Staring at the rock and just saying it was another mountain would be an insult to it. Gems, crystals, all kinds of minerals were what made this pile of rock unique. Seeing it, it was no wonder why this was the village’s mining base. So close to the village and so rich with all kinds of gems, it was a true gift to the rising village.

But now it was more of a taunting tease then a true gift. The mines, still full of minerals and crystals, are now blocked by one single colt, who seems to just kill any and all who step foot inside ‘his home’.

The question was: Why?

“Why are we wasting our time here and not finishing up that wall?” My player wondered as he was sitting on top of my shield head, bored beyond his mind.

“Because, Angel asked us to put a stop to this ‘Bloodlust Colt’. I calmly answered, doing my best to ignore Ava’s movements on my skull.

“Right.... and why are WE going into the mines? Last time I checked, we wanted to just finish the wall and get out. Not do more random quests that we find along the way!” He shouted, raising his hands up as he spoke. It was obvious he didn’t like any change in plans. I guess it only delayed us from actually doing what he wanted for the chess game.

“Well, Angel said if we did this, she’ll get others to work on that stupid wall rather than us. I’d actually take killing some mad pony over building stuff any days.” I answered honestly, though it did come off as if I was gonna enjoy it. I really need sleep.

“Glad to see you’re starting to be ok on killing things then! Don’t want no more stupid sappy crying moments. You know, like back at the woods before the manticore attack. You there with the fire... crying over dogs that attacked you... Remember that stupid moment? Good times... Goooood times.” I muttered a few curses under my breath as I continued walking around the mountain to try and find this entrance to the mines. Freakin bipolar god. Why can’t he just shut the fuck up and help make my life easier.

“Wait a minute,” I felt Ava’s body shift above my head, until he was facing me upside down, his fingers holding the side of my head shield for grip, and his fez still defying the laws of physics.

“Two things. One,” He pointed with one finger in front of my snout. “what happened with the lightning cloud thing that shocked you when you went out of bounds?”

“Angel expanded the area of her magic for me to be able to get into the mines, though there is a time limit to how long I’m away. Weren’t you paying attention?” I asked with an annoyed tone towards the god-in-training. I ask this because he’s in my head and around me all the time! Why is he even asking me this?!? HE SHOULD ALREADY KNOW!!

“Uhhhhh... Well to be honest, you mortals get boring SOOOOO quickly, especially when you all think you can explain magic and whatnot. So I usually tune out whatever you and any other ponies say.” He honestly didn’t hear any of the conversation I had with Angel? Well great....

“Anyways, the second thing I have to ask is....who’s building the wall now then if we’re here?” He curiously asked. I couldn’t help but grin as I knew who was building instead of me.

“Why... *Pant* are we.... Urggghhh... working on... GAHHHH this wall!?” An ex dragon slayer asked as he heaved his heavy load of bricks to the rest of the group.

“We’re paying for our crimes, ok?” Answered an annoyed pegasus, flying over to the brown unicorn to help relieve some of his cargo, grabbing a brick for the top of the construction. “Best to regain their trust rather than gaining more enemies.”

“Yah, but.... why aren’t we just running for it?” Mix asked.

“Do you really want to end up like Flare over there?” The pegasus plainly said, pointing to a recently shocked unicorn. His fur was charred and smoking, eyes abit white and tongue hanging out the side of his mouth. His hooves were all pointing to the sky, with an occasional twitch now and then.

“You doing ok, Flare?” Sparky shouted over his shoulder as he placed down another brick. The only response he got from the singed unicorn was some gurgling noises and something about seeing flashbacks. Sparks shrugged and continued his work, acting as if nothing really different has happened.

Mix groaned, his face holding the look of disgust as he took a step back from the electrified pony. His comrade smelt of He would’ve placed a shield spell on all of them, but with the restricting ring around his horn, he was just as helpless as a weak, feeble earth pony.

“Still, we never really attacked the village. Yet we’re working on the wall! How did that happen?!” The logical pony outraged, mad that he was doing such unjust work.

“I blame the author...” A mumbling pony stated, his back still laying flat on the fried grass.

Suddenly, as if the gods have been angered by an unknown force, a storm cloud loomed over the blasphemy speaker, striking him down with thousands of kilowatts, filling the neigh sayer full with electricity. Both other ponies shielded their eyes away from the shock, not wanting to blind themselves from the sheer power of nature. Once the heretic was sured to be silenced , the clouds quickly dissolved away, leaving not even a small trace of evidence of the still all-powerful storm.

That’ll teach the little bugger....

Right, where was I... Oh yes! Back to the real story...

“Hahahaha! Oh, boy. I bet they’re pissed. Hehehehe!” The chuckling god snickered as he held his stomach. I was walking around the rich mountain, laughing a bit myself at how those damn dragon slayers are now doing my work instead of me. Heh, I guess I’m not the only one getting punished.

As both Ava and I settled down from the laughter, we continued trekking around the mountain, while examining the surroundings. From the walk towards the mines itself, I noticed that the mountain seems to be surrounded by natural forest life. The trees themselves were fading in color, turning the leaves into a bright fall. The branches shifted softly with the wind, bringing the rustling sound of leaves with them.

It was a nice feeling for once. To just listen to nature while taking a small stroll. It was if this day, I could finally relax from most of the stress. No building anything stupid like a wall. No stinking ponies beating me up. No annoying gods telling me what to do....yet. Still, I’ll take anything I can get to help ease some nerves.

Still, I should really start thinking on how I will take care of this ‘killer monster’. I still don’t how to honestly take care of him. Sure, I said I’ll kill him, but that’s just saying it. Can I honestly kill something? Besides, these are just ponies. They could be imagining this whole thing. Though, thinking back, Stone did seem abit shaken up when he was talking with Angel and me about his short experience. A tiny pony child can’t be that bad.... right?

“I think I see the entrance up ahead.” Ava suddenly pointed out, distracting me from my thoughts.

Looking ahead, I noticed the entrance in the distance as we continued walking. There was a wooden structure outline of the entryway, but boulders and rubble seemed to block the way in. There was a few roses and flowers in front of the mines already, as if to pay tribute to the miners that died. So much for this being all a fake.
Upon closer inspection, I noticed that the cave entrance was wide open. Which was weird cause I was told that the main entrance was blocked by stones and boulders. I carefully looked around my surroundings, but couldn’t find any other signs of outside life nearby, meaning....

