Starting over

by Kewlinthehood

Rating: everyone
Tags: Random, Crossover, Alternate Universe, Human
Length: 6480

What DID happen at the end of Mother 3, so I came up with this.

(Major spoilers for Mother 3!)
It was all over for Lucas, perhaps in a good way. The end of the world as we know it was happening, most of his family was dead, but at least he still had his companions. What if some unknown force we have yet to grasp gave him a second chance? What if it wasn't all over? That is where our story begins.

Oh, and before you dislike it, tell me what I'm doing wrong in comments, that stuff helps.

Coverart by mnrART on deviantart

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2013-05-27 04:48:24 UTC

One

When Lucas woke up, he felt a comfort he couldn't explain. His eyes weren't open, but he felt like he was back in his bed in Tazmily village, when he was living a life he could scarcely remember. When Lucas looked around he saw a seemingly endless field of sunflowers. He smiled, but couldn't help let a few tears go. They reminded him of someone he remembered fondly.

In order to maintain his composure, Lucas looked up at the cloudless sky as he walked, he didn't know why. Perhaps it was because he felt that he was too old to cry anymore, we may never know.

When Lucas stepped out of the sunflower patch and into Everfree forest, he couldn't help but look back, and pick a small sunflower as a memento.

Everfree forest reminded Lucas of the forest near his hometown, Sunshine forest, but to Lucas, Everfree forest felt a bit more magical. It had an air of mystery about it, but it was also vibrant and lively. Birds were singing a chorus and insects created a symphony of buzzes and chirps.

Then it struck Lucas, what was he doing here? The Earth he remembered was ravaged only a few minutes ago. "Am I dead?" he thought. It boggled his mind, but then a voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Um, excuse me, but you look a little lost. Can I help you?" The voice was soft and gentle. Lucas couldn't stand it. He couldn't stand the thought of making another close companion and watching them die, so he ran, no he bolted away with tears welling up in his eyes. He didn't even look at the source of the voice.

Lucas stopped running when he didn't hear footsteps behind him anymore, he was relieved. For breakfast, lunch, and dinner, Lucas ate berries, he wanted nothing to do with any kind of violence again. At night, Lucas climbed high in the trees and slept on a thick branch.

In his sleep, Lucas dreamed of the destruction and devastation he had caused to the world. He dreamed of his brother's corpse lying in front of that needle, almost like an omen. He dreamed of Porky Minch, mocking him, knowing that Lucas could never exact revenge on him. He dreamed of his mother impaled on a fang. The memories wouldn't stop coming.

"Everyone's waiting for you, Lucas. Everyone's waiting to throw rocks at you, spit in your eyes, and make your life hell. Who's everyone? Everyone you love." Those words never stopped repeating in his head, like a broken record.

Lucas woke up sweating but what he witnessed was a spectacle. He saw the Wonderbolts fly through Everfree forest. Lucas hid himself with some nearby leaves, but he couldn't help but watch. They were so graceful when they zoomed by, they all followed a systematic pattern of loops and rolls. Lucas became so captivated that he forgot that he was looking a a group of pegasi. But then again, Lucas had seen very, very bizarre things on his travels.

It was noon, and Lucas climbed down from the safety of the tree he was perched upon to scavenge berries. It wasn't too hard to find a bush with berries in it. The berries Lucas had found looked like shriveled blueberries, he put a few in his other pocket.

After about a half hour of berry picking, Lucas was tired, and he noticed a couple of sticks and logs lying around nearby, so he sat down on them, big mistake. From behind him, Lucas heard a growling noise. The logs and sticks had joined together to become a living creature that resembled a wolf, the next thing he knew, Lucas was surrounded by three of them.

Although, Lucas was terrified, he subconsciously knew that handling them would be an easy task, he just wanted to avoid conflict. One of the wolves took the first strike, it lunged at him, and he sidestepped it. Lucas tried to yell and make himself appear stronger, but it did no use. Every time the wolves lunged at Lucas, he just dodged it without much trouble. Then, all three wolves tackled him. They began tearing his shirt to shreds and their claws pierced his skin like a balloon. He was lucky enough to grab a nearby stick, and force the wolves off of him. He held them back with the same stick, but it seemed as if they had unlimited endurance, even when it seemed Lucas had reduced them back to sticks and logs again, they just reshaped themselves.

