A portal opened to Ponyville. But this Ponyville was not the same Ponyville that I had seen last. No, there were a bunch of buildings missing, with new ones replacing them. And that was just some of it.

“Where did the big guy send me?” I asked out loud.

Around me were a bunch of nurses and construction ponies who were slowly rebuilding the town. All around me I could see large footprints, scorch marks, and slash marks as if a large sword carved the ground like Pinkie Pie and the cake. One of the injured ponies was Twilight as she was being cared for some burnt hair and bruises by a Nurse Redheart outside of her library.

“What the hell happened here?!” I yelled to the injured Twi as I ran up to the ponies. “What did all this?”

She looked up at me with red eyes “Drake…. he… he tried to stop the duel before it got out of hand, but…. something happened,” she said as she grabbed her head. Redheart have her lay back down telling her she needs rest. Questioning others didn’t really give more insight all ranging from ‘massive monster that left fire in its wake’ to ‘a demon from Tartarus itself’.

When I made it back to Twilight, only one question was on my mind. “Twi, which way did he go?”

She was a bit lucid from the painkillers, but she looked at me. “I don’t know. All I saw was Rainbow’s rainbow trail go south, but she returned with no report of finding him,” she informed me. The only thing to the south was the Everfree from where we currently were. Probably went to his base.

“Thanks, Twi,” I said. “I’m gonna go find him.”

And with that, I set off as fast as I could go, using the Flash Step technique when I could.

When I arrived at Drake’s base, I was surprised to find that it was in similar condition to Ponyville. The walls were scorched, and the area around the entrance was either burnt or burning.

“Drake?” I called out as I walked inside. “You in here, buddy? It’s me, Dox!”

As I walked down the path, I could see the large footprints get smaller and smaller before stopping at the familiar black and white stone steps. Sitting near the fountain was Drake, but in only a black shirt and jeans. His gauntlet looked tossed in the tree as his left arm was….. words couldn’t describe how it looked from all the times he must of overloaded the dang thing. Scars and burn marks were all over it. As he looked over at me, his eyes looked… downtrodden “What are you doing here?” he asked in a defeated tone.

“I’m here on a mission, among things,” I said. “It’s hard to explain, alright? But, hey, I’m helping you out right now. So, what happened to you?”

“That amulet…. that damn amulet did all this. I tried to yank it off, thinking my gauntlet would work, but….. it just overloaded worse than usual. When this thing took over, it…. it stayed out longer than any other hero did, as if it took complete control,” he explained… vaguely.

“Well, then,” I said. “So, it was what burnt up the town? That’s why there’s so much ash everywhere? You’re gauntlet thing caused the burning plantlife?” I walked up to Drake and sat down beside him.

He nods “In a way. Remember when I was Axe? I lost control, but this thing I turned into…. it… it felt like it was trying to keep control away from me, as if it KNEW what I did.” he said. He looked at the pool “The thing I turned into…. oh dear god the thoughts that ran through it’s head made Tirek look like a puppy,” he said looking green with sickness.

“Trust me,” I started, “You have no idea what he’s really like. Mine not only tried to kill me, but tried to take over my entire universe. Hell, I killed him, and he still got out of that to attempt to kill me again. He took over my Celestia and corrupted her. He had her turn me to stone and smash me into bits! Luckily for me, I have the big guy on my side. Later on, he followed me to another universe when I was summoned and cut off my freaking arm! MY ARM! I had to call another displaced just to get a new one. Speaking of that, if you see a Hyperion Beacon and use it, say hi to Jack and F.A.U.S.T. for me.”

Drake looked at me as he sighed “This hero tried to eat the children of ponyville, tried to kill my lovers, and I think the princesses…. well they will be living in Ponyville for sometime. He is a monster, a bigger one then Tirek” he said with a sigh. He looked at the pool “If only I could show you what he was, who he was…. then you know what to look out for.”

“Does it have a name?” I asked. “You seem to have names for all of them. I mean, I’ve played a little Dota 2 before. I mean, it’s not much, but I might know who it is.”

Drake looked up at the gauntlet as he spoke only one word “Doom.” before turning back to the pool “I…. need to leave here, let stuff blow over I…. I can’t face them after all that happened.”

“But you have to,” I said. “That’s the life of a hero, buddy. You have to fess up to your mistakes and hope the people accept you still. I was shunned by the ponies for a while, but hey, look at me now. I’m still shunned, but I’m a hero to at least some of them. Then again, a good amount of them saw my recent act of putting Blueballs in his place.”

He smirks a little “I remember when I put up a act as being a sort of ‘Phoenix God’ and caused many nobles to fear me…. even Blueblood. Downside…. Philomena now wants to preen my feathers, but…. all that I did was in zero control! I tried to eat fillies and colts for Tartarus sake! How are they going to accept me for that?!”

“I’m not sure,” I said. “I’ve never had to face that.” That’s when I got a horrible idea. I got up and walked over to Drake’s gauntlet. “But I think I know how to help,” I said as I reached for the gauntlet.

“If you’re thinking of putting it on…. it won’t work. Last pony who tried ended up getting zapped, like a taser had struck him when he tried to put it on,” he explained.

“Well,” I started, “I can try.” With that, I put on the gauntlet.

The first thing that I registered was the Dice Roller Core being ejected and fall to the floor. The next thing was a surge of pure, burning pain. It felt like a million needles, that were on fire, had just punched through my arm and started orbiting it, only to puncture it again and punch straight through it again, only to repeat the process. The last thing I registered was the floor, as I fell to the ground in pain.

Third person:

When Dox put on the gauntlet, a wave of pain overtook his body, and he collapsed to the floor, leaving Drake to look at him, thinking of how stupid his friend was. The look on his face changed, however, as he saw Dox start shifting, changing into something else, only for a flash of light to enter his vision and surprise him. When he could see again, no longer was he in the room with his friend, Dox. No, in the room with him now was a large, white Hellbear that easily stood a good four feet taller than him, which was strange. Normally Hellbears weren’t that tall…. nor did they have a robotic arm. The Hellbear roared at him before running down the hallway that led back to the Everfree, and then into Ponyville.

