Burning Souls

Chapters

What... The... Buck?
Trolololol
Hello Your Highnesses
What Now?
Fire beats Grass

What... The... Buck?

Chapter One
**********

Drex hated having to wake up. He loved to sleep. All he wanted to do was lie there in bed, ignore the buzzing sound of his alarm clock, pull the covers over his eyes to block out the sunlight. And he would have, but for some reason Drex couldn't find his covers or hear his alram clock. He was warm, but he couln't find the covers. And as he thought of it longer in his dreary half-asleep state, he was trying to figure out why his bed wasn't comfortable and felt cold. A shame that his need to know far outweighed his want to sleep.

He blinks one eye open, fluttering it to get accustomed to the sunlight. Things begin to get even weirder, for some reason it was so bright in his room, he knew he turned the light off. He sits up in the most awkward of ways, for some reason he couldn't sit up normally, but it wasn't uncomfortable so he didn't mind so much. He puts his hand over his face to block the brightness from his eyes and for some reason his arm felt heavier, and very different.

His vision soon adjusts and the sight shocks him. He's in some old building, like, really old. A castle from the renaissance that's crumbled away over time.

'Oh god, please don't tell me my friends snuck into my room and carried me some place where I have no clue as to where I am again.' He thinks remembering how is closest friend and roommate, and a few of his buddies dragged him to the curb of a street he didn't know the name to when he was drunk. He goes to face-palm himself, but when his hand connects with his face, something was terribly off.

His hand was warm and fuzzy, he pulled it away thinking that his friends dressed him in snow gear. But he wasn't wearing snow gear. In fact, he wasn't wearing anything. On his hand was a furry paw. It was orange and he had a black stripe, in the center of his forearm. A patch of a beige colour fur on his elbow, the same patches of fur were over his chest and kept expanding up to what he presumed went as far as his face. Before he could inspect any more of his body, he hears a scream from a connecting room and recognizes the it instantly.

"Allison?" He sprints into the next room, surprisingly easy on four paws. He was expecting to see his close friend Allison in the next room. Half of her hair blonde in it's natural color, the other half dyed black. But what he didn't expect was to see a Pokémon! He stops in his tracks and lets his mouth hang open. Drex doesn't say anything for a while, he just stares at it for, completely entranced. And the strangest thing, it stared back.

"What?" It says. That snapped Drex's attention back to reality.

"Ally?" He takes a step forward, recognizing the voice.

"Drex? Drex is that you?"

"Either that or one of us is tripping major balls right now." He replies in his idiotic fashion.

"Oh my god, Drex it is you! Where are we? And why are you a pokémon?"

That one caught his attention. "I'm a pokémon? Have you looked in the mirror lately? You're a freaking Ninetales!" It's true, in front of him was not the body of the friend Drex knew. Instead it was a fox like creature with golden fur, ruby red eyes, and nine tails. The ends of all the tails tipped in red fur instead of the regular gold. "Say, what pokémon am I?"

"Arcanine." She says plainly.

"Bitchin'!" Allison has calmed down, knowing that a friend is with her puts her slightly at ease.

"Drex, what's going on? How is it that we're pokémon and where are we? How is any of this possible?"

"Good question. Best guess is that A) We've been turned into pokemon and possibly somewhere in Ireland B) we're in the Pokémon world, given that we're both gen 1 I'd say Kanto region, or C) we are on some pretty strong drug."

"Get serious!" She barks at him.

"I am serious! Unless you have a better explanation." She didn't say anything. Anything that she thought of was either too unrealistic, or too stupid. She'd hate to admit it, but his choices were the best.

"Okay, so we're possibly in either the pokémon world seeing as though we're pokemon, or somewhere, probably half way around the world and thrown in a castle. Or we were slipped some sort of hallucinogen. So what do we do now?"

"I say we play along and figure out where we are, if this is some hallucination I want to spend every minute enjoying it!" Drex answers with a stupid looking grin and moved towards another room. "But if this is the Poké-world, well we'll find a way home. Come on, let's get out of this castle and find wherever it is we are."

"What if this is all in our heads?" She asks worried that she very well might walk through the streets on all fours, seeing things for what they aren't.

Drex stops at the doorway of the room. "Screw it, I say. I'm going to enjoy every bit of my dream. If I make a fool of myself, then a fool I am." That made Allison grin a bit. Drex wasn't an idiot, his humor just involved him acting like one and he always kew what stupid thing to say or do. Allison knew that, it was just like the time when her boyfriend broke up with her. She was depressed for days and refused to see anyone, until Drex forced his way to her room, and no matter how she acted or what she said he never left her side once. Through all the time they were together, Drex acted like the joof he would pretend to be and she forget everything about the man who broke her heart. She smiles rememebring it all and gives in, catching up to him quickly.

They walk through corridor after corridor until they come to a spiralling staircase and find their way to the main entrance hall. Two incredibly old doors stood in front of them, barely in one piece. Drex pushed one open and it creeked from old age as it is swung open. Outside was a forest, it looked both creepy and beautiful at the same time, with the lush green trees and plants, but there was an ominous dark vibe that it gave off. Only one thought came across Drex's mind.

"I don't think this is Ireland." Allison just roles her new ruby eyes and walks towards the woods. But she doesn't get far when she reaches her first obstacle.

"You have got to be joking." She says aloud as Drex catches up. In front was a large gap of earth, much too far to jump, and the only way across was a less-than supportive rope bridge. Drex looks over the edge and kicks a rock down, and they wait to hear it hit the bottom. They never hear it.

"Welp, no time like the present." Drex walks over to the bridge, oblivious to the danger.

"Wait, what?" Allison stops him. "You aren't seriously going across that bridge are you? I mean look at it, it probably can't support our weight, maybe there's another way across."

"Oh I see, Ally's chicken shit."

"Am not!" She blurts.

"Oh really? Then prove it. After all, ladies do go first." He steps aside for her, wanting to be shown that he's wrong. She slowly walks up to the bridge, hesitant at first. She puts one paw on the first wooden plank, it creeks under her weight, but doesn't break. She proceeds to another plank, and another. Her confidence slowly rising as everything went fine.

"Ha! Proved you wrong!" She shouts from the other side of the gap. Drex simply walks over calmly, not a care in the world. He finally got to the same side, a smug look over his face.

"Yeah, you sure showed me that I was right about the bridge." He said and kept walking on. Allison stood there, realizing that she was just suckered. She was still alive, safe, and on the other side; but she still felt like she had to yell at him. She got one more glance at the castle, it was in worse condition than she had thought it was. But something was familiar about it, like she's seen it before somewhere. She just threw her thoughts in the back of her mind thinking that she's just imagining it.
***

There wasn't anything else interesting along the walk, so they talked. Drex kept wondering if they were really pokémon, and by this point they were both positive that they were, then they might be able to use the moves. Drex started naming some of the ones he was really hoping to do: Agility, Roar, Take Down, Extremespeed, Flamethrower. Allison recommended that he not try that one, or any move relating to fire while they were in an easily flammable forest.

"Hey, I think we're just about out of the forest." Drex says spoting how the trees and bushes began to thin out. They could see the edge of the forest not too far off and more light shining down from the dense foliage. The trees had been so close together that they formed a thick canopy that blocked all light from seeping past them. It certainly upped the forest's creep-o-meter for the both of them. But there was always enough light for them to see what was close by, but never enough to tell what shadows were lying in the dark.

Happy to be almost be out, Drex jogs over to the border more hastely than Allison. He pulls back a bushes to get a better look, and for a second, he doesn't believe what he sees. "What is it?" Allison asks making it to border along side him. The bushes were too tall for her to see past.

"Okay, two things are certain." He begins her with a huge grin on his face. "One: we are not on earth. And two: we are not hallucinating any of this."

"How can you be sure?" She asks wondering what he saw on the other side. Thankfully her prayers were answered as Drex pulls the bushes back so she could see what he meant by that.

"Because there's no way a drug could make me imagine this!" In front of them was a town they were both familiar with. The most recognizable town that can be found in only one place ever.

"Ponyville?" They say at the same time.

Trolololol

Chapter Two
**********

"You can't be serious..." Allison says seeing the unmistakable town of Ponyville. "How do you know that we're not just imagining this? In fact, how do I know that I'm not just imagining you!"

"I think being an Arcanine is more preferable than a pony." Answering her question indirectly.