“Someone else is in there.”

“Errr... you mean somepony, right? Cause someone doesn’t really work with a world full of....” I glared at Ava to stop him from explaining any further.

“I’m not changing the fucking word just because of some ponies, got it?” I snarled. Ava seemed to understand, though abit ticked that I wouldn’t give in to this.

Looking back at the opening, I crossed my arms as I tried to think of the quickest way to finish this assignment.

“This should be simple. Find the colt, kill him or capture him, then go back to the village, tell them the news. Afterwards, we can finally go and find Drew. Easy enough.”

“Hehe... Sure... and do you have any idea where to start looking for Drew?”

…..

Fuck...

“I have a plan, don’t worry about it.” I lied. In all honestly.... I have no clue how I’m gonna look for him. I should focus on one problem at a time though.

“Well.... Guess we better get going.” I turned to the floating god, grinning like a mad drake. Just the thought of seeing Drew soon made me more enthusiastic about this whole thing. After this task, I’m gonna get my brother back.

Ava nodded in enthusiasm, obvious happy that we’re not just laying around doing nothing again. With that confirmation, I went head first into the mines, ready for whatever would lie in store for me.

Deep within the dark caverns, the sounds of a lone miner was heard within. Far in one of the tunnels, a small pony was seen chipping away at the sturdy rocks, hoping to gain some small reward for his manual labor. The sound echoed throughout the empty mines, giving the feeling of emptiness to the lone colt.

He was used to it, being alone. He only needed one friend, one that helped him throughout his struggles. One that has been with him his whole life. As far as he could remember....

The Colt paused in his menial work. His expression turned south as he tried to think of his past again. He honestly couldn’t remember much other than his friend. Closing his eyes, the colt tried to remember anything about his past. At first, it was mostly darkness. Slowly, though, he faintly saw two figures, both smiling and full of love, looking towards him with such care. Tears slowly fell as he start to recall who those figures were.

“....I miss them...” His quiet voice whispered.

However, before he could continue going down memory lane, an unsettling voice disrupted his thoughts, giving a massive headache and fear to reside within the child.

“MORE! THERE IS MORE!”

The Colt screamed as he dropped his pick and clinged to his head. He didn’t want to hear this voice again, but he had no real choice in the matter. After all, it was his only friend speaking to him.

“I SENSE IT! NEW PONIES! WE MUST SEE THEM! WE SHOULD GIVE THEM HUGS! AND LOVE! AND MURDER!!!!”

The yellow pony screeched and groveled in pain as rolled in the dirt. He tried to gain his thoughts back, but the more he seemed to try and reach for his memories, the more it seemed to fade away.

“NO! NOT NOW! WE MUST NOT LET SUCH PETTY THINGS DISTURB OUR GOAL!”

After minutes of arguing with the demonic voice, the colt seemed to have ceased his fit and held his eyes closed. He stayed still for a few moments before he started to lift himself up.

Slowly standing back on all four of his hooves, the colt sighed a heavy breath. Opening his eyes, his now red pupils stared into the tunnel that led to the main mines. He grinned mischievously as the new host now took over again. Picking up the sturdy pick with his magic, the now darker pony began his search for the trespassers, laughing all the while like a crazed colt. His walk seemed upbeat with each step he took and why wouldn’t it be.

After all, he was going to see new friends.

“Hehehe... Tick tock, tick tock!! Hehehehe!”

I have to say. Walking around in a dark, forsaken cave with a killer hidden inside and commentary from a floating god next to me is something I never really thought would be happening any time in my life. But I guess you play with the cards you’re dealt with, even if they do suck.

“I can barely see anything. Where the hell are we going?” I was annoyed, to say the least. Even with my fire hands, they can only do so much to illuminate the area. As far as I could see, it was just more endless walking within this tunnel. The way back was the same too.

I sighed heavily as I continued my walk towards the only other direction out of the tunnel. Ava has just been giddy the whole walk, commenting on every little thing he finds.

“Oh! Look! it’s a titanium shovel! It looks so new and refined. And made for ponies too! So cute. OH! Look, there’s a stalagmite that’s been growing for over 200 years! Fascinating. OH! AND LOOK! A SHINY ROCK!”

Something tells me he’s a fan of the underground....that or he plays minecraft a lot.

Not soon after Ava started examining the fine piece of specimen from the mineral family, I spotted a new source of light coming from behind the a turn up ahead.

Even though the site set my heart skipping a beat that I would finally stop walking in this god forsaken tunnel, I couldn’t help but feel uneasy as I stepped closer. The light looked dim, if not faded. The air itself was that of an familiar smell. Yet... something I can’t exactly remember clearly. I remember the smell before from somewhere... but where?

When I was finally close enough, I turned the corner to look towards the new sight the was shown me. Finally glad to see something.....

…..

Oh god.....

Everywhere in the cavern, the walls were streaked with the crimson color. Bodies laid mangled in front of me, either decaying or already bone white. The shape of ponies, diamond dogs, heck even griffins were all I could tell from the sight.

They’re mouths were wide open in terror, as if they were still screaming for mercy from whoever did this. There was even a pile of bodies all stacked up on top of each other at the center of hell. Limbs were twisting off the dead ponies, cracked bones breaking out of their flesh, all as if they were all just broken toys. All sorts of random mining equipment seemed to used by this colt, ranging from a shovel lodged down a ponies throat to a pickaxe lodged inside a diamond dogs head.

The small ray of light from the center of the roof was showing off all the pile of decaying flesh in all its unholy glory. Stacks of bodies piled high towards the crack of light, as if they were all building off each other to escape. Even looking up, there were bodies stuck to the stalactite, their own intestines being used to hang themselves, as if they were being used as puppets.

I felt Ava’s presence as he phased through a wall next to me, staring at the bloody massacre that laid before us. I stood still, unable to move from just the sheer shock of it all. So much blood and devastation, from just one colt?! I tried to ask Ava what he thought about all this, but when I tried speaking, I could only feel my lunch coming back up.

When I finally gained control of my lunch and was able to hold it back, I asked Ava “What the hell happened?”

The god-in-training only looked onwards towards the the desecration, his eye holes examining every bit of the bloody scene. Before I could ask again, he floated ahead of me, entering the mining site.

“Hey wait up!” I shouted after him.

