[DISPLACED] Trespasser's Journey

by Blackdust

First published 14th of April, 2018

Name's Silphen Dardo. Well, it is now, at least...I got Displaced, and I have to fight Tirek in a couple years, since he's a liar. Whoopity doo...

Silphen Dardo, Soft Silver Wolf. Archmage of the Soft Metal Furred Wolves from a really bad roleplay. And a guy that decided to dress up as him, minus the spellbook, cause he didn't have anything thick enough, and buys one at A-con, and gets Displaced. Welcome, to my world in a super nutshell. What's not nutshelled, is the fact that Tirek is a liar and imprisoned Twilight and her friends. But we'll get to that in a bit. First, let's meet some friends of mine...

---

*mock angry voice* Read the author notes in the first three chapters, you fools!

Arc 1; "Initialization", Step 1: Don't get caught.

Author's Notes:

As is my norm, dislike if you enjoyed, like if you didn't or just didn't read this. And edits done to this first chapter goes to Bromad! Go follow him, since he might end up being the co-writer of this Displaced story.

Ashton sighed as memories of a life very different from his own started to invade his mind and dreams over the last few weeks he spent in the cell.

It wasn't so much that he couldn't get out, he could teleport out in an instant if he wanted to.

He didn't want to get out and face the wrath of the solar monarch.

His only solace was a convict staying next to him, apparently the poor mare had been caught stealing to feed her little sister. They took that poor soul off somewhere late last night, and she hadn't returned.

"Psst!" A voice called to him from the tiny, even by pony standards, cell window. It was the voice of the mare he got far too familiar with over the last few days.

He got up and went over to the window, and smiled warmly when he saw the mare he teleported over to chat with several times during his internment, looking at him through the bars.

"Heyo, Aurana. How ya doing? Little sis eating good?" Aurana Silverflight, a beautiful young pegasus mare. Her cutie mark being a pile of bits and a bandit mask superimposed on it, with a muted grey coat that went along well to match her perfect gorgeous baby blue eyes.

She sighed and nodded, laying down and looking at him. "Yeah... It doesn't seem to help her much though... You know, you were the one that managed to save me in court today. I used what you told me, and Princess Celestia let me go. Thank you. Also, I asked around, and apparently she doesn't know you're still alive, let alone in the dungeons, so..."

"So I can come and go as I wish." Ashton finished, and after seeing her smile and nod, he used a short range teleportation spell to just behind her, since he could see there wasn't anypony there at the time.

(Wait, am I ahead of myself? I'm ahead of myself. REWIND!)

Ashton Grey was dressed to express his interest in an mlp sci-fi actionesque roleplay him and a group of friends were doing. At heart, he loved the idea of a Soft Metal Furred Wolf. Red robes and cowl, grey fur, a wolf's mask, with a small white skull pendant clasping the cowl hood together.

This specific Wolf was named Silphen Dardo. Archmage, and second in command of all the Silver Wolves at his home.

Ashton found it difficult searching for a book thick enough to represent all the different branches of magic, and a bizarre cover design to boot to get his friends who saw him with it talking. Luckily, there was a vendor off to the side that had just what he needed.

"Heyo! How much for the spellbook?" Ashton asked the merchant.

Smiling, he gestured to the book. "For you and that snazzy OC you got there? I'll sell it for twenty."

Now this should've set off a couple red flags for him, because that's exactly how much he had on him in terms of cash, and that was way too overpriced for a blank book.

"Sweet! Here!" Ashton simply pulled out the twenty and handed it over, and picked up the book...

...And was in the middle of Ponyville's fountain.

After looking around for a few seconds in pure shock, one of the three flower drama ponies shrieked and feinted. The other two followed suit, and every other pony looked at him, shrieked, and panicked. All while the now giant wolf just stared at the pastel ponies and said one word.

"...Fuck."

After a few hours, trying to dry off his newly acquired magical robes, as well as get used to having silver fur in place of hair and a muzzle in place of a human nose and mouth, and claws in place of fingers, he managed to sit down and have a small chat with Twilight and her friends about who and, more importantly what, he was... A human trapped in a cosplay, on Equestria, quite possibly hundreds of years away.

"...And that's how I got here." Ashton said to Twilight, who had somehow acquired a notepad and quill during his life story, of which he left out the part of ponies and the show.

"Interesting..." Twilight muttered, still writing the last bits down.

"So... You're a... human...?" Fluttershy asked, in her adorably quiet manner.

"Well... Yes and no. I'm a thing a friend of mine calls a Soft Silver wolf. He's an archmage, if what he says carried over is accurate, and he is currently practicing blood ma-"

"YOU'RE PRACTICING A FORBIDDEN MAGIC!?!" Twilight shouted, cutting Ashton off mid sentence.

Ashton, for his part, winced and flinched away from the shrieking pony next to him. "Ow... And no. It's only 'forbidden' because you don't know the level of respect you need to have for the magic, so you don't gone stark raving mad. That, and good morales."

"That's not all you need, dark mage." A cold, and very regal sounding voice said from behind him, making him turn around, and look face first into the practically smoldering eyes of one very angry looking Princess Celestia.

"Uh... Hi... Princess?" Ashton asked, highly uncertain as to how to react to the cutely angry pone alicorn.

"You openly practised black magic, but don't readily attack? You have more than just good morales, wolf. You need very high endurance to the corruption such magics spread on ones soul." Celestia said, her left eyes twitching as she said those words.

"Eheheh... Y-yeah... I guess so... But if it helps my case any, Silphen, the guy I'm basically possessing right now I believe, believes that all knowledge is to be treasured and shared openly, so long as one can handle the costs...?"

Wrong thing to say to a group of mortified ponies that could turn one into stone, and the literal GODDESS of the sun. Ashton learns this only a second later as Twilight teleporting him to some kind of a prison cell, possibly under Canterlot, saved him from being burnt so thoroughly that even his SOUL would get a good tan before leaving.

(All caught up? Yes? GOOD! Next chapter.)

Step 2: If caught, run the fuck away. (C/O)

Author's Notes:

Again, and this'll be on the next chapter too, leave a dislike if you enjoyed, and a like if you hated. Please and thank you! SIDENOTE! Ladon does not have a story yet, as it is currently a wip. Any and all crossovers are for future chapters.

But there was a pony there. A passing guard that saw him pop into existence just as he turned the corner, and upon seeing the giant wolf outside his cell, he brandished his spear. "HEY!"

Naturally, this gave the duo a start as they both looked at the guard, then each other, then they both started to run the other way together.

"Why are you running?!" Silphen yelled at Aurana.

"Because you're innocent, and I'm not! Why are you running!?" She countered.

"Oh, yeah, sure! I'll just make it look like you broke me out, and we'll back to square one! NO!" He shouted as he ran, following her.

"Square one? You really think the guard will just throw me back in jail after helping you escape?! No! I'll be lucky if I'm just banished!" She shouted back as she ducked down into an alleyway. "Meet at the spot where you left at half past!"

Upon hearing her shout that, he groans and begins to loop back to where his cell could see the street using back streets and alleys. Even going so far as to use short range teleportation spells to outrun them, muttering to himself.

"Fuckin'... Why? Just... Why? Why the hell -hup!- do I need to run from the Royal Guard, and Celestia? I mean -WOAH!" He had to stop short as an arcane bolt landed right in front of him, causing him to look skyward and see a certain purple alicorn, which made him swear again and cast a quick illusion spell in tangent with a true teleport back to the street that he was supposed to meet Aurana. And while he did get there far ahead of the time she told him to, she had gotten there before him, and had guards surrounding her, spears raised and ready to strike her.