Then it became clear to Lucas, they weren't just going to become tame or back down, Lucas had to kill the wolves, or they would kill him, it was a battle of survival. All Lucas had to do was to point at the wolves and say the magic words and they would disappear forever, it was that simple. Lucas looked away from the wolves, pointed at them and said the magic words: "PK Fire alpha!" His voice was forceful, but it cracked a little bit.

It worked, the wolves whimpered and howled as they died a slow, painful, death. Lucas couldn't help but break down in tears. "What have I done? I'm a monster!" he thought. For hours, Lucas lay ever still, feeling like he commit a crime. Fighting the wolves had taken out a lot of his energy, so he let himself take a quick nap.

From a distance, a trotting noise could be heard. A feminine voice gasped

"Oh no! You poor thing... Who could do something like this? Mommy's going to make it all better, okay?"

When Lucas woke from his nap, his surroundings were once again different. He was in a house that seemed like it was from a fairy tale. Bunnies were skipping about, Birds were singing, and the whole house seemed to have a cheery mood about it. There was no doubt about that.

"Oh, you're awake, feel free to make yourself at home." a figure appeared at the top of the stairs. Lucas was shocked, what he was looking at was a talking pony, or rather a talking pegasus. She had pink, flowing hair and yellow fur. She looked a little embarrassed when she saw Lucas looking so wide-eyed at her.

"I'm sorry if this is a little sudden. It's just that when I saw you asleep in the middle of the forest, covered in bruises, you looked like you needed a little help. You can call me Fluttershy. Do you want to tell me your name?" said the Pegasus sheepishly

"Lucas." he replied quietly

"I get the impression that you're not from here. Do you have parents?" asked Fluttershy

"They're-, well..." began Lucas

"I understand. It must be hard, why don't you just get some rest for a while, your wounds haven't healed." said Fluttershy understandingly

Lucas, the legend.

Lucas spent the next hour sitting in bed. He appreciated Fluttershy giving him a temporary shelter, but he still had questions. Was this Earth? Or a whole new place entirely?  Lucas then decided he would accept his fate. He thought that everything would unfold later, for now he could be normal, and do normal things. He decided to be polite and look for a broom, after all, he did owe Fluttershy, so he could at least sweep up the place. Lucas fixed his wounds with some good old fashioned PSI and began sweeping.

While Lucas was sweeping, he noticed a few photos. The one that stood out in particular was a photo of what appeared to be Fluttershy and a group of her friends. Lucas noticed that Pegasi isn't the only thing that inhabited this world, there were Unicorns, dragons, (although the one shown in the picture was smaller than Lucas would've imagined) and ponies without wings or a horn.

Fluttershy came back up to check on him "Oh my, you heal quickly!" she said noticing the lack of cuts or bruises on Lucas which he previously had. She just assumed it was normal for a human.

"Well, when you're hungry, I made lunch for you." she said kindly

When Lucas finished sweeping, he was greeted with chirps and tweets of all kinds. Sitting on the table was a fresh fruit salad. Strangely, they weren't some kind of foreign or strange fruit, they were the same fruits you would find on Earth. Apples, Bananas, and Grapes.

"Maybe this is Earth." Lucas thought

"I suppose you could live here for a while if you have nowhere else to go." said Fluttershy, walking up the stairs. Suddenly, she gasped.

The room was tidy and neat. Lucas had reorganized the shelves and cleaned the floor of dust, in an almost vast contrast to before.

"Did you.." began Fluttershy, Lucas nodded

"Lucas, if you can keep doing this, you can stay here as long as you want! I mean, if you want to." said Fluttershy, Lucas managed a weak smile and blushed.

Throughout the entire afternoon, Lucas looked out the window and stared, appearing to be deep in thought. Fluttershy couldn't help but notice, it kind of reminded her of herself as a young filly.

"So, you're um... new to town, right? Lucas stopped looking out the window.

"I could introduce you to some of my friends, if you would like. But, sometimes they're can be a little.... eccentric, but most of the time they're nice." said Fluttershy thoughtfully

Lucas thought about it and nodded.