Drake just stood there shocked that someone else was able to wear that gauntlet as he shook himself free of the shock. He wanted to go after him, but what could he do? Without the gauntlet he was just some gamer nerd with average strength and a scarred/burned left arm. He looked down as he saw something…. glowing. His mind told him to not touch it, but since he had no other choice, he picked it up.

HELP HIM, DAMN YOU! a voice yelled in his head. Chase after him! I’ll help you out with it, just save my champion or so help me I will destroy you! You’re the reason he strayed from his mission anyways!

Drake immediately dropped the phone as he started to pant and look around for the voice. He slowly picked it up again as he ‘said’ If you can hear my thoughts, then don’t blame me for your so called ‘champion’ putting on something I warned him about! Also why the hell should I take orders from you? Your not my boss.

Correction. You’re not MY boss, the voice said. And unless you want me to destroy you, I’d get moving. That room won’t stay that chilled for long. And you don’t have to think, moron. I can hear your voice if you just speak normally.

And look like a crazy person speaking to noone there? Yeah that will go SO well with the rest of the crap that has happened today! all before he ran after the Hellbear. He knew Fluttershy could calm any creature, even a Hellbear calmed down before her, but this one felt… off.

You moron, that ‘Hellbear’ as you call it, is Dox, MY CHAMPION! the voice screamed. And if you don’t revert him back, I’m going to make sure you get a nice trip to the nine hells.

I’ve been to hell. Nice place, made friends with Rasputin and shut the hell up! You think if I knew that dumbass was going to do this I let him do it! I don’t want to put anyone through this! So how about you shut the hell up and be helpful in telling me why the fuck he would do this?! Drake thought.

Because Dox believes in putting himself in others shoes, the voice said. Listen, he’s a good kid, he thinks well, but not enough. He tends to ‘leap’ before he ‘looks’. He also doesn’t listen to his Dungeon Master as much as he should. I tried to warn him, but no, he didn’t pay me any mind. Good job, Dox. Listen, if you just do as I say and cast what I say, you should be fine.

Drake dodged a flying tree as he rolled his eyes In case you haven’t noticed, without my tool, I have absolutely, positively no connection with magic. Put it simply I am your very last chance to take. If I can get you to Twilight or a Princess they be able to help…… hopefully.

Yeah, well, you have the Dice Roller Core, the voice that called itself the Dungeon Master said. That item is connected to me, and I exist past the Aether. Trust me, letting you use magic for a bit isn’t that big of a deal. No, what is, is keeping my mind focused on you, my champion’s doings, AND the rest of the multiverse.

Drake stopped as he saw the Hellbear running through town. Drake grabbed a broom from a destroyed store. He walked over and smacked Dox on the head “Hey dumbass! You’re wearing MY gauntlet!”

The Hellbear roared in response. It then picked up a partly destroyed building before chucking it at Drake.

You idiot! Cast a spell! the voice yelled out at Drake. Just put out your hand and yell Magic Missile! DO IT BEFORE YOU GET CRUSHED, YOU MORON!

Drake did so as he yelled out “Magic Missile!” as he felt something build up in his hand before a large ball of energy shot out and collided with the building, blowing it to pieces. He looked at Dox “Look around you Dox! Look at all this! You want to make their lives worse? Is this who you are?!” he yelled at the Hellboar as pony’s watched from hiding at the two.

The Hellbear just continued to roar out in anger, but before it attacked again, it seemed to….. hesitate. It was as if the creature was feeling regret…. No, Dox was feeling regret. He couldn’t control the form he was in, and he knew it.

“HELP….. ME….” the Hellbear that was Dox struggled to get out as he continued to ransack the town.

You have to down him, the voice said to Drake. It’s the only way to get him to stop. Then I can tell you how to revert him back to normal. Just do it quickly. You can do that amped up Magic Missile, but there’s more spells. Just think of them, and scream them out. Just pretend you’re playing Dungeons and Dragons!

Like from any fantasy world with magic? Drake asked in thought.

Duh, the voice said, blankly. Just get to it!

Drake looks at Dox as he heard of downing him. He thought of a few words before yelling out the words to Skyrim’s ‘Kyne’s Peace’.

The Hellbear was impacted by the shout. It seemed to hesitate again, this time, though, it turned towards Drake before charging at him, instead of continuing to lay siege to the village. When it got within ten feet of Drake, it clapped its hands together, sending out a shockwave that knocked Drake onto his behind.

Nice try, buddy, the voice said. But something like that isn’t going to work well on Dox right now. Notice how your gauntlet is nowhere to be seen. That’s because he’s essentially become the gauntlet. He’ll just absorb minor attacks, like that. Be offensive! Do damage! Shoot a lightning bolt! It won’t destroy the village, trust me.

Damn it, he practically is under its control, he thought. As he got up and aimed his hand, he started to shoot out large blasts of ice shards at Dox. He eventually shot enough to pin Dox to the ground, where he roared in anger.

Good, he’s prone. Now you just have to knock him out, the voice said. If you don’t, it won’t work properly. Just keep smacking him, okay?

Drake ran up and kept smacking his face in, but the more he did so, the harder he hit him, slowly releasing anger he had against Dox. Why? For three reasons he will explain to him afterwards.

Eventually Dox passed out from the amount of smacking.

Good, now stop smacking him, the voice said. I don’t know how much you know about Dox, but even though he can take a beating, he’s not fully immortal. Now, to revert him back, just shove the Dice Roller Core against the gauntlet. It should short it out long enough for him to revert back and for you to pull it off.

Drake sighed as he put the core to the gauntlet as sparks started to fly and an influx of magic started to grow between the two items. Slowly, Dox started to revert to normal-ish form. When the transformation back was complete, Drake yanked the gauntlet off Dox’s arm.

A few seconds later, Dox started coming to.

“What the hell happened?” Dox moaned as he rubbed his head. “Last thing I remember is trying to put on the gauntlet, then blank.”

Drake was glaring at him “You turned into a Hellbear, nearly gave the Mayor a heart attack, and your DM wants you to know you’re a dumbass for this. Also, I got a couple of things I’d like to do to you,” he said as he roughly grabbed Dox by his collar and lifted him up. He had his gauntlet on as he pulled his hand back, ready for a punch.

“Dude, I don’t even know what happened,” Dox said. “Could you fill me in first, then attempt to punch my lights out?”

