Dillon rushed through the trees barreling past the ones that seemed to have fallen his reflexes allowing him to flow through them like water as the light from the lake began to get brighter to the point that it seemed to be blinding to his vision as he jumped through the path landing directly in front of the lake.

Dillon sighed in relief as he stood himself up looking towards the immediate area around him “At least i'm back here now” he said walking towards the cave noticing the pup peeking out looking towards him Dillon smiling in response his walk turning into a jog as he went into the cave sitting himself down in front of the pup who climbed on his lap.

“So did you find anything within the castle, any answers for yourself?” he heard the wolf say as he looked towards her.

“No, I honestly left more confused and traumatized than I would like” he responded, scratching the pup’s ears.

“Why would you say that?” She asked.

“Well, there was this robot that started talking to me like he knew me even though I have not a recollection of knowing the guy, and when I said that it pissed him off and he started saying things that just confused me”.

“Like what?”.

“He just said transform over and over again and when I didn’t do that he attacked me and I ran away and he almost killed me but someone I met in the forest before I even came to this lake saved me” he replied before continuing “that whole scenario was just stressful and then this woman named Nightmare moon tried making me her pet…” he said as he groaned out in frustration.

“Why did it have to be today of all days for all this crap to happen!?” Dillon growled out as the wolf ears twitched in response to something as she glanced to the entrance of the cave as if something was there.

The boy then looked towards her again noticing her look before asking “Is something wrong?” not getting a response as he looked towards where she was glancing at.

“Is someone there?” he said out loud, his body tensing up in preparation for something bad to happen, a low glow coming from the inside of his backpack.

“Hello?” Dillon then said as he stood himself up, his fear evident on his face as he noticed the glow coming from his bag as he went towards it, still keeping his sights on the entrance as he picked it up.

As he opened the bag he noticed the item that was glowing was a rectangular box-like device with golden accents on the center of it, the outer parts being black with red buttons as he heard an echo going through his head “A Morpher?”.

He stared at it in silence before repeating what he heard in his head “ A…. Morpher” he then shook his head saying “What the, how do I know what this thing is?” before his ears twitched as he quickly looked towards the entrance again.

He then heard an almost familiar voice echo around, “so something in there could sense me,” before he heard a sigh, “I really need to be more careful of that.”

“That voice wait is that you Shade?” Dillon asked his posture visibly relaxing the wolf then looking at Dillon saying confused “Shade?”.

Dillon looked towards her as he answered, “Oh he’s the one that saved me back at the castle and when I was attacked back when I was in the forest”.

The familiar image of Shade then appeared in front of them almost seeming to have appeared from the thin air as he looked at everyone, “You doing okay kid?”

The figure looked somewhat like Nightmare Moon had, he had two large wings on his back and a horn of his head, his skin was jet black while he had long flowing red and black hair and a similar colour tail.

“You look a little like Nightmare Moon and it concerns me..” Dillon muttered to himself.

“Don’t worry, I’m not her,” Shade admitted as he walked towards the group.

“Ok then” Dillon replied before saying “I don’t know why but for the short period I was around her I somehow got attached damn these instincts!” covering his face in embarrassment.

“Are you sure you're okay?” Shade asked now, standing in front of Dillon and knelt in front of him as his wings wrapped around him, “is something in your mind?”

“I'm not sure that I’m okay. Tonight has just been one thing after another. I meet a robot that somehow knows me and almost kills me when I don’t remember him and then I encounter Nightmare moon who I somehow got attached to even though she was gonna make me her pet!” he then paused before adding, “And it doesn’t help that I’m questioning whether anything that happened tonight wasn’t just a messed up dream that im suddenly gonna wake up from!”.

“Trust me, if that was the case, I’d wish it was a dream,” Shade added, before seeming to smirk as he added, “But Nightmare Moon making you into her pet… well you do have the dog ears… and a tail. You do fit the bill.”

“That doesn’t make it any better!” groans out in embarrassment covering his face with his hair.

“Really?” Shade added as his wings wrapped around Dillon, one of them rubbing the back of his neck, “you did say you got attached to her, what about her did you like?” he asked as he continued rubbing Dillon’s neck with his wing.

“She just seemed nice. I was terrified of her but she was nice to me for some reason and somehow in my jumbled mess I call my brain I started feeling safe around her”.

“Really how did she make you feel safe?”

“I don’t know how to explain it but if i could it would be like she had a motherly aura around her it felt nice,” he said as he snuggled against Shade’s wing thinking to himself his tail beginning to wag in response from getting rubbed by the wings “This is the same feeling I felt when I was with her. this feels nice” ..” he said thinking to himself.

“You sure you're okay, you're getting a bit too close,” Shade responded.

Dillon’s eyes widened as he suddenly backed away from Shade’s wings “Oh s-sorry”.

The wolf looks at what is happening with intrigue “I didn’t expect you to be that loving Dillon” she said with a giggle as the pups laughed along with her.

Dillon blushed in response before turning around and shouting out towards them “S-shut up!”.

“Aw, Dillons embarrassed,” the pup remarked with a laugh.

Dillon started to cover his face again as he sat against the wall of the cave.

“Have I said something to upset you? If so I apologize for it” Shade asked looking at Dillon in confusion.

“No you didn’t it was something they said” Dillon replied pointing towards the Timberwolf and the pups.

“Something they said. What do you mean I never heard anything?” Shade responded in confusion.

“It’s due to me being a part of their pack I can speak to them and they can speak to me and she made a comment about not knowing how affectionate I can be,” he said pointing towards the Timberwolf.

“And that upsets you why?”

“I don’t know it just bothers me and the way they said it just irks me”.

“Not my fault you're acting like a lost puppy looking for its owner Dillon” the Timberwolf stated as she laughed at Dillon’s face.

Dillons held a stoic look on his face before as he shouted out towards her again “Shut up!” his embarrassment showing again.

“Or you could just be a normal human kid or teenager who gets embarrassed easily,” Shade responded. “Wouldn’t surprise me when I was around your age I was the same.”

Dillon just groaned out in embarrassment before looking towards Shade asking “Wait your human?”.

“That's difficult to explain,” Shade responded as he rubbed the back of his head.

“Well, I have nothing better to do so I have time to listen”.

Shade just shook his head before tapping an object on his wrist before he was surrounded in a crimson glow that blinded everyone in the room. Once it subsided Dillon looked back to him as he found a humanoid figure standing in front of him.

The figure had short black hair and bright blue eyes, and was wearing black tracksuit bottoms, along with a r black hooded jacket and with a red marking on the front which he had open revealing a red t-shirt underneath. “This is how I used to look, what was it now… just over a thousand years ago I think.”

“Whoa, wait just how old are you if you don’t mind me asking?”.

“...I lost track when I was on the moon, I think I was there around one-thousand years… I was eighteen when I came here after… well you know… so around 1018 years old I think.”

“Whoa, that’s a lot of time to think by yourself just one-thousand years I definitely wouldn’t be able to handle that”.

“I wasn’t exactly alone… and If you would. When I look like this I’d prefer to be known as Alex… it was my name back before all this.”

“Ok then...Alex, by the way, who was the other person you were with if you weren’t by yourself on the moon?”.

“Well… I guess the closest answer you would know is… the woman you were attached to.”

Dillon went silent for a moment before muttering to himself “Oh god”.

Dillon went silent again as he thought about it, his face just holding a blank look as he asked, “why do these things happen to me is there just some higher power that just hates me?”.

“Umm… is something wrong?” Alex asked as he looked at Dillon nervously.

“I’ve just been noticing a lot of the things that happen to me connect to something else to a certain degree,” Dillon said before adding “Wait was she the reason why you were in the castle”.

“Both yes and no,” Alex admitted.

“Umm Dad? Is it safe for me to come in?” A young voice asked from the mouth of the cave.

“Um, who was that?” Dillon asked as he looked past Alex.

“That would be one half of what made the woman you wanted to be near,” Alex responded as what looked to be a young child walked into the cave standing beside Alex barely reaching his side, “This is Midnight, my daughter is the best way to put it when I was on the moon, and one of the two parts of Nightmare Moon.”

Dillon went silent trying to make sense of it in his head before shaking his head saying “Alrighty then, it's nice to meet you Midnight”.

“And it’s good to see you again little puppy,” Midnight responded as she jumped onto Alex’s back wrapping her arms around his back as her head rested above his.

“Please don’t call me that'' Dillon muttered in embarrassment before asking “wait a minute how do yo-” Dillon was about to ask before only to get interrupted by her.

“Did my dad not say what I am part of,” Midnight responded with a chuckle.

Dillon just stayed silent as he let out an internal scream in his head a blank look on his face.

“Mom I think she broke him” the pup comments as he looks at his face.

“Yeah I think she broke him too” she replied with a chuckle as Dillon snapped out of it muttering to himself “I can’t make sense of anything anymore…”.

“So if i'm correct in my assumption was she fused with Nightmare Moon back at the castle?”.

“Well in a way,” Midnight responded, “I was the part that created the nightmare. The person who I fused with is someone else close to my dad.”

“And as things went when I was on the moon you can guess what the other person is to her,” Alex added.

“Yeah I get the gist of it and I realize If i meet her I will never live that down”.

“You mean by meeting a princess?” Midnight asked.

“Yeah, whoever that is” Dillon quickly responds as stood himself up from the floor “by the way do either of you know what today’s date is?”.

“Nope. We were literally on the moon till only a few hours ago,” Alex admitted.

“Helpful,” Dillon says as walks to the entrance of the cave, going to the edge of the lake and sitting there “At least I ain’t dreaming...”.

“Well if it were a dream, I’d wish I still had them myself,,” Alex admitted as he walked up beside him, “you don’t really dream when you no longer need to sleep.”

“What's it like, not needing to sleep I mean?”.

“Well what is it like to still live?” Shade asked.

“Don’t know I never questioned it to be honest with you” Dillon responded, keeping his sight on the lake.

Alex just sighed, “it makes it so each problem flows to the next without any respite. Sure I don’t rest and am always aware, but you seem to never be able to rest without worry,” he admitted.

“Oh, must take a lot of strength to go through something like that then,” Dillon said as he glanced at Alex.

“How do you keep going throughout all that?” Dillon asked as he looked towards Alex.

Alex stood calmly for a second looking at the water, “Have you ever heard the saying, “Well… I guess when you have nothing left to lose, you don’t need a reason anymore.”

“You have a point there” Dillon responds with a chuckle as he looked back towards the lake “honestly before I got put into the pack I didn’t have anything to lose since I didn’t remember anything about myself but now that I have them I do something to lose now,” Dillon said as pointed the Timberwolf and the pups.

