Why Not?

Allies

Jordan was currently deep in thought as he played Corrupted Lugia's message again, "You Are Too Late, My master Is Rising. This World Will Fall And Your Souls Will Be Devoured."

He shook his head, 'Ha my soul being devoured? Yeah right, not today and not the next day or any other damn day.'

He looked at his resting comrades and smiled. They were a strange bunch but trustworthy and loyal. He liked their attitudes and their personalities. Almost like a family, dysfunctional but a family still. He sighed and stood up, wincing at the few aches left from his battle. He was mostly healed and only a little woozy from blood loss.

He looked up at the sky and saw dark clouds approaching. They'd reach the forest by night. "Come on guys, we got work to do," he called to the resting Wolves. They nodded and began to lead the way down the mountain. They traveled quickly through the dense forest, surprising a few birds and some rabbits.

They traveled in silence, a comfortable silence. Jordan looked around and noticed they weren't that far from the Pony town. "Hey Sil, are the Cockatrice near the Ponies or something?"

Sil nodded, "Somewhat, they live just about an hour away from them. They're pretty calm, unless you invade their nest."

"How do you know if your near or in their nest?"

The Pack stopped and Sil raised a paw and pointed. Jordan looked to where he was pointing and whistled. In front of them stood one of the weird Lion things, but petrified. "What exactly can these Cockatrice do?''

Sil smiled grimly, "They can turn their enemies into Statues if they look you in the eye. The only way you can be released is if the Cockatrice that turned you releases you."

"What exactly do they look like?"

The Pack began to bark in laughter, "Jordan, you've already met one."

"Your kidding me," he said disbelievingly.

"That wounded Dragon Chicken was a Cockatrice, it either trusted you or didn't want to take on a pack of Timber Wolves by itself."

Jordan rubbed his chin, these Cockatrices would definitely be a major help in this upcoming War. That is, if he could persuade them to help. He looked at the Statue again, this kind of power was a nice plus. It was worth it, he hoped,

"Alright lets keep going, try not to look them in the eye. Can't have one of you becoming a Statue on me."

The Pack nodded and they proceeded further into Cockatrice territory. It wasn't long before the sound of movement could be heard all around them and a faint hiss. They stopped and looked at the ground, "I bare no hostility towards you. We just want to talk to your leader."

There was silence and then, "Why should we listen to you, who would invade our territory, our nest?"

"I just want to talk to your leader, that's all."

"Why should we trust a creature we have never seen before and travels with Timber Wolves.?"

"Well as to why you should trust me, take a chance and you won't be disappointed. I travel with these Timber Wolves because I trust them."

Jordan and the Wolves were met with silence and then, "Very well Strange One, we will 'Take a Chance', but if you do disappoint you'll be a new additions to our collection."

One by one the Cockatrice began to reveal themselves, eight in total. The tallest one spoke, "Follow us and we will take you to our Leader but be warned, any signs of hostility will be met with swift action."

Jordan nodded and the Cockatrice began to lead him and the Wolves. They traveled in silence and were met with curious looks from nest that housed at least two Cockatrice and either a small chick or egg. A few chicks ran in front of Jordan and looked at him, curiosity filling their red eyes. Jordan smiled at them and they smiled back at him, well tried to. They chirped and ran back to the clusters of nest being guarded by their parents. They were miniature replicas of their parents. It seemed that they didn't have that power yet.

They walked for a few more minutes and the Cockatrice they were following stopped. In front of them there was a cave entrance that stood about 17ft tall and 10ft wide. A Cockatrice stepped out and said. "He waits for you."

Jordan sighed, 'Moment of truth huh?' He walked forward and entered the dark cave. Sil and the others began to follow after him but were stopped, "He needs to do this on his own." Sil nodded, "I understand."

The cave was surprisingly well lit when Jordan proceeded further in. He looked at the ceiling and saw some type of fungi that was glowing a neon blue, needless to say it was pretty cool. He carried on and stopped, hearing a breathing sound. He looked around and noticed a peculiar nest. It was built up as a throne, but that wasn't the weird part. It was fairly large, just about 4ft wide. What was sitting in it was even more peculiar was what or who was sitting in it.

A Cockatrice was patiently sitting in the nest. Oh and it was very large Cockatrice, and very long. It looked like any of the other Cockatrice but its length was easily 20ft and its scaly part being thick as a tree trunk. Its upper half, was yes that of a chicken but there was nothing to laugh about. This Cockatrice gave off a feel of grace and power. This was as close as you got to a Dragon, the scales instead of being green, were a ruby red.

It raised its head fluidly and gracefully, "Your definitely a strange looking one."

Jordan for a moment forgot manners, "Your not the first one to say that and you probably won't be the last to say that," he said casually.

"Strange and has spirit, what is your name?"

"Jordan, and what may be yours?"

"You don't need to be formal, I'm to old for that. As for my name, I am Rizenclaw. I have lived for 300 years now, So tell me why you have come."

"Honestly, I'm looking for allies."

