dragons furyby OrrkonChaptersprolougechapter 1 another monsterchapter 2. equestrian heroeschapter 3. thieves of the nightAuthor's notei gave upprolougeA normal day fifteen year old kid and a fourteen year old brony friend in a museum with nothing fun to do but, we had been eyeing a weird, twin-head dragon statue that was a hybrid between a hydra and a magic resistant dragon people found in an old greek temple. It was some sort of fire deity -- lord of the flames, king of tartarus; no known name. For a greek tamale it had weird writings. I mean, it looked like hieroglyphics but at the same time it was also very different. I felt so keen to touch the statue but Evan just slapped my hand each time I tried. "I see you two like the statue" Me and evan turned around to see a woman in her mid twenties. "Yeah. Who wants to know?" I said, giving her a bored glare. "I do. You know what would be perfect?" she asked, giving me a interesting look. "What could be exciting right now?" I sighed. "Oh shut up Max, it's not that bad," retorted Evan. He loved museums and ancient history as much as he liked My Little Pony. I like the show I guess but I don’t watch it that often. "Well boys, how would you like an offer?" "Look lady, we’re not interested in buying anything so leave us alone." When it comes to people and their offers I don't want to listen, it never benefits the buyer. "Hey, no payment, two choice offer, free of charge." declared the young woman. "What do you have in mind?" questioned Evan, finally taking his eyes of the weird statue. "If you could have a new life in a new world, would you take it?" she interrogated, smiling slyly as she eyed them from head to toe. "Yeah! Anything beats my crappy life." If I had the choice to live a new life in a new world, might as well take it. If you were me, then I’m sure you’d kill yourself whenever the opportunity presented itself. "Sure, what place do you have in mind?" asked Evan. Wherever I went, he would follow. "Oh, a nice little place called Equestria. You'll like it. Have some water." Holding out a clear plastic bottle, she handed it to me and prompted me to take a sip. I did so and gave the fluid to my friend before starting to feel a faint dizziness and a slight numbness in my head. Turning, I saw that I was not the only one experiencing these strange symptoms and as my vision faded into darkness, I saw the devilish smirk of the woman, as she stared at us. "Sweet dreams, Max," she sang before turning into what looked like a purple wisp. ---------" "Aw crap, what happened? My head hurts." I rubbed my head with my weak hand. “Look who woke up,” chimed a bodiless voice. "Who’s there?" I screamed. I looked up and saw a purple wisp floating above my head. “I’m Nightmare,” it replied, floating around. “About you friend...” I’m not sure why, but my first reaction was to turn my head to the side and stare in awe as the realization hit me. The urge to freak out was unbearable as I saw that my friend was now not only part of me, but that together we were one colossal, two-headed dragon. I wanted nothing more than for all of this to be a dream. I looked up at Nightmare with my poker face, trying to keep calm "It’s not a dream Max," affirmed the head beside mine. "You’re lying right? You’re...What's that noise?" I looked up in the sky to see two flying objects coming at us like rockets, and I could swear I heard them screaming. "Hey, what’s going...on?" questioned Evan, eyes darting from me to the skies and Nightmare. Whatever those two objects were, they landed on our faces "Woah! I can’t believe we survived that fall!” cried one of the two bodies. “Oh, wait...” "T...T...Talking ponies? I must be losing my mind..." I looked at Evan who wore the biggest smile I’ve ever seen as he returned my gaze, the pony still on his face. “We’re in Equestria Max, Equestria!” “You mean...The world of My Little Pony?” "Yes, that show Max. I don’t know what you find so interesting about our lives that you need to spy on us," interrupted the violet mist. I stared at nightmare who slowly took the form of a purple bodied, yellow-eyed pony. "First the monster, now these things," mumbled one of the ponies that fell from the skies to join us. "What do you mean, ‘first the monster?’" I grabbed them by their necks and held them up to my face. "The Bugbear is in Canterlot, please don;t kill us!” they cried, wincing and cowering. "Hey, guess what ponies? You’re going to help us and if you don't, you’ll die." I declared, listening as they both gulped and carefully nodded their heads. “Now, take us to Canterlot!” yelled Evan, showing his sharp teeth as he grinned. “Max, I can’t move.” "Yeah, that’s because Max will be moving,” explained Nightmare, chuckling slightly. “Evan. I’ll tell you what you’ll be doing soon.” "What? Not fair Nightmare!" complained Evan with a frown. “Hey, nothing’s fair when I’m involved. Besides, what’s the worst that could happen? After all, I did turn the two of you into a fire deity.” “What?” cried the four of us in unison. "Oh, I forgot. That statue you two were looking at, it was a fire deity. Somehow it was transported to the human realm. You two seemed so interested in it that I thought, ‘hey, why not make these two my pieces?’ -- take that Discord, your lame gryphon wont be able to stand up to this." We all gave her confused looks. "I’ll tell you more along the way. As for now, mush!" she screamed, demanding that the ponies quicken their pace. -------A/N edited by ickhart hope you enjoyed "D chapter 1 another monsterShortly after Nightmare kindly explained what Evan and I became, those two rather dense brothers -- I couldn’t be bothered catching their names -- showed us the way to Canterlot. “OK Evan, you can summon things and make them appear out of thin air if you so wished, and all you need to do is concentrate, and picture in your mind’s eye just what it is that you want to summon. Also, it isn’t limited to appearing wherever you are, and it can go as far as you desire.” Sang Nightmare as if she hadn’t a care in the world. She’s been prancing around us as a purple mare for what seemed like hours now, and I have to admit that it was getting on my nerves. However, Evan seemed pretty captivated by everything she had to say, so I had to put up with her presence. I might look excited though, but that’s only because I know that being a “deity,” pretty much meant that I was a freaking God. “So Nightmare, tell me again -- what are we exactly?” I questioned, snatching her up by her tail and holding her up to my enormous eye; staring down at her as I felt the slightest sign of fear against the inside of my claw. “Ugh,” sighed Nightmare, agitated and annoyed. “I did tell you, but I guess you didn’t listen. I said that you two are a fire deity. To be a tiny bit more specific, you’re a God of fire; a master of the element. Unfortunately for you, as formidable as you might seem based solely on my descriptions, you won’t be the best on the battlefield. Sadly, they have an air deity; one move and it’ll knock you down if you’re not careful. That’s not all though, they also have a Gryphon, a Diamond Dog, a Gargoyle, Minotaur, Manticore, Bugbear, a Celestia-esque creature, and oh so much more,” declared Nightmare, grinning insincerely at me, and trying to chuckle to ignore her thoughts. “But, to be honest, you only really need to be wary of the Gryphon and the Diamond Dog -- they are the strongest players apart from that wolf...” All the while, she rambled on and on as if everything she said meant something to us, and she almost seemed to forget that we weren’t from around these parts, and that we hadn’t a freaking clue what she was talking about. She eventually stopped talking and trailed off, engulfed by the very thoughts she tried to ignore earlier. We never stopped following those two strangers, only now they weren’t complete strangers; monster hunters -- they called themselves. Technically, Evan and I are a monster I guess; does that mean they want to hunt us? Who knows, but for now, all I know is that we are in a world from a cartoon, and Canterlot sound like a pretty nice place. “Mr. Max,” called back both of the brothers, nudging my leg and pointing a hoof towards an eccentric castle embedded in the southern rock face of a mountain. “That’s Canterlot right there,” they affirmed, each wearing a wide grin I glared at them unamused at there "smile". they quickly dropped the smile and continued to walk. “I’ve seen Canterlot in the show before quite a few times and I’ll be honest, I expected a bit more than...This.” complained Evan, disappointed by the sight he saw. No matter how upset he was though, his eyes were still fixated on the city on the side of the mountain. Meanwhile, I just managed to notice that a certain, violet member of our group had turned herself once again into a disembodied mist and, was about to fly off. “Where do you think you’re going Nightmare?” Of a sudden, she darted down and tapped me gently above my fuming nostrils which just irritated me even more. “Unlike the two of you, I have places to be, and things to do,” she replied, ambiguity appearing to be the norm with her. “I have to go to a Game Master’s meeting, but I can’t wait to rub you in