Drake’s eye twitched. “You put on my gauntlet and turned into a fucking Hellbear, then went rushing out of the base to here! I’m going to punch you for five reasons, though, and the rampage is one of them!” he yelled as his gauntlet made contact with Dox’s face.

“Yep, keep it going,” Dox said. “I’m just glad the eye is good for impacts. Better yet, I’m glad that Maud basically made my face immune to pain.” Dox then registered the comment that Drake had made. “Wait, five reasons? The hell are the other four? I tried to help you, damn it! It wasn’t my intention to go on a fucking rampage!”

“Reason one! Getting my face used as a baseball by a pissed off Celestia,” Drake said as his gauntlet hit Dox, again. “Reason two! Getting my arm broken after getting launched through the portal!” he yelled, repeating the process. “Reason three! Summoning me in a humiliating attire and the ultimate reason! You cockblocked me!” he yelled as his gauntlet came to hit Dox…. but stopped. Between us was a mass of pink hair, along with buttercream wings as Drake looked at her. “Out of the way Fluttershy, this is between him and me.” he said.

“No. Listen to me, Drake. You don’t want to do this,” she pleaded.

“Why not? He could of killed someone as a Hellbear!” Drake yelled in response.

“And what about when you lost control?” she countered, keeping a calm face. Drake just looked at her. “None of us know what it’s like in those forms you take, or the power you hold, but one thing we do know, is that no matter what, you somehow keep control of them, even if you don’t know it. Well… except this time, but that’s not important! What is important that you shouldn’t be like whatever he was. Do you really want to hurt Dox or anyone?” she asked, looking into Drake’s eyes. Drake just closed his eyes as after a minute, he let Dox go to drop as Fluttershy hugged the man.

When she released him, however, Dox took a cheap shot and launched Drake into a building.

“Don’t hit me ‘cause you’re mad,” he said simply. “The only thing that I’m at fault for is for the rampage and the summon, but how the hell was I supposed to know anything about what would happen, or the circumstances leading up to it? You don’t take it out on others, got it?” Dox then walked over to the Dice Roller Core that he had left on the ground and picked it up, putting it back in the computer on his arm.

Drake just got up and shook his head. He walked over as he looked at Dox. “I’m coming with you Dox. I need to give a piece of my mind to your world’s Celestia. Just my mind, no hitting” he said.

“Yeah, I’ll think about it,” Dox said. “I have a job to do. Now, where the hell did the big guy send Righty?”

First person:

I spent a few minutes just wandering around aimlessly, calling out Righty wherever I went. Where the hell was that AI? Near the destroyed school, I could see a small brown colt playing a Gameboy looking device, but it seemed to speak to him in a familiar voice.

“Where the hell is Dox?!” the voice in the Gameboy kept saying. “I demand that you take me to Dox! It’s extremely demeaning to be stuck in such a stupid low tech device such as this!”

“You’re a weird game…. oh well” he said as he turned the volume on it all the way down, focused more on the game than the voice.

“Hey!” I called out to the colt. “Let me see that!” I snatched the Gameboy from the colt and turned the volume back on. “Righty, is that you?”

“Dox!” the AI that was stuck in the device called out. “I’m glad to see you made it all right! Now get me the hell out of this thing! It makes me feel low tech! I hate it!”

“Alright, just gimme a sec,” I said. I touched my robotic arm onto the charging port of the device, glad to see a small arc of energy as I made contact. A second later, a hologram of righty appeared next to me. She seemed to be an anthro dragoness this time. She was wearing a very modest Hyperion outfit, but it seemed to be about five sizes too small around her chest, accentuating what I could only see as a size F chest. She also stood a good foot above me, and I’m 6’2”! “Glad to see you’re back, Righty.”

“Yeah, glad to be back,” she said. “Now, can we go do the mission now?”

During the entire time I was talking to the AI, Drake looked at me as if I was crazy. “Who are you talking to?” he asked.

“What do you mean? She’s right here,” I said, motioning to the hologram.

“You idiot,” Righty said. “You’re the only one who can see me right now. Just press the button to let him see me.”

“Right,” I said, pressing the button. There was a flash of light, and there stood the AI in her dragoness form.

Drake looked at her as he chuckles “So…. you made your AI eyecandy?” he asked referring to her form.

“No,” I said. “It’s Hyperion tech. It’s just how it works. She chooses the form, not me. Plus, she’s not just an AI, she’s a real living being! She’s also technically my half sister, so yeah.”

“Hi,” Righty said. “I’m the AI that was assigned to Dox, designation, currently Righty.”

Drake rolled his eyes “Your life is getting all sorts of fucked up Dox. Either way name’s Drake Blackwood, The Ancient Summoner.”

“Hello, Drake,” Righty said. “You seem to be a plain individual.”

Drake raised his gauntlet. “That’s cause I am. I get my power from this baby, but the problem is, I use it too much, and…. Well, I’m sure you know from how Dox was.”

“Of course,” said the AI. “There should be a way to fix that, but Hyperion would need to scan the gauntlet back at home base. Currently, I cannot get a sufficient enough surface scan.”

Drake just looked at them. “Okay, that all just went right over my head,” he said honestly.

“Don’t worry, man,” I said. “A lot of it goes over my head at times, too.”

“What I mean,” Righty said, glaring at me and Drake. “Is that I cannot get a good enough scan on my own. I’d need to scan a lot more than just the item, like its abilities. Also, I have been informed that you have to absorb magic to use the device?”

“That or get a channel of magic into it. Problem is, it takes longer, and upside is less chance of an ‘overload’ to occur”

“Right,” the AI said. “Now, have you found Dox’s token, yet? I have received data from home base of them finding it and scanning it. It lets off magic passively. It’s a small amount, so it should suffice to work for your needs.”

Drake simply shook his head. “Sorry, can’t say I have. First time he arrived was an accident and this time…. Well, I did just go overload….. oh god I nearly forgot!” he yelled as he seemed to run off to the treehouse for something.

I started to follow him, but was stopped by Righty.

“I can sense your token in that bush over there,” she said, pointing to a bush.

“Thanks, Righty,” I said. “Ya know, I’ve been thinking of a name for you for a while.”

“Really?” the AI commented.