When Lucas saw Ponyville he was entranced, colors and music filled the streets. He tried to ignore the stares and "Huh?"s he got. Fluttershy knocked on the door, decorated with festive streamers and balloons.

"Pinkie Pie, are you there?" asked Fluttershy softly

After waiting for about five seconds, she got a response "Hi Fluttershy! How's it going?! Oh and, what's with that animal following you around." Lucas nearly had a heart attack. She looked identical to the pony in one of the photos Lucas had seen in Fluttershy's house.

"Well, that's the thing. His name is Lucas, he doesn't really have a home, so I'm taking him in. He's new to town, so I thought I could introduce him to my friends to make him feel welcome." explained Fluttershy

Upon examining Lucas, Pinkie Pie noticed that Lucas had a frown on his face. Not a grumpy frown, the kind of frown you would see on a war veteran, like he had seen too much.

"What's the matter? Turn that frown upside-down!" Not even the most comical faces could make Lucas break his frown. Pinkie Pie shrugged, but she did look kind of disappointed.

"Something tells me that Pinkie's personality, um... how do I put this... Isn't quite your cup of tea. That's okay, most of my other friends are calmer, you can probably connect with them better." said Fluttershy

The next stop was a large hollow tree, someone had gotten a little creative and made a house out of it. Lucas questioned how comfortable that might be, but then remembered he had slept on a branch two days earlier and let it go.

"Hi Fluttershy, it's nice seeing you again after the coronation, and you are?" said the pony standing in front of him.

"Strange." Lucas thought, the pony he was looking at did bear some resemblance to the purple unicorn he saw in one of Fluttershy's photos. Now however, she had grown wings. "Did I miss some kind of transformation or ceremony?" Lucas thought

"This is Lucas. He's not much of a talker. His parents went missing, and he was living alone in the forest, so I decided to take him in. He's new in town, so I took the liberty of introducing him to some of my friends to make him feel welcome." said Fluttershy

"Ah, he's the strong-silent type. Hopefully, you'll enjoy living here! By the way, I'm Princess Twilight, but you can call me Twilight Sparkle." Lucas felt his muscles stiffen, and quickly bowed in the presence of royalty. Twilight gave a smile that seemed to be brimming with wisdom.

"Hey, why don't you two come in? The day is still young!" proposed Twilight. She made some tea for the three of them and began with a question.

"So, if you don't mind Lucas, how about telling us how you got here?" asked Twilight

Lucas glanced aside, as if remembering something he didn't want to.

"...It's complicated." he said quietly, Twilight closed her eyes and nodded, as if to say "I understand."

"My bad, that question might've been a little personal. How about this, Fluttershy, how did you find Lucas?" asked Twilight

"Well, I was taking my daily stroll through the forest when I noticed he was all bruised up, lying on the ground. He just look so helpless and innocent... I couldn't leave him like that. That wouldn't be right." said Fluttershy

Just then, an earsplitting roar was heard accompanied by screams and yelps. The ground began to shake.

"Oh no! I have to get the elements! Fluttershy, get Rarity, Pinkie Pie, AJ, and Rainbow Dash! Lucas, stay here!" commanded Twilight

Despite Twilight's orders, Lucas went outside anyways. He saw a creature the size of a giant. It looked like a semi-transparent violet-colored bear, with razor sharp fangs. It effortlessly trampled houses as Lucas watched in horror. There was a stampede of ponies,unicorns, and pegasi running in all directions in fear of the bear. It let out a guttural roar.

"No, no [NO!]" a pony's back legs had been caught on a stray root. She was kicking desperately to escape. Her screaming only made her an easier target for the bear. He licked his lips, and dragged her back with his paw to go in for the kill. She appeared to be pregnant. The gigantic bear opened his mouth, revealing fangs as sharp as swords. He was ready to go in for the kill.

"Don't!" a voice yelled. It didn't come from Twilight, Fluttershy, or any of the bystanders. It was from Lucas. He was breathing heavily, baring his teeth together, and he was visibly enraged. It seemed the whole world was fixated on him, just staring.