Discord’s ugly face -- he’ll be so jealous!” she squealed, uncharacteristically I glared at her and if looks could kill she would be dead now. Without warning, Nightmare disappeared leaving a dusty purple haze and when I finally saw her again, she was hundreds of yards away, tearing through the skies faster than the Supermarine Spitfire. Sighing, I turned to the monster hunters who both looked ready to wet themselves. “What are you waiting for?” I boomed, trying to hold back the chuckles for now. “Get a move on!” Wiping a bead of sweat from their faces and ridding themselves of the frogs in their throats, they quickly turned away from me and continued down the path, no doubt taking us into Canterlot. Just before I made it to the gates of Canterlot, I felt a little bump against one of my legs and looking down, I found a befuddled guard sitting on the floor, face staring up and mouth agape. “Halt...Beast...” he mumbled, barely coherent. “I wonder, what do you take like?” I teased, trying to raise my eyebrow as I lifted him by his frail, sweaty neck. My mouth was open, just like his, and an glass-shattering scream ensued after he saw the rows of serrated teeth, secured in my jaw. Luckily for him, my far less sadistic and much more annoying friend, Evan was there, and had an entire head -- and therefore teeth -- under his control. “OW!” I cried, eyes watering at the pain in my tail. “What the hell?” Evan’s eyes were like daggers. “Don’t eat the ponies you twat!” he retorted, voice just as resilient as his stare. “Fine...” I grumbled, displeased. “You, guard; let us in, or I won’t listen to my friend,” I declared, watching as he nodded like an obedient mutt and with mouth wide open, he turned to the gate, giving off a particularly malodorous scent. As the gates opened, I made out the image of a young, grey filly riding on the back of an equally grey Pegasus that was gently flapping its wings, flying out of the city. Nothing reminded me of life back home, and everything was so strange, but to be fair this is the world of a cartoon, and normality can’t be demanded here; at least not with the same expectations we would have back home. “What the hell is that thing?” I heard somepony cry out from the crowd I was headed to. “It looks like a dragon, but it has two heads, just like a hydra -- oh sweet Celestia, its a hygon!” That last remark made me want to eat a few heads, but those ponies scattered like itsy bitsy mice, dashing from one corner to the next, trying to avoid me altogether. I could probably still catch one of them, but that might take a while, and I don’t know if It can be bothered. “oh what the hell!?” I screamed after bumping into something rather large. “damn ponies i swear i'm going to eat one of them!” “Max, we’re not eating anyone,” grumbled Evan with a tasteless frown. “After looking up, I saw that what had bumped into me strongly resembled a creature often referred to as a “bugbear,” from Pathfinders I believe -- a board game I used to play. “It’s the bugbear we were talking about earlier,” Said the brothers cowering behind us which had irritated me a bit. “Should we talk to it before trying anything violent?” questioned Evan, already aware of the answer dictated by my own crude yet enjoyable personality. “No, we shouldn’t,” I retorted, chuckling. “We should just kill it instead...” Lunging before thinking, I slammed my jaws against something metal, and feeling a shot of agonising pain in my mouth, I leaned back and found that a single tooth had come out of its place, and descended to ground below. The bugbear smirked at me alone before launching an arrow before I could fully grasp the situation and mid flight, it set itself on fire. I half expected it to just cut me in half, but luckily, I bounced off me and flew back towards the bugbear, incinerating its stylish yet out-of-place fedora. My shock overwhelmed me, but even so I could make out the bugbear’s faint snicker. “You just fucked up big time boy!” cried the bugbear, leaping forward and landing punch after punch on my face. “Do something you twat!” I screamed, getting Evan’s attention. “What?” he asked, lost in the heat of the moment. “Nightmare said that you can summon stuff right?” I prompted, unsure if it was true myself. “Well then why don’t you try to summon something against this guy?” “OK...” mumbled Evan, closing his eyes. “Let me concentrate...” Out of nowhere, just like Nightmare said, an anvil appeared and came within a few inches of hitting the bugbear right on the head. I guess the cartoons were right about this one, since it came with its own humorous whistle. “You might want to try aiming it,” I suggested sarcastically, still suffering the barrage of punches. “OK, OK.” One, two, three; countless anvils rained down from the skies and luckily, Evan seemed to be better than I thought with his newfound ability, since not a single one of them came close to hitting us. At first, it was hilarious watching the bugbear’s attempt at dodging each and every anvil, but when he grabbed one and started running towards me, I started to feel a bit worried. Thankfully, just before he was within an arm’s reach of us, an anvil fell down, and hit him square on the head. “There we go,” I sighed, only somewhat relieved. Looking to my side, I realised that I may have been wrong about Evan, since apparently when I wasn’t looking, he took an anvil to the face. He probably won’t be getting up for a while. “Hey, get up you lazy ass,” I moaned, kicking his neck and feeling the tiniest pang of pain. I would have thought that being hit by a falling anvil would have been extremely painful -- and I’m certain that Evan would agree with me -- but even so, after I took my eyes off of that damned bugbear, it ran at us again and started to beat the shit out of us. Then, out of fucking nowhere, he gets a sword. It took me a while before I finally realised that the sword was in fact protruding from his arm, but that just made it easier for him to control. “We’re sorry, we’re sorry!” cried Evan admitting defeat and cowering behind my head. “Ha! You better be!” retorted the bugbear, retracting his sword. After Evan and I got up from the ground where we fell, he grabbed us by our individual heads, and slammed them together, as if they were two coconuts. “That’s what you get for ruining my fedora,” he mumbled before letting us go. “Hey, are there any big events going on around here?” asked Evan with a smile, apparently able to move on from what he did to us surprisingly fast. Maybe he was hit a bit hard on the head by his anvil. “There’s the Grand Galloping Gala, and that’s in five days,” replied the bugbear, uncharacteristically friendly now. “Other than that, I’m not really sure.” “OK!” chirped Evan, delighted. “Thanks!” Evan might have been too busy with his own thoughts to realise, but I could make out a ticket in his pocket. It was probably for the Grand Galloping Gala, since if it wasn’t, then he probably wouldn't have told us about whatever it was when Evan asked him. “Listen here, if I ever see you two again, my blade is staying out!” affirmed the bugbear, glaring at me as I let out a low growl which just fell on deaf ears. “Whatever...” Together, Evan and I dragged ourselves into an alleyway and with the monster hunter brothers behind us, we looked for nothing in particular. Eventually, we came across a spot wide enough for a “hygon” to lie down, so we got Evan to summon up a few hammocks for the four of us -- technically three. I’m not sure why, but I’m tempted not to eat those two idiots -- maybe they’ll be useful. ----------A/N another great chapter edited by ickhart. enjoy it. also im having a little challenge i was wondering who could make good art of scorch and torch the winners art gets posted in the next edited chapter. chapter 2. equestrian heroesThe fight with the bugbear was over and I was peacefully sleeping, delving deeper into my dreams before being brought back to reality by a raspy voice, hissing in my ear. When I woke my eyes were still half closed and my sight was blurred because of this, but when I looked towards what I thought was only a tree, but later realized that the tree was in the background, and that the foreground was dominated by skeletal “Anubis.” In its hands it held not only something similar to both an axe and a staff, but also a kopesh. On his back, he had draped over it a strange and mystifying cloak. It was the source of the raspy voice that woke me, and as it continued muttering, I continued watching it. Of a sudden, he moved backwards and before I knew it, he had phased into the tree. The temptation to get up and go up to it was incredible, but still resistible. Trying to take my mind off of the matter, I tried to go back to sleep. Sadly, before I succeeded, she appeared once more. “Hello Max,” she called, voice surprisingly soporific and soothing. Slowly, I opened my eyes and once they were open, I found myself staring at the purple mare who was lying down, right next to me. Evan was the only one of the three of us that was still asleep. Raising a bony claw, I curled it up and rubbed it against my eye, prompting myself to wake up. Again, I stared at Nightmare and licked my lips before the words finally came