“Well, it’s good to still have something in the world to care for you, or family to remember you,” Alex responded as he sat by the lake, “I only barely remember them now you know. Everyone I’ve lost. The only memories I can remember clearly are those of my siblings and even those are faint now.”

“Well, at least you have Midnight and the princess” Dillon responded as he stood himself up “I don’t remember if I have anyone else but if I do remember I’ll find them but for right now Im content with what I have at this moment”.

“I suppose your right,” Alex responded, “still, what are you intending to do now, just sit here and do nothing with your life?”

“Im most likely gonna encounter some unsavory people so Im gonna try and get stronger so I don’t have to run away all the time when I’m put into confrontation,” Dillon said as he clenched his fist.

“And how are you going to get stronger? Do you have an answer for that?”

“No I don’t have one, but I have to try at least even if it involves the most rudimentary tasks”.

“Well… what do you know of what you have to protect yourself?”

“I found this Morpher if that’s what it’s called that’s in my bag while I was still in the cave so I can probably use that if need be”.

“Maybe you should learn how to use it,” Alex suggested.

“Yeah, I think I’ll do that,” Dillon replied, scratching the back of his head as he began walking back towards the cave “I should probably figure out how to work the thing right now just in case”.

“Well… if it helps atall, when I use mine, I use my belt and a secondary object to transform… could the same be said for yours,” Alex suggested

“Maybe,” Dillon said as he walked into the cave and picked out the item in question from his bag.

“What secrets do you hold?” Dillon muttered as he examined the Morpher before noticing a small block-like object in his bag as well.

“The hell is this thing?” he said as he examined it as well before looking at the compartment on the morpher.

“Does that go in there?” Dillon asked himself as he placed the small block into the compartment “Huh neat and do I pull this” he said as he pulled the lever as a light blinded him “Ah my eyes!” as he shook his head noticing his arms were covered in a black suit “The hell is this?”.

“Alex I think I got it to work!” Dillon shouted from inside the cave as he ran out to the lake.

Alex then turned to look towards him before saying, “So you're a black ranger… and your mask looks like a dog?”

“It does?,” Dillon said, confused before trying to get the helmet off “is there a latch to get this thing off I want to see”.

“Oh, I think I got it,” Dillon said as he took the helmet off and looked at it “Huh so it does…..I feel like this a coincidence but don’t at the same time and I don’t know how to feel about that”.

“Does it not bring back any kind of memoires? Do you not get a sense of familiarity at the sight of it?”

“It does feel familiar but I don’t remember anyth-” Dillon was going to say before dropping the helmet and clutching his head “I definitely hear a lot more voices now!” he said as the whispers returned full force as he grunted out in pain.

Alex simply wrapped his arms around Dillon before saying, “Don’t fight it, just relax, take deep breaths and listen to what they say.”

“But they’re so loud I can barely make out anything they say” Dillon responded, still clutching his head.

Alex then suddenly seemed to change again, his body returning to that of an Alicorn as he wrapped his arms and wings around Dillon, “Take calm breath, hands away from your head. I will not step away no matter what. So just try and drown out the less urgent ones. There will be a few that matter. Try that.”

Dillon slowly removed his hands from his head as he took deep breaths each breath he took the louder voices started to get quieter until they went silent completely the much more reserved whispers much easier to hear now “the loud voices they’re gone I can hear myself think and can hear the much more quiet voices now”.

“Just listen to them, what are they telling you,” Shade asked.

“I’ll always love you little brother” he hears a feminine voice before hearing his own “Promise?” as the voice replied “Promise”

“I have a big sister…..”.

“Cmon Dillon we have to get this mission going” he heard a male voice say to him before hearing his sisters voice “it's going to be okay”.

“I was a part of a team with her and others..”.

“Keep going, there may be more that can help you,” Shade added.

Dillon went further before hearing his sisters voice again “Dillon I need you to get out of here”

“But What about you!?” he hears own voice ask before everything went silent.

“Something happened but I don’t know what and the voices stopped”.

“Well, from everything what have you learnt about your past, anything that you can piece together?” Shade asked his wings still around Dillon.

“I was on a team with my sister and I think they were like me but something bad happened and I can’t remember”.

“But you can’t place if that was before you came here or after, and if this team were ever with you in your new life,” Shade added.

“Yeah anything before or after just seems hazy and I can’t seem to make it out at all”.

“For the moment at least you know a bit about your past. But the question is do you recall anything about this ‘morpher’ of yours.”

“Partly, I do remember using it but only when transforming but nothing else after that though”.

“But do you remember how to use your suit, and the like.”

“Somewhat yes” Dillon replied before looking towards Shade and asking “do you think you can train me?”.

“In what capacity do you want me to train you?” Shade asked as he looked at Dillon

“To a degree that I don’t have to just resort to running away because I don’t think I'm strong enough for higher levels of training”.

“If I’m even going to consider training you. I need to see where you are already. When you have control of your senses that is.”

Dillon nervously chuckled in response “O-ok then” as he then asked “So what do you want me to do?”.

“What do I want to try first? I can either test you unarmed or with a weapon.”
“Maybe unarmed first since I don’t know how to bring out the weapon”.

“Okay then,” Shade responded before standing up and turning to face Dillon, “You fine starting here or do you want to move somewhere else?”

“I'm fine with starting here,” Dillon quickly responded.

“Okay then,” Shade responded, stepping away from the side of the pond, “Come at me when you are ready.”

“Alrighty then” Dillon said as he took a deep breath before rushing towards Shade as he went in for a kick, only for Shade to step backwards causing the kick to miss.

Dillon went for another attack only for Shade to step back again, Dillon grunting out in annoyance tried making himself go faster to catch up with Shade each attack he made.

This went on for a few minutes until then fell to his knees exhausted “Oh god” Dillon said as he tried catching his breath.

“You know, I think you need to add a bit of variety to how you fight. I could read you rather easily. It may help if you throw some punches in as well as your kicks.” Shade suggested.

“Noted” Dillon responded as continued catching his breath.

“Take a break then try again,” Shade ordered.

“Gladly” Dillon replied, flopping on his back as he looked up towards the trees he stayed like that for a few minutes until he stood back up.

“Alright let's try this again” Dillon said as he rushed towards Shade again going in for a punch only for Shade to dodge again as he closed the distance again alternating between punches and kicks the last action being a high kick which almost grazed Shade.

“You're getting closer. A bit more,” Shade responded.

He kept going as his action progressively as he launched a flurry of punches before suddenly stopping and going in for a leg trip and an uppercut, only for Shade to dodge out the way of his strikes before grabbing Dillon’s arm and sweeping his legs out for under him before pinning him to the ground holding his arm tightly against his back.

“Dang it” Dillon groaned out.

“Nobody will just let you strike them and not fight back. Don’t get complacent,” Shade warned, still holding him down.
“Alright I get it jeez” Dillon responded as he then asked, “can you unpin now please?”.

Shade simply shook his head before releasing Dillon, “you need to take a longer break and rethink things. Take a walk, we might as well visit the nearby town, a change of scenery might help.”

“If you say so” Dillon replied as he rubbed his shoulder blade as he walked into the cave “Hey Shade and I'm gonna take a walk we won’t be gone long,” he said to the wolf who responded “Alright Dillon don’t cause trouble for him while you're gone” she replied.

“I'm not gonna cause him trouble!” Dillon snaps as he notices the amused look on her face “Whatever” he muttered to himself as he grabbed his bag and walked out the cave.

“I'm ready to go,” Dillon said to Shade as he walked next to him.

“Did your… is it mother or Omega for you say you could,” Shade asked with a smirk.

“Yes..”Dillon growled out in annoyance “and to clarify she said she’s my mom since she made a part of the pack…”.

“Well okay then,” Shade responded, “Midnight we’re going to the town, you coming!”

“Yep,” Midnight responded as Dillon felt a small body resting their shoulders on his head.

“Ok this is happening now, why are you on top of me?” Dillon asked, glancing at Midnight.

“Why can’t I be, it’s all the easier to give those ears of yours a scratch afterall,” Midnight responded with a chuckle as she reached a hand before Dillon’s ear.

Dillon let out a squeak as he covered his ears “Nope not letting that happen again!”.

“Aww, why not?” Midnight asked as she hovered in front of him staring at him, “you looked so cute last time.”

“Because it makes me helpless and that was my hour of weakness” He grumbled out before shuddering “It's the fact that it made my body basically limp that made it worse”.

“So couldn’t you just use that to get payback on the other pups if they try and wind you up again right?” Midnight asked.

“True but I don’t want them to actively avoid me just because they wind me up….” Dillon responded with a sigh.

“Either way. Shall we go,” Shade asked as Midnight flew onto his back wrapping her arms around his neck.

“Yeah, let's get going,” Dillon said as he placed his arms behind his head “Honestly didn’t realise there was a town let alone a way outside the forest but first time for everything I guess,” Dillon said out loud.

“The only reason I knew of it was because I landed in the town when I returned,” Shade admitted as he started walking.

“Fair enough” Dillon replied as he jogged forwards to catch up with Shade.

After half an hour of walking in the forest, they reached the edge of the treeline, looking out onto a small town in the distance with a small cottage by a stream that had a bridge going over it closer to them.

“Oh a cottage” Dillon remarks taking a glance at it before looking towards the small town “Huh that place definitely looks like a comfortable place to live”.

“It probably is a nice place to live, apart from being next to the Everfree Forest,” Shade admitted as he continued on towards the town.

“True enough” Dillon replies as he continues walking beside Shade as he asks “What’s this town called anyway?”.

“That would be Ponyville.” Midnight responded, “at least that’s what I was told.”

“Then who told you the name of this place?” Dillon asked Midnight

“That would be the Princess,” Midnight responded.

“Oh” Dillon replied, going silent in thought “At least we know what the place is called but if I meet her I'm keeping my mouth shut because for some reason whenever I say something for some damn reason something happens and not for the best”.

“Anyway, we better head into the town, see if anything is happening,” Shade admitted looking at Dillon.

“Alright let's get going then,” Dillon said to Shade as they began walking towards the town.

As the group got closer to the main road of the town they saw what looked to be multiple human-like figures lining the streets, each of the figures varying in skin and hair colours, with some having wings on their back, some with horns on their heads while others looked like normal ponies.

Dillon just stared in silence for a moment before commenting “Well they're definitely colourful” the boy then scratching the top of his head “Did something happen here?”.

“Might have something to do with my mom’s return?” Midnight admitted, “I think she’s coming through town with her sister.”

“She has a sister?”.

“Yeah, there are two princesses… at least there was just 2 before we were sent to the moon,” Shade admitted, “The one I was on the moon with is Luna, while her sister is called Celestia.”

“Huh the more you know” Dillon responded.

“Either way, you can probably guess who Luna was can’t you,” Shade admitted.

