Second Universe

Chapters

My friends, my pain, my destiny
My dread, my fate, my trust
My apologies, my time, my dream
Mindscape one...
Beginning a new adventure...
The first dream...
The Symbol and Cipher
Returning with some new friends
Aftermath
Calm before the storm
Catching up
Forges musical number
Scary's Chapter and The Council
Meeting the Nightmare Fuel
Worst kind of situation
The figure of mindscape two
The Symbol of an Epidemic
The Truth
The Monster, The Demon, And The Machine
The End
Zero: Life afterwards
Zero: Just guys talking
Zero: Discord
Zero: Better and better
Zero: Octavia in labour
Zero: Days gone by
Zero: Happy Hearth's Warming
The original story, official SU reboot
My life, my choice, my regret
Gears turned and punishment earned
Preparations and a thing of the past
Symbols story continues

My friends, my pain, my destiny

It's been four weeks since I was sent here and a lot of weird stuff has been happening lately. First of all there was that ticket fiasco two weeks back, so I might as well tell you about it. Oh, and you'll be glad to here that I've opened up a bit to my friends, so, there's that.

I was on my way to visit Octavia when Derpy came flying towards me. During my time in ponyville Derpy has crashed into me a few times now, so I stepped to the side to avoid contact. When she landed I helped her up. "Ok Derpy, what is it?" She reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a letter. It was for me, sent by Celestia. "Strange, if she wanted to tell me something it would be through Spike." I opened the letter to find 6 gold tickets to the upcoming Gala, which I had heard a few ponies talking about in town. Derpy noticed the tickets and her eyes started to glisten, there was also a note to go along with the tickets.

Dear Symbol

I know you are not one for public affairs but I would like you to attend the upcoming Grand Galloping Gala, you may also bring your friends if you wish, who you decide to bring is entirely your choice. Besides, I would like a dance with somebody who can match my height.

Sincerely, Princess Celestia.

I knew there was some kind of catch, and if I declined the invitation she would just bring up my debt to her, there really was no escape from this. I noticed Derpy looking desperately at the tickets. "Derpy, do you want to go to the Gala, because I've got these extra tickets if you wanna come." She tackled me to the ground once more with tears of joy, no matter how many times she did it, it was still adorable. She got up and I handed her the ticket.

"Who else are you thinking about asking Symbol?" I thought about that for a second, I might as well just bring my group of friends.

"Octavia and Lyra are at the top of the list, I'm not sure if Vinyl is up for a mature evening but I might as well ask her, don't know about Bonbon." She nodded her head in approval and started to fly away. "Don't lose that ticket Derpy, and don't let anypony else know about it, otherwise you'd just be asked left and right to give it up." She saluted and flew away. I continued on my way to Octavia's place when I saw Twilight running from her friends. I shrugged it off and headed for Octavia's.

I knocked on her door and patiently waited for her to answer. When she opened the door she was surprised at my presence.

"Oh, Symbol, what a lovely surprise. To what do I owe the visit?" Yep, totally British. I pulled out a ticket and handed it to her.

"Celestia sent me a few tickets to the Gala, I was wondering if you would like to join me." She just stood there with the ticket in her hoof, gawking at the sight, I guessed the Gala must've been bigger than I expected. She just looked at me surprised. "You ok there Octavia?" She nodded and looked back to the ticket. She recomposed herself and cleared her throat.

"Yes, I would like to attend the Gala with you Symbol, you just caught me by surprise." I nodded and bid her farewell, while I was walking away I could have sworn that I heard her squee. I guess she was just excited and didn't want to appear unprofessional in front of me. I headed to Bonbons candy store to look for Lyra. When I entered the store Bonbon was looking bored out of her mind at the counter. Her ears perked up when the door hit the tiny bell as I entered.

"Oh, hi there Symbol, what can I do for you?"

"Hey there Bonbon, I was just looking for Lyra."

"She's in the back making some candy." I nodded and walked past her and into the kitchen where Lyra was making some bonbons, hilarious.

"Hey there Lyra." She jumped in surprise and turned to face me.

"Oh, hey there Symbol, you need something?" I shook my head and pulled out one of the three remaining tickets.

"I was just wondering if you would like to come with me to the Grand Galloping Gala." She dropped a mixing bowl and sat there frozen. I assumed that she was going to say yes so I just placed the ticket on a counter, I placed another one down for Bonbon. "Well it's there if you want it, there's also one there for Bonbon." I walked out of the kitchen and was about to head out the door when I turned to the mare at the counter. "Might want to go check on Lyra, she seems to be frozen with shock." She gave me a confused look and walked into the back room. I was halfway down the street when two mares came charging at me and tackled me to the ground, I looked over to see Lyra and Bonbon hugging me.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou." They both blurted out in unison. I scratched behind their ears to loosen their grip on my torso, a trick I had learned from Vinyl in case a crazy pony ever latched onto me at a party. They let go of me and pouted when I stopped scratching. I dusted myself off and told them not do do anything like that again. I've never been one for being hugged, even as a child if one of my...parents tried to hug me I pushed them away. They apologised and headed home. I just had one more stop before I could head home.

As I was walking to Vinyls night club I felt something bump into my leg, I turned around to see Twilight rubbing her head. I helped her up and she apologised. "Where are you going in such a rush anyway Twi?" She winced and rubbed the back of her neck nervously.

"I'm hiding from the girls." Now that sparked my interest.

"Why would you want to hide from them, did something happen?" She gave a tired sigh.

"I was given some tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala and now my friends are fighting over them."

"Didn't you get enough tickets to go around?" She shook her head. "I wish I could help you Twi but I only have on extra ticket left and I was going to give it to Vinyl." Her ears perked up and she looked at me confused.

"You got tickets to the Gala as well?"

"Yeah, I got a letter this morning about the Gala from Celestia containing six tickets for me and my friends."

"Who have you asked so far?"

"Derpy, Octavia, Lyra and Bonbon. I'm going to ask Vinyl now."

"Do you really think that Vinyl will want to go to the Gala?" I shrugged.

"Never know until I try." She hung her head and started to walk away. "Why don't you just ask Celestia for more tickets?" She turned to look at me with a deadpan expression, she then facehoofed after realising she could have done that all along. She thanked me for the advice and shot off towards the library. "Why do I get the feeling that this will be a reoccurring issue?" I shake the thought out of my head and walk into the club, which was empty aside from Vinyl setting up for the night. "Yo, Vinyl!" She turned to look at me, she lifted her purple glasses and smiled.

"If it isn't the Symbol of music, whatcha doin here?" I walk over to her and we brohoof. I reach for my last ticket but it's gone, I look to her and she was holding it with her magic. "Really?"

"So, I had an extra ticket and was going to ask you to the Gala, so what?"

"I dunno dude, seems a bit to classy for me." Knowing Vinyl there was one way to get her to agree to this.

"Y'know, I bet Octavia would flip if she saw you there." This sparked her interest. "I can't even imagine what her face would be like if she saw you behave at a fancy party." She thought for a moment and sighed.

"Damn, my only weakness."

"That and techno." I pointed out, I let her listen to my IPod a few days ago and she would do anything to play the songs I had on there at one of her parties.

"Fine I'll go to the stupid party with you, who else is going?

"Tavi, Lyra and Bonbon and Derpy. Twilight and the girls are also going." She nods and gets back to her set. "Can't wait to see you in a fancy getup Vinyl, I'll have to get a picture." Her cheeks redden and she huffs.

"If you weren't the coolest guy I knew, I'd have killed you by now."

"I don't think Octavia would like that and Lyra would beat you to near death."

"How can you say those things without smirking?" I shrugged.

"I'll see you later Scratch."

"See ya later Shattered." I still think the name fits me. After I left the club I went to check on Twilight and see how she sorted things out, and sure enough she took my advice and asked Celestia for more tickets, after explaining the situation of course.

There was also an incident that involved Applejack's sister, Applebloom. I won't go into to much detail but I'll give you the basic rundown. Now this is going to involve a lot of talking so bare with me.

I was sitting under one of Applejack's trees reading the daily paper when Applebloom walked up to me, she looked depressed.

"Hey there mister."

"Hey kiddo, what's up?" I got a good look at her and noticed her eyes, she held a look I knew all to well.

"If ah tell ya somethin, do ya promise not ta tell anypony?" I nodded, I knew where this was going. I patted a spot next to me and she sat down.

"What seems to be the problem?"

"Mister, do y..."

"Call me Symbol."

"Right, Symbol, do y'all know what it's like ta be teased bout somethin that wasn't in yer control?" I grabbed my necklace and held it tight.

"All to well kid, all to well." She looked surprised by my response. "It's a bully problem, isn't it." She nodded sadly. "What are they teasing you about?" She pointed to her flank, I then noticed that she didn't have her cutie mark. "Oh."

"I'm the only one in mah class that doesn't have a cutie mark and Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon keep teasin me about it." She lowered her head sadly. "They called me a blank flank." This kid didn't know how lucky she was, they could have been doing much worse.

"Kid, I know you hate being treated like this but I'm going to tell you something." She looked at me confused. "You get it easy." She was shocked by these words, she looked into my eyes and must've noticed the pain in them. "On my planet, kids don't get off that easy, take me for example, every day when I walked into the school yard EVERYONE pointed at me, EVERYONE laughed at me and EVERYONE tossed me to the side like a sack of garbage." I was clutching my necklace like no tomorrow with my eyes closed. "My family didn't care, no one cared. To them I was some kind of freak, I didn't fit in anywhere." I opened my eyes to see hers with tears in them.

"Is that why ya don't smile?" It was more than that, so much more. I couldn't tell this kid about her, I couldn't tell any one of these ponies about her.

"yes." That was a lie, but I couldn't tell her anything else, it would just corrupt her. "Now I'm going to give you some advice kid, don't listen to them, they most likely have something going on in their lives." I turned to look her in the eye. "You have a good long life ahead of you and plenty of time to discover what you want to do with it." I placed my hand on her shoulder. "Think of it this way, their adventure ended when they got their cutie marks, your adventure is just beginning." She hugged me tightly for a second and pulled away.

"Thank ya, fer sharin yer story." I nodded and ruffled her mane.

"I gotta go kid, I got stuff to do."

"Ok, bye mister Symbol." I walked away and waved back. The kid has a good family to back her up during this, something I never had. I walked towards town to meet up with Derpy, later on I found out that Applebloom had made some friends and showed Tiara up at her own party, atta girl.

Other than those two events there really isn't anything else worth talking about. So I might as well tell you about what's happening right now. Celestia has sent me on another job, along with Twilight. We were sent into the Everfree Forest to look for an underground temple. Apparently there was some ancient relic that we were supposed to look for, something about long lost magic. I didn't know why I was called in on such an important mission, but I'm sure Celestia had her reasons, and what a reason it was.

When we arrived at the entrance, after dodging a few manticores and Timberwolves, there didn't seem to be any way to open the stone doors.

"Symbol, you go look over there, I'm going to search over here." I nodded and followed her orders. After ten minutes of pushing vines and moss out of the way I came across another door, but something wasn't right, there was a plaque with an handprint carved into it.

"Twilight, you might wanna see this!" She quickly trotted over to my location.

"What is it, did you find something?" I pointed to the plaque. "What the, how can that be here?"

"I don't know Twi." I placed my hand on the carving and it glowed, we heard a few gears turning and the door opened. "Looks like we found the door." We carefully entered the temple and walked down some flights of stairs. We came across a giant door with two statues of ponies on each side. I slowly approached the door to find another hand engraved in the stone. "This is getting weirder by the second." I placed my hand on the print and the door opened. I motioned Twilight to follow, we walked down a long hallway, Twilight was using her magic to keep the area visible.

Along the way I noticed strange carvings on the walls of the cave. There were carvings of two rings everywhere, we reached another door but this one was different, instead of a handprint there was the symbol of a necklace engraved in the stone. I looked down at my necklace and back to the stone, I pulled off my prized possession and held it up to the door. The symbol glowed and the door disappeared, leaving Twilight and I clueless.

"I'm starting to wonder if this is some kind of trick." I heard Twilight mutter behind me.

"If it is a trick it's a damn good one." I walked into the next room and there was one more flight of stairs.

When we reached the bottom we were in a circular chamber with a pedestal in the middle. Twilight shot up a magical flare to brighten up the room. I noticed some more carvings at the back of the room. When I walked over I couldn't believe what I saw, there were pictures of me wearing two rings on my wrists, facing some kind of humanoid creatures. I looked to my left to see me facing a tall pony with insect wings. "What the hell?" I looked to the plaque on my right to see the symbol on my necklace along with the two rings. "Twilight, you need to see this!" I don't know what she did but the carvings started to crumble, then the room started shaking. I looked over to her and she was holding some kind of sceptre. The pedestal was nowhere to be seen. "Don't just stand there, run!"

After dodging many falling pillars and collapsing ceilings we reached the stairs, well, what was left of them. I looked back to see the pathway closed off. "Twilight can you teleport us to the exit?" She nodded and strained her mind to gather enough energy. With a flash of light we appeared outside the temple, she was panting like crazy, then she passed out. I signed and threw her on my shoulder, I then picked up the relic and began the trek back to ponyville.

One thing you should know about me, I have a bit of an anger problem. If something is hidden from me I get really, really mad. "Celestia has some explaining to do."

My dread, my fate, my trust

After lugging Twilight back to ponyville I left her in the care of Spike. "What happened to her?"

"She's probably just exhausted from performing such a powerful spell under stress, I'm no expert but I think she just needs some rest." Spike sighed in relief, he brought Twilight inside and bid me farewell.

"You going to deliver that sceptre to the princess, or do you need to leave it with Twi?" I looked to the relic in my hand.

"I was supposed to leave it here, but I have to have a long talk with Celestia." He looked unsure.

"Did something happen at the temple?"

"What doesn't happen in spooky temples?" He shrugged and closed the door. After retreaving some bits from my home I made my way to the train station. The next train wasn't going to arrive for another hour, but that was ok. I had to ask Lyra something VERY important. The ponies in town seemed to notice that I was angry, so they kept to themselves, good choice. When I reached Lyras house I knocked the door hard.

"Give me a second!" She threw the door open, obviously annoyed that she had to stop whatever she was doing. "Oh, hey Symbol." She noticed my stern expression. "Is something wrong?" I leaned my hand on the door frame.

"Lyra, how do you know about humans?" She jumped at my dark tone of voice.

"W-w-why do y-you wanna know that?" She asked shakily. I showed her the sceptre and her eyes widened, she then stared back at me and her pupils shrank. She knew something.

"Because when I was sent to retrieve this in an underground temple there were paintings and carvings of ME and my necklace in the main Chamber." I leaned my head towards hers. "So tell me, HOW do YOU KNOW so much about HUMANS!?" She slammed the door in my face, I heard a few clicks and a sigh. "What are you hiding Lyra?" I ask in a softer voice, I had obviously scared her. "Please I need to know."

"I'm not the one that's supposed to tell you Symbol, go ask Celestia." She admitted with a saddened tone, I probably had found something that I wasn't supposed to. It was my plan to ask...no, FORCE Celestia to tell me what was going on. I know it was harsh, but whatever she was hiding from me wasn't going to remain hidden for much longer. The wait for the train was filled with dread, what I was going to do wasn't easy, and it will definitely change my view of things. As well as affect the relationship I have with Lyra. I sighed and boarded the train when it arrived. The ride was seven hours, counting the stops from here to Canterlot. When I found my seat I strapped the relic to my back and placed my hands behind my head. Sleep came quickly as I dived into a dream.

I normally had abnormal dreams, but this one was different. I was usually in control of my dreams, with some help from Luna, but I was powerless as to what was happening. I was floating above a ruined ponyville, watching in horror as creatures of all shapes and sizes tore the town apart. I noticed one of the creatures stood out, a glowing red aura surrounding its body, it looked...human? It was hovering slightly above a stack of bodies.

This is only the beginning for you Symbol Shattered.

I was woken up from my nightmare by a pony shoving me off my seat, when I got to my feet I saw that the pony in question was Applejack. "Y'all right there Symbol, you were tossin like an animal." I returned to my seat and placed a hand to my forehead.

"Yeah I'm fine, just a bad dream is all. Thanks for waking me up, that dream was...disturbing." She took the seat opposite mine. She was about to say something but I stopped her. "Sorry Applejack, I don't wanna talk about, I have too much on my head as it is." She nodded, respecting my privacy.

"I heard ya gave mah sister some advice the other day, thank ya fer that." She tilted her seston and I nodded.

"So AJ, you heading to Canterlot as well?"

"Yeah, got some business ta take care of. Why are you goin ta Canterlot?"

"I gotta deliver a relic to the princess." I showed her the sceptre.

"Well would ya look at that, it looks like somethin we were taught in school when we were young'uns. Somethin bout...oh what was it, ah can't remember." Great, yet another mystery to add to the bank of questions eating away at my brain. She tried hard to remember but couldn't put her hoof on it, I told her not to worry and that the princess was going to tell me about it. I left out the part where I was going to force her to tell me, no need to get AJ involved. The train arrived at the Canterlot station an hour later, I bid farewell to Applejack and stormed towards the castle, ignoring the disapproving stares of the Canterlot elite, oh how I hated those snobs.

The castle was a ten minute walk from the station, I didn't have to ask for directions because the castle stuck ou like a sore thumb. So it was hard to get lost, when I arrived at the entrance the guards stopped me, I showed them the relic and they let me through, unaware that I was going to possibly hold the princess captive until she gave me the information I needed. I shook those thoughts out of my head, was I going insane? I was probably just stressed out over the situation, I needed answers or I was going to lose my mind. It was like an itch I couldn't scratch, a foe I could not defeat by myself, you get the picture.

The doors to Celestia's chamber were right in front of me, I stood frozen in place. The guards knew that there was something going on so they vacated the area. I was still, I had to think of a way to approach this, I couldn't just storm in like a madman. First I would ask her to explain, and if she refused I would have to turn to more...hostile...measures. This was one of the only times that I have ever had second thoughts about something. I was one of those people that generally knows what they're doing, but there was to much on my mind at that moment. It was now or never. With a few soft knocks on the door she told me to enter, when I was in the room I closed the door.

"Oh Symbol, I wasn't expecting y..." She noticed the relic in my grasp. I threw the sceptre in front of her and it landed with a few clanks. She stared at the relic then back to me, she noticed the stern look in my eyes. I walked up to her slowly.

"You are going to tell me what was in that temple and what it has to do with me, got it?" Her horn started to glow with a teleportation spell, I smacked her horn to cancel out the spell. She winced in pain then looked back to me, fire now in my eyes. "I wanted to go about this nicely, but it appears that I have to resort to drastic measures." I grabbed her horn so she couldn't cast another spell, what a great day to have hands. "Don't bother calling the guards, they have all left the area." Once she realised that there was no way to escape she sighed in defeat. I released her horn from my grasp and kneeled down. "What are you hiding, and what does it have to do with me?"

After setting her on her bed she sat down to explain. "I was hoping that I would not have to tell you this until after the Gala, but it appears that fate has other plans." She pointed to a large painting on the wall. "Press your hand against the bottom of that painting." I followed her instructions and placed my hand on the picture, where my hand had touched a handprint glowed and the painting moved to the side. On the other side of the painting was a dusty book. I reached for the book but Celestia picked it up with her magic before I could grab it.

"Was that really necessary?"

"Was striking my horn necessary?"

"It was the only way to cancel your spell. I had no choice." She grunted and levitated the book to her hooves. She blew the dust off the cover to reveal the title. Cult of the Rings. Sounded like a movie I knew back on earth, what was it? Not important.

"A long time ago, 987 years ago to be exact. A group called the Order of Tranquility set out to find the cause of all of the threats to Equestria and what brought about the new age of peace. Thirteen years after the banishment of Nightmare Moon, they stumbled across a magical rift left behind by the Elements of Harmony, it let the ponies see into the future, not with a full picture, just visions. Each member of the Order had individual visions but they all had something in common, two rings appeared in their dreams, as well as an emblem of the sun." She placed a hoof on my necklace. "They also saw a figure unlike anything Equestria had ever seen. Dressed in blue and black. With more and more ponies having these dreams the Cult of the Rings was born. They crafted temples and spread the words 'he shall bring down the chaos, and restore the lost balance. Praise the keeper of light, symbol of purity' throughout Equestria. Nopony has been known to associate with this religion for over a hundred years, the only ones that know of this cult are the members descendants and I, the ruler of Equestria." She gave me the book. "I know that I gave you a dumbed down version of the story but you seemed to want a simple answer." This pony could read me like a manga. I opened up the book to look at its contents. I flicked through the pages until I came across a section that sparked my interest.

"The creation of the Order huh?" As I read I dropped the book in realisation. Here is what was written, it was a diary entry by one of the creators.

Day 26

The ponies in the surrounding villages have started to have the dreams, and while theirs are simple, ours have become more frequent and detailed. I do not know what that being in my vision was, but it was wearing the rings so it must be important. My clan has begun construction of the first temple, I have noticed that my colleagues have become infatuated with a certain symbol, that of the sun. The cult has grown exponentially. We now have an estimated five hundred followers, while the ponies are worshipping the figure that has appeared with the emblem and rings, the Heartstrings clan and I have been gathering information on the Elements of Harmony. The Heartstrings were the ones to organise the cult and the temples construction. Hopefully their efforts will help the process of the summoning move along faster. I have to cut this short as I am needed in the main chamber, the sceptre is almost complete. May Celestia guide the keeper of the rings to this book when he arrives.

Vector Lulamoon.

Heartstrings...Lyra Heartstrings...that's how she knows about me, she probably was told by her relatives about her ancestors and she set out to discover more about what her family was doing, she probably came across another magical rift that let her see the human world.

"Symbol, are you alright?" My arms drop to my sides, my head hangs low.

"Celestia, I'm a fourteen year old boy who was thrown into another world, punched a corrupted princess in the face, befriended said princess, retrieved an ancient relic from a long lost temple that held carvings of my necklace, just found out that there was a religion that predicted my arrival and my best friend is a descendant of the creators of said relgion. I'm pretty far from alright." My body started moving on its own, my legs began walking towards the door. "I need some air." My body was on autopilot, when I snapped back to reality I was standing on the edge of a cliff looking out to the stars.

I breathed in the brisk night air and let myself get distracted by the soothing sound of the wind. Hours passed and I was still looking out to the sky, the night was beautiful in Equestria, there was no light pollution to block out the stars. You would never get a night sky like it on earth.

"Symbol?" I turned to see my friend Luna looking at me with worried eyes. "What in Equestria are you doing out here this late?" I turned to face the moon, I folded my arms.

"I was admiring your beautiful night Luna, it helps calm my nerves." I couldn't see but she blushed at my comment.

"We're glad somepony enjoys our night. What is on your mind?" I find it cute when she refers to herself as "we", I've kept my mouth shut about it, she's been trying to adapt to modern life, baby steps.

"Apparently there was a religion that predicted my arrival nearly a thousand years ago, and my best friend is a descendant of said relgion." I held my necklace tightly. "There was a temple that had carvings of me in a chamber with a door that responded to my necklace and hand." She was hanging on every word. "Celestia knew all along and she didn't tell me, I had to force the information out of her."

"You attacked our sister?"

"No, I just prevented her from casting any teleportation spells by striking her horn and acting dominant. Nothing along the lines of assault or bondage, I just prevented her from leaving until she gave me answers." She breathed a sigh of relief, she then placed a hoof on my hand.

"We are here for you friend, you understand our night and we understand your troubles. We will tell you this, sister does not do things without reason. She cares for you very much Symbol, she would never hurt a friend." There was truth in her words, Celestia was a caring creature, always acting as if her subjects were her own children. She was probably just trying to protect me, I have to apologise for my actions. Now wasn't the time though, she was probably sleeping at that moment in time. "As for the religion, we have only heard of it now. The cult was formed during our banishment, correct? "I nodded my head. "We will ask our sister why she kept such information from you, for now you must rest." Exhaustion started to take effect.

"Luna, what time is it?"

"It is four in the morning." That explains it, I was about to take my leave when I remembered the dream I had on the train.

"Luna, could you take a look at my dreams, I had a...disturbing and strange dream earlier on. It wasn't like a normal nightmare, it was different, I had no power over what was happening, I couldn't even move." She placed a hoof to her chin in thought.

"We will see what we can do." I scratched behind her ear and walked back to the train station, when I was walking down the empty streets my eyes were drawn to a faint red glow in an alleyway, like anything good comes out of creepy backstreets. When I looked down the gab in the buildings I saw that human figure looking straight at me. The red aura still surrounding him.

"Who are you?"

Soon the answer will become clear, for now you must wait. Don't expect the princesses to know anything about me. I'm not mentioned in the Cult of the Rings.

"Then tell me this, what was with that dream?"

That was not a dream, you came across a rift in the magical leylines. What you had was a vision. the figure stepped closer and stared me in the eye. You must find your own answers from now, there is another temple just to the north of Sweet Apple Acres, but I suggest that you rest for a few days. The figure raised his hand and a purple ball of energy flew towards me, when I opened my eyes I was in ponyville. Tiredness was setting in, after lazily walking to my house I locked the door and threw myself on my bed.

I opened my eyes I was starting at the ceiling, but I was still dreaming. I looked around my room to see a faint light from my window. I rushed outside to investigate, I was then greeted by a floating ball of light.

Follow. A soft female voice projected from the light. It began to float away slowly and I followed, it led me to the outskirts of ponyville, beside a lake. When I looked up the river I noticed another human figure standing on a small bridge, a girl? When I was a few feet behind the strange girl she turned to face me. You need not worry my child, all will become clear. Travel to the north temple in five days. No sooner. the dream collapsed and fell into darkness.

I was woken up by by someone pushing me off my bed, it was Derpy. "Derpy, how'd you get in here?"

"Your back door was open." I keep forgetting about that thing. "Why were you sleeping at this hour, it's like two in the afternoon." I looked to the clock on my wall and she was right.

"Sorry, I was up late last night in Canterlot." I looked out my window to see a small ball of light facing the red figure off in the distance. "Strange things are happening Derpy, and they're only gonna get worse." She tilted her head in confusion as I walked out of my room. There was only one thing on my mind. "Lyra and I need to have a little talk."

My apologies, my time, my dream

Why the hell did I snap at Lyra like that, the guilt I felt was unbearable, I had to make sure she was alright and apologise. I couldn't stop thinking about that dream, who was that girl? Why did she seem so...familiar? I could have sworn that she looked like...I looked down to my necklace, no...it couldn't have been, her voice was different and her hair was a different colour. I tried to shake the thoughts out of my head but they came flooding back to me, who was that strange figure in the alley? And why did he and the girl tell me to stay away from the temple? I might as well do as they say until I can figure out what's going on here.

I was walking through town with a certain determination, to make things up to Lyra. She hasn't done anything wrong, she didn't ask to get involved in this, and neither did I. I arrived at Lyra's home and knocked on her door gently, as to not scare her again. No one answered, all the lights were off, no one was home. The first place I looked was Bonbons candy store, no luck there. Bonbon told me she hadn't seen Lyra all day, that worried me, the guilt was growing. Bonbon told me to look at the park as she goes there whenever she gets upset. I thanked her and exited the store, next stop the park.

That's a no go on the park, I searched all over the place for her but she wasn't there, the ponies in the park said that they haven't seen her. I could probably ask Pinkie to find her but she'd just scare Lyra, and I've already done a good enough job at that. "Where are you Lyra?"

"Looking for somepony?" I turned around to see Rainbow Dash hovering beside me. She was the perfect mare for the job.

"Hey Rainbow, could you do me a favour?"

"Depends on what it is."

"I need you to search ponyville for Lyra, if you see her, come find me, do not let her see you."

"Why not?"

"I did something stupid Rainbow, I need to apologise." She nodded and took to the sky. I resumed my search around town to see if anypony had seen her, no luck. Just then Rainbow landed behind me.

"She's heading towards the Everfree forest!" I nodded and took off in a full sprint, I knew how dangerous that forest could be.

When I reached the entrance to the Everfree I spotted a mint green pony walking slowly into the forest, I was about to run after her when I heard a growl and picked up a horrible scent. I was frozen in place, I knew what was there, just when I didn't need something to go wrong. I slowly turned my head around to see two timberwolves getting ready to pounce. Screw that noise. I sprinted towards the missing mare with the wolves in tow. I figured out I was leading them to her and ran off in a different direction. I noticed the wolves were no longer behind me. No, no no no no no I heard a scream and bolted towards the mare in question, Lyra had her back against a tree, the two wolves were closing in. I didn't have time to think, so I charged straight at the pair of predators and knocked them to the ground.

"Symbol?"

"Get out of here Lyra, I'll hold them off!" I heard her run off as I turned my attention to the recovering wolves. I was in full rage mode, these lowdown toothpicks tried to kill my friend, they were going to pay. The anger I felt was flowing through my body like blood in my veins, it felt so natural, so powerful, so...me. I slowly made my way up to the wolves who were cowering in fear. All this anger, all this rage...where was it coming from?

Calm down my child, do not let the hatred consume you

That voice, it was the girl. Somehow, the voice calmed me. I stared at the wolves who were slowly creeping away.

Let them go, they are to afraid to attack. They have learned their lesson. The wolves ran off, scared out of their minds.

"Who are you?"

I have no name, neither does the other figure you saw in your vision

"Can you explain to me what just happened, why did I get so angry, I wasn't even in control."

You were protecting your friend, you wanted to protect what you have in anyway you could. You didn't have any friends in the other world so your instincts told you to act dominant

"Makes sense I suppose...hey wait a minute how do you know I didn't have any friends in the other world?"

Relax my child, all will become clear in time. I must leave now, good luck to you

I was left with silence, that girl knows about my past. She was right though, I have to tend to Lyra. I rushed out of the forest to try to find her, oblivious to the conversation that was taking place.

Why did you stop him from attacking, it could have released his power

No, he is not ready. And if you weren't wasting time in that other universe then your plan would have gone a lot faster. And besides, he still hasn't given us our names yet, you know what the creator said

You know I needed that star, and yes, even I will not disobey the creator. Wait, what do names have anything to do with the plan?

You'll see soon enough, I just hope he picks a good name for me

You do realise that you remind him of HER don't you

Do you think we should tell him about what happened?

No, we don't need him having a mental breakdown before Discord even wakes up

When I reached ponyville I let out a breath that I didn't know I was holding. I was about to search for Lyra when I was tackled to the ground by a group of ponies, the ponies in question were Derpy, Vinyl and Bonbon, all screaming how much it felt to know I was ok.

"Lyra told us what happened in the Everfree, what happened to the timberwolves?" Vinyl asked while I was recovering from the painful group hug.

"I managed to scare them off."

"You managed to scare timberwolves!?" They all yelled in unison.

"I don't know what happened, but after Lyra escaped I suddenly felt a surge of rage, I think I looked pretty intimidating when it happened, I honestly can't explain it."

"Remind me never to get on your bad side." Chuckled Vinyl. I rolled my eyes.

"Hey wait a second where is Lyra, I need to talk to her?" They all pointed to Sugarcube Corner, knowing Lyra she was probably comfort eating. "Thanks girls, I'll be back soon." I walked over to the oversized gingerbread house and walked through the tiny door, I wasn't tall enough to reach the top of the door yet so silver lining. Wait...silver...silver the hedgehog. Enough references, that's Pinkies job. I had a mare to cheer up, I will admit that I'm not that great at that though, I'm not exactly a happy kind of person. If you haven't figured it out yet, I was a hardcore gamer back on earth. I had all of the Sonic the Hedgehog games, even THAT game. But enough of that, when I entered the bakery I saw Ms Cake at the counter.

"Hello there dear, what can I do for you?"

"I'm just looking for Lyra, have you seen her?" She nodded and pointed to a booth beside a window. "Thanks." I walked over to see Lyra slurping away at a chocolate milkshake staring worriedly out the window, I tried to get her attention but she was deep in thought, I sat at the opposite side of the table waiting for her to snap out of her trance. After waiting for five minutes I started to feel tired. I'm gonna need some sugar to get me through this. I walked up to the counter and ordered a slice of chocolate cake, after paying for the treat I returned to my seat, Lyra was still holding that thousand yard stare. I finished my cake and felt a small amount of my energy return, thank Griffith for sugar.

She snapped out of her trance when she reached the bottom of her milkshake, she shook her head and looked at her drink in a huff. She was about to get up when she noticed the plate opposite her glass. She looked at the dish then slowly lifted her head to look at me. Her eyes started to tear up and she lunged forward bringing me into a tight embrace. Luckily I expected that and moved our dishes away before she could jump across the table.

"On my gosh Symbol are you ok?!" She looked up at me with her teary golden eyes, I was just holding my usual expression. "What happened to the wolves?" She asked shakily.

"I managed to scare them off." I stated in a neutral tone, she was surprised by my response.

"How'd you manage that?!" I shrugged, not wanting to tell her about the whole rage thing. There was something more important to say at that moment.

"Look Lyra, I'm sorry for snapping at you like that yesterday. Celestia told me about the Cult of the Rings, I know about the Heartstrings Clan and the Order of Tranquility." She dried her tears and returned to her seat.

"I'm sorry for keeping that from you Symbol, I didn't know how you would react so I kept my mouth shut." She looked down at the table and then glanced back up to me. "I'm just glad that Celestia told you about it."

"I just can't wrap my head around it, I know that magic is complicated and can do unexpected things but letting ponies see into the future? That's just insane." I rubbed my face with both hands, when I let my hands drop Lyra placed her hooves on them, I looked at to see she was giving me a caring smile. I know why I was able to make friends here, these ponies aren't judgemental and I have yet to see a pony act out of spite. "You don't need to worry Lyra, I'm not going to let this change anything between us." Just then something occurred to me. "Wait, how did you tell the girls what happened in such a short amount of time?" She shrugged, I let out a loud sigh. "Is it just me or are things way too convenient around here." She was about to say something but her mouth quickly closed and she thought for a moment. "Thought so."

We left the bakery and headed towards the park, I then remembered something. "I'm sorry to leave you like this Lyra but I promised Octavia that I would attend her practice today." She frowned and nodded, I scratched behind her ear to return the smile to her lips. When she was satisfied I began to walk towards the concert hall, I've never had a chance to listen to Tavi's music up until now, mostly because it to awhile to gain her full trust. When she asked me to stop by I promised I would visit.

On my way over many of the townsfolk stopped to say hi, I'm glad that these ponies accept me and don't run away in fear calling me a monster. I noticed a few little bugs floating around, they were all different colours. One landed in my hair and started cuddling my scalp. I reached up to the fly and let it rest on my finger, it had four little legs, a round body and four wings. It actually looked kinda cute. I let it float off with its buddies and headd into the concert hall.

When I entered the hall Octavia and her music group were setting up for their practice. Octavia looked up from her instruent and waved.

"Hello Symbol, I'm glad you could make it, unfortunalty one of our violinists could not make it so we will have to skip a few songs."

"I could fill in for him if thats alright." Octavia raised her eyebrow.

"You can play the violin?" I nodded. "Ok then, there's a spare one over there, it just needs tunning." I walked over to the instrument and began to retune the strings, after retrieving the bow I turned around to see everyone staring at me.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"No, we just want to make sure you really can play that violin." She smirked and sat down patiently, Im gonna wipe that smug look right off your face Tavi.

I positioned the instrument on my shoulder and got ready to play. I know just what to play to shock Tavi, too bad it's from THAT game.

I began to play a violin version of His World at full speed, when I began Octavias jaw dropped as well as the other musicians. Halfway through the song she started focusing on the chords and the rhythm. When the song ended the group stomped their hooves in applause.

"That was spectacular Symbol, was that a piece from your home world?"

"Yes, it was created by a company called SEGA, a company that focuses on developing video games but their music is always brilliant. I will have to let you listen to their orchestral tracks sometime."

"That would be lovely, now, let us get on with our practice." She gave me some papers of different songs. "These are the songs we're practicing today, try to keep up."

After practice was over I thanked the group for including me. When I stepped outside ponyville was in ruin. I felt my left eye start to twitch, I placed my hands on the sides of my head and took in a deep breath.

"WHAT THE BUCK, HAPPENED, HERE!?!"

The ponies were hard at work rebuilding the town and I was lending a hand, lucky my house wasn't destroyed by the insects I saw earlier, which I have learned from Pinkie were called Parasprites. I was helping rebuild the local spa when two mares, one pink with blue hair and one blue with pink hair walked over to me.

"Thank you so much for helping us rebuild our spa mister Symbol." The pink one stated with a friendly smile.

"It's no problem, you girls need this place ready for business as soon as possible right?" They nodded and sighed.

"Yes, the building can be repaired but it will take us forever to find a new secretary." The blue one said tiredly.

"What happened to Snowflake?"

"He quit earlier on today, something about working at a spa not being manly enough." I pounded the last nail into place and turned to the girls.

"Well, I hope you find one soon." I was about to move to the opposite side of the site when a blue hoof rested on my hand, I looked back to see the mare in question looking slightly nervous.

"Mister Symbol, would you by any chance be working for somepony at this present time." I shook my head.

"No, I'm unemployed at the moment."

"Would you like a job as our new secretary then?" I scratched my chin in thought, I could use a job, I don't want to owe Celestia anymore favours by asking for money. Besides, working as a secretary wasn't a bad choice for me.

"I'd love to work for you." They both cheered and hugged me tightly, what is it with these ponies and hugs? "If I'm going to work for you girls, I'm going to have to know your names first." They pulled away from the hug and regained their composure.

"My name is Lotus, and this is my twin sister Aloe, it is a pleasure to meet you Mister Symbol."

"It's just Symbol." They giggled and bid me farewell, when I was walking over to the next damaged area I saw Time Turner raise a brow at me.

"You got a lot of mare friends Symbol, something you aren't telling us?"

"Shut up Turner." He shrugged and walked off, I don't know what Derpy sees in that guy, he's just a douchebag at the end of the day. The rest of the day was spent repairing the town, I can't imagine how those bugs managed to destroy the whole town. I later found out it was one of Twilights spells gone wrong, I don't know what else I was expecting to be honest. Well today's been eventful, I save my friend from timberwolves, apologise to said friend that happens to be a descendant of a cult that worshiped me, showed off my musician skills, found the town in ruins, repair said town and got a my first real job. Just a normal day in the life of Symbol Shattered.