"Oh that's right. There's no way that I can imagine anybody as dumb as you." She sighs, not sure whether to be a bit happy to be sent to Equestria or ticked that she's not even on Earth. "If that's Ponyville, then that means we're in the Everfree."

Drex whistles, impressed. "And we didn't come across anything trying to kill us. I guess this forest isn't all that bad." He remembers from the show how every time anyone entered the Everfree, some form of trouble followed them. Poison Joke, Manticores, Parasrites, and even the Mirror Pond. But they came out without anything trying to kill, maim, scare, or cause any sort of trouble for them.

"That also means that the castle we were in was the same one that held the Elements of Harmony. No wonder it looked familiar." Allison says as her memory clicks in as to why that castle looked so familiar.

"This is perfect!" Drex announces out loud.

"Perfect? How could this be perfect? Granted, even I can't deny that I'd prefer to be in Equestria than the poke-world. But how is this perfect?"

"Think about it Ally," Drex puts an arm around his friend's shoulder. "Who is the most gifted unicorn in magic?"

"Twilight Sparkle?" She answers.

"And who is her mentor?"

"Celestia." She answers seeing him going somewhere with this.

"And what is Celestia basically?"

"A god!"

"Give the lady a prize! All we have to do is ask Twilight for an audience with Celestia, and then she can send us home. Easy as pie."

"I must say Drex, I didn't think that you'd be able to think of something so ingenious." She says half impressed and half sarcastic. "Well, let's get a move on!"

"Hold it!" He stops her before she takes another step out of the forest. "Think about this carefully Ally, are you sure that you want to march into town asking everyone there where a certain unicorn is?"

She sighs again, knowing that tone in his voice. "What do you have in mind?" She knew she was going to regret asking that.

"How many times do we get a chance to mess with someone's mind? We'll go into town and look for Twilight, the library is probably the best place to start." He starts with the basic plan; then comes the twist. "But we pretend to stay basic animals." Allison's eyebrow raises, both spiking her interest and indicating for him to go on. "Okay look, we don't say a peep and act like a basic animal. Then we reveal ourselves when the time is right. Just think of the expressions on their faces. It'll be hilarious."

Allison bites the bottom of her lip, thinking whether to go for it or not. She finally comes to her conclusion. "Okay, I'll play along." A chuckle comes to Drex upon her agreement. They walk side by side through a field, not saying anything. Drex was trying hard to stay in character while Allison had so many thoughts swimming through her mind.

They reach the city border, and right off the bat they get all kinds of looks from ponies and a lot of whispers. Some ponies ran away and into the nearest home and slam the door closed, scared of the new strangers. A few trailed them for a while, but once Drex or Allsion noticed that, the trailing ponies stopped following and ran away. Drex was fine with it, he remembered how the town reacted to Zecora, and it was no great deal to him. But Allison was less comfortable, she didn't find them to scare or intimidate her, but she just didn't like to be the center of attention, and she hated that many feared her. They finally reached the library and Drex was about to burst with excitement. He pushes the door open only to find the place empty. No Twilight around reading a book or anything.

Drex grunts in disappointment, until they see a pile of books moving around, and two purple feet behind said books. It was unmistakably Spike. "He can't see us, we can have fun without blowing our cover until he does see us." Drex whispers to his friend, then in a louder voice he addresses Spike. " 'Scuse me, we're trying to find someone and was told she lives here."

"Oh, you must mean Twilight. I'm afraid she's not here right now. She's with some friends at the moment." Spike's voice came from behind the books.

"Well could you tell us where she might be?" Allison asks.

"Try Sugarcube Corner. I think she might be there."

"Well we're from out of town so we don't know the way. Do you think you can show us the way?" Drex asks motioning towards the walking pile of books.

"It's easy to find, just look for the building that looks like a gingerbread house."

"Well you see, we need to see her pronto, so we can't waste any time. We see that you're busy right now, but do you think that you can guide us there?"

"Well I'm sure she wouldn't mind that I take a break to help you if it's important." Spike sets the books downand appears from behind them. He instantly stops mid stride as he comes face-to-face with something completely new to him.

"What? Do I have something on my face?" Drex paws around, moving the puffs of fur.

"What are you?" Spike asks finding his tongue.

"Goodness boy, don't you know it's incredibly rude to ask someone what they are? Someone should teach you propper manners." Drex asks pretending to be offended in his most formal voice.

"I'm really sorry, I've just never seen anything like you before sir. And you just surprised me, and-" Spike starts in a panic, not wanting to seem rude to these two creatures. But Drex couldn't keep up the charade and starts laughing.

"Ease up shorty, I'm messing with you!" He relieves Spike. "Don't worry, I know how strange the two of us look. But in all seriousness, we really do need to see Twilight this instant, so will you still lead us to her?"

Spike begins to laugh, catching on to the joke. "Okay, that was pretty funny." He opens the door, not bothered anymore. "So why do you need to see Twilight?"

"We need to see the Princess, and we hear that Twilight is her student." Allison answers following Spike out the library.

"So why do you need to see Princess Cesetia?"

"So we can find our way home. We have no clue where we are or how to get back. So we thought maybe the Princess can help with that."

"You don't have to go to the princess for that," Spike stops in his tracks. "We have maps back at the library. I could find you a world map and we'd be able to figure it out without them."

"Sorry shorty," Drex rubs his paw over Spike's head. "But where we come from can't be found on a map. And we can't retrace our steps because when we say we have no clue where we are, we mean we have no clue where we are."

"We're here." Allison speaks up.

"No, Ally, I know we're here, but where is here? I mean yeah, we know what this town is called and the country, but where--"

"No you idiot," His friend says cutting him off. "I mean we're here, at Sugarcube Corner."

"Oh, what do you know." In that short time span of a walk the only three people that aren't ponies in the town make it to their destination of the gingerbread looking building. "Hey kid," Drex stops Spike before he can open the door.

"My name is Spike, by the way, so you can quit with the 'kid' and 'short' stuff. Besides I'm still a growing dragon." Spike stops him.

"Alright, Spike." Drex adds extra emphasis on saying his name. "Listen, so you know how shocked you were to see us?" Spike nods his head. "Well just think how surprised Twilight and her friends will be when they find out we can talk."

"Um..." Spike wasn't following.

"Okay look, I want to prank them. Think about it, Ally and I will stay quiet and pretend to just be regular animals. You show us to the others, they fall for it, then when they least expect it, we start talking. Just think of the looks on their faces!"

Spike starts tapping his chin with his index finger and thinks about it hard. But before he could get a chance to decide, the door to Sugarcube Corner opens and out popps the most distinguishable pony ever known. The one pony that everyone knows. The one pony that makes the most crazy and random everythings to ever exist. Pinkie Pie.

The pink pony merrily stolled out of Sugarcube Corner with one her trademark smiles, eyes closed. But that all changed when she opens them to see two unfamiliar figures with Spike. What was she thinking? What would she do? Scream? Laugh? (most likely). Something random? (even more likely).

"Ooooooh, you look fluffy." Pinkie Pie without any warning gives Drex the biggest bone crushing-hug he's ever felt, but it was strangley comforting at the same time. "You're so cute, I'm gonna call you Fluffy!" The ony response Drex could give was a bark. "And there's another one. Ohmygosh she has nine tails!" Pinkie Pie pops in front of Allison in a mere instant. "Spike where'd you find them they're so cool and cute and different and friendly and nice and fluffy and different, cute--"

"Uh Pinkie, you used cute twice." Spike points out.

"That's because they're twice cute Spikey." A low grumbling sound is heard, three of them have no clue as to what it was or where it came from. It's heard again and they look at Drex, holding his stomach. "Aw, is Fluffy hungry? Don't worry, aunt Pinkie will get you something." She zooms into Sugarcube Corner without even touching the door as it opens and closes by itself.

"Yeah, that's Pinkie. She's fun but a little on the rambunctious side." Spike giving his unneeded explanation. Then Pinkie comes back in the very same instant after Spike was finished talking.

"... And one's fluffy who I'm going to call Fluffy and he has a friend that has nine tails who I think I'm going to call Niney and she looks so cute and it looks like her coat is made from gold and I was going to give her a hug too but then we heard this sound that went 'ggree!' and we didn't know what it was but then we found out that it was Fluffy's stomach because he's hungry so now I'm giving him food so he won't be hungry anymore." They hear the pink pony before seeing her. And they heard that entire sentence without her pausing for breath or adding a period. But you couldn't say the same for the next five to follow behind.