“Most likely” Dillon replied letting out a chuckle before stating “kinda getting a bit of anxiety seeing this many people and ponies if I'm being honest here”.

“It could be worse,” Shade admitted.

“Yeah they could have seen us,” Midnight added.

“True but I'd rather not jinx it just in case”.

“What do you think they are here for?” Midnight asked looking at Dillon.

“I honestly don’t know this night has just been making me more cautious and afraid for my life more than usual”.

“In a town like this? What could go wrong?” Midnight asked with a smile.

“Why’d you have to say that?” Dillon said backing away as he looked towards multiple directions.

“Maybe it’s to see both Princesses?” Midnight suggested.

“Probably” Dillon quickly responded, still frantically looking around “I swear this night alone has made the most paranoid in a while” Dillon stated as he walked before turning his body around to look at the town as he wasn’t paying attention to where he was going before suddenly finding himself in front of a building that looked like it was made of pastries “What where am I now and what is this Hansel and Gretel!?” he said as he then muttered to himself “I should probably find my way back to Midnight and Shade”

Dillon then looked back to see Midnight through the crowd as he made his way towards her passing though the people and ponies around him as he then saw a chariot near the center of it “I guess that's the thing princess Luna and Celestia are on” Dillon said to himself as he went next to Shade and Midnight.

“Sorry about disappearing like that, I kinda lost myself looking around the town” he said toward Shade and Midnight looking towards the Chariot.

“Are you able to see down there?” Shade asked as he looked down at Dillon.

“Not really,” Dillon responded glancing at Shade.

“Do you want a lift?” Shade asked as he knelt down in front of Dillon, gesturing for him to jump on Shade’s back and Midnight seemed to disappear.

“S-sure” Dillon replied as he jumped on top of his back “Wait where did Midnight go?”.

“Right here,” Midnight responded with a chuckle as Dillon saw her flying beside his head.

Dillon yelped in response as he then looked towards with a frown “You really enjoy messing with me don’t you?” he said shaking his head before looking towards the chariot.

“No. If I wanted to mess with you I’d go for the ears,” Midnight responded with a chuckle, her hand touching the tip of Dillon’s ear to make a point.

Dillon reflexively covered his ears as his embarrassed look returned muttering “Point taken…”.

As the chariot got closer Dillon could see two figures on it, the first looked to be a young woman, she had dark blue skin along with both long flowing blue hair and a tail, while the figure beside her looked a lot older, and had white skin along with long flowing hair and a tail with both having four separate colours in them.

“Whoa pretty….” Dillon said in awe.

“Which one have you got a crush on,” Midnight asked.

“There is no crush!” Dillon snapped much to Midnight's amusement “What are you smirking for!?”.

“Oh, just because I heard you is all,” Midnight responded, her hands behind her head, “so… which one were you saying ‘oh pretty’ for?”

Dillon started stammering as a blush came to his face as he couldn’t get the words out before just saying “S-shut up!” the boy then covering up his face in embarrassment.

“Come on! Tell me!” Midnight requested, “or do I need to scratch it out of you?”

Dillon yelped as he quickly said “please not the ears!” as he noticed her inching closer to them “Ok i'll tell you just don’t scratch my ears!”.

“So… which is it,” Midnight asked again, still getting closer, her hands not reaching towards his ears.

“It was toward the taller one” Dillon grumbled out his blush intensifying.

“Oh what part of her is it that caught your eyes… you weren’t looking at those places were you?” Midnight asked with a smirk.

“W-what no!” Dillon responded with a stutter as he then said “leave me alone!”.

“Come on tell me or it’s time,” Midnight responded, her hands now right beside Dillon’s head, “are you a naughty puppy?”

Dillon continued to stammer over his words before he said “I just find her really beautiful okay!?”.

“Midnight stop it! You are making a scene!” Shade responded as she stopped looking to see most of the people around them looking at the group.

Dillon groaned out in embarrassment as he said “Oh man they’re looking at us now, me and my big mouth…”.

“I think it’s more the two Alicorns they are stating at more than you,” Shade admitted as almost all the ponies around them bow their heads at both Shade and Midnight.

“You know what Im just keep my mouth shut for once and not say anything else,” Dillon muttered to himself as he covered his face with his hair.

It was then that the chariot stopped as both the figures in the cart climbed off and walked towards the group, the shorter of the two stopping just in front of Shade simply smiling at him and looking at Dillon, “I hope Midnight hasn’t been causing you too much trouble.”

Dillon just looks away in embarrassment glancing back at them momentarily before looking away from them again, the boy not able to get any words out or able to think of anything to say in response to her.

“I-it's fine,” Dillon mumbled to her, his face still red.

“Let me guess, she’s been getting under his skin… I will assume threatening to scratch his ears, and from the commotion and his reaction. Something with a reaction to how one of us looked,” the darker skinned mare responded, “Midnight you need to behave it’s not just me you and Shade now.”

Dillon just looked towards them as he got off of Shades back, the boy quietly asking “She’s done something like this before?”.

“You act like I don’t know my own adopted daughter?” the darker skinned mare responded.

“Still, it’s strange seeing another one of your kind again,” the older mare added looking down at Dillon.

“I am somewhat confused by that statement..”.

“I think you know the answer to what I asked,” the older woman responded as she rubbed the top of Dillon’s head.

“So Shade. Are you going to introduce us all or is the little pup going to remain like that?” the darker-skinned mare asked.

“My name is Dillon…” the boy mumbled out.

“Well Dillon it’s a pleasure to meet you,” the darker-skinned woman responded, “I am one of the two Princesses of this land, You can call me Luna.”

“Sister… that is not strictly true anymore, but I will explain later,” the other woman responded before looking at Shade, “besides, I think I need an explanation on this other change.”

“Right…” Luna responded as she rubbed the back of her head with a nervous chuckle.

“Anyway, my name is Celestia, I’m one of the thr-” she then paused for a second, “if we could Midnight now that would be four princesses and I don’t know where you stand right now.”

“Let's put a pin in it,” Shade responded with a smirk.

“Let’s say, four Princesses and a very close friend,” Luna suggested as she leant in close to Shade.

“Okay, we’ll go with a very, very close friend,” Celestia responded with a knowing smile.

“I am so lost right now,” Dillon said to himself with a nervous chuckle.

“Let’s just say. You are now close friends with one princess, are known by two of the leaders of this country and as Dad said… put a pin in it for where he stands,” Midnight responded as she rubbed Dillon’s head.

“Uhm okay then” Dillon responded as he glanced at her hand cautiously.

“Not the ears, not the ears don’t scratch the ears” Dillon internally screamed as he kept his sight on her hand as the boy began to subconsciously move his head.

“Midnight sweetie, stop messing with Dillon,” Luna asked calmly.

“Yes mum,” Midnight responded as she removed her hand and flew into Luna’s arms.

Dillon sighed as he covered his ears in relief as he said to himself “I am safe, for now at least…..”.

“Anyway Shade,” Celestia asked as she turned to look at him, “now you are back what will you do now? Will you go back to the Everfree or do you have other ‘plans?’”

Luna simply blushed at her comment, turning her head away while Alex looked at her, seeming to show no physical response to her taunts, “I haven’t really decided just yet. I likely will but from how my old room looked I doubt I can use it.”

Dillon stayed silent as he listened to their conversation, the boy sitting himself on the ground scratching his ears the conversation then slowly started to get muffled before it completely went silent from his perspective, the boy zoning out and just staring off into space.

It stayed silent for a few moments before he began to hear the tune of a music box, Dillon then replicated the music by whistling, this went on until he felt someone put a hand on his shoulder as he flinched looking up to see Shade looking at him.

“Hey you okay?” Shade asked as he looked down at Dillon, as Luna, Celestia and Midnight looked at him with a worried look in their eyes.

“W-what, wait did I?” Dillon asked as he looked towards everyone confused before looking towards Shade again.

“You went silent and started whistling some kind of tune,” Midnight responded.

“A tune?” Dillon replied in confusion before stating “well that's definitely something new” as he stood himself back up “at least I wasn’t having a panic attack because of the whispers again” Dillon said casually noticing them still having concerned looks on their face “What?”.

“Did you say you are hearing whispers?” Luna asked, “as in what feels like old memories, or familiar voices but you can’t place?”

“Yeah I've been having these for as long as I can remember and it's not much since the days have just been blending together, legitimately you two Shade and Midnight, as well as my pack, are the only ones I've actually spoken to in a very long time, As you can clearly tell I’ve been on my own for a while”.

“Is that what you know, or what you feel,” Celestia responded.

“Honestly I barl-” he stopped himself, his ears twitching in multiple directions as he said “S-somethings coming and a lot of them” as he then pointed behind them seeing multiple figures coming into the town.

“What do you mean?” Celestia asked before they heard screams from some of the ponies in the crowd, many of them running in all directions in a panic many of them knocking into each other to the ground.

Dillon runs past them as he goes toward the centre of the path seeing what the ponies were running from seeing robots of varying sizes and a figure that he could barely see due to numbers around them that gave off an aura that terrified him to the core, the boy freezing up in fear as he went completely silent.

But from what Dillon could see the robots had a bronze colour to them with a silver bit on the left sides on their faceplates which held what seemed to be lugnuts of varying sizes one of which was always on the right eye socket as there was a light silver finish below the armour and on the legs which weren’t covered.

“Why can’t I move, Why is this fear so familiar, Do I know what these things are?” Dillon said to himself as he shook in place.

One of them notices Dillon and rushes towards the boy, others not far behind as it starts pulling its arm back and holding its palm straight as it went to stab into his heart the robot getting closer and closer as time seemed to slow.

Dillon's eyes widened to what was about to happen, his breathing getting quicker and more strained as his vision went red, Dillon grabbing the robot's arm and ripping it off and punching straight through its head as its body went completely limp as he pulled his arm out.

Dillon then shook his head and looked in front of himself confused “ho- how did I do that?” as he noticed the other robots surrounding him from all directions as he didn’t know what to do.

Dillon on reflex crouched down in fear as he was prepared to get hurt but was confused as he hadn’t felt any pain, looking up he saw that the robots were dispatched by Shade, their bodies on piles on the floor large black dents in their bodies with the metal near the impact zone blackened with red cracks forming on it.

“You okay Dillon?” Shade asked as he stood in front of him his body sideways in a stance similar to the one he had used when he trained Dillon, but his fist was outwards with a red glow covering it.

Dillon took a deep breath as he replied “Y-yeah, I'm okay” as he stood himself up before saying “Thanks Shade..”.

“No problem, but I think you might want to wait to say that after we stop this mess,” Shade responded.

“F-fair enough” Dillon responded as he raised up his fists noticing that he was still shaking “Breath just breathe” he then repeated over and over to himself as he saw more robots converging on their position “Oh crap here we go…”.