"PK Thunder Omega!" Lucas cried, and three swift, powerful bolts of lightning came down with a loud crack. The bear didn't fall over dead, it seemed the lightning never actually hit the bear. The bear released his grip on the pony that was about to become his meal. All the while, Lucas was giving it a fierce glare.

The colossal bear looked at Lucas with curious eyes, turned around and ran away. After a dramatic silence that lasted for a couple seconds, there was an outburst of cheers. Twilight and Fluttershy's reaction was appropriate, mouths wide open and their jaws had dropped. Lucas couldn't help but wonder if he did something wrong.

"Okay, let's start off with a simple question. What was that? It was amazing, but I'm still curious as to what it was." said Twilight, after the three of them had gone inside.

Lucas was reluctant to admit it, but he had an answer "Psychokinesis." he said quietly. Twilight gave him a puzzled look.

"Psychokinesis... I've heard that term before, but I'm not exactly familiar with it. I'll have to study a bit later when I have time." said Twilight

"Well Lucas, I think it's getting late. We should probably head home." said Fluttershy with a yawn. The walk to Fluttershy's cottage was silent, as if nothing had happened.

In bed, after Fluttershy had tucked him in and kissed him goodnight. Lucas felt a little blessed to be where he was. The residents were friendly and it was full of magic, what more could he ask for? Lucas felt himself drift into sleep.

Three

The sun had barely risen up past the horizon. Lucas woke up with a yawn, and proceeded to walk outside of the cottage to catch a breath of fresh air. The silent morning felt so serene to Lucas. He took off his shoes, and dipped his toes in the small pond nearby. He closed his eyes and let nature take it's course around him.

Then, it hit Lucas. If he's alive, then what about Claus, Duster, and Flint? Perhaps, they were in separate places, existing happily without him. The more he thought about it, the more anxiety he felt. The thought gave him hope. Lucas then had a revelation. Maybe his past life wasn't a complete hell? Or maybe it was, but he was overlooking the good parts. When he reflected on the past, he could point out a few good memories. Lucas remembered the first time he learned PSI, it was a whimsical experience. Or when a bathroom sign used PK starstorm. And no matter what, his companions stayed with him until the very end, through flames, blizzards, and storms. His thoughts were loudly interrupted by a mail carrier.

"Mail delivery! It's addressed to the pony who scared off the Ursa Major!" yelled a pint-sized dragon.

Lucas walked over to him to receive the letter, and the dragon glanced down at what appeared to be a sketch of Lucas.

"You scared off the Ursa Major?" said the dragon with a snicker, Lucas gave him an impatient look, and he handed over the letter.

Dear nameless hero,

You have been cordially invited to a high-class party in Canterlot. We understand you are new here in our humble community, so we made sure to invite others to lessen the awkwardness for you.  If you're wondering about directions to the castle, simply look for the large, obvious building perched on a mountain. You may bring one guest. It starts at 7 PM.

Sincerely, Princess Celestia

"Is it normal for a kingdom to have more than one princess?" Lucas thought, the most he had heard about royalty was in fairy tales his mother used to read him. The guest he was going to choose was obvious, Fluttershy. After all, she was the one Lucas was most acquainted with.

"Lucas! Breakfast is ready!" cried Fluttershy from inside the cottage, and Lucas went inside. Eggs with a side of toast and jam was served. For the first time, Fluttershy saw that Lucas was genuinely happy, it brought a smile to her face. Lucas slipped the letter over to Fluttershy at the other end of the table. She read it over.

"You want me to come?" she asked, and Lucas nodded. She then looked at the striped yellow and red shirt Lucas had been wearing for days now. It was tattered and admittedly, a little smelly.

"Oh Lucas, um, about your shirt. I'm not sure you can go the party in that. But don't worry, I can make you one." said Fluttershy, who had taken an interest in sewing after Rarity showed her the tricks of the trade. Lucas looked down at his shirt and blushed.

From her closet, Fluttershy got out a dusty sewing machine which Rarity had given her a couple months ago for her birthday. She also grabbed one black cloth and one white cloth. For the next few hours, Fluttershy sewed tirelessly, Lucas watched patiently the whole time.