I reached my home and collapsed on my bed, I was lugging timber around for the pat five hours. I fell asleep almost immediately, when I woke up in my dream I was in a long dark hallway, with a ball of light at the end of the corridor. "What have you got for me this time?"

Mindscape one...

I walked towards the ball of light that was waiting at the end of the hallway. As I looked around the black hallway I noticed the wall to my left was covered in paintings, the wall to my right was made of glass, with patterns of flowers created by a black line that connected them all together. When I looked outside the hallway was slightly above the clouds. There was a sea of grey storm clouds and the sky was black. There was little light in the hall, only lit by the outside through the windows. I stopped when I was a few feet away from the light.

"Hello again."

Hello my child, and welcome to the mindscape

"The what?"

The mindscape, this is a pocket dimension that exists in your subconscious

"You mean I'm in a third dimension?"

The fourth dimension to be precise

Where's Bill Cipher when you need him? "So, where are we exactly?"

To put it simply, this is your mind

I looked around and glanced outside. "Makes sense." I always thought this was what my mind would look like. I wish that it wasn't so dark, but I knew that it represented my state of mind. Dark, empty, destroyed by the very people that I was stupid enough to once call my family. But I expected it to be darker, could it be that the friends I have made so far on Equus have given my dark and angry world that small glimmer of light that it needed...

Or was it the memories I shared with...oh God...have I still not let that go? Why...why can't I get her out of my head? I knew exactly why...it was because of HIM.

How dare he...how dare he have the gall to call himself my father. That pathetic excuse of a man...curse him...DAMN HIM!

Calm down my child, thinking about that will only make your world darker

"I know...I know. I'm sorry." I pinched the top of my nose and and sighed.

You left that life behind when you got sucked into this world. You can let it go

"I wasn't sucked into this world I walked into this world."

W-what?

"You heard me, I knew full well what that portal was and ran into it."

You...you came here willingly? I nodded. Why would yo...

"You know full well why I did what I did. To get away from humanity, to get away from them, to get away from him!" Suddenly one of the paintings glowed and gave us a clear view of what was there...

It was playing the moment I ran through the portal...it was a memory.

"Gentlemen, what you are about to witness is the first images of multidimensional reality." Exclaimed an eager scientist. I was there in a group of people that were selected to come to CyCorp to witness the event. Although I had other plans for the portal. Humanity could not be trusted with multidimensional travel, I was there to destroy the device in anyway I could. I just had to ask one question first.

"Mr Administrator, if something were to happen to the devices, like say, unexpected damage to the control terminal, would the portal take time to close or would it case an anomaly?"

"An interesting question young man, the answer is the former. Now since you asked such an interesting question, would you like to do the honours?"

"Gladly." I walked up to the main terminal beside the portal and pulled a lever. The machine started to vibrate and electricity shot everywhere. The portal glowed and a swirling vortex appeared. Time to put my plan into action. "You know something gentlemen, I don't think that this world is ready for this kind of technology. In fact humanity will never be ready. They are slowly destroying this world, what's stopping them from doing the same to this new one?" I pulled out a pipe that I broke off from the outside of the building out of my satchel. I threw the satchel on the ground and threw a lit match onto it, the bag burst into flames and multiple fireworks I had stollen from my brother flew off towards the machinery in the lab, causing severe damage.

"Get that kid away from the portal!" Yelled a military general. When he ran at me I rammed the pipe into the main console, causing a bright light to stagger him. I walked into the collapsing portal but turned to give one final message.

"If anyone comes after me and repairs the portal, I won't hesitate to kill. I'm not letting another world be destroyed." With that, the portal closed, a force pulling me into the light.

The memory finished playing and what was left was a painting of me running at the portal with the general chasing me.

What...that wasn't what the creator told us, how were you capable of doing all of that?

I shrugged. "Just dumb luck, I didn't expect the plan to work."

But how were you able to get into the building?

"I honestly don't know, I was just minding my own business when someone pushed a letter under my front door, it was an invitation to view the unveiling of some government experiment. I knew it was bad news, what CyCorp develops is never good, it was a miracle that the cyborg project was canceled. So I decided that since I really didn't have such a great life, I would go and attempt to sabotage the project and most likely get a life sentence, had nothing else to do."

How can you think like that? Didn't you have something to care about, or someone back on earth?

"I did, but she was taken from me years ago. I've done nothing but fight on earth, trying to find a way to rescue her, to beat the man who took her, but there was only so much a kid could do in a country like Masereth." I looked to my hands and sighed. "All of Tahat violence, for nothing. I needed to get away from it, to escape it. That portal was my best bet, if I didn't take that chance I'd still be counting bodies right now and I would have never been able to start a new life here. I'm done with earth, I may still care for a few people there but they can survive without me. That world is better off without a demon like me walking around where I can kill freely, here I have reasons for keeping it under control." The woman reached her hand out and touched my cheek.

How could I let my child become so corrupt? her voice was quiet and filled with pain, as if sh...wait did she just call me her child? I mean yeah she said it before but not like this...who is she?

"Ok, I wasn't some answers, who are you exactly?" She removed her hand from my face and looked away, avoiding eye contact.

I have no na...

"I didn't ask for your name!" She flinched at my sudden outburst and looked back at me with tears in her eyes. She tried to walk away but I grabbed her arm. "Stop, avoiding, the question! Who are you?!" She began trying to pull away from my grasp.

I can't tell you yet, it isn't time!

"Enough of all this mysterious shit, tell me who you are, NOW!!!"

No!

"TELL ME!!!"

I'M YOUR MOTHER!!!

"Lair, I know for a fact that my biological mother is..."

She was just a vessel, she created your body...I created your soul I let go of her arm and she didn't try to avoid the question.

"What are you...?"

I could not create a physical body for you, so I needed a vessel to create the body while I crafted your soul. But to do so...I had to remove the current soul from said developing body

"What happened to the original soul?

He became the red figure you saw, in short, he is your brother

"What's his name?"

I already told you that we have no names...unless you would like to give us names?

I'd be naming my brother and mother, well I have already named myself so...why not. "Alright." I placed two fingers on my forehead and started to think. Kinda weird if you think about it, I'm using my mind to think inside my mind. How does that even work?

I thought hard about the names, they had to be special...especially hers...

"Your name will be..." Think of something that suits her. "...Vivi!" Mark that reference, off the list.

Vivi? Vivi...that's a perfect name! Thank you my child She wrapped her arms around me and held me close, I could actually feel her love passing through me. What about your brothers name?

I thought about what I knew about him at this point, all I really know is that he was removed to forge my body...wait...that's it! "How about Forge?"

Sounds good to me brother

I turned to see Forge standing a few feet away from us. "Glad you like it then, Forge." Vivi smiled and walked to his side. "You know what I just realised?" They both stared at my with curiosity. "Forge and I are really the same person, one physical, one spiritual."

You're right brother, although we have some key differences

"Of course."

For example I'm partially evil

"Wait what?"

Different story different time, you need to wake up

"Fine, where's the exit?" Vivi walked over to me and placed her hand on my forehead, I bright light enveloped me and I woke up in my room. "I have a really messed up family tree." I turned my head to see the book of the Cult sitting on my dresser. Well, at least I won't have to retrieve it from Canterlot. I got up and changed into fresh clothes, I walked down the stairs and made my breakfast. After eating my cereal I opened my front door only to be blasted by ice cold air. I looked around to see snow everywhere. There was only one thing on my mind, it was in the middle of spring yesterday...

"SO HOW THE BUCK IS IT SUDDENLY WINTER!?!"

Beginning a new adventure...

Meanwhile in Canterlot...

"Sister!"

Luna dashed through the castle halls in search of Celestia, she had to tell her what she had learned about Symbol. She finally came across her sisters chambers, she knocked frantically until she was answered. She swung the door open and rushed to Celestias side.

"What's wrong Luna?"

"Thou hast to see this sister, it is about our human friend."

That caught her attention. "Show me." Luna nodded and created a hologram of Symbols memories, specifically what happened to him in the past. Celestia gazed in horror as the image showed a younger looking Symbol with his back against the wall, surrounded by older looking humans.

"You've run outta options mate, hand over the medallion and we may not break your arms."

The young Symbol shakily got to his feet. "You're not getting anywhere near this thing Morgan, but I'm not gonna stoop to your level by fighting you." Symbol was holding his arm as a small stream of blood dripping off his fingers. The thug now known as Morgan became enraged. "Your anger only shows me I've struck a nerve, what happens at home huh? Not getting enough attention? Mommy and Daddy fighting? There's a reason for your behaviour Morgan, I know there is, that's why you take your rage out on me isn't it?" Morgan's face turned from rage to depressed. "You don't have to do this, turn away now before we both get hurt." The look on Symbols face showed that he didn't want to fight, but he was ready to if needed.

"Alright, I'll leave ya alone, if ya tell me why that there medallion is so important to ya." Symbol gripped his necklace and held it tight.

"This was given to me by my dear sister, the one person that has ever shown me compassion in this world. She was taken away from me by my idiot father and his stupid fight with my mother. This is all I have left of her."

The two shook hands and parted ways, Symbol walked down a small street of houses before entering one. He hung up his coat and walked slowly through the house. He walked past a woman on a recliner looking extremely depressed. Symbol looked at her with disappointment. "Get your act together woman, you can't stay like that your whole life." He got no response as he made his way towards a cabinet filled with medical supplies. "Or just stay silent, it's all you do now anyway." He wrapped a bandage around his wound after disinfecting it. He threw himself on his bed before holding his medallion in front of his face. "And people wonder why I don't smile."

The memory faded and Celestia was sitting there, not knowing what to think. She realised two things in this memory...

How Symbol fights, and what his life was before arriving in Equestria.

Symbol fights his battles psychologically, he hits them where it hurts the most, their emotions. He doesn't fight physically, but mentally, playing with their emotions until they are unable to fight due to emotional pain or confusion. He chooses his words carefully, either persuading or breaking his opponent. Celestia may not have seen much in the memory, but she could pick out some things that others couldn't without years of practice...

His eyes, when he was facing the others his eyes locked onto his opponent and studied them.

His breathing, while ragged due to the force of impact, he was able to concentrate his breathing.

His movement, when he rose to his feet and talked to Morgan, he made destinct motions to add to his persuasion.

Symbol was a master in psychological combat, it was plain to see, Symbol had told Celestia something when they were together at the castle...

"On my world, I find that if you choose brain over brawn, you'll live much longer."

"He is so young, yet he can manipulate others using their emotions, a very dangerous talent."

"Indeed sister, his level of intelligence is greater than we imagined. At least he is not on our bad side, or we on his." Luna looked to her sister with worry. "But this is not all we have to show you."

"Oh?"

"This memory was around three years ago, but the next happened whilst he slept last night." She teleported them to a long hallway. "Do you know what this place is sister?"

"I can't say I do."

"This is Symbols mindscape, last night he managed to enter it." That caught Celestia by surprise.

"How, no being can enter the mindscape on their own, you are able to because you have power over dreams."

"We were confused at first too, but then we saw this." With a flash of her horn, time started to flow backwards, until the spotted three figures moving about. When the scene was at the beginning, Luna let time run normally. Symbol looked down the long hallway and spotted a ball of light.

As the scene played out Celestia stared in disbelief, the level of hatred that Symbol held within him, she was about to cry. "How does he do it Luna?" The dark princess looked to her elder sibling in question. "How can he hold all of this anger and go on with his day like nothing's the matter?" Luna held her with a wing.

"It could be that he holds great willpower, maybe that is what drives him. We have heard many tales of great loss and anger, but the ones that those tales focus on have the necessary will to live life normally, or as normally as they can, given our human friends situation." Celestia was about to open her mouth when she heard the two figures at the bottom of the hallway arguing. She paid attention until the female figure yelled something neither Luna or Celestia were expecting.

I'M YOUR MOTHER!!!

Even though Luna had seen this before it still shocked her. Celestia stared wid eyed while the two had a heart to heart. Then came the names.

After Symbol named his mother Vivi, he then said something about a Forge. A black figure with a red aura surrounding it appeared. You know the rest...

When Celestia and Luna returned to reality, they both sat in silence while contemplating what they had just witnessed.

"There is more to Symbol than we thought..."

"You are right dear sister, it feels like he is hiding many things from us and his friends..."

I can assure you, he is only doing it to protect you

The two sisters jumped at the sound of Vivi's voice.

"You must be Symbols mother, correct?" Celestia asked with caution.

Yes, I am the one that created his soul, he is my child

"What do you mean, he is trying to protect us?"

There are many things that he has hid from you and I, even I do not know things about him

"Like what?"

I will tell you one thing that he hides and one thing only...

"What is it?"

...Symbol is not his name

Both the sisters looked to each other confused. "What do you mean, he told us that was thy name." Luna asked unsure.

Celestia...when you showed him the portal, what did he say when you told him he could see his family again?

The alicorn thought for a moment until the words formed in her head...

"All of those people have caused me nothing but pain."

He hides his name as it is a reminder to him about his past, when he entered this world he began to let go of the past, but one thing he will not let go is his sister...

"What happened to her?" Vivi sighed and floated over to a couch.

It's a long story...

Symbols POV

After getting the rundown on how winter-wrap-up worked I was assigned to help Fluttershy with waking up the animals. When the ponies started singing the song, I sung my own lyrics in my head...

Winters bucked up, winters bucked up,

The snow is too bucking thick,

Winters bucked up, winters bucked up,

No one enjoys being sick,

Winter can suck my-

My internal parody was interrupted by a small white rabbit hitting my shoe with his paw, I looked down to see Angel bunny pointing to Fluttershy, she was having trouble getting a few squirrels to come out of hibernation.

"Oh, please little ones, it's time to get up." She pleaded with them but to no avail. I finished getting the raccoons out of hiding and walked over to her.

"Need some help Fluttershy?" She jumped a little at my question.

"Oh, it's you Symbol, yes I could use a little help." I knelt down and reached into my pocket, I pulled out a few acorns and held them just in front of the hole that the squirrels were resting in. I saw a few noses peek out of the opening and three squirrels appeared. Before they could grab the nuts and hide I pulled back a little and led them out of the hole. I set the nuts down in the middle of the clearing and blocked the hole with a rock in case they tried to renter. After they ate their meal the went on their merry way.

"That was incredible Symbol." I heard the timid mare exclaim. When I looked at her she blushed and hid behind her wings. I scratched behind her ears to calm her down. She sighed happily and leaned into my touch. The look on her face pulled on my heartstrings, these ponies were too adorable for a guy to handle.

"C'mon Shy, we've got work to do." She smiled and gracefully walked towards the area where the rabbits are resting. After finishing up with the animals and one creepy visit from Twi, I headed to Sugarcube Corner with Vinyl and Tavi.

"How was everything on your end Octavia?" The mare took a sip of her tea.

"Everything went well, after the fiasco with Miss Sparkle, we eventually got everything back on track."

"That's good to hear." We finished our treats and took a walk through the now winter free Ponyville. While we were walking I saw something out of the corner off my eye that made my gears stop. "Tavi, Vinyl, you go on ahead, there's something I need to do." I was trying to hold back the rage in my voice. They looked at each other in concern but walked along anyway.

What I saw from the corner of my eye was someone yelling at Derpy, and Derpy couldn't look more depressed. I resisted the urge to go over and punch the stallion that was telling her off. As I got closer I could hear what the two were saying/yelling.

"...u'd think you'd have learned from last year, I can't believe you messed up the bird migration again!"

"B-b-but Whistle Blower, I-I thought..."

"I don't think you did think, now get your act together or stay away from winter-wrap-up next year!" Derpy slowly walked away with a quiet sob. When I saw the smug look on the stallions face I'm pretty sure I heard glass break in my mind. My eye started twitching, my teeth were grinding and my hands were clenching. I resisted the urge to rip the stallion apart. I walked up behind him and cleared my throat. He turned back with the same smug look until he saw me, then it looked like he was about to shit himself.

"What the hell was that?!" I no longer hid the anger in my voice, I'm sure I saw the stallion whimper.

"I was just telling Miss Hooves..."

"Telling? No, you were taking some of your frustration out on her!"

"Why do you even care?"

I grabbed his chest and brought him to eye level. "Why do I care? She happens to be one of my closest friends, and you talked to her like she was garbage." I could see the terror in his eyes. "And this goes out to everyone, if any of you in any way hurt one of my friends I WILL cause some damage! Now, I don't think you understand what you did, that mare is intelligent, beautiful and all around friendly, she does NOT deserve to be talked down to like that!" I brought his terror filled face closer to mine. "If I catch you doing this again, you can pray that you will live another day!" I threw him down and he scurried away. I didn't notice the crowd that we had attracted, nor the fact that I was glowing purple. There was only one thing on my mind...

Comfort Derpy...

Meanwhile, Bon Bon, Lyra, Vinyl and Octavia were watching from across the street.

"I've never seen Symbol so angry before." Stated Bon Bon with fright.

"Are we just gonna ignore the fact that he was glowing purple?" Asked a confused Lyra. Octavia, after witnessing the event, felt something strange that she couldn't explain. "What's wrong Tavi?"

"Girls, I know this is gonna sound strange but, when he was yelling about how he would harm anypony that hurt us, did it make you feel...safe?" Asked Octavia. The girls looked to each other, they looked back to to Octavia and nodded slowly.

"Hey, we've got someone who will protect us to the very end, I think that's a good sign of a friend." Vinyl exclaimed proudly. "I'm glad we snatched him up when we did."

Lyra watched me walk away from the crowd. "Where's he going now?"

"If we know Symbol, he's on his way to comfort Derpy. He acts tuff, but he's a real softie." Giggled Bon Bon.

...

"So we are going to ignore the fact that he was glowing?"

I was rushing around, looking left and right for any sign of Derpy. I entered the park and began searching. I came across a hill with a big tree at the top, and under its shade was Derpy. I slowly made my way towards her...then I heard the crying...

By God I wanted to rip that stallion apart after hearing her sobs. I walked over to her and knelt down, I brought her into a hug and she buried her face into my chest. She wrapped her hooves around me and let it all out. "It's ok Derpy, it's ok..." I cooed, she tightened her grip around me.

"I'm no good..." I heard her mumble. My head shot up and I put my hands on her cheeks so she would look at me,

"None of that now, you're good, don't you ever think otherwise."

"But I can't do anything right."

"Yes you can. You raised a foal by yourself, you've made the best damn muffins I've ever tasted and you make others smile...you're doing fine, and if you ever need a shoulder to cry on, I'm here, all you have to do is ask."

"All I do is mess things up, I'm an idiot..."

"Derpy, what did I say to you when we first met?"

Derpy, you're an intelligent mare, and for as long as I live, I will be your friend...

Once she remembered what I had told her, she wrapped her wings around me. "Thank you..."

"What are friends for?" She nuzzled my chest and wiped her tears away, the smile she gave me was heartwarming. I felt a pain in my chest when she curled up and started to sleep. I ran my fingers through her mane for awhile before I started to get sleepy as well.

I guess today's events really took its toll on me... I thought before I drifted off with my back against a tree. No harm in a little nap right...?

Girls were walking through the park until they came across the most adorable sight they'd seen in years. Under a tree, was Symbol and Derpy sleeping under the shade of the leaves, Derpy curled up and napping on the humans chest with a smile on her face, Symbol still holding his neutral look.

Vinyl summoned a camera with her magic and took a picture. "Now that's just adorable."

Three days later...

I finished my shift at the spa after organising their financial papers and gathered some key items. The book on the Cult, a rope and a torch, how they made a torch in Equestria I will never know. It was time to enter the second temple. I spent yesterday afternoon reading a few more entries by Vector Lulamoon, apparently this temple was more difficult to enter than just placing my hand on a plaque. I locked my house and made my way towards the temple outside of Sweet Apple Acres. When I was halfway there I was greeted by Vivi.

"Hello mother."

Hello my child, I see you have brought the book with you

"Yeah, I've been doing some research on the Cult and the Order, also been looking into this Vector Lulamoon guy, he seems important."

Indeed, I will accompany you in this venture

"Shall we?" She turned into her human form and followed me towards the temple. Unknown to us, three little fillies were watching us.

"Who was that with mister Symbol?"

"Looks like their going to do something exciting!"

"Did he say sumthin about a temple?"

"You know what this means right?"

"Cutie Mark Crusaders Temple Explorers Yay!" They then began to follow us towards the temple.

When we reached the entrance we noticed that the gate was much larger than the first with the sceptre. I walked over to the door where there was nine plaques, each with a different symbol representing a number. I flipped open the book and found the combination. "Alright let's see...zero...five...one...two...five...eight...two and three." The door began to vibrate and crack open. I turned on my torch and began walking through the long dusty hallway with Vivi by my side. Along the walls were more paintings and carvings of the rings and my necklace. After making sure not to set off any traps (I read in the book that there were a few, I'm starting to feel like Indiana Jones and that chick from Tomb Raider) we reached a flight of stairs. After descending the steps we were confronted by another door, with a different combination. "Three...six...zero...two...tree...four...nine." The door opened and we were greeted by a cloud of dust.

We walked into the cavern to fin another round room with a pedestal with what appeared to be some kind of pendant. I knew what would happen when we took the thing, so before I grabbed it I walked over to some carvings and paintings to fully inspect them.

The one on the left showed five ponies and a purple humanoid figure. The middle one showed some kind of bug/pony facing the purple figure. The one on the left portrayed the purple figure floating in the air with two rings on his wrists and a crowd of the bug ponies laying on the ground. "Interesting..."

The beings in these murals are called changelings, they feed off of love and can shapeshift

"Sounds like Equestrias biggest enemy race, other than the demons and spirits."

Indeed

"This looks like everything, let's get the relic and get out of here." Vivi nodded and floated over to the pedestal. I walked up and inspected the pendant, it was unlike any jewel I had ever seen, it was a silver circle with eight teeth like blue gems in a pattern, a familiar pattern. I looked at the gem and then to my medallion, the pattern on the pendant matched the holes on my necklace, like another part of it. I grabbed the pendant and pushed it through the holes. They fitted perfectly together, my necklace glowed purple for a second before dying down. Then a voice entered my head while time around me froze.

You are getting closer to your destiny boy, but beware, you may not like what the future holds.[/

"I've already been through some crazy shit so far, I think I can handle it when it comes around."

Ahahahaha...that's why I like you...so confident, so brave and intelligent. I'm glad I took my time to develop you...

"What are you saying?"

Sorry but I'm going to have to go, sensing a disturbance in this realm...wait...a token...here? Well this should be interesting. Don't worry young man, the time will come when we meet, have fun with Bill...

"What?" The voice ceased and time resumed. The pedestal sank into the ground and everything started shaking. "Oh right, forgot about that..." We started running up the stairs as the cavern started collapsing. While we were running down the hallway I spotted three little figures that shouldn't be there. "Of for Fausts sake!" I grabbed the CMC and started running for my life and theirs, Vivi floating beside me as the hallway seemed to get longer. "Fan-bucking-tastic." I dodged a few falling pillars, but one appeared and I wouldn't be able to jump over it, so I threw the CMC over it and slid under the small gap, when I was on the other side I caught the girls in midair. I rolled for a second then shot to my feet and began sprinting as the cavern collapsed behind me. I dodged more and more debris as I made my way up the stairs and along the next hallway. The door at the end of the hallway was slowly closing. "Oh you have got to be Kidding me!" I bolted down the growing hallway with speed I didn't know I had. I narrowly shot through the gap in the entrance and slid on the ground with the girls in my arms.

I let the girls go and leaned against a tree. "What...in the name...of Griffith...were you three...doing in there?" I asked in between pants. The three looked up at me with big apologetic puppy dog eyes. I gripped my chest at the sight. "Don't look...at me...like that...you're going to give me a...heart attack...oh man I'm outta shape...*whoo*"

Soft spot for cute things eh?

"Shuddap mom."

"Mom?" The three girls asked with their heads tilted. I gestured towards Vivi.

"Girls, meet my mother..."

A pleasure to meet you young ones

I let them have their little girl talk while I examined my newly upgraded medallion. When I touched it, it flashed a few times in response. I returned the girls to Ponyville and bid farewell to my mother. I was walking down the street towards my home when I was stopped by Lyra.

"You went to another temple didn't you?"

"Yeah, had to save the CMC in the process of the whole self destruct sequence thing, seriously, talk about a design flaw."

"You made it out of those temples twice didn't you. I stop you because I found something that you could use." She pulled out a black notebook with her magic. I grabbed it and inspected it, it was MAN made.

"Thanks Lyra, I gotta get some shuteye." She nodded and we went our separate ways. When I entered my home I sat down on my bed and inspected the notebook, then I heard another voice...

"To those who seek knowledge and maybe a bit of chaos on the side, call Bill Cipher."

No bucking way, I know I shouldn't trust this thing but, if it really is Cipher, he could probably give me some answers on the cult.

"Alright, let's see what you got for me Cipher." I placed my hand on the cover and I was enveloped in a bright light...

The first dream...

A tall man with a white coat and black spiky hair walked through a portal and appeared in a white void. He began to walk of into the abyss until he came across a single desk with a book and quil. The man snapped his fingers and a chair appeared on the opposite side of the desk. He sat down and looked at the book in front of him and chuckled.

I haven't had this much fun in centuries, all this time I've been letting the stories write themselves. Who knew that developing them myself could be so much fun?

Ahem...

A smile appeared on the mans face as he turned to see Vivi giving him the death stare.

Ah, this is unexpected, I thought you'd still be watching the boy

You lied to me...

Hmmm?

You told me that Symbol was taken from his world, but he walked through the portal voluntarily!

I said nothing of the sort, all I told you was that he arrived in Equestria, that's all...

You could have told me though...

Where's the fun in that, it's also better to keep you in the dark about certain things...

She couldn't argue with that, she was known for overreacting to things, she'd just get in the way of something important.

Besides, there are things even I cannot control when it comes to the boy, for example the darkness in his heart, the best I can do is delay the inevitable

Vivi just stood there, unable to say anything. She knew what he meant, and if she tried to warn Symbol about what was going to happen, there would be only remains to clean up after Discord awakens.

You know if I could stop the nightmare fuel I would, but I've only recently started writing again

I know...it's just hard to imagine that he'll become that monster...

I'm not happy about it either Vivi, but you can't let the fact that he's your son get in the way of what has to be done

She nodded and began walking towards the portal. When she was back in her world the man brought out two more books.

Neither of us can...*sigh* I just hope the dreams Luna has given him can keep it at bay long enough, however strange they are

About a week and a half ago, Symbol had a dream about a crystallised figure, that would just sum up as a normal dream for our human friend but this one was...off. It is what drove me to search through our friends memories. Here is a playback of said dream in Symbols point of view...

I had originally planted him in a dream where he fought alongside his favourite characters of fiction...but something else dragged him out of it, and into his worst nightmare.

I woke up in a dark alley. "What the hell, where's Mephilis?" As I exited the alleyway to find I was in the last city I ever wanted to be in.

"No...no no no, not again..." The streets of the city were black and bare, the moon was crescent and was being slightly blacked out by the clouds. The streets were lit by the slight moonlight. I looked down to see my necklace was gone.

"No god damnit where is it!" I frantically searched myself to find it, then I saw it floating a ways down the street. When I walked closer it moved backwards, like it was leading me somewhere. I followed it down multiple alleys and apartment blocks until it rose in the air above an intersection. With each step I took towards the area filled me with fear, like there was something I wasn't suppose to see down there.

When I reached a street heading straight for the intersection, I saw someone on the ground that I hadn't seen in years, even in my dreams...

"Abigail?" I ran to the body where I saw a puddle of blood. "nonononononononon!" I rushed over to her body, when I held her in my arms, tears started pouring out of my eyes

We had never seen our friend cry before, the look of fear and sorrow on our friends face was almost frightening. We didn't know who the female in the dream was, but she was obviously important to Symbol.

"Who did this..." I looked at her body, her sweet face was now covered in blood. "WHO DID THIS!?!"

What replaced Symbol this time was something of pure evil and sadness. He looked to his hand, his fingertips were covered in blood. That was enough to set him off. He screamed in pain. His skin went dark grey, his hair went jet black and spiked. His blue shirt became torn at the writs and hem. His fingers became sharp claws. Four black spider like limbs grew from his back, his eyes went black, his pupils were only red dots. His tears became blood and created red lines from his eyes to his chin.

We couldn't to see him like this, whoever that girl was, meant the world to Symbol. We had to stop the dream. After we used our magic to force him out of the dream, he woke up in a panic. There was tears in his eyes, he held his necklace tightly, he rocked back and forth trying to calm down. There was a slight blue fog coming from his body. That caught our interest, We wasn't aware that this was possible for him. We would question it later, right now we had to figure out who sent Symbol to that nightmare...

There was something familiar about that creature Symbol became, it was like a living nightmare...

I must look further into our human friends dreams and memories before I can take any sort of action, although it may be too late.

The Symbol and Cipher

Meanwhile in Lots of Things...

Bill had been back from his first summoning for a few days. It was interesting to meet a Mewtwo Displaced. However, these were questions for later, as now he was working on the bodies of the others. He was making their bodies by reverse engineering his own and its incredibly advanced technology. He wanted to give them powers. That part would be easy once he fully scanned his body. How much weaponry could it hold, he wondered. It would even help with some of his future projects, as well up open up the hive to have more tech. It seemed like only yesterday that they were wanderers looking for a home. Lumber’s body was 70% done; Giff’s was 40% while Hide and Blendin’s were both 50% finished. He was also adding the blueprints and details to his body and their bodies on some notes which also gave him the opportunity to practice his magic. He then felt a familiar light envelop him as he disappeared once again.

Although, something happened that Bill hadn’t expected, the summoning rejected him, and instead brought the summoner to his world.

After the light died down, Bill saw who had tried to summon him, it was a young boy, probably no older than 15 years old, he wore an open blue shirt and a black t-shirt underneath, he had brown hair that he wore behind his ears and had blue eyes. He also wore a necklace with the symbol of the sun embedded in the medallion. He wore white trainers and light blue jeans. The boy looked around the room, finding only unfinished metal bodies.

“Hmm, strange, I thought that notebook was meant to summon Cipher, not me.”

Bill just watched as the boy as he looked at the robots.

“Come to think of it, these robots look familiar, wait, where’s Cipher?”

Bill realised that the boy wasn’t in the mindscape, he was about to enter the boys mind until the boy did something.

“A lot of weird things have happened since I got this new medallion, maybe it can…” The medallion glowed purple as did his eyes; a blinding light enveloped him and died down. Somehow this boy had entered the mindscape on his own. “Ah, there we go, strange, it looks different from my mindscape.”

Bill had seen enough and made himself known.

“Strange; no costume. I guess that’s not necessarily a rule though.” He circled the boy and inspected him. He could also sense that the boy wasn’t alone; at least he wasn’t alone in the mindscape. He could sense two other beings. The boy turned around and shouted into the air.

“I know you’re there you two so stop hiding!” He shouted before the two beings appeared beside him. One was the spitting image of the boy except covered in black and a red aura, the next was a woman coloured light blue with a ponytail.

“Can’t ever hide from you, huh brother?”

“Shut up Forge, why did you two even follow me here?”

“We thought you could use our help, Symbol.”

“Well, as long as you’re here you can help me find Cipher.”

“Yeah, I wonder where he could be.” Bill made his entrance by appearing on a seat behind them with a magnifying glass in his hand.

“Sarcasm is unbecoming of you Cipher.” The boy turned to face him with an unamused expression.

“Well excuuuse me, princess.” He turned green and his cane became a sword:

“Really, you’re using that reference, I’m so surprised.”

“Didn’t know there was someone in existence that could reference something like Symbol could.”

“Shut up Forge.”

“You’d be surprised Forge and I love being surprising.”

“I bet…”

“Boys, stop fighting.”

“Sorry, look, I think we got off on the wrong foot Cipher, let’s try again, and try not to reference a really bad video game while we’re at it?”

“I make no promises, unless you made lots of spaghetti!”

“Don’t make me say it…”

“Don’t worry I won’t, I just really used to love watching Youtube poops and their sheer randomness when I was human. You don’t really seem very surprised to see me, especially since none of you even know what a displaced is.”

“Wait what, when did something called a ‘displaced’ come up, and what do you mean, when you were human?”

“Well, displaced is short for dimensionally misplaced and usually involve going to a convention and buying something from some prick who calls himself ‘The Merchant’ who sends people to Equestria for fun. They end up as whatever character they were cosplaying as. Looking at you proves that there is indeed an exception to every rule. I, myself became Bill Cipher.”

“Well nothing like that happened to me, I got sent to Equestria after I sabotaged a government project that would allow humans to travel to other worlds. It was just by chance that I happened to end up in Equestria.”

Bill listened to the exclamation and looked at Symbol curiously. It was the truth, indeed.

“When I went to stop the experiment I didn’t even think I would make it out with my freedom intact, I half expected someone to shoot me. I honestly didn’t care at the time, my life was horrible, all because of that, pathetic excuse of a man I called my father!”

Purple mist started seeping out of Symbols body as his anger rose.

“Son calm down, your mindscape is already dark enough!”

Upon hearing the woman's voice Symbol immediately calmed down and the mist vanished.

“That was close.”

Bill simply observed as Vivi and Forge calmed Symbol down. If his father really pissed him off that much then he wouldn’t ask about him, let alone her…

Symbol finally calmed down, he rubbed his temples and started murmuring.

“If I ever see him again I’m going to kill him for what he did to Leo and Abigail…”

“Yo Symbol, Imma totally let you finish but if you’re here, then I could use some help with some things.”

“Like what, you’re obviously not like the shows Cipher, so what can we help you with?”

“Yeah and I hope I never am, though with all those secrets and that knowledge it’s no wonder he was insane.” He shivered when he remembered some of the things he had tried to desperately to forget. “Anyway, there’s a key I need to dig up, along with a scary bunker that we need to visit. It’s totally safe and danger- free aside from the potential headcrab infestation…” He muttered the last part.

“Wait, What?! YOU MADE A SWARM OF HEADCRABS ARE YOU INSANE!?!”

“You weren’t supposed to hear that, and I personally consider myself semi- insane, thank you very much.”

“That doesn’t help, as long as you didn’t create the G-man to go along with them...you didn’t right?”

“I wish I could say yes.” He sulked slightly.

“You’ve doomed us all Cipher, you’ve doomed us all…”

“Okay, I was joking.” He rolled his eye.

“Enough joking, let’s get down to business already.”

“Well, I suppose I should do something for you.”

“Hmmm, there is something...I don’t know if you’ll be able to do it though…”

“Come on, tell Uncle Bill what’s wrong, and I don’t mean everything.”

“In my Equestria, there is this group I’m investigating called The Cult of the Rings, I need information. If you can get me the info I need, I’ll happily help you find the bunker AND the key.”

“Okay, but you’ll need to create your own token.”

“Alright, how do I do that?”

“Well first you’ll need to find an object and pour your essence into it.”

Symbol thought for a moment before reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a purple diamond. “Can you duplicate this?”

“It duplicates itself. You’ll also need to add a phrase to the token as well.”

Symbol looked at the gem in his hand, he held it tightly and it began to glow, he closed his eyes as the gem absorbed his energy. When the light died down a second diamond appeared, he grabbed it and spoke into it.

“To anyone that is in need of assistance, I will answer your call, Symbol Shattered.”

“Interesting…” Symbol tossed the gem to Bill and returned the original one to his pocket. “If you don’t mind me asking, why did you want the gem duplicated?”

“I made a promise to my brother and sister that I would hold onto this, we each have one, as well as these necklaces, my brother has a star on his and my sister has a cloud.”

“You mean Forge?”

“No, my biological brother, his name is Leo, Forge is a spiritual relative.”

“Yeah, I once inhabited Symbols body before Vivi switched our souls by mistake.”

“Well I’d love to finish this, but shall I get that book now?”

“Yeah, enough family drama for one day, eh?”

“Okay. BRB.” He took a copy of the token and teleported away. Symbol, Forge and Vivi were alone. Once he was out of the mindscape, he decided to look around the little workshop. He eyed the metal bodies for a moment.

“I swear to griffith I’ve seen these people before…”

Just then, the door opened and revealed Queen Chrysalis. “Bill, I have tremendous news, our scouts have located one of your bunkers…” She paused when she saw Symbol, she readied her horn. “Who are you, explain yourself!”

Symbol jumped at the sudden outburst. “Easy there lady, I’m a friend of Cipher.”

“Likely story, who are you?”

“My name is Symbol Shattered; I tried to summon Cipher but got pulled here instead.”

Chrysalis could tell that he was telling the truth. Although he just seemed like a normal boy, then she scanned his emotions, what she saw was almost horrifying. She saw only darkness, hatred, anger and sadness. She started to back away slowly.

“He’s right you know.” Symbol heard a voice which he was unfamiliar with. He found the voice was in the mindscape as he could hear it coming from his necklace. He could see a tall boy who looked a couple of years older than him with grey hair. Most of his clothing was also grey. “Apologies, I seem to be appearing in my human form.” He quickly changed and became much taller and skinnier with two blank yellow eyes. The best way that Symbol could describe him was that he looked like a cross between Groot and Slenderman.

“I will admit that I didn’t expect to see the Hide-Behind here, next you’ll be telling me that Blendin is here as well.”

“Yes, he’s here too, as well as Giffany and Lumberjack.”

“No wonder these bodies look familiar, but really, Cipher made Giffany? Boy he is just full of surprises isn’t he?”

“Who are you talking to?”

“Oh right, you can’t enter the mindscape by yourself, here, let me try something…”

He held his medallion and his eyes glowed purple, soon the world turned grey and Hide-Behind became visible to Chrysalis.

“Oh, its you Hide-Behind, wait, why are you out in the open like this?”

“It’s hard to explain, but it appears that this boy and I share something in common…”

Hide-Behind leaned down and whispered into Symbols ear, Symbols face became filled with shock, then with anger. Hide pulled away and held out his hand which Symbol took in his, they shook before Hide walked out of the room.

“By the way, it was lovely to meet you Vivi, I hope we can talk again sometime.”

At that moment, Vivi reappeared and gave him a small wave.

“As do I Hide.”