out. “What do you want Nightmare?” I heard myself mumble, anger an obvious undertone. “I’m trying to sleep over here” She wasn’t amused. “Well, like I thought, Discord was incredibly jealous at the meeting with the Game Masters.” She mumbled, displeased. “He took it a bit far though, and even claimed that I was cheating by summoning a God. I almost got disqualified for it but thankfully another one of the Game Masters summoned an undead priest from the Anubians, and since he was undead, I was allowed to stay,” she revealed, sighing as her words stopped. “However, as punishment for bringing a deity into the game, I’m no longer allowed to assist you until after the gala.” I was honestly hoping that she’d be able to help me, and make it easier for me to find what I am. Sadly, her expression didn’t seem to be one of jest, so she was serious about what she said. With no other choice, the two of us laid our heads down on the hammock, and I’m not sure about her, but I was definitely starting to drift off again. Just before I could though, something cold and thin fell on my nose, and brought me back into the real world again. “Hm?” I grumbled, slightly annoyed that my sleep was disturbed by something that appeared to be a poster. Taking it in my claw, I stretched it out and squinted my eyes as I focussed on it, trying to read it. “Griffin the Griffin, famed leader of the Griffin Pirates,” I heard myself mumble as my eyes traced the words. Unfortunately, I have never been interested in pirates, and as such this poster didn’t excite me in anyway. My nostrils were fuming when I rolled it into a ball and tossed it away. I watched as the wind picked it up and blew it away; far away; out of my sight. Once more, I placed my head gently on the ground and sighing, I closed my eyes, expecting another distraction to come this way and wake me up again. Thankfully, I don’t think it came, and if it did, then it didn’t do a very good job. It took a while, but eventually Nightmare decided that -- after the Game Masters said it was OK -- to tell us the very basics. According to her -- and later confirmed by me -- Evan and I could shape shift. When we tested this, following Nightmare’s instructions to the letter, we turned into the thing I dreaded the most. We became ponies. I guess Evan must have thought about ponies really harder, harder than I was thinking about humans and as such, the two of us shape-shifted into two, separate ponies. The only real bright side to this was that we were no longer conjoined and we could go our separate ways. With Crash and Burn -- I finally learnt the names of the siblings -- we headed back to where we met the bugbear, and I headed towards a counter behind which a blue pony was apparently selling hats. “Hello,” he sang, happier than any other pony we’d seen. “What can I get for you?” “Nothing, we’re just looking around,” I replied, somewhat hesitant to leave the hat stand. “Do you want a hat Evan?” I asked. Turning to face him, I found that he wasn’t behind me anymore, and that instead, he was at another stand buying fruit with the money he summoned. Somehow, he managed to hold it in his hoof. “Thank you sir, have a nice day!” I heard the pony behind the stand call out as Evan walked away. Throwing me a peach, he watched as I stumbled and just barely managed to catch it in my hooves, proving to me once again that I will never understand how hooves work. “Cheers,” I mumbled, taking a bite out of the delicious fruit. “What are we going to do now? The gala isn’t for another four days.” I watched as Evan slowly ate the luscious, red apple he held with his hooves. “Well,” he started, not turning to face me. “If you’ve ever heard of this place, you’d know that Equestria has quite a few heroes. If I recall, there’s Echo, the Diamond Dog, and Griffin the Griffin,” he announced, as if everyone would find his words interesting. “Oh, and did you hear?” he started again, much to my despair. “Someone stole a priceless skeleton from an exhibit along with its possessions!” My sole reaction to his words was one of utter amazement, and I showed it by spitting out the fruit he so kindly gave me, and returning it rather facetiously, right in his face. “Did you say skeleton?” I cried, shocked. “Yeah,” he mumbled, slightly confused. “Some other things were stolen as well. I think they also took a kopesh, a gauntlet, some sort of cross between an axe and a staff, and a robe. you know the priceless crap” “Evan,” I started, eyes wide and mouth drooped. “You might not believe this, but I saw those things last night! It was some sort of skeletal Anubis wasn’t it?” Evan’s face was drained instantly, and he stared at me with mortified eyes. “Huh,” he muttered, trying to sound calm. “So there’s a zombie in Canterlot -- that’s nice...” Evan looked like he was ready to piss himself. While I stood with my friend, enjoying the distraught expression on his face, Crash and Burn trotted up to us holding a poster in their hooves. Once they stood in front of us and we could get a good look at the poster, I saw a name that I remembered from a different poster. “Griffin the Griffin’s tour needs Unicorns or magic users who are adept at telepathy,” I read. “Sounds interesting,” interjected Evan, poking his head in my face to get a better look at the poster. “Where did you two get this?” The brothers replied by simply lifting their hooves and pointing behind them at a small desk with a pile of fliers on top of it. Countless ponies ran towards it all in the hopes that they can get one of the fliers and apply for the job. Apparently, this Griffin is extremely popular. “Well Max,” began Evan, licking his lips as he spoke. “This Griffin will be at the gala, so there’s a good chance we can meet him and ask if we can join him! Why don’t you shapeshift into a Unicorn to have a shot at being his helper?” “Maybe...” I mumbled, contemplating the matter carefully. It seems like a decent idea, but who knows what we’re not being told. Together, the four of us set off for Canterlot Castle and when we were no more than fifty or so yards from the entrance, we could see what resembled a screening process. Before ponies were admitted into the castle, they were scanned by the numerous Unicorn guards working outside. The castle itself was surrounded by a large, round, vibrant force field -- no doubt for the purpose of keeping unwanted ponies out. Once a pony was presumably deemed safe, the guards then opened a very small portion of the spherical shield and the ponies would step through slowly, making sure to not seem suspicious in any way. However, not all ponies are deemed safe and luckily for us, we got to see one of them get rejected by a diligent and very buff Unicorn. When this impostor was scanned, his face turned green and of a sudden, his stomach fluids gushed out of his mouth and crashed onto the floor. Now that his concentration was broken, his appearance changed and as far as I can tell, he was a black insect, riddled with holes in its body. Instantly, he turned and ran off only to find the guard pursuing him. The two of them disappeared into an alley and naturally, I was intrigued. Motioning with a hoof to Evan, Crash and Burn, I ran off, leading them into the same alley. “Leave me alone!” cried the creature as the guard beat him with a stick. “You shouldn’t have come here, Changeling!” I can’t of anything that guard could have said that would have been more offensive. “Oh so you think he’s a monster?” I mused, smirking devilishly as I stared at the angered guard. “Well, you ain't seen anything yet!” Before the guard was fully facing us, Evan and I reverted back to our two headed, fire deity form, and we were breathing smoke down, enveloping him in it. His jaw dropped and he stared at us, incredulous, slowly backing away from us. “I...I’m sorry,” he began, sweat dripping down his face. “I’m sorry Mr.Hygon!” be rambled, using the name we picked up a little while ago. Which I feel used to. Still insults me. He didn’t stand a chance. With a single claw, I not only ripped his neck open, but I also threw him at a wall, breaking his skull. “What’s going on?” we heard a trembling voice sound from behind. Turning, we saw the face of another guard, mortified after seeing the brutal murder of his friend. He looked ready to brick himself, but sadly, Evan was in an oddly sadistic mood. “You’re not getting out of this one...” teased Evan, slamming a claw into the ground, sending up a cloud of dust up and dropping the anvil he just summoned, having it land on the spine of the guard; the cracking of bone was music to our ears. “Serves them right for picking on defenceless creatures,” I heard someone mutter as Crash and Burn picked up the injured creature and I incinerated the bodies that were lying dead on the floor. Once the evidence of our little incident was erased, the five of us set off to a camp that we set up in the alley. “Camp Max,” Evan grumbled, displeased. “What a stupid name, why did we call it that?” he complained, setting the Changeling down on a bed and letting Crash and Burn tend to his wounds. “Because I am your superior,” I explained, grinning as I grabbed a coke from the vending machine we summoned some time ago. “So, when are