However, before I could even reach him, I heard a small child’s laughter echoing throughout the whole cavern. My eyes went wide as I realized that the bloodlusted colt was coming closer from one of the other tunnels, his sickening laughter getting closer and closer. I turned to my right and decided to book it to a tunnel. Any tunnel to get me away from the colt for now.

I was about to enter one of the tunnels but then, I felt a grip from behind me pulling me back and holding me firm. I was about to shout if it weren’t for my assailant’s appendages covering my snout. All I could really make were some muffling noises and grunts.

“If you want to live, I suggest you stay quiet and listen to me carefully.” A voice harshly whispered from behind. I stopped my struggle and nodded in acknowledgement. When the mysterious stranger knew I understood, he removed his paws from my nose. Looking behind me, I turned around to find an odd orange fur diamond dog holding a finger to lips then running into another tunnel that I passed earlier.

I looked at Ava and gave him a confused look, hoping he could understand what was going on. Unfortunately, all the god-in-training did was shrug and follow after the fedora wearing diamond dog. I rolled my eyes but followed them as well, wondering why the hell are we following this stranger.

We made a turn towards a tunnel and all leaned against the wall. Well, me and the dog did. Ava was just floating around carefree as usual.

“What the hell is going on and who the fuck are you?” I snarled at the dog.

The dog put his hands on my snout again and clamped it shut to restrict me from talking. He shushed me and leaned back towards the walls further, his body leaning over the edge to look back into the opening. I was about to snarl back at him when I heard the spin tingling laughters of a child. Carefully leaning over the edge with the orange diamond dog, I saw a blood covered colt giggling to himself as he exited out of the tunnel I was about to enter before.

“Hehehe... Where are you~?” It teased, it’s red eyes searching around the cavern for anything moving and alive. “I know you’re both here.” Suddenly, it gasped as it realized something. “Are we playing a game? I love games! You both hide while I try to find you! And when I do find you, you can join all my other friends here with me. Oh, this will be so much fun! Isn’t that right, mr. snugglebuns?”

Oh god..... that colt is fucked up.

The colt seemed to be... playing with one of the dead carcases, prancing around like it was the damn ballroom. His sickening giggle echoed throughout the room as he continued to dance with the upper torso of a pony. He even started singing a song about a gala and the best night ever? I don’t know, I didn’t stick around that long to find out.

I felt a tap on my right side as I was staring at the waltzing colt. I turned to see the one-eyed diamond dog point his thumb behind me, emphasizing that he didn’t want to stay long. We both carefully walked away from the singing colt, not wanting to disturb his sickening mind.

I can’t face that colt head on. That would be suicide against a monster like that.... I need to rethink this.

“Well, that was the scariest thing I ever seen so far.” I panted, holding on to my knees after that sprinting session. It took me a few seconds to gain my breath before I looked over to the orange diamond dog. He was out of breath as well, sitting on a flat piece of rock and leaning back against the wall, his head tilted up as he panted heavily.

“Now then,” I finally asked. “Who in god’s name are you?”

“I’m Sigma.” The dog breathed, looking at me with his one good eye. “And yourself?”

“Komodo.” I simply stated, stretching back to full height. “Right so.... what the hell are you doing in these mines?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” he smirked, leaning forward and playing with his paws. “I was here for minerals of course! These were the closest mines at the times, so I just dug my way through the opening. I even got the materials I needed to. They’re all in my bag.” I looked at the diamond dog to see that he only had the red hoodie and his fedora on him. No bag whatsoever.

“And where, per say, is the bag?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“The... erm... colt... has it....” Sigma slowly said, tilting his head down more and staring at his paws nervously.

“Really? And how in the hell did he get your bag? You don’t look like of his ‘toys’ so you must’ve-”

“I had to take a piss and when I got back, my bag was gone. Only logical thing is that the colt took it.” He quickly stated, blushing slightly beneath his fur. I could only look at him dumbfounded when he explained his reasoning. I felt my eye twitching at how he just easily lost something like that.

“Right.... and I’m guessing you’re not going to leave the mines till you get it back?” I said through my facepalm. Sigma nodded enthusiastically.

“My, you’re smart for a drake, you know that?” He smirked again. I was about to say something against him when I noticed a shine coming from his pocket.

“What’s that in your pocket?” I said as I reached in before he could object. Lifting the shiny metal in front of me, I found...

“Oh you have got to be shitting me.”

I held in my hands a golden amulet with a green gem at the center. The very same one that Lancelot used in his fight against me. So why the hell does this dog have the amulet in the first place? Is he working with those dragon slayers?

“Hey! Give that back! I won that fair and square.....” Sigma shouted. He then thought about it for a minute. “Ok, Well I won it at least.....” I raised an eyebrow at his rephrasal. He looked nervous a bit till he caved. “Fine,I got it off a drunken griffin, but it’s still mine!” Sigma shouted, placing the amulet around his neck. Well at least he isn't work with them.... so he says.

Wait a minute.... If he has that amulet, that means he has to know how to use it's magic! And with a magic diamond dog and a fire dragon, we can surely take on that colt! We take care of the colt, he gets his stuff back, and I get to finish my work and go search for Drew.

Soon, it was my turn to grin at the diamond dog as he fixed his fedora. He looked at me with an uneasy look which then turned curious. I place my hands on my hips as I chuckled to myself.

“Sigma. I have a... proposition for you.”

A/N: Hey all! Just wanted to say thanks for sticking with this story for as long as you have! Really makes my day that people actually read this. Anyways, I honestly don’t know when the next part will be, but it is planned out and it will be AWESOME! Well in my head it looks awesome, lets just hope I can make it the same on paper. Now onto writing!

Chapter 16: Going as Planned (Mines part 2)

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Chapter 16

Oh god. Things could not have gone more horrible wrong....

“Run faster, damn it! Oh god, HE’S CATCHING UP!!!” Screamed the orange diamond dog. We were both running as fast as we could, away from the beast behind us.

“God damn it! When the hell could he do that kind of shit?!?”

“Well it was your brilliant fucking plan! You should have thought of this!” He snapped.

“Don’t blame this all on me! Why didn’t you tell me you couldn’t use the fucking magic necklace?!?” I argued back.

“Cause I didn’t know this stupid thing was magic!!”