"This I'd like to see." Rainbow Dash replies. And see she did! Pinkie Pie put down a plate of delicious looking cupcakes. They were the most mouth watering cupcakes that Drex and Allison have ever seen. Drex doesn't waste any time chowing down, and the cupcakes tasted better than they looked.

"See? Isn't Fluffy fluffy?" Without warning, Drex began wagging his tail; he didn't know why he was doing it or how, but it felt nice. Maybe because he was happy and because Arcanine is related to a dog.

"Pinkie?" Twilight speaks up. "What are they?" Spike and Drex give each other a look, and Spike chuckles to himself. "What's so funny Spike?"

"Oh nothing." He says innocently.

"I don't know Twily, but they seem fun." Pinkie answers and proceeds to pet 'Fluffy'.

"My goodness, I don't know what to say about the big one, but the other one is just fabulous." Rarity says looking at Allison. And who could deny it, her coat was like glittering gold. Allison takes the compliment kindly and blushes.

"Well I'll admit it, they actually do look pretty cool, not as cool as me though." Rainbow Dash says as she flies over them. "But still, what are they? What do you think Fluttershy? Have you seen them before?"

"No, I can't say I have Dash. And none of my animal friends have ever mentioned anything like these two." The meek yellow one says in her adorable fashion.

"Hoo nelly, that ones got an appetite! But why ain't the other one eatin'? Ain't she hungry?" Applejack asks seeing how much Drex is chowing down. Drex couldn't take it anymore, he thought it was time to open the box.

"Good question. Hey Ally, you want any of these? Because they are too good to go to waste!" He asks his quiet friend with a mouth full of treats.

"No thanks, I'm good." She answers with a smirk.

"Suit yourself." He shrugs and goes back to eating. The mouths of all the mares but Pinkie's dropped so far that they looked they threatend to hit the ground. A good number of seconds passed by as Drex blissfully ate his cupcakes and Allison stood there silently as ever. Both taking great pleasure in the reactions they were given.

"You can talk?" Twilight finally asks coming out of her shocked state. She was not expecting that to happen.

"Yup, we can talk." Drex confirms trying to lick the excess icing off his face. "Damn this is tough. Stupid fur."

"Why didnt you say anything before?"

The cheapest toothy grin came across Drex's face, trying to scrunch it up. "You didn't ask." Twilight's face soon shifted from shocked to anger, and Drex was rewarded with a slap to the back of his head from Allison.

"Stupid troll." She says.

"Ow, hey. You'd be considered one too going with my plan. Which, was hilarious by the way." That remark brought Twilight out of her rage and into her curiosity.

"Wait, you two are trolls?" She asks, expecting a troll to look different.

"What?" Drex asks taking a little offense, then his memory kicked into gear. "Oh that's right, not the same definition. No we are not trolls, back where we come from a troll has another definition."

"Okay, but a question: where are you from?" Twilight asks still confused.

"That's exactly why we'd like to talk to you." Ally answers, knowing that she'll make this coversation go by a lot faster. "But maybe we should go inside first."

Hello Your Highnesses

Chapter Three
**********

"So where are you from?" Twilight Sparkle asked again to the strangers as the nine of them sat around a table.

"That's the problem, we're not sure. So we needed to see you." Allison answered.

"Me? Why me?"

"Do I have to pay for those cupcakes?" Drex asked derailing the conversation.

"Well you see, we heard that you're the student of Princess Celestia," Allison explained, completely ignoring Drex. "And we hope that only she could help us find out how to get back home."

"Well you don't need her help, we just have to go to the library and find a world map." Twilight said trying to reassure her.

"I'm afraid it's not that easy. You see, we have no idea where we are or how to get home. And no matter how big a map you may have, it's not going to make a difference seeing as though we don't even know the way home."

"Seriously, cupcakes that good can't go without a price."

"You mean you have no idea where you came from?" Allison nodded her head. "Then how do you know that you can get back?"

"Because we believe the Princess is the only one who can possibly help us."

"Not that I'm complaining if I don't have to pay, but they were delicious."

"Drex, shut up and stop goofing around!" Allison yelled tired of his single conversation. "I'm sorry about him, he can be an idiot when he likes to be. Oh, we haven't properly introduced ourselves. My name is Allison. This is Drex, unfortunately my friend."

"Nice to meet you both. As you already know I'm Twilight Sparkle, this is Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack. And I can see that you've already met Spike." She introduced each of her friends. "Well, I can certainly ask Princess Celestia to see you, but I'm afraid you're going to have to be more specific as to why you need to see her."

"We literally have no idea how to get home." Drex said before Allison could reply. "We don't know how we ended up in this area, how we got taken from our home, how we can get back, or even where it is. So we figure that the Princess can help out, but we can't just go up to the front gates and say 'honey, I'm home.' and expect to be allowed to see her. That's why we're asking you for help. So, can you help us?" Allison was a bit surprised by her friend. He wasn't an idiot or a goof twenty-four seven, he had a serious side to him. But it was how he assessed and took control of the situation that surprised her.

Twilight bit on her bottom lip and glanced down, thinking hard. "Spike, take a letter." She says. "Dear Princess Celestia. I've had the pleasure of meeting two creatures whom I've never seen before. They seem to be lost and need assistance getting home, the only problem is that they don't know where home is or how to get there. They've requested to see you personally and ask for help, it seems that they truly have no clue where their home is or how to get back and I've never seen anything like them before. Perhaps you would recognize them, and would be able to tell them where they need to go. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle." She finishes and turns to her assistant. "Did you get all of that Spike?"

"With what?" He asks show his empty hands. "Everything I need is back at the tree house."

Twilight sighed. "Okay everypony, let's try this again." Everyone got up and started walking to the exit. It wasn't until they were outside that Drex realized the height difference. He was about a foot and a half taller than the rest while Allison was about head height to them. He was the tallest one around.

"So where are ya'll from exactly?" Applejack asks.

"You wouldn't have heard of it before." Drex answers trying to avoid the question. But they both knew that they couldn't dodge the question forever. "Still, doesn't hurt to know."

'You have no idea how wrong you are.' Drex thought to himself. "Well if you want a name, it's a little town called Rogsbin. Nothing too fancy about it. Or interesting really."

"And is everyone there like you two?" Twilight pushed further.

"No, we're all a little different like you ponies." Allison answered this time.

"Allison," Rarity chirps. "I couldn't help but notice how beautiful your coat is. Is that all natural? It's like gold darling." Rarity's compliment forced her to blush. They reached the tree house shortly thereafter.

"Okay,"Twilight said opening the door for everyone. "Let's try this again. Dear Prince--"

"Yeah yeah, I know." Spike said picking up a quill and paper and wrote down what Twilight said before, remembering everything. He rolled it up and sent it away via the usual method.

"So what else can you tell us about yourselves and where you're from?" Twilight asked while they waited for a response.

"Not much different from the rest of this place." Drex shrugged. Before anyone could say anything else Spike belched out a letter. Twilight picks it up from the ground and starts reading it to herself.

"Okay," She says with a smile after finishing it. "Princess Celestia graciously decided to help. I'll take us to the train station and we'll be off." They left the library as soon as they entered. Allison was relieved to know that they could go home. Twilight took them to the train station by herself and ordered three tickets. They boarded the train and went to their car; Drex sat on a seat in front of Allison and Twilight seeing as though he was a little too big. There were not many other ponies in the car, but Allison could feel them staring at her and shifted awkwardly trying to ignore them. Drex on the other hand didn't care what others thought of him, he probably wasn't going to be around much longer for them to wonder or ask him any questions; besides, he thought that he was pretty awesome, and that's all that mattered.

The train began to leave the station as they heard the whistle blow and the car jerk ahead. "Thank you for the help Twilight." Allison said talking to the mare beside her. "This really means a lot to us."

"It's no problem." She answered with a smile, but that soon faded as she asked something. "You said you were taken from your home. What do mean by that?"

Allison froze, not sure what to say. "We just woke up in that abandoned castle way out in the forest." Drex answers without turning around. "We have no clue how we ended up there, we just did."

"Wait, you mean you came out of the Everfree forest?" Twilight asks shocked, not sure what to think of them now.