Everyone looked at Symbol, the look of rage on his face remained and the purple mist began to appear again. When Chrysalis looked into his memories her face became filled with fear, she saw a younger Symbol standing in the middle of burning ruins with what looked like a gun in his hand, he was pointing it at a man with a look of horror on his face.

“Why would you do this Neo, I thought we had a deal!”

“The deal was that you would protect my sister from my father, and you failed miserably at that, so now there’s nothing stopping me from killing you Chris.”

“The rumors are true aren’t they, you really are the demon of Masereth!”

“One thing you should know about me Chris...I’m an atheist, I don’t believe in demons.”

With that, the young Symbol pulled the trigger and the man dropped dead.

They each watched the memory unfold. There were no words that were spoken. The silence only lasted for a moment when a yellow flash appeared in the mindscape.

Bill appeared with a book in his hands.

“Hey, I got the info you need, now let’s see if Chry…”

Bill looked around the room, Chrysalises face was filled with fear and Vivi looked shocked while Forge was trying to suppress a smile, Symbol just stood there with his arms folded and eyes closed.

“What happened?”

Symbol walked over to him and took the book. “Someone made the mistake of looking into my memories, enough drama, it’s time for me to fulfill my end of the deal.”

“You’re right, although it looks like Forge has left.”

“He had stuff to do in another world.”

“Right, let’s get searching for that bunker.”

“No need, her scouts found one.” Symbol looked over to the shivering Chrysalis, Bill began feeling concerned, he floated over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Is everything ok there Chrysie?” She turned to him and shook her head.

“He scares me…”

“Alright, come this way.” Switcheroo led them to Chrysalis’s throne room. Vivi had left them after they left the left the workshop, after giving Bill a strange warning,

“Whatever you do, don’t let him get enraged unless it’s a life or death situation.”

He didn’t know why she told him this, and if what Chrysalis had told him, there was much more to Symbol, and that was something to fear. Bill had had enough drama for one day, it was time to get to work. The scouts that had found the bunker directly underneath Canterlot, something about this made Bill certain that he will have to face either Celestia or Luna, but he didn’t have a choice. Whatever was in that bunker was of vital importance to his plan.

“Hey Cipher, from what I can tell, this Equestria is a little further in its timeline, anything I should watch out for?”

“Depends where you are right now, what episodes events have happened so far?”

“Episodes?”

Thats when realisation hit him like a brick in his pattern, not knowing about displaced, not knowing what the events to come are.

“Symbol, does a show called My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic exist on your earth?”

“Not that I know of.”

“Not one internet reference about it?”

“I’ve been around the internet my whole life and not one mention of a show like that ever came up.”

“Alright, what’s happened in Ponyville lately?”

“Well, a few days ago we did something called winter wrap up, in the middle of spring mind you, one day sunny, next day snow.”

“Yeah, you can expect to see Discord, the spirit of Chaos and Disharmony. The guy is one of the most powerful beings you’ll see. You’ll also come across King Sombra, the tyrant who rules the Crystal Empire. There’s also your version of Chrysalis and… do me a favour and just talk to her, okay?”

“Uh, sure Bill. Anyone else?”

“Tirek. He’s extremely dangerous. He can absorb magic and use it to make himself stronger. In the show, those elements beat him but just in case, I’d find his younger brother Scorpan if you can. Trust me; he’s a really nice guy.”

“Okay then, shall we go?”

“Yes...let’s go before anything else happens.”

The group were flying over the badlands, Symbol was holding two changeling drones hooves as they flew. The group was remaining silent to avoid any more pointless drama. Bill had finished repairing his body after his last adventure and was now flying beside Chrysalis who was keeping her distance from Symbol. She just couldn’t get over what she saw in his memory, he was probably only nine years old when he did that, the boy was a monster and she knew it. His eyes looked like they had seen many deaths, and probably caused most of those deaths. Bill sensed her distress and placed his hand on her shoulder.

She looked at him and he gave her a reassuring look.

“Hey Chryssie. Look, everything’s fine. I know you’re hung up on Symbol’s memories but you need to forget about them.”

“How did you-”

“I can read minds Chryssie and it’s not like I can turn it off.”

“But Bill, what he did, how can I ever forget something like that?”

“I don’t exactly have a memory gun, but I usually repress something that troubles me, though that’s only if it’s extreme.”

“I’m not proud of that you know.” The two broke eye contact and saw Symbol looking at them. “I hurt a lot of people in the past, but not one day goes by that I don’t regret what I did.” He turned to look at the rising moon. “What I did is unforgivable, but I only did it to protect my sister, and that guy was the head of a mob family, someone had to put him down or he would have hurt a lot of people. Now let’s change the topic, what can we be expected to see in this bunker?”

Bill looked reluctant. “You sure you want to go to the one under Canterlot? We can still go to the one by Dodge Junction. It’s where I keep all my enchanted clay.”

“There’s another reason you want to avoid this bunker isn’t there?”

“Gee, nothing gets past you does it?” He said sarcastically.

“If you looked deeper into my memory you’d see how many people I’ve broken just by talking Cipher, you’re avoiding something and it’s obviously something you need to face so you’re either going to tell me, or keep your non- existent mouth shut until we get there.”

“Kid, I’ve repressed things with more bite than you in my ‘head’. You’re the one who wanted to change the subject. But if you must know it just has too many memories. Besides, the princesses have probably gotten to it already. I say we just go to Dodge Junction.”

“What did the princesses do to you?”

“It doesn’t matter.” He shook away the thoughts and tried to keep himself from going red. “We’re going to Dodge Junction.”

“You trusted them and they betrayed you didn’t they?”

“That’s just the tip of the iceberg.”

The purple mist started to appear again. “You go to Dodge Junction; I’ll handle the one in Canterlot.”

Bill turned to the changelings carrying him. “Take us down.” They obliged and they ended up just outside San Palomino Desert. “This isn’t up for debate.”

“Then we won’t argue about it, you handle the other bunker, I’ll deal with the ones the princesses have guarded, and I don’t care what you say Cipher, but if those sisters betrayed your trust and more I will make them pay!”

His eyes were now glowing purple and his skin became pale.

“For the last time…” Before he could finish Symbol punched him in the face and sent him flying. He stopped instantly when he was a couple of metres away.

Symbols skin was now snow white, his fingers were claws and his hair became dark purple, his mouth was gone as well.

“Like you said, it’s not up for debate.”

“Kid, you think that just because you think you’re the Hulk that you can handle them? Fine.” His cane extended and Symbol was knocked into a large boulder.

Bill faced the other way, but then stopped when he heard the laugh of a psychopath.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, Oh that’s just rich, you don’t realise what you’ve just awakened Cipher!”

“Yeah yeah, ‘Hulk strongest there is’ we get it.” He snapped his fingers and Symbol was swallowed whole by a Sandworm that popped out of the ground below him. After a few moments of silence he burst up out of the ground once again.

The area around them became filled with a dark purple fog, when he looked at Symbol there was only something that could be described as a demon. His skin was dark grey, blood poured from his eyes to create two red lines, his teeth became razor sharp as did his fingers, the bottom of his shirt extended then tore at the ends, his hair became jet black, four black tentacles grew out of his back and became sharp at the ends. He opened his eyes, they were black with glowing red dots as pupils. His medallion switched from the symbol of the sun to one of the moon.

“Well, that’s unexpected.”

“Now I will tell you one more time Cipher, You handle the other bunker, I’ll deal with this one!”

He started walking in the direction of Canterlot.

“Yeah… no.” A fist came from the ground and punched him. When the fist appeared Symbol stopped it with his hand but couldn’t block the other one coming in at his right.

“I didn’t come here to fight you Cipher, so stay out of my way.”

“Remember when you asked me about the G- man?”

“What about it, Cipher?” He growled as he kept walking, but saw smoke coming up from below him. “You gotta be kidding me…”

“Can you smell the ashes, Mr. Shattered?” The blue fire engulfed him completely. He emerged from the fires and a look of pure rage and mostly burned clothes.

“You bet I smelled the ashes.”

“Okay, now this is getting annoying.” A rock fell from the sky and Symbol broke it with a tentacle. It broke into dozens of smaller pieces which all shot at him.

“You said it, Look, I don’t want to fight you, so just let me do this.”

“I would, but none of that is happening.” Bill got a huge rocket launcher from out of pure thin air. He fired and Symbol not expecting much, held his arms up to block it. However, the explosion he expected never came and instead a net popped out of the missile and trapped him in it. It also electrocuted him. Once he broke out, he tried to run at Bill only for an anvil to land on his head.

“Enough of this!” Symbol snapped his fingers and he disappeared.

“Where did he go?” Chrysalis cried out.

“He teleported to Canterlot.”

Meanwhile

Celestia was signing some papers when the alarm that told her that someone was near the bunker underneath the city went off, she teleported to the door expecting to see Bill but was instead greeted by a young looking bipedal creature.

“You’re not Bill..”

“No, I’m not, but in some cases I can be much worse, you and I need to have a talk princess.”

“I told you, no.” He couldn’t even turn around before he saw Bill slug him with his hoof and launched him out of the window. Bill was mad. “Now, Chryssie!” A portal appeared out of nowhere and Symbol fell through it, ending up in Bill’s destination.

“What the hell was that for, and could you explain why after I woke up you guys were frozen?”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“After you mentioned some place called Dodge Junction I blacked out, and when I woke up you guys were frozen in place.”

“Kid, you attacked us and farted purple mist.”

“I don’t remember doing something like that…”

“Yeah, well you did Shattered and I’d appreciate it if you shut up. Now let’s go inside that Bunker.” His tone was clearly much colder.

“Wait Cipher, I don’t know what I did but if I hurt you I’m sorry.”

“You did, but that’s not what I’m mad about. I said we weren’t going to Canterlot, yet you ignored me now shut up and let me open this lock.”

“I betrayed your trust...didn’t I?” The look on Symbols face was filled with sadness; he looked to his medallion and closed his eyes. “Damnit not again…” He looked up at Bill and began walking towards the entrance to the bunker. “Not again…”

“I’m not even going to ask and why is this lock not moving?!”

Symbol walked over to the door and punched the lock and it fell apart. This time there was blue mist seeping from his body. Once he made sure that the door was open he began to walk away. “Where are you going?”

“I’m leaving before I cause you more trouble.”

“You can’t leave unless I say you can Symbol. We still need to get through this bunker.” Bill entered the bunker. “I’m waiting! I’d like to get this over with!”

“Symbol Shattered was it?” The young boy turned to see Queen Chrysalis.

“Yeah?”

“Bill… most likely won’t forgive you easily. You’ll need to prove to him that you can be trusted.”

“How do I do that? I don’t exactly have any special skills or powers.”

“Bullshit!” Bill shouted.

“Chrysalis, what happened after I blacked out?”

“First, you got really angry and your body began to seep purple mist. You grew several appendages out of your back. You nearly attacked us all and you fought Bill. Then you teleported to Canterlot…”

“And alerted the princesses!”

Symbol didn’t take this well, he looked down to his hands and placed his head in them. “God damnit…”

He began to walk away. “I really gotta get outta here before I screw anything else up for him.”

“Listen.” Chrysalis began. “Just do it. With any luck, he’ll trust you a little bit more.”

“Chrysalis, I don’t have a good track record with luck, and you know that, don’t think I couldn’t feel you poking around at my memories again.”

“Get over here, you two!” Bill called them over. They walked inside and saw darkness. Chrysalis made a torch with her magic and they saw that the walls, ceiling and flaw were all composed of rusty white steel metal. Tables had old notes with scribbles scrambled on the tables and the floor. They all looked crumpled, chewed and wet. There could also see a staircase a couple hundred metres away.

“The headcrabs will have multiplied. There hasn’t been a body down here in centuries, so it should just be the crabs.” As Bill explained the facts, Chrysalis and Symbol looked around. They could also hear sounds of animalistic screaming and small tapping.

As Symbol walked through, a picture caught his eye. It was of four people, or three ponies and one gargoyle. He saw Princess Luna on the far right along with two unicorn, one with fur of pale teal and the most impressive facial hair he’d ever seen the other was a bright mustard with eyes very similar to Bill’s in the middle. Finally, on the far left was the gargoyle with chestnut fur and and a mane with a darker brown. They were all smiling happily. Symbol walked over to it and picked it up to get a closer look. “Interesting…”

“Hurry up!” Bill yelled. “We don’t have all day!”

Symbol set the photo down and followed them deeper into the bunker, when a headcrab tried to jump on him he gave it a backhand. He then heard something come from outside the bunker, he then for some reason smelled cake, it didn’t take a genius to figure out who was outside. “Shit…

He ran to the entrance and sure enough there she was, in her armour. I’ve already screwed up enough here, I’m not letting anything else go wrong. The purple mist returned. The least I can do is distract her.

“Where is Bill?” She demanded.

“Sorry, but Cipher is busy at the moment. But I’ll be happy to schedule an appointment for you.”

“I have no business with you boy, move aside!”

“You want Cipher, you gotta go through me sunbutt!”

She didn’t take kindly to that last part and fired a beam of magic at him which he deflected. He charged forward and bunched her horn to cancel out the spell. He swung his foot back and kicked her in the jaw.

I don’t even feel like I’m in control right now, but as long as Cipher gets what needs it will be worth it.

While he was distracted, he didn’t notice one of the swords slashing at him. He ended up with a large gash in the side of his hip, but that didn’t stop him from punching her in the face with a right hook, he grabbed her sword and crushed the blade with his claw.

“There are seven more where that came from, demon.” She growled as her seven other swords each circled him. He kept looking around, trying to keep track of each of them. “What are you, another of Cipher’s creations?”

“No, I’m not from this world, and if you’re going to call me demon, at least let the demon wake up!”

“Silence!” One sword on his left made a simple slash, which he jumped up to avoid. He was helpless to avoid the three others that shot straight at him and cut him deeply in his legs, chest and belly.

He staggered before falling to the ground, Celestia assumed that he was dead so she turned away, but when she did she heard a laugh she hadn’t heard since the last summer sun celebration.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, You call me a demon Celestia, no, I’m something much worse!”

She didn’t have time to turn around before she was staring into dead black eyes with red dots as pupils.

“I, am a Nightmare!”

Suddenly a flash of blue light came from behind them, the newcomer tried to charge Symbol but he grabbed her with one of his tentacles.

“Luna!”

“Well well well, what do we have here? Now we’ve got sunbutt AND moonbottom, this is turning into a real party now, all we need is Cadence and Twilight then we’ve got ourselves a literal battle royale!”

A sword sliced the tentacle and he dropped Luna, he didn’t even flinch as he merely regrew the appendage. The two princesses stood side by side ready to fight.

“Well then, shall we dance?”

“Mind if I join in brother?”

Meanwhile in the bunker

Bill slammed his hoof into a clay zombie.

“I’m impressed with these things.” He commented. “Without an actual body, they used the enchanted clay.” Meanwhile, Chrysalis blasted several with her magic. He was too busy blowing off steam on the headcrabs to notice that Symbol had left.

A venomous one nearly crept up behind him but he shocked it with his hooves. Multiple clay zombies surrounded them, but they were quickly dealt with.

“Stupid kid.” He grumbled as he smashed his hoof into another one. “He has no idea what he’s done. For all we know, Celestia and Luna could be knocking at our door right now.”

“I’m sure it’s not that bad.” The changeling queen was fully aware of the fight going on above them; luckily Bill was too focused on punching zombies to notice her thoughts. She knew that if there was any way of Symbol regaining Bills trust it would be by helping him. She was concerned for his safety, but he had managed to fight Bill and survive, she was certain that he could handle Celestia and Luna, especially with Forges help. What she needed to do was distract Bill before he noticed Symbol was gone. “Where is he anyway?”

“He’s dealing with a few headcrab nests a bit back the ways, he thought that he’d stay out of your way for a while.”

“That’s probably a smart move…” Bill was too distracted to detect the lie, and Chrysalis knew it.

“He really is sorry you know, he doesn’t even remember disobeying you.”

Bill sighed and blasted another venom crab. “I know, but, I just...need some time to cool off.” He walked further into the bunker and spotted multiple bookshelves and headcrab nests. “I’m surprised that the princesses haven’t traced our spell yet, and it’s very hard to surprise me.”

“Yeah.” She chuckled nervously. “Have you found anything else?”

“Yes, we just have to go a little bit deeper then we’ll see a Gonarch.” They kept walking deeper and found more nests which they both promptly destroyed. They began to see mounds of clay with swarms of headcrabs crawling around them. They each blasted the crabs away when they attacked and got various samples of the clay. Eventually they began to hear the cries of a Gonarch. The pair moved forward some more and saw a huge hill of clay.

“It’s most likely up there.” Bill said as they both flew up. At the top, they saw the giant crab crawling all over the pile. Queen Chrysalis shot a blast of magic at it, but that only got its attention. It roared at them and shot some baby headcrabs, which both of them promptly dodged. Once they were low enough, the Gonarch charged, but Chrysalis threw it over to the wall. It easily got back up and launched more crabs at Bill.

“It’ very durable. This won’t be easy.”

“You collect some more of the clay Bill. I’ll handle the crab.” Chrysalis said as she teleported them both out of its way when it charged at them.

“You sure Chryssie?”

“I’m the queen of the changelings, and I’ll be damned if I lose.” She grinned as she teleported up into the sky and shot at it with some explosive spells causing it to stagger. It let out another screech, but it did not move. Chrysalis stood her ground until a fast zombie tackled her to the ground. She was about to get up when another zombie tackled her, and another and another. It repeated until dozens of zombies piled on her and clawed at her body. Soon, there was a huge magical surge from the bottom of the pile and they were all destroyed with only Chrysalis and the Gonarch. She shot another beam, but the Gonarch endured it and hit the changeling queen head- on. She was slammed into a wall but retaliated by throwing it at a wall with her magic. Yet again it endured the blow, it was about to lunge at her again but froze in place. Chrysalis held it in place with her magic. She forced it to fall on its side where it wasn’t able to get up with all its weight. She finished it off with a charged beam of magic. She heard a growl come from behind her, she turned to see another Gonarch, when it tried to lunge at her a red light shot past her and hit it in the chest, causing it to become very dazed but not quite beaten.

Chrysalis turned to see Forge standing there with a smirk.

“What are you doing here, aren’t you helping Symbol?”

“I was, but he has everything under control, I’ve had my fun and it looked as if you needed some assistance.”

“But how is he handling them both?”

“We knocked Luna into unconsciousness.”

“I see. What of Celestia?”

“Symbol’s taking care of that.” Forges smile grew. “He’s not strong enough to put her down for good, but he can still fight her to a standstill. She should even be retreating after her sister was knocked out.”

“But she’s angry that he knocked her out and is now out for revenge?”

“Yep.”

“Figures, she always was protective of her sister.”

“Which is why she sent her to the moon? Good riddance if you ask me.” Bill appeared with clay and notes in his saddlebags. “I have everything. We can go now.”

“Well, my work is done here, now if you’ll excuse me I have a certain cyborg to visit.” With that, Forge was gone.

“Well that happened.” Bill said. “Can you teleport us back to the kingdom Chryssie?” As he spoke, a boom was heard above them. “What was tha-” He stopped as he felt the presence of Celestia and Luna.

“Teleport me up there.” He said plainly, but she could clearly taste the anger. She took him up there where he saw the two sisters retreating. Symbol was looking at them while he returned to his normal self, he looked over himself.

“I could get used to this, could come in handy when facing the creatures in my Equestria.”

“Yeah, well you can get to that. I’m ready to send you back now.”

Symbol sighed and turned to face Bill. “I understand.” He looked at the small painting once again.

“Okay, to send someone away, you just have to say the words ‘our contract is complete’. Understand?”

“I do.”

“Good. now-”

“I’m sorry, Cipher…”

“Yeah sure. Now, our contract is-”

“I’m disappointed in you, Bill.” Chrysalis said.

“Why?”

“Well, maybe because he fought both of the princesses off, saving you from a painful encounter, trying to correct his mistake. Even now you won’t forgive him.”

“I forget, wasn’t he the one that brought them here in the first place when the princesses traced your teleportation spell because we had to get him back from Canterlot?”

“He didn’t even know what he was doing, it wasn’t him. I could taste another presence of emotions. It was something foreign inside him. I’m not sure exactly what it was, but what I do know is that when you two fought, that wasn’t him in there, it was something else!”

Bill was silent for a moment. He didn’t need to read minds to know that Chrysalis was telling the truth. He trusted her, and he couldn’t say that he was exactly focused on what he was fighting in the mindscape.

“And if you won’t forgive him now, then maybe after you see what he’s went through you will! I know you’ve seen it in his head! Don’t you dare tell me you haven’t!” He remembered what he saw in Symbols head, in his mind and heart there was only anger, loss, sadness and violence in his memories. He then got a look at recent memories, he saw a photo of Lyra, Bon Bon, Vinyl, Derpy and Octavia in a group and Symbol standing beside them facing the left with his arms folded and eyes closed... He compared Symbols memories to his, the memories of the real Bill Cipher. Symbol’s suffering was real. Even compared to the things that he had actually lost and the secrets that he’d much rather forget, Symbol had still suffered. He then realised something, in his entire life, Symbol has never smiled, not once.

“... Symbol?” He called out.

“Yeah Cipher?” Symbol asked quietly.

“I forgive you.” He began. “But only on one condition.”

“What’s that?”

“... If you forgive me as well.”

There was silence. “...there’s nothing to be sorry about Cipher, there’s also something I want to give you.”

“What?” He saw an amulet, his Alicorn Amulet in Symbol’s hand. “Where did you get this?”

“I don’t know, it must’ve been while I was transformed. I just… felt like I should give it to you, like it would be of some importance to you.” He tossed it over Bill.

You have no idea kid...“Kid, you’re alright.” He chuckled.

“Thanks Cipher.”

“It’s fine. By the way, if you want to you can call me William. That was my name before I came here.”

“...then you can call me Neo, that’s my real name.”

“.... Were your parents fans of The Matrix or somethi- I mean I will.”

“Never watched that movie, no, I was called that by my great grandmother when I was born, my brother is called Leo, we’re two of three triplets.” A swirling vortex appeared beside them, and Symbol looked into it, he turned back to Bill. “I think we should part on better terms.” He held out his hand. “So long William.” Bill placed his hoof in his hand and shook. There was a blue fire that burned between their hands which caused Neo to deadpan.

“You too Neo.” Symbol nodded and looked at Chrysalis.

“Thank you Chrysalis for sticking up for me.”

“No problem Symbol.”

“By the way, you said earlier that I’d meet my version of Chrysalis, what should I say to her exactly?”

“Hmm, say that… You can help, that there’s more than one way to get love for your subjects.”

“Ok, will she be disguised as anyone?”

“Look out for a pink alicorn named Cadence. And find Scorpan if you can, though I don’t know where exactly he is.”

“Alright.” He began walking towards the vortex. “If you ever need my help again, just use the extra token, I’ll try not to screw up next time.” He walked through the vortex; before it closed Bill threw a spare version of his token through it. “Pleasure doing business with you William!” Symbol yelled through the vortex.

“Likewise Neo!” With that, the portal closed...not before two of the drones jumped through as well. “What? Why did they do that?”

“They said they took a liking to Symbol and wanted to go with him.” Chrysalis said with a giggle.

“I guess we can’t really stop them.”

They began walking back to the hive when Bill heard a voice.

“Hello there Bill Cipher.”

“Who is this?”

“I’m called many names, God, Allah, The man upstairs, you get the picture.”

“So I’m talking to God then?”

“Pretty much. I just wanted to thank you for helping my son.”

“Who, Neo?”

“Bingo, you win.”

“Um, it was no problem, wait, if you’re the creator of the universe then why did you create the merchant?”

“Things got complicated my dear boy; I created him to send a select few into these Equestrias to fight of a creature known as Nightmare Fuel.”

“Why can’t you do it?”

“Think of it this way, every reality is a story in a book, and I’m the author, over the centuries I create too many books, I have to hand some of the responsibility over to someone else, the books now write themselves, something goes wrong that I cannot fix, I create the heroes that you call Displaced to fight that which has gone wrong, but it is not enough and the process repeats itself over and over, until I create my own hero, one that I can guide without question, my son, Neo or as you may know as The One. Get the picture?”

“So, I’m here to help keep some force of darkness out of this reality?”

“Right again, William.”

“I find it hard to believe that I’m talking to God right now.”

“Look around you.”

Bill looked around to see that time had frozen around him, his friends frozen in place and a bird still in mid- air.

“Believe me now?”

“Little bit, yeah…”

“One last thing before I go, well, two things actually. When you find yourself in the final battle between you and Celestia, call Neo and your other displaced friends, trust me, it will make things so much easier for you. Secondly, Vivi will be visiting this world to talk to Hide, just a heads up incase you see her about Ok? Tata.”

The voice ceased and time started to move again. There was only one question floating in Bills mind as he looked at Symbol’s token. “What is that boy?”

Crossover with WezzaHD

I had a lot of fun working on it with the author of the story, so please give him your support.

Returning with some new friends

As the portal closed I began walking towards Ponyville, then I heard a loud thump, I turned around to see two of the changeling drones laying there tangled in each others legs. "What the hell are you guys doing here, wait, did you follow me?" The drones recomposed themselves before one of them spoke up.

"Um, well, we kind of took a liking to you, so we talked to our queen and she said it was ok for us to go with you."

"Yeah, she also sent you a short letter." They levitated a small piece of paper over to me.

Dear Symbol

These drones have requested that they join you on your adventures, their names are Wasp and Zanny. They are very useful and obedient, if you wish to send them back, you are free to do so. They can be a bit clumsy but get the job done, think of it as a little gift from me.

Best wishes, Chrysalis.

"Well, this is unexpected." I looked to the changelings that were now giving me puppy dog eyes. "Fine, you can stay. But I have a few conditions."

Both changelings stood at attention. "First, you need to earn your keep, I want you to get jobs so you can help me pay for food and the occasional bill, understood?" They nodded. "Second, when out in public you need to be disguised, I don't want the ponies to panic." They looked at each other and transformed, Wasp changed into a red stallion with black straight hair, Zanny changed into a blue stallion with spiky white hair. "Good, last but not least, to help hide your identities, you will need fake names." I pointed to Zanny. "Your name when disguised is Crystal." He smiled, noting that he liked the name. "Now wasp, your name will be Flare blossom." He placed a hoof to his chin, he then nodded and smiled.

We began walking towards town. "Just a heads up, you might come face to face with a mare called Pinkie Pie, since you're new to town you can expect her to throw you a 'Welcome to Ponyville' party, she can be...weird and really hyperactive, I think she has the knowledge of the universe or something, so if she says that she knows you're changelings, just say to her to pinkie promise not to tell anyone, that way your secret will be safe."

"Um, how does that work exactly?" Asked an unsure Zanny.

"It's best not to question it."

I didn't have enough bits to buy them spare beds for my house, but they were fine with sleeping in hammocks in the basement, still better sleeping arrangements than when they were in the hive if you ask me. Then came the question as to how they were going to survive, apparently with all the love in the air in this Equestria they could feed off it without doing any harm to the ponies, they could still eat normal food but it wouldn't do much on the level of nutrition.

I figured I'd let the two settle into their new home before I introduce them to the girls. I left them to set up their hammocks and walked out of the house and to the outskirts of Ponyville. I pulled out my token (a purple diamond that I created in Ciphers Equestria) and a vortex appeared, I repeated the message.

"To those that need assistance, I will answer your call, Symbol Shattered." I then threw it into the portal. "This should be interesting." The portal closed and I walked back to my house. I entered to find Wasp and Zanny playing with a white fluffy spider with a red ring on its abdomen. "Where did you find that?"

"In the basement." They replied with unison. I didn't have a problem with it so I let them have their fun. I sat down on my couch and opened the book that Cipher gave me. He even made it look like one of the journals from Gravity Falls. The way things are going in his Equestria, I'm sure it's all going to end in some kind of final battle, and when it happens I better be asked to join in, if not I'll just get Forge to take me to it. Getting off topic. I began reading and found something interesting, apparently I'm supposed to mark all of the locations of the temples I visit on a map of Equestria and after I visit the last temple I'm meant to travel to the centre of the circle the temples create.

"Jeez, these cults never make it easy do they?" I continued reading until I heard tapping on the coffee table, I looked over to see the spider looking at me. "You want something little guy?" It pointed a leg to the opposite sofa, where Zanny and Wasp were curled up together sleeping. "Now that's just adorable." I held out my hand and let the spider crawl up my arm and rest on my shoulder. I walked over to the sleeping changelings and picked them up, I took them down to the basement and placed them in their hammocks. I then turned to look at the spider. "You got a web or something down here?" It nodded and pointed to a dusty pillow on a desk. I lifted the spider off my shoulder and onto the pillow, it spun around a few times before lying on its stomach. "Well, goodnight little guy." He waved a leg and closed its eyes. "I don't get why people find you guys Scary"

I walked up to my room and flung myself onto my bed. I pulled out my diamond that I had used to make my token, it was glowing slightly.

"Why do I get the feeling that something's going to happen tomorrow?"

Aftermath

After walking further into the forest I spotted Wasp and Zanny flying above the forest, they had chosen pegasui disguises. I waved to them and they flew down to meet me. I handed Dinky and Sweetie Belle over to them and told them to take the two foals to their guardians. The nodded and flew towards Ponyville with me in tow. They flew above the town searching for Rarity and Derpy as I headed home.

I spotted the main six (minus Rarity and Applejack who were mothering their siblings) waking in my direction, I didn't know if they were going to talk to me or what, so I just kept walking. When I was in front of them they froze at the sight of blood on my clothes, face and hands. I just kept walking as they stared, I was holding my normal neutral expression.

Celestia and the royal guard arrived at the cave, a few soldiers had went in to secure the area, one of them came running out and saluted. "Your highness, the cave has been secure, you can now enter...although you may not like what you see."

Celestia raised an eyebrow. She walked into the cave, after taking a few steps she found a dented steel door that had been torn of its hinges, when she entered her eyes widened in shock. In the cave was several corpses, all of which had claw wounds except for one who was stabbed by his own sword. There was small drops of blood on the floor and walls. "Did any of the foals see this?"

"No ma'am, they claim that they were taken out of the cave before the fight began."

He was decent enough to get the foals out before they saw something that might have scared them for life. She thought, she looked over at a wall where there seemed to be a pony shaped dent in the stone. She held the bruise that Symbol had given her when she tried to stop him. "What else did the foals tell you?"

"Apparently the leader of the deceased gang grabbed two foals and headed out in a secret exit, which is now wide open due to some kind of large force destroying the door. Symbol pursued the criminal and that's all the foals know."

Just then Twilight teleported to Celestias side, unaware of where she was and didn't pay attention. "Princess, Symbol returned to Ponyville and the two remaining foals are with their carers, although he came back covered in blood." She sniffed the air and was about to turn around when Celestia put her hoof over her eyes.

"Don't look, you'll never be able to get it out of your mind! Just follow the sound of my voice and only open your eyes when I tell you to." Twilight followed Celestia to the place where the door was meant to be. "You can open your eyes, just don't look back into the room."

Twilight opened here eyes to see the dented door. "Wait, this is magic steel, it's supposed to be immune to brute force!"

"What caused those dents was not brute force, it was dark magic."

"Dark magic, but who..."

"I will explain it to you and your friends after the Grand Galloping Gala, just don't ask Symbol about what happened here." Twilight looked unsure but agreed.

I was in my house washing off the blood on my hands and clothes, I had my clothes duplicated to save the ponies the trouble of making me new ones. After I had a shower and scrubbed the blood out of my clothes, I replaced my bandages and put disinfectant on my newest wound, I got dressed and walked outside where I was tackled by multiple mares thanking me for saving their children. Derpy, Applejack and Rarity were among the crowd. There was no way I was getting out of this so I accepted my fate. I saw the girls trying to suppress giggles at the side.

After what seemed like an hour the mares let me go. I then told everyone to gather the ponies in town to the stage outside town hall as I had an announcement.

Ten minutes later the town was gathered and even the princess was in the crowd. I stepped up to the stage. "What I am about to tell you might be disturbing to many ponies, but it has to be said."

I got a few looks from the crowd. "The pony known as Time Turner, is dead!" There was gasps from the crowd. "He was the ringleader of this stunt, and in an attempt to flee he grabbed two of the kidnapped foals and made a run for the Everfree Forest, in which when put into a corner by myself, he fell off a cliff, and was attacked by a group of timberwolves!" I spotted a group of ponies in the back that looked devastated, I assumed they were Turners family. "Now I know he had many friends and family in this town, and I will personally handle the funeral!"

"Why, didn't you hate him?" A mare I knew as Colgate asked.

"Because I am the one that backed him into that corner, his death is my responsibility!" The crowd fell silent. "I know that you will never look at me the same way again, but know that this was not a deed out of hatred or personal desire. This was an accident and I never intended for him to meet such a grave fate, this was to protect the foals of this town, and I'm going to make sure nothing like this happens ever again!" Then came something I wasn't expecting, Time Turners brother, who I knew as Doctor Whooves, stepped up to the stage.

"Hello, I am Time Turners brother, and I just wanted to say...thank you!"

"What?"

"In that group of kidnapped foals was my younger brother, Tick Tock. You saved him and that's what I am thankful for. I am also thankful that you have gotten rid of Turner. Many ponies don't know this but Turner had a condition that caused him to act violently and selfishly, it had been haunting him and our family for so long, there was no cure. Now you have given him the release of that curse, and for that I thank you." He held out his hoof. I was honestly surprised by this, I took his hoof in my hand and shook. I mean, seriously, I just killed his brother and he's thanking me, who does that?

He nodded his head and joined the crowd, he stopped beside Derpy. "Miss Hooves, I apologise for any harm or emotional stress that my brother has caused you." I left the area and was met by Celestia in the middle of the street.

"I'm not apologising for hitting you earlier."

"I don't expect you to, I'm just here to deliver a warning."

"And what would that be?"

"You have a dark power inside you, handle it with care, or the consequences could be catastrophic." She walked by me and flashed me a grin. "See you at the Gala, I look forward to our dance."

I didn't respond to her comment and just headed home.

Calm before the storm

Two days later

"Are you sure that this is the place?" I looked over my shoulder to see Twilight in a sparkling purple dress. She flipped through a few pages and nodded. "Alright, shall we?"

We began walking up to the front door of the huge mansion just outside of Manehatten. I was disguised as a dark blue earth pony with a white straight mane, my cutie mark was my medallion. We were currently on a mission from Celestia, apparently the ponies hosting the party that Twilight was invited to where harbouring some strange artefacts and possibly one of Vector Lulamoons journals. Twilight was still in the dark about the cult, and it was going to stay that way.

"You know Symbol, you are quite handsome as a stallion."

"Don't push your luck Twilight, you know the plan, we get in, you keep the hosts and guests busy while I search the mansion."

"Sorry, I keep forgetting that you aren't interested in that sort of thing."

"Ok, first off, I'm fourteen, second, I never said I wasn't interested in that sort of thing, lastly, I doubt even the bravest stallion could handle a relationship with you."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Nothing, let's just get this over with."

"You sound as if you don't like the fact you get to a grand party with a mare like me."

"I don't like it, I'm just doing this to repay my debt to Tia." I fixed my bow tie and made sure my black tux was presentable. "Enough chitchat, let's get in there." She rolled her eyes and presented her invitation to the bouncer, he inspected it and nodded.

"Enjoy your evening Miss Sparkle."

We entered to find the main room packed with ponies from multiple wealthy families. Somewhere in there was a member of the of the Lulamoon family, but that would have to wait. First we had to blend in, and that was up to Twilight, after that I had to slip into the back rooms. We were greeted by multiple ponies and frankly I didn't care, I was here for the journal. On the bright side, after the search is done, I get to burn the place down.

The artefacts in this building are too dangerous to keep around and must be destroyed, per Celestias orders. We made our way to the buffet table. "You see anything yet Symbol?"

"Not yet, I'll need to get to the back rooms. But I'll need everyones attention to be away from me." Just then, a unicorn mare in a gold sparkling dress. She then started to make a speech about who knows what, and everyone was looking at her. "Ask and you shall receive." With the convenient distraction I snuck to the back of the great hall and through a door. I started walking down a long dark hallway filled with covered paintings. "Yep, looks like I'm heading in the right direction." This hallway obviously had not been used in a while as there was dust everywhere.

I checked every room along the hall and they were either empty or has sheet covered furniture. I was about to turn back when I noticed that a draft was coming from behind me. I looked back to see a large covered painting at the end of the hall. I pulled the sheet off to find a painting of one of the temples. "No doubt about it, this family is involved in the cult." I looked over the frame of the painting and found a button. "Please be a secret door, please be a secret door." I pushed the button and the painting moved to the side, revealing a flight of stairs.

When I reached the bottom of the steps I was in a long hallway with multiple steel doors, the walls were made of stone bricks and the air was ice cold, there was also a pile of pony statues at the end, all of which were only black silhouettes. I noticed that a door at the end of the hall was open slightly, letting some light enter the hall. I then heard someone talking and I moved up slowly and quietly. When reaching the door I peaked in listening to the conversation.

"Is everything ready to go Lulamoon?"

"Yes, Twilight Sparkle is in the building and we expect the keeper of the rings is around here somewhere."

"How do you know for sure?"

"I've received reports from the Valentine family that he is working with young Sparkle, and that he has been informed of the Journal." Oohhhhhhh no you did not just play me like that.

"What if he comes disguised, how will we tell?"

"Just remember the emblem and look out for that. Now, let's get back to the party before anypony gets suspicious." Oh it is way to late for that asshole. They made there way towards the door and I hid in the pile of statues. They walked past the pile and headed up the staircase.

When they were out of sight I opened the door to the room and found multiple artefacts on podiums and covered with glass. I looked around and spotted the journal in one of the display cases. I made sure there was no alarm system or spell guarding it and smashed the glass with my hoof. I placed it in my tuxedo and looked over the rest of the artefacts, none of them caught my interest. I walked over to an oil lamp and smashed it against the wall, causing the room to be set ablaze. "Now I just need to blend in until the fire spreads through the mansion."

After setting multiple fires in various rooms I entered the main hall undetected. I made my way over to Twilight. "The fires have been started, now we just have to wait." She nodded and we made our way to a table to wait out the party.

"What kind of relics did you see down there?"