“ITS A FUCKING GLOWING GEM AROUND YOUR NECK! YOU SHOULD’VE FIGURED OUT HOW TO USE THE DAMN THING!!!!”

“How about instead of screaming, you keep running away from the FREAKING CRYSTALS!!!” Ava screamed at me as he rushed past us.

He had a point. We really didn’t have time to be arguing over what fucked up. Though it was all Sigma’s fault.

All that we know is that we gotta run away from the FUCKING DARK MAGIC CRYSTALS!

“Where the hell did this go wrong?!” I screamed, as I continued down the dark tunnel, avoiding the emerging black spikes that were trailing us.

Twenty Minutes Ago

The Colt was simply walking around, searching the tunnels anxiously for his precious new toys. He knew they were somewhere in this cavern and he REALLY wanted to play with them. Especially to see how long they would last with him.

He began thinking of all kinds of games he would play with them. Maybe coloring? He had a lot of red from the others. Could try wrestling. The Colt was always good at that. OH! Or his favorite game of all: playing doctor. The Colt giggled with anticipation as he continued his search.

The Colt exited the tunnels, now entering into an empty new cavern. Sure, he’s been around the tunnels a lot, but he still didn’t remember every nook and cranny of the place. Not like he can remember much anyways.

He started to hum to himself as he examined the new area, his ‘friend’ telling him to just ignore those thoughts about memory and just find his new toys. The area was pretty small compared to the other openings, with a few mining carts and tools scattered around. Nothing really fun for the Colt to play with.

A sudden noise disturbed his hum, now attracting his attention to a different noise nearby. He could hear low hushed voices, whispering to each other. The yellow pony carefully stepped closer towards the voices, trying to make out what they were saying.

“We’re going to go hard and go fast without him knowing. Alright?” A rather low voice said.

“Alright, but what do I have to do with any of it? You’re the bloody dragon!” Another voice responded, this one more higher pitched and sounding like a young stallion. Wait a dragon?

“Hehehe... I never played with a dragon before. This toy will definitely be fun!” The colt whispered to himself, grinning with the thought of playing with a dragon.

“Yah, I may be a dragon, but you have magic too! Plus you're more nimble to dodge his attacks. So go use your magic now.”

“Um..... magic... sure...”

Magic eh? Well, nothing that the Colt couldn’t handle be-

What the?

His train of thought was interrupted by a sudden fluffy grab on his muzzle.

Out of nowhere, an orange diamond dog grabbed the side of the Colt’s face, bringing his snout down and slamming it against the rocky floor. Dazed, the Colt could only blink while the paw grabbed his horn and threw him across the cavern, slamming him against the wall and bouncing down, confused and distorted. The Colt shook his head trying to figure what happened as he looked at the dog sticking both his hands out in a “Kamehameha” Position.

“ABRACADABRA!!!” The diamond dog shouted, as if expecting something to happen.

….....

…....

When Sigma realized that nothing magical was actually happening, he tried to do a different hand signature.

“HOCUS POCUS!” Nothing.

“ALAKAZAM!!” Nada

“SUPERCALIFRAGILICIOUS EXPIALADOCIOUS!!!” I think there was a breeze of air that time.

The colt just laid there, looking at the stupid diamond dog as he tried different gestures with different phrases. He couldn’t believe what was going on at first, till he started to get the idea.

“Are we playing with magic?!” The Colt shouted, scaring the dog for a minute from his spider-man web shooting maneuver. Sigma just realized something: he doesn’t really have magic.... and he ran in without thinking about a back up plan....Oh boy.

The excited child started charging his horn, a yellow aura around his horn as he aimed it at the now frightened diamond dog. A grin appeared on his face as the cavern soon glowed yellow as his aura, shaking the earth as he continued his charge. Before he could discharge the spell though, another small disturbance dispelled the magical charge from his horn.

And by small distraction, I mean a ten foot red dragon rushing the pony and smashing him against another wall with his giant shield....

*CRACK*

That small disturbance.

There was a deafening crack as the dragon held his shield against the wall, hoping to stop the Colt. With the sudden impact, the Colt was out cold. His body and head were stuck in the crater of the wall, with his little broken hooves sticking out. Eyes closed and small patches of blood falling from his snout and fur.

I looked at the result of my sudden rush attack and just stared wide eyed at how easy that was.

“Huh.... Well, that was.... disappointing.” I said as I looked over to the broken pony.

Sigma shook his head to regain control and just glared at me. “I thought you said that I had magic!”

“Oh, so it’s my fault you can’t use your magic amulet!” I retorted. “Why didn’t you do the crystal thingy ma jiggy?!”

Sigma grabbed hold of his amulet and examined it wide eyed. “This thing has magic!?” he exclaimed.

Oh, you gotta be kidding me....

“Whatever.” I said, not really wanting to argue with the dog about it. “We took out the Colt, all that’s left is get your stuff then get back to town.”

Seriously... That was REALLY anti-climactic.

“Well, he probably didn’t see you as a real threat and let his guard down....What a shame...” I heard my player speak as he examined the body. Guess he really wanted to see another battle. I kinda did too, to be honest.

“I know, but still,” I spoke out loud. “Isn't he suppose to be like a main boss battle or something? Man this is like Halo 2 all over again!”

“What’s that?” A curious Sigma asked as he approached my side.

“It’s.... ah nevermind. Lets just find your bag and get out of this cave.” I replied as we turned as made our way towards a tunnel. Sigma nodded and followed close behind.

Two steps forward and I felt a shift in the air from behind. It was a small breeze, but I ignored it for the most part. Near the entrance of a tunnel, however, the earth shook again. Almost as if.... something was awakening. This can-

“KOMODO! BEHIND YOU!!!”

Ava’s voice alerted me immediately, having me think of something quick to defend my back. I slammed my right shield arm down towards the earth as hard as I could, shattering and blocking whatever it was that was attacking me.

Looking over my black shield, I see a trail of dark crystallized spikes forming a row towards Sigma and I. Looking towards the source to see.....

…..

OH COME ON!!

There standing on all four hooves, was the Colt. His forehead bleeding and horn glowing mad with rage. His eyes changed, now glaring at me with red pupils and a green iris colors, with dark aura coming out of the side of his eyelids. His left forehoof, which I presumed to be broken, was slowing being covered with the same dark crystal material as the ground. His back was forming small crystals, glowing violently as he horn’s charge changed from yellow to a black aura, with small purple lightening shooting out now and then.