And the frail, sick, filly behind her.

"One last chance, Ma'am. Let the filly go, or we will use lethal force." One guard said.

"Over my dead body, will you hurt my little sister!" As they began to raise their spears higher, a certain shout of pure rage and fear gave them temporary pause.

"NOOO!!!" And with that one word, he rushed forward, knocking aside the guards, and cast a spell to encase the trio in a diamond dome.

"What in the name of Tartarus are you doing back here, Silphen?" Aurana shouted at him, irritated that he didn’t listen to her.

“Yeah, well, shit happened, Bookhorse is hunting me, and where did that sword come from?” He spouted, staring at a silver sword gleaming in the sunlight. On both sides of the sword’s cross-guard was the sun and moon intertwined with each other.

Aurana, curious about the sudden appearance of the strange blade reached out and poked it tentatively, causing it to fall over and hit Silphen in the foot.

“SONOFA-!” He stopped himself short as he heard a voice speaking in his head.

“My name is Ladon, servent the royal sisters of another world and caretaker of the old code. If ye seek mine help, kinship, or if thou desire to know what had happened to thyself, then ye must repeat those words after me. ‘A knight is sworn to valour, His heart knows only virtue, His blade defends the helpless, His might upholds the weak,His word speaks only truth, His wrath undoes the wicked.’” The voice spoke, it had a deep tone with a strange slight accent to his words.

Sighing, he looks up at Aurana. “When I start spouting gibberish, you need to run, ok?”

“Wait, what?” Aurana asked, mere seconds before he grasped the hilt of the blade and repeated what the blade had told him to say, opening a small hole in the crystal dome he had summoned for Aurana to run out through.

Above them, a strange swirl of colors opened up in the sky as a draconic beast suddenly flew out of it.

The guards, Aurana, and even Twilight, who had finally managed to locate Silphen, stared up at the dragon, shock and fear mixed between the three parties.

“What in the name of Tartarus did you just do, Silphen?!” Aurana shouted, looking back at the dome.

Slowly, the copper scaled dragon glided down toward the group, its belly covered in plates and its wings might and strong. It had six horns adorned along his head, but the thing that caught their eye the most were the spikes and thorn seen along his back, especially the strange tail tip that looked like a bladeless spear. When it landed, the sound alone reveal much of its weight and size. It looked down at the group with slitted orange eyes but its gaze was focused more on the one who spoke the words.

Dropping the dome entirely, the dragon would see a bipedal wolf, with silvery white fur that glinted slightly in the sunlight. Upon seeing a copper dragon, he looked at the silver sword and swore in Japanese, starting to walk back and forth, spouting more and more Japanese nonsense while occasionally pointing the blade at the dragon, guards, and the sky.

The dragon slowly raised his eyebrow at the language that spewed from out of the wolf’s mouth. He looks down at the sword, then back at the wolf. “Do ye not speak English?” It asked, the voice being the same as the one that spoke from the sword.

Stopping his rant, he looked up at the dragon, huffed, and replied, “Yeah, I speak English. What you were hearing was Japanese, or…” Pausing to wave his open hand at himself, he then continued, “Whatever the hell Silphen’s people speak on their home planet. Who are you, and how the hell did I summon you?”

The dragon chuckled in amusement of Silphen’s words. “I suppose I’m the first you’ve summoned?” He asked the wolf.

Nodding, he then looked at the guards, and Aurana, who were both too busy staring at the giant, fire breathing, winged lizard to speak. “Well, gee, what gave you that idea? And what the hell do you mean, first one I’ve summoned?”

“Then ye has no idea what thou became.” The dragon said before shaking his head. “You, are a Displaced.” He said with a pointed claw. His claws appeared to be flexible, capable of serving as both a hand and a paw.

“I’m sorry, a what now? What, in the nine pits of hell, is a Displaced, and do you think you could give me and Aurana a ride out of here real quick? Kinda on the most wanted list right now because of what Silphen does in his free time.” A quick glance at the flying purple alicorn would show that she had gotten over her shock and had gone into study mode, while the guards were starting to pick their spears back up and point them at the mare and wolf once more.

The dragon snorted in response. “Only if ye promise redemption of whatever crime thou performed.”

“Yeah, kinda easier said, than done. Silphen is an Archmage because he studies a very wide range of magic. Including the darkest one, necromancy.” He winced as he said that last word, picturing very disturbing things, such as armies of zombies and skeletons, which in turn made him shudder. “So not gonna do that…”

“An experiment gone wrong or is it a crime in this world?” The dragon asked as he looked over at the purple alicorn.

Twilight, caught off guard by the sudden attention she had acquired from the dragon. “I, uh, y-yeah… It, uh… It’s illegal and highly frowned upon to practice black magic of any kind in Equestria…” She said, frightened she might upset the great beast.

“One that, apparently, made Celestia try to roast me alive right where I stood!” The wolf threw in.

“And have they harmed anyone or anypony?” The dragon asked, wishing to acquire more as to gain understanding of the events.

“Well… N-not him… But he hasn’t used any kind of magic other than teleportation, and that crystal dome he used a few minutes ago…” Twilight said, still rather shaken.

“Because black magic is only black if the one using it does bad things with it!” The wolf shouted at the flying alicorn, hoping he wouldn’t be seen as being rude to the princess.

“Mine thoughts exactly. Tis’ not the essence of the magic, but rather the wielder behind it. I suggest ye meditate on it for a while.” Ladon suggested before he spread out his wings. “Afterall, how can thou hath harmony without understanding?”

Twilight blinked staring at the dragon as it flared it’s wings. “O-of course…”

Silphen had taken the moment to sneak away from the, now sleeping, guards and to the still very frightened Aurana. “So… Help me out, big guy?”

“Of course, just get on.” Ladon said before redirecting his attention to Twilight. “However, one last thing... If ye princess or ruler does not agree with mine words, then I will respect her choices. Tis not my world afterall nor would it be right to go against her rule.” Ladon said as he crouched down to allow the wolf and pegasus to get a ride.

Ashton poked Aurana on the flank, causing her to start, and look back at her big furry friend before turning her gaze back to the dragon before her. “I… I uh… I think I’ll pass on riding you for now…”

“Lewd.” Ashton said, before starting to climb onto the copper dragon, the mare blushing slightly as she thought back on what she had just said.

All Ladon did was cough in response at the dirty jab Ashton did toward Aurana. Without any further response, he leaped into the air and took flight. “Hold on tight.“ The dragon warned.

Getting as good of a grip as he could, he then looks back to see his one and only friend in the world flying as fast as she could to catch up, and shouts over the wind, “Hey, can you slow down a little? Aurana can’t keep up the pace for very long! And my name before getting… displaced was it? Anyway, name’s Ashton!”

Ladon slowed down a little bit so that the pegasus could catch up. “Alright, but I won’t hesitate to shadow leap if they go after us.” he said.

Aurana, finally managing to catch up properly, she looks at Ashton and smiles faintly, if exhaustedly. “Thanks… For that… Ashton…”

Nods to the mare. “Trust me, if she could attack you, she would’ve already done so.”

“Just a precaution as thine Celestia and Luna know nothing of me yet, I did not want to leave a bad impression and be hunted down for helping you...” Ladon explained as he soared through the sky, often beating his wings to remain at the altitude.

