It was a warm saturday morning, the birds were chirping,flowers blooming, bugs flying into my windshield, a pretty nice day. I was driving over to the mall for an important deal, a custom helmet from the series that defined my life, Lord of the rings, from Shadow of War, specifically. it was supposed to be a combination of Destiny SIVA infused Ranger armor, and Talions Nazgul armor.

I already had the rest of the suit made from the same guy, plus a custom made sword and hammer made to look like a mix of the Willtaker sword from The Taken King with Bits of SIVA in it for the sword, and a cross of the Hammer of Sol from Destiny 1 and the Nazgul hammer. we’ve been setting up an installment plan over the last few months, I would pay him the cash, he’d make the part of the outfit, or a weapon, and I’d come to pick it up, rinse and repeat.

“Hope this is enough to get by the dress code…” I hear my little sister Roxanne say a few feet behind me, possibly adjusting her cosplay just a bit. She wasn’t a little little sister, just a year younger than me and she nearly equaled me in height. In fact, she’s undergoing a growth spurt, she might over take me sooner rather than later.

I chuckled “You know, I could try to have Hank look for something more...covering, for you.”

She walks up to my vision. “Yeah, I guess. There's only so much a cloak can do.” She says, adjusting her dark grey cloak as it was bothering her hair.

She had been dedicated to her cosplay this time, more than usual, and had grown out her hair to outrageous proportions, the hair now extremely long and dyed black, dropping to floor-level; towards the bottom and is plaited into big braids that are tied off by a bandage-like band. Her hair-strands curve towards the left-side of her face and she has mid-length hair which is plaited and tied by a smaller bandage-band resting on her left shoulder.

“This going to be pain for the barber…” She says with a sigh, blinking her slightly irritated eyes. “I can’t stand these contacts, how do they not tear up every second?!” The source of her irritation was a pair of Golden Yellow with just a tint of harvest orange contacts she placed. “Least I’m not so hot anymore…”

Her clothes were rather...showy, consisting of a revealing ruby-red corset which reveals her midriff and the top half of her breasts. The red corset has an insignia visible below the belt which it hinders below. The same belt rests of her hip and above her torn, black jean trousers, which now look like shorts. The jean trouser has a chain, multiple belts wrapped around her right leg and a few which spiral towards the lower half of her left. Over her corset, she wears a black jacket in the form of a robe with red-velvet lacing; the jacket is ripped towards the bottom and is tightened towards her chest by the belt.

She wears a replica of the protective armour on her footwear as well as one extra armour plate on her right shin. She wears the same armour in the form of an arm protective gauntlet which rests above the same material as her coat; the material arches its way up to and wraps around her middle finger, highlighted by a rhombus-shaped piecing. The same gauntlet is where she would rest her lance-blade in battle. Her left arm is wrapped and bandaged up.

I then turned into the malls highway exit and parked the car outside, following the instructions on my phone, as the place was hell to find, one of those specialty corner shops. With sister in tow, I headed to the store in question, finding a younger irish gentleman in a red business suit and black shoes, with a fedora neatly placed on his head. He was sitting back in a wooden chair, his sleeves rolled up, and a chaos star tattooed on the back and front of each hand. A cane leaned against the wall next to him, with strange markings running down it, etched into the bark, and shining as if it was waxed quite recently. “Hey there, Simon! Here for those last pieces of yer ensemble?”

I nodded happily “Yeah, Hank, and don’t worry, you’ve won a return customer in me, I’ll probably come back for additions and such.”

Hank nodded before he got what looked like a fur cloak, grieves, and a cuirass, all of which following a style resembling a ringwraiths clothing style, as well as the two rings used in Shadow of War, and an action figure of my favorite Original Olog for Shadow of war, Az-Barko the Hellion. I don’t care if the guy didn’t show up in game, he is a boss! Man is an Olog commander with fire weapons and a dragonfire cannon, he is also from the Warmonger tribe, so he is a tough as nails kinda guy.

Hank looked to me sadly for a moment before he sighed, I could tell something was bugging him as he handed me the figurine of Az-Barko the Hellion before I put it on. “Nah, ye won’t… I’m sorry, but this is yer last time visiting me... A shame... I truly enjoyed yer company...”

He then tapped his cane on the ground and I blacked out, the last thing I saw being a flash of brilliant green fire and a red glow to his eyes piercing the green.

“Master! Master, wake up! It is time to get up!”