As he stood there, glaring at Sigma and I, I couldn’t help but to think I should’ve double checked to make sure he was knocked out for real, and not playing possum. Now I have to fight against another Lancelot? No thanks....

“Oh yah... you’re boned.”

“Um.... Any more bright ideas?” Sigma asked as he slowly backed away towards the tunnel. Before I could respond with fighting back, I heard whispering coming from the Colt himself. I strained my ears to hear what he actually said, though... he repeated his words loud and clear the second time.

“Toys......toys don’t break me.....I BREAK TOYS!!!!” He shouted to the heavens, shaking the earth and erupting more spiky crystals from the ground, walls, and ceiling. His yelling was almost as if it was possessed, with multiple voices speaking at once..... wait, what was that about breaking toys?

…..

….Oh fuck.....

“RUN FOR IT!!!” I shouted towards Sigma as we both turned and made a mad dash out of there. I could hear the screams of frustration as we made our way out. We had to get out....now!

Looking behind us, I see that the tunnel was slowing crystallizing, with the newly darkened pony chasing after us.

“Run faster, damn it! Oh god, HE’S CATCHING UP!!!” Sigma shouted....

Present Time

“Accelero! Accelero! Accelero!...” I repeated to myself as we made turn after turn to avoid the upcoming dark crystal storm.

Something was definitely wrong here.

“WHY THE FUCK ISN’T THIS WORKING?!!?” I shouted as we made another turn, just barely missing a sudden spike that shot out from the wall behind us. My arm felt really weird and when I looked at my right shield, I found it covered with blackened crystals, as if they were now a part of my shield and arm.

“WHAT THE HELL!?!?” I screamed as I shook my arm around to try and get the black stuff off. It was definitely stuck alright, but what does this have to do with...

“It’s anti-magic,” I heard Ava said as he floated nearby me, still in the same speed as me. “Apparently... this colt knows dark magic.... but how?”

“Yah, that’s great and all but.. HOW DO I GET RID OF IT!?!?” I really didn’t like how it felt on my arm. It also felt like it was draining energy from me, making me feel weaker. Shit, I need to find a spot to rest so- OH SHIT THAT SPIKE WAS CLOSE!! I need to focus on getting out now!

“I see a light!” Sigma exclaimed, pushing himself towards the exit of the tunnel, gaining a lead ahead of me. I saw the light as well and followed suit, hoping that I would find a way to get rid of these dark crystals soon.

The ground shook more suddenly, having it a hard time to get a real good bearing on where I was going. I saw Sigma made it out of the tunnel, the light blinding my view of him. So close! I can almost taste freedom!

Taking a short look behind, I see the crystals were literally right on my tail, gaining more and more speed. With a final push, I jumped out of the tunnels, closing my eyes and hoping for the best as the dark spikes exploded out of the tunnel, no longer following us and now blocking the way we came.

I skidded on the ground a bit more from my jump until I was stopped by something furry and fluffy. At first, I thought it was Sigma’s feet, but opening my eyes, I looked to see a dead ponies face staring it’s lifeless eyes towards me. I screamed and crawled away on my back as fast as I could. The snout was unmoving, it’s bottom lip was missing and it’s eye sockets empty, except for a small maggot crawling inside it. I crawled back until I felt another furry spot touch the back of my head.

Screaming, I looked to see a frozen wide eyed Sigma just staring at the area.

Panting, I looked around the area as well to find out that.....

“WE’RE IN THE SAME FUCKING SPOT AS BEFORE!!” I screamed in frustration.

Indeed, we were returned to the spot where I first met Sigma. The bloody mess of the giant cavern, with nothing really changed other than the light source, now having it be the moon’s luxurious light shine down from the openings. Looking back towards the now blocked spike entrance, I noticed the crystals stopped giving chase, not wanting to leave the tunnel as of now.

Good, this gives us a little time for rest.

I looked at my crystallized right arm to figure out what just happened. Obviously, it’s was blocking my magic capabilities, but there had to be a way to get rid of it. Experimenting, I tried to glow my hands with fire again, only for my left hand to burn bright with black flames, but not my right. I could feel the magic pressure trying to push it’s way towards my right hand, but it was simply blocked by these damn dark crystals. Pulling at it did nothing but inflict pain upon myself.

“W-what... what did that pony just do?”

Gaining my attention, I turned and looked towards Sigma to see him shaking his head and looking towards me. “What in the name that’s all good, did that pony just do?” He said, raising his voice. He was obviously scared of the colt now. Then again, I am too, what with him blocking my magic and almost turning us into shish kabobs.

“I have no idea, but he did block my magic...” I emphasized as I showed him my corrupted right arm. “Still, we need to get out of here.” I lowered my claw and looked towards the center of the giant cavern, trying my best to look past the multitude of dead creatures everywhere.

“Not until after I get my bag back.” Sigma said, suddenly getting motivated again.

“Oh come on! Is that bag of yours really that important?! Just get a new one from the flea market or something.” This idiot really was going to risk his life for something as a bag full of minerals?

Before I could hear Sigma’s reply, an explosion rang out of the cavern, shaking the earth and the dead bodies. I looked around frantically to see what was going on, before a sudden row of crystallized spikes attacked me and struck me. My left shield was in the way for most of the impact but the crystals continued to push me, having such force to slam me towards a stalagmite and constricting around me. I tried to move but I felt at a sudden loss of energy as the dark crystals formed around my body and the stalagmite, restricting me and my magic. I could feel the crystals forming all around my body as the dark magic kept me restricted.

“Komodo!” I heard Sigma shout. I looked up to see that the Colt was forming out of the crystals, his body now the same as before, all repaired and brand new. His eyes were the same, but he still looked like the tiny colt rather than a crystal formed monster. He held his pickaxe behind him as he glared at me with a smirk.

“Ohhh... Looks like I caught myself a dragon! Now that I have you, lets see about your little friend here.” The Colt’s attention was now towards Sigma, who was starting to back away from the pony again.

“Sigma! Run and go get help!” I shouted, only to have the dark yellow pony glare at me and use his magic to cover my snout. I glared back at the colt as he focused his attention back to the dog. Oh I swear, once I’m out of this, you are SO DEAD!

