I woke up from unconsciousness to find myself in a bed in the medical wing of the castle, with my team and Luna standing over me, arguing with a doctor. I looked over myself, and found almost every part of me covered in some form of enchanted healing bandage, new arms and all. I felt around and mentally grinned at the fact that I had recharged some of my magic. I pulled in some of the magic from the bandages, and used them to charge my own magical reserve. As I did this the bandages slowly faded to gray. I listened to what everyone was talking about while I charged.

"Princess I'm sorry but we don't know when he'll wake up, if ever! The best we can do with a new species like him is to bandage what seems broken as best we can with our knowledge and then use small healing spells to help his body fix itself."

I decided that I was gonna rub this doctors nose in it as I cast my magic into a minor transformation. Nothing form altering, just giving myself some regeneration to fix the most broken bits of me. After a moment all of my bandages had faded to a dirty looking fray, and I used my claws/hands of my necrohuman (as I decided to call it) form to tear out. I heard everyone gasp as I did this and stretched carefully. I wasn't on deaths door, but I was still sore like hell. I tore off the bandages on my mouth and the second I looked up I was immediately pushed back over by the force of my team and Luna glomping on top of me. I grit my teeth throughout, as it seemed that along with the soreness my body was still heavily bruised. Luna looked me  dead in the eyes with an angry expression.

"I thought you were dead, and then you show up in that kind of state!"

I was a bit glad everyone other than Luna had moved so that wouldn't get knocked off, and a hoof clocked my jaw. I was seriously happy to not have all of the weaknesses of a human at this point, as I was sure that would've knocked out a tooth if I were an average man. Immediately after clocking me Luna went back to hugging my chest. With a diabetes-inducingly cute sad expression.

"I thought you were dead."

I petted her head and returned the hug with my original arms.

"Sorry Luna. On the upside, I did kill a dragon from the inside out."

Luna nodded.

"Yes, you and your team did. As reward for facing off with the dragon I have sent off a group to retrieve  the scales of the dragon, and his fangs."

I looked at her in confusion.

"Uh, what for?"

She climbed off of me.

"It is customary among dragons to take the scales and teeth of any larger dragon that they have slain. Do not misunderstand, it won't be the dragons hide or anything, merely his armored scales. with the fangs we will create some of the strongest weapon components available for Razor Wing and Iron Shield, and with the scales a suit of the strongest armor for yourself. With all of the dragon's scales, the fragments of your broken armor, and some additional materials we should be able to forge armor in the same way we made your original Night Guard armor, in the way that it could collapse and expand in the same way with your transformations."

I wasn't sure.

"Okay, so my team gets weapons and I get the armor? Shouldn't we each just get some of both?"

Razor spoke up.

"Well we already decided that. We figured that since... Well you're the one who takes the most of a beating for the rest of us while we do damage when we can that it'd be best to give you some armor that can take the punishment for you."

I blushed a bit and hopped out of bed and pulled them all in for a hug, holding all four of them in one of my arms.

"Thanks guys."

Luna looked down and spoke up.

"Jack if you don't mind... Why do you have extra limbs?"

I laughed and let go of them. I explained what I'd done in my moment of panic to try and protect my Razor and Shield, and that afterwards when I burned out of magic they hadn't gone away. As far as my magic went, the additional limbs didn't drain from my magic like any of my transformations. That meant that I'd actually made a permanent change to my normal body. I looked at Luna with a cheeky grin.

"Sparring's gonna be fun I think."

Luna got a blank expression before bursting out laughing and collapsed to the floor, rolling around giggling. I helped her u and remembered something.

"Hey Luna... I gotta ask you about something that Tharn said. What's the Elder's Cairn?"

She looked at me with  and unsure expression.

"The Elder's Cairn is the resting place of all the previous rulers of the Crystal Empire, as well as a place which many ancient relics are stored. It is customary as well for each new ruler of the empire to make a pilgrimage to the Cairn to receive the blessing of the spirits that reside there, although it is allowed to bring a single guard along, as princesses of old were not versed in combat. Why do you ask?"