The robots then began their assault as they attacked the two Shade, easily dispatching them as Dillon dodged their attacks out of fear before getting surrounded again as a sword suddenly appeared in his hand “What the?” Dillon then muttered to himself as his body went on auto pilot immediately slicing off an attacking robot's head as he blinked the next thing he saw being a pile of the robots in multiple pieces.

“Did I do this?” Dillon said out loud as he looked at his hands in shock before looking back up to see more coming towards them clutching the sword in his hand nervously.

“Well, whatever it is you did, you’ll need to keep doing it,” Shade responded as he looked into the oncoming hoard of robotic enemies.

The boy just nervously gulped in response as he held the sword in front of himself “I’ll try my best…”.

“You’re doing plenty well enough,” Shade responded as he looked onwards before pausing to see a figure that did not look like the others. This figure looked to be a large humanoid figure that was covered in what almost looked to be flames along his arms and legs. It’s chest covered in silver armour with a set of red indents, eight on his chest and seven on each shoulder pad, also along with its head looked to be on fire the only exception being a bright blue gem in its forehead. “That’s not like the others is it?”

“No it isn’t...?” Dillon replied before noticing enemies behind himself reflexly swinging his sword and hitting them away as he then noticed Shade wasn’t transformed before shrugging it off when he started fighting more of them muttering to himself “Don’t worry about Shade he knows what he’s doing just focus on what's in front of you, Dillon”.

The figure then seemed to smirk at both Shade and Dillon before he said, “These things from the Order should be able to handle you, two measly creatures.” He then held his hands out before what looked to be a motorbike appeared beside him.

The bike was pure black in colour apart from on the front as it looked similar to that of the monster's head with flames running down the back, “now I think I got some time to drag some pathetic ponies to despair.”

“So a phantom then,” Shade responded, “I would have thought your lot would have been larger in number without someone dealing with you lot.”

Dillon bent backwards dodging an attack from another robot as he then kicked it away as he looked towards the figure and then to Shade before asking “The heck is a phantom and how many are there!?” before dodging another attack.

“If you mean phantoms, just one by the looks of it.” Shade responded, “What are you doing running away like a coward?”

‘I'm just trying to not get hit!” Dillon replied as his body went on autopilot once again as he jumped on top of the robot's shoulders and ripped off its head and kicked it towards another robot.

“That was aimed at the Phantom,” Shade responded as he saw the Phantom climb onto the motorbike, “and I really need to get my own bike,” Shade added with an annoyed groan.

“Oh crap” Dillon groaned out “That’s not good,” Dillon then stated before dodging another group of robots jumping in the air.

“Whoa!” he shouted as he landed on top of one of the nearby buildings nearly losing his balance in the process.

It was then that the duo heard a distorted voice that seemed to shout out, “heads up Shade! I’m sending you a little welcome home gift!” As soon as the voice finished a burning red portal appeared beside Shade as what looked to be a motorbike appeared from inside it appearing at Shade’s side.

The motorbike was red in colour and had black chains that pulsated in a crimson hue that adorned the sides that led to the back of the bike while on the front and sides it had a familiarly shaped black and red pulsating eye-shaped symbols covering it.

“Cool!” Dillon said out loud before fighting again shouting out “Why is there so many of you damn it!?” Shade not paying the boy any mind.

The Phantom then seemed to Glare at Shade before he revved the engine of the bike before riding off into the town, “Dillon I’m leaving this to you! I’ll deal with him!”

“O-Ok!’ Dillon said as continued dodging attacks from the enemy as he grabbed one of them, swinging it into multiple other robots before slamming it into the ground.

“Dillon! I’d recommend transforming!” Shade shouted as he climbed onto the bike before a distorted voice shouted “Weapon identified, Accessing Shade link!” before the voice added seconds later “Shade enhancements accepted, new skills uploaded for analysis!”

Shade then revved the bikes’ engines before riding off after the Phantom as Dillon heard him shout the words “Henshin!” as his form appeared over his body as he left.

“Completely forgot about that, noted!” Dillon shouted back as went for his morpher only for it to be knocked out of his hand and into a nearby alleyway.

“Damn it” Dillon grunted out as he ran into the alleyway, the robots not far behind as they continued pursuing him.

Dillon searched through the alleyway as quick as he can before finding and picking it up as he heard them behind himself cornered as he glanced at the device “Lets hopes this evens the odds” Dillon said as he flip the switch a bright light then emanating from the alleyway before it disappeared the robots then noticing that he was gone before a random robot was slammed into all of them knocking them out the alleyway as Dillon came out in the suit he was in before.

“Yeah this is much easier,” Dillon said as he tilted his head to the side, an audible crack being heard as he began fighting the group.

Dillon fought them with ease but after a moment he got distracted and was about to get hit in the back by one of the vagrant robots he missed before it was suddenly impaled by a sword that was thrown into its chest launching it away and pinning it onto a wall.

The boy then looked at the robot in confusion before seeing a figure appearing next to the robot taking out their sword before his eyes widened “No way I didn’t think I'd see this dude again…” Dillon said as the figure turned around revealing the robot he encountered in the castle.

“Why is he-” Dillon stopped as he slashed into a charging robot “You know what I’ll worry about that later” he said to himself as he and the robot dispatched the robots with ease.

After a few minutes of fighting it seemed to be over as there were multiple piles of the defeated robots as Dillon kept himself up with his sword as he mumbled out “Is it, is it over?” before taking a deep breath his exhaustion showed from his posture.

The robot kept his sword out as Dillon shouted out “Why are you still so cautious I think that was the last of them!”.

The robot didn’t respond as he persisted in keeping his weapon Dillon just shook his head in response “Whatever….” before standing himself up and walking towards the center of the path.

Dillon then suddenly dodged as a large fist went past him hitting a nearby building breaking off a large chunk of it as the robot then went in for an attack before being knocked away into a nearby building “Oh crap where did he come from!?” Dillon said as he looked to see a large robot across from him as it retracted its fist back onto its arm.

“Oh give me a break” Dillon whined as he sidestepped another attack going into slash its arm before suddenly stopping as blocking a punch from it which launched him back in to the building it hit before a pointed piece of wood impaled his side the boy letting out a scream in pain before he got grabbed by the robot Dillon struggling to get out of its grip.

The robot and him stared at each in silence for a moment before he felt his chest getting crushed feeling his ribs begin to crack and the piece of wood that impaled his side starting to go deeper into his body the boy letting out a scream of agony as he continued trying to get free his vision getting blurry as he felt his body go limp as he saw visions of the same robot in front of place he didn’t recognise along with others as his vision went red the boys eye color turning crimson.

The boy let out a roar as he broke free destroying the robots fist and trailing down its arm tearing apart in the process as he broke through its chassis going into the robot itself as he began to tear it apart from the inside out the robot stumbling around before falling to the ground Dillon bursting out of it through its head and landing in front of his as he let out a howl that can be heard from a distance.

Dillon then went silent as he stumbled forward before collapsing onto the ground blood beginning to pool around his body. “Guess this is where it ends huh….” he said before losing consciousness.

Meanwhile while Dillon was dealing with the robots Shade had taken chase after the monster that had been seeming to have led the robots that had attacked them the creature looked over its shoulder before it said “Who are you, stop interfering in our attempt to drive the gate to despair.”

“You really think I’d let one of you phantoms go around and cause trouble for someone again,” Shade groaned in annoyance.

“How did you know that?” the monster asked in confusion.

“Let me show you,” Shade replied with a smirk as he removed his old eyecon replacing it with the Wizard Eyecon before the words “Eye! Kaigan! Wizard! Yubiwa no mahō! Saigo no kibō!”

“How! Wizard works for Lord Demigra… why are you trying to stop us!”

“Simple… I’m not him,” Shade replied riding up beside the monster's bike as he tried to slash the monster with his sword as the creature brought its own to block which he managed as the two of them pulled away from each other to avoid a wall that had blocked their path between them.

Shade swerved out of the way, still able to see his enemy over the wall before they collided again as their swords connected, sending sparks flying between the two as they went.

“You're not bad for a fake, it’s amazing you managed to keep out of Lord Demigra’s reach for this long.”

“Oh I escaped from him a long time ago,” Shade replied as he swung his sword as it cut into the bikes tyre as the monster lost control as his bike crashed and he rolled into the centre of the road.

“What are you!” the monster shouted in anger.

Shade then climbed off of his bike before walking towards the monster who had managed to stand and regain his footing as he switched back to using his Shade Eyecon as he said calmly, “my name is Kamen Rider Shade and I’m going to show you directly to the pits of hell.”

“Pits of hell… really? My name is literally Hellhound, that's not much of a threat,” the monster now identified as Hellhound replied.

“Well let's try that theory out,” Shade replied with a smirk as he drew his sword and charged towards Hellhound as the two blades once again collided sparks flying between the two of them.

“You're not as bad as I would have predicted,” Hellhound admitted “not good, but not as bad as I anticipated.”

“Well then, I’ll make you rethink those expectations,” Shade replied as he managed to bring his sword across Hellhound's chest, sending him sprawling back. “Valkyrie! Scutum!” Shade shouted as two of his bands illuminated as his shield and spear appeared in his hands.

It was at this point Hellhound attempted to strike him with his sword which was blocked by Shade’s shield before his spear was thrust into Hellhound's chest sending him backwards as he grasped his chest in pain as blood was seen trickling from the newly inflicted wound.

“You're done,” Shade replied, staring down at Hellhound.

“No… this can’t be happening,” Hellhound muttered in fear as he attempted to stand and escape only for two bodies to grab ahold of his arms and drag him to his feet, forcing him to look at Shade.

Shade didn’t say anything, it didn’t need to be said. The two figures had seen this done before and knew what to do next for Shade.

“What are you doing!” Hellhound shouted out in a mix of fear and pain.

Once again Shade didn’t answer as he pulled the handle on his Driver before a voice shouted out “Shade! Omega Capture!” This caused Hellhound's eyes to go wide as he began to try and escape from the two figures holding him in place as four flames approached him before he was thrown into the oncoming attack as flames surrounded his arms and legs before igniting and covering his body.

Seconds later there were howls of pain as Hellhound screamed out in agony, “Stop! Please I surrender! Just please stop! I’ll do anything, I’ll be yours to control! Just please stop!”

The attack continued for a few more seconds before the flames faded around Hellhound's body before he fell forwards as multiple chains supported his weight as he looked towards Shade, his voice weak as he said in a monotonous voice “Standing by, Please input new directive.”

“Hellhound your soul will now forever be tied to my will, you shall no longer have any desire to serve anyone but me. You will work to better the people of this land and those I desire to look after, any deviation from this path will lead to you facing your worst fears, you will also no longer be able to hide or lie to me. Do you accept these new directives?”