“Now then.... let’s play tag!” The crazed colt said as he took a step closer to the cornered Sigma. With a shift of his hoof, blackened spikes chased after the diamond dog, who had nowhere else to run.

Well... it was nice knowing you Sigma in the short hour we’ve been together. I felt like we really connected, screaming together. Running together. Cursing at each other together. Eeyup, I’ll definitely miss those times.

I saw Sigma raise both of his paws up as he tried to block most of the damage, but it was useless. I turned away to at least avoid the pain of seeing someone die in front of me. I at least had my scales and shield to protect me from most of the damage, but all the dog has his fur and skin. He’s not gonna make it...

The earth shook once more as the attack was about to be final. Oddly enough though, as I looked towards the colt, I noticed that he has a confused look on his face, as if the earth shaking wasn’t him. Then I realized it really wasn’t the pony doing the earth shaking....

But if it wasn't him...

I looked back towards Sigma to see...

Oh wow

In front of the orange diamond dog were two towering green crystals, blocking the path of the dark spikes, protecting him from any harm. He opened his eye to see that he was still safe, and when he lowered his arms down, the green minerals retreated back to the earth. He looked back to his amulet to see it glowing furiously again, with the moon’s light shining brightly towards it. Catching on quick, Sigma raised up his paws on both sides, bringing forth green crystals from beneath him and levitating next to him.

I stared wide eyed at Sigma, who seemed confused as I was. He was barely saved, and by the magic amulet no less. He practiced moving the green gems around, having them glow around his feet and float around him. He was obviously still surprised at the whole thing. The Colt, though, was not liking that his powers were being copied.

With a quick swift of his hoof, the unicorn's dark magic started again, having more sharpened crystals aimed for the diamond dog. Sigma, in reflexes, crossed his arms to protect himself, causing the two floating green gems to block the way of the dark magic, smashing both crystals of black and green to tiny shards. The shards fell between the two fighters, both eyes wide.

Sigma stepped up and raised his right paw again, bringing up another crystal near him. By the looks of it, he was staring into his reflection on the crystal, planning for what to do with this ability.

After tinkering with his new powers for a bit, Sigma refocused his attention towards the Colt, who seemed to have a crooked forced smile on his face that twitched every now and then. His eyes glowed a slight green as the crystals around him glowed brightly.

Green crystals formed around Sigma’s right paw, molding into a crystal claw that shined in the moonlight. The newly formed claws pointed at the dark unicorn, with Sigma grinning madly, showing off his sharpened teeth.

Sigma, now having more courage than before, chuckled silently as both crystals were forming around the cavern. He tilted his head up and looked at the now scarred pony. More green crystals appeared around the diamond dog, contrasting the dark crystals that were formed by the unicorn. Now it was the colt who took a step back as Sigma approached forward.

“This toy,” Sigma started, his eyes gleaming with anticipation. "likes to play rough!"

With that said, he rushed forward, his crystal right beside him as he started fighting back.

A/N: Yes! Got that one done.... Next chapter, hopefully with help, will have some actual fight scenes!

Edit: I fixed the music problem near the end.

Chapter 17: Crystal is a Pony's best friend

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Chapter 17

[Here, have some battle music.]

In a flash, the diamond dog was already in front of the scarred colt, his snout inches away from the pony’s nose. With his gem covered claw cocked back, Sigma aimed his attack straight for his target. His open claws lunged at the colt, grabbing the side of his face and holding it tight within his grip. Keeping the momentum, the diamond dog face planted the unicorn and dragged him through his own dark crystals, leaving a trail of green spikes behind the dog’s wake. With such speed, the pair were already at the other side of the cavern with only a green trail behind them.

Sigma brought the Colt in front of him and crashed into a minecart, leaving a dented impression on the side. With the Colt stuck between the side of the cart, Sigma brought his fists up and began pummeling the pony, his hardened fist doing the most damage. The attack was relentless, with each punch leaving even more scrapes and bruises on the unicorn. Soon, the Colt decided to take no more and shot a blast of magic at Sigma, blasting the dog away from the bruised pony, with his hat flying off elsewhere.

Sigma got himself up, holding his stomach from where the blast made contact. There was only a few charred furs, nothing too serious. Looking towards the Colt, he saw the same dented minecart was floating and heading straight towards him.

Thinking fast, Sigma brought his gem covered paw in front of him and aim at the rapidly accelerating cart. With some concentration, the crystals around his paw started shooting out and straight towards the minecart, each hit breaking the cart and denting it. The cart soon slowed and skid on the ground, bouncing of its main course and crashing next to Sigma. He looked at his paw to find it was back to its regular self and sighed to himself. Still, at least he survived.

Smirking at his creative attack, the dog turned back to look to where the unicorn was, only to see the pony just mere inches from him, with a steel pickaxe being held by magic besides him. Sigma’s eyes widened as the pickaxe curved its attack to strike the diamond dog’s head. Sigma leaned back as far as he could, with the pickaxe barely touching the fur on his neck.

Standing back up right, he dodged to the left, just missing another strike from the colt. He then jumped back to avoid another attack. It continued on like this, with each strike from the mad pony, Sigma just barely dodged the attacks.

The Colt got impatient with his misses and screamed out in frustration, his multiple voices startling Sigma. The Colt’s eyes started to glow dark again, as well as the horn atop his head. His pickaxe soon glowed darkly and started to form crystals, increasing its density and size dramatically.

Before Sigma knew it, a massive, crystal pickaxe that was thrice the size of the unicorn was held high above the said unicorns head. Sigma gasped in surprised, stunned to see such a large thing in front of him. When he saw the pick start its descend, Sigma turned and ran besides the green spikes he formed from earlier.

Once the pick made contact with the ground, the whole cavern shook with its tremendous force. The force of the impact shattered all the crystals in the cave to small shards and specks. Even Sigma, in his run, was now on the floor trying to rise back up on his feet.

Dust and rubble filled the air from the force, having any view of the Colt very unclear. All he could see through the smoke was the shadow of the pick and the unicorn himself.

Once cleared, Sigma saw the crystal pickaxe slowly gravitating back up, preparing itself for another attack. The Colt was laughing like mad as he saw how pathetic his toy looked.

“Come on now! You were just talking all that good shit a second ago!” The demented unicorn said, laughing as the pick continued to rise. “Come on! Hit me! Fight me!...”

“Give me a hug!”