I told her all of what the dragon had said. Her face paled.

"WHAT?!"

---

After a few minutes I managed to calm Luna down, convincing her that we would both head out to investigate once my armor was done. It would take a few days before it was done being forged however, and so we spent the time going about normal business in the empire, and then a new bout of sparring with Luna. My new training regiment included wielding a short sword in each arm, as well as training with my arms transformed into different forms. Something I had noticed was the fact that my strength in my transformations was dependent somewhat on the state my necrohuman body was in, so it paid off for me to train and try to improve myself even without the transformations. I made full use of my time waiting on my armor to recover and then train.

One of the nights I heard a meek knock the door while I was sitting on my bed and reading more on magic. I stood up and opened it. I looked and saw Razor and Shield standing on the other side with a nervous expressions

"Oh, hey there guys. What's up?"

Razor spoke up first.

"Uh... w-we just came down here so that we could...um..."

Shield talked over him.

"We wanted to apologize for getting our asses handed to us when we were fighting Tharn! If we hadn't let ourselves get knocked around like we did then we could've beaten him without you nearly getting eaten. It was our faults that you nearly... you know..."

Both of them hung their heads. I spoke up.

"Being Luna's champion makes me a higher ran than you guys, right? I'm not the highest but still."

They nodded.

"Okay. In that case I order you to train and improve yourselves until you stop beating yourselves up. I don't hld anything against you, and what happened is in the past."

They both nodded, small smiles coming to their faces. Razor's eyes widened, and he spoke again.

"Oh yeah! We got you something! You know how Princess Luna took all that info and stuff about human weapons and armor?"

I nodded.

"Well after they finished making Tharn's teeth into new wingblades for me and a new broadsword for Shield they had some left-"

Shield cut him off.

"So we decided that since your sword got busted from you cutting through Tharn we took all the extra fangs and the pieces of your sword and had them make this!"

He reached and took a wrapped parcel from his back and handed it to me. I unwrapped it and my mind blanked.

Inside the wrapping was, crafted of Lunar Steel and dragon fangs rather than ebony ingots and daedric hearts was a daedric sword, straight out of Skyrim. Instead of being black with a red glow it was a pale silver color with white accenting. It seemed Luna had taken fictional weapons and armor along with the realistic ones. Years of nerdiness from Earth poured through me and I tackled both of them in a hug.

I took the sword and tested it. It had a good balance and was wickedly sharp. If dragon tooth was as strong a material as everyone had said then it most likely had a good deal as much durability as a real daedric sword. I took the blade and planted it into the empty sheath of my original sword and put it back on my belt.

"It's also enchanted to be extra durable in combat and to be capable of withstanding even dragon bile! We decided to name it Tharn's Fang too, just for effect."

I grinned and ruffled their manes.

"Thanks guys."

Shield spoke up again.

"Oh yeah, they told us to tell you that your armors done!"

---

I looked over myself with a massive grin. It looked like my sword wasn't the only thing that had its design borrowed from Skyrim. Tharn's scales had been forged into a modified suit of dragonscale armor, with the only difference between mine and the game's being the lack of shoulder guards to allow for all four of my arms to have free movement, the silver color of the scales, and the fact that my armor's original amulet was embedded in the top of my cuirass. The metal points of the armor were crafted of the remains of my armor and then some raw mythril Luna ordered be used if any additional metal was needed for the armor. As it was, my armor was capable of surviving a direct dip in magma (though it wasn't watertight), able to deflect most blades, and was heavily to almost all magic, save for a few types such as that used mainly by earth ponies in metalworking. I personally added onto the armor a pair of sword sheathes on my back for my upper arms and at either one of my hips for my lower arms. I was finally prepared to go when a crystal pony rushed in.

"Oh good, you haven't left yet Champion Jack. My name is Sharp Gem, and I'm here on behalf of the college that has been studying all of the information and technology that you and the Princess gave to us."