The end result was a stylish tuxedo, with a small hole near the top. Lucas put it on, and looked in the mirror. It looked quite charming, and Lucas felt a boost in self-confidence when he wore it.

"Oh, please excuse me. I have to get something." Fluttershy stepped outside briefly. When she came back, she was carrying a rose in her mouth, and put it in the hole in the tuxedo. Lucas couldn't deny that it was a bit gross, but it did compliment the tuxedo nicely and Fluttershy had worked so hard on it, so Lucas accepted it with a smile.

It was 6:30 PM, it was going to be a long walk to Canterlot, so they decided to get a semi-early start. As they walked, the night sky was lit up by fireworks. They came in all colors, red, yellow, green, blue, you name it. Finally, they reached Canterlot, standing in front of the gateway was a rather intimidating bouncer. He was a pegasus, with rather pathetic wings, but his muscles were insanely large.

"Names?" he said in a gruff voice

"Lucas"

"Fluttershy"

"You're on the list." he said looking at Lucas

"You're not." he said looking at Fluttershy

"B-but, the letter said-" began Fluttershy

"I'm sorry ma'am, but you're not on the list. I don't want to have to escort you out of here." said the bouncer, Lucas noticed that Fluttershy looked quite disappointed. Then, Lucas had an idea. He took a step back.

"I'm sorry about this, but..." said Lucas, and he used the weakest version of PK flash possible so it would stop right in front of him, blinding him for a few seconds. Lucas gestured for Fluttershy to go inside with him, and she followed.

Throughout the long hallway leading to the grand ballroom, there were stained glass murals depicting the same winged unicorn, with a multicolored mane and white fur. Lucas stared in awe, they seemed to tell a story without words. In the first mural, the winged unicorn was young and frail, in one of the newest, she had matured quite a bit.  It almost felt like traveling through time.

Lucas got so caught up in the murals, he zoned out for quite a while. Fluttershy must have gone ahead without him without realizing it. He kept running until he reached the ballroom. Upper class ponies were gossiping about their neighbors in a snooty manner while drinking fine wine and champagne. Lucas wandered through the crowd, looking for Fluttershy, and he tried not to look nervous.

Lucas began to feel a little thirsty, and he looked around for any non-alcoholic beverage that was being served. After about five minutes of looking at labels on bottles, he had finally found a jug of apple cider, he poured himself a glass and took a sip. He became more relaxed the more he drank, he didn't feel drowsy or anything. The small glass of apple cider Lucas was drinking seemed to have so much hard work put into it. Lucas personally wanted to thank whoever made it.

"Hey guys look, I didn't know Canterlot had a freak show."  Lucas looked up from his glass, and three teenage pegasi in some sort of uniform. Lucas remained silent.

"Aw look, the wittle foal can't talk, that's cute." said another pegasus mockingly, Lucas tried to look strong, but he still showed signs of weakness.

"Hey guys, watch this!" said the third pegasus, and he pushed Lucas over, caught his apple cider, and poured it all over him, drenching his hair. Everyone's eyes were suddenly diverted towards him. He was struggling to hold back tears. Lucas then realized that these were the same group of pegasi he had admired a few days ago, the ones he had witnessed in the forest. It was almost heartbreaking.

Then, someone pushed through the crowd, it was Fluttershy, with an openly shocked expression, which changed to a look of pity once she saw Lucas.

"Lucas! I mean, Lucas.. could you please turn around for one teensy minute?" said Fluttershy, and Lucas looked away.

"How dare you? How could you pick on someone as young as him just because he's not from here? You're supposed to be role models for fillies everywhere, and you go and do this? You give a bad name for Wonderbolts, you should be glad that I don't know your mothers because they would be far more than disappointed in you right now!"

"Whoa, chill out lady." said one of the pegasi, backing away.

"Chill out? Chill out?! If you wanted me to chill out, you should've never crossed paths withmy son!" said Fluttershy angrily

""My son" The words hit Lucas like a thunderstorm in a desert. It seemed impossible, like a dream, but it was so real. Offically, he was no longer an orphan. He felt his heart melt a bit.

For the next four seconds there was dead silence, although Lucas couldn't see their faces, he could sense that they were nervous.