"Yup, surprised we didn't run into any trouble along the way. Just strolled right out." The rest of the trip was silence. Not a single word was said. The got out of their seats and stepped off the train when they finally reached their destination. Canterlot was magnificent. The tall wall around it looked like it was polished daily, and the structures themselves were elegant and just as white. And the castle off in the near distance was even more impressive.

"I must say," Drex said admiring the architecture as he and Allison stepped off the train. "This place does seem to have its perks."

"Yeah," She notices something was bothering him. "Something wrong Drex? You don't seem like your idiotic self any more."

"Yeah Ally, I guess it was more so a self-defence mechanism so I don't go nut house crazy. Truth be told, I'm a little scared. You know, waking up somewhere you've never seen, in a new body, and find out your not even on your own..." He caught himself before he would say that they were aliens, there was already a large number of ponies staring at them, no need to draw more attention.

"Hey, don't worry, we'll be home shortly."

"Okay," Twilight came off the train after them. "Now all we have left is a short trip to the castle and you'll be on your way home." They strolled down the streets of Canterlot, more stares and gossip was heard wherever they went. This time it bothered Drex, not because he cared for what they were saying, but how they were saying it. All around them were high-class aristocrats; the snobby, uptight type.

"Ugh, look them. Since when did they start letting mangy animals in the city?"

"What are they?"

"Somepony should put them in a collar."

All of them, they all pissed him off. Normally he wouldn't care what they would say about him, but they weren't talking about just him. They were talking about Ally too. Then a group of three high-class preppy boys said something that Drex couldn't ignore. "Look at the small one, nine tails. What a freak."

Drex stops walking and looks at their general direction. They notice he's staring at them and they snicker. "Forget about them." Allison whispered, trying to stop him. He didn't listen and strided towards them.

"Hey, hey, looks like Fido didn't like what we said about his play mate. What's wrong pooch; did we hit a soft spot?" One asks. Drex towered over all three, but they didn't look frightened, just amused. Drex could tell their type, the kind that acts all high and might because their parents are rich and can be bailed out of any situation.

"Do ya see these teeth?" Drex asks curling his lips back to show his fangs. "They're not meant for crunching up leafy greens like you ponies. They're designed for something better. Like ripping flesh; same with my claws." He presses down on his paws to the claws hidden underneath. In one fluid motion he lifts his arm and swipes at them. His claws stop short of their heads, embedded in the wall of the building behind them and leaving three gashes through the thick wood; and to make sure he got his message across he brings himself down to their eye level, staring at them with a fire, the element his pokémon type was categorized under and whispers. "That was not me being merciful, that was me being kind. You don't want to see me when I'm angry." When he could see that they got the message he removes his claws from the wooden wall and sauntered back to Twilight and Allison with a satisfied toothy grin plastered on half of his face. He noticed that he's attracted even more attention and took a moment to reflect on all of their expressions. They were shocked, appalled, afraid, offended, and disgusted. He didn't care what they thought of him, but he did care what others thought of his friends.

"Let's continue." He says to the girls and continued a head of them, Twilight gave him a look of worry. She didn't think that he'd do anything so impulsive, and began to wonder if bringing them to Princess Celestia was the right idea. Allison's expression was worse than worry though, she had a look of disappointment.

It didn't take long for them to reach the gates of the castle. The guards were reluctant at first, not letting Drex or Allison enter without proper authorization. But thanks to Twilight, they soon had their 'proper authorization.' They lowered the drawbridge and opened the gate and stood at attention as the three passed.

"Wow." Allison gasped as they walked through the castle. She couldn't form any words that could possibly describe the beauty of the Princesses home. The drapes that hung from the walls shone in the sunlight, as did the red carpet they followed. The walls looked were pure white and looked to be polished daily. Truly, this was a place where royalty would live.

Two gilded doors were opened for the three of them as they entered the throne room, the red carpet leading in. This was no great bewilderment for Twilight, she knew these halls like the back of her hoof. Drex and Allison on the other hand couldn't take their eyes off the stained windows that foretold great events. The fall of Discord and bringing Equestria into a new era of harmony, the banishment of Nightmare Moon, the defeation of the two previous enemies dealt by the hooves of Twilight Sparkle and her friends.

'Just like in the show.' Drex thought to himself. Not just like in the show, but exactly like in the show. 'Hm, something's missing though.' Before he could think of what it was that he thought to be missing, Allison nudged him to bring him out of his trance.

Before them, on a throne sat the elder sister of Equestria, Celestia. And beside her stood Princess Luna, mistress of the night; their gazes locked onto the newcomers, intrigued by their forms. A solemn expression was on Celestia's face, an expression that Drex and Allison felt as though was not staring at them, but past them. "Princess Celestia!" Twilight said happy to see her teacher. Celestia's expression soon shifted and looked more positive when her eyes are set upon her student.

"Twilight Sparkle," she rose from her throne and walked down to greet them, followed by her younger sister whose eyes never left Drex or Allison. "And these must be your friends who need help returning home." She was taller than Drex was, but Luna was about eye level to him. Allison and Twilight were sadly dwarfed.

"More so acquaintances than friend your majesty." Drex corrected her. He soon regretted speaking as the eyes of Celestia were upon him again, and for just an instant he felt a shiver down his spine.

"You say that you are lost, and don't know the way home. Is that correct?" Drex nodded stiffly, was it fear or entrancement that paralysed him? "Well, I'm afraid that we've never seen a species quite like yourselves, a dog with stripes like a tiger or zebra, and fox with nine tails. Truly remarkable." She paused for a dramatic moment, and even though she was smiling, Drex and Allison could see past her mask while Twilight was oblivious. "Twilight, could you please give us some privacy? This may take some time."

"Um, okay?" She answers a little confused that her teacher would ask her to leave. "Don't worry, they can help you. And then you'll be home in no time." Twilight walked out of the throne room knowing that Drex and Allison were in good care.

As the doors closed behind the purple unicorn, Celestia turned to face them once more. "Now then, who are you?"

"My name is Allison, and this is my friend, Drex. As you know we've come to--"

"No," Celestia cut Allison off. "I mean who are you? We believe that those are your names and you do need help. Who are you exactly though?" Allison and Drex looked at each other. They knew they'd have to tell Celestia and Luna if they have any hopes of returning home, but they never expected that they'd be found out.

"Busted." Drex commented.

"How did you know?" Allison asks.

"We have been around for a long time, long enough to know how to tell when somepony is lying not or holding something back." Luna answers for her sister. "If returning home is truly what you want, then you will first have to answer us."

"Eh, fine. Okay, first off, these aren't our real bodies." Drex began a little too relaxed. Celestia raised an eyebrow like one would when they are intrigued, urging him to go on. Drex found that odd seeing as though ponies don't have eyebrows. "When we woke up this morning, we found we had these new bodies, something completely different from our old ones."

"And what were you before?" Celestia asked.

"Have you ever heard of a human?" The answer took the royal sister by surprise. "I take it you have."

"Yes, but they're supposed to be stories for young fillies and colts. Not real creatures." Luna objects.

"Yeah well where we come from so are talking ponies with horns and wings." Drex countered, forgetting for a second that he was talking to royalty. "So anyway, we've been taken from our home, placed in new bodies, and thrown in a different world both alien to us and our new forms."

"You say this place is alien to you and your new forms." Celestia pointed out catching him, Drex froze up again. "What do you mean by that?"

"Uh... well you see your highness... it's uh... well it's sort of..." He stammered trying to find the right words.

"Where we are from there is a... story about magical animals that take on elemental powers" Allison explained, seeing Drex reverting to his normal idiocy. "We are two of such creatures now, and have been brought here in their form despite them being just a tale in our land."

"So you have both been not only warped of home, but also body?" Luna asked understanding their predicament. Allison nodded.

"We come from the planet Earth, in the Milky Way galaxy." The transformed girl answered for them.

"So uh, are you able to send us home and in our original bodies?" Drex asked hopefully.

A long pause is carried through the room as the mistresses of day and night stare at them. "I'm afraid not." Celestia answered with a pained expression.

"What? Why not?" Drex asked taking a step forward. "You're practically gods! You can send us through time and space! Can't you?"

"Yes, we can. But there is one problem." Luna began.

"To know where to send somepony, we first have to know where you come from, exactly." Celestia explained. She lifted a hoof to silence Drex's question before he could ask it. "And we must know of the place. Luna and I have neither seen nor or heard of your home. And if we were to try, there is no telling where you may end up. You may very well end up in deep space." Drex and Allison stood there, listening but not hearing. They had come so close, they had all their faith poured into this. And it was taken from them.