"Why would you have a need for allies? Are you being chased or is there something else?"

"To put it simply, there is going to be a war and I have been chosen as piece to participate in it. I need allies, I'm not stupid. I can't fight this war on my own. If I do nothing We all fall. I can't let that happen, I just got here."

"Stupid no, Wise maybe. Your smart enough to know you can't fight this fight on your own. And I have no reason to not believe you but I have yet to see a reason to follow you. I like you Jordan, your young. You remind me of my son, but you need to prove to my people that your worthy of our help."

'Ah the 'Scratch My Back, I Scratch Yours'. I completely understand, I'm more than willing to prove myself. I already have one of the Great Packs of the Timber Wolves on my side. I've already fought one of the enemy's pawn. I barely survived, if proving my worth to you is what needs to be done so be it."

Rizenclaw stared at Jordan intently but slowly stood up. "In all my years I have met very few that left in impression on me. I get this feeling that you'll be doing that a lot later in the future." He crawled and slithered out of his sizable nest. "Come we have to prove your worth to the rest of the Nest."

Rizenclaw led the way while Jordan followed. Rizenclaw moved with grace even with his old age. His movement was a slithering and walking with his claws but that didn't make him slow one bit. The traveled in silence and began to near the entrance.

"Oh before I forget, what kind of plants are those?" Jordan asked pointing towards the glowing life on the ceiling.

Rizenclaw paused and looked up at the ceiling, "Those are..well we never really chose a name for them, We just call them Lumen Moss. They only grow in either dark caves or caves that have a strong residue of magic left in them. They aren't poisonous and they easily maintain themselves. They've been here longer than me."

Jordan was amazed, this was moss. Simple moss, yet it had such an alluring glow. 'This world just amazes me daily.' They reached the entrance and Rizenclaw exited first. The sun made his scales shimmer, all the surrounding Cockatrices bowed. Sil and the other nodded politely. Jordan exited left and was met with a sudden tinge of pain and annoyance as his eyes adjusted to the sunlight around him.

"Jordan, you said you wanted our help, right?"

"Yes, your help would be much appreciated," Jordan answered while rubbing his eyes.

"It seems my grandson is missing. If you can find him and bring him back to me, you will have all the Cockatrice in this forest behind you. My grandson is next in line to become the Nest leader. Please bring him back," he said almost pleadingly.

"I'll see what I can do, what is his name?"

"His name is Razlif, he was last seen in near the marshes."

Jordan absorbed all of this info and looked at his Pack, "I assume you know where the Marshes are?" he received a nod. "Alright then, lets go."

Sil and the others began to lead the way. As they made their way out of the Nesting grounds, they were all seen off by most of the Cockatrice. He could feel Rizenclaw's eyes on his back, they felt pleading. Jordan understood perfectly, Rizenclaw needed to stay and command from the back and watch over his Nesting ground. If there were a war brewing, they needed to be on their toes.

He shook his head, he needed to focus on the task at hand, finding Rizenclaw's grandson. That was going to be a tad difficult but he'd manage somehow. He followed his Pack silently, dodging the "Lions" and going around hazards. Jordan was trying to conserve energy and not wear himself out.

After about an hour of traveling, the humidity began to rise. Jordan wiped his brow, 'Whew fills like I should be somewhere in Florida.' They finally reached the Marshes, Jordan looked around and found claw prints, Chicken prints to be exact. He looked up at Sil and nodded, ''Keep your open, he should be around here somewhere. We need to get him out of here before anything bad happens."

At this point Razor spoke up, "What could go wrong Boss?"

Jordan's hand could be heard throughout the forest as it smacked his face, "First, Ow. Second, Razor you just jinxed us. Something IS definitely going to happen now."

"What do you mean Boss?"

"Stop calling me Boss, and where I'm from we have a Law, Murphy's Law."

"Whats that?"

"Anything That Can Go Wrong, Will Go Wrong."

"How uh accurate is this Law?"

"With me, usually almost every time. Lady Luck is a sadist and I'm her masochist. No matter how many times she fucks me over, I keep coming back for more. Tempting fate and taking chances."

"Geez this Lady Luck seems real mean," said Razor while lowering his ears.

"Haha don't worry Razor, She's only like that to me, you're safe."

Razor nodded his head, "If you say so Boss."

Jordan sighed, but before he could say anything a deafening roar was heard further in the Swamp. "That's our cue, lets go."

Jordan didn't have to look back to know that his Pack was following as he ran towards the sound, jumping over logs and rocks. They closed in on the sound fairly quickly and met with the sight of a Cockatrice being cornered by a Hydra.....'Wait what?!'

The Cockatrice was bleeding badly and probably wouldn't hold out long. "Sil, I want you and the rest to get Razlif while I distract the Hydra."

He didn't look to see if they had heard him, he knew they did. They just needed a distraction and he was going to give them one. He looked at the Hydra, this bastard or bastards was easily 70ft tall and towered over the trees. "Hey, yeah you, I need you to give me the Cockatrice," he called towards the towering serpent.