“Yeah, and I’ve finally decided what it is,” I said. “I’m going to start calling you Athena, after the Greek Goddess. She was-”

“The goddess of wisdom, yes,” the newly dubbed Athena said. “Hyperion has a very large database about close to everything.”

“Right, forgot for a second,” I said, reaching into the bush and pulling out the purple D6 that was my token. “Alright then, let’s go catch up to Drake.”

“Very well, brother,” Athena said.

At the treehouse, the place had seen better days. Most of the leaves were burned off, windows shattered, and of course a large, demon footprint before the door from Drake’s earlier hero change. Inside, a feminine scream could be heard as the door was opened a crack. Inside, Drake could be heard sighing as soft whimpering was heard. “I told you to be careful. You can’t turn into smoke anymore remember?” he asked.

A new female voice was heard. It sounded dark, seductive, but also…. soft. “Sorry master”

“Don’t call me that! I’m not your master, I’m Drake.”

“But you’ll always be master to me,” the voice said, along with clanking metal. As the door opened wider, I could see Drake being hugged by a mare of at least six feet even, a body of dark grey, with large bundle of black hair. Her eyes were green and purple, and she simply radiated dark magic from her form. She was wearing steel armor and a red cloak. The most surprising part of her, however, was the large, curved, red and black horn on her head.

“What the heck is going on in here?” I asked as I entered the room with Athena following behind me. “Drake, who is this woman and why does she call you master?”

Drake just sighed “It’s… a long story.”

“Alright then,” I said, letting it slide. “Now, why did you have to come here? Oh! Before I forget, here.” I handed him my token. “It radiates magic, passively. According to Athena here, it only lets out a small amount, but she told you that already.”

Drake sighed as he stood with her. “Umbra, can you please make us some tea?” he asked as the unicorn nodded and left. He went and sat on a chair “Trust me…. you won’t believe me.”

“Eh,” I said, shrugging. “I’ll believe it if you’d tell me, but you don’t have to. Hell, with all the weirdness going on, the only thing I wouldn’t believe is if you saw the Red Dragon. I say that, because it would eat you before you left. That thing scares me.”

Drake sighed as he looked at me. “Well you see, it all started back when the Crystal Empire came back from vanishing years ago. Celestia called us in to go and see about this kingdom, but what we weren’t expecting was that an old foe returned, King Sombra. After Shining Armor saved our asses, we tried to find this ‘Crystal Heart’ or whatever it was called and get the town’s ponies to be happy, again. One problem that happened, was that the King had more tricks than the show led on. He was somehow able to summon some creatures from DOTA to fight us. I turned into Chen and tried to use his ult to control the creatures, but…. Well, crystals tend to do a lot of bouncing,” he said with a light chuckle as he nervously rubbed the back of his head.

“So, you took control of Sombra, instead,” I said. “I’m assuming he’s shapeshifted, or something, to look like a girl? And about that, how good is the shapeshift? I’ve met other shapeshifters, and done some myself. The average My Little Pony changeling just puts up an illusion. The average D&D changeling actually becomes the humanoid they’re trying to impersonate. I’ve met a mass shifter, they did a good job at becoming whatever they wanted to be. And then there’s me. I’ve turned from being male, to female, to even a genderless dragon once. That was hella weird, so don’t ask me to do it again, ‘cause I won’t. Fuck innocence, just as long as I don’t have to do that again.”

Drake rubbed his temples. “Too much information, dude. Too much. As for the gender bend, well… After the control, something different happened. Normally my power would go poof after reverting, but after reverting, Sombra was still under my control and calling me master and what not. Odder thing was, he did anything I asked and after feeling like I was avoiding him for being a male, he went to Zecora for a shapeshift potion and to the princesses, on bended knee, and asked them to change the potion to a more ‘permanent’ solution. After that, he became Umbra and, well, I found out something. Without the armor, she is a really cuddly pony,” he said. Umbra came back and set the tea down as she smiled, but still looked a bit creepy with the smokey eye bit, not that I minded. Drake leaned up a bit and kissed her cheek as she sat down next to him.

“Hey, it’s as I was told once,” I said. “To everyone their own. Let others be who they want, you be who you want, and I’ll be who I want. Hell, you should see what I’ve been up to. There was a huge event that happened recently, but to sum it up: Celestia got possessed, went evil, turned several to stone. Hell, I summoned a bunch of displaced to help fight her. Eventually got her down without killing her and ridded her of the spirit. It was amazing. After the fight, we all celebrated. Thanks to a promise I made to one of the displaced that I summoned, I had a pretty fun night. Let me say that if you ever find a token for Team Rocket, tell their Arbok that I say hi. And no, I’m not joking.”

Drake smiled. “You make it sounds like you got to shag a princess,” he said with a chuckle.

“Well, yeah,” I said. “But I mean, before that, it was a pokemon. A bit later, I was told that I’m apparently able to mate with any species. Pretty fun for me, right?”

“So…. you went to bed with a snake and a princess? Damn.”

“Well, not at the same time,” I said. “And dude, you wish you were there. Here, look at this picture of what happened with the princesses.” I then pulled out one of the pictures that Vaga had given me of my fun with the princesses. “Eat it, son.”

Drake looked at it and whistles “Damn man…. too bad I sort of beat you,” he said. He pulled out a picture of him with the main six and Derpy back during the heat cycle. “Alright enough of this accomplishment stuff, I want to go to your world and get an apology for the warhammer to the face from her. I promise not to hit her, but I will want an apology still…. And a cupcake.”

“Yeah, good luck,” I said. “First off, I need to do my mission. And that is to bring back….. Um, Athena?”

“Yes, Dox?” Athena said.

“Who are we after, again?” I asked.

“You weren’t told, were you?” Athena said.

“No…” I said.

“Ugh, we’re after Emerald and Sapphire,” Athena said. “We’re to acquire them and bring them back to our universe, as soon as possible.”

“Right, what she said,” I said. “Do you know where they are?”

Drake shrugged. “My guess is back at the hive. After you left, they went back because they, quote unquote, ‘Don’t trust Equestria to not harm them’.... can’t say I blame them, stupid nobles.” he mumbled the last part.

“Yeah,” I said. “I remember where it is. Hopefully I can skip the trek of going into the badlands. Wanna come with?”

