??? POV

I awoke in a lonely, dark room, with a single chair on a rail to my right with a sign requesting that I sit in it. l looked over myself, finding that I was dressed in casual clothing, before looking over to the chair, seeing nothing dangerous on it.Why not?I thought to myself.Clearly won’t hold me, and whoever brought me here while I was drunk was obviously looking out for me,I told myself. Upon sitting in the chair, I was suddenly strapped in, causing me to jolt in surprise, and quickly sent along rail that appeared out of nowhere into what looked like an old arena’s nobles’ seating area. In the...throne, opposite me, was a man in strange armor.Well, maybe I was wrong. Then again, where did these bindings come from?

He was armored from head to toe, with a common-sized helm in the design of a human skull with the back of the head warped from an unseen heat into the shape of a crown almost, the metal warped from rust, overuse and the same unseen heat. Below that there was a somewhat standardised full medium shoulder plate and grieves. His gauntlets and boots were light enough to walk in, thick enough to take several blows and also seemed warped, having seen heavy use with the strange metal plate and chain armor for the torso that was covered by a raggedy dark grey cloak that only went as far as the elbows and a bit further down the back, holes riddling it. The ends flayed out like sad, decrepit streamers. It went up, covering and wrapped around the neck area. There was something about it that was similar to a sort of skirt, going below the knees, one side going further and the ends seeming to be almost like a pale fur. Several belts were at the waist, mostly chain and loop hooks.

In his hand was a weapon about the length of a long sword, maybe a bit longer, and seemed to be similar to a duel lance because of the spiral-like blades, but it was too small to be so, the blade at the pommel shorter, by about a half of the blade or so. The hand guards were circular, as if for a rapier or cutlass and a similar handle guard shaped similarly to the coiled blades.

He smiled at me from under his helm, and chuckled “Seems I have another soul to displace. A shame, I would of so loved to see thy world a bit longer.”

I raised an eyebrow, before slowly recognizing him. “Wait a second… you’re that bartender that gave out those drinks!”

He nodded with a wry smile. “Indeed, and you art the one who danced naked with my barstools, twerking, I believe it was called?”

I huffed. “Not my fault you had a strong drink, and I got a weak resistance to alcohol. Seriously, what possessed you to give that stuff out for free?”

He grinned. “That stuff made thy inhibitions utterly disappear, without relaxing thy muscles at all. Think of it like a way to check on another’s darker impulses. Thy darkest impulse was nary a trifle compared to the others, and thy soul the most virtuous. Therefore, thy reward is a new life, in a new world, with a certain… boon.” He then brought us to a dragon that seemed to be nothing but bones. “This poor creature is one of the few foolish enough to assault my arena. He hath been duly punished, and now I release his soul unto you.” He then drew his weird weapon and plunged it straight into the dragon's skull! Odd beams of magic passing into my body, not changing anything, but a certain warmth now existing in my chest.

“...I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS RIGHT NOW!” I shouted in bewilderment, beginning to freak out a bit.

He deadpanned at me. “You got drunk, and the alcohol-induced idiocy around thee brought thy death. I am giving you, the least offensive patron I have had the pleasure of meeting that night, a second chance at life.” He then thought a moment. “Although… I do suppose I should send thee a mentor as well…”

“Firstly, I know that part besides the death bit. Secondly, what world is this that has dragons? Finally, what the fuck was that? Even drunk people would question what they saw just now!”

He shrugged. “You are in my pocket dimension, consisting of an arena and about five hundred miles of surrounding wildlands, and you are now what I think some would call dragonborn. You're also displaced, which means you're able to traverse the multiverse.”

I blinked.Note to self then: If this turns out to be shit, avoid bars for the rest of your next life, and never take a free drink. Even if it’s a guy who’s giving drinks for the bar, and putting it on his house.

He then gestured to my right as another portal opened up, an armored individual in red and black metal plate with a hood showed up. He had a dagger and a sword made of the same strange material. He looked to me, then to the huntsman. “So… who is this guy? I assume he is the one that you want me to mentor and shit, but... what is he? Please don’t be a freaking man-spider thing. I hate spiders.”

Well, this is going to be one helluva second life, if I’m going to be trained to fight before I step outside.“Well if I recall correctly,” I started off, getting his attention. “I’m a dude who’s supposed to gain power from killing dragons, but that’s all I know of whatever I just became!”