"What do we do now?" Allison asked, her ears have flattened back without her command. Drex couldn't look at them, his head hung low.

"If I may," Luna interjects. "I too once had trouble fitting in. I was banished to the moon for a thousand years, and when I came back I had found that time had taken a significant leap. But with the some help I was able to fit in." Drex and Allison looked back up to the moon goddess, listening to what she had to say.

Author's Note

Thank you everyone! I never thought Burning Souls would get this much attention. I knew that making a pokémon/HiE/mlp fanfic would be a good idea, but I never thought it would get this popular. Thank you everyone for the support, the criticism, and most of all, finding those spelling mistakes. I'd just like to let you folks know that I'm more of a mediocre writer, not much of an excuse for the lack of detail or anything else you have problems with, but I will work on that. A special thank you to:
-PrinceDolph for spotting most of the errors
-VegaTheEevee for spotting those pokémon related mistakes
-Gluestick for pointing out how I horribly go from present tense to past tense and back again. (That's a problem of mine I'm afraid, a problem I will work to correct.)
-GuyFace for spotting more of those spelling errors
-psychoscubadiver for becoming my pre-reader
-Thardoc and halo003qd for volunteering to be my new editors. (Sorry BackgroundBrony, as much as I love you offering and the Achievement Hunter avatar, I've already got the other two :twilightblush: )
Shout out to Ray from Achievement Hunter! (He deserves one.)

Don't think I'll update this often. I need time to work on this and my other stories.

What Now?

Chapter Four
**********

Besides hearing the wheels of the train click against the rails, things were quiet for the three of them. Twilight didn't know why the Princesses couldn't help them, and she didn't know why they refused to tell her. But she did know if the Princesses wouldn't tell her, then there was a good reason for it.

Drex had become uncomfortably quiet. Twilight didn't know much about him, but what she did know was that, much like Pinkie, he couldn't not be doing something. Instead he just sat there looking out the window, not paying attention to the passing scenery. And Allison looked rather depressed, and why wouldn’t she? Twilight truly felt sorry for them.

Allison was sitting with Drex this time at the back of their empty car, no other ponies were present. Twilight wanted to cheer them up, to reach out and lift their moods, but she wasn’t uncertain as to how she could do that. Unfortunately for her, she was not as talented as Pinkie Pie.

The train ground to a halt as they reached the station at Ponyville. They all got off the train, not saying a single word. Twilight offered to lead them back to her tree house so they can plan out their next step, they had no objections.

While walking through town, the tension finally became too great for Drex. "Son of a bitch!" His startling action was then followed by another. He bolted off through town, leaving Twilight and the surrounding townsfolk confused and a bit frightened by his outburst.

"Drex, wait!" Twilight yelled, watching him run off in the distance. Something landed on her shoulder, and she turned to see an empty gaze from Allison.

"Let him be Twilight."

"But," before she could continue on and chase after Drex, she saw that Allison knew what she was talking about. Allison knew Drex better than she did, and so she relinquished and let him run off in his frustration.

"He's a goof and even an idiot at times, but he's also tough. He doesn't want us to see him like this. Every time something wrong has happened in any of our lives he'll do something impulsive. But he'll always be fine and smiling afterwards. Sometimes he's predictable, other times you'll never know what he'll do. No matter what it is, it is always for a reason." Allison answered. That was the truth of it, but she didn't tell Twilight his motive for that outburst. True, impulsion did have a hand in it, but there was something even more personal about the whole thing.

"What will you two do now?" Twilight asked concerned for them, more so for Drex after just witnessing his action. They resumed their walk, "will you go find your home on your own? I'm sure that somepony somewhere has heard or seen where you come from." Allison shook her head.

"I’m afraid not Twilight. We know for a fact that no one knows where we come from, and we'll never find it no matter where or how long we look, our home is just too well hidden. I suppose we'll try and pick up the shattered pieces and start a new life."

"We could help you on that." Twilight offered without a second's hesitation and giving Allison a warming smile.

"Thank you Twilight, we'd love that." She said truthfully and gave her gracious smile back.

They returned to the tree-house to find that Spike had returned to sorting the books. When he saw them enter he had a smile on his face. "So how'd it go?"

"Not good Spike, I'm afraid that even the Princesses don't know where they could have come from." Twilight answered.

"Can't they go look, I'm sure somepony must know."

"I’m afraid not," Allison answered this time, shaking her head. "As I told Twilight, we both know for a fact that that would be impossible. No one has ever seen us, we don't know where our home may be, and we don't know where to start looking. I'm afraid Drex and I are as good as lost."

"Hey, where is Drex?" Spike asked looking around to see that he's not with them.
***

"Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!" Drex yelled as loud as he possibly could. No ponies stared at him in fear because there were none around. He was by himself, inside the Everfree. He knew how dangerous it could be inside the forest, but he needed to be alone right now. Besides, he wasn’t going very far, just enough to be out of sight from Ponyville.

He constantly threw himself at the trees in anger, letting his aggression slowly subside. All around him small indents or slashes have been made in the surrounding trees that he had struck. He stood there huffing, his anger still unsatisfied.
'I promised him I'd say goodbye!' He thought angrily to himself, remembering a particular time many years ago. "I made that a promise!" He struck another tree with his head this time. Oddly enough, he barely felt the impact at all. He did not bother to question why, he didn't even notice that he wasn't hurting, he was too angry.

He continued to head butt the same tree and yell, making the small indent larger and larger until the tree eventually toppled over. He blankly stared at the fallen tree, "Why? Why couldn't I keep that promise to Max?" He sat down and wept invisible tears. He didn't cry, he wouldn't let himself.

The sound of a snapping twig was heard behind him and turned towards a bush where the sound came from. He got up from his spot and slowly crept towards the bushes, not sure what to expect. He slowly moved closer until he was in breathing distance of it. Then out from the bushes peered two yellow eyes. He yelped and jumped away from the bushes.

Following the yellow eyes came a head and a body made out of wood. The creature had a wolfish appearance to it. Four more wolf-like wood creatures appeared around Drex, surrounding him and cutting off all exits. "Timberwolves."

One that was larger than the rest stepped forward and circled Drex, probably the alpha. Drex matched it step for step and circled with it, the other wolves kept a tight circle around them. They dared not interfere, only bark and bite around Drex if he got too close to the outer perimeter. He was bigger than the wolf, but he spent most of his energy lashing out at trees and had no knowledge of fighting in his present form or against a vicious animal.

The first to make a move was the alpha; it jumped towards Drex, mouth agape.
***

"And you're sure there's no chance of finding your home?" Rarity asked once more.

"Yes, even if we searched our entire lives' we won't find anywhere that we may recognize, our home is well hidden." Allison lied, making it clear to the girls that there was no chance of going home. This had been the fifth time she had to answer that question.

"Oh, you poor dear. At least you're not alone and have a friend with you." Rarity reassured her. The other girls dropped by the library to see what was happening. Rainbow Dash had spotted Drex running through town. She didn't bother asking him what his problem was or try and stop him, she knew that when someone is moving that fast, you best leave them alone. So instead she went to see Twilight and ask her if she knew. After explaining the situation to Dash, Twilight asked her to get the others and see if they could help in any way possible.

"So what're ya going to do? Ya know, for a home and food and all." Applejack asked.

"Well, that's a good question. We have no money so we can't rent a place or stay at a motel. But food's going to be the biggest issue." She said that last bit under her breathe so the others wouldn't hear her out loud. She was no stranger to meat, but she was now considered a predator, and there was plenty of 'meals' all around her. Though she knew that things like berries were a part of fox's diet, and she also knew that Drex would eat just about anything on a plate. If his new body worked just like a dog's then just about anything would be okay with him, she remembered how her dog would always beg to have a piece of whatever it was she would use as an ingredient for a meal. But they weren't animals; they were pokémon, a far cry from the animals she was familiar with..

"What was that?" Applejack asked hearing her mumble.

"Oh, nothing, just money problem is all." She quickly lied.

"Well if ya want, Ah can see if you and yer friend can stay at our barn until ya both find a place fer yourselves. Ah'm sure Granny'd let the both of ya." The farm pony said, eyeing her suspiciously, not believing that whole truth.