we going to Canterlot?” Evan asked. “We can’t go today, we have to take care of this guy.” Evan’s question went unanswered for some time and after a while, he seemed to have forgotten about it completely. I still wasn’t sure how to answer him, but I knew he had a point. As much as I want to go to Canterlot, we can’t just leave this Changeling here. Of a sudden, whilst we stared at the odd creature, its eyes came open, its mouth opened wide letting out a yawn, and the second he saw me a scream sharper than the most formidable of rapiers pierced my ears. “Please don’t hurt me!” it begged, gluing its back to the wall in a futile attempt to get away from us. “We’re the ones that saved you, we’re not going to hurt you,” replied Evan, tossing the befuddled creature a can of pepsi. “Th...Thanks,” he stammered, staring confused at the can. “My name’s Lucky, I’m a Changeling.” “Nice to meet you Lucky,” I declared, shaking his hoof with my claw and opening his beverage for him. There’s something you can’t do with hooves. Or is it i mean his hooves look like can openers so why not. “Why did you come here?” I asked, sipping my coke, pondering just where I’ve heard the word “Changeling” before. “Queen Chrysalis she was one of the only Changelings i heard allowed in the castle. I didn’t think that the guards would retaliate with that much brutality.” “Well Lucky, if you’re trying to get into Canterlot, you might as well stick with us. We’re going to the gala and you can tag along with us if you want.” “Would you really?” he asked, ecstatic, eyes bright as he danced around, flapping his insect wings furiously. “Sure, why not.” Evan summoned another gala ticket and handed it over to Lucky. Luckily, Evan still remembered what the ticket looked like from our incident with the bugbear. “Hey guys,” Crash called out, standing at the entrance of our camp. “You might want to come see this.” Moving over to where he was, Evan and I arched our necks, peeping over the top of the hedge that blocked the entrance and his the inside. From where we were we could see that immediately outside, there were a bunch of guards, ready to fight. “It came here, I saw the Hygon bring the Changeling here. There were two ponies with them too, they’re working together. We definitely need to be alert!” commanded one of the guards, running off after completing his speech. Seems like now, they’re after me too. “Lucky, stay with burn for a while,” I demanded, pointing to the annoyed pony. “Do I have to?” he begged, eyeing the Changeling carefully. “What’s wrong?” I questioned. “He looks like he’s seven at the most!” Burn retorted. “You don’t like kids?” “It’s not that -- well it is a tiny bit -- but I also have no idea how to look after Changelings,” sighed Burn, collapsing on the bed. “Oh, it can’t be that bad!” interrupted Evan, scoffing. “I heard that they eat regular food too.” Burn just nodded before sighing again. “All right, it’s decided then,” I confirmed. “Lets all get some shut eye for tomorrow.” After that, I climbed into a tree that Evan summoned and curled up like a cheetah on one of the higher branches. It was comfy, and I have to say that whenever I sleep like that, I feel as if I’m safe in my bed back on Earth; warm and cozy; and most definitely human. great chapter edited by ickhart made some additions myself but I give him most of the cred for this. where would a writer be withought his faithfull editor chapter 3. thieves of the night"hey Max Evan check out all this loot i found." Lucky had been staying with us and we've grown to trust him a lot and he's pretty good at stealing things. "watch you got kiddo." I've been calling him kiddo ever since i found out he was 7 and it was funny because he hated the name. "40 bits from a hat seller i caught his name it was top hat got some coins when he wasn't looking." Max: 5 ponies: 1 and into conclusion max rules ponies drool. "hey nightmare why do i have to control magic and not the physical movement." said evan. he had been asking the same question for hours and he kept getting the same answer. "because one max would crush ponies with anvils before speaking to them and you wouldn't be so keen to fight in close combat. got it!" "hey max I've been thinking about something." "yeah what Evan. is this another job offer you found?" He had been trying to get me into some jobs for a while now and i was getting annoyed by it. "no i was thinking if Lucky is so good at stealing things i can be manipulative you crash and burn are the tough guys being thieves would be pretty easy don't you think." Just then an idea popped into my head. I turned to evan with a big smile on my face."remember is sky rim the thieves guild." The same idea popped into Evans head. "Thieves guild." Oh this is gonna be good. "yep we make a thieves guild and try to make a name for ourselves here in canterlot think about itthe infamous thieves guild led by the monster max and evan it might work well for us. "well canterlot got some good dough seeing as its the princess's capital." Lucky said butting into our conversation. hey max Evan you heard griffin is coming in a few days to canterlot he's having a concert." said burn coming from the kitchen. "huh? that sounds nice how'd you find out?" "the entire city has been talking about it they've been playing weird music like we like to party and some other shenanigans." The all aboard song came to my head as i remembered six flags. ahhh... those were good times. "hey Crash Burn Lucky you guys want some weapons." they all nodded. we found that crash and burn are pretty good with swords seeing as they were monster hunters it wasn't hard to guess....right? well Lucky is good at picking locks and is pretty quick with daggers.My little assassin. "so max when are we gonna start our first heist do we take contracts or something like that."said Lucky eager to try out his new skills. You know i hadn't thought of that "Max Evan i do know someone who wants something from the canterlot royal archives but can't get it himself." This sounds interesting. "yeah what does he want from there." said evan cocking his head to the side. "its a book about limb regeneration potions and forbidden ones. I don't know why he needs the book but he's willing to pay a lot for us to retrieve it. "oh you bet well take it." Evan said summoning a foam finger and levitating it around. "ok enough chit chat we have to plan how we make this work. we have tickets to the gala but i don't think they'll let us in the archives we need to plan a way in there." "will we kill someone." Lucky said with a big smirk swinging his dagger with his hooves. dammit i still get how they do this with their hooves. "well we hope we don't have to but if we do make sure to hide the bodies carefully hide all signs of a struggle or the mission is in compromise we don't want a ruckus with people screaming that they found dead bodies at the gala. Burn did you get to the guy who wanted the book." Burn nodded and crash handed me a piece of paper. "HOLY......5ok bits for this book." Evan said in disbelief. "well sure Evan call it payment for an expensive and rare potion. hey Burn how rich is this guy." "well i wouldn't say he's that wealthy but he is close friends with blueblood. I don't see how he even gets any friends." "so 50k bits. wow this book must be pretty expensive." Said Lucky starring in awe ate the money amount "so where do we meet this guy if we get the book." "an alley he said that someone is also looking for that book so we have to get there quick does or we may have a problem." Said burn putting his hoof on an alley not far from here on the map. pulling out a map i borrowed from a guard i started pointing to places in the castle"ok i heard about there royal guard captain shining armour we might want to avoid him the archive is here." i pointed to a large room near the throne room."celestia and luna will be busy with the gala and wont notice us sneak in if we have to kill some guards get the book we bolt and get our pay ok." We all shook hooves and hand on it and nightmare butted in with a tentacle. "for the nightmare thieves guild." said nightmare with a big smile on here face. "why we calling in that nightmare?" "because i'm your game master deal with it." she made some glasses appear on her and had the like a baws face. "wow a god of nightmares who knows meme's." Evan said taking the glasses of nightmare. "ok were going to steal the book bring it back get our pay and done and if you have to kill someone do it fast and clean got it." everyone all chimed the same thing at the same time"got it." i would jinx someone here if they knew what it was. --------A/N ok im going to steal a book on forbidden potions and spells if you've read troutkings what was lost you can see that he's going after it to which brings some spoilers for the next chapter the next one may not come so soon since i'm waiting for the gala once the gala begins that is when my chapter comes out ok. Author's noteHey apologizing about my inactivity my computer lost Internet connection so im working from my kindle since i have nothing to do at the moment i guess ill make a vision of the future story increasing my plotline or some crap Anyway this chapter was goimg to be really small choa! i gave upHey I don't have the time to write anymore sorry to anyone who actually liked this