"The stare, it burns!" said one pegasus

"Stop it, you're freaking me out!" said another

"I'm sorry!" said yet another, and with that, Lucas heard the distinct sound of three pairs of wings flapping at an unnatural rate, and they were gone.

"...And stay out!" said the bouncer, who had thrown out Fluttershy and Lucas out of Canterlot without hesitation.

"Fluttershy... Thank you." said Lucas sheepishly

"Oh, it was nothing, really." said Fluttershy kindly. Although it was only 8:00 PM, both Fluttershy and Lucas were both (emotionally) exhausted at that point. When they arrived home they wasted no time in going to bed. Fluttershy slept with a clear conscience.

A strange kind of reunion

"Mom, is this the day? The day I get to see him again?" asked a child excitedly

"Yes, I believe it is!" said the mother, there was happiness in her voice, but the child could sense a twinge of sadness.

"Go out there and make me proud, son! I know you will." said the father

"Mom, Dad, I know we'll see eachother again, and sooner or later, he'll be here too!" said the child, his father was silent, smiling at the ground, and his hat obstructing his eyes,  which were full of tears of joy.

"Oh, before you go, tell him I said hi, Claus." said the mother, and the child was jogging towards a benevolent light.

Lucas was awoken to the sound of a faraway cry of pain. It came from the same direction of where he landed. He felt drawn to it, like to a moth to a flame. He had to satisfy his curiosity.

"Could it be?" thought Lucas. He pinched himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming. With each second he got more and more excited. If he didn't want to wake up Fluttershy, he felt like squealing with happiness, even if the chance was slim that someone he knew was there.

Almost robotically, Lucas put his worn sneakers on, and walked out the door. Lucas started with a slow, easy walk, and later progressed to a full-on sprint, he just had an instinct that he couldn't explain, it encouraged him to keep moving towards the sunflower patch. Nothing was going to stop him from seeing what was there.

Claus was feeling estatic, and he ran at full speed towards the gateway between the afterlife and wherever his little brother was. Claus expected to run through the portal and that would be it, but as he ran through the portal, he felt no solid ground beneath him, he looked down at the ground and saw he was several feet above it, his landing was less than graceful. He smiled as a feeling of irony sank in as he saw his surroundings: a sunflower field.

"It must be some kind of sign. Maybe a good omen?" he shrugged. Claus heard footsteps behind him, he turned around. It was all there, the blonde hair, the beady eyes, it fit perfectly like a puzzle. It was Lucas. When they locked eyes, words could not describe how happy they were, they ran at eachother preparing for a brotherly hug. Tears of joy ran down their faces.

"What'd I tell you, little bro, I knew we would see each other again!" said Claus joyfully

"Claus..." said Lucas, too choked up to talk

"Did you see Mom? What about Dad?" Lucas asked

"I did Lucas. It was beautiful." said Claus honestly. Minutes passed as they embraced eachother. Claus broke the silence.

"Hey Lucas, how about a sparring match? For old time's sake." said Claus, putting up a playful boxing stance. He didn't seem to acknowledge the events that took place only a few days ago.

"What? Claus! We haven't had a true meeting since..." Lucas didn't want to mention the dreadful events that took place in New Pork City. He could feel his temper rising.

"Cmon, Lucas, it's only play-fighting. It's not like it's to the death." Claus didn't seem to acknowledge what happened only a few days ago.

"Claus." said Lucas, changing the subject

"I have to ask you something. How are you... alive?" he asked

"Lucas, honestly, who cares? Last time I checked, you were as dead as was a few days ago. Plus, we're both still alive and well, why question it?" countered Claus

Lucas sighed. "You haven't changed a bit, Claus." Lucas then noticed Claus was backing away a bit, he looked behind him, to make sure he wasn't missing anything. Claus stared down Lucas while circling him with a smirk on his face. It made Lucas feel slightly uneasy. Lucas blinked for a second, and Claus was charging at him, his fist raised. Lucas braced himself for the impact.

Lucas closed his eyes, waiting for the punch. But when he looked, Claus barely missed, his fist was inches away from his stomach. Lucas let out a sigh of relief.