I thought for a moment before remembering what he was talking about. Along with my plasma cutter I had loaned all of the technology I had from Earth, and I had allowed Luna to retrieve information from my mind, mainly all of my knowings as to the varying technologies of my world. Luna had filtered them into raw data and then filtered them into a number of reports as to different fields. I recalled that I had been a college student seeking to become an engineer back on Earth, so I already had a good deal of knowledge. With my necrohuman form's strangely perfect memory Luna and I had been able to replicate a good number of textbooks of my world. I looked back to Sharp Gem.

"Alright, what's going on?"

The pony panted for a moment before speaking.

"Well after all the time spent analyzing all of the information and items you presented. We may need to hold onto them still but we have managed to compile our researching to create these."

He handed me a saddlebag, and I took and opened it. Inside, crafted of Lunar Bronze, and mythril were a pair of plasma cutters. On the front where the three dot cursor would project were three glowing topazes. I looked at him in confusion.

"How? These were nearly impossible scientific instruments, I don't even know how the original works."

He grinned.

"Well we used magic to scan all of the technology and so we compiled both the results of the data along with some of the technology we of the empire possess, although basic by your world's standard, as well as some of the notes from the creation of the Crystal Heart to make something of a facsimile of the original cutter you gave us. They work much like the original, but powered by magical energy stored inside the device. The three at the front project a cursor for aiming as well as aiming the blasts. There are internal clips locked into each which, while not offering infinite energy as the original did, are marked with gem powered runes that will draw ambient magic from the environment around you to power them as well as having a modest charge to them. They're both engineered so that they'll only bond to the one person which activates them."

I nodded and picked up both of them in my lower arms, clicked the small mechanism on the cutters. Both of them popped and primed to fire, with amber colored displays on the backs with the currently charged number of shots. The two registered at twenty shots, with a small gauge on the right side of the number that showed the rate of the shots recharging. I smiled at Sharp.

"Well alright then. Let me know any other developments of your research."

He nodded.

"Very well sir. I was also sent to inform the Princess that we have finished the new heart to shield the kingdom from the harsh weather so that she may cease shielding the city."

I nodded again.

It only took a few moments for Luna and a few crystal pony mages  placed the Heart into the array in the castle's center, and powered the shield. The gem, known now as Luna's Heart (much to Luna's own happiness), was of deep blue sapphire with an image of Luna's symbol off her flank engraved upon it. Until now, Luna had been using her own magic to cast a shield to keep out the fierce weather, along with the thestrals outside the Guard who had followed her.

Finally everything was prepared. I had all four of my swords, my cutters, a backpack full of supplies, and most importantly my armor prepared. Luna met me at the edge of the empire, adorned in full battle regalia of the same build as her new regalia of her coronation, made of mythril and moonstone however. At her side was a weapon especially crafted. It was built as a short rod, one end extending into a double edged dagger and the other end into a warhammer. The two of us set out along the path, exiting the barrier and into the snow. After a while of hiking along the path we found ourselves in the mountains, walking along a stone path. I heard a few small roars, sounding like a dragon. I held up a hand to halt Luna and leaned in and whispered.

"Wait here, I'm gonna look ahead."

Luna opened her mouth to argue, but I cut her off.

"I know you can fight if need be, but as your champion and guard it is my duty to check the path first to make sure you don't have to get in harm's way if at all possible."

She closed her mouth and gave a curt nod. I slowly approached the wall of stone and ducked my head around to see what was ahead. I saw a group of teenage dragons standing around a small creature I didn't recognize. The leader of the dragons, from what I could tell, was a tall drake covered in deep crimson scales, with a yellow underbelly, a pair of golden eyes, a pair of yellow ear frills, a set of short wings and a ridge of pale red and spiky crest lining his back. Along with him was a dragon of the same build but in shades of light green,with sharper and longer claws, a set of yellow eyes, and a pair of large wings. The next was a female dragon, with a sleek build, white scales and a pale gray underbelly and silver eyes. The green and red were both taunting the small creature while the female was laying out of the way, unconscious and bruised looking. I leaned back to Luna and told her what was going on, the only part I was unsure of being the creature.