prolougeA normal day fifteen year old kid and a fourteen year old brony friend in a museum with nothing fun to do but, we had been eyeing a weird, twin-head dragon statue that was a hybrid between a hydra and a magic resistant dragon people found in an old greek temple. It was some sort of fire deity -- lord of the flames, king of tartarus; no known name. For a greek tamale it had weird writings. I mean, it looked like hieroglyphics but at the same time it was also very different. I felt so keen to touch the statue but Evan just slapped my hand each time I tried. "I see you two like the statue" Me and evan turned around to see a woman in her mid twenties. "Yeah. Who wants to know?" I said, giving her a bored glare. "I do. You know what would be perfect?" she asked, giving me a interesting look. "What could be exciting right now?" I sighed. "Oh shut up Max, it's not that bad," retorted Evan. He loved museums and ancient history as much as he liked My Little Pony. I like the show I guess but I don’t watch it that often. "Well boys, how would you like an offer?" "Look lady, we’re not interested in buying anything so leave us alone." When it comes to people and their offers I don't want to listen, it never benefits the buyer. "Hey, no payment, two choice offer, free of charge." declared the young woman. "What do you have in mind?" questioned Evan, finally taking his eyes of the weird statue. "If you could have a new life in a new world, would you take it?" she interrogated, smiling slyly as she eyed them from head to toe. "Yeah! Anything beats my crappy life." If I had the choice to live a new life in a new world, might as well take it. If you were me, then I’m sure you’d kill yourself whenever the opportunity presented itself. "Sure, what place do you have in mind?" asked Evan. Wherever I went, he would follow. "Oh, a nice little place called Equestria. You'll like it. Have some water." Holding out a clear plastic bottle, she handed it to me and prompted me to take a sip. I did so and gave the fluid to my friend before starting to feel a faint dizziness and a slight numbness in my head. Turning, I saw that I was not the only one experiencing these strange symptoms and as my vision faded into darkness, I saw the devilish smirk of the woman, as she stared at us. "Sweet dreams, Max," she sang before turning into what looked like a purple wisp. ---------" "Aw crap, what happened? My head hurts." I rubbed my head with my weak hand. “Look who woke up,” chimed a bodiless voice. "Who’s there?" I screamed. I looked up and saw a purple wisp floating above my head. “I’m Nightmare,” it replied, floating around. “About you friend...” I’m not sure why, but my first reaction was to turn my head to the side and stare in awe as the realization hit me. The urge to freak out was unbearable as I saw that my friend was now not only part of me, but that together we were one colossal, two-headed dragon. I wanted nothing more than for all of this to be a dream. I looked up at Nightmare with my poker face, trying to keep calm "It’s not a dream Max," affirmed the head beside mine. "You’re lying right? You’re...What's that noise?" I looked up in the sky to see two flying objects coming at us like rockets, and I could swear I heard them screaming. "Hey, what’s going...on?" questioned Evan, eyes darting from me to the skies and Nightmare. Whatever those two objects were, they landed on our faces "Woah! I can’t believe we survived that fall!” cried one of the two bodies. “Oh, wait...” "T...T...Talking ponies? I must be losing my mind..." I looked at Evan who wore the biggest smile I’ve ever seen as he returned my gaze, the pony still on his face. “We’re in Equestria Max, Equestria!” “You mean...The world of My Little Pony?” "Yes, that show Max. I don’t know what you find so interesting about our lives that you need to spy on us," interrupted the violet mist. I stared at nightmare who slowly took the form of a purple bodied, yellow-eyed pony. "First the monster, now these things," mumbled one of the ponies that fell from the skies to join us. "What do you mean, ‘first the monster?’" I grabbed them by their necks and held them up to my face. "The Bugbear is in Canterlot, please don;t kill us!” they cried, wincing and cowering. "Hey, guess what ponies? You’re going to help us and if you don't, you’ll die." I declared, listening as they both gulped and carefully nodded their heads. “Now, take us to Canterlot!” yelled Evan, showing his sharp teeth as he grinned. “Max, I can’t move.” "Yeah, that’s because Max will be moving,” explained Nightmare, chuckling slightly. “Evan. I’ll tell you what you’ll be doing soon.” "What? Not fair Nightmare!" complained Evan with a frown. “Hey, nothing’s fair when I’m involved. Besides, what’s the worst that could happen? After all, I did turn the two of you into a fire deity.” “What?” cried the four of us in unison. "Oh, I forgot. That statue you two were looking at, it was a fire deity. Somehow it was transported to the human realm. You two seemed so interested in it that I thought, ‘hey, why not make these two my pieces?’ -- take that Discord, your lame gryphon wont be able to stand up to this." We all gave her confused looks. "I’ll tell you more along the way. As for now, mush!" she screamed, demanding that the ponies quicken their pace. -------A/N edited by ickhart hope you enjoyed "D
chapter 1 another monsterShortly after Nightmare kindly explained what Evan and I became, those two rather dense brothers -- I couldn’t be bothered catching their names -- showed us the way to Canterlot. “OK Evan, you can summon things and make them appear out of thin air if you so wished, and all you need to do is concentrate, and picture in your mind’s eye just what it is that you want to summon. Also, it isn’t limited to appearing wherever you are, and it can go as far as you desire.” Sang Nightmare as if she hadn’t a care in the world. She’s been prancing around us as a purple mare for what seemed like hours now, and I have to admit that it was getting on my nerves. However, Evan seemed pretty captivated by everything she had to say, so I had to put up with her presence. I might look excited though, but that’s only because I know that being a “deity,” pretty much meant that I was a freaking God. “So Nightmare, tell me again -- what are we exactly?” I questioned, snatching her up by her tail and holding her up to my enormous eye; staring down at her as I felt the slightest sign of fear against the inside of my claw. “Ugh,” sighed Nightmare, agitated and annoyed. “I did tell you, but I guess you didn’t listen. I said that you two are a fire deity. To be a tiny bit more specific, you’re a God of fire; a master of the element. Unfortunately for you, as formidable as you might seem based solely on my descriptions, you won’t be the best on the battlefield. Sadly, they have an air deity; one move and it’ll knock you down if you’re not careful. That’s not all though, they also have a Gryphon, a Diamond Dog, a Gargoyle, Minotaur, Manticore, Bugbear, a Celestia-esque creature, and oh so much more,” declared Nightmare, grinning insincerely at me, and trying to chuckle to ignore her thoughts. “But, to be honest, you only really need to be wary of the Gryphon and the Diamond Dog -- they are the strongest players apart from that wolf...” All the while, she rambled on and on as if everything she said meant something to us, and she almost seemed to forget that we weren’t from around these parts, and that we hadn’t a freaking clue what she was talking about. She eventually stopped talking and trailed off, engulfed by the very thoughts she tried to ignore earlier. We never stopped following those two strangers, only now they weren’t complete strangers; monster hunters -- they called themselves. Technically, Evan and I are a monster I guess; does that mean they want to hunt us? Who knows, but for now, all I know is that we are in a world from a cartoon, and Canterlot sound like a pretty nice place. “Mr. Max,” called back both of the brothers, nudging my leg and pointing a hoof towards an eccentric castle embedded in the southern rock face of a mountain. “That’s Canterlot right there,” they affirmed, each wearing a wide grin I glared at them unamused at there "smile". they quickly dropped the smile and continued to walk. “I’ve seen Canterlot in the show before quite a few times and I’ll be honest, I expected a bit more than...This.” complained Evan, disappointed by the sight he saw. No matter how upset he was though, his eyes were still fixated on the city on the side of the mountain. Meanwhile, I just managed to notice that a certain, violet member of our group had turned herself once again into a disembodied mist and, was about to fly off. “Where do you think you’re going Nightmare?” Of a sudden, she darted down and tapped me gently above my fuming nostrils which just irritated me even more. “Unlike the two of you, I have places to be, and things to do,” she replied, ambiguity appearing to be the norm with her. “I have to go to a Game Master’s meeting, but I can’t wait to rub you in Discord’s ugly face -- he’ll