"Some dark magic spell books and enchanted items, doesn't matter now that they're all destroyed." She nodded and took a sip of her drink. We waited for another half an hour then I noticed some smoke coming from upstairs. Then the band stopped playing for an announcement.

"To all of you couples here tonight, please make your way to the dance floor with your significant other for the last song of the evening." I knew what was going on, Lulamoon was trying to draw me out by looking at all of the couples who stayed seated. As much as I disliked the idea, I had to dance with Twilight.

"C'mon Twi, we need to dance." Her fave exploded with a blush.

"W-what?"

"The hosts are trying to call me out by looking over the couples that stay seated, we need to keep up the sharad for a few more minutes." I held out my hoof and she placed hers in at as I led her to the dance floor. I looked up to the grand staircase to see Lulamoon looking over the crowd with a grin. Not today, bitch.

We reached the dance floor and the band started to play a slow tune, signifying that this was a slow dance, fan-bucking-tastic. Twilights face was rose red as she moved closer and our bodies made contact. She wrapped her front hooves around my neck and lay her head on my shoulder as we moved from side to side. All the while I was keeping an eye on Lulamoon. Her face showed she was becoming irritated, she sniffed the air and noticed the smoke. She looked out to the crowd and scowled, then rushed to fight the fire.

Twilight had her eyes closed and a smile on her face, I could tell she was enjoying this way to much, I didn't want her to get the wrong idea, but I let her enjoy the moment. "You seem to be enjoying yourself Twi." Her response was holding me tighter, of course, to late now. I just hope that when the song ends all the couples don't kiss, then I'll be in trouble.

And of course my fears where correct as the song drew to a close all of the couples shared a passionate kiss. Not wanting for my cover to be blown I had no choice, the fire hadn't reached the hall yet so I had to compromise. Before I could do anything Twilight placed her lips on mine, to my surprise. I was in a really awkward place, I couldn't pull away for two reasons, one, my cover would be blown, two, it would hurt Twilights feelings. Celestia I am going to kill you for this.

I accepted the kiss and leaned into it, as everyone pulled out of their kisses we did the same. She refused to look at me as her blush never left her face. She was going to say something but was cut off by Lulamoon shouting.

"I know you're out there Shattered, show yourself!" I looked to Twilight and whispered into her ear.

"Teleport us up there and when I throw down my drink teleport us out of here." She nodded as I grabbed a drink and lit it with a match. We appeared at the top of the staircase. "Well it's been a great party Lulamoon, I'm afraid we have to go now, I'll just take the journal for safe keeping, until next time." I threw my drink at a piece of tapestry and it burst into flames, then we appeared outside where our carriage was waiting. "Take us home gents." The stallions upfront nodded and began trotting towards Ponyville.

"So Twi, wanna tell me what that kiss was about?" I asked as I noticed her trying to scoot closer to me. She stopped in her tracks and started tapping her hooves nervously.

"I don't know what came over me, the setting, the music, and the way everypony was kissing. I seriously don't know what happened."

"Have you had some kind of attraction to me?" I asked in a neutral tone.

"A slight attraction, although it isn't your physical attractiveness that has caught my eye."

"What do you mean?" I didn't show any emotion, as it would only make the situation worse for me. I'm not really good in these situations.

"Well, you're intelligent and caring, you're mysterious and calm, that's everything a mare wants in a stallion, and what I want. If I am ever going to find a special somepony, I want them to be able to keep up with me mentally, and you can." She placed her hoof on mine. I didn't know what to think or say in this situation. I was about to say something but was cut off by a loud roar of thunder. I looked out of the window to see a floating island in the distance with a huge castle on the top in the clouds. Only one thin was on my mind.

"I better not miss a damn thing."

Catching up

Twilight was sitting in her library reading (per usual) when Spike burst through the door. "Spike, what's wrong?" The small dragon panted for a minute before answering.

"Another...human...Symbols...brother..." Then he passed out. Twilight didn't need to hear any more from her assistant so she shot out of the door and rushed around town trying to find Symbol and Zero. After a while she started to run out of breath and sat down on a bench to rest.

"Twilight!" She looked up to see Rainbow Dash flying towards her. "Have you seen the new human yet, he looks just like Symbol."

"I haven't, where are they?"

"They're at Vinyls club at the bar, something about getting a job." Twilight nodded and they both headed for the club.

Symbols POV

Zero and I managed to find him a job at Vinyls club as a bartender, back on earth we worked at a bar in between heists. This bar was actually very similar to the one in Masereth. At least Zero was getting something he'd be familiar with. We were sitting at the bar with some cider talking about what's been happening recently since I got here.

"You punched a princess?"

"Two of them actually." He just burst out laughing.

"You got bigger balls than me bro, how'd you get away with it?"

"The first one was some kinda demon queen and the other got in the way of something, don't worry, they don't hold it against me." He just shook his head and chuckled.

"Dude, this place is crazy."

"You don't know the half of it, I actually met Bill Cipher a few days ago." He spat out his drink and looked at me.

"You met Cipher?" I nodded. "How?"

"I met him in a parallel Equestria when I was given some kind of magical object called a token, I actually made one for myself, so if I randomly disappear I'm most likely in another dimension." I just calmly took a sip of my cider and he facepalmed.

"How do you not go insane from all this?"

"We lived in Masereth, I was pretty far gone before I got here, besides you get used to it." He nodded and took a gulp of his drink.

"Damn this is good." I rolled my eyes as he downed the rest of his drink and we turned to look at the crowd of ponies. "So, you work at a spa now?"

"Don't you judge me, it was the only job I was offered at the time, and I've grown to like the easygoing atmosphere in that place." He shrugged and looked at the crowd.

"Gotta say bro, you've done well for yourself recently, I'm glad that you've been able to get away from all the crazy nightmarish shit back home."

"Yeah..." I looked away slightly. He noticed my sudden change of mood.

"What did you do?"

"A few days ago a group of thugs kidnapped all the kids in town and I went to get them back, when I found their hideout, I slaughtered them like they were nothing." He looked at me and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Hey, the world is better off without people like that, you did the right thing."

"That's what Abigail used to say." We both hung our heads and picked up our glasses. "To Abigail..."

"...and a better future." We raised our drinks then downed the contents. "Hey Symbol."

"Yeah?"

"Is interspecies stuff legal here?" I spat out my drink and hit him over the head.

Twilight entered the club and saw Symbol and Zero, Zero was holding his head with a large bump on it while Symbol was just shaking his head in disapproval. She noticed her friends in a booth just across from the two brothers and sat down with them.

"Who is that?"

"That's Zero, Symbols twin brother." Explained Applejack as she took a sip of cider.

"Are you sure they should be drinking alcohol, aren't they too young to be drinking?"

"Apparently back on their home world those two would drink to help num the pain of their horrible lives, so they're used to a few pints. Don't you worry none, they said they never drank more than three glasses each week."

"Oh, I'm gonna have to start planning Zeros welcome to Equestria and Ponyville party right away!" Pinkie gulped down her drink and shot out of the club. Twilight just stared at the two brothers as they bickered with each other about something.

"I should send a letter to the princess about this." She got up and started walking out of the club, she took another look at them and walked out.

Symbols POV

After that little incident I went into the Everfree Forest to blow off some steam and develop some new techniques for when I'm fighting in my demon form.

I reached a clearing with some large rocks and switched to my first demon. I looked at my claws and started thinking, I walked over to a rock and started focusing some energy into my hand. I swiped at the rock and it sliced into smaller pieces. My fingertips were glowing purple as I swiped at more rocks, leaving a trail of neon purple lines behind me.

I kept thinking of other ways to perform different attacks and attempted them for about three hours, leaving every rock a crumbling mess. I switched back to my normal self and headed back to town to get some rest after this eventful day.

Forges musical number

The next day we boarded the train to Canterlot, Twilight had sent a letter to Celestia about Zeros arrival and requested to meet him in person. Zero was busy taking in the landscape while the girls, which contained the mane six and my friends, were talking. Zero, Wasp, Zanny, Scary and I sat in our own booth. "Uh, bro?"

"Yeah Zero?"

"Why is there a spider on your shoulder?" He pointed to Scary.

"Oh, this is Scary, my pet of sorts." Scary waved a foreleg at my twin and crawled onto my head to rest in my hair. "He's actually very intelligent, Fluttershy told me that these spiders are very domesticated and make good pets, Crystal and Flare found him one night so we decided to keep him."

"Why'd you name him Scary?"

"He heard me say that word the night we found him and he seemed to like it, so that's what we named him. And we both have no right to judge." Wasp and Zanny just looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "Not important." They shrugged and went back to watching the land go by.

"Anyway, what should I expect when we reach Camelot?"

"Canterlot."

"You know what I mean."

"The ponies of the city are snobbish so expect some states and disapproving snorts. The princess is alright, don't expect a reaction from the guards."

"Like the ones at Buckingham Palace?"

"Yep." He nodded and began thinking about something. I pulled out the book Cipher gave me and began look through it. I found instructions on what to do when the likes of Discord and Sombra show up, I bookmarked the page and reached a point that made me freeze.

"You ok there bro?"

I continued to stare at the page, what was written there...it's not something that Cipher should have written. It showed the details of when I would die in this world. I shut the book, not looking into it any further. I should not know when I am destined to die, I would only work on preventing it. "I'm fine, I just read something that I shouldn't have." He looked at me curiously before looking away.

Damnit, I already saw the date, I swear to Griffith that this won't end well.

"Damnit!" Forge slammed his fist into a stone column. "He wasn't supposed to see that! That stupid Triangle has changed the course of events! Now I have to form a new plan!" He took in a breath and calmed his nerves. "It's alright, it's alright. I can work around this, I can put the timeline back on track."

He was currently on the floating island in the castle. "It ain't easy being evil, but, where's the fun in it being easy?"

He walked up to a stone thrown and snapped his fingers. "Music!"

As a tune started to play he began the cliché villain song.

(Music)

When the Devil is too busy

And death's a bit too much

They call on me by name, you see

For my special touch

To the gentlemen, I'm Miss Fortune

To the ladies, I'm Sir Prize

But call me by any name

Anyway, it's all the same

I'm the fly in your soup

I'm the pebble in your shoe

I'm the pea beneath your bed

I'm a bump on every head

I'm the peel on which you slip

I'm a pin in every hip

I'm the thorn in your side

Makes you wriggle and writhe

He began spinning as he made his way down a long hallway towards a large chamber with another thrown made of crystal.

And it's so easy when you're evil

This is the life, you see

The Devil tips his hat to me

I do it all because I'm evil

And I do it all for free

Your tears are all the pay I'll ever need

He walked over to a wall and pulled a lever and two large purple rings started floating around him.

While there's children to make sad

While there's candy to be had

While there's pockets left to pick

While there's grannies left to trip down the stairs

I'll be there, I'll be waiting round the corner

It's a game, I'm glad I'm in it

'Cause there's one born every minute

And it's so easy when you're evil

This is the life, you see

The Devil tips his hat to me

I do it all because I'm evil

And I do it all for free

Your tears are all the pay I'll ever need

He slid over to the throne and placed his hand on his chest and got on one knee.

I pledge my allegiance, to all things dark

And I promise on my damned soul

To do as I am told, Lord Beelzebub

Has never seen a soldier quite like me

Not only does his job, but does it happily

His eyes glowed red.

I'm the fear that keeps you awake

I'm the shadows on the wall

I'm the monsters they become

I'm the nightmare in your skull

I'm a dagger in your back

An extra turn on the rack

I'm the quivering of your heart

A stabbing pain, a sudden start

And it's so easy when you're evil

This is the life, you see

The Devil tips his hat to me

I do it all because I'm evil

And I do it all for free

Your tears are all the pay I'll ever need

And I do it all for free

Your tears are all the pay I'll ever need

And I do it all for free

Your tears are all the pay I'll ever need

It gets so lonely being evil

What I'd do to see a smile

Even for a little while

And no one loves you when you're evil

I'm lying though my teeth!

Your tears are all the company I need

He punched a large glowing crystal and the field around the island fell like shattered glass while he laughed manically.

"LOOK OUT BROTHER, THERE'S A SHIT STORM HEADING YOUR WAY!!!"

"Why do I feel a shit storm approaching?"

"I feel it too Symbol." We looked over to the floating island and saw the field shattering like glass. "You're going up there aren't you?"

"Yep." I remembered what was written on the letter I had gotten from Celestia. "But there's something we have to do first."

"What's that?"

"We need to get you a tux."

Scary's Chapter and The Council

Scary loved his new home, he was welcomed with open hooves by Wasp and Zanny, had a mutual understanding between him and Symbol, and all the bugs he could eat. He worried about Symbol though, he seemed to be putting himself in too many life threatening situations, but there was nothing Scary could do about that. He sensed that Symbol had a very troubled past and that he was trying to forget it.

Symbol had returned home with a few tears in his eyes and Scary went to comfort him...by sitting on his head and slowly stoking his head with a leg.

"Thanks Scary, I've been through a lot today." Scary made a motion that asked him to continue. "Alright, I'll tell you. It started this afternoon, when I finished my shift at the spa I came across my twin brother, and found out my twin sister had been killed." Scary froze and looked at Symbol with a sorry expression. "It's alright little guy, I'll get over it. I've got other things to worry about, and Abigail wouldn't want me to sulk around the place, not that I would but you get the point." Scary nodded and crawled onto Symbols shoulder to nuzzle his cheek. "Thanks little guy." Symbol yawned. "Well, I should head to bed, we're going to Canterlot tomorrow morning and I'm gonna need my energy for that." Scary tapped a leg on Symbols cheek. "You wanna come with us buddy?" He nodded. "Alright, you can hide in my breast pocket until we board the train." Symbol petted Scary and walked up the stairs to his room. "Goodnight Scary."

Scary stretched his little legs and walked down to the basement where his pillow was. He spun around a few times then lay on his stomach, after giving a small yawn he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Scary was woken up by loud music coming from one of the house in the street. He shook his head and made his way out of the door, mumbling curses in his little language. He crawled through a crack in the neighbours house and made his way through the house until he came across another spider of his species.

"Hey, how's it going Scary?"

"It was going fine until I was woken up by this music."

"You get used to it, I've lived in these walls for months and I even found a mate."

"Really, what's her name?"

"Goes by Frightening, we already have an egg sack on the way."

"Congrats dude."

"Thanks, so, are you here to complain about the noise?"

"I'm just going to try to get the pony living here to turn it down a bit, I don't mind the music, just not this loud."

"Alright, the mare here gets the occasional complaint, so she should understand. Anyway, heard you got taken in by that human thing, how's that going?"

"It's going well, I'm surprised that he guessed my name right, but I have a nice pillow to sleep on and even two changeling roommates."

"That sounds awesome. Look man I gotta go, I'm putting together something for our six month anniversary."

"Ok, I won't keep you, again, congrats." They shook legs and went their separate ways. Scary walked through a mouse hole and saw Vinyl on her turntable. "Of course it was this mare." Scary crawled up to the turntable and started waving a leg at the mare, she thought that he was raving with her so kept going. Scary sighed and looked over the turntable until he found the volume. He spotted it and tried to walk towards it. He found himself walking but staying in the same spot, he noticed that he was walking on one of the vinyl records and jumped off it....sending him across the room.

"Ooooooooh...that's gotta hurt." Vinyl turned off the music and walked over to Scary. "You alright there little guy?" Scary had swirls in his eyes and had imaginary versions of Symbols necklace floating around his head. He shook his head and looked up at Vinyl with an unamused expression. "You somepony's pet or something?" He looked around and found a photo with Symbol in it, he scurried over to it and placed a leg on it. "You're Symbols pet?" He nodded. "Then what are you doing here?" He pointed to her equipment. She looked at it and realised what was wrong...

...or at least she thought she did.

"Oh...you're hungry for some potato chips." Scary just looked at her with a deadpan, he noticed the bag of chips on the turntable and shook his head. He scurried over to a speaker and frantically tapped it. She looked at him confused but then realised what he meant. "Ohhhhhh, sorry about that little guy, everypony around here is used to my late night wubs that I didn't think anypony would mind, I'll head to bed. Sorry about that, here, have a chip for the road." She floated a chip onto his back and yawned.

After finishing his snack he made his way back to bed, he lay down and let out a content sigh. He closed his eyes and was about to fall asleep...then his eyes shot open with the sound of shattered glass as he heard his changeling friends snoring.

"CELESTIA DAMNIT!!!"

The man in the white coat sat in the void (his name is now The Author). As he wrote a few things down in one of his books he heard a voice in the distance.

"CELESTIA DANMIT!!!" The Author blinked and looked at one of his closed books, he opened it to find something else written in it.

"Ok, who messed with my book!?!"

In the white void, a group of cloaked figures sat around a large rectangular table, with The Author sitting at the end.

"So, how have you all been?"

"No small talk Author, we need to be serious here!"

"Sigh...what did I do this time?"

"For one you disobeyed the orders of the council, and two, you created your own universe!"

"Two things right back atcha, one, how can I disobey a council which I created, and two, the higher ups didn't have a problem with it, there are countless universes being created every second with each choice made, what's one more? Besides, we aren't going to end up like the SysAdmins, their ways of management died out thirty cycles ago."

"Then what about the boy, you are meant to send the displaced to Equestria, not create your own!"

"And how has the displacement process been fairing Vox, we send countless heroes into the multiverse but yet the Nightmare Fuel still remains. I've managed to trap it inside of one of my custom dimensions, it's only a matter of time before it breaks free again. I needed to create something that could put it down for good, and bring peace back to the pyra district of the multiverse."

"This goes against everything we stand for, we are meant to keep the darkness at bay, not destroy it. It would upset the balance of light and dark!"

"That's where you are wrong Vox. When this evil is destroyed a new lesser evil shall takes its place naturally. The Nightmare Fuel isn't natural, it in itself is disturbing the balance."

"Thank you Vivi."

"You aren't taking this seriously Author, your little stunt has created countless more universes, we could barely handle the growing numbers already!"

"Why do you think I called in the help of the higher ups, theg sent us the necessary power and a new member to boot, and quite frankly Roden and Marx have done better jobs taking care of their displaced than you lot ever have! Why do you think I spent the time displacing Nathan as Metal Sonic? To make up for your slacking, now you all better get your act together or you can kiss your seats in this council goodbye!"

The room fell silent as Author slowly sat back down. Just then a portal appeared and a skeletal figure walked through it covered with confetti and streamers, he wore a black cloak with a red gem holding it in place. "Heyoo, sorry I'm late Author, had to deal with one of my displaced."

"I see that you managed to get rid of the dovakiin, and joined in on the festivities Marx."

"Yeah, Mecha Sonic has returned to his world once again. I hear you've recently displaced someone, who'd you send them in as?"

"Spoilers Marx, but I think you'll like what I have planned. by the way have you seen Roden?"

"Last time I checked he said he was heading to the castle of shadows to confront your son."

"Very well, if you will all excuse me, I must take my leave. I have to visit my displaced to make sure he makes it to the Multiverse." With that, everyone in the room was gone.

Meeting the Nightmare Fuel

The train pulled up to the station with a screech. We got up and grabbed our things. As we stepped out of the train we were greeted by the city buzzing with life, many ponies had gotten on the train from multiple towns to attend the Gala which was being held the following night. Many of the ponies had never seen us before and either cringed or just took a quick look. I rolled my eyes and began leading Zero to the castle, I looked back to see my brother taking in the sights.

"Is this place really built into the side of a mountain?"

"Really, after everything that you've learned this is the only one you question?"

He shrugged and resumed his sight seeing. I spotted one of the only ponies in this city I could tolerate, Fancy Pants. He and his wife waved at me and I waved back. Fancy had enough money to buy the town of ponyville and still have enough left for an ice cream, but he wasn't a dick about it. Rarity caught sight of this and pulled me down to eye level.

"You know Fancy Pants? How could you know one of canterlots elite?" She whispered/shouted in my face. I pushed her away and dusted myself off.

"If you must know we met while Celestia had shown me around the city when I first arrived here, nice guy, unlike that bastard Blueblood."

Rarity gasped and looked at me with rage. "How dare you talk about one of the most famous unicorns in Equestria, he's my soul reason for going to the Gala, so that he can propose to me and we can live happily ever after!"

Again I pushed her away. "Hate to tell ya this sweetheart, but that guy is just a jerk at the end of the day. He'd most likely use you to get what he wants and then toss you to the side when the next pretty mare comes along."

"How can you say-"

"I've met him Rarity, he is not a good pony and he never will be. He uses his wealth and status to play mares right into his hooves and then treats them as tools the next day, do you know how many times he's married just to get a mare into bed?" She looked at me with confused eyes. "Thirty, eight, times."

Rarity had tears in her eyes as she refused to accept the facts presented to her.

"He's right you know." We all turned to see Fancy and Fleur walking towards us. "Blueblood is a very selfish pony and you should stay away from him, I'm just glad that my friend here warned you before you got the chance to meet him."

"Hello Fancy, hello Fleur. How've you two been?" I shook their hooves and they smiled at me.

"We've been fine Symbol, I see you're staying true to the brutally honest nature you so greatly hold."

"Someone has to be."

Fleur looked at the group and noticed Zero. "Oh, it seems another human has joined your group."

"Oh right. Fancy, Fleur, this is my twin brother Zero."

Zero smiled and shook Fancy's hoof and playfully kissed Fleurs. "A pleasure to meet you both."

"Well you are a gentlestallion aren't you?" Fleur asked with a giggle while Fancy rolled his eyes. I hit Zero over the head which surprised the two nobles.

"He's no gentleman, he's just good at playing the good guy routine."

Zero rubbed the back of his head and chuckled nervously. "Yeah...he's right."

We said our goodbyes and headed to the castle, Applejack was comforting Rarity. As we reached the gates I handed Celestias letter to the castle guard and he let us through. As we walked through the hallway I spotted a glowing golden figure. I then felt a sharp pain in my head, I grabbed my head and I could feel myself being pulled out of consciousness. All of my friends crowded around asking what was wrong. I struggled to stay awake until I fell to the ground and closed my eyes.

I awoke in a dark void, I felt a solid floor belong me but it seemed as if it was a bottomless pit underneath. "Where am I?" I heard chuckling behind me and turned around to see a familiar figure.

"Well look what the cat dragged in, a pleasure to finally meet you in person Neo Rayleigh." It was my second demon self, as its own entity.

"Where am I, and who are you?" He chuckled and wrapped a tendril around my shoulder.

"Isn't it obvious, I'm you, well, figuratively speaking."

"Where's the first demon?"

"That's a little bit hard to explain. You see, I wasn't always in this body. I'm a being from the multiverse, a demon as you put it. I wander from universe to universe and wreak havoc, there are multiple me's in the multiverse, this me managed to get trapped in your subconscious. Thus giving you the ability to use my power, it only works because of all the negative energy you've built up inside your soul."

He began to walk and motioned for me to follow.

"However, since you've started to absorb positive energy from this world thanks to some exposure to the elements of harmony, I was not able to take full control. I can take some control however when you are extremely angry, causing your body to shape into this. There was a side effect, due to the constant battle between positive and negative energies, a new being was formed."

"The other demon?"

"Exactly. He us basically a being of unique energy, neutral energy. He doesn't have his own consciousness or soul, he is a power you call upon at any time. There are instances where you control my form, but if someone were to hurt your friends..."

"You surface and take temporary control."

"Give the boy a sticker. I'm actually here to give you a warning."

I looked at him confused as the grin on his face turned to a frown.

"You have no idea of your true heritage Neo, you are the creation of a god-like being known as The Author, your biological parents were merely vessels for your physical body to combat the other me's. Beware of the council of those that abduct and replace heroes and villains alike, for you will face a member soon. I tell you this because if you die I die as well. I will grant you the power to control my form for the time being, but take care of it, you lose your positive energy, I break free."

"I'll keep that in mind." He nodded and began walking down a hallway that suddenly appeared. "What's your name anyway?"

He grinned and looked at me with his dead black eyes. "The names Nightmare Fuel, don't forget that name, it will become very relevant soon." With that, he disappeared and I regained consciousness.

I awoke to find I was in my old room in the castle. I looked to my side to see Tavi snuggled up against me with Twilight at the opposite side. "What the hell?"

Demons

Worst kind of situation

I looked at the two sleeping mares in confusion. I was currently in bed with two females that had feelings for me. I noticed that Octavia always had a small blush with me around, didn't take a genius to figure out what that meant.

"What the hell happened after I blacked out?" Pulling my arms away from the sleeping mares I quietly got out of the bed and made sure I actually had some decent clothes on. Once that was done I snuck out of the room and into the halls. Breathing a sigh of relief I made my way towards the kitchen, since I hadn't eaten anything since yesterday morning I was pretty hungry. As I walked down the hall I noticed a familiar white ball of fluff with a touch of red on it.

"Scary?" Scary turned to me and ran over, crawling up my leg and torso until he was at my shoulder. He then stared nuzzling my cheek. "I'm fine Scary, just blacked out for awhile." He gave a tiny sigh of relief and crawled onto my head. "Now, I need to get some breakfast then some answers to why there is two mares sleeping in my bed. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you?"

Scary just shrugged and buried himself in my hair, almost like there was nothing there. Pushing any thoughts aside for awhile, I opened the dining room doors to see the rest of the girls, Zero, Wasp, Zanny and Celestia sitting in silence. When they heard the door open they all looked at me. "Anyone want to explain why Twilight and Octavia were sleeping with me?"

Vinyl cleared her throat, Wasp and Zanny looked at me confused, Zero was holding in a laugh, the rest of the girls looked away and ducked their heads and Celestia calmly took a sip of her tea. "Well?"

"They were worried about you, they both refused to leave your side after you fell unconscious." Stated Celestia with a hint of dishonesty in her voice.

"Ok first off Twilight's already confessed her feelings for me and Octavia's are painfully obvious. Secondly I don't appreciate being lied to about such a personal matter, you of all ponies know this Celestia. Thirdly I will slam your head into a window if you don't stop laughing Zero. Lastly, none of you are to tell Octavia about my knowledge of her affections until I myself talk to her about it. Understood?" They all nodded.

"My, it's no wonder both of those mares like you darling." Giggled Rarity.

"Care to explain?"

"I take it Twilight has already told you why she likes you the way she does?" I nodded. "There was also a few other reasons I won't be able to tell you due to a pinkie promise, none of them bad of course, I'm just saying that there are a few bits of your personality that...excites her."

"You mean to tell me that one of the major reason Twilight likes me is because she gets excited by my dark, moody, angry, violent, dominant and protective personality?" They all nodded. "Great..."

"Lyra, I believe you should tell him why Octavia likes him." Lyra nodded and was about to speak when I put my hand up to stop her.

"No, I'll ask her myself. I also need to have a talk with Twilight about all this, especially because I'm married."

Everyone at the table spat out their drinks, save for Zero who nodded calmly. "WHAT?!!"

"Relax, it was a deal to stop two major mob families from starting a civil war." They all calmed down only to repeat the process. "I'll explain later, right now I need to think about this. Out you come Scary." I lifted Scary out of my hair and held him in my hand. Some of the mares screamed while some just looked at me with curiosity.

"Symbol, why did you have a spider in your hair?" Asked Celestia calmly.

"Oh, this is my pet spider Scary. Wasp and Za...I meant Crystal and Flare found him in our basement and he's been living with us ever since."

"Oh yeah, I remember that little guy from two nights ago." I looked at Vinyl with a raised eyebrow. "Not important."

I rolled my eyes and set him down on the table. He scurried up to Wasp and Zanny and sat between them. After eating a small pile of pancakes I lifted a tray with some breakfast for Twi and Tavi and made my way back to the room.

I set the tray on a table on the balcony, making sure the scent carried over to the mares with the breeze. I saw their noses started to twitch and sat down on one of the three chairs. They slowly got out of bed and made their way to the table, I looked out at the view of the countryside while they ate their meals, whispering to each other.

"You two sleep well enough?" I caught them off guard with this. They both stuttered a bit before I held up my hand for them to stop. "It's alright, I'm not mad at either of you." They both sighed in relief. "However..." They tensed up and looked at me with nervousness. "...I will ask one thing. What is it you like most about me?"

"What?" They both asked in unison.

"I already figured out you have these feelings Octavia, it may not be obvious to a pony, but to me it's like reading a children's book. Twilight, you already told me why you like me, but I know there is something else." I stood up and faced them both with the softest expression I could manage. "So tell me, why do you two want to be my marefriends?"

"Symbol...you don't meant that you're ok with-"

"I will listen to your reasons. If they are the right reasons I am willing to give a harem a shot."

The figure of mindscape two

The two mares just looked at me with disbelief, unable to speak. I closed the glass doors and leaned against them, waiting patiently for my words to sink in. I honestly don't have a problem with species, these ponies are intelligent and are more human than they think, hell a lot of the mares I've hung around are downright beautiful. Zero will get a real kick out of this.

Just then I felt a spark of energy. Seems like someone found my token, they don't appear to be summoning me though. Just then I felt something calling me to the mindscape. Putting a mental note to check out things in the multiverse later, I turned back to the mares. "Would it help if I give you two some time to think about this?"

They both came back to reality and nodded.

"Very well, I will leave you to collect your thoughts. In the meantime I shall prepare for tonight's Gala. I will see you then." With that I walked into the room and out into the hallway. "Now that I have some time alone..." I grasped my necklace and it began to glow. "...it's time to check the mindscape." A bright light enveloped me and I disappeared from the halls.

I soon found myself in a familiar black hallway. The walls were still black but the place was noticeably brighter, a sign of the girls influence on me. I looked out to see the cloud layer had turned light grey instead of dark grey. Walking down the hallway I looked at some of the paintings, most of them being memories with the girls and some with Cipher in the parallel Equestria. I then heard footsteps coming from the end of the hall, turning I saw a shadowy figure approaching, slouching as it shuffled forward.

Taking no chances I readied my demon self, not turning into it but having it prepared. As it came into the light its body was pitch black, it had no mouth and glowing green eyes. "Who are you?"

I...don't know...who I am...or...where...I am...

"You're in my subconscious, this is the hall of memories. If you are here that means you are connected to me in some way, if it's any consideration."

Any info...is of use...thank you...stranger...

I watched as he slowly trudged past me, making his way down the hall. "Mother, I need some help here." Just then a familiar ball of light floated down from the ceiling and formed into the shape of Vivi. "Hello again mother."

Hello my child, how may I be of assistance?

I pointed down the hall. "There's someone wandering around these halls, he has no memories and has no idea who he is. I was wondering if you'd know anything about that?"

Interesting...what did he look like?

"Pitch black over his whole body and glowing green eyes." Her eyes widened and she shot down the hall. "Couldn't just tell me what you were doing first? No that's asking a little too much..." I began running down the hallway but it seemed to grow longer as I ran. "This again? I was hoping that it would be a one time thing with the temple." I switched to my demon self to increase my speed, but the hallway decided to go faster as well.

"Wait a minute..." I came to a screeching halt and shot off in the opposite direction. I figured out that the hallway was just repeating itself and that Vivi had probably turned a corner. I exited the demon form when I turned a corner and found a hall of doors. I noticed one door was opened slightly and heard voices coming from it. As I got closer I could make out what was being said. The figures voice had also changed.

Thank you miss Vivi, this will do nicely

No problem my dear, I'm just glad that you didn't run into Nightmare. This room will keep you safe, please ask one of the other emotions if you have any questions

"Emotions?"

Peeking in I saw the room wasn't a room at all, it was a field of grass with a hill that had a tree at the top. Also, the figure's body had changed to white and he was glowing. Opening the door I walked in and Vivi floated over to me. "What is all this?"

These rooms house your emotions, he was a lost emotion that was misplaced during your life in earth. When you were called into the mindscape it was your soul trying to guide the lost emotion back to its home

"Then what emotion is he?" She giggled and looked away. "What's so funny?"

His name is...Love

I froze in place, a blush adorning my face. I looked around trying to figure out how this area represented love. I then noticed a few different species of animals running around or flying in pairs, the field surrounded by a ring of roses. "This feels so out of place in my mind."

It doesn't belong in your mind, it belongs in your heart

"That was the cheesiest thing you have ever said to me." She shrugged and we left the room, waving to the returned emotion. As we both walked down the hallway I noticed the doors had names on them. Most of them being the names of negative emotions, but one made me stop and stare at the door. "Logic?"

I then felt myself being pulled out of the mindscape.

I awoke to find a glowing golden figure before me. "Ok, the glowing mysterious figure thing is getting real old real fast."

I think that you might want to hear what I have to say Neo Rayleigh

"Don't call me that, my name is Symbol!" The figure smiled and helped me up. I then noticed that he looked exactly like me. "Ok, what's with all the reclours?"

I am the positive side to your soul, forced out by the Nighmare Fuel and banished to this world. I have slowly been reconnecting with your soul.

"So you're my positive state personified?" He nodded. "So, you going to be jumping into my body to give me some kind of new power?"

No, I am not strong enough to do that yet. The most I can do is weaken the Nightmares hold on you to give you full control of its power

OH HELL NO!!!

The figure, now named Posit, pushed a small orb of light into my chest. I could feel a wave of energy course through me, I just felt more...in control.

Just then a small portal appeared at my feet which spat out a necklace that hit my leg and began to glow. "Is that a token?" Lightning came from it and the world stood still. "What the hell?!" I was forcefully pulled into the vortex.

The Symbol of an Epidemic

{Third POV}

It was just another normal day. No excitement, no danger, just another, calm, day. Epidemic stood on the top of the tallest tower in Twilight’s castle. He was in his human form, he had really come to enjoy it, and was overlooking the town. Twilight and Alduin had finally found the time to go on a lunch date, so they took advantage of it, leaving Epidemic with the job of figuring out what to do with both the Twins and himself.

‘Why is there nothing to do today?'

‘Hey don’t worry Epidemic. At least there isn’t any world ending danger today!’ Suddenly, something hit Epidemic in the back of the head, hard. He was knocked off the tower he was standing on and straight into a portal that opened right in front of him.

‘You had to say it, didn’t you?’

‘He he, whoops.’

As he entered the portal time in the world stopped and a small purple diamond followed Epidemic into the portal.

"Why does all this crazy shit happen to me?" Symbol slid down a slope of purple rocks, he jumped onto a long crystal rail and grinded to the bottom. One he landed he looked back at his attacker, a giant crystal snake. "Enough of this!" Symbol jumped at the beast and punched it in the face, causing it to shatter.

He looked around and called out into the purple limbo. "Vivi! Forge!" He got no response. "Dammit, looks like I'm alone for this one."

Symbol wore a blue shirt with a black t-shirt underneath, he wore blue jeans, white trainers and a necklace with a pendant with the symbol of the sun on it.

"Where did that token take me exactly?"

Suddenly, another portal opened up not too far from him. Out from the portal, fell a human that appeared to be in his late teens, most likely 18. He had blood red hair and eyes. He was wearing a blood red jacket with black stripes. He had a black undershirt, black jeans, and red shoes. He was about to land on his face, but he flipped over and landed squarely on his feet. He stood up slowly and looked around. His gaze stopped on Symbol. He grunted.

“So, you summoned me here?”

"I think it's the other way around bud, it was a token that brought me here. And by the way, with your design I think Red Haired Shanks needs to sue somebody.” Epidemic’s gaze hardened.

“So, I’m facing another arrogant fool that thinks he can say what he wants and not get compensation for it.”

"Please, come at me when you grow up in Masereth then I might consider you a threat." Epidemic just glared at him.

“Fine, let’s see how far your foolishness gets you.”

"I'm anything but foolish, but I don't wanna fight you, I sense two other young beings within you that I don't wanna hurt." Symbol grasped his necklace. "I've done too much of that already..."

“Hmph, too bad. You need to learn there is more to someone than just appearance. Besides, the Twins won't feel a thing as long as I’m around.” Epidemic grew blood red dragon horns, wings, and a tail. His teeth and nails became longer and sharp.

Symbol looked at him and saw something familiar inside of Epidemic, he saw himself a little. "It would appear that we share two things in common." Epidemic smirked and flew at Symbol. Symbol waited for Epidemic to charge at him, then he dodged once Epidemic got close enough. However, it seemed that Symbol had indeed underestimated Epidemic, for he was ready for that dodge. He turned sideways and blasted Symbol point blank with his blood red fire.

As Symbol crashed into a stone wall he fell to the ground face first. Epidemic looked at him and shook his head, walking over to finish the job he then suddenly stopped. Feeling something that he had not felt since he first faced the Dovahkiin.... the excitement of battle, as well as the fear of his opponent’s power.

"Number one, we are both willing to sacrifice ourselves for our siblings." Symbol slowly got up, purple mist seeping from his body and surrounding the battle area. "Number two..." His skin turned dark grey, his hair became spiked and pitch black. His eyes seeped blood that formed red lines from his eyes to his chin, his fingers turned to claws and he grew four dark tendrils out of his back. His shirt turned purple as well as his shoes.

When he opened his eyes Epidemic flinched. Symbol’s eyes had gone completely black with only red glowing dots as pupils. "...we can both transform into demons." His voice was now crackled and dark. Epidemic then smirked.

“So, now you’re going all out? Good, now I’ll have an opponent that’s actually a challenge for once."

"Word of the wise kid, don't challenge a Nightmare to a fight!" Symbol charged and kneed Epidemic in the stomach, then punched him in the face. He then grabbed his head and started squeezing, sinking his claws into Epidemics skull.

Epidemic kicked him off and stabbed him with his horns and tail. Symbol then copied the attack with his tendrils stabbing Epidemic in the back.

They both struggled against each other before breaking apart. Symbol crossed his arms and started attacking with his tendrils. Epidemic dodged each one as they shot towards him, causing them to stab the ground.

Grabbing one of the tendrils in his claws Epidemic ripped it off of Symbols back. He was surprised to see that he suffered no damage and merely grew the limb back.

Symbol held out a hand and a cloud of purple mist came to him. It shaped into multiple small spears and were launched at Epidemic. He managed to dodge most of them, only to get one square in the chest.

Taking advantage of his Symbol charged up energy in his claws and the tips glowed purple. Upon reaching Epidemic he swiped at him, causing a large amount of blood to spew from the wound.

Epidemic grabbed Symbol by the shoulders and headbutted him, causing him to stagger. He shot his tail into Symbol and began rapidly punching him in the stomach. Just then the surrounding purple mist converged on Epidemic, sealing him in a large ball preventing him from moving.