Before Allison could thank her for the offer Rarity spoke up. "Applejack! Though that is very kind of you, we simply cannot let a woman with such a glistening coat sleep in a musty old barn. Allison, there's a guest room in my Boutique with a comfortable bed if you'd prefer. I'm sure it would be much softer than a pile of hay. Though unfortunately there would be no room for your friend."

"Thank you for the offer Rarity, but in truth I think I'll take Applejack's offer instead."

"Well, alright. But if you change your mind you come straight to me." Rarity huffed trying not to look hurt.

"So when will Fluffy be back anyway? If you two are going to stay in Ponyville I have to give you both a party!" Pinkie Pie asked excitedly.

"Good question, he's never gone this long." Allison looked out the window, beginning to worry. He had been gone for nearly two hours and the sun was another two away from setting. "Maybe we should go make sure hasn't caused any problems to anyone in the town. Alright girls, you all know what to look for: big, orange, and creating a spectacle of himself." The seven girls walk out the library to start searching. Twilight decided to search alongside Allison.

"So, what's Drex like?" Twilight asked as they searched the park.

"Well, as you've seen, he can be an idiot at times, but that's more so his style. He's not like that all the time; it's just how he handles stress, tension, and whenever anyone's depressed."

"He must like making people happy then," Allison didn't answer immediately. She thought back to all the bad times when someone was troubled, and how Drex would always put on his clown mask and try and make them better. "Laughter is the best medicine after all." he once said to her.

"Yeah, he really does. But when he's not a goof, he can be rather cheerful and relaxed." Her expression saddened a little as she thought back to the worst time in his life, the reason why he's a joker at times. "But he won't ever let anyone else make him feel better. It always has to be him, even when he himself is depressed. As you saw before he ran off, it's because he wouldn't let any of us try and cheer him up. He had to do it himself."

"Why?" Twilight asked confused by that logic.

"It's not my place to talk about that, and I think it best if you don't ask him either, let him tell you if he decides. Why do you ask?"

Twilight bit the bottom of her lip, trying to figure out how to phrase it delicately. "I noticed how everypony was talking about you two behind your backs as we went to the train station. He didn't seem to mind what they said. But back in Canterlot, I could see how his expression changed from hearing the ponies there. And then when he confronted those colts and how they talked about you..." She trailed off, not sure how to put the rest of it gently. They soon found themselves walking through the market square, and every eye was on the pair. Or on Allison to be more specific.

"Drex has... always been the most loyal of friends anyone could ask for. And not just me, but to everyone he knows. He's one of those guys that won't care what you say about him, he'll just laugh it off and walk away, not giving it a second thought. But say one word about his friends, and he goes ape shit. It gets him into quite a bit of trouble at times though."

"So when he heard those colts talking about you, he wouldn't let it pass?" Twilight asked. Allison nodded her head. "So that’s why had his expression changed so much. Because they were talking about you." This time Allison shakes her head.

"Not just because of that, he’s not a big fan of pe- ponies with a snobby or holier-than-thou attitude."

"Why's that?"

Allison sighed, not because she was annoyed of all the questions, but because of how carefully she had to answer them. Still, it helped her stop worrying about him. "Because in our history class back in school, he saw the rich and powerful were the worst type. No matter what era, what place, or what ethnic background it was, it was always the rich who profited by oppressing the poor. And because we were in the heart of poverty at the time with all the snobs looking down on us, it probably just reminded him of our history."

Twilight found that curious. Drex and Allison said their home was well hidden, yet it seemed to be very large. She presumed it to be one city, possibly well hidden underground. Yet ethnic backgrounds meant that there were multiple places. Before she could ask any further she was interrupted by yet another non-pony friend of hers.

"Well this day is full of surprises, and here is yet another new face that arises." They turned around to find the zebra Zecora greeting them. She had a bag over her back with a few supplies in it.

"Oh, hello Zecora, I thought you did your shopping two weeks ago. It's uncommon to see you in town more than once a month." Twilight greeted back, happy to see her.

"Yes, but those were supplies for one, I have met a stranger who is now unable to run. He is a strange in this land much like myself, and now I need more ingredients to fill my shelf." The zebra answered in her rhyming fashion.

"Wait, strange like us? You mean not pony, right?" Zecora nodded her head, "and when you mean that he is unable to run, do you mean that he's been hurt?" She nodded again. "Okay, one last questions for you: is he big and has orange fur with black stripes like yours?"

"Yes, he is just as you have described him to be, with fur of those colours and a great injury. You must be friends of my patient, would you like to know his position of current?" She asked.

"Yes, I would!" Allison replied, her worry for Drex had just increased immensely.

"Timberwolves attacked him in a pack of five. Your friend is lucky to be alive. Follow me as I return home, but stay close for it is not safe to roam.” They quickly followed Zecora closely as she left to her home in the Everfree forest. She was familiar with the forest and was not worried about being attacked; she had learned many techniques from keeping unwanted predators away. One thing was puzzling Allison on there walk to Zecora's place, why had Drex decided to picked a fight with timberwolves? He would always do something brash, but nothing stupid.

Allison was astonished at Zecora's hut as it came into view; it looked both enchanting and eerie at the same time. And inside was even more impressive. "He is in here having a rest while I treat his wounds to my best."

"Zecora, that you?" Drex's voice came from another room. "Thanks again for helping out, and again, I'm really sorry about getting blood on some of your sheets."

"What?!" Allison shrieked running into the room where Drex was, fearing that his injuries were far worse than she had previously thought. But here fears withdrew a little when she saw him, still in a bad condition though.

"Oh shit." Drex replied seeing his friend burst into the room. He was lying on a bed wrapped in bandages. His upper torso was wrapped in tightly along with his left arm going from shoulder to elbow. More bandages wrapped his right leg and pads were placed over a few spots where they most likely covered more wounds.

"Whoa, what happened to you?" Twilight asked stepping into the room.

"Eh, got into a fight with a few timberwolves." He shrugged like it was no big deal. "Geez those buggers are nasty. You know the saying 'his bark is worse than his bite'? Yeah well, their bark and bite are around fifty-fifty." Allison walked up to him struck him over the head. It was difficult to do without a fist, but it got the message through. "Ow, what was that for?"

"For being an idiot!" She roared. "You're such an imbecile, you know that? What were you thinking when you ran off? And what in heaven possessed you to pick a fight with timberwolves?"

Drex looked away; a feeling of shame was on his face. "Max," he uttered the single name. Allison couldn't argue with or say anything back. Of course it was Max he would be thinking of, who else could it have been?

"Uh, Drex?" Allison asked as her nose crinkles. "What's that smell?"

"It's the salve Zecora put on my injuries. It’s supposed to help close the wounds quicker and null the pain. But it leaves a terrible odour." Drex answered, cringing at the smell too. Twilight followed suite and covered her nose with her hoof as the smell penetrated her nostrils.

"Do not worry yourself about the scent, I can make a new salve that is not so pungent." Zecora reassured him then scrunched her own nose like everyone else. "And I best start that soon, not even I am immune."

"Thank you Zecora," Allison said to the shaman. "May I ask how long he'll have to stay?"

"Do not fret over the time this will take, my new salve does not take that long to make." Zecora reassured her. "But while you wait for me to finish mixing the cure, he can tell you the fight which he was forced to endure."

"Yeah, how did you end up in this position? And what happened to the timberwolves?" Twilight asked as she walked up to his bedside, standing with Allison. Drex's eyes lit up a little bit, happy to be able to tell his adventure.

"Well, it went along the lines like this..."

Author's Note

Check it out everyone. I was bumming around the internet when I stumbled upon this picture:

I wonder how many of the people who don't like Alicorn Twilight would prefer 'Princess Arcanine' instead?

Fire beats Grass

Chapter Five
**********

Drex jumped back as the large timberwolf lunged at him, its teeth just narrowly grazing where his neck was. The few timberwolves that surrounded them nipped at his legs and snarled at him if he got too close to the edge of the circle. He quickly jumped away from the edge of the circle, only to be tackled and knocked down by the alpha. He picked himself up, his sore body slowly being commanded by his thoughts.

Shit, this sucks. Drex thought to himself as he scoped his surroundings. He was facing a timberwolf, one that was bigger than the other four surrounded the two of them. But Drex, he was bigger than his opponent. However, to his knowledge, a timberwolf may be made from just wood but that does not mean it doesn't have muscle. It could even have more strength than he does for all he knew.