The Hydra looked at Jordan and then looked at each other before braking into hissing laughter. "Did you hear that brother, it wants us to let our food go." "Yes brother I heard, lets eat it next," the two heads conversed while the other four snapped their jaws hungrily at the Cockatrice trying to dodge.

A vein throbbed on Jordan's neck and he clenched his fist. It was an understatement to say that Jordan was mad, he was pissed! "You had your chance assholes," he muttered. With a upwards motioning of his arm and quick visualization, vines began to shoot of the water. They wrapped themselves tightly around the Hydra's mouths. With a pulling motion, the Hydra was yanked forwards and tumbled towards the ground, causing the surrounding area to quake.

All eyes were on Jordan and jaws were forced open. He now had six very large reptilian and very pissed off heads glaring at him. With a thundering roar, the Hydra raised itself up and they began to lunge at Jordan. Jordan immediately dodged and began to lead them away from the forgotten Cockatrice. Immediately his Pack jumped in and they carefully carried him out of there. Now that was taken care, he could focus on the Hydra.

He looked at his surroundings and saw the bubbling swamp surrounded by boulders and rocks. He formed an idea and hoped it would work. There was only one way to find out. He began running towards the swamp and yelled over his shoulder, "Your mother was a newt and your dad was a garter snake. You were just the accident from a hole in the condom!"

This did what Jordan hoped, pissed the Hydra off even more. It began to run at a faster pace and Jordan used his Terra forming powers to raise a short pillar of earth to shoot upwards. This caused exactly what Jordan was hoping for, the Hydra tripped. Well flew was more like it, with its stupefied faces passing over Jordan.

With a loud splash it sank downwards into the swamp. He knew it wasn't over and began to levitate the surrounding boulders, huffing at the strain. He raised them into the sky and just a moment later the Hydra burst out of the murky waters roaring and hissing. It didn't notice the shadows, with a downwards motion all the boulders began to smash downwards like a shower of brain splattering death.

Luckily for Jordan, Hydra hide was very thick and his attack only knocked out the bastards. They sunk into the murky waters, bubbles forming and popping. "I am so lucky that I didn't decapitate any of them. That would of been so damn annoying." Just as he began to walk away from the swamp he heard a gasp. 'Shit.'

He looked to where the gasp came from, 'Even more shit.' There was not one but six mares standing where the gasp was from. The same mares from when he dropped off the kids. One of them was currently face down, he assumed she must have fainted. She was a yellow mare with a faded pink mane. The rest had their mouths wide open and stared at him.

They continued to stare at him, 'this is going nowhere'. He turned his back, but before he could take a step one of the mares cried out hurriedly, "Wait!"

Jordan sighed and looked at the one who called out to him. A lavender mare with a purple mane with one pink streak look at him with a look that screamed "I have questions!"

"What, I don't have all day."

"You can talk?!" she asked excitedly.

"No, your just crazy and imagining that I'm actually speaking, of course I can talk."

She slightly flinched at his retort but quickly shook it off, "What are you?"

'Lets have some fun at her expense,' he thought wickedly.

"I'm a Demon from the 12th realm of pain," he said so calmly.

''She went slack jawed at the answer and looked at one of her friends, a tanned orange mare with a blond mane topped with a old stetson. "Is he telling the truth Applejack?"

The one called Applejack eyed Jordan carefully, "Ah can't tell Twi, it feels like a lie but ah ain't sure."

"Are you telling the truth or what bub?!" yelled the rainbow maned mare.

"Temper temper, ask nicely."

Her face turned red and she snorted. She looked about ready to charge him, but was stopped by the lavender mare. "Twilight, let me at him, I'll cream him in 10 seconds flat!"

Twilight just gave her friend a pleading look. The rainbow maned mare calmed down slightly.

Twilight then looked at Jordan and asked, "Can you please tell me who you are and how you beat a Hydra?"

"Hmm see that wasn't so hard. To answer your first question, I am a Human."

Twilight immediately pulled out a small notebook and used her magic to scribble eagerly. She looked up at him when he didn't continue on. Before she could ask something else, she was abruptly interrupted. Behind Jordan, the Hydra burst out of the swamp, hissing angrily. The mares immediately backed up, the orange one carrying her still unconscious friend. Jordan casually turned around and spoke before the Hydra could attack, "I have a proposition."

The Hydra tilted their heads in confusion, "What?" asked one of the heads.

"I want your help."

"Why?"

"Lets just say very soon, I'm going to need your help."

"Whats in it for us?," one of the heads hissed.

"How about a bigger swamp?"

The Heads began to converse with each other, casting glances at Jordan every now and then. "Very well, we will help you but only if you make our swamp bigger. But how did you know that's we wanted?"

"Bigger swamp means bigger ecosystem, which means more food for you. Your swamp is small which makes you have to hunt further out. This benefits both of us."

"I see, well thank you," the Hydra slowly sank back into the swamp.

"Now that that's done, I believe you had questions?" Jordan asked the stunned and shocked Ponies.