Guh… Did I leave my PS4 on? Wait… when did I get home? And why is the floor so damn itchy? I opened my eyes, only to see Az-Barko, a life size Az-Barko the Hellion, Looking down at me “...What the hell?”

Az-Barko frowned “Master, what is wrong? Did you plan to sleep longer? We are wasting daylight, and we must make our way to the Castle in the distance before nightfall.”

I rubbed my head before looking to my surroundings, the forest feeling oddly familiar. I then saw Roxeanne and smiled as I walked over to her “Roxy, Sis!”

She growls in irritation, her voice sounding different from what I can tell. “What?” She says with a single eye opening, openingly glaring a bit. I could tell her voice was much different now, due to the coldness and slightly rough edge to it.

I smiled “We didn’t die, so I think we should see what’s up, plus…” I gestured to Az-Barko “It’s freaking Olog MVP! Az-Barko is real now!”

Az-Barko bowed his head reverently “It is pleasure to meet mistress, Long have I awaited day of meeting both of you.” He then looked to me “I would like to protect mistress, be bodyguard, is this okay?”

I frowned thoughtfully “Is that okay with you, sis? We probably will need him to watch your back, I don’t know about Therions, but Wraiths cannot die, er… well, die and stay dead, and I am definitely a wraith now.”

“...Yeah, sure.” The now turned Therion says with a nod, accepting the offer while glancing at the wraith that I had become.

Az-Barko smiled and nodded as he hefted his massive mace over his shoulder “No one shall touch mistress, No one!” He then smiled as he grabbed something from his satchel at his side, it was a cooked animal haunch. “Hungry? Good bodyguard gets food for charge, unless like master, then just keep safe and keep happy. Old job entailed keeping belly full of grog, but think company work better for menfolk.”

She looks at him with a nod. “Yeah, go ahead with the food thing. I am feeling a bit peckish.” Roxy says.

As Az-Barko hands her a hefty chunk of charred...something. I looked to Az-Barko and frowned as I saw that he was injured “Az-Barko, where did you get those wounds?”

Az-Barko frowned “Killed big lion thing. Had sharp bug tail and bat wings… stinger tail hurt shoulder, but Az-Barko can take it-”

I took out my backpack, which had somehow become a Lord of the rings style satchel, and pulled out some rubbing alcohol and sewing tools “I’m gonna patch you up before we head out, okay? I won’t lie, you are not going to have fun, Disinfecting and stitching a wound like this will hurt like hell.”

Az-Barko looked to me curiously “Why care about Az-Barko so much? Just one Olog.”

I frowned “Before I became this, I was a doctor, it was my job to help people. I don’t care if you feel odd about me caring, I refuse to let anyone suffer when they tried to help me or my kin.”

Az-Barko frowned “New Master better man than old master. Not as cruel to soldiers. Good leader trait.” He then sat down and offered me his shoulder “Az-Barko is ready!”

I gave him a large piece of leather I had just stripped from my old jacket from my bag “Bite into this, we don’t want you to bite your tongue off.” As Az-Barko complied, I got to work.

??? POV

“AAAAAAUGH! AAAAAARRRRGH!”

The voice shouted from the Everfree shouted as I looked to Spike, my number one assistant. “That sounds like…”

Spike nodded “One of the Olog-hai. But I thought they all either lived in the badlands or served in the millitary? What could it be, Twilight?”

I frowned “I don’t know, but we are going to find out, get the girls, okay?”

Spike nodded and began five identical letters to Twilight's friends.

“Come to the Library, ASAP!

-Twilight and Spike”

Simons POV

I looked to Az-Barko and smiled reassuringly “Okay, the wound has been disinfected, and sewn shut, just gotta hope we don’t have to strain you too much, right?”

Az-Barko looked to me and saw that I had been crying throughout the treatment “Why tears? Thought doctor, shouldn’t master be used to screaming?”

I shook my head “I usually knock out the subject first, but I don’t know how you guys work too well, for all i know, your body might only go unconscious when sleeping, or dead. I didn’t want to risk it.”

Az-Barko frowned more “Why care so much about Olog? Only soldier.”

I frowned “No, you are our friend now, my army is going to be close, nothing like the armies you knew. Ologs and Uruks will be able to trust each other, they will be friends, family even. You have already proven to me you deserve it, you cared enough to keep us safe as we slept, and to get us food. You are my friend Az-Barko, and I will not stop caring about your wellbeing.”

Roxiana just nods a bit. “Yeah, what he said.” She says with a tilt of her head.

