Calm before the Chaos (Part 1)
The Void.
An existence that is very confusing and contradictory and bigger than the concept of big. It is where the universes and multiverse and all those things reside, including everyone’s favorite Void Dweller, Aaron Heibai.
Right now, he’s just being a lazy butt.
“Oi! I take offense to that! Wait… where am I? Hey! This isn’t my story! Where the f**k am I this time!?”
Just then, a young girl went tumbling head over heels past him, trailing glittery sparkles and knocking him flat on his metaphorical butt.
“GAH! Another one!? Oh… it’s her story. Okay okay, I got it. Time to go kick the Merchant’s ass… again.”
And there he goes, off to do the same thing he does every week.
In the Everfree Forest sits a castle that has long since given way to the unnatural weather patterns in the strange forest. Old towers now lay as meaningless rocks, decayed banners barely cling to mossy walls, and the receptacles for the sealed Elements of Harmony abandoned of the five orbs, only to hold water until they, like the rest of the castle, eventually fall to time.
Here, in the main chamber, is where the fate of this world and another begins.
With a young girl with lilac colored hair clinging to a weird black and yellow box simply appearing in flash of sparkles and weird blue numbers and letters.
And for a while, she rests.
Tiffany slowly opened her golden eyes to see an unfamiliar sky framed by a ceiling that had barely been staying up.
“H-hu-what?” She asked in a tiny voice to herself before sitting up, taking in the ruins around her. She came to a conclusion rather quickly but hoped that she was wrong.
Getting up, she looked around in greater detail before leaving via the only exit, noting that the only lettering she found was all illegible due to the passage of time.
It only left her with one way to go.
The dark and creepy forest, full of trees gnarled by time and the dark creatures living in there.
Tiffany gulped, putting the box she knew as a tin for her Chaotic cards, including her new ones, in the pocket of her green pants.
Then, with one step, she started walking across the old rope bridge to the forest, hoping to find some sort of life beyond it.
Tiffany’s eyes darted left and right as she traversed the dark forest, its canopy killing most of the light from the sun, though she thought the sun was acting weird. It seemed to jump randomly.
Finally, she reached the edge of the forest to a rather odd scene that made her just freeze to comprehend it.
There were ponies.
Lots of them in all sorts of colors and they all seemed to be fighting over one ragged looking doll she never got a real good look at.
After a moment, she turned around and decided to just take her chances with the ruined old castle and lack of food.
If she would have stayed a moment longer, she would have seen Celestia descending from on high to stop the fighting.
Tiffany kept walking, following the old path, when she heard something moving in the bush near her started rustling.
She stepped back, letting out a sigh of relief when a snow white bunny hopped out. She bent down and held out her hand. “Hey there little guy~”
The young girl cooed as the bunny hopped closer, she herself staying as still as possible. It was a calming thing to her, after waking up in a strange location and seeing fighting ponies.
That was broken by what sounded a hawk screech and a blur of brown smashing into the poor bunny, a small stain of blood being left behind on the ground and a very traumatized young woman.
Now, she was no stranger towards death, having seen it on TV occasionally, but it was nothing on the real thing. It shocked her enough to fall backwards, turning her head towards the brown blur.
From where she was, all she could see was a tail, fur, and feathers. Also, bits of white fur and blood and she could hear the creature eating.
Tiffany carefully got up and started to inch away. In this case, she should have turned her back to the scene of death, because as soon as she thought she was free to run, the back of her head struck a low hanging branch. This elicited a loud yelp of surprise and minor pain.
This also caused the creature to stop eating and look in her direction with what she thought were glowing eyes.
Tiffany felt like the entire world froze for a moment before she finally broke it by screaming and taking off.
She heard the creature screech as she ran away, her lungs already burning from the walking she had already done that day.
She practically felt her heart explode as she felt something heavy slam into her from behind, something claw like pushing her face into the dirt.
“Who and what are you?” Tiffany paused as she heard the female voice coming from the creature on top of her and responded in the only way she could really think of.
“What?” She squeaked out, trying to look at what had pinned her down.
“Answer the question, you… you... thing!”
“I-I’m not a thing, I’m a human!” Tiffany cried out in response, her eyes brimming with tears.