He locked eyes with the alpha, and they slowly circled one another, waiting to see who would make the first move. As they circled Drex saw how the timberwolves around them would close in the gap so he couldn't run, but they also kept their distance from him. Like they were afraid to get too close to him. But not because they were scared what he could do to them, but because what the alpha would do if they interfered.

During his distraction the alpha lunged once more. Drex jumped left, away from the claws, but was clipped and three red streaks were visible on his shoulder, nothing that was lethal, but an annoyance. He had no knowledge how to fight in his current body, not to say it stopped him from trying.

This time he attacked, lunging at wolf he checking it with his right shoulder. To his surprise, Drex hit the wolf hard enough to lift it off the ground and send it flying lightly. The wolf tumbled through the dirt. The wolf snarled as it picked itself up, a piece of it's bark had been cracked and a few chips fell off on the left side of its ribs, where Drex had hit it. The wolf's green eyes flashed a little brighter as it got more angry, anger fuelled by its pain.

Once more it charged at Drex, but this time he doesn't try dodging, instead, he met it head on and charged as well. As the wolf jumped in the air again, Drex let instinct control his body and he lowered his head. With one powerful bound he shot toward the air-born wolf and his head came into contact, square in its chest. The timberwolf hit the ground hard and spat sap-like blood from its mouth due to the impact. The crack on its side became bigger, a large gash now ran from the side to a large broken area on its chest.

Drex landed not too far from the immobile wolf, he felt only slightly dazed. His head did not hurt, not like one would after head-butting a solid object and going full speed. In fact, he didn't even feel a mild headache. The timberwolf got up rickety, its bark fell off in bits; its snarling became louder, more ferocious. It barked a command and the other wolves pounced on Drex.

He reacted quickly and jumped at the closest, bringing his claws over its right eye. It howled in pain as chips were torn off its face as Drex's claws dug in; the wolf turned tail and ran into the safety of the woods. The others, on the other hand, faired a bit better. One snapped at Drex's forearm, but he reeled it away before the wolf's jaw could clamp down on it. He dodged, bobbed, and weaved as two of the wolves tried biting him.

Drex roared in pain as a sharp sensation was felt on his right leg. He looked back to see the third timberwolf had sneaked behind him and clamped its jaw around his leg. He pulled free of its grip and kicked it in the face, chipping it a little. That one, too, ran away. One of the wolves jumped on his back while he was distracted and sunk its teeth into him. Drex stifled a scream this time and pushed himself onto his find legs, lifting his forelegs off the ground. He worked past the pain coming from his leg where the previous wolf bit him. The one on his back was either too stupid, shocked, or oblivious to get off him. Drex grunted as rough bark dug into his back as the timberwolf on was crushed.

He rolled over and sluggishly stood up, he had exerted most of his strength hitting the trees before the timberwolves showed up. Another sharp pain shot through him, his eyes open wide in shock; this time he didn't hold back a scream. His scream was loud enough that the nearby birds flew away in fear. He looked down to see the alpha timberwolf's jaw clamped tightly around his left arm, its teeth sinking into his deltroid. He figured that during the skirmish with the others, the alpha was given enough time to regain enough strength to pull itself up, and while he slowly got up after crushing the one on his back the alpha took its chance.

Pain and anger soon controlled him as his blood ran down and did the only thing he saw rationale at the time. He grabbed its back with his free paw and bit into the timberwolf, his teeth breaking though the wooden exterior and his jaw clamping around its neck. The wolf bit in other places on his arm, ripping into new spots and trying to force Drex to feel as much pain to make him let go.

His mouth felt like it was getting hotter, but it did not get dry. He figured that it was just the pain, but it kept getting hotter and hotter, not stopping. The heat that grew in Drex's mouth was not his imagination, the timberwolf began to feel the heat too. It began to panic, letting go of Drex and trying to break free from his grip. Drex knew he had it now, he strengthened his grip around the wolf and bit harder, hearing cracks and wood snapping. The wolf could feel the heat get hotter to the point where it started howling in pain, squirming to wretch free of the grip. Drex could feel the his mouth getting hotter, but not the heat, he did not feel the pain.

"Stay still god dammit!" Drex shouted without releasing the wolf.

He bit the wolf once more, this time his mouth exploding into flame as his teeth made contact with the wood. The wolf was soon aflame, fire caught on the twigs and smaller branches that made up its body.

"Holy shit!" Drex yelped in panic, letting go of the wolf and jumping back. The fire from his mouth was gone as fast as it had appeared, with only traces of light smoke coming from his mouth showing evidence that it actually happened.

The alpha rolled around and howled as the fire spread across its body, bits and pieces burned off. Soon the green light was put out in its eyes as the timberwolf stopped moving, fire had engulfed its body. Drex watched the burning corpse, speechless and exhausted. He turned his head to see the fifth timberwolf still around. It did not try attacking him or running away, it simply sat in place and stared at the burning pile that was its alpha. It lifted its head and looked back at Drex, and nothing happened. It just stared at him for what seemed like an endless amount of time.

The wolf got up and walked away like nothing had happened, turning invisible as it slid into the darkness of the forest.

Finally, Drex's legs gave up and he collapsed on the spot. Blood streamed out of his open wounds, not a lot, but a nasty amount. He laid there panting, fatigue had caught up to him as he felt his eyelids grow heavy. He heard the sound of footsteps getting closer, he thought that the wolf from before came back to finish him.
***

"As it turns out it was just Zecora who heard the sound of howling and came to inspect. She helped me limp all the way to her hut, bandaged me up, and you know the rest." He finished his story to Twilight and Allison, both of them speechless. Drex took pleasure in the expressions of confusion, awe, and disbelief he received from the two.

"WHAT?!" Twilight blurted. Her outburst shocked Allison a little who was standing right beside her. "You were able to breathe fire? Only dragons should have the capability to do that."

"Not so Twilight," Drex corrects her. "Allison and I are different than just about any creature you've read about or encountered. Unicorns have their magic, cockatrice have their paralysing stare, and we pokémon have our moves.

"Moves are abilities that we learn by fighting and getting stronger. These moves can be used for offence, defence, buffeting, or even screwing around with our opponent, it all depends on what the move is. We pokémon hold one or two types of thirteen elements: water, grass, fire, electricity, steel, ground, rock, flying, psychic, dark, ghost, fighting, ice, poison, bug, dragon, and normal. If a pokémon falls within one of those categories they can hold and harness that element's potential in a certain way. Allison and I are both fire types, so we can each use fire, but we can't control stray flame. Yes, confusing I'm sure.

"But yes, I can breathe fire just like a dragon, that is a move called Flamethrower, but I can also do other moves. When fire was emitted from my mouth I didn't fell it come out so it couldn't have been a Flamethrower, it was most likely a move called Fire Fang. I did not breathe fire, but instead much like how the name suggests, my fangs were wrapped in flame like a blanket to maximize my biting damage. And if I had to guess when I toppled the trees I was using the move Head Butt."

"Didn't you just say that how you were able to do that was a mystery? And can you produce fire from your body in any way?" Twilight asked confused.

"No, Head Butt is a move, but not like normal head-butting, it's stronger. And well, I can breathe fire, and sometimes produce fire from other places, but others are... Ah, it's so confusing to explain this to someone who is new to pokémon!"

"Maybe I can help," Allison said. "We can't produce fire from any place from our body, but sometimes we can. And some moves we learn aren't even fire based, some are normal type or something else relating to our element. Like Drex's Head Butt. Though there are a few exceptions. Drex and I are both just fire types, but I can learn a few psychic moves."

"This is all very confusing," Twilight said as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. "You said that you learn these moves by fighting, why is it by fighting?"

"That's how we get stronger and are able to defend ourselves more easily, like how birds learn to fly. It's second nature to us."

Before Twilight could ask another question a familiar western voice was heard from the entrance to Zecora's hut. "Zecora? Sorry to bother you but did Twilight and another girl with nine tails come by?"

"Applejack, is that you?" The unicorn asked confirming Applejack's question. Allison check as well to find the rest of the girls with her. "How'd you know we where here?"

"I saw you two following Zecora into the forest." Dash answered "I figured that seeing as though you two primarily organized the search he might be here. So is he?"

"Yeah, I'm here." He called from the other room. They gasped in shock.

"My goodness, what happened to you?" Rarity asked, frightful of seeing his appearance.