"Psyche!" Claus took advantage of Lucas's momentary confusion and uppercutted him, Lucas was knocked upward like a volleyball on the first serve. Claus tackled him, throwing sunflowers in his face to no end.

"Claus, stop!" Lucas's lips were quivering, and he shielded his body with his arms.

"Alright, jeez, don't cry about it." Claus stood up and turned around. Big mistake.

"PK Freeze α!" cried Lucas, and Claus was frozen up to his knees. Claus had a genuinely impressed look on his face. Lucas bolted at Claus, and when they were in close range, Lucas jumped and kicked Claus square in the stomach. Claus stumbled backwards and fell down with a "thump", breaking the ice.

"Alright then, I can take cheap shots too, Lucas!" said Claus, and a pair of mechanical wings sprouted from his jacket, and he zipped upwards. Lucas was surprised that Claus still had the cybernetic enhancements the pigmask army had applied to him.

Lucas felt frozen in place when Claus zoomed at him, Lucas blocked his body with his arms for protection, but Claus flew straight past him. Lucas looked behind him, Claus was hovering at ground-level. Claus put his arms in front of him, as if he was preparing to grab something.

Suddenly, Lucas felt his arms being seized. Claus had locked him into a full-nelson. Then, Lucas felt his body rise, he could no longer feel the ground below him, he flailed his arms trying to grab a sunflower to hang on to, but his efforts were futile as he and Claus were slowly ascending.

"Claus, I'm scared of heights! Cut it out!" yelped Lucas, struggling to get out of his grip

"Heights? I wouldn't worry about that." said Claus, and the next thing he knew, they were taking a dive towards the ground. Lucas closed his eyes, bracing for the impact. But when he opened them, he was flat on the ground, still in Claus's grip, but unharmed. He let out a sigh of relief.

Then, Lucas heard the sound of ignition. Almost immediately, Claus began to fly low at insane speeds (for someone carrying a body), dragging Lucas along. Lucas's face was covered in dirt, sunflower petals, and a few bugs instantaneously. Claus's flight path consisted of anything but a straight line.

Claus ended his zany combo by dropping Lucas into a mud puddle with just enough precision and timing to ensure that he would slide like a penguin on ice, Lucas slid with half the grace and twice the speed. Lucas wiped the mud off of his face as he staggered to stand up, Claus stood patiently waiting for him to get up.

Lucas, on the other hand, had lost his patience with Claus, and was determined to stop the fight before it got any worse. His solution? Beat the crap out of Claus, of course! Lucas snarled as he sprinted at Claus. He threw a rage-filled fist at Claus, who just barely dodged it. Claus used this as an opening to grab his arm, and twist it until he screamed.

"Say uncle!" said Claus fiercely

"No!" screamed Lucas

"Say it!"

"No! No! No! NO!" With each "No" Lucas punched Claus in the stomach in an attempt to make him release him. It worked. Claus pushed him away, and coughed up a bit of blood.

"Fine! You want a serious fight and I'll give you one! You asked for this!" Once again, Claus grabbed hold of Lucas's arm, but this time, he didn't twist it. He lifted him up a few inches off the ground and let out an intense battle cry.

Then, out of the clear skies, a swift bolt of lightning struck Lucas. He let out a scream mixed with fear,anger, and shock. A lightning bolt of that strength would knock a normal human unconscious, but thankfully, Lucas is by no means a normal human, that is not to say he wasn't heavily injured at that point. Claus was surprised he was still standing up.

"Still conscious? Lemme fix that." said Claus nonchalantly. Lucas watched in horror as he saw what Claus was doing, he was preparing the single strongest PSI skill in the book: PK Love. He couldn't tell what stage it was, but he knew for sure that he had to intercept it somehow without killing himself or Claus, as well as preserving the nature around them.

"Claus! What are you doing?" asked Lucas, getting desperate

"Lucas, don't worry about it, it's not to the death, remember?" Claus continued to concentrate as a purple aura surrounded him. Lucas tried to read Claus's mind through telepathy, thankfully he was only planning on using PK Love β, though Lucas still had to stop it, otherwise the fight was only going to get worse. Running out of ideas, Lucas reluctantly began to charge up PK Love himself.