“I’ve never heard of a human before!”
“Well, I guess you wouldn’t have, given the ponies back that way.”
“Those stupid ponies,” Tiffany whimpered as she felt the claws on her head tightening their grip.
“Um…,” She could feel that this thing didn’t have a good past with the ponies. “Do you want to talk about it?”
The claws shifted on her head but there was a moment of silence. “Sure...,” Then the creature got off her, Tiffany flipping over to take in the creature for what it was in the dying light.
And honestly, other than the blood on its chest and beak, it looked like a small, girly griffon. Tiffany gave a snicker.
“What?!” The griffon snarled, her wings spreading out in anger.
“It’s nothing,” Tiffany held up her hands in a placating manner.
The griffon snorted before starting to explain her past with the ponies, including the fact that her friend, Rainbow Dash, had betrayed her for a pink ‘harpy’ that kept pulling cruel pranks on her.
At the end, Tiffany came to an important conclusion.
The ponies were terrifying and a bit vindictive.
“So, I really don’t think we should go there…,” Tiffany grabbed her left arm nervously. “I-I don’t think I can help you with the ponies.”
The griffon snorted. “Didn’t think you could. You don’t even look that strong.”
Tiffany looked at the ground when reminded of her weakness. “Yeah... I’m pretty weak.”
The griffon smirked. “Anyways, you need some help getting out of here? It is pretty dangerous.”
“Well,” Tiffany mulled the question over in her head. “I guess, but I know where some ruins are so I could just stay there.”
She shrugged. “Guess I’ll get my nest then if these Ruins are any good. By the way, my name’s Gilda.”
Tiffany started walking. “Um, I’m Tiffany,” She responded meekly as they entered deeper into the forest, beginning the first steps towards a destiny of greatness.
Author's Note
So, yeah. Another Displaced Fic and one I’ve had floating around my head a while.
This one dealing with Chaotic (a mix of the card game and TV show.)
“But wait!” You say. “There’s only one line related to chaotic in here!”
And my response to that is, “patience. It will show up, just not this chapter.”
Also, Aaron is selling footage of himself beating up the Merchant in various ways if any Displaced want to buy it.
Aaron says: “HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Twenty bits apiece!”
Calm before the Chaos (Part 2)
Tiffany and Gilda were soon crossing the rope bridge, though Gilda just flew over, citing her fear that the bridge could fall at any moment.
Thankfully for Tiffany, today was not the day for it to break and soon the two were entering the ruins of the castle.
“Seems pretty ruined, so I guess you weren’t lying there.”
Tiffany gave a small sigh. “The place where I woke up seemed intact for the most part, other than the roof. I mean it should be-”
“Wait, where you woke up?”
“Um, yeah. I don’t know how I ended up in there,” Tiffany took out her ‘fake’ scanner. “I mean, last thing I remember is putting some new cards in my tin…” She tried to open it up, only to yelp when it made a loud beep, dropping it.
Gilda just looked to her oddly. “What was that?”
Tiffany shakily picked up the scanner, seeing the front screen lit up with the card for a certain Mipedian called Mizkio. She put a finger to the screen experimentally as Gilda flew behind her and looked over her shoulder. She swiped to the side, starting to go through a bunch of different creature cards she had before stopping on Phelphor of the Deep.
“I-It was my tin,” She muttered in confusion and shock. “But... It’s a real scanner now I think.”
“Scanner?” The griffon asked.
Tiffany snapped out of her confusion to answer. “Well, where I came from, there was a series of… stories based on this card game called Chaotic. Basically, some humans had these scanners that allowed them to go to the place where the creatures in the card game lived. The place is called Perim,” She was explaining as they walked into the castle, neither of them noticing the dark shadows at the edge of the forest watching the two.
“These scanners allowed them to not only scan the creatures and get cards based on them, but it also allowed them to turn into those creatures and battle in this weird in-between place called Chaotic.” She looked down to the yellow scanner with some worry as they entered the room she had woken up in. “But they are just little fun but fake stories where I come from to promote the card game. I-I have no idea why I would have a real one or why I would even need one.”
Tiffany looked up through the hole, stars glittering across the dark sky. “I mean, I know this isn’t Perim or Chaotic and I’m not an avid player of the card game. Why me? I’m not that special.”
