inFAMOUS Displacedby Wayward ShadowChaptersChapter 2: Gather IntelChapter 3: Non-violent SpellChapter 4: Wage the WarChapter 5: Beg for MercyChapter 6: Summon SoraChapter 7: Aftermath and New ProblemsChapter 8: Trust the ConduitChapter 9: Karma and PTSDChapter 11: Karmic EffectChapter 12: Saying Good-Bye (without saying it)Chapter 13: The TokensChapter 14: Enter the DarknessChapter 15: Unbreakable ChainsChapter 16: DismissChapter 17: Making PlansChapter 18: Manehatten Mess (Part 1)Chapter 19: Manehatten Mess (Part 2)Chapter 20: The Spider and the ConduitChapter 21: Secrets RevealedChapter 22: Testing RainbowChapter 23: Portal TroubleChapter 24: Angels of WarChapter 1: Displaced and Already in TroubleChapter 10: Wakfu WarfareChapter 25: Demons of ChaosChapter 2: Gather IntelinFAMOUS Displaced Chapter 2 Gather Intel “I say we gather intel,” I state in a whisper, “If we can get the idea of what they’re planning, we can end this war sooner and the innocent will be spared.” “What about us!” the cowardly pony whisper-shouted, “We’re not soldiers. We’ll be slaughtered and served to their King on a spit.” “That’s the value of sacrifice. A few dying to allow many more to live,” I countered, “We also hold an advantage over these buzzards. They have armor, meaning that they will be a bit clumsy. We don’t need to defeat every buzzard here, we just need to keep them busy so that the professionals can nab the intel the Royal Guard need.” “If I’m going to be getting the Intel, I need two volunteers who are good at sneaking around,” Smoke said, “Also, if we link up through a telepathic line, we can call for help more readily and easily.” “The rest of us need to cause a ruckus, burn supplies, and comb the camp for Blast Shards,” I state, “The stronger I am, the more of a ruckus I can cause. It should get them to come after me instead of you.” “That makes sense,” said the cowardly pony, “I guess there’s no way for me to be talked out of the idea.” “That’s what I want to hear. Now, get ready.” I stood up and started absorbing the Blast Shard. The Blue aura moved from the Shard to my hand and before we all knew it, the physical remains of the shard crumbled into pebbles. I looked at my hand and saw the blue aura fade away into smoke. I kept the smoke on my hand to try and get a feel for what smoke is like. I’ve watched walkthroughs of inFAMOUS: Second Son and I didn’t know how conduits were able to have control over their element. I did, however, have a hypothesis. In order to control their element, they had to be their element. Feeling the smoke in my hands, I felt the warmth that it held. It also had a form of mystery to it...you know…’what’s behind the smoke and mirrors’ kind of a thing. It felt immaterial as well. With those thoughts in mind, I charged towards the cage side, aiming for the lone griffin guard. Just before I made any contact with the side of the cage, I suddenly became a cloud of smoke and passed through the cage bars. I then reformed back into physical form...right on top of the Guard. He was taken by surprise and before he could do anything, I smashed my fist into his helmet, knocking him out instantly. I then restrained him with smoke, should he come to. I searched the guard for the keys, but I couldn’t find anything. I didn’t want to risk being found and having the prisoners either tortured or killed for nothing. I turned back to the cage and did the only thing I could think of. I tore the door to the cage off of it’s hinges. That was followed by avian squawking. We’ve been discovered. “Alright, Out! Now!” I shouted to the cage occupants. All of the ponies in the cage, with the exception of Smoke Shot, the cowardly pony, and a pegasus, left the cage and began to brawl with griffins that heard the cage being broken. Smoke Shot and the other two ponies began to run the opposite direction. Before they got very far, I managed to call them back. “Smoke! The Telepathy spell!” She cast the spell and I heard a voice in my head. ‘Okay, can you hear me?’ ‘Yeah.’ ‘Now, go help the others. If we find anything of interest, or we need help we’ll give a shout out.’ ‘Got it.’ After that experimental conversation, I went to where the majority of the prisoners went to distract the guards. Every so often as I ran, I heard a few yell of pain and squawks. I approached the scene of a brawl between a pegasus and a griffin and gave the griffin a piece of my mind in the form of a well placed punch in the beak. It hurt like heck but I didn’t have time to check my hand’s condition. I kept running around to various parts of the battle and giving the griffins broken beaks or ribs. Now while that made it seem that the battle was going our way, it wasn’t. For every beak or set of ribs I break, there was a pony that was either injured or dead. There was the occasional pony that had a lucky break and had managed to avoid injury. Those that could told me as to where any blast shards were. Roughly part way through the fifth blast shard, I received a message from Smoke Shot, but it sounded like there was static-like interference ‘Hey!...We’ve...Problem!’ ‘What’s wrong?!’ ‘Our magic...disabled, but...find the blast...stopping it.’ ‘On my way! Where are you?’ ‘North...Camp...Leader...Help!’ I began to worry. I ran around the camp, rallying the remaining prisoners to try and save the intel operation. We ran as fast as we could to get to the northern portion of the camp, searching for the intel group and the blast shard that they were having problems with. When we arrived at a clearing in front of a tent that was bigger than the others we’ve trampled, we saw a horrendous site. The Alpha Griffin that lead the group that captured me, was strangling the life out of the pegasus that went in the Intel group. The cowardly pony was already dead, lying in front of the Alpha. Smoke Shot was lying some distance away from the scene. This may have looked bad, but it got worse. Once the Alpha finished strangling the pegasus, he pulled out a chain...my chain...and began to advance on Smoke Shot. I looked at the prisoners I had gathered and I could see that, magic or no magic, they would be slaughtered. Just as the Alpha was about to reach Smoke shot, I moved forward towards the griffin. My movement caught his attention and he turned towards me with my chain ready. “Hmm, you ponies seem to not get it,” he sneered, “We griffins are meant to rule over all creatures. You all are low life herbivores.” “Last I checked, I’m not a pony and I’m omnivorous,” I countered, “And leave them out of this. This is between you and me.” “How is this between us two?” He asked in ridicule, “Our war is with the ponies, not you or your kind.” “You got me involved by capturing me,” I said, “Something about slave trade.” I saw that he understood what I said. He quickly shook off his surprise and readied the chain to strike at me. “A mistake that I will remedy easily, thanks to the Anti-crystal I have on me.” Anti-crystal? Is that a blast shard? Before I could contemplate more of what he said, he came at me with the chain. I was able to avoid the various strikes and swings until I caught the chain. A grin suddenly formed on his face and I saw his muscle tense to pull me towards him. Unlike when I first met the griffins, I was ready when he pulled. I fell backwards and his pull pulled me towards him. As I slid towards him, I adjusted my hand that had the chain end. As he was ready to bury his claws into my gut, I punched him with my chain hand. I slid under him as he was rubbing his beak. After I was past him, I got up and pulled hard on the chain. He was then flipped onto his back. As he was about to get up, I kicked him hard, causing his armor to shift and a blast shard flew out of it. I walked to the shard and picked it up and turned to the downed griffin. “Is this an Anti-crystal?” I asked the griffin. He nodded. I absorbed the power and crumbled the remains in my hand, much to the griffin’s shock. I then said, smugly, “Next time you go toe to toe with a conduit, don’t carry a blast shard with you.” I then walked up to the scared griffin and restrained him with swirling smoke. I then turned to the gathered ponies and called out, “Search the camp for any more prisoners, intact supplies and tools, and more blast shards!” They ran off in different directions as I went over to where Smoke was. I didn’t know much about pony anatomy, but he could tell that her back legs were bent in a direction that the weren’t supposed to point. I carefully picked her up and brought her to a wagon that had became designated for the wounded. I set her in the wagon and searched for the dead. After they were gathered, we gave them a proper burial, each one given a grave. For each grave site, I placed a board where their head was and I used the spray paint to paint their flank mark on it as best as I could. Apparently, the spray paint I used was magical in some way, because when I sprayed on the board, it seemed to read my mind and sprayed the mark on perfectly and without blemish or color deviation. After the burial of the dead, and the inspection of supplies, we began to head out. The wagon that had Smoke in it was in the lead with myself following to relay her directions to the Royal Guard Outpost to those pulling the sick wagon. The wagons carrying the supplies and tools were following, with the blast shard wagon bringing up the rear. We had traveled for several hours before the sun started to set. When the sun was halfway set, I called for the camp to halt. We set the wagons around in a half circle and had the blast shard wagon away from camp. With mine and Smoke’s help, we had a fire going and we brought the wounded out and began to tend to them. It took me a moment to figure out, but I began to heal the wounded as best I could with my smoke. Their wounds and broken bones just mended almost instantly. But even with the Insta-heal or whatever, they needed to rest and recover from the shock of being wounded. After healing the last pony, I sat by the fire next to Smoke. I absorbed some of the smoke to recover from the healing session and began to relax. Smoke looked up at me. I noticed in my peripheral vision that her look seemed to be a look of wonder. I decided to break the ice (no pun intended on the weather). “You seem to be amazed.” I noticed her shocked face. ‘I am. You were amazing. You had taken down every brute of a turkey with ease.’ ‘Yeah. I’m amazed as well. I was just an average joe with the average job. Next thing I know, I have powers and I helped a bunch of prismatic ponies escape from a detachment of a griffin military.’ ‘And yet, you aren’t freaking out?’ ‘I’ve seen and experienced worse. My dad had a tendency to act more like a teenager than an adult.’ ‘That doesn’t sound too bad.’ ‘If bad doesn’t include strapping himself to a flagpole, hoping to be struck by lightning.’ ‘Never mind.’ I chuckled a bit at her sudden change of heart. ‘I really need to figure out how telepathy works. I want to be able to talk mentally without another to ready the line, so to speak.’ ‘You said that what you did wasn’t magic and therefore, you couldn't do magic.’ ‘I know, but there are other ways to talk telepathically...I think.’ ‘How?’ ‘I’m not sure.’ I looked at the blast shard wagon in the distance and I decided to go count how many blast shards there were. ‘I’ll be right back, I’m going to do some counting.’ I walked out of the camp to the blast shard wagon. Once I got there, I tipped the wagon over so I could count as I refilled the wagon. When I did, I started hearing a strange humming sound. It seemed to come from the pile I had made. I dug through the shards until I got to the source of the humming...A Blast Core. I got excited and ran back to the camp. I got to where Smoke Shot was and as soon as she saw the blast core in my hands, her eyes got big. “What are you doing with that blast shard!” “This isn’t a blast shard,” I said, “It’s a blast core.” “Blast core?” “Yeah. This is much like a blast shard, except instead of making me stronger, it gives me new abilities.” “Well, then, absorb it and get the power.” I did however have another idea. “Hold on,” I interject, “I want to try something.” “What?” “A conduit can absorb it and get more abilities by channeling their element through it. I wanted to know if you channeled a spell through it while I held it, would I be able to use that spell?” I asked. “I don’t know,” she responded, “I may be worth the try. What kind of spell do you want to learn?” Hmm. This is tough. I could learn a combat spell, but I don’t want to be overly aggressive or violent. There may be the availability for a more useful, non-violent spell, but I may be unprepared for a fight in the future. So what kind of a spell should work? Combat Spell or Non-violent Spell? ********************** Combat Spell “Do you think a combat spell would work?” I asked. “Do you have any type in preference?” “Something explosive.” “Okay,” she said, then had a look of confusion, “How will we do it?” “Fire the spell at the blast core as I hold it,” I instructed. I held it in my hands, making it an easy target for Smoke to shoot. She charged her horn with an orange aura. “Ready?” She nodded. “One, Two, Three!” She fired her spell at the blast core and scored a direct hit. Unfortunately, due to the explosive nature of the spell, I was knocked back. My head hit a wagon and I blacked out instantly. ************************ Non-violent Spell “Let’s play it safe, I want to learn telepathy,” I stated. “Okay,” she said, then had a look of confusion, “How will we do it?” “Weave the spell into the blast core as I hold it,” I instructed. I held it tightly in my hands as Smoke charged her horn with an orange aura. “Ready?” She nodded. “One, Two, Three!” She enveloped the blast core in the orange aura. At first, nothing seemed to happen. But then, I started to feel pain. And this is not pain as in “I stubbed my toe,” or “I banged my head on the doorframe.” This was pain as in “AARRGG! My insides are being ripped out without painkillers!” I began to yell in pain, but as I yelled, I looked at Smoke and saw that she was yelling as well. She seemed to be in pain as well. After who knows how long of pain and yelling, we both collapsed. After a few seconds, my vision went dark. Author's Note Points: +1 Rank: Protector Chapter 3: Non-violent SpellinFAMOUS Displaced Chapter 3 Non-violent Spell “Let’s play it safe, I want to learn telepathy,” I stated. “Okay,” she said, then had a look of confusion, “How will we do it?” “Weave the spell into the blast core as I hold it,” I instructed. I held it tightly in my hands as Smoke charged her horn with an orange aura. “Ready?” She nodded. “One, Two, Three!” She enveloped the blast core in the orange aura. At first, nothing seemed to happen. But then, I started to feel pain. And this is not pain as in “I stubbed my toe,” or “I banged my head on the doorframe.” This was pain as in “AARRGG! My insides are being ripped out without painkillers!” I began to yell in pain, but as I yelled, I looked at Smoke and saw that she was yelling as well. She seemed to be in pain as well. After who knows how long of pain and yelling, we both collapsed. After a few seconds, my vision went dark. ************************* I couldn’t tell if I was blacked out for a few seconds or several hours, but when I felt aware of anything, I saw myself in a form of vision. In this vision, the other me raised his left hand to his temple. The vision went white for a moment, showing him do the same thing. Except he was in a corridor and there was somepony behind him. Other Me didn’t notice him until his hand went to his temple. His head jerked as if he realized that the pony was behind him. He then rapidly undid the chain and gave the pony a whack with it. *********************** I woke up to unstable ground and uncomfortable sleeping conditions. After my head and vision cleared, I found that I was in the back of the blast shard wagon. The convoy was moving. I managed to get out of the moving wagon and I ran to the wagon at the head of the train. Looking into it, I saw that Smoke Shot was conscious, but was exhausted. She was still leading the refugees the nearest Guard outpost. I got into the wagon with her and she noticed my entrance. “You’re awake!” She shouted in excitement. “I am,” I state, rather bluntly. “You know, we never really got you name,” she said, “Most of us have learned each other’s names, but I didn’t catch yours.” At that I was conflicted. I never liked lying, but I wasn’t sure how I was going to get home in the first place. Those factors gave me issues on how I would be called. But, ultimately, I settled on… “Delsin Rowe.” “What?” “My name is Delsin Rowe. Commit it to memory,” I said as I pointed to my head with my hand. As soon as my hand made contact with my head, I suddenly felt a rush of information. I could “hear” the surface thoughts of everypony in the camp. Smoke Shot and the confusion from my physical reaction to my flood of thoughts. The pony far in the back of the wagon train complaining about the weight of the wagon. The griffins hidden in the snow bank that...Wait...Griffin? I removed my hand from head and exited the wagon. I looked around and tried to figure out where I had felt the griffin. I even put my hand to my head and tried to match my visual with my mental. No luck. I stood there trying to find the griffins until I noticed that the blast shard wagon passed me. Well, I needed the help to find those griffins just in case. I grabbed a small handful or two of blast shards and absorbed them. I then entered my Scan and and managed to match my visual with my mental. The griffins were hiding behind snow banks to the left and right of the wagon train. An Ambush! This was confirmed when a Griffin popped over the top of the left snow bank and fired a crossbow at me. The bolt hit me in my right shoulder, sending me into the blast shard wagon and knocking it over. The pony that was pulling the blast shard wagon began to complain about the mess I made, but I wasn’t paying attention to that. I was dealing with some intense pain. My vision was partially blurry as I pulled the bolt out of my shoulder. As soon as it was out, I felt as though the pain was starting to flow out. I looked at my shoulder and saw the wound closing up with bits of ash and smoke coming from the wound. Once my injury was healed and my head cleared, I used my smoke ability to get onto my feet and scanned the area again. The Griffins behind the left snow bank had moved to the other side. All of the ponies in the wagon train had armed themselves with whatever weapons were salvaged from the POW camp and moved to the left of the now stopped wagon train. This ambush was going to be a massacre. I moved my hand to my head and gave a warning to everypony in the wagon train of the ambush. ‘The ambush is coming from the other side!’ The mental shout I gave scared a few ponies, but they all turned around just when the Griffins came out of hiding. The two groups began to fight. I was about to, but my foot bumped up against some blast shards. I picked up a few and absorbed them. I then felt as if I knew how to fight. I gathered some smoke in my hands and began to fire off small shots of smoke at the griffins. Most of my shots hit the griffins in the body, but the shots that hit their heads caused them to go into coughing fits. However, even with my support, we were being overwhelmed. ‘Everypony hitch up! Leave the blast shard wagon! I’ll keep them distracted’ I then called out to the griffins, “Hey! You Buzzards!” That got their attention. “Get a load of this!” I then lobbed a sulfur bomb at them. When the bomb exploded, the griffins caught in the blast began to cough uncontrollably. Those that weren’t, began to charge at me. I fired off smoke shots and cinder blasts to give me time to get some distance between me and the wagon train. Once I was far enough away from the wagon train, I pulled out my chain and began to fight. My mental abilities allowed me to predict (mostly) how the griffins were going to attack. I would smoke dash whenever a griffin tried to attack me from behind and I would retaliate with a chain to the beak. I started to grow tired and it became harder to fire off smoke. My smoke dash was even becoming an issue. As I started using smoke less and less, my opponents began to notice and became more bold. I was soon overwhelmed and bound up. One of the griffins had a battle ax and was ready to take my head off. I closed my eyes and readied myself for death. Waiting...Waiting...Waiting…‘Is there a problem with your ax, buddy?’ I opened my eyes and saw that the griffin that held the ax had a dead, blank look in his eyes. He then dropped the ax dangerously close to my head and then fell over. His helmeted head landed on my head. The impact caused me to fall into unconsciousness. As my vision was blurring and darkening, I distinctly could see a bright silhouette hovering over me with a darker one next to it. ********************* I woke up to hearing a campfire nearby along with sounds that are attributed with an army camp. I was inside a tent that had a red heart embroidered on it. The sun was shining bright enough for the cross to be visible inside the tent. I looked around and saw a variety of injured or otherwise afflicted ponies. There was also a campfire built inside the tent to keep the cold air out of the tent. I got up and moved to the fire and began to absorb the smoke. Halfway through the process, I heard the tent flap open. Looking to the tent entrance, I saw two alicorns in partial battle armor staring at me with shocked expressions. Once my smoke absorption was complete, I unraveled the chain on my right wrist. The alicorns lowered and charged their horns threateningly, but they stopped when I threw the chain at their hooves. I looked them up and down and said, “You both look like the ones in charge here.” The darker of the two alicorns stepped forward and said, “We are. As is our sister. We are Princess Luna and she is Princess Celestia. We would like to ask of thee as to thy name.” “My name is Delsin Rowe,” I replied. Princess Luna looked at me with a confused look. “That is a strange name,” she said. “It's the name I chose,” I replied. Princess Celestia stepped forward and said, “We wish to speak with you.” “Okay,” I said, as I moved to a cot and began to heal the occupant. After I had healed him and sent him out, I looked back at the Princesses. “Um, are you going to speak or…” I trailed off. Princess Celestia recovered from the shock first. “We were hoping to talk to you in private.” I was a bit surprised. “Can it wait for a few minutes?” I asked as I absorbed some more smoke and moved on to the next patient. Celestia seemed ready to object, but Luna spoke first. “Verily. We, on the other hoof, desire to know of how thy power works.” I raised my eyebrows in amazement. I finished the pony I was healing and turned to the Princesses. “I can give you a demonstration of my powers, but as I’m working, I’ll explain as best I can,” I paused to start work on the next pony, “I’m what is called a conduit. Someone with the inborn traits to manipulate/control a form of matter or energy,” I pointed to the fire, “As you can see, I can control smoke. Most of what have been able to do with it only skims the surface of what I can do.” “What can you do?” Celestia asked, with a look of concern in her face. “My ability to heal is part of it. I can shoot concentrated balls of smoke, blast smoke in a form of scattershot, fire an explosive like shot of smoke. I can throw a non-lethal smoke bomb, restrain enemies with swirling smoke, turn myself into smoke briefly…” I paused and saw Celestia’s face. “Is everything alright?” I asked. Celestia shook her head, as if to clear her head, then said, “I’m just concerned. You have all of this power, and I’m concerned that you will abuse it.” I finished healing the last pony and then turned back to the Princesses. “The only thing holding me from abusing it is responsibility. With very few exceptions, I’m to be held responsible for anything I do with my powers.” That seemed to cause Celestia to relax a bit. “Anyway, you wanted to talk to me about something?” I asked. “Yes,” Luna said, “We both wish to commend thee on thy actions of saving our spy, Smoke Shot, and helping her retrieve vital information and saving the Prisoners as well. If there is any way that we can repay thee, speak thy mind.” I stepped back a moment and began to think. I did want to go home, but already, in the first few days I spent in this world, I’ve had more adventure than what a college life offered. So that was out of the picture. I considered a high rank or position, but that would be greedy on my part. Then a thought struck me...The Akomish. “I wish to speak to the ponies that I had freed, including Smoke Shot.” “Is that your request?” Celestia asked. “It goes a bit deeper than that, your Highnesses,” I said with a kneel and bow to that (no sarcasm), “I heard from Smoke that the other prisoners had ‘bonded,’ if bonding means ‘knowing almost everyponies’ names.’ I wish to incorporate them as Akomish tribe members.” “Akomish?” I pulled back the left sleeve of my jacket, revealing a Native American tattoo. “Basically, the Akomish will be a group of ponies that will respect your rule and will be dedicated to helping and defending others, ESPECIALLY each other,” I said. ************************* My request to start the Akomish was granted and the ponies that I freed were eager to join. I laid the specifications of the help they were to extend if asked for or otherwise noticed needed. I also allowed them to marry outside of the tribe and if they wanted their children to be Akomish as well, it had to be at the consent of the non-Akomish spouse. Those who marry in the tribe have their children born in the tribe as well. As a means to distinguish Akomish from non-Akomish, I used my spray paint can to mark their left arms with a Native American styled version of the Equestrian Flag, or what was on the flag. Two alicorns, one blue and the other red, circling around a sun and moon, blue and red respectively. After initiating all the ponies that I had saved as Akomish, Celestia and Luna declared for a feast to be made in honor of the new tribe. The feast itself was vegetarian, and was spread in a medieval fashion. The Princesses, the top commanding officers in the Royal Guard, myself, and Smoke Shot sat at a table that was set up at the back of the celebration tent that was set up. The remainder of the Royal Guard and the Akomish sat at various tables strewn about and around the tent, with a few braziers set up on and between the tables. The party (for lack of a better term) seemed to go well. I was able to tell Celestia and Luna of my origins. ********************* A few days earlier… I looked up at the convention center with apprehension. Too many crazy things happen at conventions. I’ve heard of the kidnapping and thefts and how certain things are bought by the the kidnapped before they were kidnapped. Nevertheless, I made a bet that would get me needed money to pay for college. All I had to do was buy something cheap, yet high quality and get back to Idaho Falls and get paid. Simple enough. I entered the convention center and I was immediately admitted in after showing my ID. Thank God for the internet and ID. The inside seemed to have more room on the inside than the outside, almost like the TARDIS from Doctor Who. Despite that, There was barely enough room in the center to breath, let alone walk. I quickly moved to the souvenir booths to escape the crowds near the celebrities. Browsing around, I saw some really high quality items, but they ranged in a price that wasn't worth the money. One item, or more appropriately, one set caught my eye. It was an authentic replica of Delsin Rowe’s clothes from inFAMOUS: Second Son. “Do you like it?” I heard a creepy voice say. I jerked back in surprise and see the booth vendor. Creepy guy, I could say that much. He was dressed as someone from a videogame, but because of my low amount of time that is free, I don't have much (if any) to play any. “You a big inFAMOUS fan?” He asked. "Yeah,” I replied, “Mostly Second Son, but overall a good series.” “You seem to have luck on your side,” he chuckled, “That costume is on sale for twenty dollars, AND, because you look to be one with a taste for authenticity, I'll even throw in this industrial chain and can of spray paint.” He then pulled out a chain and a spray paint can for me to see. “Deal!” I say, without hesitation. He pulled out a bag that had the full costume in it and moved to put the chain in it. “Um, could I just wrap the chain around my arm?” “Sure,” he answered, handing me the chain and placing the spray paint can in the bag. I took the chain and the bag and proceeded to leave. “Have a nice trip!” He called out to me as I walked away. As I turned from him, I distinctly saw a strange twinkle in his eyes. It scared me a bit, but I just continued away. I was only about ten feet from the convention center door when I tripped. I closed my eyes and readied my arms to brace myself from the fall. It was then I felt something that I thought wasn’t supposed to be at a convention...snow. ****************** Present day “Art thou stating that thy name isn’t Delsin Rowe?” Luna asked. “On my birth world, it wasn’t,” I answered, “Here in Equus, it might as well be, considering that I don’t know how to go back...or forward for that matter.” Celestia giggle-coughed at my joke and then regained her composure. “I’m sure we can help you in both trying to find a way back and what to do to move forward.” “Thank you, Princess,” I said, “I don’t know what…” “Your Majesties!” A Royal Guard Courier whisper-shouts to the Princesses, “Urgent…” he begins to say, but I shoot a subdued smoke shot in his mouth and he dissolves into a coughing fit. I look back to Celestia and saw her shocked/angry face. “I hate being interrupted,” I explain quickly. I absorb the remaining smoke from the courier’s system and wait for him to talk. “Ahem, *Cough*, Your Majesties, I have urgent news from the Capital.” “What is it?” Celestia asked. “The Capital is under attack by a draconequus.” Celestia and Luna had shocked looks on their faces. “Has anything been done to try and remove the creature?” Luna asked. “We have done all that we could, your Majesties.” “Has anypony been harmed?” Celestia asked. “With the exception of those attacked by animals it created, nopony has been harmed,” he stated, “But if they encounter the draconequus, they are elaborately pranked or brainwashed.” He then lifted his helmet off and his mane is revealed to have been transformed into a mess of snakes. Both the Princesses recoil at the site of the snakes and immediately cast a spell to counteract the Medusa Hairstyle. Celestia then starts rubbing a hoof on her temple. “My stress levels are too high from this war as it is,” she states, “But add a Creature of Chaos and I feel that the stress is going to be the death of me.” “We need to make haste and vanquish this creature,” Luna said. “We cannot, Luna,” Celestia said, “The Griffins will use our absence to their advantage.” “But if we don’t, our ponies will feel that we have abandoned them and won’t welcome us back happily,” Luna retorted, “If we are to confront these threats, we need to divide and conquer!” “We cannot fight a draconequus individually. If we are to face it, we need to do it together, but we can’t leave the war as well.” Hmm, this seems like a problem. The Princesses can’t handle both problems at once. But if I helped, both problems can be handled. So, should I wage the war or deal with the draconequus? ********************** Wage the War “Just to throw in my opinion, if I was to wage the war, then both of you could return to your land and deal with the draconequus.” The Princesses looked at me with surprised yet grateful looks. “This will definitely help with my stress levels.” “All I ask is that the Akomish goes with you and is given a new start in life.” “Thy request will be granted,” Luna said. The Princesses and the Commanding officers rose from the table to handle the switch of war powers. Smoke Shot and I rose to prepare the Akomish for departure. ************************* Deal with the Draconequus “Just to throw in my opinion, if I was to deal with the draconequus, then both of you could stay and wage the war.” The Princesses looked at me with strange mix of emotions. “While this may help with my stress, I’m not too sure about this.” “Just keep the Akomish safe,” I said, “And leave the rest to me.” I then grabbed Smoke Shot and smoke dashed out of the tent with her. Author's Note Points: +2 Rank: Protector Sorry for the delay. Wayward had a vacation that interrupted his writing. Thank you, Fluttershy. Hey! What about me!? Cool Your Jets! Chapter 4: Wage the WarinFAMOUS Displaced Chapter 4 Wage the War “Just to throw in my opinion, if I was to wage the war, then both of you could return to your land and deal with the draconequus.” The Princesses looked at me with surprised yet grateful looks. “This will definitely help with my stress levels.” “All I ask is that the Akomish goes with you and is given a new start in life.” “Thy request will be granted,” Luna said. The Princesses and the Commanding officers rose from the table to handle the switch of war powers. Smoke Shot and I rose to prepare the Akomish for departure. After we all left the tent to deal with the switch of war powers, I suddenly doubled over, but not in pain. Everypony noticed my movement and rushed to help me. “Delsin! Are you okay?!” Celestia said, worriedly. “I just feel as if I suddenly have an adrenaline rush,” I reply. Before anypony or myself did anything more, I suddenly began to glow a bright blue color. I closed my eyes to keep the light from blinding me. After a few seconds, the glow ceased and the rush ended, but I still felt refreshed. Opening my eyes, I noticed two things. One was the fact that everypony’s eyes were looking at me in almost disbelief. The other thing was the fact that my clothes looked slightly more clean and brighter. I quickly took off my vest to confirm my suspicions of a Karmic Shift. Looking on the back, I saw, instead of the original eagle motif, the motif shifted to the Guardian Rank position. Smiling, I turn the vest around for them to see the image on the back. “Well, as the Greatest Conduit has said before, ‘Karma’s a b****’.” ******************** After the war powers for the Griffin-Pony War were transferred to me and the troops and Akomish were addressed, things started rolling into motion. The Akomish that wanted to start a new life as soon as possible left with the Princesses and a contingent of Royal Guard. The Akomish that were anxious to help in the war were made members of the Royal Guard (including Smoke Shot). Before they were given armor, I had insisted on a few aesthetic differences to the usual Royal Guard armor. While the armor would hold most of its looks, I asked that the plumes were red and blue feathers instead of the typical pony hair, and the Akomish symbol would be placed on the back of the armor. The Akomish that were made members of the Royal Guard were then named the Eagle Guard. My armor was, at first, difficult to work with the Royal Armorsmith to work, but with the aid of magic, it was made. My armour was a chain hauberk with some plates worked onto the chest and back portions of the armor and a helmet designed after Roman centurion's helmet with the same feather plume as