“Good point. By the way, what the hell is this sword, and how the hell did it appear inside my crystal dome without breaking it?”

Aurana beats her wings a little harder and sets her still sick sister down on Ladon’s back. “Sorry… Can’t carry her… For much longer…”

“Tis’ a copy of the one around my neck, a token created from the void.” Ladon explained. Ashton often hears a soft chain clacking against his scales, but only Aurana could see the small sword tied to a thin chain, or in Ashton’s case; the sword was made for an alicorn’s magic grip.

“The hell is a token?” Ashton asked as Aurana sat down between him and Ladon.

“I have much to explain to ye, thus it may take a long while to explain it all, I’ll do so once we find a place to land and away from prying eyes.” Ladon explained as his orange eyes scanned the landscapes he flew over.

Ashton then began looking down as well, fighting the sudden urge to lose his lunch. “Note to self, don’t look down when flying… And how does that look?” He said, pointing at a fairly large clearing near the base of mount Canter. Following where Ashton pointed, Ladon lands into the open area.

Ashton quickly gets off Ladon, with Aurana following shortly after. “So… Mind nutshelling the whole ‘Rule of the Displaced’ thing so I can… do whatever it is we do to send you back…?”

Ladon looked between the wolf and the pegasus. “Only if the two of you promise to keep it a secret. Considering how they were after you for necromancy, I’d hate to see how they’d react to the Displaced.”

Ashton promptly nods, while Aurana curls up and falls asleep, apparently the events of the day having worn her out already.

“Outside of this world, is a vast void separating the multiverse. On each Equestrian Earth is a Displaced, each one capable of unspeakable power ranging from weak to overpowered. They cannot come here unless you use their token, much like mine copy of the royal sister’s sword. I wear this to tell others that mine world’s royals trust me. Each token is different but they’ll always have a method of summoning and a message recorded along with it.” Ladon explained.

Nodding slowly as the dragon concluded his explanation, he then proceeded to ask, “ANd how exactly do I make my own token?”

“You’ll need an item, an object, anything really. Afterwards ye need to channel thine own energy into it, it will come naturally but do not push too much into it. Once finished, thou can provide a message, I suggest ye apply some sort of failsafe as not all Displaced have good intentions. The one I applied on mine is the knight’s oath. If the speaker fails to uphold it or does the opposite of it, the sword will cease to be. Do not let your royals see the insignia as they might get suspicious, not unless you will eventually gain her trust and that she will not wage war against the Displaced, Tis’ something she can’t win nor can she seal them with the elements of harmony. Much like the multiverse, there is no end to what they can do. The tokens is what prevents them from coming and only you can bring them here.” Ladon explained as he laid down onto the grass.

Nods again, this time more thoughtfully. “So… were I to use a magic sigil, one that detects intent and general moral compass…”

“That will help. In evil, it shall break, in good, it will remain.” Ladon explained.

Smiles as he laughs mischievously. “You know what…? I might use that in the little summoning oath…”

“Tis’ a good start. As for sending me back, tis by four simple words ‘Our Contract Is complete’’. Do not usher the words yet unless ye want me gone and returned to mine Equestria.” Ladon explained as he tilted. “You can call on me anytime as each world follows a different timeflow. Ye not worry on interrupting anything, but do not use it to troll mine.” He said with a slightly serious look to his eyes.

Ashton nods once more, then starts plucking the grass nearby, making it into a very peculiar kind of grass sigil. To Ladon, it would feel as if it were proper, something he should need to protect and guide. To others, with more ill intents, it would feel wrong, as if it were something to be feared. “Alright, got the sigil. Now what to say…?”

“Anything really. The tokens I’ve came across often talk about themselves, their purpose, a simple hello or something to break the ice. Knowing out there some of them will be nervous considering what they had to endure such as being sent away from their world and losing their name or their bodys. The changes vary from minor to severe.” Ladon explained as he looked toward the sky.

Smiles and pats Ladon on the leg. “I’m sure that if we all managed to get together one day, we could beat the ever loving shit out of the asshat that sent us here. OOH! Idea! Tell me how this sounds… No matter the cost, or the time, call upon me in your time of need, friend, and I shall answer your call. But be warned, for those who call upon me for evil, ye shall never hear my voice again.”

“They might misunderstand it as if ye were to go mute from being near an evil presence.” Ladon said as his tail softly tapped the ground. “Although it could be similar to the monkey, speak nor hear no evil.” he said jokingly.

Chuckles he set the grass sigil down. “True… Any ideas on how to warn folks that pick up the sigil?”

Ladon taps the bottom of his chin. “Ye mentioned a compass, perhaps it could judge them upon being picked up? Mostly their actions and deeds rather than the power they wield. It glows red for bad, blue for good. And mayhap you can see them in ye own eyes like a camera?” He suggested.

“That, would require highly contradicting magic, and how the hell would I- oh. Right. Fucking Archmage cosplay… Anyway, yeah. That would require certain magics that don’t play well together. Good idea though. What about this? ‘Only by one's deeds, may I be summoned. Those who follow the deeds of the 6, have the right to call me. All others, shall be burned.’”

Shortly after having said this, however, Aurana’s sister wheezed, drawing the attention of Ashton and Ladon away from their chat. The dragon watched the little one quietly, then sighed.

“...I’d offer my heart if it wasn’t to be used once, and I don’t mean it as metaphor for love or sympathy. My heart, if I shared it with anyone, would allow them to be healed and to grow stronger.” Ladon explained as he tilted his head. “I hope you’ll be able to heal the young one.”

Ashton stared at the filly, before going over and placing his hands on her barrel, saying, “Solas leighis.” His hands glowed brightly and soon the filly looked far better than she had mere seconds ago. “Should do…”

“Huh,” Ladon said before chuckling. “So she’s in good hands, or hoofs in your friend’s words...” He said before looking toward the sky. “The two should trust you more if you showed you’re capable of other things besides what they claim as evil or dark. I do would like my visits to be pleasant.”

Chuckling, Ashton picks up his sigil and whispers a very cliche oath into it. That oath being the Green Lanterns oath. “Alright, so I said what I wanted to, now what?”

Suddenly, as if someone tore through a delicate fabric in the air, a purple tear opens up and pulls the sigil through. Before Ashton’s eyes, his token is suddenly split into a million copies. The rip reseals itself as quickly as it was torn, leaving not a trace.

“Anyone else who finds your token will use the summoning method, you will feel a pull or pressure and the moment you accept the call, you will either fly through the void, or simple teleport in a blink of an eye.” Ladon explained.

“Buh… It just… What just… You know what? I’m just gonna chalk it up to weird ass magic, and be done with it. Thanks Ladon.”

The dragon couldn’t help but laugh at the flabbergasted look on Ashton’s face. “The void isn’t magic, but it is difficult to understand. It is nothing while being something.” Ladon said as he scratched the back of his horns. “Don’t think about it.”

“I’ll try not to. So, any ideas on what else I need to learn by the end of the day?” Ashton looks up and notices something highly peculiar. The sun hadn’t moved at all since he teleported out of his cell. “And I think old Sunbutt knows I’m still alive…”

“She’ll be either annoyed or furious.” Ladon said as he kept an eye out.

As Ashton nods, he looks at the big dragon. “I’m afraid my lessons will have to resume some other day, friend. Thank you for you time, patience, and knowledge.”

“Anytime. Remember, you can call on me, and don’t let Princess Celestia see that sword unless you can cover the insignia.” Ladon explained as he slowly got up and stretched out. Ashton notices a blade peeking from out of the dull spear tail.