be so jealous!” she squealed, uncharacteristically I glared at her and if looks could kill she would be dead now. Without warning, Nightmare disappeared leaving a dusty purple haze and when I finally saw her again, she was hundreds of yards away, tearing through the skies faster than the Supermarine Spitfire. Sighing, I turned to the monster hunters who both looked ready to wet themselves. “What are you waiting for?” I boomed, trying to hold back the chuckles for now. “Get a move on!” Wiping a bead of sweat from their faces and ridding themselves of the frogs in their throats, they quickly turned away from me and continued down the path, no doubt taking us into Canterlot. Just before I made it to the gates of Canterlot, I felt a little bump against one of my legs and looking down, I found a befuddled guard sitting on the floor, face staring up and mouth agape. “Halt...Beast...” he mumbled, barely coherent. “I wonder, what do you take like?” I teased, trying to raise my eyebrow as I lifted him by his frail, sweaty neck. My mouth was open, just like his, and an glass-shattering scream ensued after he saw the rows of serrated teeth, secured in my jaw. Luckily for him, my far less sadistic and much more annoying friend, Evan was there, and had an entire head -- and therefore teeth -- under his control. “OW!” I cried, eyes watering at the pain in my tail. “What the hell?” Evan’s eyes were like daggers. “Don’t eat the ponies you twat!” he retorted, voice just as resilient as his stare. “Fine...” I grumbled, displeased. “You, guard; let us in, or I won’t listen to my friend,” I declared, watching as he nodded like an obedient mutt and with mouth wide open, he turned to the gate, giving off a particularly malodorous scent. As the gates opened, I made out the image of a young, grey filly riding on the back of an equally grey Pegasus that was gently flapping its wings, flying out of the city. Nothing reminded me of life back home, and everything was so strange, but to be fair this is the world of a cartoon, and normality can’t be demanded here; at least not with the same expectations we would have back home. “What the hell is that thing?” I heard somepony cry out from the crowd I was headed to. “It looks like a dragon, but it has two heads, just like a hydra -- oh sweet Celestia, its a hygon!” That last remark made me want to eat a few heads, but those ponies scattered like itsy bitsy mice, dashing from one corner to the next, trying to avoid me altogether. I could probably still catch one of them, but that might take a while, and I don’t know if It can be bothered. “oh what the hell!?” I screamed after bumping into something rather large. “damn ponies i swear i'm going to eat one of them!” “Max, we’re not eating anyone,” grumbled Evan with a tasteless frown. “After looking up, I saw that what had bumped into me strongly resembled a creature often referred to as a “bugbear,” from Pathfinders I believe -- a board game I used to play. “It’s the bugbear we were talking about earlier,” Said the brothers cowering behind us which had irritated me a bit. “Should we talk to it before trying anything violent?” questioned Evan, already aware of the answer dictated by my own crude yet enjoyable personality. “No, we shouldn’t,” I retorted, chuckling. “We should just kill it instead...” Lunging before thinking, I slammed my jaws against something metal, and feeling a shot of agonising pain in my mouth, I leaned back and found that a single tooth had come out of its place, and descended to ground below. The bugbear smirked at me alone before launching an arrow before I could fully grasp the situation and mid flight, it set itself on fire. I half expected it to just cut me in half, but luckily, I bounced off me and flew back towards the bugbear, incinerating its stylish yet out-of-place fedora. My shock overwhelmed me, but even so I could make out the bugbear’s faint snicker. “You just fucked up big time boy!” cried the bugbear, leaping forward and landing punch after punch on my face. “Do something you twat!” I screamed, getting Evan’s attention. “What?” he asked, lost in the heat of the moment. “Nightmare said that you can summon stuff right?” I prompted, unsure if it was true myself. “Well then why don’t you try to summon something against this guy?” “OK...” mumbled Evan, closing his eyes. “Let me concentrate...” Out of nowhere, just like Nightmare said, an anvil appeared and came within a few inches of hitting the bugbear right on the head. I guess the cartoons were right about this one, since it came with its own humorous whistle. “You might want to try aiming it,” I suggested sarcastically, still suffering the barrage of punches. “OK, OK.” One, two, three; countless anvils rained down from the skies and luckily, Evan seemed to be better than I thought with his newfound ability, since not a single one of them came close to hitting us. At first, it was hilarious watching the bugbear’s attempt at dodging each and every anvil, but when he grabbed one and started running towards me, I started to feel a bit worried. Thankfully, just before he was within an arm’s reach of us, an anvil fell down, and hit him square on the head. “There we go,” I sighed, only somewhat relieved. Looking to my side, I realised that I may have been wrong about Evan, since apparently when I wasn’t looking, he took an anvil to the face. He probably won’t be getting up for a while. “Hey, get up you lazy ass,” I moaned, kicking his neck and feeling the tiniest pang of pain. I would have thought that being hit by a falling anvil would have been extremely painful -- and I’m certain that Evan would agree with me -- but even so, after I took my eyes off of that damned bugbear, it ran at us again and started to beat the shit out of us. Then, out of fucking nowhere, he gets a sword. It took me a while before I finally realised that the sword was in fact protruding from his arm, but that just made it easier for him to control. “We’re sorry, we’re sorry!” cried Evan admitting defeat and cowering behind my head. “Ha! You better be!” retorted the bugbear, retracting his sword. After Evan and I got up from the ground where we fell, he grabbed us by our individual heads, and slammed them together, as if they were two coconuts. “That’s what you get for ruining my fedora,” he mumbled before letting us go. “Hey, are there any big events going on around here?” asked Evan with a smile, apparently able to move on from what he did to us surprisingly fast. Maybe he was hit a bit hard on the head by his anvil. “There’s the Grand Galloping Gala, and that’s in five days,” replied the bugbear, uncharacteristically friendly now. “Other than that, I’m not really sure.” “OK!” chirped Evan, delighted. “Thanks!” Evan might have been too busy with his own thoughts to realise, but I could make out a ticket in his pocket. It was probably for the Grand Galloping Gala, since if it wasn’t, then he probably wouldn't have told us about whatever it was when Evan asked him. “Listen here, if I ever see you two again, my blade is staying out!” affirmed the bugbear, glaring at me as I let out a low growl which just fell on deaf ears. “Whatever...” Together, Evan and I dragged ourselves into an alleyway and with the monster hunter brothers behind us, we looked for nothing in particular. Eventually, we came across a spot wide enough for a “hygon” to lie down, so we got Evan to summon up a few hammocks for the four of us -- technically three. I’m not sure why, but I’m tempted not to eat those two idiots -- maybe they’ll be useful. ----------A/N another great chapter edited by ickhart. enjoy it. also im having a little challenge i was wondering who could make good art of scorch and torch the winners art gets posted in the next edited chapter.
chapter 2. equestrian heroesThe fight with the bugbear was over and I was peacefully sleeping, delving deeper into my dreams before being brought back to reality by a raspy voice, hissing in my ear. When I woke my eyes were still half closed and my sight was blurred because of this, but when I looked towards what I thought was only a tree, but later realized that the tree was in the background, and that the foreground was dominated by skeletal “Anubis.” In its hands it held not only something similar to both an axe and a staff, but also a kopesh. On his back, he had draped over it a strange and mystifying cloak. It was the source of the raspy voice that woke me, and as it continued muttering, I continued watching it. Of a sudden, he moved backwards and before I knew it, he had phased into the tree. The temptation to get up and go up to it was incredible, but still resistible. Trying to take my mind off of the matter, I tried to go back to sleep. Sadly, before I succeeded, she appeared once more. “Hello Max,” she called, voice surprisingly soporific and soothing. Slowly, I opened my eyes and once they were open, I found myself staring at the purple mare who was lying down, right next to me. Evan was the only one of the three of us that was still asleep. Raising a bony claw, I curled it up and rubbed it against my eye, prompting myself to wake up. Again, I stared at Nightmare and licked my lips before the words finally came out. “What do you want