“Enter a lair full of changelings? Only if Umbra comes along. She likes to tag along to make sure I’m safe…. Honestly, I think she just likes my scent,” he said as Umbra nuzzled his chest.

“Alright then,” I said. “So, Athena, where you able to scout, since you got here before me?”

“I tried,” she said. “Saw your friend, got hit by an attack of his. For some reason, I bugged out and got shoved into that colt’s gaming device. It made me feel dirty. Horrible low tech, non-Hyperion technology.”

“Right,” I said. “Well, let’s just start with checking the Everfree castle.”

And with that, the group set out for the forest and the structure inside it.

The group arrived at the Castle of the Pony Sisters, only to find it empty and devoid of life.

Drake looked around. “Probably ran after Doom came through,” he said as he walked towards the bridge to find it in cinders.

“Wow, you really scare people like that, don’t you,” I said.

“Doom is a massive demon the size of Canterlot castle with a blade of fire, you tell me,” he said. Umbra just grasped his hand and rubbed it as if calming him. “Thank you Umbra.”

“Touche,” I said. “Now, if they’re not here, then we can only hope that teleporter they made is still here. Come on.”

I led the group through the castle, which was still lacking life. There was literally nothing living in this castle. It got me to think about it. Was something up with the area? Was this castle dangerous? To be frank, a ‘no duh’ can go the the latter question. Anyways, I led them to the room where I had been taken the first time I found the changelings. There was another, smaller room connected to it. When we entered it, we found it to be void of objects. Athena started running scans, and I started looking around the room, myself, while Drake and Umbra just stood around watching us.

“Well this is…. odd,” Drake said, his voice echoing off the walls of the big room.

I walked back into the big room and asked, “What is? There a button or something?”

“No just, normally there’d be sound here. Manticore, Timberwolf, even a Cockatrice, but listen,” he said as there was…. nothing.

“Well, yeah,” I said. “But I mean, this place has been screwed over for decades. What’s your point?”

“What I mean is, there is at least something living here, but there is no sound. Not a growl or a hiss or even a footstep. It’s like this place became cursed or something.”

“Again, no duh,” I said, then went back to search for a way to activate the teleporter. “I mean, with all the crazy shit that’s gone on around here, I wouldn’t be surprised if-”

“-if there was a large ass demon living here or perhaps a whole group of Changelings?” Drake asked.

“Holy crap,” I said. “Give me a second.” I felt around the air for a second, snagging on something, and pulled it. This revealed to be my little hole in space time that was my magic satchel. Man, glad I have that ability. I reached inside and pulled out a piece of black armor that looked to be made of some dark steel alloy with bits of obsidian on it. There was a certain crest on it that glowed in the semi-dark castle.

Immediately, changelings started to appear. It looked like they were all just using advanced invisibility spells to hide from us. My only guess to why they hadn’t attacked us was because of Athena, what with her currently looking like a dragoness.

“Our king has returned!” one said. The other changelings in the room followed him and soon the entire room was just a giant mumble of, ‘the king has returned’.

I stuck my hand up to silence them. “Hello, all,” I said. “I’ve come back for a reason. Where are Emerald and Sapphire?”

The changelings talked amongst themselves for a second before one stepped up to me.

“They are back at the hive, my king,” it said.

“Thank you,” I said. “Can you use the teleporter to get us there?”

The changeling called to the others to get the teleporter ready. The others immediately started swarming around the smaller room, but did not enter.

“Athena, let them in,” I called into the room. “They’re going to activate it.”

“Right,” she said, emerging from the room. The changelings stared at her for a few seconds. “Well? Get to it!” With that the changelings ran into the room and immediately got to work.

Drake looked at me. “Still a king, even when away? Keep this up and they may follow me, thinking I brought you here,” he joked with a grin.

“Yeah, not on your life,” I said.

A few minutes later the the teleporter sprung to life.

“Ready?” Drake asked Umbra, who nodded.

When the group entered through the teleporter, they were instantly transported to the changeling hive, which was buzzing with activity.

“Well, looks like I was missed,” I said, taking off my hoodie and replacing it with the chest piece that I had taken out. I flagged down a nearby changeling. “Hey, where are Emerald and Sapphire?”

“In the Queens’ chambers,” the changeling responded. “They are teaching the new queens the proper ways to act.”

“Queens?” I asked. “Did Emerald and Sapphire give birth?”

“No, my king,” said the changeling. “They are still in the midst of their pregnancies. No, some other eggs turned out to be queens. They were the only ones found. We were about to smash them, but they reminded us that those were the orders of the ex-queen, who shall not be named.”

“Queen Bitch, you mean?” Drake asked the changeling. The changeling nodded.

“Right,” I said, disregarding Drake’s comment. “Can you take us to them?”

“Very well, sir,” it said. It then began to walk off, stopping every now and again to motion for us to follow it.

“So, what do you think of the hive, Drake?” I asked. “I mean, seeing as this is the first time you’ve ever been in here. You training me with portals was outside, but you never entered.”

“Reminds me of ants and insects,” he said honestly.

All the changelings around us stopped and glared at Drake.

“Dude, you don’t want to say that,” I said. “I found that out during training, and I made a joke that they laughed at! You might want to apologize before they murder you.”

“Sorry?” Drake said.

A noticeably large group of changelings started making themselves known. I mean, they were big and burly and they were floating right above us. They glared down at us angrily.

“I said I was sorry.”

“Well, they don’t believe it,” I said. “And frankly, I don’t either. Dude, be sincere about it.”

Drake seemed to mull things a bit, as Umbra bowed her head “I humbly apologize for my master’s idiotic word choice. He meant to say that your system and home is aesthetically pleasing and quite unique among other homes he has been to. Do forgive him for his weak word choice,” she said with a cute smile.

The burly changelings float away, but the biggest of them stayed behind. It floated down and stood in front of Drake.

“I want to hear it from him,” said a feminine voice from the changeling.

Drake looked a bit surprised. “You’re a female? You officially scare me. I am sorry about accidentally insulting your home. My word choice is very poor, please do not kill me,” he said.

The changeling punched Drake in the gut in response before saying, “Apology accepted. Don’t do it again.” She then walked away. The hive then went back to its normal business, and our guide started to motion for us to follow it again.