Symbol slowly got to his feet and held out his hand. "You ever hear about a guy named Gaara?" Epidemics eyes went wide. "Darkness Coffin!" The mist crushed Epidemic and he screamed in pain.

His body fell limp and Symbol shook his head.

"Get up, I know you can fight harder than that, you just need a little motivation." Symbol shot a tendril into Epidemics back. "Have some nightmares!" Epidemic stood up only to fall to his knees at what he saw.

Dark thoughts started flooding Epidemic’s mind, thoughts of killing the twins, killing his loved ones. He yelled in pain and collapsed. Symbol let him go and started to walk away. "I'll let you recover from that, I never meant to go that far."

“He he, he ha, ha ha ha, AH HA HA HA HA!” Symbol froze, and slowly turned around. Epidemic was surrounded by a huge red aura. The air had become suffocating, the gravity seemed heavier, and everything was shaking. He slowly got up.

"I probably shouldn't have done that." Symbol cleared out the area he was standing in with the purple mist, forming a defensive barrier. Epidemic walked up to it.

“You know, you were right about us both being able to become demons, but there is one difference. If you give me visions of killing those I love, I don’t get sad or scared, I get angry, and you wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.” He finished his journey to the shield.

"First of all, boo! Second..." Epidemic burst through the defensive barrier and Symbol caught the punch without even flinching. "You only saw visions of killing your loved ones..." He grabbed Epidemic by the neck and brought him close until they were face to face. "...YOU'VE NEVER ACTUALLY HAD TO KILL YOUR LOVED ONES!!!" Epidemic just continued to smirk.

“You know something? I couldn’t care less.” Suddenly, Epidemic became all black, and his body swelled into tendrils that enveloped Symbol. Symbol had no idea what was going on, but he did know that his mind was suddenly disconnected from his body. The tendrils fused with him, and All that was left was Symbol, with one difference. His body was all dark red, with his body having a blood red outline. He held up his hands.

“Hmm, what an interesting body, it should prove useful.” When he spoke, he had a very deep demonic voice.

Just then Symbols body became purple again. Purple flames surrounded the two and cracks showed on Symbols body. The ground shook and a bright light enveloped the area. Epidemic was thrown off and he looked at Symbol. He only gawked at Symbols new body.

Symbol was now made entirely of purple fire, his eyes glowing yellow. "You don't know...what it's like...to slaughter hundreds of innocent people…” He slowly walked over to Epidemic with his body slouched and his head facing the ground. "You don't know...what it's like...to watch as the one thing that brings you happiness in a world of desperation and crime is taken from you..."

The purple flames formed chains and held Epidemic down as Symbol yelled in his face. "YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT HELL MY LIFE HAS BEEN!!!"

A pillar of fire shot out from underneath Epidemic, damaging him greatly. Symbol then swung his fist and a huge blast of flames hit Epidemic square in the chest. Symbol took a step back and breathed heavily.

“You think you know pain?” Symbol looked at Epidemic. The red aura returned, and he started to change. His rage mode was appearing, and Symbol could only watch as he grew stronger. “I know, what true pain is. I have every memory that my father had, I know every experience as if I was there, so I have felt all of that pain. True pain, is showing up in a strange world, with no memories to call your own. True pain, is immediately getting attacked for what you are, not who you are, and knowing nothing but war for the first few thousand years of your existence. True pain, is making friends, and taking care of a kingdom, only to watch it all get destroyed BECAUSE OF YOU! TRUE PAIN IS GOING FROM NOTHING, TO EVERYTHING, AND BACK AGAIN! If you think you know true pain, then you have a lot to learn.”

"I've come across this before...with a displaced known as Bill Cipher, he had all of the memories of Cipher and his dark thoughts...he had memories of the pain...he never actually lived through it all...neither did you!" Epidemic just looked up.

“Do you know what I am?”

Symbol grabbed Epidemics head again and stared into his eyes. "When I gave you those visions I looked into your memories...that's all they are. I know what you are, a creature of rage, of despair, you never had a chance to be happy...those memories felt real but also fake, you suffered truly from them, but not the full amount of pain was fed to you."

“You still don’t get it do you?”

”What are you talking about?”

“I told you I remember those memories like I had experienced them. Let me rephrase that. I had experienced them, want to know how? I am a Symbiote, my body was made before my mind was. My mind came from my father. I was once a part of him! THOSE MEMORIES ARE JUST AS MUCH HIS AS THEY ARE MINE! THAT BILL CIPHER THAT I SAW WHEN WE FUSED KNOWS NOTHING ABOUT PAIN! THOSE WERE MEMORIES HE GOT FROM SOMETHING ELSE! I AM DIFFERENT! I WAS THERE WHEN THOSE THINGS HAPPENED! I USED TO BE MY FATHER’S INNER MONSTER! Then, I was given a body of my own to share with my siblings, and I was happy. But I still remembered those things that happened in the past, SO DON’T YOU DARE TELL ME THAT THOSE MEMORIES ARE NOT MINE!”

Symbol placed his forehead on Epidemics and started pouring his own memories into him. Epidemics eyes widened at what he saw, hundreds of deaths, untold misery, loss, grief and nothing but darkness. He threw Symbol off of him, shaken by those images.

"HOW WAS THAT HUH!?! WAS THAT LESS THAN WHAT YOU WENT THROUGH!?! HUH!?!" Symbol grasped his head in pain. "You've known happiness...I haven't...I've never even smiled before...I never got a second chance...even in Equestria I've slaughtered like it was nothing."

“Heh, so we really do know each other’s pain huh? We know each other's exact pain.” Symbol looked at him. “It’s weird really. We’ve lost the exact same people, in very similar ways. Not only that, but I’ve killed just as many as you have, when my father and I were one.” Epidemic looked up. “Seems as if we both know true pain.”

"It's no use comparing our pasts...we've had the exact same experiences. You don't think...we could be alternative versions of each other do you?"

“EPIDEMIC!” They both turned to see Marx running to them. When he got to them, he crouched and put his hands on his knees. “Pant… I… finally… found… you … huff.. huff..” He looked to see that Epidemic was looking at something. "What are you..." When Marx turned and saw Symbol he gasped at his current form. He grabbed Epidemic by the shoulders and yelled in his face. "PLEASE DON'T TELL ME YOU ANGERED HIM!!!"

“You care why?”

"You know about that powerful displacer I work for right? The Author?"

“Yes, what about him?”

"THAT'S HIS SON!!!"

“And I should care why?”

"If he's already reached the fire state now that means his positive side will slowly start to disappear, he'll be nothing but pure darkness at the end of all this!"

"AHEM!!!" They both looked to see Symbol in his normal state taping his foot impatiently. "I am sick of not being told things, who is this 'Author,’ what do you mean by fire state and WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!?!"

“Oooo, shit. Um, forget I said that, you’re not supposed to know about that stuff yet.”

Symbol sighed and walked over to Marx, then giving him a hard kick in the groin which for some reason actually hurt.

"Right in the mommy daddy button..." Marx held his crotch and collapsed to the ground. Then he stood.

“Okay we have no time for shenanigans. I called you both here for a reason!”

“Wait, you brought us here?”

“Yes, I did. One, Epidemic you were bored so I decided to give you something to do. And as for you Symbol, I’m giving you a reason to smile for once.”

"I highly doubt that."

“Look, you may not think so, but I’m pretty good at getting through to people, and if I say that I brought you here to smile, that’s what I mean. Now, can you sense anything familiar here Symbol?”

Deciding to humor the skeleton, Symbol clutched his necklace and closed his eyes. Seconds later he back-pedalled, a look of disbelief plastered on his face. "It can't be..."

“Yes, it is. Her soul is here Symbol. When I found out about the fact that you had never smiled, I just couldn’t take it! SOOO, I spent that last couple years looking for her soul. I finally found it all the way over here, at the edge of the void.”

Symbol just hugged Marx and shot off in the direction of the lost soul. Epidemic walked up to Marx.

“Whose soul did you find?”

“I guess you could say she’s, family. But, there is one problem.”

“What?”

“Well, DEATH ain't too keen on letting me have another person cheat him again, so he upped his game by putting up some guards. That’s where you come in. You need to help him take them out.” Epidemic nodded and flew after Symbol.

“BY THE WAY! NEITHER OF YOU KNOW REAL PAIN! SPEND FIVE SECONDS IN THE BLACK PLAIN AND THEN TELL ME WHAT TRUE PAIN IS!”

"GET OUT OF MY WAY!!!" The ground shook as Symbol roared, a loud cry of pain could be heard in the distance. Epidemic looked over to see a field of purple fire.

‘Hm, this should be interesting.” He increased his speed and arrived at the battle field shortly. He knew he would need a lot of power, so he did what he does best. He focused on all of his negative memories, and started to get mad. His Rage mode became unleashed and he roared and joined Symbol on the battlefield.

As he landed he took a moment to examine Symbols power. It was three times as strong as when they had fought, and his rage seemed all the more...personal.

"I FAILED HER ONCE, I WON'T FAIL HER AGAIN!!!"

A giant crystal hydra fell to the ground and burned to ash in the fire. Epidemic smirked.

‘So, this is all for family? Now that’s something I can fight for.’ Epidemic decided to hold nothing back. He became his dragon self, now in rage mode, and began to fight off the beings that tried to prevent them from saving that girls soul. Symbol noticed the change in his ally.

‘So he’s a dragon huh? Interesting.’ Symbol then spotted a soft yellow glow in a cage. His rage intensified and a huge wave of fire swept around him. When the fire dispersed he now had wings of purple flame and purple armour. He charged through a swarm of smaller enemies with all his might and reached out as he destroyed each enemy that put him to a stop.

"HOLD ON, I'M COMING!!!As he was near the cage he reached out. "ABIGAIL!!!" Suddenly, something nailed him in the gut and he was thrown back, right into Epidemic. They both looked at who had thrown Symbol back. I was a cloaked figure, with a huge scythe.

“Ah ah ah. Not this time. I already let Marx bring one person back from the dead, I won't let it happen again.”

Symbol growled and summoned giant tendrils of fire to float beside him. "I have killed hundreds to try and get her back...I have destroyed entire cities to get her back! Symbol threw the tendrils at DEATH and pinned him down. "NOT EVEN GOD HIMSELF WILL STOP ME FROM SAVING HER!!!"

DEATH threw the tendrils off of him and summoned more monsters. They charged and attacked. Epidemic and Symbol tried to fight them off, but they were getting overwhelmed.

‘Hmm, they weren’t as tough as I thought they would be.’

Inside of the pile of monsters, Symbol and Epidemic struggled. Symbol pushed with all his might but was pushed right back down.

‘It’s all over, I’ve failed her again.’

“Hey, don’t give up yet."

"What?"

“Look, things may be tough right now, and it may look like all is lost, but don’t give up yet. After all, family, is everything.” Epidemic held out a wing. Symbol nodded, and grabbed it. Epidemic became all black, and they began to fuse.

Outside of the pile, DEATH was about to leave, when he noticed something. Epidemic and Symbol had two different auras. Those auras had now become one, and their power was skyrocketing. The pile of monster shook once. Then again. Then once more, before it exploded. DEATH averted his eyes from the blast. When he looked back, he saw what they had become. It was Symbol, but now he had very different looking armor. He had armor the was primarily black, and secondarily blood red. It looked like it was made from dragon bones and scales. The shoulder pads were dragon heads, and the armor had a dragon tail and wings. His eyes were glowing red and his hair had become red fire. He had a huge scythe in his hand, and he was surrounded by a red aura. He looked up at DEATH.

“DEATH! We give you one chance to leave this place and allow us to take Abigail. Resist us and you will die!”

“Hmph, you think you stand a chance in hell against me? Very well, but before I kill you, what is your name?”

“We, are Symbolic, and we will get Abigail back."

Symbolic swung his scythe sending a huge wave of fire towards DEATH, he blocked it with his own scythe but back-pedalled due to the force. Symbolic charged forward with an aura of fire around him. He stabbed his tail into DEATHs chest and began to rapidly punch his face with burning fists.

He was flung off and sliced by DEATH’s scythe, although no damage was done to the armour or body. Symbolic flinched as his mind started becoming corrupt.

'No, I don't need Nightmare for this fight!'

Grasping his medallion a warm purple glow surrounded him, dispelling the curse.

"Interesting." Symbolic dodged another blow and sent a pillar of fire at his opponent. DEATH picked him up and smashed him into the ground. He then sent a swarm of monsters to beat him while he was down.

A pillar of fire shot through the swarm freeing Symbolic. He held out his scythe and it began to change shape. It split in two and formed swords with smooth blades that had glowing orange cracks. DEATH charged forward and swung his scythe only for it to be effortlessly blocked by one of the blades, leaving him open to a strike from the other.

DEATH was threw backwards with a large burning gash on his chest. Symbolic held out his swords and hundreds more appeared around him. They all aimed at DEATH and were shot full force at him.

After five minutes of being repeatedly stabbed by wave after wave of burning blades, DEATH burst into a cloud of dust and flew away.

"YOU WILL REGRET THIS MORTALS!!!"

'That was kinda anticlimactic...' The two separated from their fusion. Once on the ground Symbol sprinted over to the cage, he charged up energy in his fist and jumped. Bringing his fist down on the cage it shattered like glass. Symbol grabbed a falling yellow orb and landed with a tumble, making sure the orb wasn't damaged.

Epidemic just stood and watched as Symbol slowly got up and stared at the orb with tears in his eyes.

"After everything...after all these years...I finally found you..." He placed the orb to his forehead and started crying. "...my sweet, sweet sister..." Epidemic felt Symbol’s positive energy skyrocket...

Then it came to a complete stop and shrank right back down. The tears immediately stopped and Symbols face became stern.

"MARX!!!"

The skeleton appeared and looked at Symbol confused. He looked at the orb and scanned it, then his eyes went wide.

"She's suffering..."

"Marx, is there any way to give her a new life?"

"She'd never remember yo-"

"I DON'T CARE!!!" He looked at the orb. "She's lived a terrible life, if I can't stop her suffering I can at least give her a second chance..."

'After all those years of searching and fighting, this is what he finds. His sister in torment and corrupt...' Epidemic closed his eyes and flinched.

"We can reincarnate her as a pony in your Equestria, that way you can keep an eye on her." Marx placed his hand on the orb. "I will give her the good memories she shared with you and Zero and this moment in visions, that way she will remember you, and what you did for her here." Symbol nodded and they stood opposite each other, hands on the orbs.

The orb glowed and broke into dust, then the dust formed a ghost of a young girl. She walked over to Symbol and hugged him. Tears fell from Symbols eyes as he embraced his sister for the last time.

Thank you...Neo...

With that the dust broke apart and formed a small crystal. Marx grabbed it and handed it to Symbol.

"When you are ready, crush this in your hand. That will send her soul into a developing foal, one without its soul created at that moment. Her soul will wait until a suitable vessel has been chosen." Symbol nodded and held the gem tightly. "I'm sorry I couldn't make you smile."

"Don't worry about it. The time will come when I smile, it's just not today." Epidemic grunted.

“Not this time, NOT FUCKING THIS TIME!” Epidemic became all black and fused with the crystal, entering Abigail’s mind. He flew through the empty vessel, and found the core of her memories. He attached to it, and gave her every memory Symbol ever had of her. However, her mind tried to reject them.

“NO! I WON’T LET ANOTHER FAMILY GET SEPARATED BECAUSE SOME FUCKING DEITY WANTS THEM TO BE! I WON’T LET THIS HAPPEN! NOT NOW, NOT EVER!” Epidemic pushed through the resistance and forced the memories in. Abigail's mind took them, and inserted them into her memory. But, for some reason they were locked. Epidemic grunted again.

“Hmph, they’re locked away for now, but she’ll remember, they’ll remember.” He spread some of his own physical matter out and Abigail’s mind accepted it, then split in two, one was a symbiote pony, the other was just a pony. “The day will come when they’ll remember. And once they do, they’ll find each other.”

Symbol was wondering what the hell Epidemic was doing until he was ejected from the crystal, which then split in two. Marx and Symbol helped him up and they looked at the two crystals.

“Epidemic you… how did you?”

“Family means everything, and I wasn’t about to let another family get separated because some deity wished it so.”

“Wait, what did he do to Abigail?”

“He, he went into her mind and inserted every memory you had of her, and inserted some of his own physical matter so that her soul split in two. Half of it is a symbiote pony, the other is just a pony. Now, there’s a way for her to recognize you Symbol.”

Symbol looked at the two crystals and picked them up. "So...the symbiote is like Venom right? Except this won't try to take over my body, but share it?"

Epidemic shook his head. “No, that’s not how she works. She’s like me, her own being, but she won't have to fuse with somepony in order to live on. I made that part of her soul Symbiote so I could keep an eye on that half. I’m connected to her, so I’ll know if she’s in danger and I can come to defend her.”

Symbol walked over and held out his hand. "If you are willing to do that for me, for her...I welcome you as my brother." Epidemic took it.

“Like I’ve said before, family is everything. If you can understand that, then I will gladly welcome you as my brother.”

"I think we both know that I understood that from a young age." Epidemic just laughed.

“Yeah, I guess so. But hey, where’s that smile? You got a reason to smile now don’t you?”

Symbol looked away for a second before laughing for the first time in his life. "What kinda world do I live in?" They both hugged and separated. "I think I can bare to smile just this one time."

“Yeah well, if you ever need another reason, come meet the rest of the family, they’ll be happy to meet you.”

"Why not, time's frozen back home so I have the time...well...you know what I mean." Epidemic just laughed.

“Well come on then!” A portal opened and Symbol and Epidemic jumped in, leaving Marx behind. Just then Symbol grabbed Marx through the portal.

"Don't think I forgot about you! You are going to explain everything to me!"

Marx whimpered and was dragged through the portal. "Author is gonna kill me..."

The Truth

{Third POV}

Symbol had told Epidemic to fly on ahead to Ponyville while he dealt with Marx. He turned to the sweating displaced with a serious stare.

"Ok Marx, I want you to tell me everything you know about all of this." Marx looked away and tried to open a portal, only for Symbol to punch him away from it. "This isn't a game, if I don't get answers one of us is gonna get hurt, and I guarantee that it's not gonna be me."

Marx just sighed and sat down. "Alright, I'll tell you. What do you want to know first?"

"Who is this Author guy? And what does he have to do with me?"

"Author is like me, a displacer, a very powerful one at that. He created a smaller version of the main multiverse to try to undo the damage caused by a great evil. He assembled a council of displacers to help protect this new multiverse, me included. He has two displaced at the moment in alternative Equestrias."

"And what does this have to do with me?"

"Author is...is..."

"Come on, spit it out."

Marx sighed. "I am so getting fired for this...he's your real father." Symbols eyes widened.

"You mean spiritual parent right? Like Vivi?" Marx nodded. "So...I'm the son of a displacer then..." Symbol momentarily switched to his new fire mode. "...that explains a few things at least." He returned to normal and leaned against a rock. "Next question, what is the order of tranquility?"

"I can't answer that one, Author never told me their true purpose."

Symbol scowled at that. 'Damnit, that info was important.'

"I can tell you what those rings you saw in the temples are for though." Symbol looked at him expectedly. "They are restrictors, designed to suppress large amounts of dark energy."

"So they are supposed to keep the Nightmare Fuel in my body in check?"

"Exactly, if he gets any stronger he will take over your body. Then The Authors plan will be ruined."

"What plan?"

"The reason we displace people is because we need heroes to fight the Nightmare Fuel in all the Equestrias, but they only slow the progression of the Nightmare. You were made to counteract it, you were born with the ability to fully destroy the Nightmare."

Symbol raised a brow. He tried to switch to his Nightmare form but failed.

"You reached a level where the Nightmare is no longer of use to you, your body is now only a prison for it. Be warned though, if you let your anger overcome you...you will become something far worse. You can still activate the demon form, just not the Nightmare. Unless you are fighting a Nightmare, then you can transform into it."

Symbol switched to his demon self to be sure, once satisfied he returned to normal. "Last question...what is the Nightmare Fuel?"

"The Nightmare Fuel is the cause of most evils in the multiverse. It even managed to kill displacers and displaced that were not strong enough to fight it. It is not one being, but many. You are harbouring the strongest Nightmare, any others you come across will still be powerful, but beatable. The Nightmares origin is unknown, Author has been investigating it for trillions of years but has not come close to solving the case. However, I do have an idea where it might be from, but I’m not telling you. Where I think it might be from is a place that only Author and I know about, and I’m starting to suspect it came from there."

Symbol listened as Marx told him all he knew about Nightmare and how he was supposed to destroy it if he ever came across it.

"If I detect any powerful Nightmares I will either give the displaced in that world your token or take you there myself."

"Got it, any universes that need my help right now?"

"One of my own will need help soon, but there is other things you need to do first." Marx gave Symbol a sly look. "Mainly in the relationship department, or is that not your preferred area?"

"Shut up, I'm perfectly fine with what's happening between me, Twi and Tavi."

"You even use their nicknames, how cute."

Marx tensed up when a fist of fire stopped just in front of his face. "You gonna shut up now?." Marx nodded. "Good. Now, you can go back to your little council and tell them that I don't appreciate my life being planned, I already know the date of my death, so if I find that one of your council members isn't happy about me knowing that they can come talk to me, I'll give them a very warm welcome."

Symbol lowered his fist and began running towards Ponyville. "Whelp, my spot on the council is gone..."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that Marx." Marx perked up at the sound of his friends voice in his head.

"What do you mean by that Roden?"

"This was planned, I will be meeting with Symbol soon as well as Author. It is time for you to take some time off, I'll take care of transporting Symbol to Lisa next time."

Marx nodded as the voice ceased. He looked out over Ponyville and sighed. "That kid has no idea what hell is gonna break lose in the future..."

Epidemic landed outside of the castle of friendship, thinking about what had happened in the void.

'That was certainly an odd experience, but touching none the less. Symbol gets his sister back and he gets his answers.'

"Epidemic, there you are!" He looked up to see Auldin, still in his dragon pony form, flying towards him. "I couldn't sense your energy in this realm, where did you go?"

"Marx brought me to the farthest reaches of the void along with another. Our tokens activated at the same time, causing an anomaly sending us both to one of DEATH’s prisons."

"Oh? What displaced did you end up with?" Epidemic shook his head.

"It wasn't a displaced, it was..." He looked up to see a familiar ball of purple fire heading towards them. "...him." The flames landed and disappeared, revealing Symbol.

"First time flying...an odd experience to say the least."

Auldin looked at Symbol and noticed his necklace. "Wait...you're the one my son met? Hmm, there’s a lot of power hidden within you, as well as some incredibly dark force."

"That’d be Nightmare, a being imprisoned inside of me. He’s completely evil, and is the reason why I’m in this multiverse in the first place." Alduin nodded.

“Ah I see. Well I hope he stays imprisoned, or even destroyed. A being with that much darkness in them is a danger to all life.” Symbol nodded.

“So, I came here to meet my new family.” Alduin looked at Epidemic with a raised brow.

“We fought DEATH to get his sister’s soul back, and after that we kind of just became adoptive brothers.” Alduin smiled and nodded.

“Ah, well that’s good to hear. If you’re here to meet everyone else, then allow me to introduce myself. My name is Alduin, and I’m Epidemic’s father, as well as the father of the Twins.”

“Twins?” Epidemic became all black, and then separated into the Twins, who were also in their human forms.

“That’s us! Hi! My name’s Plague!”

“[color=#9426]And mine’s Amnesia!” Symbol looked at the two.

“Okay, I know that I sensed two younger forms nearby when I was with Epidemic, but I didn’t know that he was a fusion.”

“[/color=#7aaf26]Eh, he’s not really a fusion.”

“[color=#9426]Even though we combine to make him, his consciousness is still around in our heads, and he can fuse us himself if he wants to.” Suddenly the Twins became all black and fused together, once again creating Epidemic.

“Just, like, that.”

“Huh, weird. So, is this everyone in the family?”

“No, there are others, many others mind you, but their all in different worlds.” Symbol nodded. Marx then appeared.

“I can grab one of them!” A portal opened and Marx dover through.

{Gale’s POV}

I stood in the doorway to the bar, looking at Metal as he was collapsed on the couch.

“The hell happened to you?” Metal looked at me, clearly having a HUGE headache.

“Hangover... too much...rough week…” I rolled my eyes and walked off. Metal had been visiting my place ever since he set up his end of the portal. I then stopped in thought.

’Wait, can robots even have hangovers?’ I didn’t have time to ponder that thought because Marx appeared out of nowhere.

“FAMILY MEETING!” He then grabbed my shoulders and pulled me into the portal.

{Thrid POV}

Another portal opened up beside Alduin, and Gale came flying out, slamming into a wall. He pushed himself off and landed on his feet. He glared at Marx.

“Mind tossing me out of a portal a little softer next time?” Marx smiled sheepishly while rubbing the back of his head.

“He he, sorry.” Gale rolled his eyes and turned to Alduin.

“So, why am I here?” Alduin nodded to Symbol.

“It seems we have new addition to our family.” Gale turned to him.

“Oh, well hello there. Name’s Gale, what’s yours?”

“Name’s Symbol.”

This is Symbol? Authors son? Gale shook away his shock. “Well, I would love to know how you’re related to us Symbol.” Epidemic stepped forward.

“We had a run in with each other, fought DEATH, saved his sister’s soul, and just became adoptive brothers after that.” Gale nodded.

“Ah, well welcome to the family! Be warned, this is only a small portion of our sizeable family.Though it’s not too big by earth standards, as a displaced family we’re pretty huge. Though, most of the relations are through the Twins.” Symbol nodded.

“Well, good to know that I’ve got a big new family.” The others nodded.

“So, is the only reason we’re all here is to get introduced to each other?”

Symbol shook his head. "I have a feeling I'm supposed to warn you all about something." They all looked at him and sat down. "Marx already explained this to me but I'm going to explain it to you. As Epidemic and Auldin know there is a creature of great evil trapped in my body, it tried to take my body as a vessel to wreak havoc in my Equestria. That creature is known as Nightmare Fuel. He is not the only Nightmare, there are countless all across the multiverse."

"So this Nightmare could show up in this world or mine at any time?" Gale asked.

"Exactly, I've been told by Marx that you already have a copy of my token, if you ever come across the Nightmare in your world call me, don't try to fight it yourself. The same goes for the rest of you, you may be able to defeat it, but not destroy it."

"I guess that means we'll be seeing you around here sometimes."

"Yes, but I won't always be able to answer your call, I do have other things to deal with back home." They all nodded and handed him each a copy of their own tokens. Symbol motioned for Marx to give them copies of his. "Marx, make sure that the other displaced that you talked about gets one as well." He nodded and disappeared through a portal only to return a second later.

"She's currently in another displaced universe, I can't make it to her yet."

"Why not, you got into my world just fine."

"It's more complex than that, I'd need their displacers permission to enter their world, it's sort of an unwritten rule amongst displacers in this smaller multiverse. Author has granted me access to your world and others that he has in his territory."

Just then Symbol felt something tap his shoe, he looked down to see a fluffy white spider with a red ring on its abdomen. "Scary? What are you doing here?" He kneeled down and picked up the spider. Scary crawled up Symbols arm and onto his head. "How did you even get here?" Scary shrugged and nestled into his hair.

"Why are you talking to that spider?" Gale just looked at him confused.

"Oh, this is Scary, my pet spider." He reached up and petted the spider who waved a leg at the group. "My changeling roommates found him in our basement and we decided to keep him, he's actually really smart." Scary then buried himself in Symbols hair, making it look like he wasn't even there. "I don't even know how he does that, my hair isn't that thick."

The group talked for awhile before Gale returned to his own world, Auldin went off to spend some time with Twilight and Marx returned to the void. Symbol and Epidemic walked into the Everfree forest to activate the new symbiote pony.

While walking a large group of Timberwolves blocked their path. Epidemic was about to blast them when Symbol placed a hand on his shoulder. He then took a few steps forward before glaring at the wolves, they all cowered below his gaze and moved to the side.

Satisfied, Symbol began walking again, leaving a confused Epidemic behind. "Come on Epidemic, we don't have all day!"

Epidemic just stood there and looked at the wolves who were shivering in fear as they looked at Symbol.

Once in a clearing Epidemic sat on a rock as Symbol stood in the middle of the patch of grass. He held out his hand with one of the small yellow crystals and closed his eyes. He clenched the gem and fed a small amount of his positive energy into it. He then crushed it and purple liquid seeped out from the shards, much to Epidemics surprise.

"What is it with me and purple?" The liquid formed into the shape of a pony and leapt onto him, merging into his being but not changing anything. "I take it she needs more time to develop?" Epidemic nodded.

“So, have you decided on a name for her yet?"

Symbol nodded and closed his eyes. "Guessing that fate will be on my side for the reincarnations name, I'll call her...Abi, hopefully the foal is named Gail."

Epidemic nodded and began explaining the qualities of a symbiote. After some time, Epidemic finished his explanation.

“Oh I see, so that’s how they work.” Epidemic nodded.

“Yep. Now remember, it’s your choice whether or not to keep her with you, but I advise against it. If you do, she may look into your memories and see the ones of her. Of course, she won’t know it’s her, and neither will her mind. And, because she’s already seen the memories, the memories I gave her may not come out at all, due to the fact her mind will already think she has them, thus it will see no reason to unlock these memories.” Symbol nodded.

“I think I can alter my mindscape to make sure that doesn't happen, but in the meantime what do you wanna do?” Suddenly, they both heard and unnatural roar, and looked to the forest. From it came a black, humanoid figure, that had tendrils coming out of it’s back, and yellow, emotionless, circles for eyes. It had no definable features, it just seemed to be made out of a purple liquid. It roared at Symbol and Epidemic once more.

“Probably kill that thing.” Symbol nodded and they charged. The creature sent its tendrils to attack them, but they dodged and kept going. Epidemic let loose his dragon phase, and created his scythe. Symbol became purple fire, and created a purple fire blade in his hand. They charged and swiped, both hitting the Nightmare Fuel dead on. It slammed into a tree, but soon got back up and roared in anger.

“Hmph, this thing doesn’t seem that powerful.”

“Looks can be deceiving.”

“Which is why I’m not taking any chances with it.” They both charged, only to see the Nightmare Fuel leap into the air. It sprouted wings and roared at them as it started to ascend.

“Wait, these things can fly?”

“This one can, apparently.”

“Hmph, it won’t make a difference.” Epidemic took to the skies as well, and flew at the Nightmare Fuel. It roared and sent out its tendrils, but Epidemic just dodged them. He made it up to the creature, and knocked it back down to the earth with his scythe. As it fell, Symbol ran underneath it and raised his sword, causing the Nightmare Fuel to become impaled by it. It roared in pain before flapping its wings and taking to the skies once more. It flew up to Epidemic, and did the unexpected.

“Fo, Krah Diin!” A burst of icy breath came out of the monster’s head and headed towards Epidemic. It hit him straight on, and Epidemic was knocked out of the air, landing on the ground, hard. Epidemic got up and shook off the shock.

“The hell? This thing can shout?”

“Okay I have never seen one that was able to do that.”

“Perhaps being in my world has something to do with it.”

“Possibly.” The two were done playing around. Epidemic became all black and fused with Symbol, creating Symbolic. They looked up at the Nightmare Fuel in hate. They took to the sky, charging at the Nightmare Fuel at high speeds. The monster tried to use another shout, but was interrupted when it got impaled by Symbolic’s blades. Symbolic then conjured up his scythe, and beheaded the creature. The Nightmare Fuel gave one last cry of pain, before disappearing completely. Symbolic landed on the ground, and separated back into Symbol and Epidemic. Symbol spotted a small purple orb falling from where the Nightmare had been, he jumped and grabbed it with both hands. Epidemic watch as he poured some of his energy into the orb, causing it shatter. They walked up to the nearby rock and sat on it.

“Well, I certainly wasn’t expecting to fight a Nightmare Fuel in someone else's world so soon. Especially one that had powers similar to the abilities of those in this one.” Epidemic nodded.

“It seems as if they can copy the abilities and powers of a displaced, as long as they’re in the world of that displaced.” Symbol nodded.

“There is so little we know about these Nightmares. Well, at least I got to discover that they had a power like that when I had someone helpful nearby.”

“Yeah, who knows what could have happened if you went against it alone.”

“I can handle myself.”

“That’s not what I meant. I meant that over time it seemed to unlock more and more abilities. This battle went by fast because the both of us were here. However, had you been alone, who knows what other abilities it could have gained. Hell, for all we know it could have become a dragon!”

“Ah, I see what you mean. So, what now?”

“I say we go home, and alert everyone about this, and you go see if Marx can check whether or not that other displaced is home yet.”

“Sounds like a plan.” And so, the two walked all the way, back to Ponyville.

After warning the others of the Nightmares abilities and telling Marx to inform the displacers council, Epidemic and Symbol parted ways. Symbol reminded him to keep the extra token on hand at all times if there happened to be more Nightmares in the current world.

Symbol was about to walk through a portal to his home world when he felt something tap his shoulder. Looking back he saw Auldin in his dragon-pony form. "Come, I have something I want to talk to you about." Symbol nodded and they walked into a separate portal.

As they appeared on the other side Symbol stared in awe at the beautiful sight before him. They were on a long black marble path, to the sides were forests filled with trees with glass-like trunks and glowing leaves of various colours. The sky was a dark blue and clusters of stars flew overhead in clouds of blue energy.

"What is this place?" Symbol slowly started walking forward.

"The forest of eternity, essentially a place for lost souls to find a place in the void. Basically, this is the afterlife." Symbol turned to look at Auldin with a confused expression. "Now, let me ask you something Neo."

Symbols gaze hardened. "How do you know my real name?"

Auldin shook his head and started walking. "Why is it that you hide your name? Is it because you are ashamed of the things you've done while under that name or do you simply wish to start anew?"

Symbol closed his eyes and clutched his medallion. "There are many reasons why I chose my new name, I'm not the monster I was back in Masereth." Just then the trees close to Symbol turned purple.

Auldin looked at him suspiciously. "Now why would they do that for you? Unless..."

"You said this was the afterlife right? Then those purple trees are the souls of the people I slaughtered correct?" Auldin just stared at him in shock.

"How many did you kill?" He asked in a hushed voice.

Symbol just walked past him and whispered. "I lost count around the three thousand mark..."

"You too?" As Symbol walked the trees around him turned purple as well.

"Listen!" Symbol called out to the souls in the forest. "I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry for what I did to you all!" The soft wind that had blown through the forest had ceased. "I know you will not forgive me for doing all of those disgusting things, but I needed to at least apologise once!" Auldin looked at him as tears filled the cursed boys eyes. "I never wanted to harm any of you, I won't say I had no choice, because I did. I chose wrong..." He fell to his knees. "...I chose wrong..." His head lowered as the tears hit the ground. "Auldin...you were going to ask me why I fight, weren't you?"

"How did you-"

"I can read people and ponies like literal books, before I developed my power of the Nightmares I used my mind as a weapon, breaking my enemies with my words."

Auldin watched as Symbol got up and walked to a tree, he placed his hand on it and sighed. "The truth is I don't know why I fight anymore, it used to be for my sister, but you know how that ended." He looked at the tree then back to the dragon-pony. "I don't know what's worth fighting for, I don't know why I continue to fight. I accepted that I was nothing but a monster long ago, everything you've done in the past doesn't even compare to what I've done. Take a look if you don't believe me."

"I believe you..." Symbol looked at him with surprise. "...I've done terrible things in my time, but the amount of pain I felt is but a fraction of your life as a whole. I was hundreds of years old when I did those things, you weren't even in your teen years." Auldin placed a hand on Symbols shoulder. "The reality is that you do have a reason to fight, you have your friends and family in Equestria that you want to protect, because they are the only things that matter to you, trust me, I know."

Symbol sighed. "I feel as if my whole life is some kinda sick drama story."

"Yes, it often seems that way to most of us."

"What about you, why do you fight?" Auldin just chuckled.

"Another story for another time, you have a Gala to prepare for." Symbol nodded and a portal appeared. As Symbol stepped into it he turned back to give one last warning to Auldin.

"One last thing, if you ever hear the name Forge you summon me immediately. Also, if you ever come across these two groups, The Cult of the Rings and The Order of Tranquility you don't even hesitate to bring me back here, no questions asked." The portal closed leaving a very confused Auldin in the dark forest.

"Where have I heard those names before?"

The Monster, The Demon, And The Machine

{Symbol’s POV}

I was finally heading home after this whole thing with Epidemic and getting my sister back. Once I got back, I would ask Twilight and Octavia if they had their answers yet. But that could wait until the actual Gala. I was with Zero, Wasp and Zanny as we all put on our suits. Mine was a dark blue with a black shirt underneath, cuffs and designer magic black leather shoes. Zeros was the same except anything blue was green.

"Rarity really outdid herself on this one, how'd she get my measurements anyway?" Zero asked me in curiosity.

"We're identical twins, remember? Our bodies are exactly the same." He nodded and made his way out of the room.

I looked back to my disguised changeling roommates who had their tuxes on. Due to time restraints they had to settle for normal black tuxedos, it's a miracle black goes with blue and red.

"Alright you two, go on and have some fun while I do some things, I'll see you at the Gala." They nodded and left me to do my business. I looked myself over in the mirror before sighing. "I'm really doing this, I didn't think it was possible for me to actually find love in my life." A vision of one of my past murders flashed in my mind. "I was and still am a demon, how in the name of Griffith did I get so lucky?"

Just then a portal appeared behind me and a familiar skeleton in a black cloak walked through it.

“Hey Marx, what is it?"

“Symbol, you need to come with me."

“And why’s that?”

“Because that displaced I need you to help is finally back.”

“Oh, well then what’re you waiting for?”

“Oh I was going to grab Gale so the two of you could go together.”

“I can take care of things myself.”

“That’s not the reason why I’m sending him. She hasn’t meet Alduin or Gale yet, so I’m sending him in so she finally does.”

“Ah, right.” Suddenly, a portal opened right beside me and Gale came out.

“Huh? Oh what the fuck Marx! I was in the middle of a Sonic Adventure 2 Battle race with Sonic!”

“Sorry, but the other displaced from before has returned.”

“And yet you couldn’t let me finish my game?”