Sigma turned his head towards the Colt and looked curiously at him with his good eye. “Really?” The diamond dog said with some hope.

There was a small awkward silence, with a dumbfounded look on the Colt’s face. Sigma and the Colt just stared at each other until the Colt couldn’t hold it in anymore. The Colt laughed maniacally as the pick’s diamond sharp edge was heading right for Sigma a second time. Sigma sighed to himself for trying, and slammed both of his paws hard on the ground, cracking the earth beneath him.

Green shards of crystals started to form on both paws, growing up towards his shoulders. Standing up and quickly turning, Sigma grabbed hold of the giant pick just in the nick of time. With both of his crystals paws holding on tightly, Sigma barely survived the attack with the jagged tipped just inches from his nose.

The Colt, seeing his attack stopped, pressed on more magic into his attack, his horn now glowing more furiously. His eyes darkened as his face grew a wicked smile from winning so close. Static was forming from the contrasting magic, with both types of gems glowing harshly as they struggled. The ground beneath Sigma’s feet was starting to crack from the pressure as the diamond dog himself was sweating furiously for his fight of survival. His brain was in overdrive, as he quickly looked around to try and think of some way, anyway, for him to survive this.

Fortunately, there was one idea that could work. The risk, however, was abit too high. Still....

Ok magic amulet, The struggling dog thought. Lets see how strong you actually are!

Groaning furiously, Sigma pushed the last of his reserved energy to lift the pickaxe higher into the air, surprising the Colt with this strength. When he believed it was far high enough, Sigma’s arm let loose of the pick, with resulted in a second quake around the cavern. The ground shaking attack released more dust and pebbles into the air, hiding both Sigma and the Colt.

The Colt looked around furiously, his hoof blocking most of the dirt from his eyes. His red and black smokey eyes searched all around the dust cloud for the diamond dog, hearing the footsteps near him. As the dust started to settle, the Colt found that he was all alone, except the struggling dragon, that was still trapped with solid crystals.

This confused the Colt tremendously. His toy was nowhere to be seen, nothing but rocks and both colored crystals everywhere. His own pickaxe was still stuck within the earth, unmoving. There were no signs whatsoever. Did he teleport? Does he understand magic more than an average unicorn? No... there are no strings of magic that the Colt can sense. So... where did he-

“SURPRISE!!!”

“What!?!?”

A sudden grasp on the Colt’s face scared him senseless. A green crystal claw held the underside of his snout with such force that it stopped the Colt’s smile once and for all.

Soon, the rest of the dog popped out from the earth beneath the Colt, and it was surprising to say the least. There, in front of the unicron, was a full fledged walking crystal dog, from head to toe he was covered fully in the emerald crystals, with his chest glowing more brightly due to the amulet underneath.

Sigma’s green eyes stared deep into the Colt’s black aured eyes, one scared shitless and the other full of confidence. The Colt snapped out of it and tried to use his magic once more, his horn glowing furiously to try anything.

But Sigma knew this trick already and, using his other crystal paw, grabbed hold of the unicorn’s horn. The crystal beast’s mouth opened as he spoke.

“Playtimes over!”

With a quick flick of his wrist, the horn snapped off the ponies head, having the child scream in terror and pain. The horn’s base still showed but the rest of the horn was in the paws of the emerald covered dog. Something frightening happened though....

All the dark crystals in the whole cavern shining furiously, brighter than before. The unicorn’s eyes were now pure darkness, glowing pitch black like the void itself. Electricity and energy was shooting out of the broken horn before an explosion erupted within the cavern.

“What the-?!” Sigma shouted before eruption took hold of him.

With that last word echoing through the bright ball of light, everyone was blinded by sheer darkness, engulfing the cavern with silence and black.

There was rubble all around, rocks and broken gems were scattered all throughout the floor. The dead, mutilated corpses that were once stacked together were now either ashes or scattered further into the tunnels. Tunnels that are now caved in and sealed off from the world, hiding the rest of its rich minerals. The only thing left that stood within the mines itself was the cavern where the fight broke out, it’s wide open area now smaller in size and with the outside world open to it on the ceiling.

The moon was still in the open night skies, slowly descending for the coming dawn. It’s radiant light shined towards the few survivors of the mines, all unconscious and covered in rubble.

The once trapped dragon was now laying flat with rubble a dirt atop his right leg and tail. The unicorn laid sprawled on the floor, eyes closed and breathing slow, near the diamond dog he just struggled against. The emerald covered diamond dog, fighting strong till the end, was out cold on the ground, unharmed by most of the debri. His crystal armor had been decimated with little to no trace left. In fact, any of the magically formed crystals were now all long gone, leaving the cavern to be only that of a broken cave. In his right paw was the Colt’s broken horn, no longer useful to the unicorn.

The most noticeable thing was the silence. After all the struggling, screaming, growls, and shouting, it was now just completely silent on the battlefield. Not even the animals or the wind made any noise, as if not to disturb this lack of noise. Everything was just... peaceful now.

Or it was....until...

“Well... you’re just as useless as ever.” A spine tingling voice echoed throughout the cavern. Large cloud formations started to move, hiding the moon’s precious light from the cavern. Black smoke started to form from the unicorn’s body, elevating higher and forming into a weird figure. This figure stood tall, in a humanoid stance, covered from head to toe in absolute darkness. Smoke was all around this figure as he hovered over his once dear “friend”, having no face whatsoever, except for the red glaring eyes that shot daggers at the limp pony.

“Why did I even bother with such a tiny pony like you? You’re useless! Unwanted! Just a stupid pony....” The ruby eyes now moved towards the unconscious diamond dog. “This dog...He has experience at least. Heck, he was smart enough to avoid the crystals. And that amulet is sure as strong. Maybe he’ll be a better puppet to have than you.”

The smokey humanoid glided towards the dog nearby, wanting to have an upgrade. Shadow appendages formed from the back of this dark creature, almost taking control of Sigma. So close to a stronger power.

*BANG* *BANG* *BANG*

So close....

The shadow figured screeched in pain as his tentacles retreated back into his form. He was in so much pain, something he hasn’t felt in a long time.

“I’d stay away from them, if I were you.” Another voice echoed. As if materializing himself in, there floated a god-in-training having his infamous .49 LC revolver, the end of the gun smoking from his recent shots.

“How did yo-” The monster started, but was interrupted with the eyeless god.