“That’s why you don’t crack jokes about insects in here,” I said.

After about five minutes of walking, we came upon some large ornate doors.

“Here we are, my king,” the changeling that had been leading us here said. “They are inside, although I caution you to be careful when approaching them. The queens are still learning, and you brought this…. person here.” Man, just like I remembered them. Changelings can be spiteful when you call them insects. Must have been because of Chrysalis. I’d have to explain that to Drake later.

“Thank you, sir,” I said to the changeling. “Please, have a nice day.”

I watched as the changeling ran off, obviously trying to get back to work on whatever it was working on earlier.

Drake looked back at him. “After you, King. They are your subjects after all,” he said with a smirk.

“Keep doing that,” I started with heavy sarcasm, “And my next decree will to behead you.” With that, I pushed open the ornate door, revealing four changelings in the room.

They all looked over at me, Athena, Drake, and Umbra. I immediately recognised Emerald and Sapphire, they were hard for me to ever forget. With them, on twin thrones, were two changelings that seemed to be taller than them. I mean, they got up when they noticed who I was, and they stood at a good six foot even, making them taller than Emerald and Sapphire.

“Hello, ladies,” I said to the four. “How’s it been going?”

Emerald and Sapphire became overjoyed. The queens, however, had a less than happy look.

“Who are they?” the queen on the right asked. “I demand to know why they were granted access to the throne room!”

Drake just smirked. “You want to tell them or should I, Dox?” he asked.

“Go ahead, Drake,” I said. “I’m honestly just amazed they don’t recognize the crest on my chestplate.”

Drake stepped forward and cleared his throat and with a smirk looked at the queens. “I am Drake Blackwood, a guardian of Equestria and… I will say, ally of Dox. This here is Dox, the very being who had made the ‘Queen who shall not be name’ banished and helped forge a… relatively calm treaty with Equestria. Also, the king of this hive,” he said as he walked back, next to Dox.

“King of this hive?” the queen on the left asked. “There’s no king of this hive. The last king left the hive in charge of these two changelings.”

“Yeah, and I’d prefer you use their names,” I said. “Emerald, Sapphire, how’s it been going?”

“Dox!” Emerald said as she charged me. She ended up knocking me over and falling onto me, not that I minded. “It’s been so long!”

“Just a few months, not that long,” I said.

Sapphire walked up to me. “Not that long?” she said. “A few months is pretty damn long, Dox. Don’t be leaving me and my sister alone like that, again.” She accented her last sentence with a small jab to my ribs.

Drake chuckled. “Well… at least that’s what he came to our world for… Well, at least from what I overheard anyway” he said with a shrug.

“What you came for?” Emerald asked. “Dox, what’s he talking about?”

“Well, I’m here to take you and your sister back to my world,” I said. “I have my reasons, and an order, but in reality, I did miss you two.”

“We missed you two, Dox,” Emerald said, giving me a squeezy hug.

“You’re planning to take our subjects away?!” the queen on the left shouted. “You must be mad to think that we’ll let you take our nannies away!”

“Yeah, no,” I said, getting up and pulling out my large tome with the D&D symbol on it. The symbol seemed to have changed slightly, ‘cause right now it looked like a Dota symbol. “I’m here to take them away, and you’d be mad to stop me.”

Drake nodded. “I’ll even help him escape, cause trust me, you don’t want any of what I can do. Don’t believe me? Ask Dox, he has seen what I can turn into,” he said, flashing the gauntlet as it brimmed with magic.

“You dare threaten us in our own hive?!” the queen on the right said. “Guards! Guards! Get in here and detain these trespassers!”

A group of fifteen guards filed into the room and stood around us.

“Ignore that order, I demand it,” I said. The guards immediately stopped what they were doing and marched out of the room. “And stay out there until I say so.”

“Where are you fools going?” the queen on the right asked. “Get back in here and do your jobs!”

“We are. We are doing as our king ordered,” a guard replied as he left with the others.

“Don’t you see?” I asked the queens. “They know me. They know who I am, and give me respect for it. So far, I’ve not seen an inkling of respect for you two. What have you two done while I was away?”

Drake looked over. “Well I can vouch for Emerald and Sapphire acting as mediates for the proper treatment of Changelings… So far, not a lot of nobles are all for the topic, but I know Fancy and Hoity are supporting it. They at least believe in treating others fairly, despite appearance and other differences.”

“Well, that’s good news, at least,” I said. I then turned my attention back to the queens. “What have you two been doing? ‘Cause it looks like all the projects I asked to continue in my stead have stopped. My only question is, why?”

“We saw no point to them,” said the queen on the left. “My sister and I saw no benefit from them. No one ever visits, so why refurbish the hive, or comes by. So why do it? Or why push to build a city? Again, no one visits.”

“They were foolish endeavors,” said the queen on the right. “It was pointless to continue them, seeing as how the ponies would never come near a changeling for any reason, let alone a hive of them.”

“Well, perhaps it would be good for moral?” Drake said. Umbra and the queens looked at him. “What? I’ve built cities from absolutely nothing before, and in a short term of a few thousand years, I controlled a whole country. Not to mention, moral was very high, especially with all the feasts, citizens, and of course portraits made,” he said as if he knew what he was doing. He walked over and whispered to me, “In truth, I just played weeks of Civilization V.”

“Nice,” I whispered to him. I turned back to the queens. “See? There’s reason to it. But it seems that you forgot some of the most important rules of leading.”

“And what would those be?” the queens asked, simultaneously, which was weird as heck.

“You forgot that you are not above them,” I said. “That’s how I led. My subjects weren’t just drones, warriors, or jobs. I learned as many names as I could, and if I didn’t know a name, I apologized for that and asked for it. The only reason I let them call me ‘king’, was because I didn’t have a name. When I got a name, I pressed for months for them to call me by it. I was their equal, even if I did have more power. Yet, here you are, and you haven’t even tried to tell us your names.”

Drake just nodded. “It is better to be a leader who works with their citizens, rather than one who rules over them,” he said, trying to sound sagely…. admittedly, it didn’t suit him.

The queens looked at eachother for a bit. Then they turned back to face us.

“I am Jadeite,” said the queen on the left.

“And I am Ruby,” said the queen on the right.