“Nope!” Gale rolled his eyes (eye?) and looked to me.

“Oh hey Symbol, didn’t see you there. Nice suit by the way."

“Hey and thanks."

“So Marx, who’s this displaced you’re sending us to?”

“Her name’s Lisa, and she’s the Slenderwoman.”

That sparked my interest a little. I knew that there had to be a Slenderman displaced somewhere in the multiverse, I didn't however expect a Slenderwoman.

“So, you think there’s a Nightmare Fuel there?”

“I’m certain of it. I need you two to go there and kill it before she does.”

“Wait what? Why would we do that? More importantly how, it can only be completely destroyed by me.”

“Because I’m afraid that it’ll piss her off and send her into one of her Mad Modes. If that happens, she’ll kill it slowly, painfully, basically enough to make it beg someone or something to kill it so the torture stops.” Gale and I shuddered. Nightmare Fuels were souless monsters, that would kill anything and everything. They also couldn’t really feel pain. If this Lisa could go to the point where it would beg us to kill it, I shudder to think of what she might actually do.

“So wait, she’s a psycho killer?” Marx shook his head.

“Only when she goes into her Mad Modes, and she’d only do as I described if it was Mad Mode Three. Otherwise she would end it quickly, and is actually quite friendly.” We nodded. So this girl was kind and friendly, but when it came down to it she could become a monster. That certainly reminds me of both me and Epidemic, well, at least the monster part.

"Alright, let me get out of this suit then we can go."

After returning to my usual wear, a portal soon opened and we fell through.

{Lisa’s POV}

“Ah, time to relax.” It had been a couple hours since I returned from my new little bro’s wedding. I had been introduced to Ponyville, and was received rather well actually. Might have been the fact that I had saved two of their princesses but you never know. Anyways I was back home, sitting outside in a lounging chair, sunbathing. I know I can’t get a tan or anything like that, but I still love sitting in the sun. Suddenly, I heard a growl.

“Oh why this now?” I turn to my right to look out into the forest. I expected to see a Rake, but instead I saw a creature made of some purple substance. It had yellow, emotionless, circles for eyes, and had tendrils coming from its back. It looked up at me, and roared.

“The hell are you supposed to be?” It didn’t give me an answer, instead it just charged at me. I teleported out of its way as it knocked away my lounge chair.

“Hey! I was using that!” The beast just ran at me again. I teleported again, and glared at it. “Okay I don’t know what the hell you are, but I’m not letting you get away with trashing my stuff.”

It sent out its tendrils to attack me. I countered with my own, able to match it blow for blow. I then used my tendrils to grab its own, and pulled it towards me. As it came flying at me, I lifted up my leg and kicked, getting it square on in the chest. I followed this up by grabbing it with my tendrils, and slamming it into the ground left and right of me a few times before tossing it at a tree.

“Puny beast.” I giggled at my own joke. This new thing however, didn’t seem to like me mocking it. It ran at me and leaped. I teleported just above it and impaled it, sending it into the ground. I picked it up and slammed it into another tree, and then proceeded to drag it around the outside edge of my little field, hitting every tree on the border. After two laps around, I threw it into the air, impaled it with two tendrils this time, and slammed it into the ground. “See? Told you that you wouldn’t get away with breaking my stuff.”

I then heard the familiar sound of a portal opening, and looked up to see two beings fall from it. One was Mecha Sonic, which I assumed was a displaced and the other was, oddly enough, a regular human. They landed on the ground, and took battle stances. Mecha Sonic sent out laser blades from his wrists and stood ready to fight, and the other just looked around with a watchful eye, but his eyes...they were the eyes of someone who had seen some serious shit.

“Alright where is it?” Mecha Sonic sounded like he was on a mission. He had a serious expression on his face, or, he would have if he had the parts of the face to make that so. I kinda just got the vibe from it, like how people get that vibe from me.

“Where’s the Nightmare Fuel?” The second guy sounded much more serious though. I got a really depressing feeling from him, but I shook it off.

“Um, I think it’s over there.” I pointed to the monster that attacked me, which was now dissipating into a purple orb. They both turned, surprised, to see it finish dissipating. “Were you looking for it? Sorry I kind of, killed it. But in my defence it attacked me first!” The human walked up to the orb and picked it up. He then proceeded to crush it. Mecha Sonic just looked at me in shock.

“Whoa whoa wait, you killed it?”

“Yep. It destroyed my favorite lounge chair too.”

“MARX!” Suddenly another portal opened up and Marx hoped out. “Can you please explain to me why I’m here if I wasn’t needed?”

“Well that’s-”

“Wait a second. You know Marx?”

“Huh, oh yeah forgot to introduce you all. Lisa, this is Gale, one of my other displaced. That over there is Symbol, he’s a friend/family member. It’s complicated.”

“Uh, nice to meet you Lisa.” Gale held out his hand.

“You too.” I took his hand and shook it. I started to think. ’You know, even for a robot he’s kind of cute.’ I shook away that thought. What was I thinking? He’s a robot, not like he’s a living thing. Besides, I wouldn't date him unless I knew him. Symbol walked back over.

“Alright it’s dead. Now can I go home?” I looked at his eyes again, inside them I saw something, something that shouldn't exist in the soul of someone his age.

“Not exactly. That’s not the Nightmare Fuel I brought you two here for.”

“Wait there’s another one of these things? It better not destroy my house.”

“Don’t worry, it’s not around here.”

“So where is it?”

“Don’t know.”

“What? How could you not know?”

“Hey I don’t know everything okay? I’ll be searching for it while you two remain here until I find it. Once I do, you guys can go after it and kill it.” Marx disappeared into a portal afterwards, leaving me with two guests to entertain.

“So… why are you two here again?”

“We’re here to kill something called a Nightmare Fuel, a monster of the multiverse. It’s completely evil, and will kill anything and everything it sees. The one you just fought was one of the weaker ones.” Symbol looked to one of the shards of the former Nightmare orb and stepped on it.

“Really? Well if that’s the case then I guess if I meet a really strong one I’ll call you guys. Otherwise I think I can kill them myself.”

Gale shook his head. “Now hold on there’s a catch to these things. We may be able to attack them and destroy their bodies, but then they’ll turn into those purple orbs that only Symbol here can destroy. After a while, they’ll just come back to life and attack again.”

“Oh I get it.”

Symbol scratched his chin in thought. “You know, I’m surprised it didn’t take on any of her abilities.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, last time I fought one I was with someone named Epidemic. When we fought it, it took on some of his abilities. I wonder why this one didn’t seem to take on any of yours.”

“Probably because it already had most of her abilities. They both could move fast, and both had tendrils. Not a lot for it to gain.”

“Hmm, I guess so.”

I looked at the two in confusion. “Well what do you two want to do in the meantime?”

“I don’t know, hang around I guess. What do you think Symbol?”

He just shrugged. “Hanging around is fine.”

“Cool! Well then how about we go to Ponyville and have some fun there?”

“Sounds good.”

“Alright then come on!”

{Gale’s POV}

So Symbol and I followed Lisa back to Ponyville. As we did, I started thinking.

’You know, for a monster she’s kind of hot.’ I then shook my head. What was I thinking? She’s a monster, I’m a robot. How the hell would that work? We continued our trek back to Ponyville, and eventually made it to the edge of the Everfree forest. She lead us out and to the edge of Ponyville.

“Okay, here we are. Now, what do you two wanna do while you’re here?”

Symbol just closed his eyes and frowned. "Now why would he be here?" He asked to no one in particular.

"What was that?" Lisa and I both asked as we looked at him.

Opening his eyes he shook his head. "Nothing...just, nevermind."

Symbol just started walking ahead with a small purple glow around him.

"What's with him?" I looked over to Lisa as she just stared at Symbol.

"Gale, you know Symbol right?"

"I met him for a short while earlier, why?"

She turned to me with an uneasy expression, well, as much of an expression she could give.

"There's something about him, it just makes me feel...I dunno, afraid." We both looked on as Symbol slowly walked down the path. Author told me that the kind of magic Symbol uses isn't to be on the opposite end of, and the kind of persona that Symbol had only made him all the more terrifying. The look of bloodlust in his eyes, the look of sorrow, the look of a madman. Symbol was afraid, afraid of himself and what he could do if he chose the wrong path.

Sighing, I began to walk after him and Lisa followed. "I know something we could do."

Lisa looked at me, a little happier that the topic was changed. "And what would that be?"

"I know another displaced, Metal Sonic, in his home he has a few portals to the levels in the Sonic games, we could give one of those a try."

“Sure, sounds like fun.” Her expression then turned cold. “You better not send us to a Sonic 06 level.” I chuckled.

“No way, that game sucked ass. The only thing I kind of liked about it was the story. It had potential. Then they had to ruin it with Eliese making out with Sonic and crap like that.” Lisa sighed in relief.

“Okay good, I really don’t want to revisit that place, ever again.” I nodded. I turned to Lisa and looked her in the eyes, or where her eyes should be, a smiled. At first I thought I saw her shudder, but I just shook it off.

{Lisa’s POV}

As Gale called Marx so we could go to the zones, I started to think. When he looked me in the eyes, I saw something. It was like a flash that I sometimes get from people about their past, a brief moment of reflection from them that I sometimes pick up on. It doesn’t happen too often, but when it does I usually see some shit. This flash was weird though, I saw a silhouette of a huge, metallic monster, with flames in the background. I heard screams of fear and pain for a moment, but then it was over. Usually that moment of reflection is for something that the person did, so why did I see a beast in his. Eh, I’ll ask him later. Gale rushed up to me, holding a purple orb.

“Alright I got it, hope he knows how to get back without this.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well…”

Flashback

{Gale’s POV}

“Hey Marx!” a portal opened up and Marx hoped out.

“What is it?”

“Can you open up a portal to Metal Sonic for me please?”

“Yeah sure.” He opened it up and I looked through. When I did, I saw Metal racing through city escape with Rainbow Dash.

“Huh, thought he was with Luna. Ah well, to each their own.”

“So are you gonna ask for it or?”

“Nah I’ll grab it without disrupting them, just get the portal closer.” Marx nodded and the portal got closer. I reached out, and tried to grab the purple orb that sent us to the zones. I reached for it, and grabbed at it. I missed once, twice, three times.

“Huh?” Marx swerved the portal out of the way as Metal looked behind him, causing me to almost fall out. He grabbed one of my metal quills and pulled me back in. He brought the portal close again, and I reached for the purple orb once more. I grabbed at it, and got a hold on it! I brought it back to me, and on the other side of the portal.

“HA! I got it!”

“Huh?” Marx hurriedly closed the portal before Metal saw us.

“Phew, that was a close one.”

“Yeah, thanks for saving my ass from falling out.” Marx nodded, opened another portal, and left. I walked back to Lisa.

Flashback End

“Oh, huh.” I nodded.

“Yep, it was a really close call.”

“So, what zone are we going to?” I put my hand to my chin and thought. Where should we go? Hmm. I snapped my fingers.

“I’ve got it!”

“Where?”

“Chemical Plant Zone.”

“Chemical Plant Zone? Never heard of it”

“Well then you’re about to found out what it looks like.” I took her hand and held out the orb. It expanded and sent both of us to the Chemical Plant Zone. Lisa looked around.

“So this is the Chemical Plant Zone huh?” I nodded.

“Yep. Cool huh?” Lisa nodded.

“Very cool. Hey wait what’s that city over there?” I shrugged.

“Don’t know, I don’t think we can go over there.”

“I bet you fifty bits that we can.”

“Alright I’ll take you on that bet, another time. For now, let’s beat this zone!” I was about to run off when.

“Hey wait, I’m not as fast as you.”

“Oh yeah huh?”

“So, what do we do?”

“This!” I picked her up bridal style, causing her to blush. “Hold on tight!”

She hugged her arms around me and nodded, telling me she was ready. I nodded and took off, racing away at high speeds. I destroyed every enemy we came across, and ran for the most part. It was kind of funny when I ran the loop-de-loops and Lisa yelped and held on to me tighter. She really freaked out when I went down a path that had multiple loops in a row. At the end I landed on the capsule, and let the little animals be free. I let Lisa down and she stumbled a little. I caught her before she fell.

“Whoa, you okay?”

“Yeah I’m fine. Just never went so fast before without being in a plane or something like that.”

“You get used to it.”

“You’re a robot, you don’t feel the G-force from your speed.”

“That may be true, but I did feel every wall I slammed into when I was first adjusting to my speed.” That caused Lisa to laugh.

“You slammed into walls?”

“Yep! If memory serves I’ve slammed into 433 walls by accident from running.” That just made Lisa laugh harder.

“433? That’s hilarious!”

“I’m surprised you didn’t ask how I remember them all.” Lisa started to calm down.

“You’re a robot. I kind of put two and two together.” I nodded. “So, what now?”

“I don’t know. Want to see if Marx found that Nightmare Fuel yet?”

“Yeah sure.” Using the orb I brought us back to Ponyville.

Symbol’s POV

I walked through the Whitetail Woods along the gravel path. The sunlight only piercing through the amber leaves in small rays as I strolled through. I placed a hand to my forehead and sighed.

"What am I gonna do? If they find out about the Nightmare in me they'll most likely be scared of me." Shaking my head I looked around, taking in the beauty of the woods. "I should take them to this place back on my world some time, could make a good first date for us, if they agree that is."

Stopping, I looked behind me to find the two others missing. I sighed and pressed on, at least one of us had to be out looking for those two.

‘Hey! Don’t you mean two?’ Marx said in my head.

"Sorry...wait a minute how are you in my mindscape? I thought I had that locked."

'Doesn't matter, Gale and Lisa are...shall we say bonding.' I facepalmed and sighed.

"While there is a soulless demon and an evil clone of me here? Typical." Shaking my head I felt something stir in my body. "Hmm, seems like she's almost done developing."

‘And when she is Epidemic will have another little sibling to look out for. When you can’t that is.’

"Yeah… when I can't..." Remembering what I saw in the notebook Cipher had given me I collapsed to my knees as I felt a sharp pain in my head.

‘Symbol, what the fuck is that thing?’

"What thing?" I asked in a pained voice as I clutched the side of my head as the headache only grew.

‘The big scary faded thing that looks like you in here. It’s getting bigger and your mindscape is freezing up.’

I screamed in pain as I felt dark thoughts make their way into my mind. I grabbed my necklace and it glowed, suppressing the pain. "I... I have no idea Marx... Get Vivi, she should know."

‘Wait, you grabbing your necklace stopped… OH NO YOU DON’T! GET THE FUCK BACK HERE! I’M NOT LETTING YOU GO THIS TIME MOTHER FUCKER!’ The pain returned worse than ever, but then suddenly stopped. ‘THERE! I GOT IT!’

"Gah, BUCK!!! What exactly did you get?!"

‘Huh? Oh, well, you know that Nightmare Fuel inside of you?’

"Yeah... What about it, Posit already broke its hold on me?"

‘Yeah well, he didn’t break his sentries. This thing always comes in when Forge is around, and it warns him so he can either one, get away from you or two, prepare to fight you. I just got it and sent it to the Black Plain!’

Rising to my feet I grasped my chest. "Gotta... cut down on the energy usage... Too much to do here."

‘Yep. But hey good news! Forge doesn’t know you’re here. But I do have a question, why is Forge here? He would only come here if there was something he wanted.’

"I don't know, he was supposed to still be in that floating island."

‘Yeah well, with the way Forge works the only thing that could imprison him is if I sent him to the Black Plain, and I’m not too keen on doing that.’

I took a moment to remember something Forge had said in the past. "Reality Stars...what are those?"

'Wait! Did you just say Reality Stars?!'

"Yeah, why?"

'I know what Forge is up to… he's trying to become a displacer!'

"What?!"

‘Symbol, you can’t let him get those Reality Stars. If he gets enough of them, he’ll become a displacer, then the entire multiverse will be consumed by the Nightmares.’

Great, now I have to deal with the fate of every single universe.

{Gale’s Pov}

Lisa and I walked around, looking for Symbol. Suddenly, a portal opened and out popped Marx.

“GALE!”

“Hmm? What is it Marx?”

“Okay I found the Nightmare Fuel but it’s not alone.”

“Who’s with it?”

“Someone very dangerous. Someone dangerous enough that I may need you to bring out the beast.” I stopped.

“No.”

“What?”

“I said no. I’m not becoming that… thing again. I became it once when Moonglow corrupted me, but I won’t become it again.”

“Gale if you don’t then-”

“I don’t care! That thing is way more dangerous than any ally of the Nightmare Fuels could ever be! Hell, if it gets out it could kill Symbol!”

"No it couldn’t! Symbol has been through way worse shit than that thing ever did!"

“Yeah? Well you know that it never even used a fraction of its power! If it couldn’t kill Symbol, it could certainly injure him pretty badly, and it would kill Lisa!” Marx stopped and thought for a second.

"You really shouldn't compare that beast to Symbol, when he's at his full power he could wipe out entire solar systems with a snap of his fingers (Note: He will never achieve this level of power, this is just saying what his power could be like at full potential which will never really happen) You don't even want to know what went into the creation of his soul, he's the result of trillions of years of study and experimentation. His soul has a part of each of the multiverse’s greatest warriors and Gods all put into one child! The only reason he doesn't show that power is because he cares too damn much about everyone that has ever showed him kindness! Auldin’s suffering can't even compare to Symbols!"

“I’m not comparing it’s power to Symbol’s, I’m comparing it to the Nightmare Fuel inside of him.”

“Why would that be a problem?”

“You know as well as I do that when that thing is around, dark beings like the Nightmare Fuel in him gain power, and in return that monster gains more power. Symbol could beat it no sweat, but that Nightmare Fuel in him is heavily restricted. When the beast comes out, he’ll come out, and in his weakened state the beast will kill him, in turn killing Symbol.”

“What the hell are you two talking about?!?!”

Marx's eyes narrowed. 'It's no use reasoning with him, he’ll do anything to not turn into that thing again. I’m pretty sure he knows none of that can happen, in fact I know he does, but he’s desperate not to become the beast again.’

“You’re just saying this so you won’t have to become it again, aren’t you?” I lowered my head.

“Please Marx, don’t make me become that thing again. I killed way too many last time, I don’t want it to happen again.”

Marx then walked up to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. "You killed many, yes. But that wasn't you that killed them, this time you'll be in control."

"How?"

Marx placed a hand to my chest and it glowed. "A gift from my friend Roden on the council." I looked up at Marx.

“You’re sure it’ll stop me from losing control?”

“Absolutely.” He then mumbled. "Even if it doesn't I'll just get Nathan from his Equestria to knock you out of it..."

“Alright then… I guess I’ll try. But I’m only going to use as a last resort.” Marx nodds.

“Thank you. Now let’s go! Symbol is already on their trail!” Lisa and I nodded, and ran alongside Marx to the Whitetail Woods.

“Okay now that we’re running towards the Nightmare Fuel, would any of you care to tell me what the hell you two were talking about?!” Marx looked at Lisa, then me.

“You wanna explain?” I nodded.

“A long time ago, I fought this stallion called Moonglow Glimmer. He was very powerful, stronger than Sombra even. One day, he corrupted me and sent me out of Equestria so he wouldn’t have to deal with me. I then became a monster, and for a whole year I destroyed everything, and everyone outside of Equestria. I killed Billions of ponies, griffons, zebras, nothing escaped my wrath.”

“Oh, I guess I can see why you’re reluctant to become him again.” I nodded.

“I just hope I don’t have to when we fight, whoever we’re fighting.” We ran for a while more and eventually came across Symbol.

“You find them yet?”

Symbol turned to us with a extremely serious look on his face. "You two! Go stall them while I find these bucking stars!" With that he shot off in a random direction.

“Um, what?”

“I sent him to look for a Reality Star, it’s something you won’t understand.” I swear I saw Lisa’s eyes widen for a second, but then she returned to normal. Of course, she doesn’t have eyes but I got that vibe from her I guess. We turned to look out at the nearby field. When we did, I could see two figures. One was what I assumed was a Nightmare Fuel, while the other looked exactly like Symbol except he was all pitch black with a read aura outlining him.

“Marx, who are they?”

“The one on the left is the Nightmare Fuel. The one on the right is Forge.”

“Forge huh? Wierd name. OKay I’ll take Forge, Lisa you take the Nightmare Fuel okay?”

“Right.” I nodded and stepped out of the brush. The two took notice of me.

“Hmm? And who might you be?”

“Name’s Meta, what’s your’s?”

“That is something you won’t live long enough to have use for.” Forge swiped his hand in front of him and the Nightmare Fuel ran at me. It leaped, and then got impaled by a tendril. Lisa stepped out, then threw it into the forest.

“I’ve got this one.” I nodded and turned my attention back to Forge. He just starred back at me.

“Now will you tell me? I much rather know the name of my opponent before I battle him.”

“Hmm, very well. My name is Forge, and I will be your ticket to the afterlife.” He charged at me, and I him. We clashed our fists and glared at one another.

“You can’t hope to defeat me.”

“Who knows, I may surprise you.” We leaped back from each other and he fired some blasts of magic at me. I promptly dodged and fired back some of my own blasts. They hit him dead on, but when the smoke cleared he seemed unfazed.

“Is that the best you’ve got?”

“Nope! Just the best I think you deserve!” Forge grunted and threw another magic blast at me, which nailed me in the chest. I was thrown into a tree, which collapsed on top of me.

“Fool, thinking you could be a match for me.” I smirked. This was only the beginning. I charged up a lot of energy, and went super. The tree flew off of me, and I rose into the air.

“How about now?”

“You think that changing forms will make a difference?” I teleported behind him and kneed him in the back, then blasted him with a huge laser, sending him into the ground.

“A slight difference yes.” Forge got up and looked at me.

“Huh, that actually hurt a little.” He rose into the air. “Perhaps this will be more interesting than I thought.”

“You bet your ass it will.”

{Lisa’s POV}

I threw the Nightmare Fuel into another tree.

“Come on. Marx said you were going to be tougher than the last one.” It got up and roared, then charged at me. I teleported out of it’s way and grabbed it by the back of it’s legs. I lifted it up, then threw it down into the ground. I then picked it up and slammed it against a tree, then proceeded to do what I did last time, slam it into every tree around me. After that I tossed it into the air, impaled it with two tendrils, and slammed it into the ground once again. I turned into that purple orb thing, and I thought about how to get rid of it. Suddenly Marx appeared and took the orb.

“I’ll make sure it gets to Symbol so he can destroy it.” I nodded.

“Hey wait Marx?”

“Yeah?”

“Why is Symbol looking for the Reality Star?”

“Because he- wait, you know what that is?”

“I might.”

“And you didn’t tell me this why?!?!”

“Because I can’t remember where it is! Besides, I know what enough of those things can do, so I’m not trusting anyone with the information that I know what they are.” Marx just pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Look, how do you even know what those are?”

“Because found it once and it had immense power. I can only assume that the Reality Star that you’re looking for is that thing.” Marx sighed.

“Alright fine, I get it, you don’t trust anyone with the info you have on it. Not even me. Alright we’ll find it anyways just go help Gale!” I nodded.

“Right!”

{Gale’s POV}

I got slammed into another tree, but I recovered quickly. I flew at Forge and threw a punch at his face. He dodged and threw a punch at mine. I quickly dodged and threw another. We kept doing this, attacking and dodging, attack and dodging. Pretty soon we separated and glared at each other.

“I must admit, I did not expect you to last this long.”

“Thanks!”

“But I am looking for something important, and this battle is getting in the way of that. Let’s end this shall we?” He started charging up a huge attack that I was getting ready to dodge. He finished charging and was about to fire the attack when.

“Gale! I got the Nightmare Fuel!” I looked to see Lisa coming out of the Whitetail Woods. I looked at Forge. He smirked and fired the attack at Lisa instead of me.

“NO!” I teleported right in front of Lisa and spread my arms out. Taking the full force of the attack, I was blasted back, badly hurt.

“GALE!” I saw the blurry image of Lisa running up to me and lean down next to me.

WARNING: ALL SYSTEMS ARE HEAVILY DAMAGED. POWER NOW AT 25%. WILL SHUT DOWN IN ONE MINUTE.

“Gale are you okay?”

“N-No I… My systems are badly… d-damaged.”

“Oh god Gale I’m so sorry. This is my fault.”

“N-No it’s n-not.” While Lisa was distracted Forge snuck up behind her. Before I could warn her Forge’s hand had pierced through her chest.

“I’m sorry to interrupt this sad moment, but I can’t just let my targets live can I?” He threw her across the field and walked to her. Lisa got up and tried to attack with her tendrils but Forge just dodged them. He got to her and grabbed her by the throat, and started to choke her.

“Hm hm hm. This was fun while it lasted, but now it’s about time I killed you both.” I was furious. I could feel the beast inside, raging within me. I got up and glared at Forge.

“Get, your hands off of her, you sick BASTARD!” A dark aura surrounded me and I changed. My plating went from blue to black, my eyes (eye?) went completely black, and I grew in power. Forge just looked at me.

“Another form? You think that will stop me?” I teleported right in front of him, took Lisa out of his grasp, and impaled him with a red laser blade.

“Yes, I think it will.” I took the blade out and kicked him across the field, slamming him into a tree. He fell off, then got up.

“What the hell? How are you suddenly this strong?” I lifted my laser blade and stroked it with a finger.

“Giving into the darkness in your heart makes you that much stronger, don’t you think?”

Forge just started laughing. "Oh that is hilarious, look at you, so sure that you can beat me with the very same power I was born with." That last part came out in a dark serious voice as his expression became stern.

“Oh I don’t think it’ll beat you. In fact I very much doubt it. But, I do know it can hold you off till the one that can kill you comes.”

“The hell do you mean by that?”

“Did you honestly think I came alone Forge? No, I came with the one person that you fear, fear that he will break you, that he destroy everything that you have worked for, fear that he will end you.” I teleported in front of him again. “But for now, all you’ve got is me.”

I grabbed him by the face, and threw him into the air, then came up and kneed him in the stomach. I grabbed him, threw him down into the ground, and blasted him with a huge laser. I then curled up into a ball and spin dashed him even further into the ground. He kicked me off and flew into the air. He punched me in the face and sent me even higher in the air. He rushed up and nailed me with a few more kicks before sending me into the ground. He charged up a huge laser glared at me.

“Say goodbye to your existence.” The laser hit me head on, causing serious damage.

I landed beside Lisa and she looked at me with worry. She shakily placed her hand in mine as we watched Forge slowly walking towards us.

"It was fun, but now you two need to die!" As he raised his hand in the air he froze in place, a look of horror on his face. We looked around and saw dark purple mist seeping into the area, surrounding us three and blocking out the sun. "No..." Just then something shot out of the trees and hit Forge, they tumbled around for a second before Forge through whatever it was hit him off.

Just then something was leaning over us. I looked up to see Symbol there with a extremely enraged glare. Although his presence made me feel more frightened than safe. His skin was dark grey, his hair was now spiked and jet black. His shirt had became dark purple and his fingers were claws. His teeth were razor sharp and his eyes were a dead black, with only glowing red dots as pupils, blood had seeped from his eyes creating a led line from the eyes to his chin. He also had four dark tendrils growing out of his back.

"You...will not...touch them!" He was on all fours, shielding us like a predator would protect its young while breathing heavily.

The look of fear that was plastered on Forges face was enough to tell me that Symbol was indeed a force to not be reckoned with. "You...y-you...why are you here?!"

"What's wrong Forge, you were talking all that good shit a minute ago! What's the matter?! Scared of your brother?!"[/ color]

Forge shot a beam at Symbol but was deflected by a tendril. Symbol got to his feet and took a fighting stance. He shot his tendrils towards Forge but they were dodged, expecting this, Symbol flung himself forward and the tips of his claws glowed dark purple. When he swiped at Forge he created a few slash marks in the air. Everything in the path of the blow, including Forge, was cut deeply.

As Forge lay on the ground trying to recover from the wound, Symbol stamped his foot on his back. He then shot all four tendrils into Forges back, causing him to scream in pain.

"No one...and I mean NO ONE hurts my friends!"

Forge screamed in pain as Symbol repeatedly stabbed him with his tendrils. Suddenly, a Nightmare Fuel came out of nowhere and tackled Symbol. Symbol pushed it off of him and killed it instantly, but that had given Forge enough time to get up and prepare an attack.

“I won’t go down, unless I take you with me!” Forge fired the blast, which Symbol didn’t have time to dodge. It hit him straight on, and he was sent flying into a tree. Symbol quickly got up, only to get nailed by another blast of magic. Forge rushed up to him and grabbed him by the neck, slammed him into the ground, and started to stomp on his back relentlessly.

“DON’T LIKE IT WHEN THE TABLES ARE TURNED DO YOU?! THIS TIME, I WILL KILL YOU!” I couldn’t let this happen. I slowly got up.

“G-Gale… no.” Lisa sounded weak, which just made me angrier. I stood up, and limped forward. Froge looked at me.

“Oh? You’re still standing?! Well then, let’s finish you off hall we?”

"GALE, DON'T DO IT, I CAN TAKE HIM!!!"

“No one, hurts my friends like this. NO ONE!” A rush of power went into me and I started to turn into the beast. My body grew, and my head changed appearance. It changed into the head of Metal Overlord, but that’s not what I was becoming. My body was becoming huge, and I was growing spikes out of my back, as well as wings. I grew a long tail that ended with spikes, and my legs bent backwards. My feet grew talons, and my arms grew longer, with my hand gaining five long claws, one for each finger. My transformation complete, I roared into the air. But then, something wrestled the control of my body away from me, and I blacked out.

{Symbol’s POV}

I watched as Gale grew into a huge monster. Once it was done, he roared into the air, and smirked.

“Ah, to be free again at last.” I looked at Gale. Something was wrong, he had a lot more power than he should have.

“W-What? H-How, are you h-here?” Gale just looked at Forge.

“Ah Forge, one of those that could actually be a threat to me. Oh and Symbols here too. Now I can eliminate two of some of my most dangerous threats.”

"What the hell? What's going on?" Gale looked at me.

“Oh? I presume you never told about me were you Symbol? Well then allow me to introduce myself. I am not Gale, that is the body I am merely possessing. My name, is Xram, and I am here to kill you all.” Suddenly he was gone, and then he appeared right behind Forge. He impaled him with a claw, flung him into the air, and blasted him with a massive laser from his mouth. Forge fell to the ground, unconscious.

“Hm hm hm. Well, that takes care of him for now. Time to eliminate the more prominent threat.” Gale- er, Xram turned to me and smirked. “Say goodbye to all you hold dear Symbol, for once I throw you into hell, your world will soon follow.” He swiped me with his claw and I was sent flying into a tree. I got up and charged at him, and attacked with my tendrils. All four hit him, but he acted as if they were nothing. He rushed me at blinding speeds and spun, getting me with his tail. I was sent into the air and he followed, grabbing me in mid air with his teeth and throwing me back into the ground.

I got to my feet and stared at my opponent. I then rushed over to Lisa and opened a portal to my world.

"Symbol...what are you-?"

"At least one of us is making it out of here." Once the portal opened Zero was standing there with a confused look.

"Symbol?"

"Take care of her and our friends brother." I tossed Lisa through the portal and closed it, Lisa yelling in protest. Once I made sure the way to my world was sealed I glared at my opponent.

"Sacrificing yourself to make sure your friend is safe? A good choice of your last act in your existence."

"If I die here at least Lisa can form a plan to take you down."

Suddenly, a portal opened up and Marx hoped out.

“I can’t believe this.”

”Marx?”

“I’m here to fight with you. Xram was never supposed to escape his imprisonment.”

”What is he?”

“If we survive this, I’ll tell you.”

“Ah Marx, come to die as well my weaker counterpart?”

“If I was weaker than you, then how did I imprison you? Moreover, how did you escape?!”

“Did you really believe that you could keep me from becoming free forever? All I needed was a suitable vessel, and this one was perfect. He was filled with such unbridled rage that I couldn't help but be drawn to it. Though there is one problem, this body can’t even begin to unleash my power. But that will change once I get my true body back.”

“My body was never yours.”

“Foolish Marx. Your body was always mine.”

I looked to Marx and to my necklace. I took the symbiote pony out of my body and threw it into Marx, along with my necklace. "Symbol, what a-"

”Marx I'm sorry." A portal appeared behind him and I pushed him through it, making sure to seal his access to this world, before the portal closed I threw the yellow crystal through it as well. "No more interruptions, we fight now."

Xram grinned and we both charged each other.

My name is Symbol Shattered, and this is the day I died, defending my loved ones.

{Xram’s POV}

That foolish mortal thought that he stood a chance. But, he was already dead. When the battle started, I had attacked with my claws, which I energized, and sliced clean through him. He still stood and fought me after that, but he died in the end. I looked upon the universe I had just left, and snapped my fingers. In moments, it was gone, sucked away into a rip in time and space, never to be seen again.

“Hm hm hm. Now, where did that Lisa girl go?” I looked around and saw Symbol’s universe. Bingo. I flew towards it. “Get ready Symbol, you’re about to watch me destroy everything you know and love from your front row seat in hell.”

I flew into Symbol’s world, with his body as my trophy.

{Lisa’s POV}

I woke up in a bed, surrounded by strangers.

“She’s awake.”

“Is she okay?”

“I don’t know.”

“Where, am I?” I asked as I looked around.

“Miss you’re in another universe. Can you tell me what you last remember?” A boy that looked exactly like Symbol asked me.

“Um… I was in my universe with someone named Gale, and another named Symbol. We were fighting this guy named Forge, until he started winning. He, counterattacked Symbol after Symbol beat him for a while, then Gale, who had been badly hurt like I had, stood up and became this monster. It claimed to be something called Xram, and it attacked Symbol and Forge. Symbol tried to fight it, but he stood no chance. Then he sent me to his world, and that’s the last thing I remember.”

“Well at least she doesn’t have amnesia.” The Symbol look-a-like glared at the person next to him.

“Yes, but what about Symbol? You heard her she said he had no chance!”

A little unicorn filly jumped onto the bed and glared at them. "You're wrong, Symbol can handle anything!" A portal opened and Marx fell out. He got up and tried to rush into it but closed before he could.

“SYMBOL NO! DAMMIT!” Marx banged his fist on the ground in anger.

“Um, who the hell are you? And what happened with Symbol?”

“My name is Marx, and Symbol… is dead.”

The group all gasped, I looked over to see this worlds versions of Twilight and Octavia break down into tears. I guessed that they were his partners or soon to be partners. The Symbol lookalike just shook his head in disbelief.

"No...no I can't lose him too..." Suddenly there was a loud boom outside and everyone rushed up to a nearby window. Then, I heard his voice.

“MORTALS OF THIS WORLD! YOUR ONLY HOPE IS DEAD! PREPARE TO SAY GOODBYE TO YOUR EXISTENCE!”

“What the hell is that thing?!”

“Look it’s got Symbol!”

“He… he’s limp and… lifeless.” Now Xram was here? Why? Why was this happening? First there’s a Nightmare Fuel in my world. Then Gale and I get badly hurt fighting Forge. Then Gale gets possessed, and then Symbol gets killed. Why? Why was this happening?

To be continued…

The End

A long long time ago, there was a council. This council was created by Displacers, with the head of them all being a powerful displacer named Author. They were created to fight off the Nightmare Fuels that plagued the multiverse, and fight them they did. For countless centuries they fought, doing whatever they could to keep the multiverse safe. However, they never could have prepared for what came next. From the realm of nightmares, the Black Plain, a being of absolute power arose. His name, was Xram. He took control of one of the council members, the only one that could open a portal to this realm, and escaped the empty void of nightmares that he called home. When he escaped, the entire multiverse was doomed. The council tried to fight him, but they could not even compare to his power. Then, one day, the council members found the Reality Stars. With these, they were able to seal Xram away, and get their old council member back. However, Author knew one day he would break out again, so the only thing he could do was prepare. Prepare by creating a warrior that would fight off the Nightmares, and Xram.

{Lisa’s POV}

Why? Why was this happening? What did we do to deserve this shit? First, I find someone that I, kind of like. Gale was nice, he was funny, and he sacrificed himself to save me. Now he’s possessed by something that is trying to kill us all. And then there’s Symbol. He had a future, he had friends and family that miss him, and now they’re all going to die because Symbol and Gale came to my world which now I’m pretty sure is gone. Marx can’t open a portal to it, and Xram wants to destroy every universe. Why would he spare mine?

“Lisa?”

I can’t even begin to understand what’s happening. Now, I’m afraid. I’ve been afraid of many things, now mostly I’m afraid to die. To die here, and to die now.

“Lisa?”

There’s nothing we can do either, is there? Symbol, the most powerful of us got killed easily by Xram, what chance do we have?

“LISA!” Marx jolts me awake.

“Huh? What?”

“Come on we’ve gotta go!” Marx helps me up and we rush out of the building which I now realize, is collapsing. We rush outside to see the chaos and carnage that has been unleashed.

There was pillars of fire everywhere, the sky had turned blood red and the clouds black. Cities and Villages burned, screams of dying ponies could be heard throughout the land. Celestia looked out in horror.

"Why...why is this happening?" We then heard Xram give out a bloodcurdling evil laugh.

We all looked up to see him floating above us with a ball of light floating beside him.

"Enjoying the view mortals? I know a certain spirit of chaos that would absolutely love all this chaos!" The Symbol look-alike stepped forward.

“Why? Why are you doing this? What did we ever do to you?! What did Symbol ever do to you?!”

“Well for starters Symbol is the only one that has a chance to stop me. As for the rest of you, nothing. But that’s what makes this enjoyable.” He tossed us Symbol’s dead body.

“Here. I suppose during your last moments I’ll let you grieve.” As he fell, the Symbol look-alike caught him, and kneeled with him in his arms. Everyone was either crying their eyes out, or gritting their teeth in anger. So this was all really happening. It was the end of the multiverse. All life as we know it, will cease to exist. This was all my fault. I broke down into tears. Marx walked up to me and hugged me.

“I-It’s my fault. This is all my fault.”

“What do you mean?”

“If they never came to my world, then Gale wouldn’t be possessed and Symbol would still be alive.” Marx just hugged me tighter, as did some of the others. Marx got out of the group hug and looked at Xram in fury. A portal opened and another person stepped out.

”So he’s back now is he?”