“Nice tail. Anyway, our contract is complete. Thank you, Ladon.”

With those words spoken, Ladon started to float as if forced into flight. His body shimmers before being pulled through the same portal that brought him here.

Step 3: Should that fail... Fight.

Looking up at the dragon fading away, Ashton looked back at the mare and the, previously sick, filly and sighed happily. "Well... At least I have a shot, now that I know what I am... Just need to learn everything that Silphen knows, now. I think he was working on Blood magic last, but I really don't feel like stabbing my hand every single time I want to use it..."

"So why not just let someone gut ya?" A voice said from behind the wolf.

"Oh yeah! Why not- wait, what?" Ashton said, turning around and leaping back just in time to avoid getting gutted by a unicorn stallion wielding what appeared to be a longsword by his standards.

"Whot? Ne'er seen a bastard sword 'efore, ha'e ye? Naht like it's gunna madda much once yer dead! HAHAH!" And with that, the stallion lunged at him again, planning on running him through with the sword.

Ashton barely had enough time to react before he leapt away, his magic creating a piece of crystal armor "Wait, that's what you call a bastard sword? That's nothing but a longsword at best!"

“OI! You jost call me sword small?” The bandit asked, rather peeved that he just had his sword called small.

“Wait, what? Why would i say you have a small- you know what? Yes. I did just call your sword small." Ashton said, using his magic to shrink the silver sword in his hands down, so he could stow it away.

"Now yer gonna regret that, ya overgrown mutt!" The bandit shot back, taking a threatening step forward.

And in a very calm and quiet voice, Ashton asked, "Did you just... Call me... a mutt?" Setting the filly that was still in his arms down, and taking a step forward as well as his eyes started to release a small amount of purple mist.

"Well ain't that what ya are, mutt?" The stallion growled, and almost immediately had to leap back to avoid getting a fireball to the face. “The ‘ell?! Yer a unicorn?!”

“No. I am the Archmage Silphen Dardo, second in command of the Soft Silver Wolves, and the only one of my kind here. I have studied all but three branches of magic, and I only need two to end your life. Call me a mutt again, you worthless little shit head. I fucking dare you.” At this point, Ashton was floating ever so slightly from how much magic he was channeling into the very air around him, his rage boiling over and showing through the purple mist of his eyes, though they didn’t change color themselves.

The unicorn stared at the floating wolf, and laughs. “That’s a nice illusion, mutt-”

Ashton roared at the foolish stallion, and sent the four elements, Earth, Air, Fire, Water, at him, which reacted in such a way that it created a cloud similar to the one that coated Pompeii on a highly accelerated rate, leaving nothing but a petrified stone unicorn, who had the cockiest grin in history, in its wake. After finally calming down enough to disperse the dark magic taint that he had gathered on accident, he realized two things. The first being that bandits travel in groups of more than just one, and the glade was far too quiet for what just happened. This spurred him to look around in a panic, and notice some more bandits running off into the trees with a gagged and tied Aurana on their backs. She looked terrified, if the tears pouring down her face were any indication.

“Aurana!” He shouted, starting to chase them before a pegasus turned around and shot a bolt at him from a hoof mounted crossbow, making him dive to the side, and almost land on Aurana’s sister. His world shattered as he looked back up and saw the bandits had left, leaving him and the sick looking filly.

“I have to make this right… I have to… I have…” He looked at the filly just below him, who had regained consciousness at some point, and was looking up at him with fear in her eyes. “I have to help you first… What’s your name little one…?"

“J-Jade Eversong…” The poor earth filly replied, clearly scared for her life.

Ashton smiled warmly, making the filly even more scared for some reason. “Don’t worry, Jade, I won’t hurt you. But I want to know one thing… Do you know anything about changeling’s aside from Chrysalis and her hive?”

The fillies eyes shrink to pinpricks, the fear very clear on her face. “I don’t know anything about changelings, because I’m totally not a changeling! Nope! No changelings here! Not even hybrid ones! Nuh-uh! Not a single one! Who are you?”

Her reaction was just as he had expected from the filly. It was a little frightening how accurate the Merchant had made this, going off word of text and whatnot. “Don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me. Just don’t shift anywhere near the element bearers until a changeling by the name of Thorax shows up in the Crystal Kingdom. Then say who, and what you are, to Twilight.”

The filly appeared to shrink down on herself. “W-what do you mean…?”

“Ξέρεις ότι μπορείς να με εμπιστεύεσαι.*” Ashton said, casting a animal companionship spell as he did, not entirely sure if it would work.

And luckily for him, even though she didn’t seem to consciously understand what he said, she still relaxed slightly. “I… I know… But why is that a good idea, Mister Ashton…?”

“Because that’s the only way I can help right now, Jade, and I promise you, that once I get my stuff straightened out, I’ll come back for you, ok? Take care, and stay warm.” And with those parting words, he teleported the filly to Twilight’s doorstep with a note explaining her situation, but leaving out a certain couple details. Sighing as he sent away his only ray of light, he steeled himself, got up, and faced the general direction the group of bandits had taken. He knew they probably had a unicorn or two that could teleport themselves a plus one, simply because they had to have used a sound negation field type spell to get that close and not be heard by him.

Author's Notes:

Hey! Hey! Watch out! Hey! Listen! Hey! Hey! Dislike if you enjoyed the story!

*You know you can trust me.

Step 4: And make sure you have some friends.

After a few days of travelling , Ashton found himself running from a pack of timberwolves, screaming cartoonishly, his arms up and ready to grab the low hanging tree branch he spotted a few feet up ahead. Once his hands caught the branch, which was luckily sturdy enough to support a 5' 6" wolf running full tilt at it, and then swinging up onto it from the sudden change in how he was moving, meanwhile the timberwolves kept running right under him.

"Heh. Dumbasses." Then he felt something shift in his mind, causing him to say two words. "Deslocamento Arcano." He felt a slight drain on what he has come to understand as his mana pool, just as a portal opened up right below him. "Huh. Guess someone summoned me... Better leave my book here, just in case they soldiered through it..."

A completely different displaced universe...

“Hooee! Ah think we’ve done enough for today.” Applejack said as the three sat on her porch. “Y’all did a good job out there. Take the rest of the day off, Ah can handle the rest.”

“Thanks Applejack. See you later!” Cassie said before the two flew away.

A few minutes later, the two landed in the center of Ponyville. As the two walked around, Mira noticed a strange object floating in the breeze. Jumping into the air, she gently caught it and landed next to Cassie. It was a symbol of some kind, woven from grass. As Mira held it, she heard a voice inside her mind.

“In brightest day,
In blackest night,
No evil shall escape my sight.
Let those who worship evils might,
Beware my power,
Green Lanterns light.”

“Hey Cassie, I think I just grabbed someone's token. Don't know who it is, but I think it's a Green Lantern displaced.” Mira said. Cassie raised an eyebrow.

“They didn't give their name? Weird… well, call them over.” She said.

Mira then called out, “Whoever you are, may we have a word?” Instantly a portal formed and spat out an unknown figure wearing a cloak onto the ground.

“Bloody freaking… I hate that spell now.” The creature said, getting up. He looked like a white werewolf to the two girls, but a diamond dog to any ponies nearby. He had blue eyes, and a patch of black hair on the top of his head.

Nearby, someone shouted “DIAMOND DOG!” and within seconds there was mass panic.