“That’s better,” I said. “My name is Dox. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Now, please act better to your subjects. Treat them as changelings, not insects. That’s how the last queen treated them, to my knowledge. Look how she ended up.”

Drake nodded. “Exiled. Defeated. And ultimately pissed…. I’m just guessing that last part.”

“No, you're right,” I said. “She was pretty pissed when she got kicked out. In fact, you might want to look out for her. I don’t know where she went.” I turned back to the queens. “But anyways, I have a schedule to run. I will be back to visit, trust me. So, please, try and act better in the future. Restart the projects, ask for help in moving the hive closer. Or even make the Everfree teleporter a way in for the ponies by making a safer path.” I then took out my dagger and slashed it through the air.

Now, I was only guessing it would work, and thank goodness it did. Right in front of me now stood a portal, the destination I could only guess being my Equestria.

“I’m off,” I said. “Come on, Emerald and Sapphire. It’s time to go.”

“Right,” the sisters said in unison before running through the portal.

“Well, Drake,” I said. “It’s been fun, but I must be going.” I started to make my way into the portal before I heard Drake.

“Hey!” Drake called out “We’re not done yet, damn it. I am getting that meeting with Celestia!” he yelled as he ran to the portal….. unfortunately, he didn’t see a lip in the floor and came tumbling into me and right into the portal.

On the other side of the portal, the two sisters waited for Dox to emerge. Instead of Dox emerging, Drake and me came tumbling through the other side, I stopped just in front of them. Drake rolled a bit before sliding under, right in front of Celestia. He looked up at her. “Remember me Princess?” he asked her. The odd thing was he looked a bit…. paler than before the portal.

Right afterwards, we heard a familiar voice come through the portal, followed by Umbra bursting through before the portal closed. Umbra soon helped Drake up and held his arm close to her. “Master!” she called out happily. Celestia just stared at the strange pony.

Drake just sighed. “Dox can…. he can explain this,” he said referring to Umbra.

“That’s a genderbent Sombra,” I said. “It’s a long story, and one that I’m not going to explain.”

Drake just glared a bit as he seemed to be getting paler and paler still. He looked at Celestia as he tried to step forward, just to fall to a knee as his breathe starting to get more visible.

“Yo, Drake,” I said. “You okay, buddy? You’re looking kinda pale.”

“I’m feeling….. cold,” he said. Now that was odd, ‘cause it felt more like it was ninety-eight degrees here. The odder thing that happened was a cracking sound being heard as ice started to form around him. He looked back. “G-Get her away,” he said in a crackling voice. His gauntlet started to swarm him in blue as he did something different then usual. He started to scream as if it was burning him. The blue soon took over as the last thing he said was, “Get away!” as the whole room started to feel like the Crystal Empire, but…. colder.

There was a flash of blue light, and where Drake once stood, now stood a massive beast. Scales of dark blue, a crown of ice on its massive head, with purple wing flesh, and a pair of eyes and teeth that were ice blue. It looked like a dragon, but its wings were connected to its arms. As it looked around, it spoke in a cold, but feminine voice, “Winter Wyvern!”

“Shit,” I said. I turned towards the others and shouted, “Get out of here! I’ll hold him off.”

Yet, as soon as I said that, the wyvern seemed to just turn around and leave the room, ignoring the guards as it kept speaking one word, “Books~,” in a spine chilling voice.

“What the hell did Drake turn into?” I questioned to myself as I ran after the wyvern. “Is he a dragon version of Twilight now?”

As I followed the wyvern, it’s very presence seemed to coat halls and ponies in snow and ice as it went into rooms, looked around, and left while repeating, “Not books”. It even found its way into the royal vault, yet, even seeing all the gold and gems inside, it showed no interest. When it finally found the library, it shook the shelves a bit to make books fall off as it gathered them all up into a giant nest like structure and laid on top of them like a dragon would its hoard.

“Drake!” I yelled at the wyvern. “What the hell has gotten into you? I need you to tell me what’s going on, buddy!”

The wyvern’s head rose. “If you mean a dragon, they are not here. Only I. You may take any of these things that are ‘not books’, but I keep the books,” she said as she lowered her head again. The walls and roof seem to slowly get ice, as if her mere presence brought the room to freezing temps.

“Damn it, Blackwood!” I yelled in frustration. “What’s up with you?! You don’t normally act like this! DId you overload, somehow?”

The wyvern’s tail slowly moved and pushed Dox out the door. “I am not this ‘Drake Blackwood’ you speak of, mortal. I am Auroth, a Winter Wyvern of the Eldrums,” she said as the doors closed.

I walked around the castle, checking up on everypony. Thankfully, besides the minor freezing, everypony was okay. Celestia walked up to me as I approached the library again. “Dox, what is the meaning of this?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” I said. “He’s acting strange.”

“Maybe he got some new hero and right now it’s in control and he doesn’t know about it!” Pinkie yelled.

“Where the hell did you come from?!” I yelped out. “And how do you know about ANY of that?!”

“I have secret passages everywhere, in case of an emergency party!” Pinkie yelled, showing a massive hole behind a column. She bounced into it. “Also, know anything about what?” she asked while still smiling and tilting her head, looking at Dox.

“Pinkie, go home, you’re being weird and giving me a migraine,” I said.

“Okie-dokie-lokie, then,” she said before diving into the hole.

“Now that that’s out of the way,” I started. “How do I fix Drake?”

“Well how doth he normally get out of this?” Luna asked.

“I have no freaking clue,” I said. “Only someone from his universe would…..” It then dawned on me. Umbra had come through, as well. She came from Drake’s universe, and had been around him during an overload. At least I hope she had been. I started scouring the castle for her, shouting “UMBRA!” the entire way.

A door slowly opened as Umbra poked her head out. “Yes?” she asked as she walked up from behind me. Apparently, she was helping some of the staff clean off the ice from the wyvern’s search.

“How do we fix Drake?” I asked. “He might be suffering from an overload, and I don’t know how to fix it.”