I smile as Az-Barko looks to us both in confusion, only for me to hear a rustling in the bushes as I looked to the side, only for me to see six odd women, Mages maybe? Anyway, I saw them come out of the bushes and look to us curiously “Ummm… Hello?”

Roxy however seemed to tense a bit, her caution rising.

The six of them looked to each other as i waved awkwardly, only to frown as I saw Roxy tensing “Ummm… why are you here with an Olog, and how come he is not attacking you?”

Az-Barko smiled proudly “Master Az-Barkos friend! Master kind to Az-Barko! Healed Az-Barko when odd lion hurt him!”

I frowned as they looked to each other with uncertainty, the yellow one looking like she wanted to hide or flee.

I smiled kindly, hoping to smooth things out “So… um… How about we go somewhere where there are more civilised environments? Less likely to be attacked, and such.”

The yellow one nodded slowly “Um… yes please.”

“Not with the Olog!” The Rainbow haired one interrupts though, openingly glaring at the big guy.
Az-Barko growls before wincing as he clutched at his shoulder. I looked to the rainbow Haired one before I grunted “And you think I care what racist bigots like you have to say? With the way you said Olog, you’d think he was a rodent. He protected us as we slept and got us food for if we needed it, he is my friend. So either you let us into a HOSPITAL so we can treat any possible poisoning he could of suffered, or I break in and steal the needed supplies, plus whatever else we can take, understand?”

The yellow one meeped as she murmured something about bandits. Oh great, I must of sounded like a bandit…

“Nice.” My sister says, unamused and looking rather bored at the same time.

“Sorry deary, but we cannot allow a Brute into the town...I suppose we could lend you the supplies….” The white horned one says

“But how can we trust you?” The purple horned one says.

I frowned “You do realise that your stealth skills are terrible, yes? I could of killed you from miles away, but no, I decided to see who you were. Besides, Would you blame your winged friends for flying too much? No, they were made for that. Ologs were made to be living siege tanks, the fact that he has not tried to rip your heads off like bottle caps is testament to him NOT being beyond socializing.”

Az-Barko nodded “Az-Barko may be good at smashing, but also want to make friends. Not want be stereotype of old times. Az-Barko want learn to smith, and be arcanist.” He then looked to me “Unless if master not want.”

I smiled “It’s fine with me, I just hope the next town is not full of bigoted assholes.”

“Even if we do trust you, how’d you think the towns going to react?” Rainbow says before glancing somewhere. “Where’s your girlfriend going?” She says, pointing a finger to Roxy, who was walking deeper into the forest.

Ew. EEEEEEW. “That, you ignorant swine, is my sister. And honestly, I think she has the right idea, getting far away from you horrid people. I should of done the world a favor and blown you to bits with a well charged hammer toss.”

“Going hunting, you seven can argue if you want.” My sister says with a unnerving amount of cold uncaringness. “But I warn you, hurt my brother and I’ll eat you.” She leaves off the warning like it was a casual statement.

“E-eat!?” The White Unicorn squeaks a bit.

The pink one looked queasy “Ooogh… still nauseous from the baked bads… that’s not helping…”

The orange one looked to me angrily “Now y’all mind telling me where you stand telling us we are so terrible?”

I looked her straight in the eyes. “Because judging someone by how they look is an ignorant, disgusting thing to do. And I will NOT stand for you staying here and insulting my friend. So either apologize, OR GET OUT!” At this, my rings glowed a brilliant red and blue as my body was enveloped in an aura of light.

Rainbow gets into a aggressive stand but the purple one grabs her by the magic before looking at their walking lie detector. “Applejack?” She says with a silent question.

Applejack nods to her “They are really friends, Twi, Az-Barko believes it, and so does this feller. And… Ah really think we should take one of his offers, not fight him… I get the feeling he could really hurt us if he wanted.”

“But!” Rainbow’s mouth is silenced by whitey.

Twilight makes a slow nod. “Alright, thank you Applejack.” She says with a smile before nodding her head to the Olog. “We’re sorry we missed judged you, its just really bad experiences.” She says with a gentle smile while Rainbow just groans and stops flying.

Az-Barko nods “Can feel brothers living in fear. Not of master. Think they would welcome a change if given chance. But… fear makes even Olog do things they not want do.”

I looked to Az-Barko and frowned “I promise I will free as many of your people as I can, friend.”

Az-Barko nods “Know you will, you nice person, rare towards Uruk, even rarer to Olog.” He then looked to Twilight again “Thank you for saying sorry, take big person.”