Gilda snorted at Tiffany’s last sentence. “Hey, maybe back in the boring place you lived in, you were very boring, but not here. I mean, you're the only human I know of,” Gilda flipped her ‘hair’. “I mean, you're probably the only human in all of Equus for all we know.”
Tiffany looked back down with a smile. “We don’t really know a lot. I mean, is Equus the planet we’re on?”
Shadows stalked into the room, preparing a weird contraption as Gilda slapped Tiffany on the back of the head playfully with a wing. “Of course it is, you thing.”
“You going to stop calling me that anytime soon?” Tiffany asked jokingly, rubbing her head where she was hit.
“Not in your-,” Gilda gave a loud squawk as a net was tossed onto her along with two giant hunchbacked dog things, making Tiffany fall back in surprise, her scanner clattering away from her.
“Keep bird still! Get monkey too!” A rough voice spoke up from the shadows.
“Tiffany! They’re diamond dog slavers!” Gilda cried, struggling against the dogs holding her down and trying to bite and claw at them.
Then, one of the diamond dogs took a step toward the lone human.
Tiffany started backing up from the diamond dog towering over her. Then, she felt her hand land on her scanner, along with a loud beep that echoed through the room.
She looked down at the scanner just as a ring of blue numbers and letters rose from the ground, surrounding her in a ring and changing her into the red creature on the card she had looked at last as it flowed up her body.
The diamond dogs all stepped back, confusion and horror in their eyes. Gilda just looked on in shock, remembering what Tiffany had said earlier about transforming.
Tiffany herself was in a mental shock at what had happened as her new body moved on its own, glaring at the diamond dogs. Then, Phelphor’s eyes started glowing purple, the diamond dog’s eyes soon turning purple as well.
“Leave this place and the griffon. Never come back,” The M’arrillian ordered, his voice sounding like it was underwater.
The diamond dogs nodded, ripping the net off Gilda, and starting to walk out. At least one of them had a bit of drool coming out of their mouth as they left, entering the forest, never to return.
Gilda just sat there in shock at just how… easy it seemed. Then, she saw Phelphor get surrounded by those same numbers and letters, turning back into Tiffany.
She fell to her but after the numbers and letters disappeared, putting a hand to her head. “Oh god, I feel like I’m going to be sick.”
“W-what was that!?” Gilda rushed over to the human, who had just noted her scanner in her right hand.
“I-I transformed into a creature,” Tiffany muttered. “But… it felt so wrong. Like swimming through some warm sludge or slime,” She closed her eyes with a shudder. “A M’arrillian… Never doing that again.”
“But the numbers and stuff?”
“Part of the transformation process. Something about a code,” Tiffany quickly changed her default card to one of her random Mipedian creatures.
“So, does that mean you have other creatures?” Gilda asked, sitting beside the human and rubbing her back.
Tiffany nodded. “Don’t feel like changing right now.”
“Well, I’m just going to go get my nest and get back here. You just stay here and relax,” Gilda spread her wings as Tiffany nodded. She took off as Tiffany looked to the ground.
“Never again,” She whimpered.
Luna shot her head towards the Everfree forest, having felt a strange power from the ruins of her old home. It wasn’t that strong but she had felt a similar one when she was just a child.
She briefly contemplated going over to check it out but shook her head. “No, 'twas probably a coincidence.”
But the alicorn still had doubts and so, turned to one of her loyal night guards. “Starry Night, We have a new assignment for thou.”
The bat like pony saluted. “I will do anything for you, my princess!”
Luna looked back to Ponyville, ready to make her declaration.
Author's Note
Had to put in a reason why Tiffany didn’t just use the broken tribe known as the M’arrillians all the damn time.
But seriously, the M’arrillians in the show, are really broken. Like, every single one has mind control and their plans almost worked if not for sacrifices and hidden plans by the leader of the Overworld.
Oh, their plans? Flood Perim and turn it into Water World. *dodges thrown bike.*
But yeah, expect chapters after this to come out slower after this due to college stuff. But hey, next chapter has another creature appearance and an appearance by everyone’s favorite pony!
Oh, and it’s actually pretty easy to look up what the cards look like on google images.