Nightmare?” I heard myself mumble, anger an obvious undertone. “I’m trying to sleep over here” She wasn’t amused. “Well, like I thought, Discord was incredibly jealous at the meeting with the Game Masters.” She mumbled, displeased. “He took it a bit far though, and even claimed that I was cheating by summoning a God. I almost got disqualified for it but thankfully another one of the Game Masters summoned an undead priest from the Anubians, and since he was undead, I was allowed to stay,” she revealed, sighing as her words stopped. “However, as punishment for bringing a deity into the game, I’m no longer allowed to assist you until after the gala.” I was honestly hoping that she’d be able to help me, and make it easier for me to find what I am. Sadly, her expression didn’t seem to be one of jest, so she was serious about what she said. With no other choice, the two of us laid our heads down on the hammock, and I’m not sure about her, but I was definitely starting to drift off again. Just before I could though, something cold and thin fell on my nose, and brought me back into the real world again. “Hm?” I grumbled, slightly annoyed that my sleep was disturbed by something that appeared to be a poster. Taking it in my claw, I stretched it out and squinted my eyes as I focussed on it, trying to read it. “Griffin the Griffin, famed leader of the Griffin Pirates,” I heard myself mumble as my eyes traced the words. Unfortunately, I have never been interested in pirates, and as such this poster didn’t excite me in anyway. My nostrils were fuming when I rolled it into a ball and tossed it away. I watched as the wind picked it up and blew it away; far away; out of my sight. Once more, I placed my head gently on the ground and sighing, I closed my eyes, expecting another distraction to come this way and wake me up again. Thankfully, I don’t think it came, and if it did, then it didn’t do a very good job. It took a while, but eventually Nightmare decided that -- after the Game Masters said it was OK -- to tell us the very basics. According to her -- and later confirmed by me -- Evan and I could shape shift. When we tested this, following Nightmare’s instructions to the letter, we turned into the thing I dreaded the most. We became ponies. I guess Evan must have thought about ponies really harder, harder than I was thinking about humans and as such, the two of us shape-shifted into two, separate ponies. The only real bright side to this was that we were no longer conjoined and we could go our separate ways. With Crash and Burn -- I finally learnt the names of the siblings -- we headed back to where we met the bugbear, and I headed towards a counter behind which a blue pony was apparently selling hats. “Hello,” he sang, happier than any other pony we’d seen. “What can I get for you?” “Nothing, we’re just looking around,” I replied, somewhat hesitant to leave the hat stand. “Do you want a hat Evan?” I asked. Turning to face him, I found that he wasn’t behind me anymore, and that instead, he was at another stand buying fruit with the money he summoned. Somehow, he managed to hold it in his hoof. “Thank you sir, have a nice day!” I heard the pony behind the stand call out as Evan walked away. Throwing me a peach, he watched as I stumbled and just barely managed to catch it in my hooves, proving to me once again that I will never understand how hooves work. “Cheers,” I mumbled, taking a bite out of the delicious fruit. “What are we going to do now? The gala isn’t for another four days.” I watched as Evan slowly ate the luscious, red apple he held with his hooves. “Well,” he started, not turning to face me. “If you’ve ever heard of this place, you’d know that Equestria has quite a few heroes. If I recall, there’s Echo, the Diamond Dog, and Griffin the Griffin,” he announced, as if everyone would find his words interesting. “Oh, and did you hear?” he started again, much to my despair. “Someone stole a priceless skeleton from an exhibit along with its possessions!” My sole reaction to his words was one of utter amazement, and I showed it by spitting out the fruit he so kindly gave me, and returning it rather facetiously, right in his face. “Did you say skeleton?” I cried, shocked. “Yeah,” he mumbled, slightly confused. “Some other things were stolen as well. I think they also took a kopesh, a gauntlet, some sort of cross between an axe and a staff, and a robe. you know the priceless crap” “Evan,” I started, eyes wide and mouth drooped. “You might not believe this, but I saw those things last night! It was some sort of skeletal Anubis wasn’t it?” Evan’s face was drained instantly, and he stared at me with mortified eyes. “Huh,” he muttered, trying to sound calm. “So there’s a zombie in Canterlot -- that’s nice...” Evan looked like he was ready to piss himself. While I stood with my friend, enjoying the distraught expression on his face, Crash and Burn trotted up to us holding a poster in their hooves. Once they stood in front of us and we could get a good look at the poster, I saw a name that I remembered from a different poster. “Griffin the Griffin’s tour needs Unicorns or magic users who are adept at telepathy,” I read. “Sounds interesting,” interjected Evan, poking his head in my face to get a better look at the poster. “Where did you two get this?” The brothers replied by simply lifting their hooves and pointing behind them at a small desk with a pile of fliers on top of it. Countless ponies ran towards it all in the hopes that they can get one of the fliers and apply for the job. Apparently, this Griffin is extremely popular. “Well Max,” began Evan, licking his lips as he spoke. “This Griffin will be at the gala, so there’s a good chance we can meet him and ask if we can join him! Why don’t you shapeshift into a Unicorn to have a shot at being his helper?” “Maybe...” I mumbled, contemplating the matter carefully. It seems like a decent idea, but who knows what we’re not being told. Together, the four of us set off for Canterlot Castle and when we were no more than fifty or so yards from the entrance, we could see what resembled a screening process. Before ponies were admitted into the castle, they were scanned by the numerous Unicorn guards working outside. The castle itself was surrounded by a large, round, vibrant force field -- no doubt for the purpose of keeping unwanted ponies out. Once a pony was presumably deemed safe, the guards then opened a very small portion of the spherical shield and the ponies would step through slowly, making sure to not seem suspicious in any way. However, not all ponies are deemed safe and luckily for us, we got to see one of them get rejected by a diligent and very buff Unicorn. When this impostor was scanned, his face turned green and of a sudden, his stomach fluids gushed out of his mouth and crashed onto the floor. Now that his concentration was broken, his appearance changed and as far as I can tell, he was a black insect, riddled with holes in its body. Instantly, he turned and ran off only to find the guard pursuing him. The two of them disappeared into an alley and naturally, I was intrigued. Motioning with a hoof to Evan, Crash and Burn, I ran off, leading them into the same alley. “Leave me alone!” cried the creature as the guard beat him with a stick. “You shouldn’t have come here, Changeling!” I can’t of anything that guard could have said that would have been more offensive. “Oh so you think he’s a monster?” I mused, smirking devilishly as I stared at the angered guard. “Well, you ain't seen anything yet!” Before the guard was fully facing us, Evan and I reverted back to our two headed, fire deity form, and we were breathing smoke down, enveloping him in it. His jaw dropped and he stared at us, incredulous, slowly backing away from us. “I...I’m sorry,” he began, sweat dripping down his face. “I’m sorry Mr.Hygon!” be rambled, using the name we picked up a little while ago. Which I feel used to. Still insults me. He didn’t stand a chance. With a single claw, I not only ripped his neck open, but I also threw him at a wall, breaking his skull. “What’s going on?” we heard a trembling voice sound from behind. Turning, we saw the face of another guard, mortified after seeing the brutal murder of his friend. He looked ready to brick himself, but sadly, Evan was in an oddly sadistic mood. “You’re not getting out of this one...” teased Evan, slamming a claw into the ground, sending up a cloud of dust up and dropping the anvil he just summoned, having it land on the spine of the guard; the cracking of bone was music to our ears. “Serves them right for picking on defenceless creatures,” I heard someone mutter as Crash and Burn picked up the injured creature and I incinerated the bodies that were lying dead on the floor. Once the evidence of our little incident was erased, the five of us set off to a camp that we set up in the alley. “Camp Max,” Evan grumbled, displeased. “What a stupid name, why did we call it that?” he complained, setting the Changeling down on a bed and letting Crash and Burn tend to his wounds. “Because I am your superior,” I explained, grinning as I grabbed a coke from the vending machine we summoned some time ago. “So, when are we going to Canterlot?” Evan