Hellhound look towards Shade mindlessly before he said “Yes Lord Shade, your slave accept my new life under your control, please you me as you see fit,” it was at this point a blank silver band appeared on Shade’s arm as, Scutum, Valkyrie and Hellhound returned to their individual bands.

Shade then climbed back onto his bike before he thought I hope Dillon managed to deal with his enemies? as he made his way back towards where the fight had begun.

Once Shade returned to where he had left Dillon before he looked around, finding Dillon beaten and unconscious with a small puddle of blood on the ground near him.

As there were multiple buildings destroyed as. Shade noticed that most of them had collapsed and or had giant holes in them.

He then quickly ran over to Dillon checking his body over which held multiple cuts and bruises, the noticeable being around his ribs but the most notable thing he noticed was large bit of wood impaled into the boys side.

“What the hell happened!” Shade shouted as he knelt down beside Dillon’s body as he quickly untransforming as he cast a healing spell using his magic, quickly grabbing the woden spike impaled into his hand while casting his healing spell.

He then quickly pulled the spike out increasing the potency of the spell as it healed before much blood could escape from the wound as they started to heal over, however some of the deeper injuries had left barely visible scars on his chest.

Shade then turned his head towards one of the building as he then heard one of the robots slowly climb out of the building clutching its damaged arm as it noticed Shade next to unconscious Dillon as he shook in fear “I- Im sorry sir that thing ambushed us and easily dispatched of me when I went to attack it” it said as it clutched its arm on segment with the mark which let out small sparks every few seconds as he looked to Dillon “I failed you I tried to help him and I couldn’t I'm sorry lord Shade ” he said before falling to his knees.

Shade didn’t look at him for a second, his focus back on Dillon checking every part of his body for other injuries that needed attending to.

The robot, noticing Shades' silence,started shaking in place fearing what he would do after he finished looking over Dillon “I-I’ll accept any punishment you deem acceptable for failing you lord Shade”.

“Focus on your own injuries before asking for me to do anything to you,” Shade responded, “Right now, you are my only link to know the state of this world. So you are useful, failing here just means I didn’t make enough improvements before. It seems my changes were not good enough to help you.”

“You didn’t fail, it's my fault for being too weak” the robot replied as he looked towards his damaged arm wincing as he felt another spark emit from it as he stood himself up grabbing it to straighten it back into place the robot letting out a grunt as the sparks stop but his arm remaining motionless stating “I’ll patrol around the area just in case so no stragglers are still here”.

“Clean yourself up first, see to your damaged parts, and use what remains from your enemies to improve yourself for the next time. They are the only mechanical parts we have to upgrade your body beyond its basic parts,” Shade responded, “Deal with that, then bring it all to me. Gather anything that is compatible with yourself to deal with the repairs to your body.”

The robot nodded in response “yes sir” as he went to the multiple strewn bodies of the robots taking each of them apart and scanning each part to check if they were compatible with his.

After plucking out each compatible part he begins walking back to where Shade was and
Stopping at a nearby well using the water to clean off the dirt from his body after a moment he then came back to Shade with each part in hand.

“I found the compatible parts sir” the robot said, showing the extracted parts to shade Shade.

“What will each of the parts do for you, what benefits will they have,” Shade asked,as he picked Dillon up in his wings.

“Most would augment my reaction time and speed and some of the others would increase my durability and strength sir”.

“Gather any that can repair the damage to your arm, then place the rest in this portal,” Shade ordered as an eye shaped hole with a gap for the iris appeared beside him. “Place any useful parts in it, after you have repaired yourself.”

“Yes sir” he replied doing what he was told as he went towards the robots again taking apart their arms to salvage any parts he can use to repair his own.

After he found what he needed he sat himself down and opened up his arm and began taking out the damaged parts and replacing them with the newer ones the robot letting out noises of discomfort as he began fastening them in, after a few minutes he then closed up his newly repaired arm and attempted to move it his responding with much more speed and fluidity than before as it moved with every input he made as he stood himself up and grabbed more parts from the robots along with others he had collected previously and placing them into the portal

“Any better now,” Shade asked as he looked at the robot, as he rocked Dillon in his wings.

“Yes it's much better now sir” the robot said, showing Shade his newly repaired arm.

“Good,” Shade responded, “Is everything salvaged that we can use?”

“Yeah i made sure to take any parts from the robots that weren’t fully destroyed in the fight and placed them through the portal”.

“And I assume you gathered any functional weapons and gained a useful one for yourself.”

“Yes I have sir” the robot replied as a longsword appeared in his hands “I found this weapon to be the most optimal when I gathered the others”.

“Good.” Shade responded before turning only to find his bike gone, “That's just great, guess I'm running,” Shade sighed before looking at the robot, “Lets go, we better take Dillon back.”

“Yes sir” the robot said, making his longsword dissipate as he and Shade ran towards the forest.

As the group they began to run back to the only place Shade knew would willingly look after Dillon. The Wolves Den.

As the group ran back towards the wolves' den before Shade looked to the robot and asked, “Did you ever give me your name?”

The robot shook his head as he said “I don’t have a name, I was just designated as unit AX-4695-L.”

“I think we need to sort you out a new name,” Shade responded with a shake of his head

“What would you recommend then lord Shade?” he asked

“That I don’t know,” Shade responded, “I’ll get back to you on that AX-4695-L.”

“I understand Lord Shade,” he responded.

The both of them then hear a groan coming from Dillon as he cracks open his eyes looking up at Shade his vision blurry as he says “Dad is that you?” as he then closed his eyes again as the boy began to shake in place Shade noticing that Dillons body was starting to get cold to the touch.

“His temperature is going down rapidly, we need to hurry”.

“I know,” Shade responded as he pulled Dillon as close to his chest as he could. “His mothers going to try and kill me.”

“Cold” the two heard the boy mumble to himself as he let out wavered breaths as Shade noticed fur protruding out from Dillon and that Dillons face and body was looking much more wolf like than usual his legs having a more Digitigrade structure and his face having a muzzle and a dark black nose.

The robot notices this and speaks “Lord Shade Dillons body structure has seemed to change to a more wolf like form”.

“What do you mean?” Shade asked before looking down to Dillon’s form finding what looked to be a Timberwolf Pup in his arms, “what the? How did that happen?”

“Maybe it's his body's response to his temperature from before because his temperature is much higher now Lord Shade”.

“Well, maybe his mother can explain this better,” Shade responded as they saw the cave come into view.

They then noticed one of the pups sitting out in front of the cave as it noticed them, the pup running inside and a second passed before the Timberwolf ran out to the front of the cave.

She looked confused for a moment when she looked at the pup that was held by Shade before it dawned her as she let out a whimper when Shade and the robot stopped in front of her.

Shade then knelt down before saying, “can we take him inside where it’s safer?”

The wolf nodded in response as the two followed her inside the cave, the timberwolf sitting next to one of the walls.

He then carefully lowered Dillon down to the ground before slowly backing away, “he should be okay, I just don’t know why he turned into a real pup.”

She went towards Dillon pressing her nose against his body as he squirmed in place before looking up at Shade as if asking she was asking him what happened.

“I don’t have the answer,” Shade responded, “but-” he added looking at AX-4695-L.

“He got severely hurt back into the town and while we were running back he turned into a wolf pup but im not completely sure why”.

“He wasn’t supposed to go into this form yet his body wasn’t acclimated to the change enough” she responded.

“I’m sorry but I can’t understand you, I generally wish I could,” Shade admitted.

The wolf just shook her head in response as she proceeded to write onto the ground the text saying “he wasn’t ready for this transformation yet his body must have reacted based on the situation and condition of his body”.

“Well, is that good thing, or does it mean he’s still in danger?”

“He's okay but he’ll be out of commission for a while which is why he’s still unconscious”.

“At least he is still alive,” Shade responded, “That is at least one good thing.”

The wolf nodded in response as she then wrote “I'm just glad he’s alive” before cuddling against Dillons unconscious form.

Shade just smiled at them both before his head suddenly began to throb as he reached towards his head and winced in pain.

The wolf raising her head looking in his direction “is something wrong?” she to herself as she went to write on the cave floor to ask.

Shade then seemed to lean forward both hands grasping his head, his teeth gritted in pain.

“Lord Shade, what is wrong is there anything I can to help?” the robot said, concerned for his well being.

“What's wrong?’ the wolf said to herself carefully moving from Dillon so she wouldn’t disturb him as she walked in front of Shade.

“I- Don’t- know,” Shade responded through gritted teeth.

She reeled back in surprise before asking “D-did you just reply to me?”.

Shade then paused, slowly removing his hand from his head before responding to the Timberwolf, “Wait… Did I hear you?”

“Yes you did, but why now and how?” she said in response to Shade.

“I don’t know?”

“At least the language barrier isn’t a thing anymore so I can speak with you”.

The group was then caught off guard as a strange voice said “Alex Shade, for your deeds in protecting both the ponies and creatures of this land, I wish to speak with you personally, as an act of goodwill I have shared with you a fraction of my powers to allow you to speak with all creatures that surround you. Once you are free you can find me under the ruins in the crevasse. I look forward to seeing you soon.”

As soon as the voice finished talking the sound faded as quickly as it had begun.

“Okay… was I the only one who heard that or did you all hear it as well?” Shade asked as he looked at everyone in the cave.

“I definitely heard that,” the wolf replied.

“I have as well,” the robot responded.

“...My full name does not leave this room… cave understood,” Shade asked as his eyes darted between everyone in the cave.

“No problem from me since I can't really speak to other people other than you or Dillon” The wolf responded.

“Understood lord Shade” the robot replied.

“So are you gonna do what that voice asked of you?” the wolf then asked Shade.

“A voice asked that I have no idea where it came from but somehow gifted me with the power to talk with animals and asked me to visit… I have nowhere better to currently go so I will…. Later though after I know the kid is okay,” Shade admitted. “Either way I have to thank her for allowing me to speak with you even if I don’t know if that’s a pro or a con for you,” Shade responded.

“If anything it's a pro since I don't have to write on the floor anymore”.

“I guess so”.

She just looks back at Dillon before gently picking him up by the nape of his neck and placing him in front herself, keeping him pressed up against her fur.

“I'm so glad he’s okay though thank you Shade for bringing him back to me”.

“I just wish I could say I brought him back without any injuries though,” Shade admitted.

“It wasn’t your fault as I've said I was too weak to fight against the thing that hurt him, I'm at fault”.

Shade just rolled his eyes in annoyance, before looking at the Timberwolf again, “either way, is there anything we can do to help?”

“All that can be done now is let him rest but it’ll take a bit for him to regain consciousness” she replied casting her gaze towards Dillon’s unconscious form who let out low snores as she laid herself down cuddling against him saying to Shade “If you two want your free to rest here until Dillon wakes up”.