He just shrugged. “Hey, ain’t my fault. From what I just heard, you are lucky. You are just one thing, and it doesn’t sound like you will wind up suffering from it, unless the leader of your dimension’s Equestria is a bitch like mine...” He then looked to the guy that brought me here. “So, I assume that this is what I have to do to get the Graug, yeah?”

He nodded. “Yes, I can allow no less than you fighting something, or teaching another displaced the ways of battle, to be capable of granting thee a beast.”

The weird guy in red nodded “Okay… Welp, I’ll go with him to his Equestria then.”

“I'm going to guess this place has a fandom back on Earth, considering how good that name is for a fantasy novel or something?"

Same guy shrugged. “I have no idea, was not a thing back on my world. Now… let’s see… you’re Dovahkiin, so… sword, dagger, and crossbow?”

Probably another name for this dragonborn thing I got shoved into.“Well I need something to defend myself with so… anything works? As long as it’s not a bad weapon.”

He nods thoughtfully before taking a stance as a red mist rose from his hands, solidifying into a large crossbow, a sword, and ten throwing knives. “Ok, you have a long distance weapon, a melee one, and something for stealthy situations. Mind if I take a bit of your blood? I should probably bind these weapons to ya.”

Bound weapons? ...Doesn’t sound like a good idea.“Nah. If there’s better weapons around, the things you give me will just become a burden. Bound weapons should be for extremely powerful or versatile pieces of gear.”

He sighed in exasperation. “I am giving you potent weapons here, kiddo. These things can cut through steel like butter fresh from a microwave, plus, the throwing knives return to you, the crossbow has limitless ammo reserves, and if I bind them to you, not only will only you even be able carry it, but you can also hold it all in a wristband I was going to make ya.”

Well shit… there’s a reason to bind them now. Guess whatever that’s going to be happening won’t be too bad. Just gotta improve my combat skills.“I guess I’ll go with this whole binding thing then, seeing as they’re already pretty powerful now.” He nodded, and took out a small red needle, before jamming it into my hand, causing me to yell in pain. “JESUS CHRIST DUDE, WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!”

He deadpanned. “Would you rather I went slow with the needle? I need some blood to bind the Nanites that make these weapons to you.” He then squeezed my hand over the weapons, squirting my blood all over them before they became a dull grey with hints of gold. “There, as you get tougher, so will the weapons. Think of it as me setting some limits on you. Wouldn’t want to give nuke codes to a teenager, you know?”

I liked this guy at first, but now he’s a complete ass. Who just promises great power, jams needles instead of nicking a little bit, and then goes back on it?!I sighed in frustration.At least I can get that power by just getting myself stronger. This whole dragonborn thing has something to do with dragons after all doesn’t it? Dragons are powerful, so maybe kill a few like the fiery dude did.

He then shuddered and made the bracelet, the weapons disappearing as he let the mist they became go into the armband, which had 3 buttons on it. He then handed it to me and smiled “I will make sure you get tougher, just making sure you don’t wind up hurting yourself by trying something you can’t handle. Trust me, nothing is more embarrassing than someone asking about a scar, and it’s from you being dumb with a dagger.”

“Well I’d like to train but…” I then looked at the bindings, as if to make a point.

The guy in fiery armor nodded and my restraints vanished, right as we wound up in a clearing, it being just me and the guy in red, who seemed to be looking around before he found a large tree. “Okay, let’s practice on this tree.”

Ten out of ten, best life ever,I sarcastically thought as I pointed the sword with both hands, ready to hit a tree over and over. “I’m ready.”

He nodded and made the red mist again, this time turning the tree into what looked like several mannequins made of wood. “Train with these, I want to see your form, try focusing on how you keep your attacks from being telegraphed, also, Jesus Christ, that’s a short sword, one hand only for that.”

“Oh,” I held the sword with just my right hand. “Got it.”

He nodded and sat on a nearby rock. “Go on, don’t wait for someone to attack first, when it seems that a fight is the only answer, damn well answer first. ‘Cause the first one to land a hit often wins.”

I lunged forth with the sword, aiming for the stomach, and successfully landing the hit in the center. I then pulled out the sword, spinning in a 360 and slicing the mannequin in half. The upper half of the wooden construct fell to the floor.