"I just explained it to these two? Do I really have to re-tell the story?" He groaned. The all shook their heads vigorously, interested as to what happened. "Oh for fu-"

/One Story Later/

"So what you're sayin' is that pokémon have abilities called moves?" Applejack asked after Drex had finished telling his story again.

"Yep," he said dryly.

"And these moves are used for offence and defence for primarily fighting, which is also how you learn them?" Dash asked.

"And buffing or debuffing opponents," Allison added.

"And you just learned how to use two of these moves by fighting off timberwolves?" Rarity asked, least impressed by the story besides Fluttershy, though were both thankful for him to be safe.

"That pretty much sums the whole thing up." Drex concluded.

"One last question," Applejack said raising a hoof. "Why did you you go into the forest in the first place?" Allison and Drex looked at each other uncomfortably.

"It's best if we don't discuss that." Allison said sadly, a tinge of pain hung in the air.

"Good news my new friend, the salve is ready to mend." Zecora said entering the room with a small jar. Happy to change the subject Allison took it from Zecora with her paws, though however improbable it may have seemed.

Drex painfully rolled out of the bed, every muscle hurt in his body no matter how he moved. Twilight and Applejack helped him down as he put three of his four paws gently on the ground, his left arm hanging in a sling. "Thanks again Zecora, I don't think I'd be here if it weren't for you."

"I require no thanks from a friend, I am just glad you did not meet a bitter end." The zebra gave them a small bottle that had a fragrance that would ward off any predators as they bid her a final farewell and left.

"So, what happens now?" Drex asked, silently wincing at the pain.

"Now we go to the hospital to get you checked up." Twilight insisted. "I trust Zecora and her remedies, but we can't rely on her judgement alone. I want to make sure you truly don't have any broken bones or contracted a disease from the timberwolves."

"Eh, I've done enough fighting for one day so I'll just go along with it." Drex said even though he knew there was nothing else wrong with him. It was far past sundown by the time they exited the forest, and much like how Zecora had promised, nothing bothered them.

"It's gotten pretty late, if it's fine with the rest of you, I think I'll be going home." Rainbow Dash yawned.

"Go ahead Dash, I'm fine with the rest of you going home." Drex said thankful to the help they've given him and Allison.

"Great! See you guys tomorrow." They wave to her goodbye as she flies off to her cloud home.

"Well, I suppose we should be going home too. Goodnight Twilight and Allison. And Drex?" He perked his ears a little showing his attention. "I do hope you get better soon."

"I'll make sure to through you a get-well-soon party so you'll hopefully get better quicker than you can say. Boythatwasagreatget-well-soonparty." Pinkie said cheerfully and hopped away.

"Um, if you need anything you can come over to my place... If you want I guess." Fluttershy said trying to be as helpful as possible. Though they weren't ponies she still had trouble at being more outspoken. With her gone it was just Drex, Allison, Twilight and Applejack.

"Aren't you going too Applejack?" Drex asked wondering why she hasn't left too.

"Not just yet. I told Allison that you and she can stay in our barn so ya got a place to sleep. I figured that I'll have ta show ya where A'h live first of all."

"Really? Hey thanks!"

"Sorry Drex, but while your still bandaged you'll have to stay at the library with Spike and I. No offence Applejack but I think it would be best if he slept somewhere more hygienic while he's bandaged up. He might get an infection sleeping in the barn." Twilight said trying not to hurt her friend's feelings.

"None taken Twi, and yer probably right. Though it ain't that dirty it's better to be safe than sorry."
***

"My my," Doctor Stable muttered to himself going over the X-rays. "Well this would explain quite a bit Mr. Drex."

"So what is it Doc? Do I check out?" Drex asked sitting on the bed.

"Has he contracted a disease?" Twilight asked nervously.

"No no. He checks out fine. No infections, diseases, fractured bones, internal damage. Just some cuts and bites that will mend within time. And even we use some of Zecora's potions, things around the hospital have gotten better."

"A few cuts and bites?" Drex asked alarmed. "Doc, those things nearly ripper me to shreds!"

"And they would have if not for your peculiar anatomy." He replied coolly. "If your story is true then it would be a mystery as to how you could topple a tree with just your head. But we ran some quick tests from the X-rays and found out some interesting things about yourself."

"Like what?" Allison asked just as curious as the rest of them. Doctor Stables levitated a clip board to himself to look over the findings.

"Well, his bones are much more fortified and hardened than that of a normal ponies'. By my guess it would take a solid blow with a sledge hammer to even fracture a bone let alone break it. So the reason why you suffer no brain damage is because it is behind a solid wall."

"And that's why they weren't able to rip my arm from my socket?" He asked impressed with his new body.

"A bit. But your bones aren't the only things that are different from a ponies'. Your muscle tissue is a little thicker and more dense. If it wanted to rip your arm off it would have to have first gotten through all that muscle." He set the clip board aside. "You're quite lucky Mr. Drex, only a few cuts and bites, nothing broken, and no longer term or permanent damage. Just give it a few weeks and you'll heal up nice and fine, and I'm sure Zecora's medicine will help the process. Even we have prescribed some of her ointments and potions to patients. But I recommend that you stay off that arm for the time being, there's a chance that if you push yourself while its in that condition there will be long term damage."

"Anything else?"

"No, but..." Doctor Stables looked to Allison. "Ms. Allison, you are relatively the same species as him, are you not? With your permission we'de like to... study, you as well. Just to see if your structure is the same as Mr. Drex's. It wouldn't be much, just a few X-rays, a blood sample, perhaps a physical, all with your consent of course. All strictly for medical and scientific research, I promise you."

"Well... I don't know." She hesitated. "Today has been rather hectic for me and may not be the best time to ask me. But perhaps on a later date."

"Understandable, but please, if you change your mind come down."

"I will," she said leaving the room with the others.

"Well, you're right about one thing," Drex yawned as they walked through the hospital and out the doors to outside. "It has been a big day, and I could use the rest."

"Sleep sure sounds nice right about now." Applejack agreed. "Come on Allison, A'h'll show ya where mah place is. Then we can all get some rest."

"Yeah, rest, I'd like that." Drex commented dreamily. "We'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Guess so." Twilight and Drex went in one direction to the library while Applejack and Allison left to the farm. The library was dark, Twilight figured that Spike was already in bed.

"Up stairs is the guest room." The purple unicorn guided him upstairs, it was a slow process for him with one leg bandaged and another unable to move. She pushed open a door to a small room, a single bed was inside with dark blue covers and a desk with a lamp on it. He crawled into the bed, a his body was a little bigger than the bed with his legs just dangling a little. But he didn't care how big he was or how small the bed was, he just cared for how comfy it was.

"Like clouds," he mumbled, already half asleep.

"I guess that means you like it?" Drex nodded slowly. "Glad to know, see you tomorrow Drex." She heard him say something back that sounded like 'Good-night', but was too slurred and muffled to be sure.
***

"There's the farm, and here's where you'll be sleepin'." She opened the barn doors. Stacks of hay were piled in some places in either blocks bound tightly together or in loose piles. A wagon and a plow sat in one corner on the opposite side and plenty buckets used to hold apples in another. "Sorry for the mess, and the lack of quality, but A'h afraid it's the best we have. Ah suppose you can just find a spot on one of th' hay stacks, Ah'll get some sheets and a pillow for ya." Before she trotted off to get the items she turned back to Allison, something was on her mind.

"Something the matter?"

"Well, it's just that. Rarity offered ya a nice bed and that's comfortable and all, so why'd ya turn it down?"

She was silent in thought for a moment, for only a brief moment. "At the time, I didn't want to be separated from Drex, we have no idea where we are, how we got here, or how to get back, and I was scared. So I felt that if I had a familiar face with me at all times, I wouldn't be so scared. Especially his."

"So ya love him?" Applejack asked absent-mindedly.

"What?!" Her face went bright red and she started stammering words. "N-no. It's not, not like that! He's just a really good friend! That's all! He's helped me out a lot in things like this before. I- I guess you could say he's what gives me my strength."

"Uh, sorry about that. Ah'll go get ya those sheets." Applejack left hastily and a bit embarrassed. By the time she had returned with a sheet, blanket, and pillow, Allison had already curled up on a pile of loose hay and had started to sleep. Applejack smiled a little and put the items by Allison. "Ya've had a rough day, haven'tcha?" Applejack yawned, drowsiness kicking in. "Ah guess we all have."