“I thank you for your hospitality,” Shade responded.

She just nodded in response before laying her head down and closing her eyes as she fell asleep.

The robot looked at her in silence before asking Shade “So what will we be doing now lord Shade?”.

“Right now… I don’t know. First we’ll make sure the kid is okay then we will decide.”

“I understand Lord Shade” the robot replied as he sat himself at the entrance of the cave stating “I’ll keep a lookout while we wait” the robot stated as everyone went silent,

All Dillon saw was darkness in front of him, left with nothing but an eerie silence that seemed to pierce through the void as well as him, the boy looking around himself as he let out a sigh of frustration.

“Ah great this place again what are they gonna have me go through now is the I'm not ready guy gonna burn me again,” Dillon said to himself as he felt something land behind him as he turned to see a door behind him.

“The hell?” Dillon said as he walked to the door confused noticing that the door has a great resemblance to ones he saw in the castle “this ain’t the weirdest from what I’ve seen in here but it's up there”. he said before taking a deep breath and opening it

a bright light emitting from the inside of it as he slowly began to walk through before hearing a voice coming from behind him.

“Dillon,” a feminine voice said as he turned around, seeing the red-haired woman but couldn’t see her face due to the door obscuring it.

“That voice, wait,” Dillon said as he rushed back towards the door as it closed, reaching it as he began forcing it back open as her face started to come into view, the boy seeing a yellow eye and a smile on her face.

His vision suddenly was covered by a dark hand as multiple others came from behind him and grasped him.

“Wait no sis!” Dillon shouted as he fought against their grip before his hand lost its hold on the door, the boy flying back through and the door slamming shut. “No!” he shouted as he suddenly woke up, jerking up as he grasped his chest, taking deep breaths as he heard the wolf say his name “Dillon!” as he looked to his side to see her staring at him in worry.

“Mom, wait when did I get back to the cave?” Dillon said as he looked around himself and said “Wait, how am I?”.

“Shade brought you back after you were hurt” he heard her say as he felt his side letting out a low hiss of pain as he replied, “I owe him for that then, where is he anyway?”.

“He said he would stick around until he knew you were okay so he and that robot are most likely hanging around near the lake” she responded as she noticed Dillon attempting to stand himself up “Dillon you're still hurt, please just stay down and rest,” she said worriedly.

“It's fine I’ll go slow,” Dillon said as stood up by bracing against the wall as he began to slowly stumble forward towards the entrance to the cave clutching his side.

After a moment he suddenly heard Shade’s voice coming from outside the cave as he saw the robot sitting at the side of the entrance. The robot then noticed Dillon as he walked out the cave before suddenly tripping the robot quickly grabbing the boy before he fell to the ground.

“T-thanks,” Dillon said to the robot as he then looked towards the lake, seeing Shade standing in front of it, not looking at the two.

“It's no problem, Lord Shade, he's awake!” the robot shouted to Shade as he turned around to look at the two.

“As much as I assume you wanted to thank me, you need to think of your own health,” Shade admitted before walking over to him, “I mean you almost died earlier, you should be resting right now.”

Dillon chuckled in response “fair enough but I’m not really the brightest of the bunch as you can clearly see” the boy replied keeping his hand on his side “How long was I out anyway?”.

“You were out for around 7 hours, give or take,” Shade responded.

“At least I wasn’t out for a whole day” Dillon replied “so what happened to that thing that attacked me and this guy” he then asked pointing at the robot before continuing.

“After it grabbed me everything went blank I don’t remember anything after” as he noticed the robot looking away in shame.

“What is it?” Dillon asked as the robot sighed before responding “You were beaten badly by the robot and you would’ve died but something happened it's as something snapped within you because when i was in the building i heard your screams but then were replaced by growls and metal being torn apart somehow you tore that robot to pieces within seconds even when you were incredibly wounded”.

Dillon was silent as images flashed through his mind each going too fast for him to identify before he immediately slumped forward and suddenly vomiting Dillon then raising a hand when Shade went in front of him “I-Im fine just give me a second” he said before vomiting again its color having a slight red hue “so that’s where some of the blood went..” as he then looked towards the robot.

“What’s your name anyway?” Dillon asked the robot trying to change the subject.

“I don’t have a name I was only ever called AX-4695-L” he responded Dillon chuckling in response “Yeah I think I’ll just call you Axel”

The robot went silent for a moment as he went into thought before responding “Axel, I like it I’ll go by Axel from now on,” Axel said with a smile as he patted the boys who started to puke again “Oh crap that’s a lot hey Axel can you sit me down” Dillon muttered to him.

“Oh of course” he responded carefully, placing the boy on the ground.

“So what are you two gonna do now that you know I’m not dying... well not yet at least,” Dillon asked Shade.

“Right now… I’ve got someone I need to pay a visit to, but I wanted to wait to be sure that you were well before I left,” Shade admitted.

“So you two are heading out now?” Dillon asked.

“I will be heading off soon, but as for AX-4695-L… I don’t actually know what he will do,” Shade admitted.

“I’ll stay here with Dillon and if something happens I will inform you Lord Shade” Axel stated.

“It’s not my place to say if you can stay here or not, that's up to the leader of this pack,” Shade admitted.

“I'm ok with it just as long as he doesn’t cause trouble for me and my pups” they heard the wolf say as she walked out of the cave.

“Still… There would be the whole language barrier to deal with.” Shade admitted,

“I could make him a part of the pack like Dillon since he doesn’t seem to be made of just metal” She suggested.

“I don’t feel comfortable with that suggestion” Dillon states.

“If any of you don't mind filling me in on what you are discussing because I feel a bit lost”.

Dillon sighs as he states, “Mom you can’t be serious”.

“I am actually,” the wolf said in annoyance.

“As much as he is pleasant right now I can’t sidestep the fact that he was an enemy earlier today!”.

“And it seems Shade mitigated that since he hasn’t tried attacking you and besides it’s not your choice Dillon it’s mine!” she said with a growl walking in front of Dillon.

Dillon growled out in annoyance before sighing “you know what do you want I don’t give a damn” Dillon said as he slowly stood himself up putting a hand on Axel’s shoulder “word of warning if you say yes it’s gonna hurt” he said as he slowly walked past him and into the cave.

The wolf sighed as she muttered, “What am I gonna do with that boy?”.

“I’d say teach him to behave. He is still a young child… or pup depending on where he stands now,” Shade admitted.

“He’s older than the pups but he still is one” she responded with a sigh before the two looked at Axel who had nothing but confusion on his face as the wolf then looked to Shade saying “tell him I'm making him a part of the pack”.

Shade simply nodded his head in response before looking at Axel, “She’s made a decision on something, it’s just that Dillon disagrees with her choice.”

“And what is that choice exactly?” Axel asked.

“She wanted to make you part of her pack, that would allow you to understand what she and the other Timberwolves are saying.”

“So it would help with me not being confused about what you are discussing with her?”.

“Yes, but I don’t know what sort of aftereffects there may be on you,” Shade admitted.

“What do you mean by effects lord Shade?” Axel asked, confused.

“With how he is made up he’ll experience somewhat of the same that Dillon experienced when he was made a part of the pack probably without the ears or tail though”.

“Well, you know how Dillon has those ears and a tail?” Shade asked

“Yes lord Shade there, quite noticeable”.

“Those are something that you may get,” he added, “along with possibly some other physical changes but I can’t be sure of that.”

“Most of the transformation is discomfort mostly but with the teeth, that’s when it starts to hurt “ the wolf stated as she walked in front of Axel who looked down towards her in confusion.

“Do you want her to do it?” Shade asked, “If not just say, but if you do I will find out how she wants to do it.”

Axel went silent as he began thinking to himself this lasted for a minute before he said “I’ll do it”.

The wolf nods in response as she says to Shade “Have him sit down in front of me and have his arm out”.

“You just need to sit in front of her and hold your arm out to her and she’ll do the rest,” Shade responded.

“Okay Lord Shade” Axel responded, walking in front of the wolf sitting himself down in front of her and holding his arm out.

She then stood up and walked towards him, positioning her muzzle in front of his arm before sinking her teeth into it, Axel letting out a hiss of pain before feeling her let go of his arm, the bite seemingly closing instantaneously.

“That’s peculiar,” Axel muttered as he heard a feminine voice from in front of him say “You are now a part of the pack welcome Axel” as he looked to see the wolf sat down in front of him.

“Um thank you that’s gonna take a bit to get used to” Axel muttered as he stood himself up.

“You’ll be used to it in no time. Dillon was the same way hours ago and now he’s casually speaking with us even if he’s not in a good mood right now”.

“He didn’t like this idea did he?” Axel asked her.

“No, No he didn’t but it wasn’t his choice to make”.

“I know it's not my place to say but I do believe you could have worded that better to him so he wouldn’t have gotten angry with you”.

“It's going to be fine, he's a child that still has learning to do” she responded before saying “maybe I could've been a little bit more lenient with him” she then said with a sigh.

“I’ll go talk to him” she said walking towards the cave “Oh and Axel”

“Y-yes?”.

“If you need anyone to talk with just come to me” she said as she walked into the cave.

“Oh o-ok” Axel replied before muttering to himself “Well that was something…”.

“I guess that's taken care of,” Axel stated as he turned to Shade asking “So are you heading off now Lord Shade?”.

“I think I will,” Shade responded before turning away, “Oh, and look after yourself.”

Axel nods before asking “Oh lord shade before you go how will I be able to find you if I need to see you?”.

“If you need me… I’ll be around,” Shade responded with a wave as he left the clearing outside the cave and walked away into the forest.

Axel stood there in silence before nodding to himself and walking towards the cave.

Dillon sat in the cave in silence as he held one of the pups in his lap scratching it behind its ears as the wolf spoke with him.

“Dillon I should've word's what I had said to you much more gently than I did to you earlier and I'm sorry” she said to the boy who only stood there in silence before sighing.

“It's fine,” Dillon responded before the two look to see Axel coming into the cave. “Don’t mind me,” he said with a dismissive wave.

“So to get off the subject, how are you feeling Dillon?” she asked the boy.

“Other than the fact I basically threw my guts up out there I'm fine it still hurts like hell but not as much as before” Dillon replied as he stood himself only to stumble backwards into the wall clutching his side.

“Please Dillon slow down” she whimpered out towards him as he sighed as he slid down the wall to the ground.

“Dammit I'm useless” Dillon muttered to himself as Axel stated out loud “No you're not”.

“What?”.

“When you and I were fighting those robots earlier you fought well even if you barely knew how to use the suit” Axel replied before continuing.

“If anything you have the potential to be stronger you just have to harness it either by training or just sheer will, I know you can and I believe Lord Shade knows it as well” Axel said with a smile.