"Lucas, ya ready? I know you've gotten stronger, maybe even stronger than I am. Somewhere in there, I see a fighting spirit struggling to get out! I can see potential in there, I know it! I'm doing this for you, not me, Lucas." said Claus, Lucas covered his ears to ignore his words.

"Claus, we could stop right here! This is pointless!" yelled Lucas, Claus was too focused to hear what he said. The ground began to shake and sunflowers appeared to evaporate into thin air as Lucas and Claus were slowly pushing the limits of their psychic ability.

"PK Love... Beta!" Cried two voices. From a distance, two pinkish beams of light clashed together, creating a supernatural spectacle. Lucas and Claus seemed to be synchronized, almost as if one was looking into a mirror.

As the beams clashed, neither of them had an advantage. Sometimes one beam would overpower the other, only to be pushed back with a sudden burst of energy. If he wanted to "win" Lucas had to crank it up a notch.

"PK Love Gamma!" Without warning, Lucas forced back Claus's PK Love. Lucas was about to end the struggle until Claus countered with PK Love Gamma, once again balancing the beams. Lucas yelled in frustration.

"This is it! No more holding back! Make me proud Lucas, come at me with everything you've got!PK Love Omega!" bellowed Claus. Lucas took his deadly offer and let go of any hesitation. Both Lucas and Claus were slowly losing control of their PSI as their struggle was coming to an end.

But in the heat of the battle, Lucas could see sparks coming from the middle of the clashing beams as they both progressively pushed their limits. As he stared closer, the sparks were turning into small explosions, Claus didn't seem to notice.

Finally, Lucas heard something that sounded like a grenade going off, and then he couldn't see Claus anymore. He could only see a white light, moving towards him, Lucas tried to run, but he only got pulled in, like a magnet to metal. The explosion felt like several needles going into his body at once. He closed his eyes, to avoid being blinded. When he opened them, he was standing or rather kneeling, in a crater that stretched to a great distance. Lucas then saw Claus, lying flat on the ground, he nearly had a heart attack, wondering if Claus had once again died. Thankfully, Lucas could see Claus limping over to Lucas. He ran over to him.

"Claus, are you okay?" asked Lucas urgently

"Me? Heh, I'll be fine. Nothing a little R&R won't fix." said Claus without much care, Lucas was grateful to see that Claus wasn't gravely injured, he was in bad shape, but not on the verge of death.

"Stop!" cried a voice from afar. Lucas and Claus looked above the crater to see Fluttershy, who was most likely in a hurry to get there, as she was panting quite a bit.

"...Care informing me, Lucas?" said Claus, who was confused at the fact that a pegasus had just spoken to him.

"It's complicated.." said Lucas, and when he looked behind him, Claus was already flying away, he waved, and Lucas waved back.

"L-Lucas, who was that?" asked Fluttershy, who was very eager for an answer. After a long moment of thought, Lucas answered.

"My brother." he said quietly

"Never mind that, you're injured! Mommy's gonna make it better, okay?" said Fluttershy, who had already put Lucas on her back and was rushing back to the cottage.

The End/Beginning (prologue)

This was the end, almost. The final needle was in front of Lucas. It seemed so out of place in Lucas's current situation. It was a pure gold color, it looked almost benevolent in his gloomy surroundings. Lucas grasped it firmly with his hands, and yanked it out with full force.

Lucas reflected on the things he had faced to get here: his mother's death, the atrocities caused by Porky Minch, the companions who had helped him, and now his brother's corpse was lying in front of him.

Then, a dark shadow draped over the horizon like a curtain. Lucas was shocked to see what happened next: tidal waves the size of skyscrapers swept distant islands and gigantic flames were spreading like disease. But what did Lucas care? He had lost everything, he just closed his eyes, and asked for forgiveness for what he had caused.

When he opened his eyes again, he saw nothing but a void of blackness faintly illuminated by two dim stars.

"The poor kid has been through a lot. He deserves a second chance." said one voice

"Eureka! He's gentle, timid, and he knows a form of magic, psychokinesis! I know where to take him!" said another voice

"You don't mean..." said the first voice hesitantly

"Yep! C'mon, he'll fit right in!" said the other voice eagerly

"Alright, but it'll be awkward for him."