Both girls facepalmed before Cassie grabbed the newcomer and said, “Brace yourself!” as she leapt into the air with him holding on for dear life while Mira followed. A few minutes later, they landed at Whitetail Woods.

“Sorry about that…” Cassie said as the werewolf picked himself up.

After fully dusting himself off, he sighed. “Well. That went better than I could've not hoped. I know a spell that would've let me calm them down, you know.”

“My experience, just let them calm down on their own. At least it wasn't as bad as the bunny stampede…” Cassie groaned in annoyance. “Seriously, ponies scared of rabbits…”

Chuckling, the wolf looked up at the two, and said, “Yeah, that was a pretty funny episode. Anyroad, name's Ashton Grey, but I'm stuck as the Archmage Silphen Dardo from a roleplay with some friends back home. Who're you two stuck as? Zapdos and Erza?”

“I’m Cassandra, or Cassie for short, and this is my sister, Miriam, or Mira. As for what we got displaced as, we’re characters from an RPG game called Brave Frontier. Mira’s Holy Blades Sefia, I’m Pheonix Thunder Rayla.” Cassie said. She raised an eyebrow. “We thought you were going to be a Green Lantern displaced with what we heard from your token.”

His previously simple smile turned into a shit eating grin. “Yeah. That was the point. I wanted to mess with people. And besides, you really think a grass twine token would come from a Lantern of any color?”

Both girls shook their heads. Mira unsheathed her sword and embedded it into the ground, the six intangible blades surrounding it doing the same. “So you're stuck as a werewolf? That must be.. interested to say the least.” she said.

“Pfft, I wish I was a werewolf. No, I'm a Soft Metal Furred Wolf. Specifically, a Soft Silver one. Go ahead and touch my muzzle, it's weird how soft the metal hairs are.” He says, putting his hands behind his back while leaning forward and tilted his head to the side so they could get at his muzzle easier.

Mira hesitantly brushed her hand over the fur, to her surprise it was as soft as actual fur. “Must be like your own personal armor.” she commented.

That got another chuckle, this one of disappointment, out of him. “I wish. Only thing it's good for is a natural Faraday Cage, and spell components. You said you were something with thunder?”

Cassie nodded. “Thunder is my character’s element.” She drew her own sword, the lightning glyphs etched on it crackling with electricity.

“Neato. Hit me with something lightning. Don't worry, between the sigils on the hemming, and the fur, I'll be just fine.” He widened his stance and bent his knees slightly, sure that even with those two precautions he was still going to go flying.

Cassie's eyes glowed before shouting “Thunder Blade: Yellow Silk!” She then slashed forward with her blade, creating an arc of lightning before leaping up and spinning her sword, the electrical energy from her wings blasting up, revealing her normal wings before both she and the lightning blast smashed into Ashton.

As he predicted, the lightning itself didn't hurt him whatsoever, aside from a slight tingle as his fur stood on end, small lightning bolts arcing between each strand. Then he was sent flying into a tree, and groaned from the impact. “Ow…”

Both girls winced before Mira walked over and helped him up. “You okay?” She gave a yelp as she was hit with an electrical discharge from him.

Groaning, he got himself up, and created a mudbath through some weird language that neither girl understood before starting to take his robe off. Only then did he notice them both staring at him. “What?”

“What… were you just chanting?” Cassie asked.

He began climbing into his mana made mudbath as she was talking, the electric arcs fading as he kept submerging. “Ah. Guess that part wasn't clear. Silphen Dardo studied, and mastered, a very wide range of magic in their most primal forms. That one was Mud Magic. The book I left in the tree I leapt out of after running from some timberwolves holds most of what I've managed to decipher. I'm trying to find the one for M127, a sentient scrying spell, that helped Silphen test and get a proper feel for many of the magic branches. Anything you girls wanna know before I get out and put my robe back on so we can go back to town?”

“So you can use magic?” Mira asked, brushing her long white hair back over her shoulders, unaware that a few strands were sticking straight up after her unexpected shock.

Ashton looks down at the mudbath he was currently sitting in, then back up at Mira with a look that said, ‘What gave you that idea?’ “You got some floaters, there.” He said, pointing at the lightly charged hairs.

“Huh?! Arrrgh, I hate having long hair sometimes…” Mira muttered as she pushed her hair back down. “How long have you been displaced?” She then asked.

“About half a month? I think? Hard to tell. Don't really have calendars out there. Oh, by the way, Silphen has studied all the branches of black magic as well. Don't tell the sisters though, since I don't want to be hunted here as well.”

Cassie gave a small chuckle. “Don’t worry, we’re not blabbermouths.” she said.

Ashton sighs in relief, just as he starts to raise upwards, the ground turning back to normal, not leaving a trance of dirt on his person. “Thank the a- and I'm using his swearing system… Lovely…”

Both girls tittered. “C’mon, hopefully they’ve calmed down enough to… Ashton, DUCK!” Mira yelped as she saw a familiar prismatic blur zip towards their position.

Ashton, who had been bending over to retrieve his robe anyways, didn't realize what Mira said until Rainbow Dash had already flown over his back, causing him to straighten up and look around in confusion. “What just happened?”

Both girls gaped in astonishment. “You nearly got tackled by Rainbow Dash.” Cassie said. At that exact moment, a thud was heard as Rainbow smacked into a nearby tree.

“Ow…” She groaned as she stood back up. “Cassie, Mira, get away from that diamond dog!”

“Rainbow, don't-!” Cassie began to say but was suddenly cut off by Ashton.

“Really? You too? Ξέρεις ότι μπορείς να με εμπιστεύεσαι, Rainbow. Τώρα ηρεμήστε και ακούστε τη λογική.” He said, putting out both his hands in a non threatening manner, though the faint pink glow about them and the sudden calm the brash pegasus felt despite not consciously recognizing what he had said.

“Just who the buck are you?!” She asked, her temper having cooled a bit due to the spell but not enough to dispel her suspicions. “You look like a diamond dog, but you act like Cassie or Mira when they get offended…”

He looked to Cassie and Mira, and then back to the pony before him. “How much have they told you about our… shared unique curse? I am not going any further without knowing how much you know for sure. But first off, I’m a wolf, not a dog, and my fur is made of soft silver, not… whatever the diamond dogs have.”

“Wait, you mean you're one of those 'Displaced’?” Rainbow asked.

Nodding, Ashton let the mana he was channeling into maintaining the soothing effects of the spell, and said, “Yeah. I’m a Displaced. I’m also a Soft Silver Wolf. A species of alien that has metal for fur. And no. It’s not like an actual armor. It stops most lightning based attacks, but not much else. And I can do magic, something I highly doubt any version of those little idiots are smart enough to do.”

Rainbow snickered. “Yeah, probably not.”, Meanwhile, both Cassie and Mira sighed breaths of relief.

“So. With that out the way…” He then turned to the other Displaced. “What season you two get dropped in? I’m pretty sure I’m in season 4.”

“Considering we were turned to stone with Discord when he was reigning, I’d say.. second season.” Mira said.

“Lucky.” He said, before leaning in and whispering to them, “You guys don’t have to deal with flying purple book horse yet. Please try to keep her out of alicornhood… I personally feel she shouldn’t have been promoted for what she did…”

“I think that's the last thing on her mind right now…” Cassie muttered, looking towards where Sun’s Hollow had been situated in the distance.

Confused, he asked, “What’s over there? And what’s up with your world?”