Umbra put a gauntleted finger to her chin and thought. “Master always told me that his transformations normally last an hour, and he can only do five in a single day. If he tries more, he would end up overloading, and the only ways to get him out is by either draining the magic out of him completely, waiting an hour, or a good old fashion beat down. The problem is, with the one who went all…. well basically destroyed Ponyville, it was in control for a good four hours and there was no sign of master in control,” she explained. She looked down, though. “Plus…. I’ve never been told of this ‘Winter Wyvern’ form, or of even seeing it amongst his other forms in the gauntlet,” she informed.

“Well, great,” I said. “Just fucking grea…. How the fuck do we-” My wrist lit up at that. Specifically my left wrist, the one with the Dice Roller Core on it. In fact, that’s what was glowing. “Alright, then. What do you want, DM?”

I tried helping your friend earlier, now I’m helping you, the DM said. I’d rather if you not be a dumbass, but I guess I have to help you. What’s the opposite of ice, of extreme cold?

I immediately facepalmed. “Don’t I feel stupid?” I said. “Fire spells. Lots and lots of fire spells.”

“I could help with that,” Umbra said as her horn glowed that sickly purple and green color.

“Alright, then,” I said. “How about you, Celestia?” No response. “Celestia?” I turned around to find the alicorn that had been following me, was now gone….. and so was her sister. “Girls? Umbra? Where did they go?” I asked as I heard voices coming from the library.

I walked up to the door and put my ear against the freezing surface of it.

“So, in short, we’d just like it if we could retrieve thee old tomes of Starswirl the Bearded from thine nest. We would like to preserve these tomes for other bright minds to learn from,” I heard Luna say to Wyvern.

“So, you wish to remove old books that belong to me, to preserve those books for others?” Wyvern replied.

“Yes,” came the response from Luna.

The sound of rustling was heard before a large bang was heard “Only old books. Newer books stay,” Wyvern said. The library door opened as Luna and Celestia walked out with large piles of books in their magic as Wyvern remade the pile and laid back on it.

I walked in and closed the doors behind me after the princesses left. I saw the Wyvern was snoozing on the book pile.

“Hey, Wyvern,” I called out to the sleeping creature. “You like books, right?”

That got her attention as her head raised. “Why?” she asked as she moved her head closer to where I could gaze into her ice cold eyes and practically feel my bones freezing.

“Well, I have this one,” I said, taking out the giant compendium that was the indestructable book of all things D&D, which was basically everything ever. I waved the book out in front of her. “This is a compendium of all things. Does it interest you?” Without another word, she snatched it with her teeth and tossed it onto the book pile before laying on it.

What the fuck. That was my entire plan, and nothing happened….. Wait a second. Backup plan.

“Hey,” I called to her, summoning the tome back to me. “Why don’t you try reading it?” I opened the book to reveal the pages.

She walked over and looked down at the pages, her cold breath forcing every goosebump to rise. “This book is blank,” she said.

“No, this is a spell,” I said. “Want to know which one?”

She looked at him. “No. I can just write my own stories in it, for those who can’t see your spells, can still read the stories I write,” she replied as she went to take the book again.

Well crap. That was plan B, and now she has the book….. AGAIN. I had hoped to surprise her with a fire spell, but no. No, the freaking wyvern of books had to be like that. She dropped the book onto a pile and pulled out a random book to read. The title of the book though, reminded me of a book called ‘Icha Icha Paradise’.

“I…. I….” I stuttered out. “But….”

“Quiet. I’m reading,” she said as her tail came out and made me feel small when she patted my head….. like a child. FREAKING DAMN IT.

“Screw it,” I said. “I’m taking my book with me.” I called the book back to my hands and proceeded to walk out the doors…. just as a bolt of ice froze the doors shut and a menacing growl was heard.

“You try to steal book,” she said as her frosty aura flickered and moved on the shelves like it was of a frozen fire. “Now you will freeze!” she said with a mighty roar… just as the aura of hers started to consume her. A bright light came, and laying on the floor was Drake, who sat up and yawned. He looked at me. “Dox? Why are we in a library that looks like Superman’s fortress of Solitude?” he asked.

“Long story,” I said. “You appeared to have overloaded somehow. Turned into a wyvern and horded books. I pulled out this baby, tried a few plans, failed on them all, then tried to leave. Wyvern got angry about me trying to leave with the book, and almost tried to kill me. Luckily for it, the overload wore off.”

Drake looked confused. “Overloaded? Wyvern? Dude… I don’t have a wyvern hero,” he said, as if not remembering anything. “All I remember is feeling… cold, then falling asleep,” he said.

“Well, you turned into something that called itself the ‘Winter Wyvern’,” I said. “So yeah. I don’t know if you do or not, but I don’t really care. Listen man, I need to send you back, okay?”

“Princesses want to kill me? Ponies hate me? Think I’m a menace?” he asked as he looked into his gauntlet. He stopped and smiled. “I got a new hero!” he called out happily.

“That’s good,” I said. “Now, go make nice and try and make up with your princesses.” I started looking through the book for a portal spell. Sure enough, there was one. “Uh, I can’t do that…. Crap.”

I can though, just tell him goodbye first, the DM said.

Drake started to leave as he coughed to get the two princess’s attention “Princess Luna, Princess Celestia, I humbly apologize for any problems Wyvern may of caused and damages also caused by her. I had recently acquired her not a few seconds after entering your world and she seemed to have taken control without my knowhow.

“Just get out,” Luna said. “We accept your apology, just please go home.”

“Well… at least you’re nicer than those changeling queens I met…. they weren’t nice. If you ever need help, just call me. I owe Dox more than I could ever could,” he said.

“I got this one,” I said. “Later Drake!”

Drake held Umbra’s arm. “Hey. Maybe when I return we can do something fun… like pranking Rainbow,” he said with a chuckle.

“Sure thing, Drake,” I said. “See ya later.”

And with that, a portal opened up and pulled Drake inside. Hopefully he got back to his world properly. After the portal started to close, I could faintly feel a chill run up my spine as a rageful yell could be heard through the portal.

Well, that answered my question.

Author's Notes:

So yeah. Here's another crossover with Hekkar and his story Rise of the Ancient Summoner.

Also, have fun with the fact that Dox didn't leave Emerald and Sapphire behind, and that the OC list is ever expanding. Have fun with that.
Also, two little announcements. One: Dox has a twitter. XD
Two: I'm coming up with another story! Yay! Less time than I already had!

Anyways, this is Music Mod, signing off.