the Eagle Guard. The armor was made with the same magical gold/steel alloy, and was to be worn with my Karmic vest off. As soon as I had put it all on, it flashed blue briefly before it looked a bit brighter, the plume had a slightly more blue dominance, and the Akomish insignia was on the backplate of the hauberk (the blue alicorn and the blue sun were slightly bigger than the red one with the red moon). I insisted that I kept my chain to still use as a weapon. The Royal Weaponsmith was hesitant at first, but he okayed it after checking over the weapon and making sure it was in good condition. After preparing the Eagle Guard and myself for eventual conflict, we packed up camp and started our march north. From what Smoke Shot was able to gather from the intel that we gathered a few days ago, the Griffins were planning on equipping each of their soldiers with an Anti-crystal (blast shard) and attacking the Crystal Empire. Looking at the map that the Griffins had, we planned our course to intercept them just south of the Empire. There we would be joined by the Crystal Guard from the Empire. We marched to our destination, received our reinforcements, and readied ourselves for battle. We had catapults and ballistas placed at the rear flanks with contingents of Crystal Guard to guard them. We had a line of Unicorn Royal Guards in the front to act as skirmishers until the fighting officially began. They would then act as a Phalanx, working to keep the Griffins back as much as they could for the next line, the Crystal Guard and the Earth Pony Royal Guards, to engage in combat. The Unicorns would then flee behind the combat, join their brethren and begin casting spells. As for the Eagle Guard, Smoke Shot and I, we had an important role to play in the upcoming battle. The Eagle Guard would function an important role almost like how the Companion cavalry that Alexander the Great used. They manned (or was it ponied) a set of catapults in the rear center that would send incendiary rounds that would explode, dealing massive casualties to the Griffins. However, the rounds would still remain and smoulder, allowing for Smoke Shot and I to have ‘fuel’ for our abilities as we fought behind enemy lines. I mention the fact that Smoke Shot needed ‘fuel’ as well because...well...she’s a conduit as well. She didn’t really show her conduit abilities until on the march towards the Empire. A catapult piece wasn’t secure in the wagon it was in and she was walking next to it. The piece almost crushed her, but she smoke dashed out of the way before it could. From there her abilities became more defined. It got to the point that she could manipulate smoke with her hooves better than her magic. The battle came and it was won...with a few complications. The front line of the Griffin invasion force were equipped with blast shards, causing the Unicorns in the front to get slaughtered. The Crystal Guard seemed to have an immunity to the magic nullifying power of the shards and plowed through the front lines. From there, the battle was practically won. ********************* “I cannot thank you enough for this,” Prince Sombra said to Smoke and I, “ If there is anything we or I can do to repay you, please let us know.” “Thank you, my lord,” I said with a bow, “For now, rest for our troops and ourselves will benefit us greatly.” “Of course,” he said with a similar bow, “Before you rest, I wish to speak with you, Master Delsin.” “Alright,” I said. I turned to Smoke, “Make sure the troops get rest. Attend to the Akomish.” She nodded and wandered off to do her job. I then followed Sombra into the castle lobby, where a crystal heart was on a special pedestal as it was spreading light and love across the known world. Even I could feel it’s power. “Magnificent, is it?” “I don’t think there are words to describe what I see and feel,” I reply “Thank you,” he said, “It took several generations of my forefathers and myself to craft this.” He then bent over, coughing into his hoof from something that wasn’t smoke. I moved to help him, but he waved me off. “I’m fine. It’s just...the magic that was used to construct the Crystal Heart has nasty side effects.” He showed me his hoof and it had splotches of dark purple that seemed to have an evil feeling to it. “Using darkness to create light,” I said, “Rather risky, isn’t it?” “My forefathers tried searching for other means, but there was no other way,” he said, “I have been hit worse with this malignant magic. I will live long enough for it to take my body from my possession and reign in darkness. An overcharge of light from the Crystal Heart can cure me, but I only have a few months left before the darkness takes me.” “And you’re telling me this for what?” “As you had noticed on the battlefield, the Crystal ponies have an immunity to the magic-nullifying effect of the Anti-crystals or blast shards as you call them,” he said, “What I am proposing is that we send the Crystal Guard that helped you in battle and their families to Equestria, where they can spread the immunity through their seed. That way, the shards can be used for good rather than evil.” “Thank you. Equestria will be in debt to you.” “It is a gift. Once I fall to darkness, you would never be able to settle the debt.” “Fair enough. I’ll send the refugees to Equestria with a detachment of Royal and Crystal Guards. The remaining Guards will help us on our march to Griffinstone.” Sombra looked at me with concern. “Are you going to destroy them?” “That is a last resort. I intend on sneaking into the city and trying to negotiate peace.” “I don't think it will work, but I won’t question your methods, so good luck,” Sombra said, solemnly, “Your supplies will be replenished and I hope you have a safe journey and life.” With that I started to walk away. Before I got too far, I noticed something that spiked my curiosity. I noticed a small cubby hole near the base of the entrance to the Crystal Palace. I knelt down to inspect what was there and I found two items there that seemed out of place. One was a silver keychain of some sort that had the Hidden Mickey on the end. The other was an amulet that had two small orbs on it, one purple and the other green. I pulled the keychain out and I heard a voice in my head. ‘I am the Warrior of Light, enemy of darkness and all who walk within. If you find yourself trapped by the shadows and cannot find the light, call on my name, the name of Sora, and I will answer.’ That was seriously weird. I pulled out the amulet and I heard a pair of voices. ‘HI! My names Plague!And mine's Amnesia!We are the son,and daughter,of Alduin and if you ever need our help just hold the amulet up and we'll come as quick as we can!Be warned though, our Dad might come along.’ Once again, Weird. I was about to pocket both items when I noticed that the two colored orbs on the amulet fused into one red orb. I then heard another voice. ‘My name is Epidemic, and I am the son of Alduin, the combined form of the Twins. If you ever need help, hold up the amulet and I will come. Be warned, if the calling is just a waste of valuable time, I will kill you, so don't waste my time.’ Now, I’m officially creeped out. I pocketed the two items and left the palace. ****************** “Are you sure about this?” Smoke Shot asked as we stood ready, hidden on a rooftop in Griffinstone. We had suited up in lighter and more quiet armor. I had exchanged my hauberk for a one-piece mail vest painted black. I wore my vest over it to muffle the sound of the metal jingling. I replaced my helmet with my beanie for stealth as well. Smoke decided to forgo the armor and went with cloth tied to her hooves to hide the clop of her hooves. “I’m positive. If we approached with a flag of truce, they won’t take it seriously,” I whisper back, “Especially with me leading them.” “And what makes you think he will listen to you if you suddenly appear out of his fireplace.” I shrug my shoulders and reply, “There’s only one way to find out. Let’s go.” I then began to smoke dash towards the Griffinstone Palace. Smoke Shot followed suit. Any patrols we saw we either avoided or, if they couldn’t be avoided, we subdue them and move them out of sight. After a while of moving through the city, we arrived at the palace. I had Smoke Shot stay behind to watch the way I ascended to the roof. I was thankful that I knew that Conduits could survive high falls, otherwise I would have refused to try to climb the palace. I got to the roof and searched for a chimney that would bring myself to stand before the Griffin King. “Halt! Who Goes There!?” I heard a Griffin Guard shout out. I smoke dashed to a nearby pillar and hid. “Who are you yelling at!? I heard another guard shout out to his companion. “I thought I saw something.” “Great! You’re yelling at what you ‘thought’ you saw!” “I swear! I saw something!” I jumped out of hiding and I slammed my fist into the guard’s helmet, knocking him out. I then lashed out with my chain at the other guard, knocking him down. I then restrained him and walked back from him as he was whimpering from the blow to his ego. I decided to rub it in. “You liked that?!” I taunted, “Well, there’s more where that came from! That’s what you get for trying to fight The Equestrian Eagle!” (Yes, the Royal Guard nicknamed me that) I suddenly felt that my left foot was no longer on the roof. Looking back I found that I was standing over the top of the Palace’s great hall. I had no forewarning and I was suddenly falling. I crashed into the fire that was burning in the center of the room. Thankfully, due to my immunity to falling and my smoke powers, I wasn’t burned. All the Griffins in the room suddenly looked to where I was. Crap! ‘Smoke Shot! Return to the troops! Have them ready to attack at my signal!’ ‘What is your signal!?’ ‘You will know when it happens!’ “Well, well, well,” I hear from the main point of the room, “If it isn't the Equestrian Demon.” Looking up from my charred and prone position and saw the Griffin King. He was decked out in the most expensive looking crown, robe, etcetera, etcetera. Too much gold for one being to own, let alone wear. I dragged myself from the fire and stood at my highest. “Lord King of Griffinstone,” I begin to say, but I was interrupted by a nearby guard. “Kneel before the king!” He shouted as he slammed the shaft of his spear into the back of my knee joints, forcing me to kneel. As soon as my knees met the ground, my lower legs and my hands seemed to become encased in stone...No...Not stone...Cement! I looked back towards the King and saw that his right talon was encased in cement as well, but they were moving freely. That could only mean… Aww, Crud! I’m dealing with a Cement Conduit. I have to act fast. I can try to vie heavily for mercy and hope that there is still some good in him. But he would have every reason to not stop. After all, I did trespass. I might as well clear the room and force the King to beg for mercy. What should I do? Beg for Mercy, or Force my Hand? ************************ Beg for Mercy “Lord King of Griffinstone,” I said, “I have come to…” “I know why you’re here, Demon!” The Griffin King shouted, “You are hoping to steal our great treasure!” He pointed towards a wooden pedestal that held what looked like a golden goblet that had a large, perfect sphere of ruby in the cup portion and the lip of the cup rose up like a flame. “That is not my purpose,” I try defending. “LIES!” He bellowed, “You are in league with the ponies! You disrupted my plan to conquer Equestria! For that, You Must DIE!” I began to feel the cement creep up my arms and body. Panicking I called for help. ‘Smoke! Call for the attack then get your flank end over her now!’ ************************** Force my Hand “Undo these binds so we can talk like civilized beings,” I said while grinding my teeth. “You are in no position to make demands,” The Griffin King boasted. “You will make a fine addition to my collection of statues of my enemies.” I began to feel the cement creep up my arms and body. I smirked a bit and I smoke dashed backwards, out of the binds, and closer to the fire. “Nice try,” I taunt. I then gather as much smoke as I can from the fire and I then I begin the process to perform an Orbital Drop. Author's Note Points: +3 Rank: Guardian KARMIC SHIFT! YAY! A KARMIC SHIFT PARTY! Voting has ended. Chapter 5: Beg for MercyinFAMOUS Displaced Chapter 5 Beg for Mercy “Lord King of Griffinstone,” I said, “I have come to…” “I know why you’re here, Demon!” The Griffin King shouted, “You are hoping to steal our great treasure!” He pointed towards a wooden pedestal that held what looked like a golden goblet that had a large, perfect sphere of ruby in the cup portion and the lip of the cup rose up like a flame. “That is not my purpose,” I try defending. “LIES!” He bellowed, “You are in league with the ponies! You disrupted my plan to conquer Equestria! For that, You Must DIE!” I began to feel the cement creep up my arms and body. Panicking, I called for help. ‘Smoke! Call for the attack then get your flank end over her now!’ ‘On it!’ ‘And when you get here, be careful, the Griffin King is a Cement Conduit. He’s currently in the process of imprisoning me in stone.’ ‘On the double!’ After our conversation, I could do nothing but wait and watch the King’s smirk as the cement creeped up me. It became hard to move and, eventually, breathe. It wasn’t until I heard the sound of conflict outside the entrance to the hall, that I had hope that help was on the way. It must have shown in a smile, because the King snapped at me. “Don’t expect statues to save you,” he said as he made his way to the door. Right as he got to the door, it was blasted off of it’s hinges onto the King. With his concentration staggered, the concrete stopped creeping up my body, stopping just shy of my throat. “You called?” I heard Smoke Shot’s voice. “About time you got here!” I shouted back. Before I could get a response from her, the door was blasted to pieces. With my limited movement, I could see Smoke Shot rematerializing from a smoke dash right in front of me. “Don’t worry, I’ll get you out of this!” She said. I suddenly felt the cement creeping up my neck. “Don’t worry about me!” I command, “Focus on the King! The less time he has to concentrate on killing me, the better chance I have to live!” The cement was starting to cover my jaw and the crown of my head. ‘Now! Fight Him!’ Smoke Shot ran off and I began to hear a fight breaking out between the two conduits. The cement slowed, but it didn’t stop. It covered my ears; I couldn’t hear. My mouth was covered; I couldn’t speak. My nose was covered; I couldn’t breath. My eyes were covered and all I could see was darkness...endless darkness. I then saw light. It engulfed my vision. I then heard a voice. It was faint, but I heard it. ‘Delsin! Wake up!’ ************************* I suddenly was able to see, but it felt weird. I was in a white void of some kind. Looking around, I saw a light lilac colored pony with poofy darker lilac and white mane. Her eyes were weird, as they were lilac and had white spirals in them. She was wearing a propeller beanie and her Cutie mark was a screw and a baseball. “About time you got here!” I heard her say. As soon as the first word was out of her mouth, I recognized the voice. “Hold on, were you the one that called for me to wake up?” I asked her. “Yes, I did,” she replied with a goofy looking grin. “My name’s Screwball, Princess of Chaos, the Chaos Spawn, other insulting titles, yadda, yadda.” “Chaos Spawn?” “Oh yeah, you weren’t there when he was imprisoned,” she said in embarrassment, “Well long story short, Discord, the Draconequus God of Chaos, was imprisoned in stone for attacking the Capital of Equestria and causing mayhem. Part of his mayhem was taking an orphaned filly and progressing her age and giving her Chaos Magic.” “So, then you…” I start. “Am an adult in physical age, and a youngster in mind,” she finished. “However, part of the Chaos magic also progressed some of my mental maturity, meaning I can think as an adult, but I have some...childish tendencies.” “An adult body, and a youngster’s mind makes a teenager?” “Chaotic and confusing, yes,” she agreed. “Anyway, we’re getting off topic.” “Yes, I was wondering when you were going to tell me as to why I’m here...wherever here is,” I deadpanned. “I’ll tell you the where before the why,” she said, “You are in mind, and I’m here to talk to you about the Displaced.” “Displaced?” “You went to a convention in your world, right?” I nodded. “You bought an accurate replica from a vendor at a cheap price, right?” I nodded again. “And then you end up here in Equestria.” I nodded once again. “You are among many humans that did just that and ended up in a version of Equestria within the Multiverse.” “So, I’m not the first and neither am I the last?” I ask. “Yeah, but don’t ask how I know!” She warned, “As far as I know, I don’t and I’m just telling you gibberish.” “Regardless, it makes sense and I want to know a bit more, who’s out there and what I’m to do.” “Well,” she contemplated, “First, pull out the tokens in your pocket.” “Tokens?” “The Hidden Mickey chain and that Amulet you found!” She snapped, “Geez, you’re slow!” I pulled out the tokens and showed them to her. “Those tokens are what Displaced use to summon other Displaced to their aid, for whatever reason. One of these two will help you in a critical point in your future.” “Can you tell me which one?” “Actually, no,” she replied, “Your future is rather chaotic, in a way. You have many decisions that will shape you into someone who will bring Harmony or Chaos.” “It’s the whole Karma thing, isn’t it?” “Yeah, that is a way to sum it up. Harmony’s True Hero or Infamous Chaos Bringer,” she said, “Your choices will affect that and how ponies and other Displaced see you.” “And speaking of Displaced, if they have tokens, wouldn’t that mean that I should have one.” “You can make one, but your current circumstances wouldn’t allow you to be of use if summoned,” Screwball said. “Ah, right,” I said in realization, “The ‘Being Trapped in Stone’ thing, right?” “Right. And just so you know, you aren’t dead,” she said. “I kinda figured that, considering that we’re talking as if I’m alive and will re enter the world anytime soon.” “Half true,” Screwball pointed out, “A little bit of time and you’ll wake up, but you’ll still be trapped in stone.” “How does that even work?” I asked, “I wouldn’t be able to breathe or sleep, so I would die of suffocation or insanity.” “Well, from my vantage point, The Elements of Harmony blasted into the room just as you were fully covered in cement,” She answered, “It stripped the Griffin King of his powers and sealed you in stone, very much alive and sane.” “So the cliché ‘Magic solves everything’ applies here?” Screwball nodded. “So then, I’m going to be in stone for how long?” “A thousand years, give or take,” she said. She then noticed my shocked expression and quickly reassured me, “Don’t worry, you’ll have Princess Celestia and I to keep you company, not to mention you have telepathy to communicate and see with. I’ll see you on the outside!” Screwball then vanished and I was blinded by white light. ************************ ‘Ugh, did somepony get the number on that wagon?’ I tried to move and pop my joints, but nothing happend. I then suddenly remembered what Screwball told me and I began to panic. ‘Calm down and relax!’ I heard Screwball’s voice say, ‘Just focus your mind and you will be able to see.’ I slow my mind down and tried to think and clear my mind. I just focused on my eyes and immediately I “saw” everything around me. I saw two thrones, one with a sun motif and the other had a moon motif. I could see strange magical jewels on the floor around a crying Princess Celestia. She was at the base of a statue, which was me, and was crying as if there was no tomorrow. ‘Your Majesty? What’s wrong?’ She sniffed and began to shake her head. “Get a grip on yourself, Tia,” she said out loud to herself, “You lose your sister to Darkness and now you are hearing the voice of an old friend.” ‘That’s because you are.’ “Well, I shouldn’t be having Delsin’s voice in my head.” ‘Why?’ “He’s dead. He died in the war with the Griffins.” ‘And what makes you think that The Elements of Harmony...Whatever those are...didn’t save my life and I’m not just imprisoned in stone?’ At that, Celestia looked up at my statue with tears in her eyes. Despite the tears, her eyes filled with hope, awe, and wonder. “Delsin? Is that truly you?” ‘Yes, Tia. Its me.’ “Oh, Delsin!” She hugged me and I could feel her happiness mixed with her sorrow. ‘Now, I’m going to ask again; what’s wrong? And where’s Luna?’ Sniffing and crying out another batch of tears, she told me, “She’s gone. Darkness corrupted her and I had no other choice but to banish her to the Moon. And it is only now that I wish you were awake to help her see reason before I banished her. I now can’t bring her back.” I was about to console her, but I was engulfed in a vision. I saw a unicorn that resembled Smoke Shot and had the Akomish tattoo facing off against a dark alicorn with five other ponies: two earth ponies, two pegasi, and one other unicorn. I saw myself and one other fighting the alicorn. Suddenly, the necklaces and tiara the ponies had on shined brightly and shot a rainbow colored beam at the alicorn. Just as the beam struck the alicorn, I grabbed her skull and I started to see two alicorns. The vision cut there, but lingering in my view was writing on the wall that said, ‘1000 year to be fulfilled.’ I contemplated what I saw and thought for a moment. This pretty much was a vision from the future. It was to come to pass and nothing could stop it. Before I could say anything to Celestia, I blurted out something' ‘1000 years hence since thou hast spoken Among the Stars of the Night Sky The Nightmare’s prison shall be broken And Sun shall no longer fly.’ ‘But fear thee not, Celestial One For these Elements are here For the Nightmare’s curse to be undone On the Longest day of the Thousandth year.’ Princess Celestia looked at me with a confused look. “What was that?” I then repeated what I said. “What does that even mean?” ‘Would it help if I told you of the vision I saw as well?’ I then told her what I saw in my vision. After retelling what I saw, her face was that of wonder and hope. “They are the same,” she said, “In a thousand years time, Nightmare Moon will escape and the only way to truly defeat her would be the Elements of Harmony. You and another warrior will be instrumental for the Elements to do their job.” ‘And the pony that wore the tiara that had one of the elements on it, would resemble Smoke Shot and would be Akomish.’ “So, what do we do now?” Celestia asked me in a more hopeful voice. ‘You are going to do your job. That is, ruling Equestria. As for me,’ I mentally sigh, ‘I’m going to wait.’ *********************** From there, things became boring and mundane. Celestia had to relocate the Capital, due to the structural damage done to the original Capital and its castle. I was left behind in the ruins, mostly because of the fact that the base of my statue held a mechanism that protected the Elements of Harmony. Insert a Blast shard into the mechanism and the Elements of Harmony would be released. Celestia and Screwball visited every now and again, the former to ask for advice or reminisce on her younger days with Luna, the latter coming to talk and keep my "prison" clean. There was that awkward time when the ended up visiting at the same time. Luckily, I managed to keep Celestia from attacking Screwball and they were able to become good friends. The only downside to this was that Screwball accidentally created a new species of eagle out of fright. The eagle itself was red and blue in a two-faced way (left half was blue while the other half was red). The first eagle, which I named Karma, became the Guardian of my Statue and a close friend. As the first one of her race, she was immortal like the Princesses were and kept careful watch over me. The land around the castle ruins changed dramatically. A forest, named the Everfree, grew up and around the ruins and housed creatures that, in effect, protected the castle. I was able to communicate with those creatures and was pretty much their leader...their Prince. Karma was my second in command and was the true personification of Justice, just as I was the personification of Good...Or Evil...Depending on my Karmic alignment. The years sped by, and I saw and dealt with many of the creatures that inhabited the Everfree. I then knew that my freedom was close when I felt a dark presence in the castle. Nightmare Moon had returned. Soon, an Akomish would challenge her and the Elements will have new bearers. And I would be free. ******************* I saw five ponies enter the castle where my statue stood. Two of them were earth ponies, two were pegasi, and one was a unicorn. Karma flew in through an open window and landed on my shoulder while looking at the assembled group. ‘These visitors are not like the others.’ ‘Wait, Karma. Don’t gouge out their eyes just yet.’ The last pony, the one that I had seen in vision entered the castle. She looked just like Smoke Shot, but with a color difference. She was a lavender purple with a purple mane and tail, both with magenta highlights. The tattoo on her arm was unmistakable, she was Akomish. ‘Karma, this group is to not be harmed. Go to Ghastly Gorge and obtain a Blast Core from the Quarray Eel settlements.’ Karma nodded her head and flew off. “Come on Twilight,” said the orange earth pony, “Isn’t this what you were waiting for?” The Akomish unicorn that was addressed looked around the room in confusion. “Well, we made it to the ruins, but where are the Elements of Harmony?” ‘Hidden for the time being.’ The entire group was startled by my interaction, the yellow pegasus more so. They didn’t know as to where my “voice” came from. “I don’t like this,” said the orange pony, “This is just unnatural.” ‘Unnatural is matter of perspective.’ “Who’s saying that?” Asked the pink earth pony, “It sounded like a colt or a stallion. Is he hiding? Is he waiting to throw a party for us?” ‘I am the Guardian of the Elements. What is the purpose of your visit?’ “We are here because Nightmare Moon returned and we need the Elements of Harmony to defeat her, or the night will last forever,” the Akomish, Twilight, summed up. ‘I commend you for coming here to seek the Elements and use them for the good of this world. However, I cannot give the Elements to you until…’ *THUNK!* Karma flew in at that time and dropped the blast core on my head and it clattered to the floor in front of my statue. The ponies looked to the blast core and back to my face. ‘Ow, KARMA! How many times have I told you? Don’t interrupt me when I’m trying to sound like a sage or prophet!’ The present ponies winced at my mental volume. ‘I couldn’t resist. You know that.’ ‘Just keep watch for Nightmare Moon.’ Karma nodded and flew off. “That was strange,” the white unicorn said, “Having a conversation with a bird.” ‘That Karmic Eagle just dropped a blast core on my head. You...I...well...nevermind! Just...Twilight, place the Blast core into a small cubby hole at the base of the statue and the Elements will be revealed.’ Twilight obeyed and levitated the Blast core into the cubby hole I mentioned. Once it was in place, the core’s energy flowed into the mechanism that hid the Elements. With a loud boom, and lots of rubbing stone, the Elements’ pedestal rose from the center of the room (which was behind me). The two pegasi flew up and grabbed the five from the pedestal and the group began questioning me as to where the sixth was. Luckily, the Akomish unicorn mare said what I was going to say, concerning how the sixth element appears when the five are present with a spark. The Akomish mare began channeling magic into the Elements to try and bring forth the sixth. The other ponies left the castle to give her some room to work. As she was channeling magic into the Elements, I began absorbing the remaining energy from the blast core. Blast shards were used in the Elements’ hiding place as to prevent me from leaving my stone prison and dying before the Elements are to be used again. Before either Twilight and I were done with our respective tasks, I felt an evil presence enter the room. I checked Twilight and the Elements and she was oblivious to anything. The Elements on the other hand were in the process of being teleported elsewhere. I had no choice but to interrupt her and get help. ‘Twilight! The Elements!’ I shouted to her. I then sent a shout out, ‘Twilight needs help!’ I then worked on absorbing the blast core energy faster. As for everypony’s reaction to their respective messages, the reacted as I had hoped. Twilight took notice of the Elements’ and went after them. The other ponies arrived in the castle just as she and the Elements disappeared. As few cracks appeared in the statue, the orange pony called out, “Twilight! Where are you?” “Wait! Look!” The white unicorn shouted out. The cracks on the statue had enlarged and became more numerous until the entire statue broke to pieces. "What in the hay just happened?” The cyan pegasus said. ‘Just watch.’ Smoke began to pour from the pieces of stone and move near the Elements’ pedestal. The smoke began to swirl in a specific spot until the smoke came together, reforming me physically. However, my body was unprepared for physical reformation, because as soon as I was back, my legs gave out from under me. Luckily, my arms were okay enough to catch me before I face planted. “Ugh! Now I know why I need help,” I said out loud, “I’d be too weak to move immediately after being freed from stone.” The yellow pegasus had a concerned look on her face and went to approach me. “Oh, you poor thing.” Before she could get close, I held up my hand to stop her. “Ah, first off, I’m not a thing,” I said, causing her to ‘EEP’ in fright. “Second off, go help Twilight. She’s in that tower.” I pointed to the tower in question. “Alright, you heard the...whatever he is...Come on!” The orange pony shouted out and ran through a door with the rest of the group following. After they left, I pulled myself to the Elements’ pedestal and used that as a means to try to stand and walk again. “Okay, easy does it,” I mutter to myself. I took a few tentative steps with my hand on the pedestal to steady myself, until my legs no longer felt numb. I then stretched my arms and legs a bit to undo the kinks that developed over the years. “Well, now that that’s taken care of, I just need to figure out who the other guy from my vision was. Celestia told me that I was the only one of my kind here, so I guess that I have to get help from one of these guys.” I pulled out the Hidden Mickey keychain and the Amulet (Epidemic phase). Now, who should I summon? Sora or Epidemic? ****************** Summon Sora/Summon Epidemic I held up the keychain/amulet to my eye level. “Okay buddy, let’s see if this works,” I said before I raised it above my head and called out, ‘SORA/EPIDEMIC! I call for thy aid!’ Author's Note Points: +4 Rank: Guardian The choice presented in this chapter leads to either a crossover with Show Stopper's A Heart Eclipsed or a non-cannon crossover with Prince_Zodiac's A Displaced Dragon Voting has been closed. Chapter 6: Summon Sora This chapter was written with the assistance of Show Stopper. A Crossover with A Heart Eclipsed. This takes place later in his story. inFAMOUS Displaced Chapter 6 Summon Sora I held up the keychain to my eye level. “Okay buddy, let’s see if this works,” I said before I raised it above my head and called out, ‘SORA! I call for thy aid!’ A flash of light filled the room, vanishing as quickly as it had come and leaving a brown haired young man looking around. “Wow, this place is a dump.” He looked over to me and extended his hand. “You must be the one who called. Sora, Warrior of Light. Nice to meet you.” I waved his hand away. “Delsin Rowe, Equestrian Eagle, love to stand and chat, but I need to knock somepony’s head around and being trapped in stone for a thousand years doesn't help,” I said in almost one breath. “Ah.” Sora crossed his arms and nodded sagely. “A thousand years can be tiring for those not used to it. Here let me help.” Another flash of light caused a keyblade to appear in his right hand, one whose teeth looked like some sort of green hourglass. He pointed the blade at me, muttering “A basic Cure should do. No need to waste power when you just need an energy boost.” Green energy surrounded me, and the weakness in my body was washed away. “So, who are we knocking around? Just got done herding a swarm of Berry Bubble clones, so I think I’m ready for just about anything.” “A Nightmare,” I said as I stretched again, testing my regained flexibility. “And not the Dream Eater type.” I allowed smoke to cover my arms as I moved to find my way to the tower. “And by the way, who's Berry Bubble?” “You might know him as a mare named Pinkie Pie,” said Sora. “So, what exactly do you mean by, ‘a nightmare’? I might be able to fight it better if I know what we’re up against.” “Celestia and Screwball never really gave me all the details,” I said. “Celestia again, huh?” muttered Sora. “I’m starting to think that that’s the norm. He’s Prince Solaris in my world.” “Interesting detail,” I mutter, “Could you get a smoky fire started? I feel a bit empty.” Sora raised a questioning eyebrow before shrugging and ripping some vines off the wall as they passed. He grabbed a plank of wood, wrapping the vines around one end. “Fire.” With a point of his keyblade and a word, the end of the makeshift torch burst into flame, giving off a stream of black smoke. “This should burn for a good bit,” he said, holding out the makeshift torch. “Not sure what you need the smoke for, though.” “Observe,” I extended my hand towards the torch, but didn’t take it. Taking a deep breath, the smoke began to flow from the torch to my hand. I then began to feel a bit more energized. Looking to Sora’s questioning face, I tossed a Sulfur bomb at his feet. After it went off, Sora began coughing uncontrollably for a minute before I reabsorbed the smoke. “Okay,” said Sora, coughing a few more times. “Just got finished with a gun happy Venom, so that isn’t the strangest power I’ve ever seen. Hope you know how to use it in a fight.” ‘I fought in a war with that power,’ I projected into his mind. Sora glared at me, pointing his blade at my feet. “Blizzard.” I found myself falling flat on my face as my feet were engulfed in a block of ice. “Only one being is allowed in my mind,” Sora said, kneeling down next to my head. “And you aren’t her. Got it?” I freed myself with a Smoke Dash, knocking Sora down in the process. I then commanded some smoke to hold him down. “FYI: my telepathic abilities can only do communication and surface emotion reading. If I was to invade your mind, I would need to have my hand to your head.” “Don’t care,” he said, not even bothering to struggle. “Last time I got involved with an empath, it ended badly. Very badly. I’d prefer to keep my mind and my emotions to myself.” Blue spikes burst out from Sora’s body, severing the smoky binds before retreating back through gaps in Sora’s clothes. He blinked and looked down at his chest in shock. “Okay. Maybe hosting an empath isn’t so bad, but only because I know he’s entirely on my side. Thanks, Rave.” “I’m not going to question your distaste for mind games,” I said, glancing out the window towards the tower the ponies went to. ‘But if we are to survive the fight against the Nightmare, we’re gonna need it. Got it?’ “Fine, fine. But I’ll stick with talking, myself. I only go mind to mind with those that I sleep with, and you’re not my type.” Sora followed my gaze, staring out towards the tower. “Huh. Getting a weird sense of deja vu. Where did you say we were again?” “First off, I didn’t say,” I said in exasperation, “Second off…” ‘The Elements have appeared!’ “The Elements have...KARMA!!!” I fired off a Cinder Missile in the bird’s direction, barely missing her. ‘Are you going to get up there and watch or keep playing down here?’ I couldn’t properly respond to that. I quietly projected to Sora, ‘That bird sometimes. She’s only five hundred years old and she’s already acting like a b****.’ Sora shook his head, chuckling to himself. “Ah, a master and his familiar. Truly a wonderful relationship.” He turned his attention to Karma. “You mentioned the Elements appearing. Strange. In my world they were lost until the new Bearers found them to fight…” Sora trailed off, eyes widening in horror. “...Nightmare...” He took off, running down the hallway and around the corner out of sight. I took off after him after I noticed he was gone, with Karma flying close behind me. I managed to catch up with Sora and looked past him into the room. There, the Elements were placed on the ponies as I had seen in my vision. As the Elements were about to fire off, a blast of shadow knocked the Akomish unicorn out of place, causing the Element’s magic to fizzle out. “You foals,” The Nightmare cackled. “You thought you could defeat me as I hold this power!” Shadow began to flow around her hooves. As she began to charge an attack, I exclaimed, ‘Holy Crap! She’s a Conduit!’ The shadow burst forth, streaming towards the Elements in a series of spikes. “REFLEGA!” A barrier of light burst into being around the Elements, deflecting the spikes of shadow and sending them curving back to strike the dark alicorn who had summoned them. Sora stood before the Elements, keyblade pointed forward and a cyan shield on his arm. ‘I’ll guard the Elements while they get ready.’ I nearly jumped, hearing Sora’s voice in my mind. ‘Nothing will get past me. As for that twisted, parasitic mockery over there…’ Sora’s shield lowered enough for me to see the loathing burning in his eyes. ‘Delsin. Take it down!’ I Smoke Dashed forward and delivered a flying kick to Nightmare’s face. ‘Give me support as I do it. If she tries to blindside me, or I run low on ammo, do your magic.’ I unraveled the chain on my wrist and waited for Nightmare Moon to rise, having learned a few things about respect for one’s opponent in a fight. She rose up and looked at me. “Delsin Rowe, The Equestrian Demon,” she said with venom in her voice. “I has been too long.” I swung my chain at her, catching her in the face and knocking her down. “Perhaps not long enough.” I Smoke Dashed forward and restrained her to the ground. “Now, what happened to Luna!” Nightmare dissolved into shadow and reappeared a few feet away in front of me. “They are safe. Locked away from sight and sound.” Shadow flowed from her hooves, and a variety of clones appeared surrounding me. I Smoke Dashed out of the circle and began to fire off as many Smoke Shots and Cinder Blasts as I could to clear the clones out. “Fira!” A circle of fire appeared in the middle of the remaining clones and rapidly expanded, striking them down and engulfing the real Nightmare as well. She screamed in pain as the air was filled with the smell of burned feathers and singed fur. “Aeroga! Magnera!” A whirlwind appeared around me as a yellow aura surrounded Nightmare. ‘That cyclone should deflect all projectiles. The spell on the abomination will make any projectiles curve in to strike her.’ “Fire!” A ball of fire was launched from Sora’s keyblade. It was off target, aimed to hit somewhere to Nightmare’s left, but it curved around in midair to strike her in the chest, blowing her back. ‘Good shot!’ I said as I Smoke Dashed forward towards Nightmare. I dropped a Sulfur Bomb at her hooves, and Smoke Dashed away. The Bomb went off and Nightmare Moon began coughing. ‘Any chance for a spell to launch me into the air?’ Sora smirked. ‘You asked for it.’ He pointed his keyblade at my feet. “Firaga!” An explosion went off at my feet, launching me into the air. Forgetting to curse, I wrapped my chain around my hand and superheated it. As I came down, my arm was engulfed in fire and smoke. I arrived at the ground a few feet from Nightmare and slammed my fiery arm into the ground, causing a smoky shockwave that knocked Nightmare to the center of the room. ‘Hey, Sora!’ I shouted out. ‘Got a Limit up your sleeve?’ Sora cocked his head to one side. ‘You know, I’ve never tried. I guess it makes sense that I would be able to, though. Let’s try it out!’ His keyblade began to glow, the light spreading to cover his whole body. “Oh yea,” he said, grinning. “This is going to be good.” I felt a warmth spreading out from my chest and found myself wrapped in a similar glow. I tossed an end of my chain to Sora for him to catch. He caught the end and I pulled hard on the chain and began to flail him around, hitting the Nightmare several times before slamming him feet first on the ground, causing a shockwave of light knocking her aside. Sora then let go of the chain and began a series of rapid strikes and slashes with his keyblade. He jumped aside briefly, allowing me to lob a series of explosive fireballs. Both seemed to take their toll on her. We repeated our attacks for a few minutes before we stopped. I ran towards Sora and leapt into the air, landing on the tip of his blade. He used his keyblade to launch me into the air. I smiled as I flew up above Nightmare Moon. I turned myself upside down and activated my Smoke Thrusters to speed my decent. Sora turned his keyblade on me and I felt as if gravity increased, but I was focused on one thing...where I was going to land. I soon met the ground, mere inches from Nightmare Moon. With an explosion of smoke and ash, Nightmare Moon landed right in front of the assembled mares, all who had their Elements charged. As I reformed from my Smoke attack, I heard Nightmare Moon mutter something in a younger, more softer voice. “I just wanted the night to be loved.” The statement itself didn’t shock me. It was the fact that the voice didn’t sound like Luna OR Nightmare Moon. The Elements then launched their attack towards her. Remembering my vision, I ran forward and latch my hands to her skull mere seconds before the attack hit. My mind then entered her mind. ******************************* My vision was engulfed in a strange landscape. Looking around, I found that I looked like the surface of the moon. But I also saw something rather strange. I saw two Nightmare Moons, one with a crescent moon cutie mark, the other with a star. If this was the Nightmare’s mind, then I concluded that those two seemed to be fighting for dominance. I looked around further and I saw Equus in all it’s glory. I saw a rainbow beam come towards the moon. I looked back at the quarreling Nightmares and made a split-second decision. I ran towards them and separated them from each other just as the rainbow beam struck the moon. *********************** Back in the real world, The Elements’ beam struck us, blasting me into Sora and through a wall in the process. I couldn’t see past the bright amount of light that came from what the Elements were doing. After a moment, the light dimmed and the Element bearers were on the floor where they fired the magic from, and they were all unconscious. One thing I notice about them was their arms. They had strange auras around them. “Always a wall,” Sora muttered from beneath me. “Never a door or a window. Doors are soft and cushion the blow. Windows shatter, taking a lot of the force out. No. It’s always a buysomeapples wall.” I “accidentally” elbowed him in the face. “Stop complaining. I’ve suffered love while I was in stone. The agony of loving somepony as they are aware I’m alive and in stone and me not being sure if they decide to wait for you.” Sora shoved me off and gave me a glare that could melt stone. “Fell in love with Luna and she with me. She and Solaris, who I love like a brother, found me while I was in shadow form. They thought I was a heartless who had killed me and used the Elements to seal me in stone. I didn’t even get telepathy. They thought I was dead, and I couldn’t tell them otherwise. Then Luna’s grief among other things turned her into a heartless, and Solaris had to banish his sister for a thousand years. I, meanwhile, am down in the dungeons wondering if I’ll ever get out of there and don’t find out about Nightmare Moon until I’m released. Once I find out, I assume that she was destroyed. So yeah, you don’t get to talk to me about heartache.” He stood up, stretching his back. “Besides, once you’re three thousand you get to complain about things like this.” Ignoring his come back, I stepped forward towards the Element Bearers and examined their arms more closely. I backed up a bit after I realized something, ‘Crumb Cakes and Icing! The Elements acted like a non-destructive Ray Sphere! They’re now Conduits!’ ‘Interesting. Would probably be even more interesting if I knew what conduits were. Also…’ My mind was instantly filled with the image of a wrinkled old green earth pony in a bathtub. “Gah!” I shouted, trying to wipe the image from my mind. “What the heck?” Sora shrugged. “Fight’s done, and so is the telepathy. I’ve got plenty more scaring images where that one came from, so stay out.” “Take a look at their arms,” I state as I pointed out Twilight’s arms, covered in purple electricity. “Interesting,” he said, looking closely. He stared at Twilight’s arms for several moments before looking back up at me. “What am I looking at, exactly?” “Are you serious? Have you ever even heard of inFAMOUS?” “Eenope.” “Long story short, it involves people that have a particular gene that allows an individual to control a form of matter or energy,” I said. I then pointed to each of the Bearers. “Twilight can now control electricity. Skittles can control clouds. Prissy can control gems. Pink hair, flowers. Cowgirl, wood. Sugar Rush controls...confetti?...streamers?...wrapping paper?” “It’s Berry, I mean Pinkie Pie. Don’t question it. It’s probably parties. So, basically they all became superheros?” “Yes and no,” I said, and began to explain further. “Karma, the aspect, not the bird, plays a huge part in this. In the inFAMOUS game series, Cole MacGrath and THAT Delsin Rowe are governed by that aspect. The more good karma they have, the more focused they are on other’s welfare rather their own and vice versa. It also affects how the people of Empire City, New Marais, and Seattle see them. They could easily be heroes or Infamous villains.” Sora looked over the girls again and turned back to me, raising an eyebrow. “Like I said, superheros. I don’t see any of them going villain. Trust me, I’ve met their equivalents a couple of years down the line. They aren’t going villain any time soon unless being all mares instead of three mares and three stallions changes something.” “The antagonist of the first game, Kessler, was a future version of Cole MacGrath,” I explained. “Although, Kessler’s purpose was actually to shape Cole into the hero he never was.” “I see. No, wait,” he closed his eyes, opening them to reveal twin orbs of light. He looked over the girls again, smiling. “Now I see. There is darkness in every heart, I won’t deny that. But these are still six of the purest hearts I’ve ever seen.” He turned those freaky glowing eyes to me and stared at me for a moment. “You’re pretty clean, too. But… there’s something there. Not darkness, but potential. Potential for either great darkness or great light.” He shrugged. “Or an even balance.” He then looked behind me. “Eeyup, the Elements did their thing. No darkness in…” His eyes blinked back to normal. “...either of them?” I turned around and saw what he saw. One was Luna, almost as I remembered her. The other was another alicorn. She was a midnight blue color, deeper in color than Luna was and her mane was pitch black with white highlight patches. She looked younger than Luna and her cutie mark was that of a star. A name sprung to my mind as I looked her up and down. Stella. I heard the Element Bearers stirring from their unconsciousness. “Oh, my head,” the pony, codenamed Skittles, said. “Is everypony okay?” Cowgirl asked. I walked forward to the group. “Thanks to us, you are.” The Akomish unicorn stood up and asked, “Who are you?” “I’m Delsin Rowe, Founder of the Akomish, and the Equestrian Eagle.” I point to Sora. “And the keyblade guy over there is Sora, The Warrior of Light. What are your names?” “I’m Twilight Sparkle, and these are all my friends.” She then pointed to each of her friends. “There’s Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash.” Sora snorted. “‘Rarity’. Should have guessed. Well, it’s good to see that all of you are alright. Nice jewelry, by the way.” The Element Bearers looked at their new accessories, finding the Elements on golden necklaces, except for Twilight, who’s Element was attached to a tiara. “Y’know, Twilight, I thought you were just spouting a whole lot of hooey,” Applejack said. “But I reckon, we do represent the Elements of Friendship.” “Indeed you do!” We all heard from one side of the room. In a flash of light as brilliant as the sunrise, Princess Celestia appeared in all her glory. Everypony bowed down, except for Twilight and I. She trotted forward to greet her mentor. I could only stand there with tears in my eyes as I watched teacher and student greet each other like mother and daughter. Celestia then noticed me and walked over. “Tia,” I barely choked out. “Del,” she choked out before she rushed to me and hugged me for all it was worth. “Is my sister back?” “That and more,” I said, pointing to the younger of the two night alicorns. “You have a new sister.” “And she’s so cute!” Sora rushed over, picking up the midnight alicorn and swinging her around, startling her and Luna awake in the process. “Just look at her. She’s the cutest little alicorn I’ve ever seen. Sorry Luna, not even you in that sexy maid uniform compares to the shear levels of adorableness right here.” Luna, who had also been awakened by Sora’s shout, blushed furiously. “Wh- what?” “So cute! Hey,” Sora held the alicorn out at arm’s length, looking into her slightly fearful eyes. “What’s your name?” “Um, uh, S-Stella.” “...she stuttered. She stuttered! Oh my gosh, you just keep getting more and more adorable! Cute little Stella. Oh, I can’t wait to tell my Luna about you, you cute little star butt.” He looked over to see Celestia staring at him, along with the others. “Oh yeah. Hey there, sun butt. So this is what you look like as a mare. This is going to be weird once I go back home and tell Prince Solaris about you. Hey, could I get a photo of you to take back with me to show him?” Everyone turned to stare at Celestia who just kept opening and closing her mouth, trying to think of something to say. “You know,” piped up Luna, speaking for the first time, “I can sort of see it.” While everypony else was focused on the now blushing Celestia, Sora leaned down to whisper in Stella’s ear, just loud enough for me to catch it. “Sorry for doing this so suddenly. You’re basically Nightmare Moon given form, and I wanted to dispel any lingering fears and doubts that might have formed.” Stella looked up at him, the fear leaving her eyes a bit as she processed what he said. “Um, thank you, I guess. Does that mean you can let me down now?” “Nope,” Sora replied, hugging her all the tighter. “What I said still applies. You’re still too yaying adorable for words.” “Dude! I can understand you liking her enough to hug her like that, but put her down now!” I reach over and grabbed one of his arms. As soon as I grabbed, my arm and the arm I grabbed was engulfed in light and I blacked out. *************************** “They’ve broken through the main gate! They’ll be here any second!” I looked at the green pegasus with the white and teal mane. “Yay it all. Where’s Smart Cookie?” The pegasus saluted. “Sir! She stayed behind to hold them off. to give us time to get to her.” “SHE WHAT?” I ran out the door that Private Pansy had just entered through, turning down corridors and leaping down flights of stairs, Pansy and Clover following right behind. We turned a final corner just in time to see a light orange earth pony get over-run by a veritable wall of shadow. “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” “Oh Luna no,” whispered Clover, sinking to the ground. “No, not Cookie.” A flash of light revealed a wicked looking keyblade in Pansey’s hoof. “DIE!” she screamed, leaping into the fray. “DIE YOU MISERABLE MOCKERIES OF LIFE!” “NO!” I rushed forward, summoning Oathkeeper and Oblivion. “Pansy, don't! You can't fight them all! We need to get back!” I hacked and slashed, but for every heartless I destroyed, three more popped up between me and Pansy. “It should have been safe here.” I looked back to see Clover just sitting there, staring at the endless sea of black. “My wards were perfect. It should have been safe.” “Clover, get up!” I shouted. “We need to get going. Pans-” I turned just in time to see five invisibles sink their blades into her flesh. “PANSY!!!” “Ahh-” Her cry was choked off as a final blade found its way through her throat. I tore my eyes away, desperate to save at least one of them. “Clover! Come on! We need to move!” “Both gone now,” she whispered, curled up on the floor. “Cookie gone. Pansy gone. All gone into darkness. All because we stayed. All because we let them find us.” “No.” I stumbled under the onslaught, barely able to deflect the incoming blows, much less destroy the heartless between me and Clover. “No, it can't be that. It's not…” Did I do this? Did I lead them to their deaths? All because I wanted somewhere to rest my head for more than a month at a time? I looked up from my thoughts to see an invisible floating over to Clover, sword raised. “No! No! Clover! Get up! Run! Ru-” The sword came down. Clover didn’t even scream as her head was severed from her shoulders. “no... Oh Tartarus, no! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!” Light exploded all around me, filling the air with keyblades. I grabbed Pansy’s Reaper and my own Ultima and began to slash viciously, the storm of keyblades swirling around and destroying everything they touched. Heartless were slaughtered, and I didn’t stop. Walls crumbled, and I didn’t stop. The ceiling and three floors of fortress fell towards me, and my keyblades just kept on slashing. Finally, after hours of mindless lashing out, it was over. I knelt in a crater, surrounded only by fading wisps of darkness as I clutched three keychains close to my heart, three cracked keychains depicting the cutie marks of the best friends I had ever known. I knelt there, alone in that crater, and wept like a child. *************************** I stirred from my unconsciousness and looked over to where Sora had collapsed. He was also starting to stir from his unconsciousness. I rolled over, onto my hands and knees, preparing to stand up. Sora slowly got to his feet, brushing himself off and looking away. “You saw that, didn’t you?” “Not on purpose, if that’s what you’re asking.” I respond. “I understand your distaste for mind reading, but-” Sora turned, cutting me off with a blow to the face. I was sent flying back until I slammed into a wall. I looked up to see him standing there, arm still outstretched and breathing heavily. “You’re right,” he said, lowering his arm and turning away again. “You do understand now. After all, you saw it.” He spread his arms, as if showing off to an audience. “Sora, the Warrior of Light, at his finest and most powerful when not a force in the world could stop him!” His arms dropped to his side, and he looked up to the ceiling. “And all of it bucking useless. All of it too late to save three of the best ponies I’ve ever met.” He dropped his head, sighing deeply. “Just give me your token and let me get out of here. I need to go cool my head.” I walked forward and placed my hand on his shoulder. “Let me say a few things first.” I pulled back my head and slammed it into his, knocking him over. “That was for interrupting me. I wasn’t finished.” I sighed and rubbed my now sore head. “In inFAMOUS: Second Son, the protagonist, Delsin Rowe, has the ability to absorb the powers of other Conduits and use them as his own. A side effect to the absorption process is seeing a key memory of their life or hearing a monolog summary of a key portion of their life. If I had to guess anything, it made Delsin see an unbiased view of that conduit.” I pointed at him. “When you first arrived and acted all crazy at me about telepathy, I thought you were competing with Karma for the 'Twit-head of the Year' award.” I knelt down to his level. “After seeing that memory, I can see why you won’t allow intruders. You don’t want your facade to drop, exposing you at your weakest.” I looked at him. “But I tell you this, ‘Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hooves. Thou art not yet as Job; thy friends do not contend against thee, neither charge thee with transgression, as they did Job. And they who do charge thee with transgression, their hope shall be blasted, and their prospects shall melt away as the hoar frost melteth before the burning rays of the rising sun.’” All was quiet in the room for a time, until a single chuckle broke the silence. This chuckle was soon repeated by another. And another. Soon Sora was laughing outright, his cries filling the room and verging on maniacal. Eventually, he calmed down enough to speak. “You just don’t get it, do you.” He slowly got to his feet, a little unsteady as he stood. “You think I’m covering for something? That I put on a mask? Who the yay do you think you are? How long have you lived? How many friends have you seen be born, live and die before your eyes? I was a general in Equestria for over a thousand years. I’ve suffered many losses.” He clenched his hands into fists as they shook. “I’ve wept in Luna’s hooves more times than I can count. I’ve spared with Sol in full view of the guard just to get my aggression out. You think that that was the worst loss I’ve suffered? I’ve had to make calls on the battlefield that led to the loss of hundreds of lives. In terms of failure, this one was nothing. But you know what? IT SURE HURT LIKE TARTARUS!!!” Twin flashes lit the room, and Sora was left holding two deadly looking keyblades. The first had a long, thin, silver shaft that looked almost like a metal spine with red tendrils weaving together to form the handle, and 4 scythe blades on the end in the shape of key teeth. The other’s shaft was a deep, dark purple with black and green vines twining around it. The hilt was a light purple in another vine design, and the blade featured a wicked looking curve which was stained blood red. The keychain featured a cracked flower, and Delsin recognized it as Pansy’s keyblade. “You see,” said Sora, “I don’t push that memory away because I’m weak or afraid or it. I push it away because IT MAKES ME ROYALLY PISSED OFF!!!” He turned and glared at me, his formerly blue eyes now glowing yellow. “I tell my keybladers that even we are not above corruption. That’s as true of me as it is of anyone, and you just found the one button that might send me over the edge if you push hard enough. So I want to get out of here before I do something that I’ll regret. I know it’s stupid to be angry. I know you had no control over it. I know I’ll forgive you and that we might even become friends once I have a chance to calm down. And right now I really couldn’t care less! So give me your token and let me get out of here before I DO TO YOU WHAT THOSE INVISIBLES DID TO PANSEY!!!” I looked at him with an emotionless gaze as I telepathically spoke with Screwball. ‘Screwball, take two feathers from Karma, one red and one blue, and merge them together. That will be my token.’ ‘And your message?’ ‘I am Delsin Rowe, The Equestrian Eagle. Should you need aid, or someone to talk to or spar with, call me up.’ I held out my hand and an blue and red eagle feather appeared. I handed it over to Sora, but I left him with a few words. “Three things to think about when you get home. First, there is a wedding in a few months and I’ll send you an invitation. As much of a twit you are, you’re a good guy. Second, don’t ever call my fiancé ‘Sunbutt’ ever, unless you want me to kick my foot in yours. Third, don’t beat yourself up over your mistakes. I’ve done some bad things myself. I’m not proud of them, but I don’t beat myself over the head because of them.” Sora stuffed the token into his pocket, both keyblades still out. “Getting lectured by a brat,” he muttered. “Better get out of here before I really do it.” In a flash of light, he was gone. I turned to the assembled group, all of whom had shocked expressions. “Celestia, take care of Stella, and get this group to the edge of the forest. I need to cool down.” I walked to one of the windows and leapt out of it, not caring if I got hurt or not. Unbeknownst to me, I glowed brightly again and the back of my vest changed to the Champion symbol. Author's Note Points: +6 Rank: Champion There is no Karmic Decisions for this chapter. HOW DARE YOU!!!! Holy Crap! See you next chapter! Chapter 7: Aftermath and New ProblemsinFAMOUS Displaced Chapter 7 Aftermath and New Problems The battle that Sora and I had against Nightmare Moon had drained me, more emotionally than physically, but it was enough for me to spend the night in Ghastly Gorge with some of the more friendly Quarray Eels. Waking up, I absorbed a blast core and began to work on figuring out my new power. I found that the power I had gotten from Sora was Light (although, personally speaking, I was expecting a keyblade). I was in the final process of testing this new power and it’s capabilities when I heard my name being called. Looking around the Gorge, I saw Celestia and Twilight walking down a path I had carved with my Light power. I walked towards them to prevent issues with the Quarray Eels. “It’s nice to see you again, Tia,” I said, hugging her. “How’s freedom treating you?” She asked me. I gave her a peck on the cheek, “Not the best, but it’s better than being in stone. However, I feel that this visit isn’t all about me.” “I came with that focus on you. Twilight, however, came for other purposes.” She looked over to her student that she had told me many times about. Kneeling down to her level, I spoke. “What do I owe the pleasure, Sister,” I greeted, using the Akomish title for her. "Well...uh...Brother,” she responded hesitantly, “I came because of this.” She held up her left hoof and purple electricity sparked to life on it. “My friends are also experiencing some fear with their...new developments.” She held her electrified hoof to her chin in thought. “Although, Pinkie Pie seems to have no problems with it. She is working with it about as well as you did with the smoke.” “Judging by what Sora said yesterday about a certain Berry Bubble, both have antics and quirks that are to be expected,” I said. I stood back up and looked around. “Now, the best way to overcome your fears of your newfound powers is to learn how to control them.” Turning to Celestia, I spoke. “What is the closest city, town, or settlement?” “Ponyville,” both Twilight and Celestia said. They looked at each other in brief amazement before the three of us broke out laughing. Like teacher like student. After the laughing had died down, Twilight spoke. “Why did you want to know?” I turned to her and gave her a deadpan stare. “I’ve been in stone for a thousand years,” I said with a sigh, “I want to know what has changed in that time, and have a destination for us to head to while we train.” “Wait,” Twilight backed up a bit. “We’re training now?” I gave two shrill whistles, causing Twilight and Celestia to cringe and splay their ears back in pain. Then, a blast core came flying out of the nearest Quarray Eel den, right into my head. To say it hurt was an understatement. I began cursing what no good person should ever curse and fired a few Light Bolts into the den, eliciting a fierce growl from inside. After calming down, I picked up the blast core and tossed to Twilight, who caught it in her magic. “Yes, we’re training now. I still need to figure out how to use my new power.” I encased my arms in pure light, bright enough for it to be noticeable, but not enough to blind Twilight or Celestia. “I’ve only mastered three things of my new power: basic combat,-” I pointed to the den. “-which you have seen, defence,-” I generated a shield of hard light in my left arm. “-and finally, speed.” I jumped onto the side of Ghastly Gorge, parkour style. As soon as I pushed off, I was enveloped in light and I was launched to the top of the other side of the Gorge. Upon landing on my feet, the light dissipated. I looked down into the canyon and called out to Twilight. “Use your powers to absorb the Blast core. Once you wake up, we’ll begin training.” She looked at the core uneasily as it was held in her magic. She looked up back up towards me and I gave her a nod of approval. She then took the core in her front hooves and began to charge electricity into it. A few seconds into the process, the core dissolved and she collapsed in a heap in the center of the gorge. Celestia gingerly moved Twilight closer to the Eel dens. One of the eels looked out and saw Celestia approaching with the young Akomish in her magic. It bowed towards her and retreated back into its den. Celestia placed Twilight next to that den and then flew up to where I was standing. I sat down on the edge of the gorge and she sat next to me. We sat there in silence, watching Twilight sleep off the core. I looked over at Celestia and I couldn’t easily gauge her emotions. In the thousand years that I had known her, she only showed her emotions if she was relaxed or said emotions were in the extreme levels. But her eyes always betrayed her emotions, no matter how well she could sit stone faced. In this instance I could see a form of sadness combined with concern. “Is something bothering you?” I asked her, placing an arm over her withers. She eased closer to me, and I began to stroke her ethereal mane. “I now have a second sister to work to protect. Not to mention Twilight’s new development.” She sighed. “I just don’t want Stella to feel fear around me and I don’t want Twilight hurt.” “I guess Sora had the right intentions in doing what he could to prevent you from harming her, in case you were thinking that she was the new physical embodiment of Nightmare Moon.” I chuckled, remembering Sora’s light minded moment. “As for Twilight, her becoming the Bearer of the Element of Magic would attract trouble to her alone. Getting powers is not that much of a deviation from that.” I suddenly felt uneasy for some reason and I stood to look around me. Celestia seemed to notice my paranoia. “What’s wrong?” I shook my head before looking back into the woods but as soon as I did that, my vision changed. I seemed to be aware of every patch of light, mostly in what I would call the spiritual realm. Within the patch of forest that I was looking at, I saw the world in grey and I could see pony and animal shapes in varying degrees of black and white amongst the grey trees. Most of the white shapes were animalistic, while the black shapes had pony forms. I blinked my eyes briefly, canceling my Light Vision. I remembered where the closest black form was. I lunged behind a tree and tackled a strange looking pony from behind it. I did my best to try and keep a hold of him but, I was thrown of, dangerously close to the edge of the Gorge. Celestia took the initiative and knocked the pony to the ground and restrained him. I got up and managed to get a good look at him. It was an earth pony, one of the larger ones. I couldn’t tell what his body color was, because, as far as I could tell, he was painted with what looked like blood. His body was also covered with bones from various animals and possibly ponies. He was wearing a black skullcap with the image of a white pony skull embroidered on the front. The cap was placed on his head in such that most of the pony’s face was concealed but he could still see. The same skull that was embroidered on the skullcap was painted in white where the cutie mark was supposed to be. I approached the pony with a scowl on my face. “What were you doing, hiding there?” The pony simply scowled back. We stared at each other for a few moments before he spoke in a guttural voice. “I will not compromise my brothers or our cause.” He then moved his hoof to a hidden pouch in his bony armor and pulled out something I had never heard about or seen for nearly a thousand years. He pulled out a grenade. Without hesitation, I shot a Light Bolt directly into his face. The shot didn’t seem to faze him as he moved the grenade to his mouth. He placed the grenade in his mouth and pulled the pin out with his hoof. I ran and grabbed Celestia, putting myself between her and the grenade. There was a deafening explosion behind me and then silence. Turning around I saw that the strange pony had committed suicide in the worst way. There was the sound of electricity from the Gorge and Twilight climbed up and saw the horrendous scene. Barely one second after she saw the mangled corpse, she did an about-face and hurled whatever she had for breakfast onto the head of snoozing quarray eel. After her stomach was relieved of it’s cargo, she turned to us and asked, “What was that explosion?” Pointing to the carcass, I said, “That pony committed suicide using an explosive called a grenade.” At that point, Twilight had a look of horror on her face that made it seem as if she wanted to teleport her breakfast back into her stomach so she could empty it again. “What kind of pony would do that kind of thing?” She asked. ‘One who was not in control of himself,’ Karma stated. I looked over to the corpse and saw Karma on a bush, analyzing the carrion. ‘Just by the scent alone, I can tell that this pony’s blood is not normal.’ Celestia, Twilight, and I walked over and instead of seeing the usual red blood, we saw something black oozing from the mangled body. I bent down and stuck my finger in the strange liquid. It was pitch black and had an oily yet sticky composure. I brought it to my nose and then tested it a bit on my tongue. I spit out the strange liquid and stood. ‘Let me guess. Oily yet sticky?’ “Having a slight scent of petroleum and tastes like coal.” ‘Indicating that Sasha…’ “Or somepony like Sasha is controlling them.” I turned to Celestia and Twilight and saw them rubbing their heads just under their horns. “We were doing it again, weren’t we?” “You were,” Celestia confirmed with a nod, “At least you have figured out that this pony wasn’t in control of his actions.” I smiled at her compliment. Before I could respond, I heard a teleport from behind me, but it didn’t sound magical in nature. I turned around and saw an unusual looking alicorn. She was around Twilight’s size and from what I could tell from what wasn’t covered by tech and clothing, she had the same coat color. The tech she was covered in gave her a creepy cyborg look. Her mane was shaved rather close and was mussed up. Where her horn and left eye was, was a metal plated horn and a glowing blue, mechanical eye. Her wings looked mechanical in nature, resembling a jet's wings but still maintaining a bird's flexibility. Her left arm was purely mechanical and where a hoof should have been, a mechanical griffin claw was. All three of us stared at the strange arrival with suspicious stares. None of us dared to speak for a few moments, but the cyborg in front of us gave us a smirk and spoke in a gravelly yet familiar voice. “I bring a message from the conduit that controls the Skullcap gangs.” Twilight walked forward. “What’s the message?” The cyborg turned in her direction. “Only one is to receive this message. Understand that, Twibright Snarkle?” Twilight cringed at the horrible nickname. Celestia lit her horn threateningly. “State your message and leave! I will not tolerate your threatening tone and ridiculous nicknames towards anypony, especially my student!” “This doesn't concern you, Cake Flank!” The cyborg then stood on her back legs and thrust forward with her front ones, sending a static shock wave in Celestia’s direction. The sudden attack threw her off guard and she was sent flying across the Gorge, screaming most of the way. Seeing my fiance thrown around as she just was angered me. I lit up my arms and turned to confront the cyborg, but I wasn’t given the chance. A blob of tar struck me on the right side of my face, knocking me down into the Gorge. I heard Celestia calling my name, but it seemed muffled. I fought to hear, see, or even remain conscious, but fell into the black void. ************************** ‘Help me.’ ‘Who's there?’ ‘Help me.’ ‘You're not giving me anything to work with to help you.’ ‘I can't say anything more, other than the tar will help you help me. The pain is just too great to bear. I can't take any more abuse.’ This is getting me nowhere fast. I have no other choice other than to completely trust this conduit or not. He/she is apparently in pain and may be needing help. But it could also be a trap, luring me in for capture. So, what should I do? Trust the conduit or not? Author's Note Points: +6 Rank: Champion So Delsin is now dealing with a gang of ponies of unknown intentions being led or controlled by a conduit like unto Sasha. Voting has been closed. Chapter 8: Trust the Conduit This chapter was written with the assistance of Dragonblade0196. A Crossover with The time god of Equestria. The dialogue may not 100% match, but the story does. inFAMOUS Displaced Chapter 8 Trust the Conduit I’ll admit, he or she is pretty convincing. I’ll trust him...or her...for the time being. ‘Is there anything you can tell me. Something that will allow me to try to help you.' ‘Yes, you’re in Ponyville, correct?’ ‘I assume so. If not, I’m still in the Everfree.’ ‘My mother and father live there. I’m allowed limited contact with them, but I have managed to devise a code with my father to keep him up to date with Skullcap activity so that my sister will remain safe and out of harm’s way. Tell him, ‘the TIME is nigh’ and he’ll know what to do.’ ‘What are their names and tribes?’ ‘My father is Dr. ‘Time Turner’ Hooves, a brownish grey earth pony with an hourglass cutie mark. He’s also a time conduit, but he rarely uses his power. Mother is Ditzy ‘Derpy’ Doo, a grey pegasus with bright blond hair and bubbles as a cutie mark. She also has a...problem with her eyes, but don’t mention it in front of her. And finally, my twin sister is Dinky Doo, a unicorn filly with Mom’s coat and mane colors. She lacks a cutie mark at this time, once again, be careful what you say.’ ‘Thanks, I’ll do what I can.’ ********************* I felt the real world start to come back to me. As consciousness began to return to me, I began hearing voices. “Lulu! He’s waking! Find Tia!” “Okay!” I heard a few hoofsteps before a loud voice. “PRINCESS CELESTIA, THY FUTURE HUSBAND IS WAKING!!!” If I wasn’t awake before the loud voice, I was definitely awake after. My eyes shot open and my arms were wrapped in Light, ready for a fight. However, instead of a battlefield, I was in what looked like a hospital room. Looking around, I saw Stella looking at me with big eyes that held both wonder, and fright. I also saw Luna walking back into the room with a smug look of accomplishment. She noticed that I was awake, and she suddenly was interested in the design of the tiles. “I woke him, didn’t I?” I looked out the window and saw that the sun was barely rising. “What gave it away?” I asked sarcastically. “Was it because I look like I was scared awake, or was it the Royal Canterlot Voice that could have woken up the entire hospital, if not the entire city?” “Town,” Stella corrected. “We’re in Ponyville at this time and knowing Lulu, she yells like that a lot, even when I tell her that it isn’t needed.” Luna huffed. “It’s not entirely my fault that our little ponies have changed over my thousand year absence and I have a hard time fitting in.” Stella groaned and rolled her eyes. “Fine. Be stubborn in your ways. Just don’t come crying to me when you discover how this age redefined cake.” She smiled as her thoughts obviously drifted. “Miss Pie makes the best cupcakes that have ever existed.” Getting up from the hospital bed, I walked over to the quarreling sisters and just hugged them both. They began to gag a bit from my strong hug nearly cutting off their air supply. I let go of them as the door opened and Celestia and the doctor walked in. I rushed forward and gave her a hug and a kiss. She interrupted her scowl to give me a smile and a kiss back. After I broke the embrace, she resumed her mean look and moved to Luna. Luna seemed to try and shrink from Celestia’s gaze, and Stella seemed to have a bit of a victorious look to herself. Just as Luna looked like she was about to cry in fear, Celestia grinned and gave Luna a fierce hug, once again, nearly choking the life out of her. Celestia let her go and allowed Luna to gasp for air and gap at her sister’s prank. “Gotcha,” she said, causing laughter from Stella and I. Luna could only blush a bit at being pranked. “Ahem.” We turned to the doctor as he pulled a clipboard off of the bed I was on. I sat down on the bed and let him do his doctor stuff. “From what Their Majesties have told us, your healing factor has taken care of most of the damage that came from the assault.” I gave him a questioning look. “Most of the damage?!” I asked. He magically lifted a small mirror for me to see my face and I did a double take of my face. The right side of my face was covered with black veins and my right eye was pitch black. If I had to say anything, it seemed like whatever hit me made me look like a tame, yet inFAMOUS version of Two-Face. “Well.” I looked to Celestia, closing my left eye, and confirming that I could still see with it. “That happened.” Tia gave me a questioning look. “What happened?” “So, do you recall what I said about Sasha?” All three alicorns nodded. “So, what happened was that Cybercorn must have obtained tar from the one controlling the Skullcaps. I had a conversation with that conduit and I need you to look some things up for me before I go throwing my trust to anypony.” “What do you need for this trust and why are you planning on trusting this conduit?” Stella asked. She then gasped. “Does that mean you are being controlled?!” She flew over to me and began shouting in my right ear. “Let my soon-to-be brother go!” The yelling escalated as Tia, Luna, the doctor, and I combined our efforts to pry her off of me. After Stella was pulled off of me and was restrained and calmed, I set the borrowed crowbar down and recounted the dialogue I had with the conduit, including the details of the conduit’s family. “I do recall the many times that Ditzy landed in the hospital, both literally and figuratively,” the doctor said. “However, I cannot legally tell you any information unless she was to sign for it to be revealed.” “It is alright, Doctor.” Tia held up her hoof to reassure him. “We don’t need medical records, we just need to look to census records and deliver the message to his father to learn of the truth.” “And I believe we should start on that, post haste!” Luna exclaimed. She rose from her sitting position and in a bright flash, teleported away. Tia rose as well, but turned to Stella and I. “Do you wish to search the records with us or stay with Del?” She asked playfully. Stella answered by squeeing loudly and latching onto my back. She squeezed hard, not enough for me to be cut off from air, but hard enough for me to have to use the crowbar, if the need arose. “I guess that answers that.” I walked to Tia and gave her a goodbye kiss. “I’ll see you when you get back.” She nodded and vanished in a bright light. “I’m so excited to explore this new world!” Stella squeed. “Where do you want to go first?!” “Well, for starters, let’s leave the hospital.” I turned to the doctor. “I am allowed to leave, correct?” “The Princess just signed you out before she came to the room,” he confirmed. “Well, now that's been taken care of.” I picked up the crowbar. “Now the next step, let’s get you off my back.” *************** After the doctor and I pried Stella off of my back, we exited the hospital and began to make our way to the town square (or circle, as it was technically that). Ponies were wandering to and fro in the streets as the sun was beckoning for them to start this new day. I saw that a few ponies gave us either apprehensive looks and backed away from us or bowed to us. Apparently, Luna’s shouting did unintentionally send that news across town. Stella seemed amazed by everything that she saw. At one point, she was trying to flag down Pinkie as she was using her confetti thrusters to glide to Applejack’s apple stand, which seemed to have been built on the fly using now living trees embedded in the roadside. Both of us were amazed at how Rainbow Dash was doing stunts with her conduit abilities mixed in and how Fluttershy was helping an nearby Earth pony with her gardening by willing the weeds to not grow. “It seems as though everypony is getting used to their conduit abilities,” I commented. “You should have seen them when they were just starting to realize their powers. Twilight nearly electrocuted the Sea serpent in the river on our way out.” “That bad?” “Yeah.” We kept walking, but as soon as we arrived at town square, I heard somepony yelling. “You brutes!” We heard the voice, evidently Rarity’s, shout. “This is a crime against fashion if there ever was one!” *We don’t care about your stupid mane! The Mistress wants you roughed up, so we’ll do what we must to rough you up!* “And that growling is so uncouth!” I turned to Stella as we listened to the conversation. “Did you understand what that growling was?” Stella asked me. “I did.” I ran to the town hall and began to scale it. “I guess it’s a side effect to what happened with the tar. The Skullcaps must speak their own language and the tar makes it possible for me to understand it.” I managed to get to the top of Town Hall and scanned the area to locate where Rarity was. It wasn’t hard when I knew what I was looking for. I was looking North towards Canterlot and I saw in one of the districts of the town a fight was taking place. Rarity was on a rooftop, shooting a variety of gems at her attackers, some Skullcaps. Every so often, she would will a gem pillar to shoot up from underneath herself causing herself to be launched into the air and land on another rooftop. She did that whenever a Skullcap did the same thing with a pillar of earth instead, and would shoot rocks instead. “Stella!” I shouted down to her. “Do you know any combat spells?” She flew up to my position. “Yeah, why?” “Well, we’re going to help Rarity with those bricks that call themselves Skullcaps!” I grabbed the flagpole on the building and spun around it, activating my flowmotion. I began to practically fly to where Rarity was fighting. As I got close, I tested a theory of mine concerning flowmotion. I latched a “string” of Light to his leg and began to spin around him. The string seemed to hogtie him as he stood. When I felt that the string was tight enough, I grabbed his neck and flung him into the gathered Skullcaps, felling them like bowling pins. My act drew their attention. I unraveled my chain for engagement as Stella landed next to me, her horn lit and wings extended for intimidation. *So the Equestrian Demon decides to join the party.* One of the Skullcaps growled. *It would do us great pleasure to break those legs of yours, let them heal, and break them again.* The Skullcap rose his head and let loose a loud, guttural screech. *The Demon has arrived! So has the Unholy Spawn of the Nightmare!* The Skullcaps turned their attention to us. The Skullcaps seemed to wait before charging us. On instinct, I lobbed a ball of hard light that “exploded”, causing several of the Skullcaps to backpedal in fright and brief blindness. It didn’t deter the ringleader of the group, as he just charged past the blindness and jumped to tackle me. I reacted by trying to jump back, but time suddenly seemed to crawl to a slow, including my movements. ‘You are being summoned!’ ‘Not Now, Screwball! Can’t you see that I’m busy!’ ‘I informed Pinkie Pie of Rarity’s problem and she’ll be here shortly. I guarantee that the gathered Skullcaps will be restrained or dead by the time you get back.’ ‘The fact still stands that this is a bad time!’ ‘And the Displaced that is summoning you seems to be undergoing a lot of stress! So it may be urgent!’ ‘Alright, already! Let’s just get this over with!’ ‘Okie Dokie Lokie!’ ‘Hey! That’s MY line!’ ‘Pinkie! How did you?...’ ‘Don’t Ask!’ I felt a tugging in my chest and my vision blacked out briefly. When my vision returned, my peripheral vision informed me that I was elsewhere, but one thing seemed to have remained constant. The Skullcap was still flying towards me. Time seemed to resume and the Skullcap knocked me over onto the ground. The Skullcap then lunged his head at my throat, but I put my arm out and held him back. ‘Gosh Flippin’ Dang It! Whoever summoned me better not get mad for accidentally summoning a Skullcap as well!’ ‘If you can distract him with your natural telepathy, I should be able to reset his mind and he’ll be his normal self.’ ‘As normal as anypony can be when they have a neuro-tar in their system.’ ‘Yes, like that.’ "Hey, Delsin. Do you need any help? Because when it comes to first impressions, your failing." I heard a voice deadpan. I took a moment to try and find the voice's owner, but that brief distraction allowed the Skullcap's gnashing teeth to get closer. "Just do one thing for me!" I lit my arm up with bright light and slammed my bright fist into his jaw. The Skullcap went flying into the opposite wall. "Hold him down! And for Karma's sake, don't let him bite you or use his grenade!" "Fleahopper." Suddenly some water vapor restrained him and even stripped him of his bone armor, skullcap, and grenade. I took advantage of the breather to stand up and get a visual of my surroundings and who summoned and helped me. The one closest to me seemed to catch my attention, was a female anthro cat. I decided to thank her for the help. "Thanks, the help was much appreciated." I then looked at the room I was in. Judging by what I could see, the building that is was in looked like the interior of a cluttered workshop inside a clockwork of some kind. It also seemed that the room had been through a beating. "How is this place still standing?" "Don't worry about that. My dad can fix this place up with the bugs, which will keep him occupied...So let us go into the world...Also I'm going to grab Damien." As she ran off to grab...whoever that was, I scanned the area with my telepathy. I felt a telepathic connection coming from the cat woman. I tapped into it and caught some of the conversation she was having with someone or somepony. 'So...What will you do with this Delsin guy? He seems...pleasant though not exactly the prettiest.' I decided to interrupt at this point. 'Hello, ladies.' I saw the cat jump a bit in fright. 'If you're talking about me, you're being kind of rude.' "Yes, and honestly your arrival, despite you not doing much, has already fixed my problem." She suddenly stopped. "Oh wait here's my token, and my dad's token should be laying somewhere over there," she said while giving me a golden coin that had her face embossed on it. I took the coin and examined it. For some reason, I felt some form of power radiating from it. "Thank you, but is there an enchantment on this? Normal gold wouldn't have a strong feeling of power or engery." I thought for a moment before continuing "Or is it fools gold?" "Nah it's my bonafide 100% magic coin that summons a card magician." She smirked. "Just so you know, and I'm quoting this, 'I have magic cards...and magic hands meow~'." Strange thing about what she said, it went clearly over my head. 'Just to let you know, she's practically trying to seduce you.' If I was shocked, I apparently didn't show it. 'Thank you, Screwball.' I then turned back to the cat woman. "Thanks, catgirl, but I'm already taken." I then turned to the restrained Skullcap. "I almost forgot that he was there. Give me a moment to fix this guy's head and the conversation will resume." I then walked over to him and placed my hand on his head to begin the telepathic interference. 'Beginning interference.' 'Give me a few seconds.' "Hey Delsin when your done just go through the piles on your left!" The cat blurted out unusually loud. 'Okay...And...Got it!' I removed my hand from the Skullcap's head, who now was unconscious. I then said, rather loudly, "Well I'm going to find your dad's token!" I then moved to the pile to my left and began sifting through the pile. I honestly found almost everything in the pile interesting, I even found a sonic screwdriver, of all things. As soon as I found a skull with a mark that looks like the devil's star that's blood red with many other symbols surrounding it I heard the cat say, "Sooo...did you find it?" She smiled sheepishly. "I forgot to tell you what his token is, but it seems you may have already found it." I then turn to her, showing her the skull. "So, his token is a skull with a symbol on it?" I asked, raising my eyebrow in a questioning manner. "No...it's a pocket watch with three dials. If you press both of the dials on the side it slows down time. Though mine doesn't have much to offer in support, though maybe it can absorb stuff..." She then trailed off in thought at the possibilities of her token. I pulled her token out and examined it again, thinking of what could be useful from it. "You know, amidst all this chaos, I forgot to ask your name. I'm guessing that you may have learned my name from my token." I looked her up and down. "Come to think of it, where is my token? I don't see it on you." She then grinned a huge grin and spoke in a posh, sophisticated manner. "Hello there Delsin Bow. I'm Carrow Coxen, the Ecaflip, and adopted daughter of Noximilien Coxen, the time lord." "Its Delsin Rowe, not Bow," I said, face palming. "Despite grammar issues, this honestly helps keep introductions to a minimum." I then took a look at the guy Carrow dragged over, Damien I think she said his name was. He seemed to have a belt that held different masks each with a different expression, though they each seemed to be alive. His clothes looked like rags with a black color, almost like soot. It seemed to give the apperance of a medieval thief with no sleeves. "I take it that this is one of your friends. You already got my name, but Its nice to meet you." I held out my hand to shake, but he acted as if it didn't exist. "Hello there. I'm Damien the Masqueraider, the guardian of Zecora and of the Everfree forest, and just so the both of you know I'll be heading back now. I don't want her to be in trouble." He then teleported to the ground then ran off. Seeing him go. I finally noticed that we're about a 100ft above ground. 'How does Carrow even live here!?' 'The same way I do.' 'ZIP IT, KARMA!' "Is he always this weird?" I asked Carrow while still looking around the large landscape. "He generally likes playing the part, and Masqueraiders only show emotion through masks, so he wasn't really trying to be weird. Though sometimes, I'd bet he was," she replied as she began to walk towards Noximilien and started talking to him. Then she got a look of concern on her face as her dad began to stare at me with his blue, mechanical eyes. I then saw that he materialized a sword and pointed it at me like he was aiming, so I readied myself for a fight. "Line of Fire." The area around me began to rise in temperature intensely as a beam of pure fire was fired directly at me from Nox's sword. I jumped to the side to try and make the attack miss and hit something else to generate smoke. He anticipated my intentions s and teleported in front of me and tried to hit me, but he missed. I managed to absorb some smoke from his first attack and then lobbed a sulfur bomb straight at him. However, it somehow detonated just after it left my hand, taking me by surprise and causing me to back up towards a hole made by Nox's first attack. I then suddenly felt no floor beneath my feet and the wind rushing past me. Before I could comprehend anything further, I hit the ground really hard and blacked out. Author's Note Points: +7 Rank: Champion Well, it looks like Delsin is screwed. HEY! I wasn't talking about you Screwball. Anyway, what will happen to Delsin now? Why did Nox attack him? Will this be resolved? Who knows? I don't! (Well, I do, but I can't reveal that because, SPOILERS!) Chapter 9: Karma and PTSDAuthor's Note This chapter was written with the assistance of Dragonblade0196. A Crossover with The time god of Equestria. The dialogue may not 100% match, but the story does. As a side note, I've published this chapter with my tablet and it's keyboard lacks a tab button. When I get the chance, I'll edit the chapter with my computer. 3/20/2016: Computer Edit. Chapter 9: Karma and PTSD inFAMOUS Displaced Chapter 9 Karma and PTSD I didn't know how long I was out, but as I was coming to, I heard a twig snap. Having been in a war, the sound signaled to my mind of trouble. And not just any kind of trouble...an ambush! My eyes shot open and I jumped up with my chain out. With a screech, I began to lash it around and fire off cinder missiles and sulfur bombs at random, destroying anything unlucky to be within range of the chain and damaging almost everything else. As my vision was obscured by the smoke, I turned to where I heard the twig snap. The smoke cleared and I was able to clearly see the intruder. It was a geeky looking guy in blue and brown clothing and a strange gauntlet. He seemed to have seen my 'tantrum' and was rather surprised from it. I was about to question who he was when my stomach felt off. 'Uhgg, why do I feel sick?' 'Your body is still in its acclimation process to the neuro-tar your system.' 'What?' 'You need to vomit to feel better.' I offered no argument and just let it out. Whatever I ate, if I ate, came flying out of my mouth mixed with a large amount of a thick, black liquid. I hurled two or three times before I felt better. As I was getting ready to stand, I heard more vomiting. I looked and saw that Mr. Blue Geek had thrown up as well. *Hey, Buddy!* I called out. *Do you need any help, because when it comes to first impressions, your failing.* I stood up and carefully walked around the messes the the Geek and I made. I grabbed him by his shirt sleeve and steadied him on his feet. His face had a look of fear, the kind that says, 'Crap! I'm gonna die!' "Oh come on!" Geek squealed loudly, like a scared school girl. "I'm too young to die!" 'Why is he...Oh! I was speaking Skullcap!' I cleared my throat before speaking again. "Sorry about getting you sick and scared close to the same time. I have a neuro-tar in my system, a new language forced into my head, and PTSD issues. Not to mention that I was summoned by a cat that looks like a compulsive gambler and was then attacked by her father, who looks like a discount, yet cosmic Iron Man." I shook my head. "And this is after I was attacked and almost killed by a Skullcap, so my visit here hasn't been the best." Geek suddenly had big eyes. "What?!" He grabbed me by the lapels. "Did you say you met a cat that looks like a compulsive gambler?" "Wait! Do you know her?" His face then became flustered. "Um......yes...maybe......are you going to help me?" 'That was random.' "Where'd that last part come from? And I might help you, but that depends on what. Because if this has to do with winning a lady's heart...you'll have to do it alone. I don't see anything profitable in it for me, other than potentially missing limbs." "Um...no...it's about fighting Nox by absorbing his power so you can fight him on an equal level...and also I'll give you my power which is elemental manipulation which the three elements I control is water, fire, and earth." He said, tacking on a grin. "OH *HELL* NO!" I then proceeded to walk away. "Why did you just outright refuse? Especially with the opportunity to gain four extremely vital powers?!" He asked. I twisted my neck, popping a few joints in the process and turned back with a glare on my face. "Three reasons." I held up three fingers, and counted down with them. "First off, I'm not a power hungry *B^^^^^^*! That's just bad Karma for me. Second off, Noximilien put off more of the 'Overprotective Father' mentality in his forethoughts when he attacked me. So, I don't really have any reason to fight him, other than for information on his reasons to attack me *and to kick his rear end up between his shoulder blades*. Third off, what's your reasons for wanting to fight him?" I ended by pointing my index finger at him. "Well that fortress you see there is more than just a mobile house. It's specifically designed to absorb an entire species magic killing them in the process, and right now I need to beat him to get back to the world I came from. He's the one who sent me here in the first place." His answer caused me to give the 'are you kidding me' look. "Hold up. So you want me to help you despite the fact that he could kill me when he's bored. You're just going to send me right into my grave." "You know Carrow's dad is not Nox right?" Once again, 'are you kidding me' look. "It's an adoptive relationship, you dolt!" I deadpanned rather loudly. "So, he's just trying..." I was suddenly hit with a headache. I grabbed my head in pain as my legs gave out as well. My vision blurred and I saw that I was standing in front of Nox with Geek and the former Skullcap standing behind me to my right and Carrow to Nox's right. Nox and I seemed to be talking about something, but Vision Me saw or heard something behind both Carrow and Nox. Vision Me smoke dashed past Nox, grabbed Carrow and tossed her towards Geek and the ex-Skullcap just as a dome barrier of earth rose up around them. I then pushed Nox over half a second before I was hit with...a beam of red neon? The vision and the headache vanished. Geek approached me with a concerned look on his face. I then felt another, yet weaker, headache hit and I blurted out a prophetic poem. "Karma’s wrath has been set free The Time Lord and Karma’s Champion Must work together to oversee The safety of this world." "Paraphrased Scripture in hand Can ensure this well. 'United they stand, Divided they fall'." My headache faded quickly. I could see that Geek was visibly worried. "Hey are you okay?" He asked as he weaved some magic into a healing spell of some kind. My fatigue from the vision and prophecy faded and I stood up. I was about to respond when I felt another mental conversation going on in Carrow's connection. 'Hey Carrow I've been poking around the library, and some device's hidden in the basement of the library. I then noticed that there are constant anomalies going on and some of them are powered by an odd form of magic. It seems like it may cause some problems.' 'Um...Vinyl about that there's this guy called Delsin Rowe that popped in from another reality and my dad sent him flying out the window of a 100meter high drop.' 'Hey, Carrow! You should realize that I'm still alive, and wondering WHAT THE HELL NOX'S PROBLEM IS! See if you can get him down here so we can talk like the thousand year old guy I am and the however old guy he should be!' 'Oh...hi there Delly! It's nice to hear. Also, apparently my dad had a vision that involves you, so he wants to change the future by killing you...just to put it simply you better run instead of talk unless you can think of a way to make him not want to end your life.' 'I'm going to spitball a guess on his vision...he saw himself and myself talking about something and then you, geek boy, he get hit with what looks like laser beams.' 'Nope. It was about everyone he knows and loves gets murdered by someone exactly like you or is you along with a little boy impaling him.' 'So he can see the many ways that the future can turn out, rather than an outright prophetic vision.' 'In a way. Honestly, he likes keeping things hidden and manipulating what he wants though, but he doesn't look at every possibility since it would kill him from doing so. I think I'm not entirely sure. As I said, he lets you know what he wants you to know. Wait a sec! How can Delsin know what might happen so accurately?' 'Can I add my two bits?' 'Yes, Screwball.' 'Delsin was exposed to the full measure of Harmonic Magic from the Elements of Harmony in his Equestria. This not only saved his life and greatly extended his life expectancy, but it gave him an unconscious and uncontrollable ability to see the future as it WILL happen. It also causes him to spout out a prophecy related to what he sees in vision.' 'Well that sounds interesting don't you agree Carrow.' 'I would think so, but time can become complicated it's quite odd, so I'm still processing this...wait before I go remember this...FEAR THE PARADOX CHILD...well that's what my dad said' I then felt the connection break from me. "Well, that happened," I said out loud, forgetting that Geek was still nearby. "What happened?" He asked, causing me to jump in fright and ready myself to fight. Upon seeing him flinch from my reaction, I calmed down. "I had a mental conversation with Carrow and she mentioned something about a Paradox Child. Does that ring any bells?" I said to him. "I'm not sure," he said. "But judging by the name, this is not just another person getting sent here causing the Wakfu bursts. It's probably coming here by it's own free will. Though, I'm not sure what to think of it. The anomaly came from the Everfree forest, so maybe head there." I nodded in agreement and we started towards the Everfree. Points: +7 Rank: Champion Chapter 11: Karmic EffectinFAMOUS Displaced Chapter 11 Karmic Effect Delsin's POV After another long while of searching the Everfree Forest for more of the creeps that was "protecting" the Paradox Child, Geek and I arrived at the Ruins of the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. Upon seeing the Ruins, nostalgia struck hard. As if in a trance, I walked into the castle and went to the spot where (in my Equestria) the statue of myself once stood. I looked around, getting a feel of the place that was like unto the place I spent a thousand years in stone. One thing that stood out was that the Elements of Harmony were still there. "The Event must not have happened yet." I said. "What event?" Geek asked, stepping up beside me. I pointed to the Elements on the special pedestal. "Look at these. These are the Elements of Harmony in their inert form. On the Thousandth Summer Sun Celebration, Nightmare Moon will return and these will be the means of purifying her." I looked at Geek who had a look of wonder in his eyes. He went to grab one of them, but I fired a weak smoke shot at his hand, startling him. "Don't touch. Fate will determine when they will be used and by who. It will be here where they will be used." I hear a sound above me and Obsidian lands right next to me. He salutes to me and was about to give a report, but before he could speak, I hear and sense Carrow. "Hey Dad! How are you? We've been looking for you!" She said as if she hadn't a care in the world. I turn around and see Carrow standing behind Nox and giving him a huge grin. "Nonononono, you shouldn't be here! You have to escape! NOW!" Nox said with no emotion in his voice. He didn't take his eyes off of me as he said that. Despite not having any emotion in his voice, I could sense the fear he felt. "Nox, what is going on her-" Before I could finish my sentence, I felt a sudden headache hit. I stumbled a bit and held my hand to my head. 'Delsin!' 'Karma?!' 'Nisled is coming!' 'What?!' 'Damn it, Delsin! The Vision!' I understood what Karma was implying and I sprung into action. I smoke dashed to Carrow, grabbed her and tossed her to Obsidian and Geek. *Obsidian! Form a barrier! NOW!* Geek caught Carrow (rather clumsily) just as Obsidian formed an obsidian wall between them and Nox and I. Just after I shouted to Obsidian, I smoke dashed close to Nox and shoved him back a few feet. I looked to the doorway of the room and I saw a red beam of Neon headed straight for my head. I jumped, more out of surprise reaction and the Neon shot hit me in my left shoulder. I yelled out in pain as the shot knocked me to the ground. My vision was blurred from the pain for a few minutes as I saw my attacker stroll right up to me. When my vision cleared, I saw something that was next to impossible for me to comprehend. I saw myself...but I was different. The jacket was a red-ish color, his face seemed darker, and I could probably bet my engagement that the symbol on the back of his vest was the Bio-Terrorist symbol. The other me knelt down, grabbed my vest lapels and hoisted me off of the ground and against the wall. "You know, you're a real pain in the ass," he said before throwing me across the room, where he (somehow) caught me and slammed me onto the floor. "And since you took my chance to throw this world into pure, unfiltered Chaos, I'll just kill you here and now, and let your world fall into Chaos at the hooves of your heart broken fiancé." He then gave me a maniacal grin as he charged up Neon in his fist. Just before he attacked, I heard the sound of electricity and he was pulled away from me in a flash of electricity. "Over my dead body!" I heard a gravelly voice shout out. I looked up and saw the Cybercorn standing with her arms covered in purple electricity. The other me stood up and saw the electrified hoof and talon ready to attack. Other me began to laugh. "Of course, I'll grant you that request, Twilight Sparkle." A shockwave blasted out, knocking him back. "I've said it once, Nisled, and I'll say it again!" Her eyes glowed an angry purple and her lighting began to have a black edge to them (if lightning had edges). "That name died when you BRUTALLY MURDERED MY FRIENDS!!! MY NAME IS DUSK SPARK!!!" She then launched herself at Nisled and both of them fought, Neon coated chain against gigawatt blades. A lot of dust was kicked up in the fight, obscuring the brawl from view. I heard a number of explosions from within the dust cloud. Various Neon and electric shots fired out in random directions from it. One shock grenade landed in a patch of vines and exploded, making the vines smoulder and smoke. I used the smoke to heal myself. Nox then walked over and helped me up. "Well then. You are now safe from me trying to kill you, since now I know you aren't the one in the many futures I saw." He said to me. "Doesn’t that give you a headache?" I tried joking. If Nox gave a response, I didn't hear it as I noticed the fight winding down. The dust cloud cleared and I saw that both Nisled and Dusk were breathing heavily. Nisled seemed really dinged up, but Dusk looked worse off. Her clothing was torn to shreds and her mechanical wings and horn were torn off. "Ya'know, I really loved that fight. I think I'll keep you alive." He then kicked Dusk in the gut. She grunted in pain and fell down. "But I'll at least keep part of your request." He grabbed her non-mechanical arm, and I was half-expecting for him to absorb her power. However, he did something completely different. He pulled her non-mechanical arm clean off and threw it at the obsidian barrier extremely hard. So hard that the arm broke through the stone barrier. Dusk was screaming, bloody murder. I heard yells and scream of fear coming from inside the barrier. That just set me off. *YARGH!