Dillon went completely silent as he looked towards his fist and clenching it and slowly standing himself up and walking himself towards Axel who looked confused as he did this.

Dillon stopped in front of him and held his hand out to him “we haven’t formally met so lets get that out of the way hello my names Dillon it's nice to meet you” Axel looking at Dillons hand before smiling taking it into his own replying “Likewise it's nice to meet you Dillon my names Axel’.

The two smile towards each as Dillon sits himself across from Axel the wolf smiling at their interaction as the pup from before laid himself against her while they were talking with each other.
But after a couple minutes had passed Dillon had let out a yawn “It wasn’t even that long why am I so tired?” Dillon said as the wolf responded to him saying “it's your body's response to the wounds healing just rest Dillon” as Dillon yawned again.

“If you say so…” Dillon replied, his eyes closing as he fell asleep, his body slowly sliding to the side as it slumped to the floor.

“Goodnight Dillon sweet dreams” the wolf said as she landed her focus on Axel.

“You know Axel you can go to sleep as well” she said before Axel gave a dismissive wave “It's fine I don’t really need to sleep I can but it isn’t needed”.

“I see” she says before noticing Axel fidgeting around where he sat “are you okay Axel?” she then asked.

“Yes I'm just feeling some mild discomfort near my tailbone” he responded before just opting to stand up.

“Oh that's just transformation taking its course and as I've said to Dillon it won’t take long it won’t be quick either”.

“Will it hurt?” Axel asked.

“Not all of it, most of it is just mild discomfort but the part I believe that will hurt for you is the teeth part of the transformation since Dillon was in a lot of pain when that part came up as well”.

“How bad was it-” Axel went to say before feeling pain hit him like a truck a immediately clasping his hand over his mouth and coughing up blood as he time he took a breathe he felt a sharpened tooth dig into the inside of his cheek and the back of his mouth as each cough came with a tooth falling out of his mouth.

While this happened he felt the wolf nuzzle against as she said “it's ok the worst of it will be over soon”.

As the final tooth fell out he felt his new teeth sharpen to a point as he coughed one last time spitting out blood and some teared flesh from the inside of his mouth.

“He went through this, that was awful” Axel sputtered out as he wiped the blood from his mouth.

“Now all there's left is the ears or tail now but I think it's best you rest as well since the transformation goes much smoother when someone is not conscious”.

“Really it's fine besides as I said before I don’t really need to sleep”.

“Please I insist that tomorrow I'm having you help me with something and I'd rather you be rested for it” she responded laying her head down as Axel shrugged in response as the cave went silent.

But Axel didn’t fall asleep to the contrary he was wide awake just sitting there against the wall fidgeting slightly from the bump in his tail bone as he looked to the entrance as he slowly went towards trying to be as quiet as possible to not wake everyone up.

As he made it out of the cave he sat himself down on his knees and looked up at the sky “it's quite beautiful tonight” he said admiring the night sky as he closed his eyes going into deep thought a moment later low snores coming from him as he fell asleep where he stood.

Axel then woke up in a black void seeing nothing identifiable as he heard a voice echo through his head “You're doing great, better than me at least” as he looked around confused to where the voice was coming from before suddenly feeling a hand on his shoulder as he suddenly woke up.

Axel suddenly lurched forward as he fell on his face “ow…” he said as he noticed that the discomfort was gone from the bump as he looked back to see a tail that replaced it as he looked around and noticed that there was light shining through the treeline “Oh it's daytime now” he muttered as he look towards the lake to see Dillon and the wolf sitting at the lake while the pups were playing.

“Oh look who decided to wake up” Dillon said as he noticed Axel.

“Come sit with us Axel, the waters are quite nice,” the wolf said as Axel nodded in response, sitting himself next to them as they sat there in silence.

“It's beautiful” Axel stated out loud as Dillon responded “yeah it is, it's quite peaceful as well” as Axel noticed a long wooden stick next to Dillon.

“What's with the stick?” Axel asked.

“Oh it's to help me walk, mom made it for me while you were asleep” Dillon replied as he grabbed the cane and stood himself up, one of the pups jumping on his shoulder as he did so.

“See?” Dillon said before stating “it helps a lot so I don’t have to rely on everyone else for support for walking all the time”.

Dillon then began walking towards the treeline as Axel asked “where are you going?”.

“Oh I'm just getting some berries,” Dillon said in response as he said “you can come if you want”.

“Um sure..: Axel replied as he jogged up next to Dillon as he and Dillon disappeared into the treeline.

“So what's with the pup on your shoulder?”.

“Oh he just likes being around me I call him Hāto”.

“If I recall correctly, isn't that japanese for heart?” Axel asked Dillon, nodding in confirmation “Don’t know why I knew that but it just popped up in my head when I was thinking of what to call him”.

“Yeah I like it” the pup said, making Axel flinch “I keep forgetting I can understand all of you. I'm only used to hearing your mother talking”.

“I can understand that,” Dillon replied as he stopped in front of a bush with berries that had red berries with an orange hue “Help me pick these Axel,” Dillon said as Axel nodded in response as he crouched next to Dillon and picked the berries with him.

“What are these berries anyway?” Axel then asked as he examined the berries “they're called Cloudberries” Dillon replied.

“How do you-”.

“Don’t know why, I just do,” Dillon quickly replied as he and Axel placed the berries in his backpack.

“O-ok” Axel replied as Dillon stood back up “That seems like enough” Dillon said as he put his backpack back on.

Dillon and Axel then began walking back to the lake before their ears twitched the two then looking towards a nearby bush.

“You hear that?” Dillon asked Axel who only nodded in response as Dillon then closed his eyes holding his hand as he took a breath, his sword then appearing in his hand.

“Did you just?”

“Yes I did, I was practicing while you were asleep” Dillon responded as the two of them slowly approached the bush.

Dillon then used his sword to move the bush out of the way, the two looking over it only to see a bomb as it began to beep rapidly.

Dillon stumbled back, tripping into Axel who grabbed the boy and dived away as the subsequent explosion obliterated the bush and nearby trees.

“What the hell was that!?” Dillon shouted out as Axel picked him up and grabbed the boy's cane “I don’t know but we have to run” Axel said as he ran the opposite direction while having the boy on his back.

Dillon looked up to see two hooded figures in the trees following after them “Axel, two people are following us!” Dillon shouted out as Axel nodded in response taking multiple turns to try and lose them.

“They're still behind us!” Dillon shouts as one of the figures lunged towards the two aiming their sword at Dillon as Axel immediately turned around blocking the attack with his longsword as he got launched out of the treeline into a nearby lake the boy landing on his feet as he looked to the treeline trying to figure where their going to come from.

“Look out!” Dillon shouted out as Axel saw Dillon parrying one of the attackers as Axel turned around slamming the flat end of his sword against them launching them away before the two jumped out of the way from a blast Dillon falling towards the ground.

One of the attackers appears above Dillon trying to impale them with their sword, Dillon blocking the attack with the flat end of the sword as he struggles to fight them back Dillon noticing a red strand of hair coming out of the hood “What the..”.

Dillon looked closer towards them to see their faces only for Axel to knock them away from the boy “you ok Dillon?”.

“Y-yeah” Dillon responded as Axel passed the boy his cane “Thanks”

“No problem” Axel replied as Dillon stood himself up as the attackers appeared from across from them.

“Who the hell are you guys huh!?” Dillon shouts out towards them.

“I'm surprised you don’t recognize me Dillon” one of them says as they take off their hood revealing a robot with a manic smirk on his face.

“Oh not this again” Dillon muttered before stating “Axel get ready”.

“Got it” Axel nodded as he held up his longsword.

Dillon took a breath as he reversed his grip holding the sword in front of himself taking a breath as the two figures suddenly lunged towards the two.

The robot goes for Dillon but gets knocked away into the tree by Axel who doesn’t hesitate to pursue him.

While Dillon stumbled back from a swipe from the other figure who was relentless in their attack, Dillon moved out the way from each attack until he was suddenly pinned against a tree by them.

Dillon gasped out as he grabbed their arm, trying to get himself free as he saw a sword in their other hand, the figure raising it up and aiming it at his heart.

“Why are you doing this?...” Dillon grunted out as the figure shot their sword forward Dillon closing his eyes in response waiting for that pain he felt before but it didn’t come he opened up his eyes to see the sword stopped directly at his chest the figures arm shaking as they dropped the boy to the ground Dillon taking this chance grabbed his cane and stumbled into the forest.

“Where’s Axel, we gotta get out of here…” Dillon muttered as he hid himself behind a tree.

“Dillon” he heard from his side as he yelped, falling to the ground and looking up to see Axel standing there.

“Don’t do that,” Dillon said, placing his hand on his heart.

“Apologies,” Axel replied.

“What happened to the other guy?”.

“He disappeared and couldn't find him, how about you?”.

“They let me go,” Dillon responded.

“What, why?”

“I-i don’t know it like they were struggling to do it and they dropped me after that I ran”.

Axel stayed silent as he started patting Dillon’s body. “H-hey, what are you doing!?”.

“I'm checking if they placed a tracker on you” Axel responded before stopping “there's none on you at all that is strange”.

“What do you mean?”.

Axel sighed as he replied “Let’s just get back to the lake your mom’s probably worried” he then picked up Dillon placing him on his back as he began walking back to the lake.

“Just make sure to keep an ear out just in case, Dillon”.

“If you say so Axel..” Dillon responded as the two went silent letting the sounds of the forest take over.

After a half an hour of walking the two finally make it back to the lake Dillon asleep on Axel's back.

Axel looked back at the boy and chuckled slightly, shaking the boy awake.

Dillon groans out as he wakes “ugh what?”.

“We're back at the lake Dillon” Axel replied with a smirk.

“Oh we are?”.

“Yep” Axel nodded as he stopped in front of the cave crouching down as Dillon slowly climbed off of him.

“Mom we’re back!” Dillon shouted in the front of the cave as the wolf walked out.

“So how was the hunt for ber- what happened to you two?” she asked as Axel answered her “Two figures attacked us in the forest don’t know who they were but one of them seemed to know Dillon specifically”.

“One of them knew you” she asked the boy who nodded in response.

“Yeah he somehow knew me by name, it seems I had history with him before I lost my memories but at least we were able to get away a bit unscathed so that's good at least” Dillon said as he sat himself down Axel sitting himself across from him.

“So let's talk about the one that let you go,” Axel said towards him.

“Wait, one of them just let you go?” the wolf asked

“There really isn’t much to say for that matter but yeah when they were about to kill me they just stopped their hands were shaking like they were struggling with something it was shocking to say the least” Dillon responded before eyes widened “wait where's Hāto!?” Dillon shouted out before feeling movement in his backpack.