She nods a bit before looking at me. “Is your sister going to be okay out there?” Twilight says, looking towards the path Roxy took.

I frowned “I’ll go check. You good to head to town, Azzy?”

Azzy tilts his head “Azzy?”

I nod “Friends use nicknames for each other, you can call me Si, if you want!” I then looked to the equines “You six call me Simon. While I am not AS angry, I am still not happy with you.”

Applejack nods “Ah hope y’all can see to forgive us, we’ll keep the townsfolk under control, you get your kin, kay partner?”

“You don’t have to worry about me.” They hear Roxiana say as she enters the camp...dragging some kind of flailing giant snake with its eyes being covered. “Anyone have any books about ‘How to cook a Basilisk’?” She asks, yanking on the tail and making the cursed beast hiss loudly and snap in the wrong direction, ramming it’s head into a branch and knocking it out.

Azzy nodded “There library in town, saw when Magi hiding from striped one.” He then rubbed his chin “Should kill first, don’t want cursed eyes to kill Magi. At least destroy eyes.”

“Got it.” She says, flexing her arm and making her blade unshealth from the gauntlet. “Anyone got any weak stomachs?” She asks the others.

All of them but The Rainbow haired one raised their hands before Azzy smiled as he got what was going on “Turn around little Magi, will be grizzly.” They turned around, and Twilight turned the rainbow haired one around with her magic, much to her irritation.

I looked to the snake as Azzy smiled, him eager to see what one of the two of us can do.

Timeskip

The six women walked with Azzy, Roxy and I as we made our way to the main square, the Magi looking to Azzy fearfully, that is until he tried to sit on a bench and promptly fell on his rump, causing them to crack up before going about their days. Azzy smiled “Sometimes good laugh all needed.”

Pinkie Pie smiled and nodded as she bounced around “Yeah! That’s super true!Wait a minute... How come you know so much about friendship already?”

Azzy grinned “Must keep brothers calm, need to be good companion.”

Twilight smiles a bit at him while Rainbow just grunts a bit, glancing at Roxy a couple of times.

I frown at Rainbow hair as I grunt. “What exactly is your problem? Azzy did nothing to you. Hell, he had plenty of reason to hurt you, you were VERY rude to him. And from what I know of Olog culture, a personal slight against someone is a definite call for a spar.”

Azzy nods slowly “Yes, Ologs spar often. Az-barko often have to bruise skin and bone, never hurt forever though.” He then looked to rainbow Dash “Only reason Az-Barko not make spar, he not know if Magi tough like Olog.”

I frown, seems that the Olog-hai of Equestria aren’t as bloodthirsty as their middle-earth counterparts… I wonder if Uruk-hai are the same… I then looked to everyone but Rainbow. “I hope that you can come to be friends with us. Except…” I look to Rainbow Dash “I doubt some of you will.”

“Feelings mutual.” She says, flying ahead a bit while not looking at him.

I then sensed a strange presence, something… wrong, it was coming fast, straight for Rainbow, I sighed and ran to her, shoving her out of the way right as a strange, purple glowing monstrosity that resembled a dead Uruk appeared.

I grabbed him by the head as he stabbed me through the shoulder. “I SHALL SUP ON THY SOUL, LIFELING!”

I growled as Azzy ripped him off of me, throwing him into a tree as I leapt after it, slamming my ringed palms against his hands, letting my aura of light turn blinding as I felt my will form words as they left my lips before I could even know what was happening. “Thy bonds to this realm are cleft in twain, never shall thee rise again! Now fear the Lord of Dawn, protector of good forever on!”

As my light burned the creature away to nothing, I could feel the… unlife, that made him stay leave his body and be destroyed, his body falling apart on the breeze like so many ashes. I then sighed as my wound healed itself with the light “I think… I think I just killed a wight.”

“Yes, yes you did and I want to know how!” Twilight says, seeming eager. Rainbow was grumbling to herself, but by the tone it wasn’t anything malicious or anything negative.

I frowned as I walked back to them as Azzy looked to me with worry “What is ‘Lord of Dawn’ And why say protect good?”

I frown “I don’t know, I just...I said it before I even knew what I was saying…”

Fluttershy frowned thoughtfully “That… that sounds familiar…”

Applejack frowned as well. “Yeah Shy, Ah remember Granny talking about him on her good days.”

“Bet I’m the Lord of Calamity…” I just barely hear Roxy mumble under her breath with some mirth in it.