* I fired off a cinder blast, knocking him away from Dusk and against a wall. I then fired off cinder missile after cinder missile, covering the wall Nisled was on with an excessive amount of soot. The area also had a lot of smoke from all the missiles. After I fired off all the missiles that I could, I fell to my knees in exhaustion, both from firing the missiles and the temper flare. I was about to reabsorb the smoke, but I sensed something was off. The smoke seemed to flow to where Nisled was. When the smoke cleared, it wasn't because the smoke flowed off, it was because Nisled absorbed it. He was chuckling in an evil way. "Oh, man, you need to remember to not use smoke against a smoke conduit." I didn't respond. I had only a look of shock on my face. Nisled approached me with his chain unraveled. I stood up and unraveled my chain. "Then let’s just fight." We've both swung our chains and they met, causing a lot of pings and rattles. We kept fighting with our chains and I practically lost contact with the real world, focusing only on Nisled. Obsidian's POV Having seen blood, combat, and dismembered body parts, I didn’t really have a freak out from the purple pony arm and hoof crashing through my barrier. The blue geek and Carrow must have had issues, because as soon as their soft minds processed the arm on the ground, Geek jumped into Carrow's arms and both of them began to yell and/or scream in fear. I rolled my eyes and covered the arm with a stone covering. Their fear volume went down a little bit, but it was still loud. I growled in frustration and fired two smooth and low velocity rocks into their mouths, shutting them up instantly. "If you're done screaming like a bunch of babbling baboons, then we need to figure out what's going on out there a come up with a plan!" 'Delsin is fighting his Karmic opposite, Nox is readying to fight the Fire Mage, and we can beat them IF we get Delsin stronger.' "Thank you, and no-" Wait a moment. "Who in Tartarus said that!?" I looked over to Geek and Carrow and saw that they had the same confused look on their faces. A few seconds after I spoke, I heard the recognizable sound of teleportation and an Earth pony mare was inside the barrier. "Hi ther-" She began to say, but out of reaction, I encased her legs in stone. "HEY!" She shouted before teleporting out of the restraints. "Do you do that to everypony that offers their help?" I was flabbergasted. I never saw an Earth pony use magic...unless... "Are you a conduit?" In response, she teleported to the ceiling of the barrier, turning herself upside down and sticking to it. "Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. Either way, you want to get rid of Nisled and the Fire Mage, and I can help with both." "How and why?" Geek asked, as he peered out of the hole to view the fight. "Your Wakfu seems to match what I can sense from Delsin's doppelganger, so for all we know, you're working with him." The mare waved her hoof dismissively and teleported to in front of Geek. "For one thing, just because my Wacky-Foo or whatever matches Nisled's, it doesn't mean I work with him. I could simply have a similar energy signature or have the same powers." She emphasized that last point by placing a vest on that resembled Delsin's (it had her baseball and wood screw cutie mark on the back) and put on a beanie, like Delsin's. As she was floating in Geek's face, I remembered something. "Wait a moment!" I said in fancolt excitement. "You're Screwball! The Creator of the Karmic Eagle, Benevolent User of Chaos, and Prankster Extraordinaire!" She bowed in her floating position. "Creator of the Karmic Eagle?" Geek asked in confusion. "It was an accident," she muttered as she pulled a blue and red eagle egg out of her propeller beanie and tossed it to Geek. He barely caught it and once he had a good grip on it, he examined it in wonder. "Benevolent User of Chaos and Prankster Extraordinaire?" Carrow asked in confusion. Screwball pulled a card out of thin air, teleported to Carrow, gave her the card, and spun her around at a rapid speed. After a few seconds, Carrow was transformed into a giant card. Carrow was on the face side while Screwball's cutie mark was on the back side. Carrow looked like she was trying to escape the card. Before any actuall ruckus could be made by her, Screwball tipped the card over, revealing Carrow in the pose that she was in on the face side of the card, albeit, lacking the look of terror. Screwball picked up the giant card, shrunk it to the size of a regular playing card, and gave it to her. "A present from a prank. This card will produce a combat oriented clone when ever you need a distraction to get away or if you need someone to help you in a bad fight." Carrow suddenly developed an excited look. "Can it play poker or gamble?" "Yes it can, but its not recommended. If it loses...Well...you don't want to see the aftermath." Carrow dropped her excited look. "Um, not to interrupt the gift party, but you said that we need to help Delsin," I said. Screwball facehoofed at that. "Ugh, curse this teenage mind," she muttered. Turning to Geek and Carrow, she said, "Alright, first, channel your Wacky-Foo or whatever you call magic into this floodlight blub." She pulled out a floodlight bulb and Geek and Carrow began to charge the bulb with their magic. Screwball then turned to me. "As for you, make something that looks like this." She then pulled up a picture of something strange. A weapon perhaps. I commanded the rocks to form the shape desired. It was rough on the outside, but it looked how it needed. I looked to see how Carrow and Geek were doing, and I saw that they had finished charging the floodlight bulb. Screwball took the weapon, cracked it open in the middle, placed the floodlight bulb inside it, and closed it. She then floated to the hole and took aim with it. "DELSIN! CATCH!" A flash of light left the tip of the weapon and flew out of the barrier. Screwball reopened the weapon and the now depleted floodlight bulb clattered to the floor. "Now, we need to replicate the energy of a Blast Core so that Delsin can get stronger. Delsin's POV The brawl between me and Nisled had dragged on for quite a while. We would swing our chains and fists at each other, smoke dashing every so often, trying to throw each other off. Neither of us could gain an advantage over the other. "DELSIN! CATCH!" I turned my head to the source of the voice and I saw an orb of light passing another fight headed towards me. I understood the intentions of whoever sent the ball of light. I gave Nisled a sharp jab to his throat and I caught the ball of light, absorbing it in the process. "Alright! Now I can take this fight to the next level!" I began to fire off light bolts at him at a rapid pace. They did some damage, scorching his clothing a bit, but he shrugged off the attacks. Even my flash grenades didn’t seem to do much. The fight carried on for a few more minutes before I began to feel a bit drained. Nisled recognized this and began to fight a bit more aggressively. Just before he could overwhelm me, I felt a surge of energy hit me and I could see that the edges of my vision turn turquoise and I could see myself firing a laser version of my light bolt. My vision cleared just as Nisled went to deliver a punch. I sidestepped the punch and fired off my new light beam. I did so by placing both of my fists forward, both enclosed in light and one beam of light came from it, hitting Nisled and sending him flying into the far wall. He got up and dusted himself off. "It looks like I'm gonna have to step up my game." He then reached behind himself, and pulled out a Neon "Open" sign and drained its neon. The fight resumed, me firing off light bolts, flash grenades, and light beams and he sped around the room, firing neon bolts at me, as well as rushing in with his neon chain and working in a few slashes before retreating. After a while of fighting again, I began to feel drained again, but before Nisled could even notice, I was hit again by another energy surge. My vision showed me using what looked like two Keyblades, Oathkeeper and Oblivion. Once my vision cleared, I channeled light into my arms, willing the Keyblades to appear. When they did, they were...different than what I thought. Both Oathkeeper and Oblivion didn't have real color to them. The were both a bright white color and they seemed to be solid, yet ethereal. I also couldn't feel what I felt when I was near Sora's Keyblades...Magic. These were just cheap copies. "RAAGH!" Cheap copies that saved my life from two red video based claws. The Key constructs held very well. I pushed him off of me and I began to hack and slash with my key constructs against his video constructs. Evidently, his constructs aren't very strong, as it doesn't take a lot to hack through his claws and his summoned demons. His video sword was a bit tougher, but I was still able to hack through it as well. I managed to bludgeon his forehead with the guard of the Oblivion construct, knocking him back. I turned towards the barrier and I saw that Screwball was at the hole, aiming what looked like a grenade launcher at me. She fired what looked like a turquoise energy at me and it sailed a few feet before a concrete barrier rose up and intercepted it. Then some concrete plugged the hole that Screwball was firing out of. I turned to Nisled and saw that he had switched to concrete. "I've had about enough of you!" Nisled's arms then went from it's golden concrete glow to a blood red mist and his eyes turned yellow. He then fired what looked like a concentration of the mist at me. I was so surprised by the move that I didn't dodge. I had no idea what element he had just used and I didn't know if it would have done if it missed me or hit me. I say that because when the shot hit me, I glowed red for a few moments, but the glow then shrunk and was over my pocket. I dug into my pocket and pulled out Carrow's Token and saw that it's energy spiked and seemed to have absorbed the spell. The red energy aura around the coin dissipated and was replaced by a turquoise aura. Thinking on instinct, I absorbed the energy from the Token and my vision went turquoise again. I saw myself literally glowing in light and I was levitated. Pillars of light then began erupting from the ground, harming enemies and healing allies. Once my vision cleared, I began to charge the light within my body and began to levitate. Before I knew it, I was glowing extremely bright and began to summon pillars of light. Nisled and whoever Nox was fighting were hit by pillar, after pillar, after pillar. Nox was enveloped in a pillar or two, healing any injuries and strengthening him. After a few minutes, I dropped back to the ground, physically spent, but emotionally recovered. Nisled was laying in heap, apparently exhausted from taking the beating he took. I looked over to Nox and his opponent, and they seemed evenly matched in the fight. His opponent looked weird fighting that tux with what looked like bunny ears on his head. Nox still seemed to glow from the effect of my Light Barrage. Deciding that the fight between Nox and Bunny Tux has taken enough time. I lept into flowmotion and using hard light rope, I spun around the well dressed mage until he was tied up well. I then pulled really hard on the light rope and Bunny Tux was spun rapidly around and then landed in a dizzy heap next to Dusk Spark. She then electrocuted her griffin hand and brought it down on Bunny Tux and bands of electricity held his arms and legs down to the ground. At that I remembered what had transpired with Dusk, and so I ran to her and began to examine the now healed up stump where her right arm was. The flesh had healed over and was starting to scar, but there was still a chunk of bone that was sticking out of the stump. Nisled really doesn't know how to amputate limbs very well. I looked up to Nox as he stood over me. I gestured my head in Nisled's direction. "You can do what you want with Nisled. I'm going to see to the clean up." I stood up and carried her to the concrete and stone barrier. I knocked on the stone portion. *If you have any medical experience, I need you out here.* The stone portions of the barrier fell down, leaving the concrete portions to be held up by Screwball's magic. She carefully lowered the concrete to the ground, as Obsidian, Geek, and Carrow came out to see the aftermath of the fight. Dusk Spark's POV Whatever Delsin did with that Light Element or whatever, it was the perfect relief for my pain...my physical pain. I've had my wings, horn, and left arm forcefully removed in the same manner before my world's Discord saved my life. "I didn't mean for this kind of chaos to happen," he had said to me, as he placed cybernetic limbs on me. He was going to honor my position as an Alicorn and have a hoof on my cybernetic arm, but I wanted to gouge out Nilsed's eyes every chance I got for what he did to my life. And I couldn't do that with hooves. Now, I was broken again. I've lost another limb and it could take forever for me to even try to get a replacement. After Delsin gave the Fire Mage motion sickness and I placed arc restraints on him, Delsin carried me to where the youth and the Anti-Skullcap was, asking in his guttural tounge for help. The stone barrier and, subsequently, the concrete that covered it in spots came down, allowing Carrow, Gamma, Obsidian, and Screwball to leave their "fortress" and see the now more ruined...ruins. "Yikes," Gamma commented. "This room looks like it was hit by a miniature atomic bomb!" "And that pony's arm," Carrow said, approaching me with Obsidian beside her. "What happened to it?" "Amateur amputation," I said. "As you can see, I've had quite a few." Carrow looked ready to barf at that point. I looked over in Nox's direction, and I saw him lifting Nisled up to eye level. Of course, Discord had done a few other enhancements to me, so I used my hearing enhancement to figure out what was going on. Nox had pulled out a magical sword and had it at Nisled's throat. "Remember your place when fighting a GOD." Nisled chuckled. "Oh don't worry. I know." Nox then lopped off Nisled's head. I smiled, seeing Nisled die gave me some satisfaction. I just wished it was me that took his head off. I turned my attention to Obsidian, who was encasing the stub that once was her right arm in a stone covering. "Thanks," I muttered. He nodded. "No problem. I'm just glad this is over and what's-his-face can now get along with Delsin." "Let's not tempt fate," Screwball said. "Anyway, I've gotta go do something real fast, I'll be back as soon as I can." She then vanished. I laid my head back, lazily looking at Nisled's dead body. Out of boredom, I sent out a light pulse and I felt that Nisled still had life in him. It wouldn't have surprised me, as most dead people/ponies/creatures still have bioelectricity in some of the hours after death. What surprised me was that after I saw the life signals, the body began to move. The body stood up and faced Nox. Before Nox could even react, his whole body, minus the shoulders up, were incased in concrete. Nisled's body walked to over to where his head had rolled, picked it up, and placed it on his shoulders. Immediately, a red aura surrounded the breaks in flesh and sealed it up perfectly, as if his head hadn't been chopped off at all. His mouth twitched into a maniacal smile as he turned back towards Nox. "I can see my place when fighting a GOD," he bragged as his hand charged up with the red energy...Chaos Magic at it's worst. "I see myself on top." Points: +7 Rank: Champion Chapter 12: Saying Good-Bye (without saying it)inFAMOUS Displaced Chapter 12 Saying Good-Bye Delsin's POV I was rather confused and scared at the same time. Nisled apparently had control over a power that could heal him instantly and keep him from dying. If he had that kind of power, who knows what other powers he may have, aside from what is seen in game. Nisled readied to attack Nox, but just as he was about to fire off a shot of...something, I saw a lilac blur shoot past the red aura, dissipating it instantly. Nisled looked at his aura-less arm in confusion. He relit his arm and the same lilac blur shot past and undid the aura again. He yelled out in anger and frustration and pulled his arm back with concrete on it. Just as he was going to punch Nox, I heard an eagle cry and a feathery red and blue blur attacked Nisled. As Nisled was distracted, Nox teleported out of his concrete prison, reappeared in front of Nisled and punched him in the face, sending him flying. Just before he hit the wall, he was enveloped in a yellow aura. Nisled noticed this and seemed to thrash about in fear. He was levitated towards the barely intact ceiling and then slammed him repeatedly on the ground like a sledgehammer. It wasn't until he was forcefully embedded into the floor, that the aura left and the sledgehammer slammer appeared. It was Screwball. When Nisled saw Screwball, he gave a girlish scream, scrambled out of the hole and backed himself into a corner. Screwball gave me a mischievous look that said, 'I'll take care of this'. Her eyes then glowed yellow and she gave out the EXACT creepy child laugh that you hear in Call of Duty: Zombies (when the mystery box moves). She turned to where Nisled was cowering and pulled a round sphere from her propeller beanie. She then placed it on the ground and six symbols lit up on it. It was there that I noticed that it resembled the Summoning Key from Call of Duty: Black Ops III Zombies. The Key then levitated to head level and began to glow red. Nisled glowed red and began to convulse in pain. A few minutes passed before both the key and him stopped glowing. Nisled stumbled forward and fell to his hands and knees. Suddenly, a portal of some kind opened behind him and a yellow beam of energy shot from the Key and hit Nisled in the face. The blast knocked him into the portal and it closed. At that, Nox began howling in laughter. I was confused as to why that was, but before I could ask, his laughter stopped. "Carrow! GET AWAY!" He shouted. I turned to where Carrow was impaled several times over with red spikes. The foal that was standing next to her suddenly transformed into a young human. The Paradox Child. "Too late, big guy," he said. I went to stand and get ready to fight, but before I could do anything, someone or something teleported in front of me. I didn't see who it was, but I was given a nice introduction...from the underside of a boot. I was kicked back hard and felt like I was flying for a brief second before landing on a hard surface and blacking out. Celestia's POV "Stella, calm down," I said, trying to calm my newest sister down. "Getting upset over this won't help." "Then what can?!" She shouted back. "I go to help my soon-to-be brother and the Bearers of Generosity and Laughter fight some Skullcaps, but just ten seconds into the fight and he vanishes off the face of Equus. What else am I to do?" I was about to respond, but I was cut off when I heard the sound of a portal opening. I turned just in time to see something large fly out of the portal and barrel over Stella. Both of them went flying into a wall. As it turned out, it was Delsin that flew out of the portal. Stella was pinned under him and Delsin's head made an interesting impression in the road. As amusing as that was, I had to show some concern for his health and welfare. "Delsin! Are you okay?" I called out to him as I ran to him. I gently shook him until his eyes fluttered open. "Wakfu...Key...Nisled Ewor...Pure, Unfiltered Chaos," he mumbled. Not understanding anything he was saying, I hoisted him up in my magic and backhoofed him. He was then alert and in pain. "What the Deuce was that for?!" "Three things," I answered. "One: you put Stella in distress by vanishing for several hours. Two: I was under the similar distress when she told me. And three: you were muttering some incomprehensible nonsense." "What did I say?" I repeated what he said, and his face seemed to remember something. He then told me of what he had been doing for the past few hours. "I can't say whether I'm surprised or not," I said, "I guess being a Displaced means that you have to help when called upon." "And since I discovered my opposite, I need to keep my wits about me so he doesn't try to plunge this world into Chaos." "Don't worry, he won't," a disembodied voice called out. Both of us were scared almost senseless. Delsin ended up jumping up and I caught him in my front hooves as we turned to where the voice came from. As it turned out, it was Screwball with two other ponies. One was a grey Earth pony with long black hair and a black arrowhead as a cutie mark. The other pony I could barely recognize as the one that tossed me across Ghastly Gorge. I dropped Delsin, and lit my horn, ready to fight. However, Delsin held out his hand. "Tia, not now. I understand that she needs to answer to the crime of assaulting Royalty, but she's been given a beating and needs to be attended to." Reluctantly, I canceled the spell I had ready. "Alright, get her to a hospital..." "And we need the tech from her world to replace her missing arm and fix the rest of her missing parts." I was taken by surprise by Delsin's comment. "What do you mean?" I asked. In response, he walked to the strange pony. The pony sat down and allowed him to take her mechanical arm. He then twisted her arm at it's base and it came off like a part of a machine. "This is what I mean," he said, waving it as if to prove a point. He replaced the arm and allowed her to go to the paramedics that came at my suggestion. "Now I've had a crazy time in the time I've been free and I need to get some rest...AFTER I talk to Doctor Hooves." "Understood, let's begin searching for him." Delsin's POV It took us a while to find Doctor Hooves. It was by chance that we stumbled upon Ditzy, or rather, she accidentally crashed into me. After explaining what we needed to tell her husband something, she led us to her house. While my fiancé was led into the house, I scanned the area and found a presence in a shed in the back. I had the guards that Celestia had brought stay to watch the house as Obsidian and I approached the shed. I pressed my ear to the wall and I heard somepony with a thick British accent mumbling about something. Not knowing what to expect, I simply knocked a few times on the shed door. "I'll be out in a moment!" A moment later, the shed door opened and the Earth pony known as Dr. 'Time Turner' Hooves came walking out. He took one look at us and jumped back into the shed. "Go Away! I'm not letting you capture me and end my chances of seeing my son again!" I banged my fist on the door and called out, "Doctor, the TIME is nigh!" Upon those words being said, he carefully peered out of the shed at me. "You've talked with my son?" I pointed to the right side of my face, showing him the neuro-tar 'scars.' He then nodded his head and walked back into the shed. I was about to bang on the door again, but I heard the sound of things falling and choice swear words from inside, and it gave me pause. He then came out with a box in his arms. "I believe that my son may have covered all that is to be known about me, but I don't think he told you about what that phrase meant." "Yeah, he was kind of vague," I confirmed. "So, what does it mean for me or you?" "In one of my visits with him, I showed him a few items that were peculiar in some way or another. After he saw them, he told me to keep them safe and give them to the one with that phrase IF he doesn't absorb my powers." That caught me off guard. "I think he may have done research if he knew that someone or somepony would SPECIFICALLY be able to do that." "Either way, here are the items." This meeting seems rather brief, but I'll be gaining something beneficial. On the one hand, Doc here has items that, if I'm to guess correctly, seem to sound like Tokens for various Displaced. On the other hand, Doc is a time conduit and if I was to be summoned back to Wakfu Equestria, I would be prepared. And I could get those tokens afterwards, anyway. So, what's best? The Tokens or Time. Points: +7 Rank: Champion I have a poll set up for the vote on this chapter. Now, after having had taken almost too long to write this, I may need some help writing. Leave ideas (not votes) in the comments so I can see what great Ideas you have for some of Delsin's future. Chapter 13: The TokensSomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.Chapter 14: Enter the Darkness This chapter was written with the assistance of Golden Flare. A Crossover with his story, Prince of the Everfree. InFAMOUS Displaced Chapter 14 Enter the Darkness After I landed, the invisible started struggling in my arm. Seeing no other clear option of ending his resistance, I moved my chain into my hand and smashed it into his face. With a grunt, the unicorn dropped his invisibility. I then grabbed his mask and pulled it off. The unicorn then gasped loudly, as if he was welcoming the open air, and then proceeded to vomit on the stone floor of… Oh great, once again, I'm inside that ancient castle that my fiancé once called home. I looked around to figure out as to where in the castle I was. As far as I could tell, I was inside the throne room. I sent out a radar pulse to find what Displaced summoned me. My pulse found two other life forms. One was the unicorn, retching and giving thanks to Mother Faust. He must be Akomish, only they refer to her as that. The other was standing near the ruined thrones of the two sisters. I turned to the thrones and saw what I never expected. Vanitas. My left arm started to generate smoke as my right came up to my face in a facepalm. “Crumb Cakes and Icing! I hope I wasn’t summoned by a psychopath! That crazy time god was bad enough!” I moved myself into a cautious stance, watching him and waiting for hostility. “Ummm…may I ask what in Celestia's name is going on?” Vanitas asked, then pointed at the unicorn, “And who is that?” “Answering your questions in order; you summoned me in the middle of a fight, and that guy,” I pointed to the unicorn, “Was an unwilling member of a crime gang that's bent on removing my fiancé from the throne.” I aimed my right hand at him, readying a cinder blast...just in case. “Okay then, is he going to be a problem? Cause I need some answers.” He lifted his head briefly, as if he had a HUD he was checking. He then pointed his keyblade at the unicorn. “Stand clear. Freeze!” Vanitas then froze the Descendant in a solid block of ice, rendering him immobile. “Okay, let’s talk,” I said, lowering my arm and canceling the flow of smoke. “What is it that you want to know?” “Who are you and what’s going on here? That merchant tricked me and sent me to Equestria as Vanitas, but he agreed that I’d play some game of his.” He asked. I sighed in annoyance, and answered, “The name's Delsin Rowe, and as far as I can tell, you are now a Displaced.” “A Displaced? What’s that?” “That’s short for Dimensionally Misplaced. The basics of a Displaced is this: you go to a convention, buy something high quality, yet cheap, from a certain merchant and POOF!” I set off a smoke grenade at my feet to add dramatics. “And now, you're here, in Equestria, with the powers and abilities of the character you dressed up as. Any further…” I then suddenly felt my head hurt. I grabbed at it and fell to my knees as another vision came to me. In the vision, I saw Vanitas on the ground outside. His visor was cracked badly and Nisled was standing over him with a Diamond Sword in his hands. He then moved to stab Vanitas in his heart, but I suddenly pushed him out of the way and was struck in my shoulder. The Descendant (in his aura giant form) then appeared and knocked him into the ravine that was just down the path from the castle. My vision ended and I was able to relax a bit. I turned to Vanitas as he rushed over to me. “Whoa, you alright?” He asked. I shook my head, “I just got the worst headache from seeing you have a close encounter with death, with me and Frosty over there saving you, and you ask if I'm okay?” I stood up and drove my fist into a nearby wall. “I'd be okay if what death we saved you from didn't involve my Karmic Opposite!” “Wait, what!? What do you mean, ‘Karmic Opposite’!? You mean an alter ego!?” This is going to be a long conversation. I turned around, showing him the image on the back of my vest. “You see the image on my back?” I sensed him nodding. “Now imagine the vulture is killing the eagle instead and you have an evil version of me.” “Ouch! Does he have any weaknesses?” I nodded, “Yes. He's deathly afraid of individuals who are stronger than him in chaos magic usage,” I chuckled a bit, “Which is kind of funny, because when he met Screwball, he literally screamed like a girl.” “Seriously?...Wait. All my abilities are level one! I'm a walking target for this guy!” Vanitas began to panic. I was going to fire off a smoke shot to get him briefly concerned about his lungs, but I felt something in my radar. “I think we can worry about Nisled later,” I fired a cinder blast at the chunk of ice, freeing the unicorn inside, “Considering that you have visitors.” “Visitors?” the sound of clanking metal filled the air, “The Royal Guard! Alright, let me do the talking, I know what I did was with good intentions, which I’ll explain to you later, but I still assaulted members of the Guard, so this burden’s mine.” Suddenly, the main doors slammed open, revealing an entire legion of guards, ranging from unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies, none of which looked very happy. “So...care to tell me what you did to piss these guys off now, or should I shut up?” Then, the princesses came up from behind the guards, sporting battle armor of their own, “Oh, you’re about to find out, cause I’m pissed too.” Vanitas stormed up to the two and bellowed, “WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM!?” “Um, what?” Luna asked, shocked, but confused. “Your guards were trying to tie down and kill a Manticore! I don’t know what they told you about me, but I draw the line at animal abuse!” Vanitas words startled the princesses greatly, the Royal Guard, attempting to murder a Manticore? It’s simply unheard of! “H-He’s lying!” a familiar voice spoke, the guards moving to reveal one of their ranks, “H-He attacked us, for no reason!” “Yeah!” another one said, “And he broke one of our spears!” he pointed a hoof at Vanitas, “Do you know how much those things cost to make!?” “DOES IT LOOK LIKE I GIVE A FLYING ****!?” Vanitas roared. Before any of the two guards could answer, I smoke dashed up to the first one, ending in a tackle and commanded some smoke to hold him down. I looked to the other one just in time to see him collapsing in pain from being struck...down there. The Descendant then dropped his invisibility and gave the guard a light smirk. “Nice shot, dude.” Vanitas complemented. “ENOUGH!” Luna shouted in her Royal Canterlot Voice, she clears her throat and speaks with a calmer voice now everyone in the vicinity have stopped, “Okay, now, start from the beginning...um…” “Vanitas.” “Vanitas, tell us what happened.” “Okay, it went like this…” Vanitas explained that he was in the Everfree Forest for personal reasons, probably not wanting to explain the whole Displaced concept to them, found the two guards tying up a Manticore, and them getting ready to spear it to death. Vanitas did what anybody would do and stopped them, but his methods were a little too violent for the Royal Guard. He freed the Manticore and found this abandoned castle for a place to live. “...And so, here we are, just about ready to have it out for each other.” Celestia and Luna’s expressions were unreadable as they turned to the two guards who reported Vanitas, “...Is this true?” Celestia asked. “Umm…” the guards hummed. Luna stomped a hoof, “My sister asked you a question!” “Y-Y-Yes!” one of them said, “I-It’s true!” “Who's side are you on!?” the other exclaimed. “The princesses’, of course! You knew what we were doing was wrong, and you dragged me along for the ride!” “Who cares if some dumb animal gets killed!? These things are dangerous anyway! It's better if put them down before they become a problem in the future!” he saw that everyone, even his buddy, was staring at him in shock, “...Oops.” “Lieutenant Stone Sword,” Celestia speaks in a stern voice that chilled even the Royal Guard, “you are hereby dishonorably discharged. The guards will escort you to the dungeons. Seize him!” Every guard leveled their spear toward Stone Sword’s neck, preventing him from escaping. He was about to be dragged out when he glowered at Vanitas. “I'm going to remember you for this, Vanitas, this ain't over.” With that said, he left willingly with about half of the entire battalion watching him in case he tried anything funny. “Lieutenant Leather Armor,” Celestia turned to the partner in crime, “since you seem to be the regrettable one of this whole ordeal, but still an accessory to it, I'll let you off with a suspension, two weeks.” he breathed a sigh of relief, “After this is settled, spend time with your wife, okay?” He nodded, “Thank you, Your Highness.” After Leather Armor was escorted out, I looked from Vanitas to the Princesses and to the Descendant. I sighed and said, “Well, that was fun. What now?” “This is probably the part where we either talk things out, or they slap the cuffs on me.” Vanitas commented. “Knowing Tia, she'll try diplomatic methods before imprisonment,” I state, “Luna, on the other hand, she'd probably have more violent methods.” “Okay...better choose my words carefully then.” Vanitas clears his throat and walks over to the princesses, “Your Highnesses, do not fear, I come in peace, while I possess dark magic, I mean no harm...well, except for the two guards who tried to kill that Manticore, but that's totally different.” The princesses giggled, “It's fine, good sir,” Celestia said. “That's good to hear, now how about we introduce ourselves formally? I'll start off,” Vanitas put a hand over his chest and bowed, like a Keyblade Wielder would do to show respect for his or her master, “my name is Vanitas.” “I am Princess Celestia, raiser of the sun and ruler of Equestria.” “I am Princess Luna, co-ruler of Equestria alongside my sister and bringer of the night.” They turned to me and The Descendant, waiting for an introduction, “Delsin Rowe, the Equestrian Eagle, leader and founder of the Akomish tribe.” “Jet Set the Second, Akomish outside of my father's wishes,” The former Descendant said with a bow. Vanitas claps his hands once, “Okay! Glad that's taken care of! Now, before we talk more, Your Highnesses, I need to speak with these two privately.” the princesses raise an eyebrow, “Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere.” Celestia sighs, “Very well.” She, Luna, and the remainder of the Royal Guard step outside the door and close it, Vanitas turns to me, “Okay, two quick questions: what was that feather I used to call you here and how do I get one like that?” “Oh, that was my token,” I pulled Sora’s keychain out for him to see. “Every Displaced has one.” “Okay, how do I get my own?” “Do you have something that you want to use for it?” I asked. “Maybe…” Vanitas calls his Keyblade and removes his keychain, “How about this?” I took the keychain and looked it over. “I think this will work. I'll see what can be done.” I held it above my head and mentally called out, ‘Screwball! Will you help with making a token?’ The keychain began to float in a yellow aura. A void portal then opened up and the keychain multiplied, with all but two going through it. The last two keychains landed in my hands as the portal closed. ‘I worked the token to allow those who possesses one to use the Portals of Darkness with no negative effects.’ I chuckled a bit. “Screwball went all out with this.” I tossed Vanitas one of the keychains, while I held the the other one up, thinking of a destination. Almost immediately, a Portal of Darkness opened up. I walked in and it closed behind me. I walked for a few seconds and I saw light in front of me. When I walked into the light, I saw that I was behind Vanitas and Jet. “Yo!” I called out, scaring the both of them. “Okay then, now what do I do?” Vanitas asked, after catching his breath. “Imprint a message that you would want other Displaced to hear, much like what you heard with my token.” “Okay, here we go,” Vanitas took a deep breath, “I am Vanitas, if there is anyone in need of help, I’ll be there to answer the call.” Vanitas holds up the keychain, “Now what?” “Now, when anyone finds your token, they'll hear that,” I hold up his chain, “From there, it is up to them if they summon you or not.” “So, should I just toss it in the portal, or is this one yours?” “I've got mine. Just reattach yours back onto your keyblade.” “Okay.” Vanitas did just that, and returns his attention to me, “So what happens now?” “I think that discussion can be discussed with the Princesses. They may have an idea of what you can do,” I cracked my neck, “As for me, I'll need to stay here until my doppelganger is blocked from reentering this world after being banished from it.” “And I'll just stick with you,” Jet said to me, “After that mind gas, I'm going to need some help staying out of trouble.” “Alright, guess we have a game plan.” Vanitas walks over to the double doors, “Okay! You can come back in now!” The Princesses enter the throne room once more, skepticism etched on their faces. “See? Told you I wasn't going anywhere,” Vanitas said, “Now do you trust me?” “More or less,” Celestia said, “I believe you should come with us to Canterlot to test your dark magic to be sure that you are not a threat.” “Fair enough, under one condition.” “And that is?” Luna asked. “Afterwards, I get to take up permanent residence in the Everfree Forest.” “...Done.” Celestia reluctantly agreed. “I hope you don’t mind if Jet Second and I tag along,” I say, “We may even help in Vanitas’ testing.” “Okay then, shall we go, Vanitas?” “Yup, let's go.” Celestia then lit her horn and we were teleported to the Canterlot throne room. Just barely after the teleport, I had a feeling of nausea. Urgh. Why? I then let my gut spill out of my mouth and onto the red carpet. “Gross, dude!” Vanitas exclaimed, “Couldn't you find a bathroom before you did that!?” “It's not his fault,” Luna said, “Teleportation leaves many non-unicorns nauseous.” “Less chat, more electrocution!” I call out. “Wait just a second here!” Vanitas objects, “Nobody said anything about electrocution! Plus, I have a fear of electrocution!” “Not you!” I shout out, “I was talking about me! I can control more than just smoke, for your information!” “Oh.” Vanitas chuckled, “I knew that...kinda.” “Just...Somepony Shock Me!” “Okay! Just let me get Dark Thundaga set into my Command Deck!” Vanitas glanced up at his HUD and back to me, then summoned his Keyblade and whipped into the air, “Show me anguish!” A black lightning bolt came and shocked me down to the bone. After absorbing the electrical energy, my body felt nauseous again. I then floated in the air and my form glowed red for a moment. After landing on my feet, my eyes widened in shock (no pun intended). “CRAP! I need to drain that Bad Karma out of me! Forgive me!” I then began to fire off red bolts of lightning at a random vase, hitting everything but the vase. It wasn’t until I managed to hit the vase with a blue bolt that I stopped. I looked to the gathered group and found them looking at me with shocked expressions (seriously, I’m not coming up with these on purpose). “Dude...what the actual ****?” Vanitas said. “I was not expecting that.” Celestia added. “Neither was I, sister.” Luna agreed. I gave the group a sheepish look. “Sorry. I guess I absorbed the Darkness from that shock unintentionally. I had to drain it out before I went down a rank.” “Maybe I should’ve gone with plain Thundaga.” Vanitas said. “Past mistakes aside, I’m itching to actually test out my electric powers,” I swung my arms down, generating Gigawatt blades on my arms. “That’s new.” “What do you mean, ‘that’s new’? You DO know all of what you’re capable of, right?” “Yes and no,” I answer, “Yes, involving what powers I have, I have the general idea. No, I don’t know everything about what I have and what I could get.” “That worries me. What if you get something super powerful and dangerous, even to yourself?” “It’s weaker than the original set,” I explain, “If I had more power with smoke, I could have unintentionally suffocated the discharged guard with the smoke restrainment.” “I’ll take your word for it. So what now? More tests?” “Yeah, THINK FAST!!!” I shot off a lightning hook, catching Vanitas in the chest and pulled him towards me, only for me to deliver a few electric jabs and a kick to his abdomen, sending him to his starting point. “Oh, you wanna dance!? Fine, let’s dance!” Vanitas fired a slow fireball that split into three, speeding at me and catching me in the leg, arm, and chest. “OW! What the Deuce!” Time to distract him. I telepathically retaliated, projecting this video from the dark recesses of my memory into his head. As he was distracted, I tossed a sticky grenade at him, with it landing on his foot. A few seconds after I tossed it, it detonated, sending Vanitas flying into the pillar next to the door. I then pulled up a polarity wall, just in case. But Vanitas disappeared in a puff of darkness and reappeared behind me, “Gotcha!” he said as he attacked me with a downward swing from above. “Gah!” I was knocked forward, landing face first onto the floor. ‘Second! A little help!’ Second entered his aura giant form and took a swing at Vanitas, knocking him off of his feet. Vanitas stood back up, jumped up high, and dove into the ground, creating a red and black puddle of darkness lurking toward me. When he was directly under my feet, he flew out with his Keyblade pointed out, nailing me in the chest and knocking me back. While in midair, he dove back down into floor to repeat his attack, but I was ready for him and dodged the moment he resurfaced, but what I didn’t see coming was fireballs spewing from the tip of his blade and hitting me several times. ‘Grrr! Second! I need to change powers! I need a bright light!” Second charged his aura form to be extremely bright. Vanitas briefly shielded his face from the light, giving Second and I the time to come up with a plan without speaking or using telepathy. I absorbed the light from Second and he shrunk down and turned invisible. I then flashed my Oathkeeper and Oblivion constructs for intimidation purposes. I lightly saw him flinching, but he was then punched in the gut by an unseen hoof. I then rushed in and pulled off a combo with the blades. “Darkness waits!” He quickly recovered and summoned several afterimages as he attacked me back and forth in rapid succession, his moves and appearances nearly unpredictable. I flailed my arms and keyblade constructs around, hoping to get a lucky shot. Vanitas, however, knock the blades out of my hands. However, I managed to grab his arm and Darkness flowed down his arm onto my arm. Both of us began to struggle, him trying to pull me off, and me trying to fight blacking out. However, the blacking out happened, both Vanitas and I collapsing to the ground. “It started when I first watched my brother play Kingdom Hearts; Sora’s skills and spells were good, great even, but something drew me to the enemies. They had unique abilities, weapons, battle styles, I studied them as much as I could, especially since I didn’t have the money to buy the other games. And so, I came to my first convention, cosplaying as Vanitas, he was the one I liked the most; his power, his ability to summon the Unversed, it made me want to be him, or at least pretend to be. But then, the merchant tricked me and sent me to Equestria as Vanitas. I thought it was a dream come true, but I was scared out of my mind, never in all my life could I have the power of darkness. Darkness was portrayed as evil, but I can change that: darkness can be used for good purposes, and I’ll prove it. To everyone. As I came to, I found that Second and the Princesses were looking down at us in concern. “Are you okay, brother?” Second asked in Akomish tradition. I nodded in response. I let Darkness flow over my arms and I sunk into the floor. After getting up in the Dark corridor, I rose from the floor, but my clothing was different. It seemed to mirror Vanitas’ clothes, except that my helmet/visor had a shape reminiscent to a bird’s beak, the clothing was tinted blue rather than red, and the dress/skirt/kilt portion resembled blue eagle feathers. I looked up from my clothes and saw that Vanitas had gotten to his feet. I summoned a more blue version of his Void Gear keyblade and prepared to fight. “Okay. I don’t know what the hell just happened, or why you look similar to me, but this little sparring match ends with me as the victor. Suffer!” Vanitas charged at me with his Void Gear pointed towards me, darkness trailing behind him, from what I learned from his memories, he just used Dark Haze. However, despite my knowledge of what he can do and what he was doing, I wasn't able to stop the attack. I took it and I was sent flying. When I hit the throne, time seemed to slow to a crawl and my chest seemed to shoot out lightning, much like how when a boss is defeated. My vision was briefly filled with light as time resumed. I tumbled over the throne, landed head first on the ground and blacked out. Author's Note Points: +8 Rank: Champion The name of this chapter came from this song. Chapter 15: Unbreakable Chains This chapter was written with the assistance of Golden Flare. A Crossover with his story, Prince of the Everfree. InFAMOUS Displaced Chapter 15 Unbreakable Chains *Beep* *Beep* *Beep* *Beep* I awoke to the sound of a heart monitor. Opening my eyes, I found that I was in a hospital...or at least the castle infirmary. I was out of my Dark suit, and my vest, chain mail, and shirt was replaced by a hospital gown. Amongst the beeping of the machinery, I could hear snoring. Jet Second was sleeping on a chair, and he had removed his body suit, revealing his Akomish tattoo and his Cutie mark (a Roman Numeral 2). I sent out a radar pulse to see who else was here. Aside from the infirmary/hospital staff and any of the “guests”, I could sense Vanitas just outside the door, along with what I assumed was one of the Princesses. Vanitas entered the room and looks at my awakened form, “Well look who decided to join us in the land of the living. Sorry for knocking you out, by the way, I was too into the heat of battle.” “Meh, I'm a glutton for punishment. No doubt, I'm going to get a horseshoe shaped bruise somewhere on my head from my fiancé when I get home.” “Oh, that reminds me, how DO I send you home? I never asked that.” “From what I gathered from Screwball's session on the Displaced, you say, ‘Our contract is complete,’ or something along those lines,” I answer, “However I refuse to be sent home until Nisled is dealt with. I don't trust Dusk Spark entirely to not try to insult Celestia’s love for cakes and sweets.” “Alright, so how do we deal with this bastard then? If what you're saying is true, even my strength won't beat him. How is this going to work?” “Step one,” I held out one finger, “Literally rip him to shreds. Step two: let him arrogantly pull himself back together. And step three: let a powerful chaos user do the rest. Simple, easy, and (potentially) entertaining.” “How do we draw him out, then?” “Two ways,” I answer, “Both involve him coming to us. Let him try to kill me or let him try to kill you...and neither of us are willing bait in either scenario.” “Well...what if I let him beat me to within an inch of my life, and you come to help? Trust me, in my old life, I’ve done crazier things, I even had a close brush with death, I can handle this.” “Just don't hold back. If he realizes that you're baiting him into a trap, he'll literally turn you into fried chicken and eat you alive.” “...Three things: one, your world has weird powers, two, I’ve been sword fighting since I was a little kid, and three, I'm not the kind of guy who takes a beating without a fight.” “Three more things,” I say in a mock Asian accent, “One, weird is reserved for Pinkie Pie and my father. Two, that won't matter if you're turned into a concrete pincushion. Three, good, that saves us a bit of trouble.” I sat up in the bed, and growled out in Skullcap while rubbing my arm, *Why do they have to insert the needles in sensitive parts of my tattoo?* “Uh, what was with all the growling?” “Unless you want your face to look like this,” I pointed to my neuro-tar scarred half of my face, “Then trust me when I say, I hate needles being stuck into my tattoo.” Jet Second rolled over in his chair, rubbing his tattooed forearm. “Mmph, stupid ants...tickling my arm,” he sleep spoke. “If you say so.” Vanitas said, “Alright then, after you get released, we’re going after your evil counterpart.” “We can start by cleaning up your new castle,” I say, “If we know the ins and outs of it, there's less of a chance of getting ambushed or being taken by surprise.” “Okay, let’s do this.” After waking Second up, we were guided to the castle gardens. We were planning on heading back to the Everfree via Portal of Darkness, with one end there and the other near the edge of the Everfree. However, once in the gardens, I barely noticed the spot where I remembered the time I was talking to my Celestia in my Equestria. The nostalgia hit rather suddenly, all I could do was stop and look at the spot referenced. “Hey man, you okay?” Vanitas asked. I jumped a slight bit at his vocal intrusion. “I’m fine. I was just remembering a conversation with Tia after my first meal in over a thousand years.” “Remind me to ask you about that later, right now, we better get moving,” Vanitas looks at the palm of his hand, “I hope this works.” he held it outward and opened the dark corridor, “Whoa! I did it! I can't believe it!” I rolled my eyes at his excitement. I glanced back at the spot, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw something. “Hang on, I thought I saw something.” I moved to what I saw and found three chests, one was larger than the other two. “Hey! Check out what I found.” Vanitas quickly joined me and said, “Whoa, sweet! May I do the honors?” “One moment.” I sent out a radar pulse to see if there was anything harmful or noticeable in the chests. One of the smaller ones had what felt like Ray Field energy, while I couldn’t identify what was in the other two. “Open this one first,” I pointed to the chest with the Ray Field energy. “Okay, you're the boss,” Vanitas walked over to the aforementioned chest and tapped it with his Void Gear, opening it. Inside, was a blast core. “Whoa, what's with the shiny rock?” I, personally, couldn’t believe my eyes. “What is a blast core doing out here?” “Oh, that's what it is? Well, you got me, but everything happens for a reason, that's what I was raised to believe.” I picked up the blast core, with a bit of smirk on my face. “Since I have this, I might as well absorb it.” “Go for it, I can't use it anyway.” “Just, make sure you keep me safe. I’m gonna need to sleep this off.” I began to channel the Dark element through my arms and into the core. After a few seconds, the energy from the core entered me. I was levitated into the air briefly, with tendrils of Darkness extended out. I then fell to the ground, feeling sleeping, my eyes closing and falling asleep. Upon waking up, I found that I was now on the edge of the Everfree Forest. “Ah, you’re finally awake,” Jet Second said, “Have a nice nap?” “Yeah,” I said, while shakily getting to my feet, “I think I may have something new for my Dark powers.” I looked around a bit and sent out a radar pulse, but I couldn’t see Vanitas. “Hey, where’s Vanitas?” “He went to scout ahead, clear the path of any dangerous creatures,” Second said, pointing into the forest. “Okay,” I said, “Maybe I can test out the addition to my powers.” I closed my eyes and concentrated. I felt as if some of my fear, anger, and many other negative emotions surface for a brief moment before subsiding. “YAAH! What in Tartarus is that?!” Second shouted out. I opened my eyes and saw that I had managed to do something. I summoned a Flood Unversed...but there was something off about it. I couldn’t tell what, but it was off. I decided to try something. “Go and search for Vanitas, and help him if he’s in trouble. If not, stay with him.” I felt the Unversed’s understanding and it ran off into the Everfree. “Okay, now…” Before I could finish, I suddenly heard a war cry of some sort. I reacted and raised my right fist up and something cyan smashed into it. It stuck to my fist for a moment before falling off, dazed. “Rainbow Dash!” I heard an angry, western accented voice shout out, “Why didn’t ya wait for tha rest of us?” I turned to where the voice came from and saw a familiar orange mare followed by a few other mares, the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony. I raised my hands in surrender and Second backed up. “Am I in trouble for something?” The lavender unicorn, Twilight Sparkle, stepped forward, “I wouldn’t necessarily say that you’re in trouble. We saw you carried by someone…or something...out of a dark portal of some kind,” she explained, “We’re not sure what happened, since Fluttershy left to tell us.” They must be referencing Vanitas. “Tell me, did the someone or something look like this?” I enveloped myself in Darkness, putting on my Dark suit. After the Darkness receded, the gathered ponies (except the unconscious one) suddenly reeled back in fear. “What in Equestria is that outfit?!” The white unicorn, Rarity, asked in horror, “It looks absolutely horrid.” I disengaged the suit for her sake, shrugging my shoulders. “I’m sorry, I don’t choose the design.” “Then let me design something else rather than what you showed us.” “Rarity! Ah think that we have better things to talk about than our clothin’ colors matching the grass or not,” the orange earth pony, Applejack, stated rather forcefully. I tried to break up the fight, “Girls! Girls! Settle…” My vision was suddenly filled by sky blue eyes. “DOWN!!!” I suddenly fell on my rear in an attempt to escape the blue eyed terror, Pinkie Pie. “Hi!” She said, with an impossibly massive grin on her face. “What are you doing on the ground? Shouldn’t you be standing up and talking and partying and enjoying…” Dear Mother Faust, she scares me. No sooner had I thought that, another Unique Flood Unversed tackled her away from me. “Pinkie!” The butter yellow pegasus, Fluttershy, whisper-shouted. Twilight took no hesitation and fired a magic blast at the Unversed, striking it in it’s chest and dissolving it. I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my chest, shouting out in pain from it. Fluttershy was on me in an instant. “Oh my gosh, are you okay?” She asked in a caring manner, “What happened? Do you have a heart condition?” I shook my head as the pain ebbed away. “No. She shot that creature and I was sharing it’s pain.” The gathered ponies had shared shocked expressions. Twilight looked as though she was going to speak again, but she looked past me. Wondering what she was looking at, I sent out a radar pulse and felt Vanitas’ signature. “Hey, I'm back. Did he wake up yet?” Vanitas looks at me, then Second, and lastly the Mane 6, “Uh, did I miss something?” At that moment, Rainbow Dash woke up. Upon seeing Vanitas, she was instantly in the air and doing another charge, aimed at Vanitas this time. She didn’t make contact, as the First Unversed I had summoned tackled her and began to wrestle her. It lost, receiving a hoof to its head and dissolving. I suffered a massive, but not debilitating, headache. OW! Flippin’ Freal and Donuts! “Whoa, whoa, whoa! Let's all just take it easy here—” Vanitas couldn't finish his sentence as Rainbow charged him again, but actually hitting him this time. She was about to bring a hoof down onto his visor, but she was knocked off by “something” invisible, holding her down. Vanitas was able to get up and continue. “Okay, let's try this again. How about we all calm down, and talk this out like adults?” “And what will you be telling us?!” Rainbow shouted out from under her unseen captor, “That you’re here to conquer Equestria! No Thank You!” She tried to struggle out, but I send out another Unversed to help Second. “No, far from it! I'm not here to pick a fight! Just cool down!” “Yeah right, like I’m gonna…” “Dashie,” Fluttershy interrupted, “I think we should hear him out...If that’s okay with you.” Rainbow looked as though she would object, but an *Ahem* from Twilight, and glares from the other mares, stopped her. “Grrr! Fine! Just let me go.” Second shimmered back to full visibility and the Unversed pulled itself off of her. She roughly pushed him away and bucked the Unversed in it’s groin. While it didn’t dissolve, I still felt the pain...Owie! “Ooh! That's gonna hurt in the morning.” Vanitas cringed, but recollected himself, “Okay then, I believe introductions are in order, my name is Vanitas,” he pointed to Second, “that's Jet Second,” then to me, “and the guy nursing his crotch, is Delsin Rowe.” “I'm Twilight Sparkle, and this is Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and I'm certain you've met Rainbow Dash.” “Thoroughly.” Vanitas snarks, “Anyway, I just want to say that I mean you no harm, though I plan on living in the forest after I get things taken care of.” “Things? What kind of things?” “Personal stuff, you understand, right?” Twilight looks hesitant, but nods. “Good. Give me one second, I have to talk to my pals here,” Vanitas walks over to me and Second and whispers, “How far away is your alter ego? I don't want any of these ponies to become collateral damage.” *I hate Rocky Mountain Oysters.* “I couldn’t be able to tell you, even if I wanted to,” I answered, “The best way to minimize collateral damage and/or casualties is to tell them to steer clear of him...and he’s more of a doppelganger than an alter ego. I don’t do Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” “Okay then,” Vanitas walks back to the girls, “Listen up everyone,” the Mane 6 turned to him, “There's a guy who looks similar to Delsin, and he's extremely dangerous, let us handle him and steer clear.” “And what if we don't want to?” Rainbow asked, condescendingly. “He’ll turn you into fried chicken and eat you alive,” I deadpan. That turned Rainbow pale, as if she was imagining that happening. “It's true, this guy hasn't lied to me yet, so I trust him.” Vanitas added. Twilight stepped forward, “Well, alright then. But, after this is settled, you're coming back with us to test you, I can sense the powerful dark magic within you and I want to make sure it isn't hazardous—” “The princesses already did that, genius.” Twilight blinked, “...What?” “They stormed my home, I nearly got killed fighting Delsin and Second, and I had to fight my way back to this forest while he was unconscious.” “So that's why you were carrying him.” “Of course! What did you think I was doing? Carving him open and feeding off of him?” Rainbow suddenly had a sheepish smile. I could feel Vanitas deadpanned under his mask, “You did, didn't you?” I snickered at Rainbow as she blushed in embarrassment. Vanitas sighed, annoyed, “Anyway, just go back to Ponyville and I'll come and see all of you when it's over, Delsin and Second will probably be going home after this.” “Okay, we trust you, right girls?” Five out of the six voiced their agreements, “Right, Rainbow?” “...Yes.” she grumbled. “Good, glad we're all on the same page.” Vanitas said. The Element Bearers turned tail and headed back to Ponyville, leaving me, Second, and Vanitas at the forest’s edge. Vanitas helped me up, “Okay, where in your vision did you see me get my behind kicked by your doppelgänger?” “Near the canyon/gorge some distance from the castle ruins,” I replied. “Alright, then let's get going, I cleared the path up ahead, so we should be safe for the time being.” We began our trek to the castle ruins, journeying through the Everfree without dealing with any of the dangerous monsters that lurk in there. After crossing the rickety rope bridge, we made it back to the ruins, with everything quiet...too quiet. “Okay, we're back,” Vanitas said, summoning his Keyblade, “if he shows up, I'll be ready.” I didn't reply, as I was scanning the area, both physically and with my radar pulse. Despite what Vanitas said, I believed that he was in for a surprise. “Obsidian Shard! Dusk Spark!” I shouted out, “You can stop hiding! I know you're here!” Almost immediately, I heard hoofsteps and mechanical whirring sounding from one of the nearby bushes. From said bush, Obsidian and Dusk walked out, the former looking sheepish, and the later looking rather miffed. Vanitas got into his battle stance, “Alright...who are you two and what are you doing here?” “Shut up, Bucket Head,” Dusk snapped, “I was asked...no, ordered...by Princess Stella Starshine to bring you back.” She paused, raising her head in contemplation. “However, I think I’ll just let you stay here. You probably have some reason to stay. And myself, personally, I want to see Princess Cello’s pissed off face when she sees you be late to the cuddle time she planned out.” “Bucket Head!? I'll show you a bucket head!” Vanitas was about to clock Dusk, but I restrained him, “Let me go! I'mma bust his flank wide open!” “She a mare,” I dead panned. I then looked back to Dusk, “And you, can you ever not insult people?” She simply crossed her heart, flapped her hands, and pantomimed putting something in her eye. I raised my eyebrow at this. “The Pinkie Pie Promise you made with Discord?” She nodded. “Fair enough.” “Wait. That thing’s a girl!?” ‘Honestly? Couldn't the voice tip you off?’ I telepathically asked. ‘Well, from what I learned, Twilight’s rule 63 version of herself is named Dusk as well...hang on, how’d you get inside my head?’ ‘Telepathy,’ I stated, ‘And while this ‘Rule 63’ thing may be true, it isn't for her. She’s trying to forget her former name, due to the fact that she lost her family, friends, and pieces of herself to Nisled.’ ‘Oh...okay then, forget I said anything, let's just get down to business,’ he communicated. “So, you want to help us give Nisled a thrashing?” I asked the two. “As much as I want to, we can't,” Dusk answered. She pointed to Obsidian, “He's still has that report assignment to finish, and I still have to finish a ridiculous game of chess with Luna...and I'm sure you know how ticked off she'll be if I'm not back in a reasonable amount of time.” “If you have to rush, then go,” I told them. Dusk electrified her horn and opened a void portal, and left with Obsidian in tow. After she left, I could only sigh. “Lulu has gotten a bit more aggressive since Stella was pulled from her mind.” “We’ll talk more on that subject another time, right now we’ve got bigger fish to fry,” Vanitas looked around anxiously, as if he thought Nisled would pop out at any time, “Okay...where is that S.O.B.?” “We'll find out...eventually,” I said, “In the meantime, we might want to busy ourselves with either training for the fight, or fixing up your new castle...Well, new in the sense of...You get the idea.” “Yeah, I know what you mean, and ever since our little fight, I don't think I'm ready to knock you out again when I need you the most, besides, the princesses chewed me out for that little incident while you were in the hospital.” “That's understandable. Besides, part of training can involve just seeing what you're capable of,” I explain, “For example: when I played Kingdom Hearts II, I didn't even know what Upper Slash and Finishing Leap was in the first ten playthroughs.” “At least you GOT to play KH II, I watched my brother play it, and he saved over every possible file, not only filling up our memory card, but not letting me take a crack at it, it sucked, honestly.” Vanitas took a deep breath, “But I get what you're saying, I mean, I have every skill and spell in KH:BBS, and I haven't used all of them yet, I just stuck to what I knew.” That got me thinking. “There may be a way for us to train that may benefit both of us.” “Oh? Enlighten me.” “As you may have already noticed, I've barely learned how to summon and use Unversed,” I began, “My idea is this: teach you how to summon and use Unversed, and we then see what we can do while fighting each other's Unversed. That, in turn, will help us build tolerance to the pain from our Unversed.” “Alright then, let's get to work.” We entered the castle and looked around until we came to what appeared to be an ancient training courtyard. I turned to Second and said, “Scout out the castle. Map out every detail you can find.” He nodded and went to accomplish that. “Now, you ready to use Unversed?” “Yeah, I'm ready.” I activated my Dark suit, except the visor, and began. “From what I remember from earlier, you just need to let your negative emotions...surface, for lack of a better term.” Darkness coated my arms as I let said emotions flow before they manifested as Unversed...that oddly looked like Decadravens from TWEWY. “Odd, I thought I was summoning Unversed, not Noise. Maybe that's what seemed odd about the Unversed I first summoned.” “Maybe it works differently with different users of Unversed; if you're closer to Noise in TWEWY instead of normal Unversed, maybe that's the only type of Unversed you can summon.” “If I summon Noise-like Unversed, then perhaps I can do what the GMs can.” Concentrating on my negative emotions, I slammed my fists together and my vision was filled with static. When it cleared, I was standing/sitting above Vanitas as an Ovis Cantus. Mentally smiling, I spoke with it's deep voice, “Welcome to my kitchen.” “I rather skip the appetizer and go straight to the main course.” Vanitas quipped. “I'll try to ignore that comment,” I said as I reverted back to my original size, “In the meantime, try summoning some Unversed.” “Okay, I'll try, but I can't guarantee anything.” Vanitas closed his eyes and focused on negative emotions as he muttered to himself, “Okay, Vanitas, think of your loved ones facing dangerous fate…” as several scenarios ran through his mind, Unversed started popping up, spreading like wildfire, and didn't show any signs of stopping. “DUDE! Slow down!” I shouted out as I pulled out Karmic Gear (my Dark keyblade) and my chain and started bashing and slashing at his Unversed. “Ow! Huh?” Vanitas looked around when he felt the pain and saw just about a hundred Unversed, “Sweet Celestia, I overshot it!” he helped sliced through about half the entire horde, trying to ignore his self-inflicted pain, but stopped when said pain from the Unversed became unbearable, “MOTHER OF CELESTIA, THIS HURTS!!” he exclaimed as he crumpled to the ground. I tossed Karmic Gear, producing a combination of Strike Raid and a boomerang, knocking back most of the Unversed around him. I then rushed to him and used my conduit heal ability to try to ease his pain. While I focused on that, the Decadravens kept attacking the Flood of Unversed. “Agh, thanks for that, I don't think I could've used Curaga after all that.” Vanitas stood up, shaking off the remainder of his pain, “Okay, let's get this training started right.” Time for some music for the moment! I telepathically played this song into Vanitas’ head, loud enough for him to “hear” it but quiet enough so as not to distract him. I then summoned several Decadravens and a Cornix Canor and sicced them on him. The Decadravens stayed at a low altitude to distract/harass him while the Cornix stayed out of reach, swooping down to either attack him or grab random debris to drop on him. Vanitas dodged their attacks and used his Afterimage ability to attack them as he created façades of himself, confusing my Unversed before they were destroyed, leaving behind Cornix Canor, which he finished off his Flame Burst skill. I aimed my hand at Vanitas and fired of a Dark Volley, peppering him with Dark plasma. Vanitas took the brunt of the hit, but blocked a few stragglers with his Renewal Block plus regaining some of his lost HP and retaliated with Fission Firaga, catching me in an explosion. After I reached the ground after being flung back, I “melted” into the ground, leaving behind a small “puddle” of Darkness. With my awareness, I felt that more faux-puddles appeared. My puddle flared a bright blue before going dark. All of the puddles started moving rapidly around at my command, hoping to confuse Vanitas. Once I was done mixing them up, I arranged the puddles in a circle around him. In an instant, all of the faux-puddles started firing off their own Dark Vollies, while my puddle moved under him and I launched out of it, striking with Dark Impulse. Vanitas was unable to avoid all of the attacks and took a huge amount of damage, even his Renewal Block couldn't help him. He panted heavily as if my attacks knocked the air out of him, “Okay...you win, just...let me...catch my breath...hoo! Man, I'm tired!” To help speed up his recovery, I summoned a few Pig Samba for him to take out and get either needed items or even a new ability (if there were any new ones, if what he said was true about knowing all abilities). Vanitas defeated them quickly after regaining his lost breath, and received a few Hi-Potions as a reward. “You both done yet?” We heard Second say from the entrance of the courtyard. “I’m done with mapping the main portion of the castle.” His horn lit up and it lit up Vanias’ visor as well. “Let’s get some rest,” I said, “We need to be ready for Nisled when he comes. Second will take the first watch.” I turned to Vanitas. “Where can we rest?” “I found the princess’s old bedchambers, we can sleep there.” “Sounds good. Let’s get some rest.” Meanwhile, in a different portion of the Everfree, a cockatrice was fleeing from an unseen predator. While most creatures would flee from it, the cockatrice felt a need to flee from something. It didn’t even know what or where it was, it just had to flee. After a few minutes of running, it stopped inside some bushes. After it caught its breath, it went to leave, but smoke suddenly enveloped the