“Yes, he is. And our only hope, your son, was killed by him.”

He’s too strong for any of us, isn’t he?”

“Way too strong. None of us even come close. Not even with our power combined.”

”So then what should we do?” Marx grimmanced.

“Even if it means we are just killing ourselves, I say we go and avenge those that have died by his hands.”

”I couldn’t agree more.”

Author looked around until he spotted Symbol in the other boy's arms. He walked over and placed a hand on Symbols head. "You did good son, you did good."

{Marx’s POV}

Author and I stood, facing the monster that was Xram. He was destroying everything. Then, once he was done with this place, he would send it into a rip in time and space. The only one that could possibly defeat him, was dead. We could only hope that we could hold him off long enough to let everyone else escape.

“XRAM!” He turned to us.

“Ah Marx, oh and Author's here too. Excellent. Now I’ve already killed my most dangerous opponents, but getting my revenge on the same day? Now that’s a bonus.” Author and I glared at him. Then, we took to the skies and charged. Xram grinned and charged at us. He threw a claw at us but we dodged. I charged up a magic blast and hit him in the back of the head, while Author did the same to his chest. Xram grunted in annoyance, turned in mid air, and smacked us both down with his tail. We recovered and flew around him, firing magic blasts all the while. Xram just smirked, and held out his hands. Suddenly, we were stopped by his magic, and he levitated slammed us together in front of him. Then, he charged up a huge amount of magic, and fired it at us, point blank. We were sent flying back to everyone.

“Oh god Marx!” I just grunted in pain, and held out my hand. A portal opened up, and out popped Alduin and the Twins, all of them were back to being normal dragons.

“Marx? What’s happening?”

“A very... powerful being has… possessed Gale. It...killed Symbol. Now it’s… destroying everything.” Alduin looked at his brother in horror. “Please, get everyone out of here. Your universe is far enough away that you’ll all be able to live for a few years before he gets to you.”

Alduin looked to the group of people and ponies gathered in front him. He studied them, before his face turned furious. The Twins fused together to make Epidemic, and he walked up to Alduin.

“Are we?”

“Yes, I think we will.” Epidemic nodded before becoming all black, and fusing with Alduin. They started to grow to a massive size, as big as Xram was. They grew three heads, three tails, and massive wings. They had even grew fore legs, and their wings moved to their back. Their scales turned red, and their eyes, were like Venom’s. They finished fusing, and roared in fury. They took to the skies and flew at Xram. Xram turned, and then got slammed by the new being. He was slammed into the ground before he was grabbed and tossed into the mountainside. Xram got himself out once the dust cleared, and glared at Alduin and Epidemic’s combined form.

“Alright, I must admit I’m impressed, that actually hurt. This world may have actual challenge to it.”

“BE PREPARED XRAM. THIS IS THE DAY YOU DIE!” Xram just chuckled.

“Very well, you want to kill me? Fine! Go ahead and try! But before this battle starts, I must know your name.”

“WE ARE THE COMBINATION OF ALDUIN AND EPIDEMIC. WE ARE THE ONE THAT WILL SPELL YOUR END. WE ARE APOCALYPSE, AND WE WILL BE YOUR EXIT FROM THIS WORLD! YOU KILLED SYMBOL, WE WILL AVENGE HIM!”

“Hm, you truly believe that? Very well then, let this battle commence!” They flew at each other and clashed, trying to overpower one another. Xram lifted his right arm back and tried to punch one of Apocalypse's heads, but he swerved his heads away. He then clamped one onto Xram’s neck and bit down.

“AHH!” Xram grabbed Apocalypse and tore him off, then punched him in the chest, sending him back down to the ground. He recovered, and roared in anger. He flew at Xram and blasted him with blood red fire. Xram grimaced from the fire, but charged through it and tackled Apocalypse. As they went down, Apocalypse bit Xram with all three of his heads, hard. They slammed into the ground, but then Xram was kicked off of Apocalypse and into the air, where he was blasted by a huge amount of fire. Xram crossed his arms in front of him and took the flames. The flames stopped, and Apocalypse quickly rose into the air and tackled Xram, biting him on the way down. They slammed into the ground, and Apocalypse stood back up.

“Wait did… did they kill him?”

“They.. they did! We’re saved!” Everyone started cheering. At first I too thought it was over, but then a giant red energy blade rose up and impaled Apocalypse through the chest. Xram got up, and slammed Apocalypse into the ground. He took to the skies and started charging up a huge amount of power.

“YOU THINK YOU CAN STOP ME?! ME AND MY MISSION TO MAKE THE MULTIVERSE IN MY IMAGE?! NOT A CHANCE!!” He continued to charge up the blast till it was at full power. He was about to fire it when...

“STOP!”

{Lisa’s POV}

Apocalypse stood triumphant over Xrma. I thought it was over, I thought we won, then Apocalypse got impaled by one of Xram’s blades. He threw Apocalypse down, and started to charge up an attack. I didn’t know what happened next. I was just gone. I teleported in on top of Apocalypse and shouted at the top of my lungs.

“STOP!” Xram stopped and looked at me.

“Ah, well if it isn’t little Lisa. Come to die with this fool that thinks he can stop me.”

“GALE! I KNOW YOU’RE IN THERE! I NEED YOU TO FIGHT IT! FIGHT XRAM! GET YOUR BODY BACK!”

“You’re calling out to Gale? But my dear, he’s already gone.”

“COME ON! WHERE’S THE GUY THAT TOOK ME TO THE CHEMICAL PLANT ZONE? WHERE HE MADE A BET WITH ME ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT WE COULD GO TO THAT CITY IN THE BACKGROUND!? WHERE’S THE GUY THAT MADE ME LAUGH WHEN HE TOLD ME HOW MANY TIMES HE RAN INTO WALLS WHEN HE WAS ADJUSTING TO HIS SPEED?! WHERE’S THE GUY THAT RISKED HIS LIFE TO SAVE MINE?!”

Just then a portal appeared beside Xram and a blue blur shot out. Upon further inspection I found that it was the Metal Sonic displaced that Gale had mentioned. He shot towards Xram and landed several hits before landing beside me.

"NOW I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOU GALE, BUT YOU HAVE TO FIGHT FOR CONTROL! DON'T LEAVE ME WITHOUT A RIVAL YOU ASSHOLE! WAKE UP!” Apocalypse diffused back into Alduin and Epidemic. Alduin stepped forward.

“COME ON GALE! WE KNOW YOU CAN DO IT! WHERE”S THE BROTHER THAT CAME TO MY WORLD?! THAT HELPED ME REMEMBER MY HUMAN LIFE?! THAT WENT TO THE SOUL CAIRN TO GET MY SOUL BACK?!” Epidemic stepped forward as well.

“GALE! WE NEED YOU TO FIGHT IT! WE KNOW YOU CAN BEAT XRAM OUT OF YOUR MIND! COME ONE! WHERE’S THE UNCLE THAT CAME WITH US TO THE HUMAN WORLD?! THE ONE THAT MADE THAT GEM THAT PROTECTS US FROM HARMFUL SOUND?! THE ONE THAT WAS THERE WHEN DAD DIED?! COME ON GALE! YOU CAN DO IT!

{Third POV}

Xram looked out as everyone kept shouting for Gale.

‘Hmph, what fools. Thinking that just by calling out to Gale that he’ll come back.’ Unbenounced to him, Gale was stirring.

‘Huh… wha? Dan? Epidemic? Metal? Lisa?’ Gale saw all of his friends calling out to him, begging him to come back.

“MWA HA HA HA HA HA HA! You think that by calling for Gale, that he’ll just come back? What a joke!” Xram was about to fire off his attack when…

“N-No.” Xram froze in the mindscape, and turned around, to see Gale.

“You’re not… gonna… lay a finger on them.”

“What? How are you awake? I subdued you, I destroyed your mind!”

“Yeah well, I die hard.” Gale now sounded stronger, and stood taller.

“Grr, no matter! I’ll just do it now!” Xram charged at Gale, prepared to kill him. He charged up an attack in his fist and threw it out, nailing Gale in the face. He smirked.

“You know something?” Xram’s faces gained a look of horror. “In my mindscape, it’s kind of hard to kill me. Also...Metal hits harder than you ever could." Xram backed away as Gale turned to him with a glare. “In my mindscape, you’re nothing but a puny insect that has been bugging me for far too long.” He started to walk towards Xram, with that same look. He started getting bigger, and was changing into the beast. “In my mindscape, I AM THE GOD! IN HERE, YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A PUNY MORTAL TO ME! IN HERE, YOUR POWER MEANS NOTHING! THIS IS MY MIND! AND I WILL HAVE IT BACK!”

“AHH!” Xram yelled in pain as he was ejected from Gale’s mind.once he was, the beast started to fall. It turned back into Gale, and fell to the ground. Lisa jumped up and caught him, and landed in the middle of the little group that had gathered. Marx teleported everyone to the spot, and they all watched as Gale woke up in Lisa’s arms.

“Huh.. wha? What the hell happened?”

“GALE!” Lisa hugged Gale tight to her body as she cried tears of joy. Gale was shocked for a moment, but then he returned the hug. Then, Alduin, Epidemic, Metal, and Marx joined the group hug. After a few moments they separated, but Gale had Lisa in his arms now, as she continued to cry tears of joy.

“Hey, it’s okay.”

“I was just… so scared. There was chaos, everypony kept dying, and you were being possessed by a monster. I… I just couldn’t…”

“Hey now, I’m back aren’t I? Xram is gone now. Everything is back to normal.”

“Not exactly.” Gale looked at Marx.

“What do you mean?”

”Xram destroyed Lisa’s universe. Although we might be able to bring it back, it will take a long time. She’s got nowhere to go now.”

“Not only that, but Symbol is dead. Now what will we do about the Nightmare Fuels?”

”I don’t know, we’ll think of something. For now, we should celebrate that we all survived. And that Xram is gone.”

"Not exactly.” Everyone turned to see a skeleton that looked very similar to Marx floating in the air. But, there were some differences. For one his bones were black, his cape was white, and the gem on his neck was blue. His staff was blue as well, but the mini-Tirek skull was black.

“I-Is that?” Marx nodded.

“Yes, that’s Xram.”

“Well isn’t it nice to see the heroes together again at last. It’s such a shame too, now I have to kill you all. And once I do, I’ll get my body, and my true power back.” Everyone cringed in fear. Then, out of the the corner of her eye, Lisa saw Symbol twitch. She looked at him and he twitched again. Xram started to charged up a huge attack.

“SO LONG FOOLS!” He fired it and everyone braced themselves.

After a moment of tension, the group felt no pain. They all looked up to see that the blast was no longer there. Just then a pillar of purple fire shot out of the ground, sending a huge gust of wind across the area. A silhouette could be seen in the fire. Xram started shaking in fear at the sight of the figure before him.

A being made entirely of purple fire floated out and stared him down.

"HOW?!?! HOW ARE YOU STILL ALIVE?!?!"

The figure didn't answer. All it did was hold out its hand and close its eyes. Time slowed down as a huge invisible force blew across the battlefield. Just then the surrounding area was set ablaze. The fire floated upwards and started to converge at the figures hand. A huge ball of purple fire was now being aimed at Xram, who was frozen in fear.

The being opened it's glowing yellow eyes and drew his hands back. "Xram, I will give you one chance to return to the Black Plain, or I will end you!"

"N-N-NEVEEEEEEEEERRR!!!" Xram charged towards the being.

"That's what I wanted to hear!" The being threw its arms forward and the huge ball of fire was flung towards Xram. It hit him head on and slowly started to break him.

"NOOOOOOOOO!!!" The last piece of him melted away and the ball of flames burst into a large bubble of light that spread across Equestria, restoring everything to its former glory, including the ponies and other creatures in the land. The sky returned to normal and the ball of light that we knew as the sun shone brightly over the restored world.

The being of fire slowly started to disappear with a satisfied look on its face. It looked down at the group before vanishing.

Lisa's POV

I stared at where the strange being once was. "Was that...Symbol?"

"That was the last reminiscent of his soul, in a last desperate act he gave up his chance to enter the afterlife to save us all."

I looked over to Symbols lifeless body. "Symbol..."

"GUYS!!!" We all looked around to see this worlds version of Vinyl Scratch rushing towards us with something on her back. "SOMEPONY HELP! TAVI ISN'T BREATHING!" She came to a screeching halt and lay an unconscious Octavia in front of us.

Author looked around and closed his eyes. He then rushed over to Marx and took a necklace from him, the medallion on the necklace being the symbol of the sun with blue gems. He placed the necklace on Octavia's body which then began to glow. A small orb of purple energy floated out of the medallion and entered Octavia's body.

She slowly started to stir and opened her eyes. "Wha...what happened?"

Author stood up and looked at the necklace. "Symbol must have known that he was going to die and placed a small amount of his life force in this medallion. Just in case something like this happened, I have never been so proud to call someone like him my son."

We all gathered around Symbols body and hung our heads. Just then a woman appeared, she was completely light blue and had a ponytail. She walked over to Symbols body and hugged it. Author knelt down and patted her on the back.

"He wasn't supposed to die this way, there is too much left for him to do. Looks like I'll have to start all over again." Suddenly his eyes shot open and he looked at Octavia. "Oh you clever boy." Octavia looked at him confused.

"What?" Author shook his head and placed the necklace around her neck.

"Hey, how about we all celebrate this victory with a party?!" Yelled Marx as he tried to lighten the mood. "Also to remember Symbol of course." Everyone smiled and nodded.

They all began to walk towards the castle, I stayed behind with Gale as we looked at Symbols body.

“So, what now?” Gale looked to me.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean what do we do now? What do I do now? My home’s gone, so I have nowhere to go. I lost some many ponies that were important to me, and now I’ve got no one.” Gale put his arm around me.

“Hey now, don’t be sad. I mean, you’ve got me.” I looked at him.

“Thanks.” I leaned into him and he picked up Symbol’s body.

“So, does this mean we’re dating now?” I put a finger to my chin in thought.

“You know, after something like this I’d say that’s fair game. But don’t get any ideas buddy boy, I want to take this slow.” He looked at me and kissed me on the cheek. Well, as close to a kiss that it could be.

“Wouldn’t have it any other way.” I smiled and we walked towards the castle together.

Three days later

We all sat down outside of Ponyville's graveyard, all of us wearing some form of black wear. I looked to my right to see Symbols friends all sitting with sad expressions. To my left sat Gale, Alduin, Metal, Epidemic and a displaced Bill Cipher, who probably knew Symbol from an adventure in the past. The entire displacers council had shown up, apart from one member that they called 'Roden.'

In front of the rows of chairs sat a stage with a coffin and a large photo of Symbol. Celestia was the first to speak on the stage.

"I was the first pony Symbol ever met in this world. He was always honest to me and everypony around him. He fought with bravery, determination and a burning desire to protect those dear to him. We would on occasion come to disagreements and on a few occasions to blows, but we had a deep respect for each other. He protected my ponies when I could not, and for that I thank him." She walked up to the coffin and placed her hoof on it. "Rest in peace dear friend, knowing that we are all safe thanks to your bravery."

She stepped down from the stage and Bill Cipher was next.

"I only ever met Symbol once, but what he taught me in the few hours we were together I will never forget. When he had made a mistake in my world and lost my trust, he did everything in his power, even risking his own life, to making sure that I could complete my mission. He showed me that even though I had these dark thoughts and memories, that they were never my own, and he freed me from my curse." He placed his hand on the coffin. "Farewell Neo, my old friend."

Bill floated back to his seat and closed his eye. Twilight was next to speak.

"Symbol was more than just a friend to me, so much more. He helped me with my research, showed me there was more to life than just books and making friends, there is also adventure, a drive to reach new heights. We would go on quests together to find artefacts and new information, a lot of those times he would have to save me from a crumbling temple or whatever. With all of that, I found something I never thought I would find, somepony to give my heart to." She placed her hoof on the coffin. "Goodbye Symbol, I love you, even though you'll never hear me say it."

Octavia walked up. "A lot of those things that Twilight has said can also be used for me. Symbol showed me more to life than just getting better at my talent, but also looking out for those I hold dear. I too found somepony I could trust with my life, for I loved him too." She placed her hoof on the coffin. "No one can ever replace you, rest in peace Symbol."

A few more ponies said a few words before Gale and I walked up together.

"What's to say other than what's already been said? We may not have known Symbol for that long, but what he did in that small time frame affected us both in more way than we could imagine."

Gale then took over. "He protected us when we were defenceless, he gave his own life to make sure Lisa and Marx survived. He brought Lisa and I together, and that is the greatest gift he could have ever given."

"We are eternally grateful to him, he saved us all and gave us a second chance at life. None of us will ever forget him."

"Let the multiverse cheer his name, for he was the one that saved them all! Praise the spirit of all that is pure, praise Symbol Shattered!" The crowd cheered and threw their hats into the air, cheering Symbols name. We both looked to each other and placed our hands on the coffin.

"Rest in peace, Symbol." We both said in unison.

Zero's POV

I stood at the top of the hill overlooking the funeral. Beside me was the grave that Symbol and I had made for our sister, Abigail. Shaking my head I fought back the tears.

"Damnit Symbol...why did you have to leave me all alone?"

Turning away from the grave I looked down at the funeral.

"Farewell, Neo Rayleigh, my dearest brother."

Third person POV

Everyone had returned to their own worlds. Lisa and Gale walked hand in hand as they walked through a portal back to Gales world. "Hey Gale?"

"Yes Lisa?"

"I was just thinking about all of this, all that's been happening I mean, and one thing just came to my mind."

"What's that?"

"Symbols soul is now completely gone, he doesn't even get to go to heaven or hell. He's just...not there. Did he really deserve that kind of fate?"

Gale remained silent as he held Lisa's hand tighter. "I don't know...all we can do now is remember who he was, what he did for us and move on."

She nodded and looked up at the sky. 'If any of your soul managed to survive Symbol, I hope we meet again someday, so I can thank you for saving me, and everyone else in the multiverse.'

"GAAAALLLEE!!!" Gale didn't have time to react as he was tackled by Metal Sonic. "YOU TRAPPED RAINBOW AND I IN CITY ESCAPE YOU JERK!!!"

Lisa watched as Metal chased Gale around, giggling as the two fought.

Meanwhile in Symbols world. Celestia stared out of her balcony at the large floating island that would remain there, waiting for its purpose to be fulfilled one day.

"Oh Symbol..." She wiped a tear from her eye and went back to signing her paperwork.

In the void of the multiverse, a tiny purple flame floated in place. A light appeared beside it and out walked a strange figure with a green tracksuit with a metal sash over his torso. He also had a scarf that covered his mouth. His hair was comprised of large spikes, much like Vegeta's from Dragon Ball Z. The figure reached into his pockets and pulled out five black gemstones, each of them being in the shape of four pointed stars.

The gems floated around the flame and glowed.

"We're not done with you yet young one, there is still much to do."

The small flame expanded and formed a humanoid figure.

"Here we go."

Three weeks later

The mane six and side five all sat together in the middle of Ponyville at a small cafe, along with Zero, Wasp and Zanny.

Everyone had noticed that Octavia's eating habits had become...odd. She was currently stuffing her face with cotton candy and chocolate milk.

"Uh, Tavi? You wanna cut down on the sugar? You're gonna have a heart attack if you keep this up."

Octavia stopped momentarily and placed her food down. "Sorry...I've been having a very strange craving for sweets lately and a bit of a...of a..." She grabbed a bucket and emptied her stomach into it.

"That's it, we are taking you to a doctor." Twilight stated in an authoritative tone. Over the past three weeks Twilight and Octavia had kept the herd alive and were growing to have genuine feelings for each other.

An hour later, Octavia lay in a hospital bed with Twilight sitting beside her. A pony with a brown coat and black straight mane walked in with a clipboard in his magic.

"What's wrong with me doctor?"

The stallion stuttered for a bit before taking in a breath. "Congratulations Miss Melody, you're pregnant!"

"WHAT!?!?"

Youtube Video

Zero: Life afterwards

Zero's POV, three weeks after Symbols Death

Well, looks like I'm taking over the story now. It's been a hard few weeks, after losing my last sibling and all. The girls have been feeling a little better after all the stuff that's happened. What caught me off guard was that Octavia was pregnant with Symbols kid, didn't know my bro had it in him.

I'm still working at the nightclub with Vinyl and it does pay well, I've taken up residence in Symbols old house with Crystal and Flare, who had revealed themselves as a race called 'Changelings.' The told me I had to keep it secret and that the only other person that knew was Symbol. Hey, if my bro trusted these guys I'll trust them too.

Anyway, things have been pretty calm and peaceful lately, other than meeting a guy that calls himself Posit. He looks exactly like me and Symbol, he said he was a manifestation of Symbols positive emotions, now that Symbol is gone he's his own person now and lives in Ponyville with us. Another weird thing that happened was a woman by the name of Vivi has started visiting Octavia, I don't know who she is but I think I saw her with Symbol a few times so I'll give her the benefit of a doubt. We have yet to see that Forge guy again, Author and Marx know he isn't dead and he isn't trapped in Lisa's world so he's just somewhere out there now.

That floating island is still there, Celestia and Luna had explored it and just closed it off to the public, anything Forge was planning in there is useless without Symbol, so I've heard.

I've grown to like my new life in Ponyville, it's a much better place than Masereth I'll tell you that, no rampant drug trafficking, no mob families, friendly neighbours and a great sense of adventure when the time arises.

Oh yeah! There was a statue built of Symbol that was placed in the Canterlot Gardens, and a memorial built near town hall. The guy saved everyone, I think it's justified. Nothing else has happened since then, so I guess we gotta see what the future holds for us.

As usual I was awoken by my alarm clock rattling away on my bedside table. I grabbed it and threw it at the wall, shattering it into tiny pieces. Slowly rising out of my bed in the room that had belonged to my brother I stretched my limbs. I pulled out one if my drawers that was full of spare alarm clocks I set one on the nightstand for the next day. Looking at the time I nodded, 10:30 in the morning. With my job at the nightclub I was awake until two to three in the morning so I had to sleep in to avoid exhaustion. I tossed my pyjamas onto the bed and got into my usual wear, a long sleeved green shirt that I left unbuttoned, a black t-shirt underneath, light blue jeans and white sneakers. Walking over to my dresser I opened the box that held my necklace in it and put it on.

As I was about to leave the room I glanced at a chest that I had been unable to open. My brother had locked it and hid the key, who knows what he's got in there. I walked down the stairs and walked into the kitchen, where I found Symbols pet spider Scary looking over a cook book with a tiny chef hat on. The little guy was actually an amazing cook. "Morning Scary." He turned his fluffy body around and waved a foreleg at me. He pointed over to the opposite counter where a plate of pancakes and some orange juice sat. I nodded to him and he went back to his book. "Getting ready to help with Wasp and Zanny's date with Aloe and Lotus?" He nodded his tiny head and started scurrying around the kitchen gathering various utensils and other cooking items until he had them in organised piles.

I chuckled at the little guy, you can basically call him a person with the way he acts and thinks. I don't know how he cooks and all as he never lets us watch but I know he's damn good at it. My brother did know how to pick his friends, even back on earth he chose his allies carefully.

After scoffing down my breakfast I made my way outside. Crystal (Zanny) got a job at the local jeweller, he appearenly had a talent for creating and cutting rare gems, Flare Blossom (Wasp) had gotten a job at a perfume shop. Hey, whatever pays the bills.

I began walking towards my favourite pony's house, the house of Vinyl Scratch. It was a spilt house, with one side being refined and classy, the other being electric and suited for a teenager to call their home.

Knocking on the door I was immediately answered by the mare I wanted to see. "Sup Scratch?"

"Sup Shattered?" We brohoofed and she allowed me in.

"So, we all set for tonight's show?" I asked while rubbing my hands together in excitement.

"You bet, just gotta get the new turntable from Neon Lights then we are good as gold." We both smirked and grabbed a can of soda. We popped the tins open and began chugging down the delicious liquid. Once we were done we crushed the cans on our foreheads and tossed them into a nearby rubbish bin.

"I see Octavia has started making you clean up more around here."

"Yeah, she says that since she's going to be having a foal live here in the future that I should try and keep things to an acceptable level as to not set a bad example. I'm actually thinking about moving out though." That caught my interest.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I love kids and all but I'll have to cut down on my wub time if I stay here when the thing arrives. I'll stay with Tavi during the last few months of pregnancy to help her out, but once she can move around by herself I am gone." I nodded, Vinyl wasn't one for keeping quiet for more than a few hours at a time, so it was understandable.

"I'd offer for you to stay with me, but I don't think Wasp, Zanny and Scary would appreciate your wubs like I do." She smiled and nudged my arm.

"Keep saying it like that and I'll assume you're after a piece of this delicious plot." She smirked.

"Maybe. But if I was after your plot I'd want the whole thing." She smirked and looked at me with a sultry gaze, which I returned. We stared at each other for a while before we burst out laughing.

"Hah! Good one Zero, I really needed that!" I patted her on the back and headed for the door.

"Right, see you tonight Scratch." I opened the door and went on my way.

Zero: Just guys talking

As usual I had gotten to the club early to set everything up, making sure I had the regular party goers drinks ready in case they arrived to get a bit of the work done beforehand. Putting on my uniform, a black vest with a shire button shirt underneath, a small black bow tie and black dress pants. Vinyl had already told me I didn't need to wear it but I put it on regardless, gotta look nice for the mares.

I switched on the neon lights at the bar and leaned against the counter, waiting for the party to start. Vinyl walked in the front boor and I waved. She nodded and winked at me playfully before going to make sure everything was in place for the night ahead. The rest of the staff arrived and Vinyl briefed everyone on what the night would entail. Before heading out to the front of the building the bouncer, a stallion I knew as Steel Heart, walked over for a cold one before he had to deal with the ponies in the queue.

"Usual please Zero." He said as he pulled up a stool. I reached behind the counter and lifted a glass with a green liquid in it. "Thanks."

"No problem Steel. Say, how are the kids doing?" I asked while wiping down the bar to look like I was at least doing something other than talking.

"They're doing well, their grades slipped after their mother passed away but they're getting better." He replied with a smile as he took a sip of his drink. "You ever gonna tell me what this is made of?" He asked.

"Hey, we all like milk but we want nothing to do with how it's made." I answered with a smirk.

"Curse you and your logic Zero." I shrugged and began setting out more beers.

"So, think you'll ever get back out there? I know you and Mist were divorced for a few months before the accident, so there shouldn't really be a problem with you havin a little fun every now and then." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"I don't know Zero, I'm pretty sure that every mare in town is taken other than Mayor Mare. As nice a mare as she is I just don't see it happening." I placed a hand to my chin in thought before snapping my fingers.

"How about that mare that just moved in, I think her name was Carrot Top or something?" He looked to me unsure.

"I don't know dude, she seems outta my league."

I slammed by hand out the bar. "Bullshit, you're a good guy Steel, even Mist knew that when she broke things off, don't you ever doubt yourself." I leaned over the bar and looked him in the eye. "Look, she needs someone to show her around the place anyway, you can go offer her some help, talk to her if you pass each other in the street or something, just be yourself when you do it, don't try to impress her that only ends badly because I'm sure this world runs on romance clichés anyway."

He sighed and smiled. "You're right, I'll give it a shot tomorrow." I smiled and patted his shoulder. "What about you? You ever gonna find a special somepony?"

"Eh I'm more a one night stand kinda guy, plus I'm like fourteen, don't think anyone would go for me though. A lot of the ponies here aren't really that fond of interspecies relations."

"Age doesn't matter here." I just looked at him in shock.

"Come again?"

He took a final sip of his drink and looked to me. "Love surpasses age here, although you do still have to wait to a certain age to do the intimate stuff but other than that you're basically aloud to date anyone as long as they're at least eight or something, and they have to be willing."

"Well I'm not looking to date a filly anytime soon, I may be a bit crazy but I still got some morals. Although that does help, thanks Steel." He nodded and jumped off his stool. As the night started I began thinking about what I had just learned. Sure Symbol was going to start a relationship with Twi and Tavi, did he already know about that? He was much more mature than me so he should have known what he was doing.

Shaking my head I returned to serving the ponies their drinks as the approached the bar. Looking around at the mares in the club my sight often found itself on Vinyl. "Oh boy, I know where this is going."

After a night of loud pounding techno and wubstep I returned to my home to see Crystal and Flare sleeping on the two couches, Aloe and Lotus cuddling up to them. 'Seems like the date was a success then.' Chuckling I grabbed two blankets from the closet underneath the stairs and placed them on the sleeping pairs.

I threw myself on my bed and looked to the ceiling in thought. "Why can't I get what Steel told me outta my head? It's just getting annoying now." Sighing I looked to a photo on the bedside table, it was of me and Symbol before the Xram incident. "What would you do in this situation Symbol? You were always better with the women than I ever was, you got a lotta info from those girls back home I'll tell ya that, you'd know what to do."

Closing my eyes I fell into a deep sleep.

When I woke up in my dream I was floating about with no control, strange as Luna had given me free roam in my dreams. I was in a black void until a light shone on a chest. It was the chest in my room.

"Find the key, solve the puzzle, piece together the mystery that I could not solve." That voice, it was him! It was Symbol!

As I tried to call out the dream collapsed and I woke up violently as my alarm clock rang out. I grabbed it and smashed it against the wall while breathing heavily. "What the hell was that?" I got up and looked out the window, everything in town was different. Buildings were floating upside down and the ground was a multicoloured checker pattern. "Uh oh."

Zero: Discord

I walked around the town with a raised brow. It was actually funny seeing the town like this, it kinda brightened up the place and made it more lively. Although I will question the floating banana dolphins and the cotton candy clouds that rained chocolate milk. I figure it was just one of Twilights spells gone haywire again since no one was actually getting hurt. Just in case some monster showed up I had brought my Colt Python 357 Magnum Revolver and placed it in my jean pocket. I had it secretly enchanted to never run out of ammo, thank Griffith for the Black Magic Market, fun fact I actually get my meat from there. Got a griffin named Stormlight to get me hydra meat in exchange for a plant called poison joke, must be this worlds equivalent to meth or something.

Don't you be staring at me like that, on my earth crime reigns free and some habits just stick, it's not like I'm giving it to kids or some messed up shit like that. We had an agreement, he tried to pull some sneaky shit I put a bullet through his head and vice versa.

As I looked around I saw a hill with some kind of tall chair on top of it. Deciding to investigate I walked over until I was at the bottom of the hill. Upon further inspection there seemed to be someone chuckling as they watched the chaos around the area. "Hey!" I called out.

The chair turned right around to reveal what I can only describe as a death metal albums wet dream except child friendly. The creature looked at me with curiosity. "Hmmm, isn't this interesting. I don't remember making a creature as strange as you yet." I immediately recognised that voice from Star Trek.

"I'm strange? Have you looked at yourself lately?" I retorted, not fond of being called strange.

"Touché. Tell me, what are you exactly?" He asked while leaning forward with interest.

"I'm a human, now what are you?" I asked while slowly slipping my hand towards my gun.

"Well if you must know, I am a Draconequus. I am Discord, spirit of chaos and disharmony." This caught my interest.

"Well, my name is Zero Shattered. What do you mean by disharmony?" He smirked and motioned to the area around us.

"This, I find this world quite boring so I caused chaos like this to liven things up a bit. Although Princess Sunbutt and Moonbottom don't really agree with my definition of fun." He snapped his fingers and a screen showing Discord being hit by the elements of harmony.

"Why? No one is getting hurt or anything and you seem to only want to have fun." I looked around and agreed it was a little extreme, but it could be managed. "Maybe you three could reach some kind of agreement." I suggested, he just looked at me with a shocked expression.

"Reach an agreement... With the Princesses?" He asked, floating down to me and bending down to eye level.

"Yeah, one that still allows you to cause chaos but at a managed scale. Like you find a large area of land to cause your chaos and maybe a little bit around a town or something to maybe make someone's day better and the princesses don't turn you to stone." He just looked at me in shock.

"That... that actually sounds reasonable, that's never happened before."

"Maybe it's because you never had someone look at both sides of the argument. Now how about you turn the town back to normal, bring us to Canterlot and we can sort this out together?"

He scratched his chin in thought. "Oh what the heck, I've got eternity to cause chaos, I can take some time to talk." I nodded.

"Ok, wait here a sec, I'm gonna go get someone that can help us out with this."

"Fine, but I need to keep myself entertained." He snapped his fingers and a tap dancing timberwolf appeared.

"Ok, that is funny." I chuckled and shot off towards Posit's house.

A few minutes later in Canterlot

I knocked on the door of the throne room and poked my head in to see Celestia looking worried. "Celestia?" She perked up and looked at me.

"Oh, Zero. I wasn't expecting you. Has something happened to Ponyville?" She asked with a worried tone.

"If by something you mean a chaos God showing up and turning oranges to pears then yes something has happened."

She got up and walked over to me. "Discord has already reached Ponyville? We must do something immediately." She was about to walk out the door when I stopped her.

"Heyheyhey hold on, there's another reason I am here. It actually involves the situation at hand... Or is it hoof? Doesn't matter." She looked at me confused. "Come in you two." Posit walked in the door with a warm smile.

"Hello Princess."

"Hello Posit, what do I owe the visit?" Asked Celestia. Posit waved someone in and the door was pushed open gently by Discord, who nervously waved at the sun Princess. "Discord!" Celestia charged her horn to attack but I blocked her way.

"Easy there Tia, he's here to make peace." Celestia just looked at me with serious confusion.

"What?"

"As hard as it is to believe, Zero is right. Discord is here to come to an agreement." Celestia just looked at us both in confusion, turning to Discord he had a halo above his head and was giving her puppy dog eyes... With a puppy in his arms, suprisingly effective on me. Although Symbol and I were born with a weakness to cute things for some reason.

"I find that extremely hard to believe." I sighed and walked over to the door. I pulled out a crystal I had bought on the black market and a magic barrier sealed us all in the room. I pulled out my gun and pointed it at everyone.

"Alright, no one is leaving this room until we come to some kind of agreement." Discord smirked, Posit looked shocked and Celestia facehoofed.

"Just like his brother." This was gonna be a long day.

Zero: Better and better

The Next Day

I walked with Discord through Ponyville, receiving a few odd glances from the townsfolk but that was to be expected. He did try to turn all of Ponyville into the Chaos Capital of the world yesterday. After reaching an agreement with Celestia and Luna, Discord was pardoned and accepted into Equestrian society. Although he had to do a bit of community service but he was forgiven nonetheless. I had a plan for him to be accept into the town, first I get Twilight and the girls to befriend him, then move onto my friend group. Our first stop was Twilights library, if she accused him of being a monster I had a trick up my sleeve to counteract it, although I really didn't want to use it.

"Alright, here we are." Discord and I stood in front of Golden Oaks Library.

"You sure this is gonna go smoothly Zero, I have the distinct feeling that Princess Pancake in there has it out for me." I covered my mouth and struggled to hold in my laughter.

"Princess Pancake?!" He smiled and turned into Twilight with wings, a crown and robe with patterns of pancakes on them and a cane with a pancake on the top.

"My esteemed subjects, today I, the beautiful Princess Pancake, shall bring you the syrup your villages so require." We both burst out laughing and fell on our backs.

"Oh man, I have a feeling you and I are gonna get along just fine." We got up and walked into the library. As we entered we saw a mountain of books and paper with a sleeping Twilight in the middle of it all with a blanket over her.

"Oh, it's you guys." We turned to see Spike walking towards Twilight with a cup of coffee. "If you're wondering why Twilight is like this, she was up all night trying to form a fail safe in case Discord ever decided to turn evil." Discord scoffed and glared at the sleeping mare.

"Come on Discord, she's just doing it to feel safe."

"I know, but could I maybe just make it rain a little in here to ruin her-" The sound of me cocking my revolver shit him up. "Fine, I'll leave the tiny pony alone." Smiling I spun my gun around and placed it back in my pocket.

"Can I at least wake her up?" He asked with huge puppy dog eyes.

"No, you're not doing anything to my brothers marefriend." I know that they hadn't really started the relationship but Twi and Tavi liked to think about themselves that way, helped them deal with the loss in some weird way. Discord looked at me and huffed.

"Why am I even asking your permission?" Again, a click answered his question. "Oh right, that."

"Should we come back later Spike?" I asked, Spike wasn't around when Discord had begun his mission so he had to rely on what others told him. Luckily I got to him first and got him to stay calm when Discord was around.

"Yeah, you don't wanna be around when Twilight wakes up and doesn't drink her after study coffee, it's not a pretty sight." I shivered at the memory of the last time Twilight had stayed up all night researching something, that was when Octavia was revealed to be pregnant with my niece or nefew.

"Well then I guess we'll come back later. See ya Spike." He waved at us as we walked out and put on some protective gear to prepare himself to wake up the sleeping mare.

I stood at Symbols grave with Discord, stopping by to pay my respects. I did this often, I just couldn't stop coming back, not after what happened. I find him again after all this time and within two days he has to go and get himself killed.

"You keep coming here too huh?" I turned my head to see Lisa walking towards us. Discord looked her over and smirked. Rolling my eyes I elbowed him in the crotch.

"Don't even think about it Discord she's taken." He just nodded while holding his crotch, experiencing the worst kind of pain. "Hey Lisa, ignore him." She walked to my side and got on her knees to get to the same height.

"It's weird isn't it? I just feel like I'm, drawn to the grave or something." I nodded.

"I feel the same way, everyone else does. I've spotted them all coming here. Auldin, Gale, Marx even Epidemic. There's just something that's drawing all of us to here." Lisa nodded in agreement.

"So, how goes your search for the key to the chest in Symbols house?" She asked as she put a small purple flower on the grave.

"Not good. But I did have a weird dream last night. Symbol was speaking to me, he told me to find the key and open the chest. Whatever is in there is obviously important." She looked at me curiously. "Anyway, how have you and Gale been settling in with the whole concept of living with each other?"

"It's been going alright. A candle with a purple flame that never goes out appeared in our appartment randomly but other than that it's been relatively normal." That sparked my interest, apparently all of the displaced in the family had received their own little candles of the same description, hell even I got one. Maybe it was something Symbol did before he died, who knows.

"Even in death he still manages to do something crazy like that." I chuckled slightly and we all began to walk away from the grave. "Rest in peace bro."