As They looked to Roxy with barely contained curiosity as Spike spoke up “Did… did those titles just come to you?”

I nodded “Yeah, I don’t know where they came from…”

Spike gulped as he looked to Twilight, then to me “The Lord of Dawn is supposed to be the bringer of good via the powers of evil, the last one was Starswirl the Bearded, and the last lord of Calamity was Discord before he went mad…” He shakily looked to us “If you are really new here, and you just came up with those titles after being exposed to potent magic, like yours, then… it’s very likely you are the next ones to ‘bring forth the tides of change.’ Last time that happened,the first Almighties were born...”

“Don’t worry about the Lord Of Calamity, I won’t go Kalameet on you.” The women tells them while waving a hand and later adjusting her top.

Spike seemed to grow uneasy at this, as if he was...scared, on a primal level. “That was… odd…”

I looked to him before shrugging. I then looked to Rainbow Dash “You okay, Rainbow fro?”

Pink one giggled “Fro? What does that mean?”

I shrugged “It means a hairstyle, and no one I know of has polychromatic hair.”

She grumbles a bit. “Thank you.” The girl shoots, scrunching her nose up. “For saving me, I mean. Don’t get used to it!”

I shrugged “Hey, the best thank you would be you trying to get to know Azzy before judging him. I mean, he did help save your life.”

Azzy shrugged “Just happy to help. Hope rainbow ok.”

Fluttershy looked to Azzy curiously as we reached what looked like civilization. “Why do you care so much about Rainbow Dash, when she was so mean to you?”

Azzy looked saddened by something “Remind Az-Barko of sister. Before Dragons eat her.” He sighed “Az-Barko swear never let anyone he like get hurt after. That include friends get sad.” He then gestured to Rainbow “She may not be friend yet, but hope can be. Az-Barko want make friends. Last of clan, so need to make new clan ties, hope to rebuild, maybe find nice Olog girl.”

So… there are female Ologs and Uruks then here. Good to know.

“...Don’t think about it, Don’t think about it, Don’t think about it, Don’t think about it…” Only I managed to catch Roxy’s brief chant.

Pinkie pie then cried out “Ohmygosh! What would a baby Olog look like?! They must be soooo cute!”

“Nope, nope, nope…” My sister continues, trying to act like nothing was bothering her.

Az-barko then sigh “Az-Barko smell female Ologs, why?”

Pinkie Pie smiled “Oh, we have some Olog citizens in the local militia, silly! We just have bad experiences with Everfree Ologs.” She then waved to a passing furry Olog with a more feminine frame, to which Az-Barko suddenly turned sheepish “Hiya, Al-Maru! How are you today?”

The Olog smiled “Good, Pinkie, Who is this Olog? He smells...odd.”

Az-Barku stuttered “Az-Barku f-from Badlands! N-nice meeting Al-Maru!”

“Don’t be shy darling.” Rarity says quietly so only the male Olog can hear.

Az-Barku took a deep breath “You… pretty… want have meat sometime?”

Al-Maru looked to him for a moment “Sure, you seem kind. Your speech is labored though, tell me, do you do better with Black speech?”

Az-Barku nodded “[Yes, it is my mother tongue.]”

She smiled as I looked to the six women and Roxy, who looked confused, seems only I know black speech. “[I would love to eat with you, I can tell you are a kind soul.]”

Azzy smiled “[This is a joyous day! I rarely get to speak with others in my mother tongue, even rarer such an attractive one!]” He then blushed “[S-sorry if that was too forward.]”

I then smiled “[You have fun, Azzy. i’m going to go to the local library, try to learn some history. I don’t like being ignorant as to what is going on.]”

Azzy nodded “[Yes master, read well!]”

Al-Maru frowned “[Master? You are beholden to him?]”

Azzy shook his head “[No, I owe my master my life, he saved me from being auctioned into slavery, and treats me as his equal.]”

Pinkie Pie smiled. “[He really does seem nice!]”

Applejack frowned “Since when do you speak black speech, Pinkie?”

She shrugged “I dunno, but I definately speak in brackets!”

“Leave the wall alone Pinks.” Roxy says, still walking ahead.

She frowns “But I’m so good at it!” She then looks to Azzy and smiles as they walk towards the nearest park, Azzy offering her a chunk of Manticore meat. “Aaaw~ They are so cute together!”

I chuckled and nodded “Little Olog fluffballs are in our future, hopefully!”

“Nope, all nope! Begone bad thoughts!” Roxy said