asked. “We can’t go today, we have to take care of this guy.” Evan’s question went unanswered for some time and after a while, he seemed to have forgotten about it completely. I still wasn’t sure how to answer him, but I knew he had a point. As much as I want to go to Canterlot, we can’t just leave this Changeling here. Of a sudden, whilst we stared at the odd creature, its eyes came open, its mouth opened wide letting out a yawn, and the second he saw me a scream sharper than the most formidable of rapiers pierced my ears. “Please don’t hurt me!” it begged, gluing its back to the wall in a futile attempt to get away from us. “We’re the ones that saved you, we’re not going to hurt you,” replied Evan, tossing the befuddled creature a can of pepsi. “Th...Thanks,” he stammered, staring confused at the can. “My name’s Lucky, I’m a Changeling.” “Nice to meet you Lucky,” I declared, shaking his hoof with my claw and opening his beverage for him. There’s something you can’t do with hooves. Or is it i mean his hooves look like can openers so why not. “Why did you come here?” I asked, sipping my coke, pondering just where I’ve heard the word “Changeling” before. “Queen Chrysalis she was one of the only Changelings i heard allowed in the castle. I didn’t think that the guards would retaliate with that much brutality.” “Well Lucky, if you’re trying to get into Canterlot, you might as well stick with us. We’re going to the gala and you can tag along with us if you want.” “Would you really?” he asked, ecstatic, eyes bright as he danced around, flapping his insect wings furiously. “Sure, why not.” Evan summoned another gala ticket and handed it over to Lucky. Luckily, Evan still remembered what the ticket looked like from our incident with the bugbear. “Hey guys,” Crash called out, standing at the entrance of our camp. “You might want to come see this.” Moving over to where he was, Evan and I arched our necks, peeping over the top of the hedge that blocked the entrance and his the inside. From where we were we could see that immediately outside, there were a bunch of guards, ready to fight. “It came here, I saw the Hygon bring the Changeling here. There were two ponies with them too, they’re working together. We definitely need to be alert!” commanded one of the guards, running off after completing his speech. Seems like now, they’re after me too. “Lucky, stay with burn for a while,” I demanded, pointing to the annoyed pony. “Do I have to?” he begged, eyeing the Changeling carefully. “What’s wrong?” I questioned. “He looks like he’s seven at the most!” Burn retorted. “You don’t like kids?” “It’s not that -- well it is a tiny bit -- but I also have no idea how to look after Changelings,” sighed Burn, collapsing on the bed. “Oh, it can’t be that bad!” interrupted Evan, scoffing. “I heard that they eat regular food too.” Burn just nodded before sighing again. “All right, it’s decided then,” I confirmed. “Lets all get some shut eye for tomorrow.” After that, I climbed into a tree that Evan summoned and curled up like a cheetah on one of the higher branches. It was comfy, and I have to say that whenever I sleep like that, I feel as if I’m safe in my bed back on Earth; warm and cozy; and most definitely human. great chapter edited by ickhart made some additions myself but I give him most of the cred for this. where would a writer be withought his faithfull editor
chapter 3. thieves of the night"hey Max Evan check out all this loot i found." Lucky had been staying with us and we've grown to trust him a lot and he's pretty good at stealing things. "watch you got kiddo." I've been calling him kiddo ever since i found out he was 7 and it was funny because he hated the name. "40 bits from a hat seller i caught his name it was top hat got some coins when he wasn't looking." Max: 5 ponies: 1 and into conclusion max rules ponies drool. "hey nightmare why do i have to control magic and not the physical movement." said evan. he had been asking the same question for hours and he kept getting the same answer. "because one max would crush ponies with anvils before speaking to them and you wouldn't be so keen to fight in close combat. got it!" "hey max I've been thinking about something." "yeah what Evan. is this another job offer you found?" He had been trying to get me into some jobs for a while now and i was getting annoyed by it. "no i was thinking if Lucky is so good at stealing things i can be manipulative you crash and burn are the tough guys being thieves would be pretty easy don't you think." Just then an idea popped into my head. I turned to evan with a big smile on my face."remember is sky rim the thieves guild." The same idea popped into Evans head. "Thieves guild." Oh this is gonna be good. "yep we make a thieves guild and try to make a name for ourselves here in canterlot think about itthe infamous thieves guild led by the monster max and evan it might work well for us. "well canterlot got some good dough seeing as its the princess's capital." Lucky said butting into our conversation. hey max Evan you heard griffin is coming in a few days to canterlot he's having a concert." said burn coming from the kitchen. "huh? that sounds nice how'd you find out?" "the entire city has been talking about it they've been playing weird music like we like to party and some other shenanigans." The all aboard song came to my head as i remembered six flags. ahhh... those were good times. "hey Crash Burn Lucky you guys want some weapons." they all nodded. we found that crash and burn are pretty good with swords seeing as they were monster hunters it wasn't hard to guess....right? well Lucky is good at picking locks and is pretty quick with daggers.My little assassin. "so max when are we gonna start our first heist do we take contracts or something like that."said Lucky eager to try out his new skills. You know i hadn't thought of that "Max Evan i do know someone who wants something from the canterlot royal archives but can't get it himself." This sounds interesting. "yeah what does he want from there." said evan cocking his head to the side. "its a book about limb regeneration potions and forbidden ones. I don't know why he needs the book but he's willing to pay a lot for us to retrieve it. "oh you bet well take it." Evan said summoning a foam finger and levitating it around. "ok enough chit chat we have to plan how we make this work. we have tickets to the gala but i don't think they'll let us in the archives we need to plan a way in there." "will we kill someone." Lucky said with a big smirk swinging his dagger with his hooves. dammit i still get how they do this with their hooves. "well we hope we don't have to but if we do make sure to hide the bodies carefully hide all signs of a struggle or the mission is in compromise we don't want a ruckus with people screaming that they found dead bodies at the gala. Burn did you get to the guy who wanted the book." Burn nodded and crash handed me a piece of paper. "HOLY......5ok bits for this book." Evan said in disbelief. "well sure Evan call it payment for an expensive and rare potion. hey Burn how rich is this guy." "well i wouldn't say he's that wealthy but he is close friends with blueblood. I don't see how he even gets any friends." "so 50k bits. wow this book must be pretty expensive." Said Lucky starring in awe ate the money amount "so where do we meet this guy if we get the book." "an alley he said that someone is also looking for that book so we have to get there quick does or we may have a problem." Said burn putting his hoof on an alley not far from here on the map. pulling out a map i borrowed from a guard i started pointing to places in the castle"ok i heard about there royal guard captain shining armour we might want to avoid him the archive is here." i pointed to a large room near the throne room."celestia and luna will be busy with the gala and wont notice us sneak in if we have to kill some guards get the book we bolt and get our pay ok." We all shook hooves and hand on it and nightmare butted in with a tentacle. "for the nightmare thieves guild." said nightmare with a big smile on here face. "why we calling in that nightmare?" "because i'm your game master deal with it." she made some glasses appear on her and had the like a baws face. "wow a god of nightmares who knows meme's." Evan said taking the glasses of nightmare. "ok were going to steal the book bring it back get our pay and done and if you have to kill someone do it fast and clean got it." everyone all chimed the same thing at the same time"got it." i would jinx someone here if they knew what it was. --------A/N ok im going to steal a book on forbidden potions and spells if you've read troutkings what was lost you can see that he's going after it to which brings some spoilers for the next chapter the next one may not come so soon since i'm waiting for the gala once the gala begins that is when my chapter comes out ok.
Author's noteHey apologizing about my inactivity my computer lost Internet connection so im working from my kindle since i have nothing to do at the moment i guess ill make a vision of the future story increasing my plotline or some crap Anyway this chapter was goimg to be really small choa!