“It’s… one of the occupational hazards of being a displaced, you end up encountering enemies from your game universe. In our case, we have to bring down not one, but four gods and goddesses that want ponykind destroyed. Before we woke up, a town called Sun’s Hollow was razed, only a few kids and one adult survived.” Mira replied, her voice choking a bit.

Hearing this caused the wolf to twitch as he tilted the hood of his robe further down his face. He then said in a frighteningly calm voice as a small amount of purple mist leaked out from under his hood, “Really? Well… If ever you need a hand PUNISHING those four, let me know. I have a couple spells I wanna test out on them now.”

“Right now, we’re trying to figure out where Maxwell is, and our best bet is in the dragon lands.” Cassie replied.

“Y’all have clues? Good. Now, if you don’t mind, would you care about a hunting season? I wanna go and kill a timberwolf or two.” He said, looking up, showing the mist flowing out of his eyes, despite not having changed color themselves.

“Wait, you can't just go and slaughter Timberwolves, are you insane?!” Rainbow exclaimed.

Looking at Rainbow through his cowl, she could feel the barely hidden rage boiling inside him. “I need to hunt before I go back, or I will burn down the forest around the bandits I’m searching for. And they have my marefriend.”

“You have a girlfriend back on your world?” Mira asked. She sighed. “Alright, you can hunt in the Everfree, but only…” She held up a hand to forestall any argument. “If we come with you to make sure you don't go overboard.”

He looked back to Mira, and nodded. “Good enough.” He then dashed forward, grabbed her and Cassie, and used a long range teleportation to put the three at the edge of the water in Froggy Bottom Bog.

The two girls staggered as the disorienting effects of the teleportation wore off. “Gaaah, this is why I prefer flying than teleporting…” Cassie groaned, holding her head.

He glanced at them both and shrugged. “Froggy Bottom Bog. Where to for the hunt?”

The two froze. “Isn’t this where that Hydra lives?” Mira squeaked.

Smiling, he turned back to the swamp itself, and howled, the sound one of primal fury, unbridled rage, and sorrow. “Let them come.”

A bovine bellow answered his howl as a large Minotaur stomped out, ax sparking with electricity, flanked by a pair of Salamanders. The two crocodile-like beasts hissed in anticipation, flaming drool dripping onto the wet ground. Both girls readied their weapons, the seven blades circling Mira’s main blade beginning to spin faster.

Grinning, Ashton started to be lifted into the air by a miniature tornado. “Not what I wanted, but I’ll take it. Gladius glaciei.” As he spoke the last two words, a sword made entirely of ice formed in his hands.

The Minotaur gave an enraged bellow and charged, while the Salamanders blasted out twin torrents of flame, their bodies giving off extreme heat and scorching the ground around them. Mira stepped forward and blocked the twin blasts, but the heat soon became too much for her and she backed off, sweat dripping from her body and her shield blackened. Meanwhile, the Minotaur swung its ax at Ashton, seeking to cleave his head from his shoulders.

Willing the tornado to lift him out of reach, he pointed the sword at Mira, and said, “**إرادة مجددة ، تبارك هذه الروح وتحميها من ألسنة أعدائنا,” causing her to glow slightly as her body recovered from the near heatstroke she had been feeling mere moments before.

Cassie then closed her eyes and chanted, “Selene of the 6, assist us!” A small summoning circle opened up in front of her before a girl in a blue dress appeared, wielding an ornate sword. Charging over to where the Salamanders were, she quickly dispatched them before they could torch her. Giving a military salute, she then vanished.

Giggling like a madman, he screamed at the minotaur, “***Dall agus deafen, solas soinneáin agus fuaim!” Causing a ball of light to appear in front of it, and explode like a flash bang, while he stabbed his blade into the muscly mass of a chest it had, shocked when the blade stopped short.

The Minotaur glanced down at the blade and snorted before yanking it out and sending Ashton flying backwards into the two girls, the three crashing to the ground in a clatter of armor. It snarled in rage and stomped towards the three, it's axe ready to cleave them in half.

Panicking, he locked eyes with the minotaur and said, “破碎和粉碎, 石頭惡魔的眩光!” He hoped it would do what it was supposed to, and petrify the beast.

To his shock, the Minotaur raised a hand to block his stare and thus nullified the spell. It began to pick up the pace, snorting eagerly.

“Shit. Smart little fucker… What’s his weakness?” He asked, getting up and resummoning his tornado.

“He’s a thunder unit, he’s weak to earth based attacks.” Cassie coughed, spitting mud out of her mouth. Both she and Mira were now plastered in the stuff.

“Oh good, I have just the blade then. 土製武士刀.” He said, dispelling the tornado and slapping his hand to the ground and pulling it up, an earthen katana coming up with his hand.

The Minotaur closed the last few feet and raised its axe, eyes filled with bloodlust. Cassie and Mira quickly stood up, but the grime on their armor caused them to slip and crash back to the ground. With a victorious bellow, the beast swung its weapon down in a killing stroke.

Swinging his own blade up to meet, and hopefully deflect or block, Ashton met the ax head on.

The blade glanced off the ax, but it was enough to redirect it away from the two girls, instead embedding itself deep into the Earth. The Minotaur growled in annoyance as it tried to pull the axe out of the mud.

A small ding was heard above everyone’s head, as a large orb of dripping shadows had finished forming. “Oh! Finally! *****魂を収穫して体を破壊する. 死の波,” he said, pointing an open hand at the monster as the orb broke and a wave of darkness flowed over the minotaur, covering it entirely.

The Minotaur gave a pained bellow before it began to disintegrate before the girl’s horrified eyes. Skin, muscle and bone were turned to ash within seconds. Soon, all that was left was a pair of pants and the massive axe. Mira soon fainted, Cassie just barely catching her while fighting the urge herself.

Panting, Ashton looked over at them, and said, “Sorry about that… Strongest one I got… Totally drained…”

Cassie shuddered. “I’m just glad you're on my side.” she said.

“Yeah… Same here…” And with that, he collapsed onto his back, staring at the sky. “Your world… Is fucking weird…”

“Welcome to the multiverse.” Cassie said, laughing. She then looked down at herself with a disgusted look on her face. “It’s gonna take hours to wash this off… price we pay for fighting in swamps.”

“Gimme 30… I can… magic that off…”

Cassie shook her head. “We were in need of a shower anyways, after helping at Sweet Apple Acres.” She shook Mira, who soon began to stir. She extended her hand to Ashton. “It was… honestly refreshing fighting alongside you. If we ever need your assistance, or if you need ours, we’ll call you or you call us.”

Looking up at her, he asked, “And… how exactly... can I do that…?”

Cassie brought up a single floating blue crystal. “This is our token, a Battle Crystal.”

Nodding he took the crystal, and heard their voices in his head.

“If you ever need to call us, just absorb the crystal. It’ll boost your powers in the process.”

Groaning, he sat up. “Couldn’t you have made the message shorter?”

The red haired summoner smirked as she helped him up. “Believe me, there are other displaced with longer summoning messages.” she said.

He looked at Cassie and laughed. “Yeah, fair point. I guess yours could be a little more confusing and long winded.”

“Is there anything you want to ask regarding the Displaced?” Cassie asked.

“Nah. Just lemme recharge my mana pool a little before you send me back. Apparently I use a spell when I travel.”

She nodded before Mira spoke up. “W... what was that spell you used? It… it reminded me of a Dark type attack.” she asked, her voice shaking a bit.

“Death and Shadow go hand in hand, but amplify the mana cost insanely.” Ashton replied, looking at Mira. “The Shadow magic is why it also has a charge up time.”