The guy in red nodded slowly. “Good form, for a start. Although, you should try to keep your foundation sturdy, prevent being legswept. Lastly, don’t be afraid to fight dirty, or cruel. One thing I have learned, mercy is NOT something your foe will practice.” He then smiled. “I also recommend you aim for either the point where you can render the enemy harmless, or the enemy’s vitals. If they survive to face you again, then you have made a particularly determined enemy.”

Or they are a warrior’s spirit, but I digress.

He then gestured to the other wooden dummies. “A tip, those daggers I gave you? They can animate lesser structures, so suits of armor, corpses, that kind of thing? Go crazy.” He then made a dagger identical to the ones he gave me and made one of the wooden dummies come to life! It looked kind of pissed off. “Yep, he killed your brother, you gonna take that, toothpick?”

“Now hold on now,” I said slowly, getting ready to dodge. “You do know that you’re a mannequin right? If mannequins can’t have babies, how can you have a brother?”

The mannequin bum rushed me, its stump-like fist ready to beat me senseless. I stepped to the side, raising my sword arm to cut the stump off. The sound of wood being chopped was known as the blade hit. Not wasting any time, I pulled my sword arm up and cut the head off. I stood there for a moment, thinking that I had won, when I suddenly realized that it’s just a mannequin, and that it didn’t need a brain to fight.

The guy in red then stepped in. “That’s good for now. I’ll handle humpty stumpty.” He then drew his sword, a much brighter looking sword of a bright red. He swung it at the wooden dummy, an ark of red mist sailing at it before the dummy was consumed by the red mist, which then flew into his blade. “There we go, now, how about we go to town? I could use some food, even if it’s intheircompany.”

“Is there a group of obnoxious people that I should watch out for in this Equestria I’m going to? Because it sounds like it.” I asked wondering what had him a little peeved. “Regardless, I could use a bite to eat. Especially given all the shit that went down.”And also to learn who to stick around with.

He sighed. “By them, I mean the ponies, or whatever this world calls them, bunch of xenophobic jerks in my world, hope you have better luck.”

Well, everybody's a little bit racist sometimes. Maybe he just struck a chord with the wrong people? Either way, I hope he’s right too.

As we walked towards the town in the distance, I heard a sigh come from the guy in front of me. “My name is Simon, by the way, and...don’t freak out at the ponies, they are… anthropomorphic.”

I shrugged. “Jaxson, and I already accepted this whole second life thing, so I’m pretty ready for what’s to come. It’s not like the average filly has C-cup breasts now will it?”

He shook his head. “No, but…” He blushed. “Once they mature, the breasts mature quite well, from what I can see.” He handed me a visor that he made from the red mist. “This’ll let you see one of their… smaller endowed girls, currently napping on a cloud overhead.”

I looked at the rainbow tail peeking from the cloud.Well it can’t be- wait. Would they still maintain that animalistic trait of being naked all the time? I hadn’t thought of that.Hesitantly, I put on the visor, allowing me to get a closer look at the prismatic girl. Sure enough, she laid on the cloud, bare as she took in the sun. From what I could tell from where I was standing, she had a well toned body, D-cup breasts with a pink areola and nipple. She had a blue pair of wings on her back, along with a beautiful looking pair of otherworldly pink eyes.

As soon as I finished taking in her form, I flung the visor back at him. “Nudist colony… well I have to say I didn’t expect that.”

He was oddly silent. “Ok, stored those in my memory. Good for now. Care to go into town?” Just then, I felt a chill run down my spine as the a rainbow blur rammed into Simon, leaving a note before flying off towards what looked like a house made of clouds. He opened the letter and read it aloud, “Don’t leave town, I’m going to beat you senseless once I’m dressed!” He then looked to me. “Not a nudist colony.”

Note to self: Don’t watch the skies unless you actually hear something bad up there.“So given her speed… should we hide?” I asked as we went.

He then kept on walking with me as he whistled, not a care in the world. “Nah, you probably should, I can handle her. Want me to ask her out for ya? I saw the blush on yer cheeks.”

“I think I’ll just hide thank you.” I said, moving to run into the town in search of a place to hide, before Simon grabbed me and dragged me into a hollow tree, full of toy balls for some reason.

“Lucky that she kept them full of the same stuff. One sec.” I watched as he absorbed the balls and flung me into the hollow tree, shutting me inside with the visor, now with headphones.

I can’t help but feel as if this is some kind of trap instead…I nervously thought to myself. I looked at the things he left me with, seeing if there was anything I could do with them, only to see the visor and the headphones turn on.Maybe I should just put them on anyways?I put the headphones on with my right hand, picking up the visor with my left as I did so.