"And the thing they were taunting was this little biped dog creature. It looked sorta like a female wolf puppy but with big arms and a vest."

Luna nodded.

"It sounds as if it is a gem hunter. They are sentient, with their own culture of gathering in packs."

I nodded and told Luna to stay there while I stopped them. I wasn't about to let the equivalent of a child get pushed around by a couple of bullies. I walked around the wall and spoke up.

"Alright boys playtime with the pup's over with."

The two turned to me and dropped the child, who rushed to the female dragon's side. The red spoke up.

"Oh yeah? And who in the Tartarus are you to stop us from keeping our bosses' stuff in check?"

I raised an eyebrow.

"And who is your boss?"

The green answered.

"The two of us work for Tharn. He shares the gems and stuff that he gets in exchange for us keeping slaves like the little fluffball and his daughter there in check."

I burst out laughing. The red seemed to get angry.

"And what's so funny you fucked up freak?"

I stopped immediately and locked eyes with him.

"Because I felt guilty about killing Tharn, but now after learning a bit more about his character I feel better."

They both were confused. I looked and saw the pup had roused the dragoness. The red spoke up, trying to seem tough.

"Yeah right, how could a runt like you kill a dragon?"

He blinked, and I used that instance to rush forward. I seized his throat in my upper left arm and used my right upper to draw Tharn's Fang from its sheath and put it against his neck.

"My blade is crafted of Tharn's teeth, and my armor of his scales. You wanna know how?"

I leaned in to his ear frill and whispered.

"I went down his throat and cut him apart from the inside..."

I could tell both dragons heard me, and I threw the one I was holding to the ground.

"Now, do I have to clip your wings and shove them down your throats, or are you going to get the fuck away from what is now MY stuff?"

They both were shaking, and rushed away, the green one yelling out.

"Let's get outta here!"

I watched them leave and waved Luna forward. I started walking towards the dragoness and pup, and the pup saw me and dropped onto all fours, shaking in fear but still growling at me. She was a small white thing, with blue eyes and a black vest now that I saw her more closely. Luna looked on in sadness. I halted when she started growling. I took off my helmet and spoke softly.

"Shh shh shh... It's alright, I won't hurt you. All that stuff about owning you was just for show to spook those jerks."

The pup looked unsure. I decided to try a human tactic for dealing with dogs. I held out my hand for her to sniff and when she did I started scratching her head. Her face gained a dopey smile and she loosened up. I moved my hand and she shook her head, as if clearing fog from her mind, and looked back to me, attempting to seem fierce but only looking adorable.

"I'm not gonna do anything, I just want to help her."

I gestured to the dragoness, who looked at me with half closed eyes. The dragoness reached out a claw and put it on the pup's shoulder and spoke in a smooth voice, giving a gentle smile.

"It's alright Akira. Don't worry."

The pup gained a worried expression and looked to the dragoness and spoke in a small voice.

"Okay mama."

I took off my backpack and started applying some healing bandages and giving her healing potions. I talked with her throughout.

"My name's Jack. I take it the kid's name is Akira, so what's yours?"

She looked away and answered.

"Livyathan. But I go by Livy."

"Well it's nice to meet you both. I'm glad I was able to stop those jerks for you. See I'm travelling with Princess Luna over there to see if Tharn really destroyed the Elder's Cairn in the north. But I think Luna will agree if we stop off to check out Tharn's cave to set some slaves free."

I looked back at Luna, who nodded with a fierce look in her eyes.

Livy looked surprised, and her eyes shone in happiness.

"Really? Thank you so much! Aki and I were trying to escape to get help before Tharn returned, but those guys showed up and... Well, you can see what happened."

Livy was mostly patched up, and I helped her to stand, supporting her with my upper right arm. Luna placed Akira onto her back and we all departed to what would be the first stop on our journey.