Both girls nodded in understanding. Walking back to where they had fought, Mira retrieved her now muddy sword and shook her head. “Twi’s probably gonna have a fit when she sees us like this.” Shaking her sword, she managed to dislodge most of the mud. Cassie muttered agreement, looking at her wings.

Following them along, he chuckled for the umpteenth time that day. “Really? Twilight’s gonna flip? Obviously you two haven’t met Rarity.”

Both girls laughed. “We have, and she's the one that's made us spare clothes.” Mira said.

“Then you’d know that she’s the one you gotta worry about. Remember that episode where Sweetie Belle tried to help?”

Both of the girls gave him embarrassed looks. “We’ve only watched at least one or two episodes, most of the time we were playing Brave Frontier on our tablets.” Cassie admitted.

“Pfft. Weaklings.” He then did a 360 sweep of the sky, to try and see if Rainbow Dash had tried to find them. “You told the others that they’re just a tv show where we come from yet?”

Both of them shook their heads. “No, we haven't.” Cassie said.

“Good. I get the feeling they won’t like that little detail too much. I can feel that I got enough mana now. You wanna send me back, or you want me to meet the others first?”

“I’m pretty sure Rainbow's told Twi and the others about you already. And besides, you have someone back in your world that probably needs you more than ever.” Mira said.

“Yyyeeaahh… Noticed something just before I lept through the portal… The leaves were slowing down the closer I got to it, and I think just before I went through, time stopped entirely. So as far as I can tell…”

Cassie frowned. “Weird… But anyways, we honestly need to get ourselves cleaned up. We have your token in case we need your assistance. Ashton, our contract is complete.” She said. As soon as she said those words, a portal opened behind the wolf mage.

Looking back at it, he said, “******Deslocamento Arcano.” Which caused him to float up, and directly into the portal, no tilting or anything.

And just as he had predicted, time in his world had indeed frozen when he left, causing him to fall the rest of the way to the ground. Though do to how he had went back through, suddenly had his feet pointing at the ground, and landed flat footed. "Ho... That's one hell of a trip..."

Hope you guys enjoyed, because I'm really starting to feel that you guys don't like my story.

Author's Notes:

This crossover is with Equstarte Marine Sebaste on his story, Brave Frontier Equestria!

*You know you can trust me, Rainbow. Now calm down and listen to the logic
**Rejuvenating will, bless this soul and protect her from the flames of our enemies
***Blind and deafen, blast light and sound!
****Broken and crushed, the glare of the stone devil!
The one with the earthen katana is already translated in the description.
*****Harvest the soul and destroy the body. The wave of death
*****Arcane Shift

Step 5: Also, have an escape route

After visiting the sisters and realizing that far more magic types and variants were out there, including summoning, Ashton set about scouring his spellbook for the M127 spell. After a couple more days, and restless nights, something happened in one of his dreams that wasn't a memory…

Ashton was running, running, running… always running, but from what he didn’t know, all he knew was that he had to run… to escape… “Don’t stop… Can’t look back… it’ll catch me…”

“What shall catch you, creature?” A voice as smooth as silk asked from directly above the running Ashton.

“The white horse… The solar one…” Ashton replied, still running, still not looking back.

Naturally, this gave Luna pause, as she finally understood what he was running from. Deciding to end his torment for the night, she created a grove ahead of him with a bed and went to wait for him.

She only had to wait a couple seconds for the hairless minotaur to come running into the grove she created. “Greetings, creature.”

Ashton slid to a stop and stared at Luna. “Black horse. No, Luna... “ Was all he said before he collapsed to the ground, an exhausted smile on his face.

“Thou art dreaming, hairless minotaur,” Luna said, standing up and walking over to him.

“I know. And I am so glad for that… Hey, Luna, can I ask a favor of you?” Ashton asked, looking at her as she approached.

Luna blinked in slight confusion before replying, “Of course, minotaur.”

“Ok, one, not a minotaur. Two, talk to Twilight before I meet you in real life please?”

Luna was even more confused by the first statement than she was by the second one. “Then… What art thou, if not a minotaur?”

“Well… That depends. What am I truly, or what am I outside of the dreamscape?” He asked back.

“Um… We don’t understand. How can one be one species when they dream, and another when they awaken?”

“Not that hard, really. Humans do it all the time. That’s what I am, by the way. At least, while we’re here I am. Out there, I’m a Soft Silver Furred Wolf. Either way, I’m named Ashton,” he explained.

Luna’s mouth gaped slightly before she laughed, saying, “Oh, Lyra, thou hast a good imagination!”

Ashton sighed and asked, “Did you go to Lyra’s dream?”

As simple of a statement as it was, it made the princess of the night freeze mid laugh and stare at him, fear and realization clear on her face. “Surely thou jest… Humans are but myth!”

Ashton smiled at that clearly false declaration, then stood up and felt the world tilt violently. “The he- oh. I’m waking up, aren’t I?”

Luna simply nodded and flew up and into the moon, the dream world cracking and collapsing on itself. Ashton just sighed and flung his arms out to either side and shouted, “JUST WAKE ME UP ALREADY!”

He jerked awake in his makeshift bed of leaves and grass, surrounded by bandits yet again.

“So… Yer tha one that’s been givin’ me boys a ‘ard time, eh?” Asked the one in front of the wolf, earning him a sigh of annoyance.

“Just once i would like to wake up and not be surrounded by death. So, ただ急いで死んでるんですか?*” Ashton asked, casting a quick and simple death spell on the bandits around him, watching each one keel over from something else happening to them.

One pony, a pegasus, coughed up blood as his insides all turned to mush, being melted from the inside out. Another, this one a griffon, started foaming at the mouth as his lungs and heart were violently crushed. Yet another one, a minotaur this time, clutched his chest and fell over from a heart attack. A pair of zebras shot each other, and a dragon starting ripping his own scales off, screaming something about snakes under his skin. The only one out of the group unfazed was the leader, a unicorn, who smiled and held up a crystal necklace that was slowly turning black.

“Yer magic ain’t gunna work on me, dog,” he said, laughing darkly as he pulled out a small rondel dagger and lunging for the mage.

“Shit! Gelida gladio!*” Ashton shouted, leaping back to avoid the, quite possibly, poisoned blade as he summoned a sword made of ice.

They started to exchange thrusts, parries, and slashes in an attempt to cut, wound, and maim the other. It wasn’t until Ashton mistimed a thrust that the unicorn got the upper hand. That allowed him to nick Ashton on his left thigh. The giant wolf retaliated by giving the pony a nasty gash on his side, and they were back at it, albeit each one having to favor one side over the other one, making the next mistake the ending move for either one.

“Heh. Yer pretty good, lad. Didn’t exp-” his sentence was interrupted by a cough that spilt more of his precious life giving essence on the grass before he continued. “Expect ya to be able ta hurt me with that spell blade ah yers.”

Ashton smiled and gestured at his thigh after deflecting another thrust of the unicorns rondell. “Not that you aren’t good enough or anything, but why no poisons?”

“Heh… It takes away from the sport lad…” Was all the bandit could say before his magic cut out and he collapsed from blood loss. “D-damn… Already…? Good… Good luck finding that bitch, wolf… I was the last one, and the camp is burning by now…” And with that, the bandit leader breathed his last.

Ashton growled and kicked the bandit leader in the gut before realizing he had been carefully moving him in a specific direction. He turned around and saw a line of carefully placed torches leading further into the forest, and smiled.