I was suddenly seeing everything from Simon’s eyes, him walking into town square idly before he sat in a chair, pulling out his own weapons and sharpening his sword with a knife. He then looked up and I saw a rainbow blur heading straight for us. He smiled and waved. “Heya, skittles. Mind slowing down? Don’t want to wind up crashing now do we?

The rainbow-maned mare grunted and kicked him in the head as she landed, only for it to come clean off! As she began to freak out, his body walked over to his head, from which I was watching, and picked it up, twisting it back into place. “Really should look before you leap.”

One embarrassingly one-sided fight later

After a few minutes of waiting, Simon came back for me with a bag of food and a drink in his hands, opening up a large enough hole in the tree so that I could get out. I walked out of the tree, with a newfound grudging respect for Simon as I took the food and drink from him. “You know, despite the shit you put me through, I can see that I have a lot more to learn, if I plan on being strong enough to live here. Thanks for taking the fire for me on that one.”

He shrugged. “Meh, I’ve already gotten the Equestrian people as enemies back home, so I might as well get them to hate me here too.”

The rainbow-maned one then touched down near us and frowned. “Why’d you hold back? I was-” She stopped, suddenly noticing me. I instantly froze up, my mind racing to make sure I don’t make any hints that I was the one who peeked at her.

He chuckled. “I hate bullies, and it was pretty obvious that I could beat the tar out of you. Besides, you weren’t out to kill me, and most of my moves are lethal.” He then sighed as he saw a wound on her shoulder “C’mon, I’ll fix those wounds. Gotta make sure it doesn’t get infected.”

She looked to us in confusion. “Why are you being so nice?”

He grinned. “Well, I feel that I embarrassed the great Rainbow Dash enough, so I shouldn’t let her wounds get worse.” He then nudged me. “Besides, his little crush on you would make it weird for me to train him if I let you get hurt.”

I suddenly snapped out of my fear-filled stupor, sending a spiteful glare at him.That's not cool dude. Not my fault the moment I saw her she was naked.

He then chuckled. “Oh, do you prefer to be the roses on her doorstep kinda guy? Sorry, she lives in a cloud house.” He then nudged me and whispered so that only I could hear. “She has a serious ego, trying to butter her up.”

“I really don’t think saying I have a crush on her is the right way to go,” I muttered at the same volume.

Rainbow dash seemed to be frozen on the spot, a huge blush on her face. “Uh… You sure you aren’t thinking of my friends, are you? I mean, I am not exactly… hot stuff.” She then looked to me and mumbled out. “I don’t even know you… Geez...”

I looked back to Rainbow Dash, getting my composure back together having forgotten that I saw her naked. “You’ll have to excuse my friend here, total troll the guy is. That being said, you’re not half bad. In fact, I kind of prefer that size.” I suddenly realized the grave I was digging. “I mean… I really don’t care for the big ones. Ones of those size seem perfectly proportionate to the body y’know?” I said my half truth, half lie.

Rainbow looked blankly to me, before grabbing me, and giving me a smooch before flying off. Only one thing ran through my mind after this happened.

Oh fuck I may have started a relationship.I turned to look at him. “You know, I will find a way to get back at you for this right?”

He chuckles. “Good luck, I’m gay.”

“Doesn’t necessarily mean I was going to hook you up with a girl,” I shot back.

He smiled, before handing me an elven hammer. “If you ever require my aid, or any training, hit this hammer upon stone twice.” A fiery portal then opened up behind him. “I wish you good luck in Equestria. Remember to stop by the castle in town, as it has a library where you can learn of the beasts within the realm, and remember to keep your eyes and ears open about this place. If you’re going to ask if there are others, I can’t really think of a few other than that.”

I nodded. “Will do. I’ll see you next time, Simon.” I watched as he went into the portal, presumably back to the fiery dude.

“...Never caught the fiery guy’s name now that I think about it.”

Just before the portal fully closed, it reopened as Simon walked back through. “Oh, and the Huntsman wishes that you use this key upon any door, in case you wish for a good fight in his arena.” He then threw the key at me, and I caught it with my right hand as he walked back into the portal, it fully closing this time.

“Huntsman. Got it.”I also got the fact that I'll never drink another beer again. Alcohol is most definitely lethal.