“I’m a god, my dear shadowy monster. I can see you as clear as day. I can also see you trying to go for a creature that I might need for the future. I suggest you just be on your way before you make this difficult for yourself.” Ava’s eyes lowered to a threatening glare. Even without pupils, it was very much intimidating to an average creature.

“BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-” To bad this creature isn’t exactly “average”.

"Ohhhh, a god. How scary." The shadow rolled his blood filled eyes, not showing a hint of care in the word. "Listen, kid, let the big powers like me do our work and you just hurry back home and get those eyes of yours since you obviously left them at home. Alright? Thanks kid."

The shadow was about enwrap the diamond dog again, but another shot was made, ripping out the tentacles from the shadow figure. The tentacles, once reaching the floor, screeched and tried crawling back to they're warm loving master. The shadow looked towards Ava, eyes now twitching and fully annoyed.

"You know, you're REALLY starting to get on my nerves, kid. I can sense energy, and trust me, you don't have that much compared to me. So why bother trying?"

The shadow figure's arms raised up as if it were shrugging. "I mean, I heard all about how the 'gods' are here," He air quoted. "and how you're all playing some kind of chess game or something like that, but if that's the case, this dog here shouldn't be a bother really. From what I can gather, that dragon is your piece. So, me taking this diamond dog here," He pointed to Sigma. "shouldn't even be a bother to you."

"Heck," The shadow figure chuckled darkly. " you didn't even bring your own puppet here with your own powers! I can tell by the sun's energy with that dragon. What? Did you plead and beg for Celestia to bring this filth here? Take my advice kid, just leave with your own puppet and I'll have mine."

The shadow figure, now facing the diamond dog again, had his shadows all over him, ready to have a new puppet to contr-

*BANG* *BANG*

There were now holes in the shadow figure himself, smoking from the ammunition's impact. The shadow figure just gave the look of "are you serious?" to Ava, who still had his gun aimed at the shadow. In fact, he now held two revolvers in his hand one as shiny as the sun and another as dark as the night. Ava looked back towards the shadow’s eyes, his lifeless eyes showing that he wasn’t going to just stand around.

"Ok... No more mr. nice shadow." The shadow said as his body healed itself, all the holes disappearing before Ava. With that said, the figure grew taller and wider, his shadows covering the entire cavern itself as he surrounded the gun holding god. Then, he attacked Ava, his shadows constricting the poor god and strangling him within his powers.

"DO YOU HONESTLY THINK YOU CAN BEAT ME?!" The shadow roared as he was consuming Ava. "I'VE KILLED EVERY CREATURE KNOWN TO EXIST! DO YOU THINK SOME WELP LIKE YOURSELF CAN DEFEAT ME?!"

Ava, keeping his face straight throughout the whole ordeal, managed to raise on gun into the sky and say "Me? No...." He then shot one bullet towards the air, ripping a hole in the cloudy skies and allowing the moon's light to illuminate the area. "Her? Yes."

With that said, the moon's light glowed furiously as it started burning the shadows. The shadow figure himself was screaming in pain, his entire body was smoking, slowly dissolving as he was being lightened up like a Christmas tree. The appendages around Ava released him immediately, retreating back into the host. The once large shadow figure, was now shrunken into small humanoid figure, crying and screaming in pain as he went back towards the walls of the cavern, reaching into any cracks or hidden tunnels he could find to escape.

Before he was completely gone, he shouted in anger "This isn't the last you'll hear of me, you fake god! When you step even a single foot within the shadows, I'll end you within a blink of an eye!!" And with that, he was gone into the cracks of the mines, never to be heard from again.

Ava just stood above the trio of unconscious bodies that laid around the cavern, hiding his guns again after that little scuffle. Ava himself couldn't help but smile as he silently thanked the moon goddess for her help once again.

Ava looked towards the unconscious colt, and realized his fur and his mane were oddly changing colors now, from his yellow fur and white mane to a now brown fur and grey mane. Ava quickly noticed that after the little shadow attack, green fire were surrounding all the unconscious creatures in the cavern, Komodo, Sigma, and the mysterious colt included.

"I guess now that tall, dark and ugly is gone, the magic is more clearer here." Ava thought to himself. "Still doesn't explain why Komodo can't see it...."

Looking down at the unconscious dragon, Ava said to the drake. "We're going to have to talk, Komodo." The dragon physically shifted in his sleep, as if he could hear the god speak. Ava just sighed to himself and placed his best smile he could on his face. With that, he retreated back into the dragon's mind, ready for both a talk and another training session for both the dragon and the himself.

"Stupid moon. Stupid natural light. Of all the damn luck, it just HAD to be a full moon tonight."

"I see we're having some trouble again, hmm Boogeyman?"

"No one's called me that in..... YOU!"

"Hello again, Boogey."

"......H-how...how are you still here?"

"Did you honestly believe that that prison could keep me locked up for eternity?"

"But... hehe..haha... HAHAHAHA! This is fantastic!! Your back!!"

"Indeed."

"Hehe...wait, but what reason are you here?"

"Simply put, I'm requesting your aid again. Just like the last time, one thousand years ago."

"Hehehe... Just like old times then?"

"Of course, Boogey. Now then, about that request."

"Yes sir! What would you like me to do, your majesty?"

"How well can you teach people about your...type of magic?"

"I don't teach more as give them a piece of me. Why would you ask, though? You’re already quite fluent with dark magic, what more could you learn?"

"Oh it's not for me, more as for a few friends."

"....How many friends are we talking here?"

"Let's just say an army size."

Strength of a Brother's Bond

by Trexorb

Chapter 1: Rude Greetings

Chapter 2: A New Challenger has Arrived!

Chapter 3: Getting Nowhere

Chapter 4: Not Getting Any Easier

Chapter 5: A Deal with a Goddess

Chapter Extra: Vision of the Future (Komodo's POV)

Chapter 6: Regretful Past, a Hopeful Future

Chapter 7: Obstacles

Chapter 8: Knowing the Enemy

Chapter 9: Human vs. Human

Chapter 10: My little God

Chapter 11: Recovery

Chapter 12: Home

Chapter 13: Restless Nights

Chapter 14: Restless Nights pt2

Chapter 15: Oh! A rock! (Mines part 1)

Chapter 16: Going as Planned (Mines part 2)

Chapter 17: Crystal is a Pony's best friend