With a brow raised he took it off and looked inside only to see the pup in question eating the berries he and Axel had collected “of course…” Dillon muttered to himself as he picked the pup out of the bag who became sticky because of the berries Dillon looked at him unamused.

Hāto only giggled in response as Dillon smiled at the pup as he slowly stood himself up “well guess it's time to give you a bath”.

The pup whined in response as Dillon walked towards the lake, the wolf and Axel not far behind as they followed behind him.

Dillon used his cane to set himself down as he sat Hāto in front of the water. Dillon cupping the water in his hand began pouring it on Hāto.

“Oi stay still”.

“But it's cold” Hāto whined in response as Dillon rubbed off the mashed parts of the berries out of the pups fur.

“Jeez you got covered by so much of it” Dillon groaned as he shook the remnants of the berries off of his hand.

“That's better,” Dillon said with a smile as he placed Hāto on the ground who in response shook the water out of his fur covering Dillon who subsequently did the same with both Hāto’s fur and Dillons hair puffing out a small amount.

Dillon frowning at pup pats down his hair as he hears his mother giggling “Aw you looked so cute like that”.

“Gee thanks” Dillon replies with a blank expression as he stood himself up stumbling a small amount before putting all of his weight onto his cane.

The group began walking back towards the cave before hearing a scream coming from further in the forest.

“The hell?” Dillon muttered as he and Axel turned around.

“Someones in trouble” Axel said as he pulled out his longsword Dillon groaned out in exasperation.

“C'mon we’ve barely been here for 15 minutes!” Dillon said before seeing Axel crouch down Dillons eye twitching for a moment before he said “fine…” the boy then climbed on Axel's back as he jumped into the forest Dillon shouting “We’ll be back in a little while mom!” the two then going out of view.

Axel started to jump from tree to tree as he and Dillon went toward the direction the scream came from as they then heard another one Dillon pointing west of them as Axel immediately jumped down from the trees and landed on the ground, Axel continuing to rush forward on the ground.

They heard the scream from west of them as Axel changed directions again as he burst through the treeline to find an anthropomorphic pony backing into a large rock as she was surrounded by Timberwolves.

Axel then jumped over the Timberwolves as he landed in front of her, Dillon climbing off of him as the two boys took out their weapons.

“Dillon you stay here I’ll take care of them” Axel stated as he ran towards the Timberwolves as Dillon reached out saying “W-wait and he’s already doing it great….” the boy then looked at the pony who looked at him with wide eyes.

The two stare at each other in silence as Dillon then nervously chuckles saying “Hi…” the pony simply faints in response “Yeesh tough crowd” Dillon said before stumbling back narrowly dodging a bite from a Timberwolf.

Dillon fell to the ground as the Timberwolf jumped on the top of him knocking away his sword and pinning him to the ground the Timber Wolf snarling in the boys face as its claws dug into chest and arm as Dillon instinctually did the same as the wolf then going to bite Dillons throat before Dillons cane was shoved in its maw.

The boy growled towards it before pushing it off as he stood himself up Dillon then hitting the wolf with the rounded end of the cane knocking it into the trees and he slouched against his cane as he looked forward to see Axel knocking away one of the last standing Timberwolves as the stragglers limped into the forest.

Axel sheathed his longsword as he walked back towards Dillon and the pony Axel noticed the scratches on Dillon.

“You okay?” Axel asked crouching in front of Dillon.

“Yeah I'm fine it's just a few scratches I’ll live let's just worry about her for a moment” Dillon responded pointing towards the unconscious pony.

The two stare at her unconscious form before Dillon breaks the silence “So what do we do?”.

“I don’t know, I thought you had an idea”.

“I don’t want to pick her up. I'm still injured and I don’t want her to freak out on me when she inevitably wakes up” Dillon pointed out, leaning against his cane while the two then looked towards each other.

“You want me to pick her up?” Axel asked.

“No lets just wait until she wakes up” Dillon responded as he heard a groan coming at her “Well ask and you shall receive” the boy then said as he crouched down using his cane as her eyes opened the two boys in her view as she looked at them in silence.

This goes on for multiple minutes before Axel said “Hello” the pony flinching in response as she let out a whimper backing up into the boulder Axel holding up his arms as he said in a calming manner “we're not gonna hurt you we're just here to help”.

She just looked at the two in silence before quietly saying “T-Thank you”.

The two just smile in response “Im Dillon and that's Axel” Dillon stated as he held out a hand towards her.

She looked at it in silence for a few seconds before shakily grabbing his hand as he gently pulled her up Dillon letting out a huff of discomfort as he held his hand to his side.

“You're hurt,” she said to the boy.

“I'm fine, it happened last night and it's already healing pretty well, I just wish it didn’t so much whenever I move without my cane though”.

“I-I can help with that,” she responded.

Dillon tilted his head to the side as he replied “You sure you want to do that because you barely know me and Axel heck you haven’t even told us your name”.

“O-oh my name Fluttershy” she quietly replied.

The boy chuckled in response as he leaned forward with his cain doing a slight bow “Well it's nice to meet you Fluttershy ''

She smiled back at him as she replied back “it's nice to meet you too Dillon and you as well Axel”.

“Likewise Ms.Shy” Axel responded as he picked up Dillon and placed him on his back as he then asked “earlier you said you can help with the pain he’s feeling?”.

“Y-yeah just follow me” she replied as she walked past them Axel following behind her “whatever you say Miss Shy” Axel then stated.

After twenty minutes of walking the three find themselves in front of a cottage that leads out to the path towards the town.

“Oh, it's the cottage I saw before,” Dillon thought to himself as he heard Axel speak.

“This the place?” Axel asked Fluttershy who nodded in response.

“Yes this is my home” Fluttershy replied as she opened the front door and walked inside, motioning for the boys to come in.

Axel then walked through the door to see the cottage’s interior. The two boys noticed multiple animals running around, including a bear that walked past the two Dillon, specifically putting his focus on it.

“Is th- is that a bear?’.

“Yes it is his name’s Harry” Fluttershy stated to the boy.

“O-oh well hello Harry,” Dillon said to the bear as it nodded in response as Fluttershy walked out of view up some stairs the pony saying, “Y-you can sit down on the couch if you want i won’t be long!”.

“O-ok!” Axel responded back as he placed Dillon onto the couch and then sat himself down.

“This place is quite comfy,” Dillon stated as he looked around the place, seeing multiple bookshelves and a birdhouse that hung on the ceiling.

“Agreed,” Axel responded as he noticed a small white bunny jump on top of Dillon’s lap “oh, look a bunny, how cute”.

Dillon looked down to see that said bunny looked at him with a glare “it looks like it glaring at me…”

“Is it” Axel asked, looking at the bunnies face before it proceeded to hit Dillon on his injury Dillon lurching his side, clutching the spot he was hit in as he groaned out in pain his eyes clenched shut before opening them again see the bunny in his face seemingly with a smug look on its face.

“You little shit…..” Dillon groaned out as his eyes momentarily flashed red as he growled out the bunny running away in response “ow…” a moment later, Fluttershy came back down the stairs holding a small box as she approached the two boys and placing the box on the table in front of them.

Fluttershy then noticed how Dillon was positioned and asked “A-are you okay?”.

“A random white bunny hit me on my injury, he or she has made a new enemy today,” Dillon groaned.

“O-oh, sorry that was Angel bunny, he's not that welcoming to newcomers in the cottage.”

“Well, he has made a new enemy today,” Dillon responded as he slowly sat himself up.

Fluttershy just shook her and opened the box, the boys seeing that it held multiple bandages and applicable creams as she asked, “could you lift up your cloak please?”.

“Oh yeah, here you go,” Dillon responded as he lifted the part of his cloak that covered his injury Fluttershy, nodding in response, grabbed one of the vials.

She then poured some contents of the said vial on her hands before covering her hand over his injury, saying, “this will hurt at first, but it will numb the pain.”

Dillon let out a gulp before nodding towards her as she slowly placed her hands on the injury, the boy letting out a sharp hiss in pain as he shoved the side of his fist into his mouth and bit into it.

The boy, after a moment, unlatched his teeth from his fist as he let out a shuddered breath while Axel looked towards him with concern.

Dillon then slowly propped himself up with his arm as he looked towards Fluttershy, who asked him, “How do you feel?”

“I-it still hurts, the numbing is definitely doing it’s work.”

Dillon responded before smiling towards her.

“Thank you Ms.Shy” He said before he and Axel did a short bow towards her.

“O-oh it's no problem you were hurt and I wanted to help”

“Even still we appreciate it, we are in your debt” Axel responded as Dillon nodded in agreement.

Fluttershy in response just smiled before asking the two.

“Would you two like some tea?”

Axel and Dillon went silent for a moment before nodding in response as she walked out the room, the boys then speaking to one another.

“Well today was definitely interesting to say the least”.

Dillon spoke out as he crossed his legs on the couch.

“You can say that again, especially with those guys that attacked us and for some strange reason let you go”.

“Yeah, that’s definitely up there, but at least we’re still alive right?”

“Yeah, at least there's something that we can be thankful for”.

The two then went silent as Fluttershy came out from the other room, placing a tray down in front of them as she passed them both cups of tea.

The both of them thanked her as they began to take sips from their tea.

Dillon almost burned his tongue as he started to blow onto it, Axel and Fluttershy looked at him with a smile.

They began to start some small talk with each other, enjoying their company together as they listened to some stories she had to tell.

After some time passed, Axel had stood up Dillon looking towards him and asking him.

“Is it time for us to go?”

“Yep don’t want to get your mom worried you know”.

“But...true”

Dillon said in response before standing up and looking towards Fluttershy and doing a short bow.

“It was a pleasure meeting you Ms.Shy”.

Fluttershy smiled in response.

“Likewise, Dillon but before you go, take this”.

She said before handing the boy one of the vials.

“When you start to feel the pain again, make sure to reapply this, ok?”

Dillon nodded in response as he placed the vial in his cloak.

“Thank you,” Dillon said as she patted the top of his head as the two boys began to walk out the cottage the both of them hearing her say

“The two of you can come back if you want, you are always welcome here!” The two smiled before nodding towards her as the both of them exited the cottage.

As the two of them exit Dillon looks to see the town.

“Hey Axel”

“Yes Dillon?”

“Can we head to the town first before we head back to the cave?”.

“Sure, but why?”

“I don’t know, but I have a feeling I’ll find something there”.

Axel looked towards him confused before shrugging, the two then beginning to walk towards the town instead of the forest as Dillon saw a sign that said Ponyville.

“Oh, so that’s what this place is called, It has a nice ring to it” Dillon thought to himself as he smiled.

Author's Note

Sorry for taking so long to post this I've been busy with a lot of stuff so I haven't really had to chance to but low and behold here it is and I know I'm not good with grammar but please be patient with me.