Lisa gave me a meaningful hug and returned to her world.

"Well Discord, looks like we're heading to our next target. Fluttershy's cottage." He frowned at me and I laughed nervously. "Hey, if you keep looking at Lisa that way I'm gonna make sure you can't do anything to her. Besides you can heal yourself."

"It still hurts like Tartarus." I shrugged.

"Could have been worse, she could have stabbed you with a tendril." Discord shuddered. "Yeah as sexy as she can be its best to leave her be."

"I heard that Zero."

"It was a compliment Lisa." She gave a hum in satisfaction and walked back through her portal.

Zero: Octavia in labour

11 months later

You're probably wondering about the huge ass time-skip aren't you? Well there is a reason don't worry. For starters, nothing of interest has happened during the past year, no monster attacks, no progress on finding the key to the chest, no major problems needed fixing. Ever since Symbol killed Xram things have been extremely peaceful around here. Granted Octavia has been going through extreme mood swings thanks to the pregnancy but we've grown accustomed to that. Discord opened a theme park that was in its own pocket dimension and constantly expanding as he thought of new ways to create chaos that was fun for the ponies.

Me and Vinyl? What about us? Oh, right, that. Well I took some time to think things over first, she went away on tour for a few months but promised she'd be back in time for the foal to be delivered. That was seven months ago, I'm starting to get worried. I know travel isn't as efficient here in Equestria than it was on earth, but it shouldn't have taken this long to do a tour.

It was getting closer and closer to the birth of my niece, she made a Pinkie Promise to come back in time for that, and I know she'll stay true to that promise. She'd better hurry up though, because right now we're rushing Tavi to the hospital after her water broke. I was carrying her in my arms as I carefully ran towards the hospital on he outskirts of town, the rest of the gang following behind me. I was now 15 approaching 16, I had let my hair grow out a bit and I now wore a coat instead of a shirt.

We didn't know what was going to come out of a foal bred from a human and pony, but Author had assured us nothing would go wrong. When we reached the hospital Vivi went to inform the displaced about the birth while we got Tavi to the maternity ward.

Rushing ahead Twilight informed the doctors and they took Tavi from me and led Twi and I to the ward while everyone else had to sit in the waiting room. As I sat by Octavia while she pushed I held her hoof and Twilight held her other. As the doctor told Tavi to give one last big push the door to the room flew open to reveal a panting and disheveled Vinyl Scratch. "I didn't miss it did I?"

As I was about to answer we all heard the sound of a baby crying, we all stayed silent as the doctor held up the small earth pony filly. It had pink fur and its mane was a dark purple with a white line through it, reminding me of cotton candy. "Congratulations Miss Melody, it's a beautiful, healthy filly."

As the hormones in her brain caused her to forget the pain of the contractions, Octavia held out her hooves and the doctor placed the foal in her arms. Looking down at her baby she started to tear up and smiled. "She's perfect."

I reached over and gently stroked Octavia's dishevelled mane. "You did great Tavi, Symbol would be proud of you." She smiled at me before nuzzling her child.

"She's beautiful Octavia." Twilight said as she kissed her marefriend on the cheek.

"Thank you, I just wish Symbol was here to see this." She wiped a tear from her eye and looked to Vinyl. "Come on Vinyl, come see your niece."

Vinyl slowly walked forward and to my side, her eyes never leaving the filly. She reached her hoof up and tickled the tiny pony, earning the tiniest of giggles from her. "She's... She's so tiny."

I told the doctor that everyone could come in and see the filly. As he left she decided to open her eyes, causing ours to widen as we saw them. Instead of pupils in her purple eyes there were spirals. "Well... that's unexpected."

Tavi looked to her child and smiled. "I think I know what I'm going to call her." We all looked to her expectedly. "Screwball." We all smiled at the name, thinking it suited the filly. Everyone began walking into the room, starting with Marx, Author and Vivi followed by the displaced, Posit and the girls.

Author walked over and picked up Screwball, examining her. "Everything is good as far as I can tell, although there is something you'll have to watch out for."

As Octavia was about to question him the filly sneezed and she momentarily turned into purple flames. "Great, she's got daddy's abilities." Octavia sighed and took the filly back. "I can already tell you're gonna cause mommy some trouble."

"Especially if it's Symbols kid, you are in for a long hard battle Tavi." I said while shaking my head.

"I don't care, she could have been a cross between human and pony and I'd still love her."

"What's wrong with humans?" I asked as well as the displaced in the room. I watched as everyone took turns walking up to Screwball, who giggled as Metal and Gale fought for a turn. I looked to Vinyl and motioned for her to follow me out of the room. "Excuse us everyone."

As I closed the door I glared at Vinyl who flinched under my face.

"Where the hell have you been?! The tour was for three months, not seven!"

She sighed and rubbed her arm with her hoof nervously. "I ran into some trouble in Las Pegasus."

"What kind of trouble?" I asked with ice in my voice, but also concern.

"I can't really explain it."

"Well you better damn well try." I leaned against the wall with my arms folded. "What happened?"

She sighed and looked to the floor. "It's a long story."

Zero: Days gone by

I sat in Berry Punch's bar with a mug of hard cider in my hand, Vinyl sitting beside me as we both drank in silence after what we had discussed.

"It's a long story..."

"Well then give me the shortest version you can."

Vinyl took in a breath and closed he eyes. "I ran into some trouble with the mafia."

I stood there wide eyed, not believing what I had just heard. "I'm sorry could you repeat that?"

"I got in trouble with the mafia ok?!" I put my hand over her mussel to shut her up.

"Ok Ok, you don't need to yell something like that."

She pushed my hand away and glared at me. "You told me to repeat it since you didn't hear."

"Yeah. but I didn't expect you to yell." I sighed and slumped against the wall of the hall. "Ok, what kind of trouble?"

"On the tour at one of the shows, these guys showed up and demanded a refund, we weren't the ones that handled the admissions so we told them it wasn't our problem and to go to the admissions desk. They didn't take being brushed off and stated making threats. Security came in but they were taken down by the group who then told us they were in the mafia, we didn't believe them at first but then this big guy showed up, about the size of Big Mac and told us his name, a name we were warned about before the show. Things started to get out of hoof, they hen took some of our staff to be sacrifices to some 'Cult of the Rings' and told us the only way to save them was to do a few jobs for them. We tried fighting back, but they had these two stallions with them, looked really young, but they took everyone of us down. After that we had no choice but to follow their ores for awhile, that's why I got here so late." She hung her head in shame.

I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose. "Well ain't that just fucking dandy..."

"I thought you'd be more shocked." Vinyl looked at me with her head tilted. "If I told anypony else this they'd freak out."

"That's because Symbol and I come from a mob family back on earth."

She starred at me wide eyed. "Y-You're part of a mob?"

"The Rayleigh Family, biggest criminal organisation in the world, at least on my version of earth. Symbol and I never wanted to hurt people or anything like that, we were forced to by our father who took our sister hostage and demanded that we work for him, in return our sister would remain alive. He didn't stay true to his promise, there is no one in the whole damn multiverse who I want dead more than him." I looked to my hand and noticed a soft yellow glow, shrugging it off I turned back to Vinyl.

"Is that why when you came here you and Symbol broke down into tears? Because you realised you were fighting for nothing?" She had tears in her eyes.

"Since when were you ever this emotional?"

She froze and looked away slightly. "A lot of things happened in those few months."

I sighed and looked into the room, watching Screwball suck on one of Marx' boney fingers. "Come on, let's go forget about all of this at Berry's bar." Vinyl nodded and followed me down the hallway.

So that's how we ended up here, drinking our problems away while the others celebrated my niece's birth. Taking a huge swing of my drink I looked to Vinyl who was starring at hers. Sighing I signalled Berry to give us another round, who nodded and placed two more mugs in front of us.

"You know, I've been thinking." I turned to listen to the slightly tipsy mare beside me. "Everyone around here's getting into some kinda relationship, what about me? Should I start lookin for somepony? If so who?" She took another swing of her mug before moving onto the next.

She wasn't wrong, a lot of our friends have gotten themselves partners. Twilight and Octavia were still together and their relationship was growing strong, Lyra and Bonbon got themselves some stallions from some candy company, Wasp and Zanny are with Aloe and Lotus, don't really know about the mane six, I know Derpy has started seeing that Dr Whooves guy, I heard that Symbol killed that guy's brother at some point last year, I'm sure he had his reasons. "I don't know hat to tell ya Vinyl, you'll probably know the right guy when ya see him." I started feeling a little tipsy myself.

"Yeah, maybe."

We remained silent as we finished our drinks. I places some bits on the bar and we walked on out of there. As we closed the door we both turned in opposite directions, walking towards our places of residence. As I was about to take a turn I looked back and watched Vinyl walk into her home with a drunken limp.

I sighed and put my hands in the pockets of my overcoat, walking down the streets of Ponyville as the moon appeared from behind some clouds. "What are ya doing to yourself Zero?" I rubbed the side of my face before walking into my house. Looking over on the coffee table I saw Scary looking into the lit fireplace, deep in thought. "You're up late little guy."

He turned his body around and looked up at me with sad eyes.

"Something wrong bud?"

He nodded and looked back at the fire.

"Well, whatever it is I'm afraid it'll have to wait until one of the changelings are up so I can understand you. Goodnight Scary." With that I retreated to my room.

Zero: Happy Hearth's Warming

I walked around the snow filled town, smiling as I watched the foals playing in the white blanket of joy. Many ponies were out and about, building snowponies or having snowball fights. As I reached Octavias house I saw her and Vinyl sitting outside wearing hats and scarves with Screwball playing around in the snow, surprisingly not covered up in any warm clothing. I walked up, three wrapped presents in my arms, one wrapped in grey paper, one who're and the last one pink.

Reaching the trio Screwball immediately turned her head and smiled, holding out her hooves signalling me to pick her up. Not keeping my adorable niece waiting I set the presents on a dry spot of ground and lifted her off the ground, earning a few giggles as her little legs flailed about as I spun her around in the air. "Hello there Screwy, why aren't you wrapped up?"

"She has her fathers powers, remember?" I turned around and saw Twilight walking up with a few gifts held in her magic. She walked up to Octavia and planted a peck on her cheek, earning a smile. I looked to Screwball who had summoned a small tongue of purple fire to keep herself warm.

"She's really getting the hang of using her abilities isn't she?" I hugged her and looked down at the three mares. "Oh, merry Chr- I mean happy hearth's warming you three."

The three smiled warmly and replied in happy tones. I had brought Scary out with me and he crawled out of my coat pocked, wearing a tiny scarf and little earmuffs. Screwball noticed him and laughed as he playfully scuttled around her body, stopping as she brought him into a gentle hug earning brighter smiles from all of us.

"Well, from what I know Symbol had gotten used to his powers very quickly, it's no surprise that she would catch on as well." Twilight commented. "Now, how about we all get inside and unwrap our gifts, I'm sure a little somepony is very excited for her first Hearth's Warming." Twilight picked up Screwball in her magic and placed her on her back, Scary had jumped off and was now resting on my head.

We all followed Twilight inside and sat by the fireplace, Screwy sat on the ground playing with a new rattle that Twilight had made her while the rest of us sat on couches facing each other. "Alright then, this one is for you Tavi." I said as I handed her the grey present.

"Why thank you Zero." She bit down on the bow and pulled, carefully taking off the packaging. Underneath was a grey box with pink beret to match her bowtie. "Oh my, it's wonderful." She placed it on her head, now looking classier than usual. "Thank you so much Zero."

"You're welcome Tavi, now this one is for Screwball." I said as I placed the pink present in front of my niece. She took a look at it and smiled, using her fire to carefully burn the wrapping paper and sent the ashes into the fireplace. Inside there was small box, clumsily opening it she found a necklace, Symbols necklace. "It didn't seem right to just keep the necklace to myself, and I'm sure that if Symbol wanted anyone to have it, it would be his daughter."

Screwy smiled as I placed the necklace around her neck. Surprising us all it started to glow purple, a human figure made of a see-through purple mist appeared and slowly walked over to the foal. Staying cautious I placed my hand on my gun. The figure knelt down and looked Screwy in the eye, it whispered a few words that I nor the girls could understand, but Screwball seemed to understand them. She laughed, stood on her hind legs and hugged the figures face.

"Dada!" We all froze as she said her first word, and at what she had just called this figure. We all thought we were hearing things until she said it again. "Dada!" The figure picked Screwy up and cradled her in its arms, looking to its eye I noticed a tear roll down its check as it cuddled her. It set her down and turned into a puff of purple smoke that all floated into the necklace, forming a purple gem on the medallion.

The rest of us were left speechless, unable to believe what we had just witnessed. We were snapped out of our trance by a knock at the door. Octavia shook herself and walked to the front door, opening it to reveal Author, Vivi, Posit and Plague and Amnesia. "Oh, hello everyone, please come in."

"Hello Octavia, happy Hearth's Warming." The group all walked in and Vivi immediately picked up Screwball.

"Ah, there's my beautiful granddaughter, with Symbols necklace?" She looked at the medallion and gasped. "Author, you might want to see this."

The displacer floated over and examined the medallion and smiled. "Why am I not surprised?"

"What's going on?" I asked.

"It would appear that Symbol had left a bit more of his life force in this, and had put a sort of protection spell on it. Any time Screwball may need some help or is in danger a ghost like version of Symbol will appear to help or protect her. Clever boy."

I left the group to open their gifts that they had gotten each other. Although, there was one gift I still had to give, Vinyls gift. I told her to follow me outside and she did so. Once in the back garden I handed her the present and she opened it with her magic, finding a vinyl record inside. "It's a record containing a good bit of music from my world, I figured you could put it to good use in the club to freshen things up a bit. Plus it will be nice to listen to some of my favourite bands from back home while I'm serving drinks." As I was about to continue Vinyl tackled me with a hug, causing me to fall on my back.

"Thank you." I smiled and returned the hug.

Merry Christmas from Second Universe

The original story, official SU reboot

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

My life, my choice, my regret

It's been three weeks since I've been sent to Equestria, which is fine, I don't care about earth. It's just a sad little world slowly being destroyed by the very beings that call it home. You can try to deny that, but deep down you know that's true. I know that humanity can be good, there is beauty there somewhere, but where I grew up and where I was born, I never saw that. My life was terrible, I've seen so much yet so little, what I have saw makes me despise my own kind. I could stand here for hours and point out all the flaws in humanity, but then this tale wouldn't go anywhere. So let's begin.

When I was sent here I woke up in the Canterlot Gardens, beside the statue of Discord. When I opened my eyes I couldn't believe what I saw, a white Alicorn was standing before me. When I realised that I was not dreaming I put my hand to my neck to make sure my necklace was still there, and thank God it was. My necklace was nothing special to look at, just a small black wire with the symbol of the sun hanging from a small chain. It didn't look like much to anyone else, but to me, it was my most prized possession, given to me by the one person I cared for.

After snapping back to reality I remembered about the elegant mare before me, my senses never played tricks on me so I quickly accepted it. Now I'm going to spare you the details about our conversation, mostly because it's been done a thousand times before. When I learned I was in a new world I quickly decided not to go by my own name. The ones to call me by that name hurt me in more ways than one. Now I know what you're thinking, no, I did not say my name was Anon. I looked to the symbol on my necklace and picked a random name. I told her my name was Symbol Shattered, weird I know but it seemed to fit me pretty well, considering my world was broken right at that moment.

Celestia let me stay in a guest room of the castle, which I am grateful for, but it didn't seem right. I told her that I wasn't comfortable staying in a castle and she understood completely. I was sent to a town called ponyville, along with her student Twilight. Apparently Twilight and I were to look over the preparations for an upcoming festival, I was more than willing to help out. Twilight was also told to make some friends, which I could tell she wasn't happy about. During the trip to ponyville she wouldn't stop rambling about some upcoming disaster. I just blocked her out with my headphones, thank God my IPod got sent here too. I actually found a way to charge it, Celestia had given me a small bubble with a mini storm cloud in it. I just had to stick my IPod on it and it would instantly recharge. I don't have to worry about the cloud running out of power, you know, magic'n'stuff. I also met Twilight's dragon friend, who was glad to finally meet a guy for a change. Apparently Equestria is mostly Female, terrific.

I stuck around with Twi for a bit while we checked up on the preparations. Once that was done we parted ways, she went to her new living arrangements as did I. I wasn't ungrateful for the new house or anything but I wanted to pay Celestia back in some way, so she told me that I could do some jobs for her if I was needed. My house was in the middle of town, near town hall. The ponies in the town were very accepting of me, which was surprising to say the least. When the celebration started I decided to mingle for awhile, I met a pony that I could connect with a little, her name was Octavia Melody. She had a sort of British appeal to her, very sofisticated and didn't show much emotion like me. She told me that her friend had forced her to talk to somepony and I understood. I was normally pressured into socialising by my brother, so we had some common ground.

At some point we got into a conversation about music, which was an interesting subject. I told her about music on my world and she complained about her friends choice of music. We were about to part ways when the announcement of the princess was about to take place. You know what, I'm going to give you the short version, Celestia was missing, Nightmare Moon appeared, Twilight ran out with a group of ponies, I followed, we ran through a creepy forest, reached a rundown castle, faced Bitchmare Moon, I punched her in the face when she grabbed the girls with her magic and they shot a rainbow death beam at her with the Elements of Harmony, and I am pretty sure that they were the chaos emeralds at some point (sonic 1 only had six emeralds so I'm going with that).

After it all died down Celestia showed up and I could only walk up and say, "Where were you during all this?" She smiled and walked right passed me, and you know the rest.

It's been two weeks since then and I've managed to make some friends during the time, I also managed to befriend Luna, you know, the one I punched in the face. She was new to this world like me, so Celestia kind of forced us into it. When I tried to decline she reminded me that I was to do jobs for her. If I wasn't grateful for what she has done for me I would've noped my way back to ponyville. After I apologised for striking royalty, I became Luna's friend. I know what you're thinking, no I have not smiled during this time. Back to my friends, I have befriended Derpy, here's the reason.

She was a social outcast and a lot of the ponies made fun of her, which I could relate to. Don't ask why. When she told me she didn't have any friends I told her this. "Who care what they think, just because your eyes are crossed doesn't mean you don't have feelings. Derpy, you are an intelligent mare, and for as long as I live, I will be your friend." She tackled me to the ground with tears of joy, it was actually kind of adorable. Next is Vinyl, mostly because she has a teenage feel to her, oh wait I forgot to mention that I'm only 14 years old, and she's basically my only source to soda here, but she's kinda cool. I helped her with a mix and she kind of just befriended me on the spot. Next is a mare called Bonbon, smart mare, makes amazing candy and keeps her promises, pretty awesome friend. Next is Lyra, and no she is not obsessed with my hands, but she did seem to know a lot about humans, I don't even ask how or why I just roll with it. She's a sweet mare, very reliable, kinda fun to be around and all in all trustworthy. It came to my attention that the only guy friend I had was Spike, who would often come to me for advice only a guy could give.

Earlier on this week Celestia told me that she had found a way to send me home. I told her that I had no intention of returning and she asked why. "You could see your family again Symbol, don't you want that?" I winced a little at that statement.

"Can you look through the portal?"

"Y-yes, but why do you want to know such a thing?" I pulled out my iPod and put up Google maps, by the way with the magical energy in this world I get free wifi, and showed her three specific countries.

"Take a look at these countries Celestia, then you will know." She looked unsure but followed my instructions. When she saw the first country she was heartbroken, when she saw the second she was appalled and when she saw the third she was enraged. She turned to me with tears in her eyes. "Do you see now, what good is there returning to a world filled with despair and judgement when there is a perfect world right here?" She dried her tears and stared at me, I was still holding a neutral expression.

"But what about your family and friends?" My expression goes from neutral to enraged.

"All of those people have caused me nothing but pain." She looks at me then to the portal, she cancels her spell and the portal vanishes. She brings me in to a tight embrace which I can tell was more for her benefit than mine. So I've started a new life in Equestria, big deal. So I'm separated from my own kind, like I actually care. This world has so much more to offer, I don't know what the future holds for me but I know it's a better future than a life of working nine to five in a dead end job and paying taxes for the rest of my life. I am currently standing on the edge of a cliff, overlooking the sunset, my arms folded. I look down at my necklace and hold it tightly.

"Stay safe Abigail." I whisper.

My name is Symbol Shattered, and this is my life in the Second Universe.

Gears turned and punishment earned

I was woken up by the sound of tapping on my bedside table, I looked over to see the spider from last night frantically tapping its legs on the table. "Woah, is everything alright little guy?" He shook his head and pointed to my window. "Is something going on outside?" He nodded his head. "Alright, you go wake up Zanny and Wasp while I get a quick breakfast so I have some energy for what crazy shits gonna happen today." He nodded and scurried down the table and out the door.

I got up and stretched a little, then I felt a pain in my side. I lifted my shirt to see a large gash in my side, a wound I received from the alternate Celestia in our fight, I also found three stab wounds but the weren't deep. I walked to the bathroom and opened the medicine cabinet, I took out some bandages and wrapped them around my waist, leg and chest, after they were secure I saw a red stain start to form. I ignored it and put the bandages back.

I walked down the stairs to see the spider enter the basement. I walked into the kitchen and took a muffin out of a paper bag. I began slowly chewing it as I heard hoofsteps coming up from the basement. I looked down to see the spider scurrying up to the kitchen counter. Zanny and Wasp appeared in their changeling forms, still trying to wake up.

"Morning Symbol, what's up, Scary here seems to be on edge."

"You called the spider Scary?"

"Yeah, I heard you say it last night and I think it suits him, plus he likes it." They looked to Scary and he nodded.

"Who am I to judge, I named myself 'Symbol'. By the way, the ponies don't know about the whole turning into a demon thing, so let's keep that quiet ok?" They nodded. "Good, now put on your disguises, we're heading out." They changed into their pony forms and headed for the door. When we stepped out we were greeted by an atmosphere that could fill the bravest man with worry. Ponies were hugging each other for comfort and some where crying their eyes out. "What the hell?"

We sprinted towards town hall, finding more ponies crying along the way. I started to notice that a few mares were hugging photos of what appeared to be their foals.

We reached town hall to find the mane six talking about something with serious expressions, with Rarity and AJ looking worried out of their minds, something told me this wasn't a friendship problem. We were about to ask what was going on, then I heard something that made me stop in my tracks, Derpy crying.

I turned to see my friends sitting around Derpy while she cried. Wasp and Zanny looked at me and stopped as well. I struggled to contain my rage, I walked over to them and placed my hand on her shoulder. "What happened?" Derpy tried to say something but broke down into sobs. Vinyl was about to say something but Twilight walked up from behind and explained.

"There's been a foalnapping, a group of criminals came into town last night and took all the foals." If you thought I was angry before, you were dead wrong, right now I wanted to lift up the nearest pony and snap their neck, and that's putting it mildly.

"Where..."

"What?"

I leaned down. "Where were they taken..."

"Symbol, this isn't something you can do alone."

"What is Celestia doing about this?"

"Well, she has t-"

"As I thought, Celestia, princess of a nation who is basically a god, can't even rescue some foals from a group of thugs."

"Now wait just a-"

"Don't lie to yourself Twilight, you know she's just going to make you deal with situations like this just because you guys use the Elements of Harmony, and I don't know what your plan is to deal with this but I can garunte that you'll just do what ever Miss SolarAss says because she's meant to be your 'beautiful and powerful teacher' now you are going to tell where the hell those thugs have taken the kids or I swear to you I will rip each mountain range apart, destroy every forest and burn every abandoned building until I find them, are we clear?"

The look of fear and shock that plastered her face didn't surprise me, my friends all looked at me with shock but Octavia just murmured something with a twinge of red on her face. I looked back to Twilight, she shakily pointed a hoof towards a mountain. I told Wasp and Zanny to introduce themselves to the group while I took care of business. I ruffled Derpys mane and began walking towards the mountain.

When I was about ten meters away from Ponyville Celestia appeared.

"What do you think you're doing?"

I just kept walking.

"Symbol, stop this."

Again I ignored her.

"I said to s-" I cut her off by giving her a backhand that launched her into a large rock.

"Stay out of my way." With that I walked off, leaving Celestia to process what just happened.

Over the previous nights Celestia has been haunted by the same dream, night after night, and it always struck fear into her heart.

Her dreams were about Symbol, not the normal Symbol, the demon Symbol. In her dream she was always beaten in a battle, when she looked into his eyes she saw only darkness, those dead black eyes and red pupils made her shiver. The way his skin changed haunted her, the blood that seeped from his eyes disturbed her. The power he held within him frightened her, and what just happened showed that her nightmares were visions.

He hadn't yet unlocked the full potential of his power, but he was dangerously close. There was something inside him that she knew all to well, and it was waiting to break out.

Meanwhile

Deep inside a cave in the mountain, there was a huge steel door. Behind said door was a group of ponies surrounding a crowd of foals. In the next room sat the leader of the thugs.

"Uh, boss, one of the foals wants to talk to you." The pony groaned and got up from his chair.

"What can't those brats keep quiet until we get our ransom?" He walked through the door and was guided to the foal that wanted to see him, Dinky.

"What do you want kid?"

"You hurt my mommys feelings, Time Turner."

"So what?"

"Symbol won't like that, he'll get angry."

"Pfft, and what is that freak gonna do about it? Those doors are made of the strongest steel money can buy, what's that ape gonna do?" He broke out into a historical laugh and his subordinates followed. Turner was about to say something else when a loud bang shook the cavern. "What was that?"

He looked at the steel doors to see a large dent in the middle, then another appeared with an even louder bang. The banging continued, Turner grabbed a sack and shoved Sweetie Belle and Dinky into it. "You guys take care of whatever is doing that, I'm using the back entrance." With that he ran out of a secret exit.

I continued punching the door that blocked my path, my skin was now snow white, my fingers were claws and I'm pretty sure my mouth was gone. My blue shirt had become purple for some reason. I had left multiple dents in the doorway, I stepped back and swung my fist around, I then launched it forward and the door burst open. I heard some of the foals scream in surprise. I slowly walked in, making sure to look as intimidating as possible. The ponies that had kidnapped the foals fell into my sights and my anger rose, resulting in more purple mist to seep out of my body.

In one swift move I cut the kids bonds and pointed to the door. "Go."

They nodded and rushed out, one of the thugs tried to block their path, I shot towards him and whacked him with the back of my hand, sending him flying against the wall. "Go!"

Once I made sure the kids were safe I turned to the offenders, a few charged me with some knives. I dodged and sunk my claws into one of their necks, I grabbed his corpse and threw it at one of the thugs that tried to blast me with magic. I felt a sharp pain in my back, I swung my leg back in kicked a pony off, I reached my arm back and pulled a small blade out of my back. While I was distracted the thugs surrounded me, then, when they were close enough I pulled a move I wanted to pull ever since I saw Sanji in One Piece. I flipped upside down and stood on my hands, I started spinning and stretched my legs out to do the splits, kicking each of the ponies in the face.

They recovered one by one, in which I finished them off with a stab of my claws. I walked out and was greeted by a crowd of cheering foals, I hid my blood stained hands behind my back. I looked out at the small crowd and searched for four ponies in particular, I saw two, but the other two were missing. "Where's Dinky and Sweetie Belle?" Applebloom shoved through the crowd.

"Time Turner ran off with em though a door in the back!" My eye twitched at the sound of that assholes name, that was the reason that Derpy was crying so hard, her and Turner had been dating for a few months, even before I got here. I told the kids to head back to the town and tell the stallions called Crystal and Flare Blossom to find me. They agreed and shot off towards the town once the were out of sight I let my anger show itself. When the mist flooded the cave I followed it to the back of the room where some of it was flowing in a small air current in the wall. I punched the wall and a long passage way made itself known. I sprinted down the passage, I spotted a reinforced door at the end, I picked up speed and readied my shoulder. I crashed through the door and found myself outside the mountain. Then I spotted Turner running into the Everfree.

Time Turner sprinted through the forest of thorns, he heard a crash from behind a few seconds ago and was sure that Symbol was catching up. He turned a corner in an attempt to lose Symbols trail. He ran for another minute before coming to a cliff in a small clearing. He was about to turn around when he heard a loud crash. He looked around to see Symbol, in his second demon form. His skin was dark grey, his hair jet black, his eyes were black with only red dots as pupils, blood seeped out of his eyes and formed red lines from the bottom of his eyes to his chin. He had four sharp black tentecals growing out of his back, his teeth and fingers were razor sharp.

Thinking quickly, Turner grabbed the sack with the two foals inside and held it over the cliff. "Don't take another step Shattered, or these foals won't see the light of day again!" Symbol just stood there with an unamused expression, with a snap of his fingers the sack was out of Turners hoof and at his side. He loosened the knot on the sack to let some air in the sack, but not enough for them them to be able to see what was about to happen.

With the foals safe I returned to normal, what I was about to do, I was going to do it personally, not in my demon form. I began to walk towards him with a look of pure rage on my face. He charged at me but I kicked him and he fell towards the edge. I lifted him up by his tail.

"Of all the stupid!" I slammed his head into the ground. "Asinine!" I set him down and stomped my foot into his stomach. "Shark jumping bull shit!" I lifted him up and slammed him bac into the ground. He staggered to his feet and stumbled backwards falling off the edge of the cliff. He slid down the steep slope and hit his leg on a rock, causing it to break. I then heard the growl of a timberwolf, I looked into the trees in front of him and saw three wolves closing in on him. He screamed for help but I just stood and watched as the wolves tore him to pieces. Once the wolves devoured every last inch of him they retreated under my gaze.

I turned around to see Dinky and Sweetie Belle with their hooves in their ears. I walked over to them and took them in my arms and started carrying them towards Ponyville. A manticore was about to pounce on us but cowered when I shot it a look. I looked back down to see Dinky looking up at me.

"Why did Time Turner have to die?" I sighed.

"That stallion had committed a great crime and had hurt a lot of ponies with this stunt, especially your mother. Sometimes the world is better off without ponies like that."

"I understand..."

"Don't try to understand it Dinks, I'm sorry you had to see that, you too Sweets."

"He hurt my momma, he deserved to be hurt!"

"He did kid." I looked at her as she closed her eyes and fell asleep. "He did."

Preparations and a thing of the past

Celestia and Luna where out on the balcony overlooking the floating island that had appeared.

"What do you make of this sister?"

"I don't know what to think Luna, this island was supposed to be a myth, now it's here." Celestia sighed and walked towards the door. "We need to gather the elements of harmony." Just then a guard burst through the door.

"Your highness, there appears to be some sort of shield around the floating island that s blocking our scouts from even getting close to the castle!" Both princesses looked to each other before flying in the direction of the island. The closer they got the slower they flew as to not end up like a bug on a windshield. When they were close enough Celestia placed her hoof on an invisible surface. She tried casting multiple shield breaking spells but nothing happened.

Stuck are we?

Both princesses looked up to see Forge laying on a cloud above them smirking.

"Do you have something to do with this Forge?" Asked Celestia in a dark tone.

Nope, but I know very well what this island is and what it was made to do, so I thought that you girls could use some assistance

"You know how to break the shield?"

Indeed I do, although it will take a few days, giving you plenty of time to prepare for your Gala

The sisters looked at each other and nodded. "Ok Forge, thank you for your help." He smirked and disappeared. Celestia rushed back to her study and began writing a message to Symbol. She sent it and gave out a sigh. "This isn't going to end well for anyone."

Symbols POV

The carriage dropped us off on the outskirts of town and I walked Twilight home. When we reached the library she turned to face me. "I really did have fun tonight Symbol." I just gave her a small nod in response. Her horn glowed and I was turned back to my human self. Before she opened her door she planted a small kiss on my check, leaving me wide eyed. She giggled at my reaction and walked into her home.

After processing what just happened I sighed and made my way back to my house. "What have you gotten yourself into Symbol?" I shook my head and entered my home to find Wasp and Zanny grinning at me like idiots. "What?"

"Oh, nothing, just that we saw the cutest couple outside the library." Both of them tried to stifle their laughter but failed and fell off the couch in tears, leaving Scary to shake his head in disapproval.

"Go to bed you two." I ignored their second outburst of laughter and headed to my bed when a scroll appeared in front of me. "Great, what now?"

Dear Symbol

I'm sure you've noticed the floating island by now, but that island may only be half of our problems. I believe that Forge is planning to use the dark secrets of the island for something, so, when we are allowed access I would like you to investigate the castle and put a stop to Forges plan, although we will be unable to enter until after the Gala.

Best wishes, Celestia.

Great, now I've got this to deal with. Oh well, might as well get Rarity to make me a tux, I'm not sure if I want to become a pony again, that was just uncomfortable.

"Alright, see you two tomorrow." Aloe and Lotus both gave me a smile before I exited the building. This morning I stopped by Raritys boutique to give her my measurements for the tux and would be ready this afternoon, the girls had gotten their dresses made a few weeks ago. The reason I didn't get my tux ready at the time was because I was undergoing a huge growth spurt, and I mean huge, I've grown twenty centimetres in the past month, what the actual buck.

Yeah, I never got any explanation other than 'magic'. I made my way down the street to the boutique, when I was in town centre everyone froze looking in the opposite direction I was walking. "What are these guys so shocked about?" I turned around to see the last person I wanted to see here. "You!"

Standing there was my twin brother, Leo. He looked exactly like me except his hair was blonde, his eyes were green and he wore a green shirt. He also wore a necklace except his had a star on his. He just stood there, smirking.

"Well hello to you too bro, it's been a while." I shot forward and grabbed his neck.

"I am in no mood for your games Leo, how the hell did you get here?!"

"Gah...what's wrong Neo, don't remember that you forgot to kill the scientists behind the portal experiment?" I lifted him into the air and slammed him into the ground. "Gack...want the hell...when did you become this strong?" When he tried to get up I brought my foot down onto his chest. He grunted in pain and I kneeled down to face him.

"My name isn't Neo anymore, and you should know that I have no intention of returning to Masereth." He looked at me confused and threw my off of him. He got to his feet and we began to stare each other down.

"What's gotten into you, why don't you want to go back home?"

"Because this is my home!" His eyes widened in shock. "A few weeks ago I was offered a way back to Masereth and I turned it down, do you want to know why?"

"Why?"

"To get away from all the death, all the pain, to get away from him!" His look was slowly starting to turn to that of understanding. "You and I both know that Abigail is dead, there's no point in us saving her now. Even if she is our sister, the Rayleigh family has probably already killed her." His face was becoming one of realisation.

"No...no he wouldn't...no..." I walked over to him and grabbed him by the shirt.

"Don't you get it Leo? We did all of that, for nothing! All of the killing, all of the destruction, all of the pain, it was for NOTHING!" There was tears forming in both of our eyes. We both collapsed to our knees. "...it was all for nothing..." He broke down into sobs and I let my tears roll down my checks.

"We're the only two left now..."

"I know."

"Do you still have it?" I nodded and pulled out the purple diamond, he pulled out a green one.

"When the light has taken one of our souls."

"Will still have one thing to hold."

"Even in death, we will not be led astray."

"For our fallen has now seen the light of day." He brought me into a hug and we sat there in the middle of the street in each others arms grieving over our fallen sister. The ponies had no idea what was going on, so they decided to leave us alone and get on with their day. My friends came over to me and Leo and just looked at us with worry and confusion.

"Why is there two Symbols?" Asked Derpy.

"I think that's his brother." Answered BonBon.

"I missed you Neo..."

"I missed you too Leo." We sat there in each other's embrace, not noticing my friends standing right behind me. "Come on, let's go, you know what we have to do." Well pulled apart and he nodded. We began walking towards the nearest hilltop with a tree to create a memorial for our sister.

Rest in peace my dearest sister, the one I truly cared for in my world of sorrow. I miss you...so, so much.

Goodbye sweet sister

After gathering several items and making a grave marker, Leo and I were standing on the top of a hill where we had built our sisters memorial, under the shade of a tree. The marker was a wooden cross made of planks and rope with a photo of Abigail in the centre. There was also a small white dish filled with water and a small lotus flower. We stood there staring at the grave, neither of us saying a word.

My friends had watched all of this happen, all the while trying to make sense of what was going on. Leo and I looked to each other and nodded. I pulled out a copy of Abigail's necklace and he a copy of her diamond. I hung the necklace over the cross and he set the gem just behind the dish.

"Rest in peace Abigail." We said in unison. He wiped a tear forming in his eye and I closed my eyes for a moment of silence. A few minutes passed and we sat down, still looking at the grave.

"So what's your plan Leo, you heading back to Masereth?"

"There really isn't any point now is there?"

"There is one thing." He looked at me with confusion. "To kill our father." He nodded.

"You have a point there, but we'd never be able to do it." I nodded sadly and turned to the girls.

"You lot have been a bit too quiet during all of this." They tensed up and looked away nervously.

"Well Symbol, it's just that we don't know what to say in this situation." Confessed BonBon and the group nodded.

"You told them your name was Symbol?"

"Yeah, I changed my name, I'd advise you to do the same." He nodded and started to think.

"How about Zero?" I looked at him with a brow raised. "What, your name's Symbol, let mine be Zero." I shrugged.

"Well the who am I to judge, you'll have to add Shattered as your last name though, cause that's my last name now."

"Alright, Zero Shattered it is." I nodded and we got up to face the girls.

"Girls, meet my twin brother, Zero Shattered." I looked over to a few trees and spotted Vivi. "You guys introduce yourselves to each other, there's something I have to check up on." They nodded and began talking. Upon approaching the woods I was grabbed by Vivi and brought into a loving hug.

I slowly started to tear up in her embrace and hugged her back.

Shhhhh, it's ok my child, I'm here

For the first time in my life I felt the love of a mother, as memories of my past life started flooding back to me I held her close and broke down into tears.

My past life was now coming back to haunt me, and I'm going to pay for leaving Masereth sooner or later.

Symbols story continues

Hi there, check out the spinoff of Second Universe in Ashes In The Wind.

In this story Symbol has been resurrected and is being taught how to become a displacer by Roden. He, along with the symbiote pony Abi, must now displace someone.

However, the one they displace does not let Symbol leave, so now he must join Portgas.D.Ashley while they track down the Nightmare that was once trapped in Symbols body.

(Anything that happens in this story is not necessarily canon to the main series, Second Universes official sequel 'When Angels Fall' will be published at a later date)