“You mutineed. That’s why you didn’t use any poison.” And with that, he ran along, following the torches like they were a lifeline, as they were. While not for him at the moment, they were for his marefriend at the moment.

Author's Notes:

Bleh... 😐😒
*Japanese: just hurry up and die, would you?
**Latin: Frozen Sword

Step 6: Get back at the mole.

Ashton kept running in the direction the bandit had shown him. Until the torches suddenly cut off, leaving him blind again.

“Damn…” Ashton said to himself before noticing some very clearly stamped down grass. “Sons of bitches were thorough…”

Needless to say, he followed the trail, and soon came across a tall classic wooden wall made of entire tree trunks. Which made him chuckle nervously until he noticed the very large amount of smoke coming from within the walls themselves. Swearing profanities in so many languages that even he didn’t understand, Ashton began casting a spell that he believed would summon a rainstorm above the entirety of the camp in an attempt to put the fire out before it killed the mare he loved.

Meanwhile, in a different part of the forest, the bandits were running away with the burning camp with all the loot and prisoners they could. They didn’t bring any of the elderly or sick, deeming them useless and pointless. But the mare the demon possessed diamond dog was after? She would fetch a pretty bit each and every time they sold her off, since the dumb dog would no doubt destroy the entire town trying to find her. Then the bandits swoop in, knock the mutt out, and steal her again until they either die, or manage to sell her to the somepony that can keep hold of her longer than a day or two. Simple, right? Right.

But the newly appointed leader had one major flaw in his plan. He was underestimating the power of the Soft Silver Wolf, if the spontaneously forming storm clouds were any indication.

“Keep moving, ya bloody Nightmare worshipping idiots! If you stop, the demon beast will catch us!” Shouted a dragon in very spiky armor with a metal shield that also had a single spike on it, and a heavy pick on his hip. The armor and shield glowed faintly with enchantments in the slowly darkening forest. “And if I see any of you shit heads talking to the money maker again, I’ll kill you and mount your skull on a pike, AM I CLEAR!?!”

“SIR, YES SIR COMMANDER FUEGO, SIR!” A chorus of voices shouted back, a cacophony of voices from several different races. Dragon, griffon, earth, unicorn, pegasus, thestral, minotaur, hippogriff, and diamond dog alike all sounded off like a well oiled machine, whether out of fear, training, or a mix of the two, the prisoners couldn’t tell, and only one really cared.

They’re afraid of the dragon… thought Aurana, gagged and bound as she was.

“Keep moving, whore. You’re gonna make us a very pretty coin, hehehe…” a bulky minotaur said, shoving her forward and making her fall before picking her back up when Fuego locked eyes with the bipedal bull.

Ashton was pacing around the various prisoners, checking them for any wounds that would keep them from getting to Canterlot, or Ponyville. He thanked every god, goddess, and other divine being he could think of that the worse he had to fix was some minor concussions from having the makeshift buildings falling on them as they eroded from the fire.

“Ok everyone, I’ll ask again. Are you sure you don’t want me to teleport you to Canterlot, or Ponyville? Pretty sure I can keep you all safe during transit,” Ashton asked the group of elders, and previously sickly adults of every race he knew in the history of the show.

“We’ll be fine, Silphen. Thank you,” said a minotaur bull, hefting a makeshift hammer across the back of his shoulders. “We shall spread the story of what you did here today. Maybe the story shall reach the two sisters and they shall forgive you for the shadow that was thrust upon you.”

Ashton smiled faintly and nodded, then asked, “Did anyone see where the bandits went? They have someone I care about with them, and I plan to get her back from them before killing each and every single one of those bandit scumbags.”

The bull he was talking to chuckled and nodded before pointing off towards the setting moon and turning around to follow his fellows as the rag-tag group began to make their way out of the forest. The wolf nodded back to the bull before turning to the west and running, a faint purple mist flowing out of his eyes as he let his rage over the loss of his friend finally take over slightly, giving him the much needed energy boost that he was looking for.

So for the rest of that night, and the majority of the next day, he ran. He prayed that he would be able to catch them if he just kept running. And when he caught a bandit too slow to keep up? They were torn apart ruthlessly, and mercilessly. He healed the prisoners that the bandits believed were useless, and teleported them to wherever it was that they had wanted to go. Most went to Canterlot, since the bandits often attacked the unfortunate travelling merchant, or lost soul that wandered into the forest and kept them. So he hunted them, just as they hunted the less fortunate…

A few weeks later, Fuego was carrying the last prisoner through the sky, trying his damndest to avoid getting hit by the crazed fool of a wolf that was following him on the ground, throwing spells of extreme density and variety.

“FUCKING FOOL! Do you want to hurt the cargo!?!” He shouted down at the mad dog.

“You dare call the mare of my heart as nothing more than cargo…?” Ashton mentally projected into Fuego, causing the dragon to shiver in fear, as this bypassed so many of the wards and enchants on his armor that were designed to keep psionic type spell caster unicorns out of his head.

“Alright, fine! Bad choice of words! I’LL FUCKING DROP HER IF YOU HIT ME!” Fuego shouted at the mage as an arc of lightning came to close for comfort.

“Then I would catch her. Unlike you,” Ashton retorted.

Fuego turned around and threw the mare toward the fireball that was coming at him, and said, “Then you know what?! Here!”

Author's Notes:

Chapter 6 in the story, and a pretty decent fan base around this story so far. Gotta say, I am loving this story and all the support I am receiving. BUT! I would like for everyone who is reading this to go and take a look at one of my oldest fanfics, Equestrian War. The reason I ask this of you, is because I want the fans to feel included in the story by using their human or pony oc's. All I need from you on that end, is a bio, a description, and a short blurb about their personality.

Step 7: It's a work in progress.

“Then you know what?! Here!”

Ashton growled and dispelled the fireball, teleporting to catch Aurana before one collided with the other.

"You are a coward, drake. I will hunt and destroy you." Ashton projected to his surroundings after noticing the dragon had fled during the distraction.

Author's Notes:

I humbly apologize for the delay... This obscenely short chapter will be followed by a few years on the run, and being found by best BG pone. Vinyl Scratch.

Arc 2; "Reformation" Step 1: Make a friend.

As Silphen carried Aurana back to the edges of Ponyville, spending as little time as possible for rest and food, Aurana had finally had enough.

"That's it! Silphen, you need to eat and rest!" She said, scolding him for his lack of survival instincts.

"Not until you're safe. I can't rest until I know that you are safe, Aurana," he said, stumbling slightly as he tripped over a root.

The mare merely huffed and squirmed out of his arms, flying up to try and push him to the ground. She knew the land, and the town, that they were heading to, and if he wasn't rested and ready for Pinkie... well... He might end up causing some harm. At least, that's what she was thinking as the duo got blasted by a bass cannon.

"Aww yeah! Got the beast in one go!" A white unicorn mare with electric blue mane said as she went to inspect Silphen.

Silphen, for his part, merely groaned and rolled over, releasing Aurana from beneath him. Aurana was shielded from the tangible white noise due to Silphen, but her ears were still ringing due to the sound level, so when she began looking around and saw the dj trotting up to her, she frowned and got into a defensive stance between the unicorn and Silphen.

Vinyl merely took a step back and put her hooves up, leaving her to stand on her back hooves, and said something that Aurana couldn't hear just yet.

"WHAT!?" She asked, not realizing she was yelling.

Author's Notes:

Apologies for the short chapters lately, but I am trying hard to organize my shit.