bush. Coughing badly, it exited the bush, only to come face to face with Chaos...but not just any Chaos...Pure, Unfiltered, Chaos. Author's Note Points: +8 Rank: Champion The name of this chapter came from this song. On a side note, yes, I didn't have any clue what Upper Slash and Finishing Leap did for most of the time that I've played KHII. Chapter 16: Dismiss This chapter was written with the assistance of Golden Flare. A Crossover with his story, Prince of the Everfree. inFAMOUS Displaced Chapter 16 Enter the Void I couldn’t sleep...or at least, not well. I stirred awake when Second and Vanitas switched watches. Once he was gone, I fell back to sleep only to see a few images of war in my vision. The faces of many brave ponies, Akomish and otherwise, flashed before my face before ending with Smoke Shot’s face. After waking back up, I couldn’t get back to sleep. From what I could see of the sky, it was a few hours until sunrise. I quietly got up and snuck out of the room, found a set of strong vines and climbed to the highest point of the castle. I never did get a very good look of the Everfree with my own eyes after being freed, but I knew most of the forest by heart, thanks to my telepathy. I sent out a few radar pulses, attempting to find Vanitas. It was difficult, as he had a few Unversed patrolling the castle and they felt too similar to him. Once I discerned where he was, I jumped off the tower I was on, activated my dark thrusters and glided to the castle’s main entrance, where he was. He turned to me and spoke with a tired voice, “Couldn't sleep?” “PTSD,” I answered. “My second time having normal sleep and I’m plagued with the remnants of a war I fought in.” “Yeah, similar to me, only my Anxiety kept me wake; been diagnosed with Anxiety when I was a kid, there were times when I'd have anxiety attacks and my body would spasm out on me.” I gave a whistle. “You’ve got the better end of the deal than me or one other Displaced I’ve met,” I told him, “In your case, you don’t see those you see as comrades-in-arms, brothers, sisters...as dead lifeless faces.” I gave a sigh. “Not to mention, Twilight Sparkle looks like one of them.” “Sounds like you’ve got it rough,” he gave a sigh of his own, “believe it or not, Anxiety isn't the only thing I'm diagnosed with, and I've been taking meds for them, been like two days since I've taken them.” I lightly chuckled, “Like I said, you’ve got the better end of the deal. Anyway, I’m sure you have a few questions from yesterday that you want answered.” I waved my hand nonchalantly. “Ask away.” “Okay, um...that spot you were staring at back at the gardens, what was that about anyway?” I look at him with disbelief written on my face. “Have you ever been engaged to be wed?” “Can’t say that I have, honestly.” “That was the most calm I’ve been in a thousand years,” I said, “That one moment with my fiance...I had to cherish every moment of calm I could while in stone, waiting...waiting for Luna to return...waiting for me to be free...just,” I shuttered, “waiting for when I could truly comfort her.” “Wow...that's...actually really sweet of you to do, you must really love her a lot.” “I do.” I gazed to the East longingly. “She suffered those thousand years. Losing a friend and her sister to corruption within three years of me getting encased...keyword: encased, in stone. I wasn’t until after 600 years of “dating,” I was able to propose to her...without the ring, embarrassingly enough.” “I'm sure she appreciated your attempt nonetheless.” “Yeah, she did. She nearly broke off my left arm in her hug…” I trailed off for a moment. “Any further questions?” “Yeah, about Dusk Spark, what exactly happened to her?” “To best convey that, things need to be put in context,” I began, “The Multiverse is part of a Displaced’s life. I’m from a different version of Equestria, one where a number of ponies are Conduits, or individuals that can control/weaponize almost any element possible. However, to concern Nisled, he is from an alternate version of my Equestria.” I looked to where I felt his eyes would be behind his mask. “A version where his aim...my aim...was to be Infamous rather than Heroic.” “Whatever he had done over time in his world had led him to murder Dusk’s parents and Spike...Whoever that is...shortly after her ascension. From there, she was practically on an obsessive manhunt. Every rumor, she pursued. She physically lost a bit of herself in any encounter with him.” “After an entity known as Tirek was defeated, the families and connections of her friends, the other bearers of the Elements, were murdered during the chaos. Later, they discovered Nisled’s plan to engineer an army of Bio-terrorists to take over and rule the world.” “After dealing with their version of the Beast, Starlight Glimmer, Nisled took advantage of their exhaustion and murdered and mangled her friends,” I shuddered in disgust from the images from getting Dusk’s powers, “Word’s can’t describe how bad it was. I can only show you.” I telepathically projected the images of their dead bodies in the process of being mangled. I didn’t wait for a reaction, I just continued, “He would have killed Dusk, but their Discord and the Beast interfered, removing any chances of him to take over her world and to get stronger. Any powers he built up over time were taken away, leaving him with smoke, neon, video, concrete, and basic chaos.” “Dusk then felt it necessary to go back in time to kill him and end the chaos before it began. Her trip went differently than expected.” “Because she arrived in your Equestria when she did and not her Equestia’s past...Right?” Vanitas asked. I just simply nodded. “Whoa...if it were me, I would've gone insane.” “Good thing it wasn’t you then. Any more pressing questions?” “Yeah, one last thing, how did YOU get Displaced? Were you at a convention like me?” “Yes, but under different circumstances. I was a student at the University of Idaho in Idaho Falls, but I had money issues. Then, one of my friends said he would pay me a thousand dollars to go to a convention. Me, not being one for certain types of crowds, wouldn’t go to a convention under normal circumstances. But with a chance to keep myself from getting into debt, I went. I didn’t go dressed, as I wanted to use as little money as possible to gain a “profit” off of this.” “I did, however, have a bit of cash to buy something, which was the costume of Delsin Rowe, this chain,” I showed him the chain on my arm, “And a can of magic spray paint.” “Damn, man, you got a real bang for your buck, even though you got teleported to Equestria as the guy whose outfit you bought.” “Yeah. Twenty bucks for the whole thing...a rip off, if you ask me.” I turned to a section of the castle wall that seemed to be in better condition than the some of the castle. An idea formed in my head and I pulled out my paint can. “Do you mind if I…” I could feel him smirk under his mask, “Oh, God, totally.” I found a few stray board of wood and I managed to prop them onto the wall to act as templates. With difficulty, I was able to paint the symbol of the Unversed (in blood red) onto the wall, surrounded by the images of the Elements of Harmony. I then had an aura of darkness painted around Unversed symbol, while the Elements had auras of their respective colors (toned to be slightly darker for contrast). Where the dark aura met the rainbow aura, I had the colors mix, as if the darkness was coexisting with the light. I was about to put away the paint, when I felt a bit of inspiration. I added the cutie marks of Celestia and Luna to upper left and lower right, respectively. When I did, the Princess’s cutie marks and the Unversed symbol seemed to light up and two large chests appeared. One had the Unversed symbol and the other one had the Neutral Karmic symbol on it. “Dibs on the Unversed marked chest!” Vanitas declared. “I figured that would be the point,” I said as I moved to the Karmic chest. I went to open it, but it was locked. “Hey, a little help here.” “Oh right, sorry.” he said sheepishly as he summoned Void Gear and tapped the chest, unlocking and opening it. When it was opened, the inside of the chest gave of a bit of light before it died down. Inside the chest was a Banishing Key. I showed the Dimensional sphere to Vanitas and said, “There's been a slight change in plans. Nisled gets ripped to shreds, he pulls himself back together, and then we banish him from this world.” “Alright then. Welp, my turn!” Vanitas tapped his own chest and it opened, revealing a keychain with a stone medallion of a dragon as its token. “One of the keychains the merchant was talking about! Hmm...I think I have an idea on what this one is.” he removed the Void Gear keychain and equipped the new one, making it transform into a new Keyblade; the blade takes the appearance of a pin tumbler lock key with bandages wrapped around the base, with the rest of the Keyblade like all the others. “Sweet! It's Fenrir! One of my personal favorites!” “That has great range and strength, but maximum ground and midair combos are decreased by 1,” I quote from memory, “Also, it seems a bit too...clunky looking, in my opinion.” “Eh, everybody has their opinions, it's one of my favorite Keyblades, you think it's clunky, it's all good.” Vanitas says positively. “Besides, with every Keyblade, where there's a benefit, there's a defect.” “More power for less swings,” I say in an advertising voice, “What a price!” Vanitas chuckles, “Nice sales pitch, pal.” he removes the Fenrir keychain and reattached his Void Gear keychain, “So now what?” “Let me check,” I said, and I sent out a radar pulse. I sensed hostility immediately from behind him. I reacted as soon as I sensed that, pulling out Karmic Gear and lunging in his direction, but stabbing past his head. I felt my blade hit something and the air shimmered a bit, revealing a Stealth Sneak Heartless with my keyblade buried in it’s skull. It slowly dissolved, leaving a crystal-like heart to float away. “Whoa! What was that!? A Heartless!?” “I would assume so,” I answered, sending out another radar pulse. In that pulse, I sensed more hostility, but it was towards a few benevolent signals. “And I think it may not be the only one in the area.” I ran to the rope bridge, leaped up and used my dark thrusters to glide across. I ran into the forest, sending out a pulse every so often to locate the signals. I summoned a few Garage wolves to speed up the search. One of them alerted me to something. Once I found that wolf, I saw several Living Bone surrounding three ponies. I couldn’t recognise them, but I wasn’t caring about that at the moment. I charged in, chain and keyblade in hand, but one of them just knocked me away with it’s mace tail. “Oh nuts! Heal!” Vanitas cast Curaga on me, mending the damage that was dealt to me, “You alright, man?” “Yeah, I’m okay. Those mares,” I pointed to the three mares, “On the other hand, won’t be. Light that bush near them on fire, place a shield around them, and I’ll do the rest.” “Okay. Go!” Vanitas cast Flame Burst, the fireballs lighting the bush on fire. I rushed over to the burning bush, and absorbed the smoke from the fire. I then smoke dashed to the center of the clearing just as Vanitas cast Barrier over himself and the mares. I then lowered myself to the ground and then jumped, splitting into three burning embers. Reforming at the peak of my high jump, I began to fall head first. I ignited my smoke thrusters to speed my fall and increase the damage. I landed, making an explosion of embers, ash, smoke, and fire that blew the pack of Living Bone away. All of the Heartless dissolved into darkness, except for one, which I promptly dealt with, with a melee combo with my chain. “We did it!” Vanitas cheered, then turned to the ponies, “You all okay?” “We’re quite alright, Darling,” one of them said. Once I heard her voice, I recognized who it was. “Rarity?” I was finally able to figure out the three mares. “Applejack? Rainbow Dash?” “We don’t have much time to explain!” Rainbow yelled in my face. “Our sisters had planned a sleepover in their clubhouse,” Applejack said, “I went to check on them this morning…” “AND THEY WERE GONE! MISSING!” Rarity finished and fell on a teleported couch and began to sob almost uncontrollably. “Okay, okay, don't worry, we'll help you find them, right, Delsin?” Vanitas asked. “Where’s their clubhouse?” I answer, “Let’s see where you saw them last.” We, being myself, Vanitas, and the three mares hurried in the early sunrise to Sweet Apple Acres. When we arrived at the clubhouse, I sent out a few radar pulses to check for their sisters, but I could only sense hostility. “Vanitas, electrocute me and keep an eye out for Heartless,” I told him. He complied without a word, casting Thunder on me and readying for a fight. The mares prepared for a fight as well, while I entered the somewhat cramped quarters of the clubhouse. What I saw was a bloody mess in the middle of the clubhouse. I never did see a cockatrice before, but I could tell it was one. I checked where its head was and placed my hand on it. I was able to “read” the leftover bioelectric energy from its brain, seeing it’s death by the hands of Nisled. After I separated from it, I could see the “echo” of him running away. I exited the clubhouse just as Vanitas finished off a Candy Apple Heartless. “Never thought these guys would make an appearance.” he turned to me, “So, what did you find?” then smelled the air, “And what smells like something died?” “Because something did die,” I said, the mares turning pale from my words. “Nisled was here and while I didn’t find any evidence of their sister’s kidnappers, I found a corpse of a cockatrice in there. The leftover bioelectric energy it had allowed me have the information I need to track him down. It is very likely that they were kidnapped by him, Applejack took note of their disappearance, and then he brought over and killed the cockatrice.” “Uh, what?” Rainbow said. I slammed my head onto a nearby tree in frustration, knocking off all of the apples in the process. “Long story short, I can lead us to where they have been possibly taken.” “Then what are we standing here for!? Let's move!” Vanitas declared. “I’m waiting for his echo to stop insulting me in Sign language.” “...Say what now?” Vanitas asked, dumbfounded. I didn’t answer, I simply telepathically showed him how Cole MacGrath read echos, and I followed the echo, which was now doing a poor imitation of the Joker. We followed the echo all the way to… “The Castle?!” I exclaimed, “He went all the way back to the castle?!” “This could be bad.” Vanitas said. “Yeah, I agree,” I turned to the mares, “You might want to wait somewhere safe. This could get messy” The mares nodded in understanding and vanished into the forest. I walked towards the castle, sending out a radar pulse every so often to check for danger and keep the echo going. The echo when into the main entryway and stopped over a certain tile and just vanished. I examined the tile that the echo stopped on and managed to pry it from the floor, revealing a secret passageway. “You think he went down there?” Vanitas asked me. “The echo ends here, so more than likely.” I moved the tile away from the passageway and dropped down, my arms becoming electrified to provide light. “Hey, wait up!” Vanitas shouted as he dropped after me. I turned on the spot and slapped my hand over where I believed his mouth would be. “Keep quiet!” I whisper-shouted, “Let’s just try to…” My rebuke was interrupted by gunfire. On instinct, I pushed Vanitas behind cover and dove behind him. I put my hand back over the “mouth” of his mask and peered out to see what we were up against. What I saw were the Reapers, just like the ones from inFAMOUS. I listened carefully to the conversation they were having in Reaper (which sounded exactly like Skullcap). *I just saw two figures dive behind that pillar!* *Check it out! Our master wants the hostages to remain secure.* *What if it’s the boy in the mask?* *Shoot to kill.* “Dude, are you following any of this?” Vanitas whispered. “Shush!” I held my finger to my mouth to emphasis that. I then peeked out as far as I could without alerting the Reapers. Three approached our hiding spot. Two were armed with riot shields and AK-47s. The third was a suicide bomber. ‘There are three Reapers approaching us. I’m going to zap one of them. Once you hear the explosion, give them Hell.’ ‘Roger that.’ I peeked out again and readied a precision bolt. Time slowed down for a brief moment as I carefully aimed at the suicide bomber’s bomb. I fired that one bolt, frying the Reaper and igniting the bomb. It went off, vaporizing the three Reapers. ‘They must be Chaos constructs! Give no quarter!’ ‘Right!’ Vanitas jumped out and cast Dark Thundaga around the area striking most of the Reapers. I followed behind him, frying whatever Reaper that was lucky enough to escape his onslaught. It wasn't before long that we reached the end of the passageway, where a door was. They were stuck closed, but they weren't for long, as I simply punched a hole in one, the tore them both off their hinges. “Nice! Let's see what's behind door number one!” Vanitas said. Without answering, I opened the door and found three fillies, all tied up and gagged. One was a yellow earth pony with a red mane. The next was a marshmallow white unicorn with a purple and pink mane. The last was an orange pegasus with a maroon mane. “It's the Crusaders! But why foal-nap them, of all ponies? Why not one of the Element Bearers?” Vanitas asked. “I'm not sure, but we did find them,” I answered. I moved to the earth pony filly and undid her gag. Once the gag was off, she shouted a warning, “Watch out!” I then heard Vanitas struggling against something. Turning, I saw Nisled holding him in a full nelson just as they teleported out of the chamber. Panicking, I finished undoing all the binds and gags and then ran as fast as I could with the fillies in my arms. I managed to get to the exit of the castle to see Second and Vanitas barely holding their own against what looked like a brainwashed Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash. “Harmony is just a dreamy mist,” Rarity droned as she flung spell after spell at the duo. “Order and Chaos can never coexist,” Applejack continued in a monotonous way. “Embrace that here in the Everfree,” Rainbow spoke as she flew. “AND YOU SHALL SEE WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD THIS SHALL BE!” The three said and managed to knock Vanitas to where Nisled stood. “Agh! That smarts!” Vanitas glares up at Nisled through his mask, “You think you can just kill me without a fight, you cheap knockoff?” Nisled responded by trapping Vanitas’ arms and legs in concrete and kicking him forcefully in the visor. The visor cracked, and he was flung to the spot where my vision was depicted. Nisled's hands and Vanitas lit up a red color, and he flinched as if he took a massive hit. “AHHHHHHHH!!!” Vanitas screeched in anguish as he barely clung to consciousness. “Who’s cheap? Me or the guy who sent you here?” Nisled asked arrogantly, as he summoned a diamond sword (much like from Minecraft). He raised the sword to strike, but I dove down and knocked Vanitas out of the way. The blade went through my shoulder (that's in one side and out the other). I yelled out in pain from the strike, which must have gotten Second’s attention, as he managed to knock the brainwashed ponies back long enough to change into his aura giant form and knock Nisled into the canyon/gorge. When that happened, the mares fell unconscious. After pulling the sword out of my shoulder, I ran to Vanitas and used a ray sphere pulse to check his vitals. I managed to confirm that he was alive, but just barely. Without instruction, Second poured some of his own life force into him as I prepared a healing volt. Vanitas received the volt as gratefully as you can imagine. “Ah! What happened!? Where's Nisled!?” Vanitas asked as he looked around frantically. “You were beaten to within an inch of your life, and a few volts of electricity cleared that up,” I answered, “As for Nisled, he's down in there.” I pointed to the canyon/gorge. “Can you scan to see if he's dead or something? You know, that pulse thing you do?” “I won’t bother. It'll take more than what we have to kill him,” I deadpanned, “And I mean it. I saw him get beheaded, only for the body to pick up the head and reattach it as if it had to do that on a regular basis.” I walked to the edge of the crevice, and peered down. “That's why he needs to be banished.” “If that's what it takes, then so be it, let's banish the bastard.” “Alright, let's get going...after I switch elements. Hit me with something Dark.” “Thunder!” Vanitas cast Dark Thundaga, electrocuting me with sinister lightning. I was able to drain out the lightning and absorb the Darkness. I let my Dark suit flow onto me and Karmic Gear appear in my hand. Turning around, I nodded to Vanitas and dramatically fell backwards into the crevice. The wind whipped past as I fell head first. Just before I hit the ground, I flipped to feet first and landed without getting hurt. Vanitas just jumped off the cliff and landed on his feet with no ceremony, no tricks, no nothing, I guess he's done messing around and getting serious, “Where'd he go?” he whisper-shouted. ‘Only one way to find out,’ I tell him. I pulled out my Banishing Key and held it above my head. It then began to float around and glow. It stopped in front of me and charged with some kind of energy. I sent out a brief pulse to find Nisled, but he was where we may have least expected. ‘DUCK!!!’ We both managed to duck just as the Key fired a beam in the spot where we were standing, striking Nisled and sending him hurtling into a void portal near the mouth of a cave. “Did that do it? Is he gone?” Vanitas asked me. “Yep, he's gone,” I answered, “Now, let's see about…AHH!” I suddenly felt something and it hurt my head. I fell to my knees with a hand on my head. “Whoa! You okay there, man?” ‘Karmic Champion. Prince of Darkness. Come forth.’ “Did you hear that?” I asked. “Yeah, what was that about?” ‘Come forth.’ “I think it's coming from that cave,” I said, pointing into the cave near Nisled's Banishment spot. “Let’s go check it out.” “Okay.” We started walking, and kept an eye out for any Heartless. As we went further in, I couldn’t deny my feelings. “Do you feel as if we're walking into a Holy place?” “A little bit, why do you ask?” Vanitas looked as if he realized something, “Your powers aren't unholy or something, are they?” “Not that I'm aware of.” ‘They are not. However, ye must remove the shoes from off thy feet, for the ground upon which you stand is Holy Ground.’ “Well, you heard the Voice,” I said as I powered down my Dark suit and removed my shoes, “Remove your shoes...if you can.” “Um...I kinda can’t, my suit’s melded onto my body, thanks to that merchant.” Vanitas said, bitterly. ‘He is an exception, Champion.’ “Alright,” I respond, but I then realized something, “Come to think of it, who or what are you?” ‘Come further and you shall see.’ We moved further in until I saw something that just blew my mind. It was a crystalline tree that felt like a living Blast Core. “Whoa! The Tree of Harmony! It looks more amazing seeing it up close and personal!” Vanitas said. “I'll admit, I'm impressed,” I said, “But what called us here?” “That would be me,” then someone stepped out from behind the tree. “Holy!...Cole!?” “Who?” Vanitas asked, then saw somebody he never thought he’d see again, “Bro!? No way!” “What?! You see him?” “I see somebody, but I don't believe it. How did my brother get here!?” “Your brother dressed as Cole MacGrath?” “No, my brother dressed as Ventus from Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep. Wait…” Vanitas began to think about something, “Do I have a concussion, or did I finally go crazy and now I'm seeing hallucinations?” “You're suffering neither problems,” ‘Cole’ said, “Your minds are perceiving my appearance differently. Delsin sees Cole MacGrath while you see Ventus.” “Ohhhh, I get it now,” Vanitas said, “So, who are you then?” “I am the Spirit of the Tree of Harmony.” “No freaking way!” Vanitas said in surprise. “Wait, why did you call us here?” “I speak concerning both of you and I offer gifts to help in your futures,” Spirit answered. He turned to Vanitas and spoke, “You already know what is to come in Equestia’s future, give or take a difference. All I can do is offer aid in what way I can.” The spirit pulled two items out of “his” pocket, one was a black crystal shaped like the Unversed symbol, the other was a white crystal shaped like the Mark of Mastery symbol. “What are these things?” Vanitas asked. “The Elements of Dusk and Dawn,” it answered, tossing the jewels to him, “When my strength wanes, you and your friend will need to use those to reveal what needs to be sealed.” “Friend...Dean! Dean is here!?” Vanitas exclaimed. “Given time, he will be,” the spirit then looked at me, “Delsin Rowe, your doppelgänger, Nisled, will continue to try to spread his ideal of pure, unfiltered Chaos through the Multiverse. However, he cannot travel to any Equestria where you haven’t been or summoned someone from.” “Does that mean that Sora will have to deal with him until he's properly banished?” It nodded. I hung my head down and said, “He's already pissed off at me for trying to comfort him when he didn't need it. Now he's got a psychopath to deal with.” “Don't worry, I'm sure he can handle it, if he's anything like the real Sora, he'll take care of things.” Vanitas tried to reassure me. “It's not him I'm worried about,” I responded, letting Darkness flow down my arms. “If he saw me with these powers, he'd sooner stab me 27 times in the chest before accepting help, and that's including with how upset I unintentionally got him.” “It’s for that reason, I'm willing to help you.” The spirit then sent a rainbow orb of energy at me. When it hit me, I felt a surge of energy and my vision went through the entire color spectrum. When I could see properly again, I noticed that my clothing (and, therefore, my Karmic rank) had changed to Hero. Not only that, but I felt as if I had a new power. “Whoa! What happened? Are you okay?” Vanitas asked me. “I feel...different,” I answered, “I think I skipped the Paragon rank straight to Hero.” “I also altered one of your abilities, gave you new ones and gave you access to Magic.” “What do you mean?” I asked. The spirit sighed in annoyance and pulled out a piece of paper for me to take. I read over the page quickly, then looked at Vanitas with a mischievous grin. “What is it? What did it say?” he asked. In answer, my right hand lit up in a blue aura as I said, “Smoke and Mirrors.” Instantly, in a flash of blue smoke, my clothing switched to neutral and several neutral clones of myself appeared. “That’s...new.” I dispelled the clones and restored my clothes. “Evidently, what the spirit meant was that I'm now able to match Nisled. He wields Chaos and I wield Harmony,” I explained, “What you saw me do was a fusion of Harmony Magic and smoke.” “Sweet! So, what happens now?” “Well, for starters, I need to return home and check up on my fiancè. And thinking about that, when Tia and I smooth out the details, I'll see about getting you an invitation to the wedding,” I said. “Awesome! So I just do the thing and send you back?” “Eeyup.” “Alright then. It's been great meeting you, and I hope to see you at the wedding. Delsin, our contract is complete!” As soon as that was said, a void portal opened up. I gave Vanitas a goodbye salute and walked through...only to get decked in the face with a golden horseshoe and fly back through the portal. “Uh…was that supposed to happen?” Vanitas asked. “Do I have a horseshoe shaped bruise on my face and is there an angry white alicorn walking through the portal with fire in her eyes?” I asked. “Yes to both questions...and she's making me uncomfortable,” Vanitas answered. I gave a slight whimper and answered, “Then yes, that was supposed to happen.” I felt a tugging on my pant legs and I was unceremoniously dragged through the portal while Tia was muttering, “You and I need to talk about all of this.” Author's Note Delsin is now a Hero! Sorry for simply skipping past Paragon and going straight to Hero. I was having trouble with the story and providing Karmic choices (seeing as how he simply kept following Good Karma). Also, how do you think Celestia will punish Delsin (and keep it clean!)?" Chapter 17: Making PlansAuthor's Note This is more of a filler chapter before anything major happens. Chapter 17: Making Plans inFAMOUS Displace Chapter 17 Making Plans “So, let me get this straight,” Tia said to me, disappointment heavy in her voice, “Being a Displaced makes it so that if you are needed for whatever reason, you are summoned to a different version of Equestria.” “Yes,” I replied. “And you were summoned twice.” “Yes.” “Both times I got worried.” “I’m sorry, but yes.” “And according to the Spirit of the Tree of Harmony, your doppelganger is wishing to spread a deadly form of Chaos through these Equestrias.” “Yes.” “And he’s limited to any Equestria you’ve been to or have summoned a Displaced from.” “Yes, unless he was properly banished.” “Then why summon or be summoned if you allow such evil to move?” I sighed from my strange prison (so much rope binding me that I looked like an overgrown ball of yarn). “If I had to name three reasons, here they are. One: If we needed help for something beyond us, we can get said help. Two: If I’m need to help someone, I can help. And Three: If I didn’t, I’m sure that wouldn’t guarantee his interference.” Tia looked at me with confusion. “I can understand the first two, but what do you mean about the last one.” “He, she, or it said that he couldn’t do that, but I’m sure that he could send others in his stead,” I answered, shifting in my prison. “Now, if you don’t mind, could you release me from my...prison and we can work our wedding invites to the various National Leaders, VIPs, and Displaced I’ve met.” “The wedding invites...and any other business...can come after a little cuddle session.” She smiled as she unraveled the rope. I’m gonna stop writing right there. Anyway, skipping past the cuddle session to my bedroom where I was preparing wedding invitations for any Displaced I encountered and will encounter. My Primary concern, however, was with Sora. Since Nisled wasn’t dealt with in his Equestria, I had to at least warn him. With his invitation, I send a letter detailing Nisled and other things. To Whom It May Concern, I have a number of things to say in this letter. As Screwball may have told you, they are important. The most important parts first, and the last are not as important. First, shortly after you left I was summoned by another Displaced and I had learned that I have a doppelganger. He is from an alternate version of MY Equestria, an Equestria where “my” goal is to become Infamous, rather than be a hero. He is a powerful user Chaos user, but he is limited to four elements (smoke, neon, video, and concrete), and can’t harm his own Equestria. You can thank the Beast and his version of Discord for that. With his powers of Chaos, he is resistant to Death (and I mean it, he was beheaded and he just reattached it). Going along with that, he has a desire to spread pure, unfiltered Chaos throughout the multiverse. It’s not like what Discord does, as it is more along the lines of deadly rather than prank worthy (in hindsight, the literal Medusa hairstyle Discord gave to a Royal Guard was more funny than dangerous). However, he is limited to the Equestrias I’ve either been to or summoned other Displaced from...So, yeah...You’ve got trouble either coming your way, or it already came...so I’m not expected to have a warm welcome if I’m summoned...if you even summon me. With this in mind, I have a few things to suggest when dealing with him. First off, do NOT engage him unless you are confident you can handle him. Second off, keep the Element Bearers away from him, he can and will kill them without a second thought. Third off, since killing him won’t work, Banishment is best procedure, but not with the Elements of Harmony. I can either send you the tool to do it, or you can summon me to handle the device. Second off, I’m sorry if what I said and did hurt you emotionally. It wasn’t my place to try to help you when you didn’t need it. If you wish to heal, it is something you must do on your own. Third off, I’ve gotten a bit stronger since I’ve last seen you. I now have the powers of electricity and (dare I even write it, knowing who I’m writing two) Darkness. The electricity I got from my Twilight’s doppelganger (a cybernetic alicorn that can use electricity and has a few ray sphere abilities) and the Darkness I go from Vanitas, a dark keyblade wielder. To ease your mind about my powers of Darkness that I’ve obtained, when I was with Vanitas, the Spirit of the Tree of Harmony gave me access to Harmony magic. It is something that I can mix with my natural powers to have interesting spells and it also prevents corruption from the Darkness that I possess. After dealing with my doppelganger, perhaps a sparring match would be in order. I can’t wait to see how you react to Noise. And Last off, as you had mentioned wanting one, I’ve sent a picture of Celestia and I with the wedding invitation. Just be warned, Screwball may have enchanted the picture, letter, and/or invitation that may cause strange punishment for calling my fiance the nicknames you call your...solar diarch. If you end up being dressed up as Neku Sakuraba as one of the forms of punishment, send me a picture back. Your friend (hopefully), Delsin Rowe The Equestrian Eagle Future Prince of the Akomish After writing out the invitations and my letter to Sora, I had the ones I knew sent with Screwball. I then got into bed and fell asleep. The next morning, I found a scroll addressed to me. Inside the scroll was Sora’s response and a picture of a male version of Tia in a frilly, pink dress, of all things. I have sent word of your doppelganger to the entirety of the Equestrian Keyblade Army as well as the Royal and Night Guards. They have orders not to engage unless left with no other option, but to send word to me ASAP. Should he appear in our Equestria, I will confront him personally. Should my power prove inadequate to banish him from my world, I will call upon you for aid. That said, should you receive a summons from me, be prepared to fight from the moment your foot lands upon the soil. Explanations will have to come later. As for your actions and words regarding my past... look. I'm sorry. I always get a bit depressed whenever that event comes up, and that depression turns into rage if anyone pushes too hard. Or at all. Just... don't worry about it. Let's put that bit of the past behind us. Hakuna Matata and all that jazz. Darkness, huh? Well, I wish you luck. Darkness is a tricky one to handle, but if you've got the Tree of Harmony's blessing, I can't really argue. Just be careful. As for sparing... sure. Why not? I'm always looking for a young whippersnapper to put in his place. Let's see how lightning and darkness stand up to Light, fire, ice, lightning, time, air, gravity, healing, and I'm sure you get the picture. Good luck. And now, having finished laughing my yay off at Sol's reaction to seeing himself as a mare (fair warning, he popped a wingie), I would like to congratulate you and Celestia. I would be honored to attend. Just summon me a day or so before. As for the punishments, I've lived with Sun Butt and Lunatic for over a thousand years. If I feared prank-themed retribution for calling them names like that, Equestria would have never had the 20 Year Prank War. (Which I won, by the way.) I look forward to both your wedding and whatever retribution Screwball's enchantments may inflict upon me. Also, here's a photo of Solaris in a frilly pink dress. Create as many copies as you can, and spread them to every Displaced you meet. My and Luna's goal is to not allow him to travel anywhere in the multiverse and be taken seriously. Your friend (definitely), Sora Warrior of Light High General of the Equestrian Keyblade Army Master of the Keyblade Friend of the Twin Crowns Vanquisher of Sombra Bane of Darkness Sealer of Chaos Protector of the Heart Light-Bearer Father of the Changelings Defender of the Crystal Empire Order of Starswirl 1st Class Lord of the Dance (Las Pegasus) He-Who-Holds-More-Titles-Than-Thou Sora’s letter got a two word response on a small scrap of paper. Show off. From there, I decided to work out a plan of having all Royal guards of all branches (Solar, Lunar, Eagle, and the soon to be established Stellar) that are Conduits brought together for creating the Bio-Guards...And yes, that is a play off the term “Bio-Terrorist” from inFAMOUS: Second Son. Of course, even with such additions, I was sure that trouble would happen that I would need to interfere. Chapter 18: Manehatten Mess (Part 1)Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.Chapter 19: Manehatten Mess (Part 2) This chapter was written with the assistance of Show Stopper. A Crossover with A Heart Eclipsed. This takes place later in his story. inFAMOUS Displaced Chapter 1 Manehatten Mess (Part 2) We waited until morning to “interrogate” the conduit. I put on the quotation marks because I knew why she did what she did, but I was wondering if she knew what she did in the long run. When Stella, Obsidian, the conduit, and myself were gathered together, the conduit seemed hostile. “If this is an interrogation, you should know that Mister Blue Eagle,” she said, referring to me, “Already saw why I did what I did!” I held up my hands to calm her down. “First off, I have a name, Delsin Rowe. Second off…” I didn’t get a chance to finish when the mare squeed really loud while bouncing around like Pinkie Pie. “You’re Delsin Rowe!?” She shouted in excitement, “I wasn’t able to recognize you! The pictures of you in the history books look different than what you look like now.” “Anyway, the sec…” “Of course, I’m more of a fan of Smoke Shot. From what you saw, I take after her. Everything was taken from me through this Gang war and I want to end it!” She proclaimed almost gladly. I looked at her with horror. “Do you...even...know...who makes up...MOST OF THE SKULLCAPS!?!” I bellowed at near Royal Canterlot Voice, “I understand that you lost your family in this senseless conflict, but you need to stop!” “Why?! She lost everything and I’ve lost everything. She did what she could to end the war and I intend to do the same.” “Since when does such actions lead to murder?” “They murdered my husband and unborn foal!” “You were caught in the crossfire!” I countered before I suddenly got in her face. “Not to mention the fact that you are killing innocents!” “The Skullcaps…” “Shut it!” I halted her sentence. “The members of the Skullcaps are kidnapped from their families and brainwashed to serve. As for the Steel Beaks, they have lives that involve loved ones. How does killing innocents serve to honor your family’s death?” The mare looked at me with horror. “I didn’t know...Pencil...Fetch...Why?” She muttered to herself. “There is a way to redeem yourself,” Stella said. The mare perked up at this. “How!?” She shouted out, “I only wanted to right the wrongs done to me, but I don’t know what to do to right the wrongs I’ve done.” “There are three steps to fixing that,” I said, “The first is to give us your name.” “Neon Streak.” “The second and third steps go hand in hand...or hoof in hoof to use pony vocabulary,” I said, “You have to admit your guilt and do your best to not do what you did wrong.” “That’s it? Isn’t there more?” ‘Technically there is.’ “What...Ttthhhe…” Obsidian said as time seemed to slow down. ‘Sora is calling for you!’ ‘What?! When?! Where?!’ ‘Calm down. I’ll get you there in a jiffy.’ ‘Make sure that everypony here comes with. I may need all the help I can get.’ ‘Gotcha!’ Delsin’s POV Getting summoned by a keyblade was a very different experience from getting summoned by token. One moment I was talking with Neon, and the next I was standing in a plaza on the other side of Manehattan, frozen in time along with Neon, Obsidian, and Stella. Thought the sun shined brightly, the situation was anything but peaceful. A pegasus in red armor floated frozen in the air nearby, his hoof outstretched as if to direct the ponies around him. To my side stood a cream coated earth pony with an artfully designed keyblade in her mouth, probably the one who summoned me. Finally, my eyes fell upon Sora, dressed in white and with several keyblades surrounding him, the one in his left hand raised and ready to come down on a familiar being armored in concrete. Suddenly, time was in motion again. Ponies screamed as they ran, the armored pegasus directing them away. Sora’s blade fell upon Nisled, followed by a barrage of blows from the three that floated around him. The earth pony beside us turned to me, eyes hard even as tears streamed down her face. “Sora needs you,” she said, before summoning a large lion and running off to help coordinate the evacuation. I looked to my three companions and saw their confusion. “Obsidian, Neon, I’ll explain later. In the meantime, Neon, I need you to get on the rooftops and begin sniping.” She nodded and rushed off at light speed. “Obsidian, barriers between Nisled and the fleeing ponies.” Looking at where Obsidian was, I saw a stone pillar instead. “As for you,” I said, turning to Stella, “Try to keep up.” I then sped to the fight at light speed, but because this was my first time in light speed, I overshot and ended up crashing through a window. “Stop playing around and get fighting!” Sora shouted, dodging a punch by vanishing and reappearing a few paces back. “Coco! I need you back here the MOMENT everypony is out of range! Bring the Captain, too.” “Yes sir!” shouted Coco from the other side of a stone wall. I pulled myself back onto my feet and drained the neon from the sign hanging in the ruined window. I then sped to one of the golem’s legs and struck out with a neon covered chain, the neon allowing the chain to slice through it as if it was a light saber. The Golem stumbled a bit and turned its attention on me and was about to hit me, but a few neon bolts from a nearby rooftop knocked its aim off. Not that it would have done any good; I sped up the side of another building and jumped off, aiming a slam on top of the golem’s head. The blow knocked the golem to the ground and I sped to the side just as Sora took advantage of the sudden weakness. “Graviga!” he shouted, and the ground cratered around the golem. Sora flipped into the air above it, switching out the keyblades in his hands even as one of the ones orbiting him took aim. “Firaga! Blizzaga! Thundaga!” The trio of magical blasts struck the golem at once, trapping it in a pillar of ice even as fire and lightning raged within. Sora landed next to me, barely sparing me a glance before glaring back at the golem. “Alright, soldier. How do we handle this guy?” “Tear him apart, let him put himself back together, and then banish him,” I reply. Sora nodded, a malicious grin forming on his face. “Let’s just focus on smashing away that concrete armor then,” he said. “Trust me, Coco’s going to want to do the ‘tearing apart’ bit herself.” He leapt into the air again as the pillar of ice began to crack. Floating above the golem, he summoned a small swarm of keyblades, the cloud about the size of a house. “Let’s see how you handle this!” With a wave of his arm, the swarm descended upon the pillar, shattering it and delivering a barrage of blows to the golem. Neon and I fired neon bolts into the swarm, each shot enhancing a keyblade before it struck. After the attack, I charged up a shot and hit the head dead on, shattering the front and revealing Nisled’s torso. Sora jumped in behind him, a scythe-looking keyblade in one hand while the other held a massive blade wrapped in bandages. He struck out at Nisled’s back, cracking the armor there. Before Nisled could turn to counter, Sora vanished and appeared at his side, striking one of his legs. Several slenderwalks later, Nisled’s armor was cracked and shattered in half a dozen places, a few pieces falling off entirely. “One last blow should do it for the armor,” Sora said, grinning as he saw Coco approaching. “Delsin, finish off the armor and get out of the way. You don’t want to be caught in the middle of this.” “Hit me with lightning,” I shouted out, “I know what I can do!” “Thundaga!” A bolt of lightning descended, striking me. I absorbed the electricity and let the lightning flow into my arms. I raised my arms to the sky and the distinct sound of thunder was heard. I let my arms fall and blue lightning struck Nisled’s armor several times, breaking it into pieces. Nisled fell to the ground and was hit a few times with a few spare bolts. Sora grabbed my shoulder, slenderwalking both of us back several yards. Seeing my glare, Sora just shook his head. “Trust me, you don’t want to be in the splash zone.” Several flashes of light drew my attention back to Nisled and my eyes went wide. A veritable menagerie of animals surrounded him, every one of them snarling and gnashing their teeth at him. Standing before them was Coco, her eyes cold as she stared Nisled down. “Kill.” The hoards descended, ripping, tearing and biting at every inch of Nisled that they could reach. Nisled howled in pain as his limbs were torn to shreds. A lion, a small dog, a scraggly wolf and an elephant grabbed his arms and legs, ripping them out entirely as a swarm of smaller critters tore into his chest. “Down.” All at once, it was over, The bloodstained animals sat back, as docile as kittens. Only Nisled’s head remained recognizable, and even that hadn’t survived unscratched. I moved forward, working to try to keep my breakfast down. I gripped his head and pulled it off of the torso to examine it. “Hi!” The head suddenly said. I yelped and chucked the head on the ground. I then sped to a garbage can and let my breakfast have freedom. “Yeah, that’s what I expected,” said Sora, walking forward and picking up the head himself. “So, you’re the infamous Nisled.” He shook his own head, tossing Nisled’s up and down. “If that’s the best fight you could put up, I honestly don’t see what the big deal is.” “That was only the opening act,” the head said. “Of course it was,” Sora muttered. “Wow, you even talk like a cheesy villain. Hey Delsin!” He turned to look at the upchucking displaced over his shoulder. “You ready to get this yaying buysomeapples out of my world?” “HOLD IT RIGHT THERE, PORCUPINE!” The head interrupted, “Is that a manhole cover you’re standing on?” Sora leapt backwards, hovering in the air as he glared at the head. “I have no idea, but I’ve dealt with Discord many times before. Random changes of topic mean not to humor the likes of you.” “There’s more to it than that. LET ME SHOW YOU SOMETHING!!!” With those words, the manhole cover was blown off of it’s cover by a smoky explosion. From the hole, came out a pony shaped figure. “Firaga.” The figure exploded into flame as Sora casually pointed his blade at it. “Thundaga. Blizagga. Firaga. Once again, dealt with Discord. You summon something, I blast it full force immediately. Thundaga. Blizagga." “Yeesh, you’re lucky that wasn’t anypony important and just simply shared some of their DNA.” Sora shrugged. “Didn’t sense anything but corruption and darkness from it. It was a pretty safe bet.” He looked over to see me walking over now that I’d finally gotten my stomach under control. “So, ready to make with the banishing?” “You got it.” I pulled out a Banishing Key and let it float on it’s own. The head and the key glowed red and a beam from the key hit the head, shooting it out of Sora’s hands and into a nearby void portal. Sora flashed back from Final Form, stretching out his back. “Well, that takes care of that. Now, I just fought a being from another world who killed at least six ponies, one of whom I knew and liked. I need some happiness therapy.” He turned, grinning and running to Stella, scooping her up into his arms. “Stella!” he cried, squeezing her tightly. “Oh, you’re just as cute as ever!” Before Stella could respond to that, a grey blur headbutted Sora in the gut, but a neon blur knocked that off of him and dust was kicked up as a brawl between Obsidian and Neon began. “General!” Sora looked up from where he lay, still holding Stella to his chest, as Thunder Kicker flew towards him. “Stand down,” said Sora, waving him off as he stood. “Everything’s fine. Get some keybladers checking around here. That big guy was putting out enough darkness to attract a titan. There’s bound to be a few large heartless swarms nearby. And get the Chief. This whole area is going to need some serious reconstruction.” “Sir!” The pegasus saluted before dashing off to follow his orders. “Now then,” Sora muttered, stroking a disgruntled Stella’s mane. “One more thing to do.” He turned and walked over to Coco, who stared straight at where Nisled’s head had vanished. Her summons had tried to comfort her, but had vanished soon after the battle had ended. “How you doing, Coco?” Coco sniffed, not even looking at Sora as the tears began once again. “You’re right. Stupid question.” Sora knelt down next to her, smiling softly. “But hey, you know what would make you feel better?” Coco turned to him, only to freeze as she locked eyes with Stella, who Sora held out to her. “Hug the cute alicorn.” “What?” “WHAT!” “Hush, Stella,” said Sora. “Coco’s hurting really bad, and hugging cute ponies helps people feel better. Now Coco, hug the cute alicorn.” “Um…” muttered Coco, blushing slightly as Stella glared at her. “I- I don’t know if I-” “Hug. The. Cute. Alicorn.” Hesitating a moment longer, Coco slowly reached out and wrapped her hooves around Stella. Immediately, she burst into tears, holding Stella close and sobbing into her shoulder. I stepped forward and tapped Sora’s shoulder, getting his attention and motioning for him to step back. He nodded, giving Coco one last smile before standing and stepping away. A stray neon bolt suddenly hit Sora’s leg, causing him to be wrapped up in neon bindings. “Of course,” he muttered, falling over on his face as I turned to the brawl between the two conduits I brought along. I saw that Obsidian had pinned Neon down and the arm that had shot the shot was held behind her back. *HAVE YOU HAD ENOUGH!?* I bellowed in Skullcap, causing Obsidian to suddenly look up at me in embarrassment and Neon in confusion. He released her and stepped back. Neon wasted no time in rapidly spinning around and decking him. “Ah, the wonders of having companions,” Sora said, his voice slightly muffled by the ground. “Could be worse. I had two who kept sneaking off for some lovey-dovey time and repeatedly threw off our schedule. Now, would you mind getting me out of here?” I activated a small gigawatt blade and sliced off the binding. “There you go. Enough fiber for you,” I joked, helping him to his feet. “Hilarious,” he muttered, looking around at the damaged plaza and sighing. “Man, this is going to take a while to fix. Not to mention explaining what that thing was, talking to the families of the ponies he killed… yeah, I’ll be staying in Manehattan longer than I’d thought.” “I might stay for a bit as well,” I said, picking up a piece of debris and examining it, “I may be put to work, but it beats dealing with the paperwork involving a surge of conduit gangs.” “Yeah, that’s the one good thing about the heartless,” admitted Sora. “Keeps organized and major crime away and even discourages minor crimes. Of course, then you have to deal with personified evil trying to devour the hearts of innocents everywhere you go, so, you know, it’s a trade off.” “So, random conversation break off, do you know Flowmotion?” Sora raised an eyebrow. “Well, I find that most motion flows pretty well. It’s really only the young or impaired whose movements are jerky and halted.” I facepalmed. “How far into Kingdom Hearts did you get before being displaced?” “1. 2. Chain of Memories. A bit of 358/2 Days. I forgot almost everything else about my old life before Equestria a long time ago, even before I was petrified.” “Ah, okay. Dream Drop Distance must have either not come out, or you didn’t get a chance to play or watch it before getting displaced.” “More likely the second,” said Sora. “I do remember the title, but very little else.” He looked over at the two conduits who were still rolling around and fighting. “So, what’s their story?” “Obsidian Shard and Neon Streak,” I said, “Obsidian was a former member of the Skullcap gang. My first time being summoned freed him from neuro-tar influence.” “And Neon?” “A gang war between the Skullcaps and the Steel Beaks killed her husband and unborn foal. She wanted blood, but I had to remind her of the accidental circumstances of their deaths to pull her back.” “I see.” He continued to watch the fight for a while before smirking and cupping his hands around his mouth. “Oh will you two just get over it and kiss already?!” The two conduits froze, mid-punch. They stared at Sora with angry, yet blushing faces. They turned back to each other and nodded. Neon suddenly rushed forward, knocking Sora’s legs out from underneath him. When his back hit the pavement, an obsidian pillar shot up right next to his neck, barely a centimeter from it. “Wow,” said Sora, unfazed as he grinned up at me. “Did you see those blushes? There’s no way they haven’t already fallen for each other. How long do you think before you’re having the same problem I had?” “Ehh?” “See? They’re not even denying it!” “All teasing aside, in what way can I help here?” “Depends on what you can do.” Sora and I looked over to see a light blue earth pony walking over. “Red Light. Chief of Police here in Manehattan. Thanks for the help with… whatever that was.” “Let’s just say ‘Bio-Terrorist’ and leave it at that,” I said. “Right,” Red Light said, shaking his head and dropping the subject. “Anyway like I said, it depends on what you can do. I know that Sora here has a few different spells, but they’re all better at destruction than rebuilding. Not to mention he’s a bit of a wimp compared to us ponies.” “HEY!” “Each of my elements have uses,” I began, “Smoke, I can fit through certain debris and get back out again. Light, illumination. Electricity, my kinetic pulse can lift debris. Neon, I can cut through most materials. I don’t even want to mention the last element.” “Probably a good idea,” said Sora. “Even Luna doesn’t advertise that one outside of her own guard.” Red Light raised an eyebrow but once again shrugged it off. “Well, the biggest concern here is checking out the damaged buildings. We need to make sure they’re structurally sound before we can send anypony in. That smoke thing should let you do that safely. Sora, you can… Well, I guess you could...” “You know,” said Sora, his eye twitching a bit, “I think I’ll help out with the heartless patrols.” “Hold up,” I said. I lit up my hand with Harmony magic and formed a Squirrel Noise on his shoulder. “That Noise will help you...support if needed.” “...okay. What’s it do?” “What you tell it,” I answer. I turned to the Chief, “You happen to have some smoke on hand...er...hoof?” “Do I look like a unicorn to you?” “Don’t you use pipes, cigars, or cigarettes?” Red Light raised an eyebrow. “Sure we use pipes. How else are we supposed to transport water? But what does that have to do with smoke?” “NEVERMIND!” I shout as I used a lightning tether to get to the top of a building’s chimney to absorb some smoke. Once that was accomplished, I dropped down in front of Red and said quietly, “Smoking is bad for you, anyway.” “That’s it, boys! Time to wrap up for the day!” “Aww!” I mockingly complained, “And I was just starting to have fun!” “Speak for yourself!” I looked over to see Sora walking over, his clothes torn, his face scratched up, and his glare stuck on the squirrel on his shoulder, Rave peaking up through his shirt collar to glare as well. “This guy was pretty much useless when we ran into the heartless. Not to mention running off and drawing MORE swarms towards us.” I facepalmed. “Did you tell it to?” “My exact words were, ‘help me take out all of these heartless’. I think he heard it as ‘ALL’ of them. In the city. I had to pin him down to stop him after the eighth swarm.” I smoke dashed at Sora, snagged the Noise, and reformed a few feet behind him. I examined the Noise for any ‘Programing glitches’ and found nothing wrong. “I guess you were a bit too vague.” “Not my fault I’m used to dealing with real ponies. Even this guy,” he jerked his thumb at Rave, “is able to interpret orders.” “I guess fashioning Noise out of scratch makes them like computers,” I said, squeezing the Noise until it burst into static, leaving behind a pin. “If I had a soul to work with, that would be a different story.” “Maybe,” said Sora, shrugging. “I wouldn’t have recommended it, though. Soul magic is even more frowned upon here than shadow magic.” “What’s that about soul magic?” Sora turned to see Twilight and the other Bearers walking over. “You do know that that’s the most horrible form of dark magic there is, don’t you?” “Different world, different rules.” Sora stepped aside, gesturing to me. “Allow me to introduce you all. Bearers of the Elements, this is Delsin, the Equestrian Eagle. Del, this is Princess Twilight Sparkle, Elusive, Fluttershy, Rainbow Blitz, Applejack, and Berry Bubble, the former Bearers of the Elements of Harmony.” “Yo!” I greet, looking them up and down with a ray sphere pulse. “Nice to meet you,” Twilight answered. “You must be another of those ‘Displaced’.” “Correct,” I congratulated. “Sweet!” Rainbow flew up to my face, looking me up and down. “So, what can you do? Summon swords? Shoot lasers? Change shape?” “Look down,” I told him. He did so just when a smoke grenade went off, covering the immediate area with smoke. “You just love doing that one, don’t you,” Sora asked as Rainbow shot out, coughing and glaring back at me. “No one really liked those grenades in the game,” I said, reabsorbing the smoke. “Gotta use ‘em when I can.” Sora rolled his eyes, smiling as he looked around. “Well anyway, looks like you were able to get a lot done here. Let’s just find your companions and get you on your way. Where are they, anyway?” I scanned around until I found Stella. Next to her was Coco, talking. I didn’t delve into their minds, but I could tell they were occupied. “Let’s wait on that, Coco seems into a conversation with Stella, and knowing Obsidian, he’ll still be brawling with Neon.” Just then a neon blur sped past, nearly knocking me for a loop. “Or being chased by her.” “Weird,” said Sora, watching them chase each other around. “Usually it’s the stallion that chases the mare. But I’m glad to hear that Stella’s still with Coco.” He sighed and looked down. “Her heart is good, one of the purest I’ve ever seen. But it’s also fragile. Losing her father, especially after her mother fell to darkness a while back…” “Don’t need to go too far with that,” I said, recalling what Dusk Spark showed me. “One a higher note, we still need to spar. I did mention that in the letter you sent, right?” “You were serious about that?” asked Sora, looking up in surprise. “How long has it been for you since we last met?” “It’s been a few months, all filled with paperwork and dealing with a tribalist gang.” Sora smirked, crossing his arms. “And you think that’s enough time for you to catch up with me? Especially since I’ve spent the last year fighting heartless.” “In Second Son, the protagonist was able to beat two conduits with their own elements, and that’s taking into account that he had only minutes of experience while they had roughly seven to eight years experience.” “Yeah, but you’re not that guy,” pointed out Sora. “Just like I’m not actually Sora. It comes down to what you can do and what I can do. And personally, I’m not sure you can improve that much in six months. But if you’re so eager to get your but kicked…” Reaper and Ponderer appeared in his hands in twin flashes of light. “Don’t hold back anything.” I unraveled the chain in my hand, smirking. “Good to hear.” I smoke dashed forward, sneakily placing a smoke grenade in his pocket and wrapping the chain around his leg. I reformed behind him and pulled his legs out from under him. I then drained a nearby neon sign and sped up the side of a building, shouting, “Race you to the park!” The smoke grenade burst, shrouding Sora within a cloud of smoke. A moment later, Sora casually strolled out. “Good start, tripping me and messing with my senses. But you lost the initiative when you failed to attack. Aerora.” A pair of whirlwinds appeared around his feet, lifting him up and flying him off after me as he pointed Ponderer at my back. “And now you’ve lost that initiative to me. Thundara!" Six shots of lightning shot out of the blade, twisting around each other before splitting up and coming at me from every direction. I didn’t bother dodging, letting the lightning hit me and switching my element. As I lost momentum, I turn to Sora letting electricity flow over my arms. “Oopsie on your part,” I said, grabbing him and pumping a few volts into him as we fell. “Not so much,” said Sora, pushing away from me and flipping over. “Didn’t put much force into it. Still, good on you to absorb and counter. I expected you to choose a direction and dive towards it, taking one bolt rather than six. You took back the initiative, countered beautifully, and then let me talk.” Biter swung around from out of nowhere, slamming me the rest of the way to the ground. “Bad move, that last one.” I managed to pull myself out the crater I was put in. “I hope you like math,” I verbally jabbed. I stood up and activated my spell, Reaper Creeper. A pair of Reaper wings appeared on my back and my power boosted a bit. “Zetta Slow!” I then warped behind him and zapped him in his kidneys. Sora grunted, pointing Ponderer at the ground. “Firaga!” A fireball exploded at our feet, blowing us both back in opposite directions. “Nice one,” he muttered as Biter floated over to orbit around him. “Need to work on your taunts, though.” “Invectorial!” I warped just behind him and fired off a few scatter shot lightning bolts. “Sine.” I warped to his left, and jabbed his neck. “Cosine!” I warped to his right and forcefully elbowed his ribcage. “TANGENT!” I warped behind him and pumped a few volts of electricity into his spine. Sora quickly stabbed his blades into the ground, letting the electricity flow through them and out of his system. He swung them both up, flinging dust and dirt into my eyes. I stumbled back, reaching up to clear my vision, only to feel a blade striking me in the back. A series of blows struck me from all sides before a loud whooshing of air told me that Sora had jumped back. “Blizzaga!” I back flipped away from the spell, summoning energy for another spell. “Smoke and Mirrors!” Instantly, my clothing went neutral and four smoke clones appeared. Four of us ran off to switch elements. #1 found a bright street light and drained it. #2 drained a nearby neon sign. #3 obtained smoke from the earlier fire blast. #4 just simply manipulated a few shadows, draining the absence of light from them. “Having fun?” All five of us said, echoing each other. Sora glared at #4 for a moment before shaking his head. “Definitely shadowmancy,” he said, smiling at the clones. “I will admit, I wasn’t expecting this. Clones though? Really? I deal with swarms of heartless all the time, many of whom use completely different attacks and elements. Aeroga. Reflera.” A whirlwind whipped up around Sora as a shimmering in the air surrounded him. Rave spread out, covering Sora’s whole body except his face, twin bucklers appearing on his arms. “I’ve had a long time to work on my defence.” He rushed forward, all three of his blades swinging for my head, chest and legs. ’s 1-3, and 5 were dispelled from the wind attack and as my clothing reverted to Hero rank, Sora’s melee attack struck, sending me tumbling a ways away. I looked at him but then noticed something just behind him, my eyes opening in fear. Sora looked over his shoulder, raising an eyebrow. “Cyborg Twilight. That’s new.” “THAT IS NOT MY NAME!!!” Dusk screeched, charging forward, just barely touching his cheek before he leapt away. Dusk landed just in front of me as I saw his somewhat shocked face. Sora sighed, closing his eyes and shaking his head. “That’s a pretty horrific past,” he said, opening his eyes to reveal twin orbs of light. “And yet, a heart that mostly strives for light. Impressive. Many ponies would have given into darkness long ago. Then again,” he blinked the heart-sight away, smiling at her. “Twilight never was an ordinary pony.” “If you’re referring to me, let it be known that Twilight Sparkle died that day,” she sneered, “My name...is DUSK SPARK!!!” She fired off a shockwave, knocking Sora backwards into a wall. She teleported directly onto him, her cybernetic claw latched onto his face and electricity flowing into her. Not thinking, but reacting, I fired off a dark plasma bolt that struck her on the side of the head. I then ran over to her stunned body and restrained her with dark thorns. Sora sluggishly raised Ponderer. “Cura.” Green lighting coursed from the keyblade tip into his body. “So that’s what blue tastes like.” “It’s not so bad. I’ve been struck by lightning nearly…” I silently tried to count, “I forget how many times, but I can barely feel it. The only thing I can compare it to is drinking a cool glass of water.” “Guess lightning magic is different from actual lightning then,” said Sora, pulling himself to his feet. “Lightning from heartless and training with keybladers never tasted like anything but ash.” He walked over to Dusk, kneeling down next to her. “Sorry if that name’s a trigger for you. That second time I was referring entirely to your past. It takes a lot more than the death of your closest friends to change your heart.” His face darkened as he glanced up at me. “Trust me. I would know.” “I can somewhat relate,” I said, “The best friend I had among the Akomish had to die, mostly because she couldn’t wait the full time I was trapped.” Sora shared a glance with Dusk before looking back up at me, his face deadpan. “Watching your friends being torn apart and killed right before your eyes vs the inevitable passage of time which you can brace for. Yeah, you can definitely relate.” “I was trying for optimism and evidently, I failed spectacularly,” I snapped. “She went MIA a year after I was trapped, so I don’t really know how she died!” Sora stood up and put a hand on my shoulder. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” He shrugged. “Still doesn’t really compare, though. ‘A’ for effort. Why’d she attack me, anyway?” “Do you really think I want ‘Her Royal Cake Flank’ breathing down my neck if you killed her fiance?” Dusk snapped. Sora let out a chuckle. “I think Sun-butt would forgive me for roughing him up a bit in a sparring match.” ‘Depends on which Sun-butt you’re referring to,' Screwball telepathically said. Sora scowled, projecting an image of Granny Smith shriveled up in the bathtub. Suddenly, Sora’s clothing suddenly was transformed into the clothing of Neku Sakuraba, hairdo and all. Sora looked himself over before shrugging. “Lame comeback. Probably a reference that I don’t get. Just stay out of my head, whoever you are. Only my Luna is allowed in there." “Yeesh,” Screwball said, poofing into existence, upside down behind Sora’s head. “No need to scar a child in an adult’s body over it." Sora looked over his shoulder and sighed. “Another chaos user. Great.” He looked back at me. “I assume that this one is on your side?” “Despite being the ‘Princess of Chaos’, she was never on Discord’s side to begin with,” I said. “Thinking back on it, if she met Dusk’s Discord, she’d hang with him.” “Good to know,” said Sora. “Now, no offence, but I suggest you get out of here soon. If my Discord senses you here, he’ll show up immediately. I’d rather not deal with that headache.” “Too late!” Sora whipped around, pointing Ponderer, Reaper and Biter at the draconequus who floated to his right. He inhaled slowly before lowering his blades. “Next time you sneak up on me like that, I’ll let my reflexes carry me through.” “PTSD is the worst,” I mumbled. “It’s not as bad as that,” Sora muttered, letting his keyblades vanish as Rave returned to his arm. “Just that I’m so used to striking out when I hear his voice that I have to actually restrain myself, ‘reformation’ or no.” “I guess ‘His Royal Pink Frills’ didn't take you into account when he cooked up that idea.” “Considering I’d threatened to smack him upside the head if he even considered it…” muttered Sora. “Male or female, the Solar Diarch can be a pain in the neck,” Dusk agreed. “On that, we can all agree.” Sora sighed, waving Discord off. “Go on, then. Have your fun with… whoever this is. I’m sure you’ll have a blast tormenting the sanity of innocent ponies while Delsin and I finish up here.” Just as Discord was about to float off, I looked at him with a ray sphere pulse and noticed something. “Hold up!” I felt talon and claw grab me from behind and lift me into the air. “Like this?” asked Discord, his face now that of a baboon. “Oh I do wish that summoner and her lion were here to see this!” “First off, no. Please put me down, gently.” Discord grinned, summoning a syringe with a human skull and crossbones on it. I grabbed his goatee and roughly pulled his eyes to mine, “Without deathly results.” Discord just laughed, dropping me to the ground where I landed painfully, despite the fall itself feeling slow and gentle. “Oh you humans are so much fun to mess with! Ponies get scared and start panicking, but you lot get angry at the drop of a hat!” The syringe turned into a top hat, which he dropped onto my head. “Now, what was it you wanted to say?” “Did you eat a blast core?” “Oh, that,” said Discord, summoning an X-ray machine and placing it over his body. Among the various pieces of assorted paraphernalia I saw it, the blast core resting between a tuba and a rabid chihuahua. “I must say, that was quite the delicious snack! Not as good as Star-butt’s ‘reforming’ spell, but a decent taste none the less.” I looked at him weirdly, “Okay, interesting thought.” I then reached up and grabbed his goatee again and pulled him down to head level. “Also, I hope you don't mind.” “You pulling on my beautiful beard?” asked Discord dryly. “I actually do.” “Not that,” I said. I forcefully opened his mouth, “I was talking about this.” I then plunged my arm down his throat and began rummaging through whatever was there. Discord rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers. Manehattan was replaced with a desert at night, a giant version of Discord’s head made out of sand rising up from the ground. “Who disturbs my slumber!” he roared. Sora facepalmed. “He just has to choose references that I actually get, doesn’t he?” “Discount Robin Williams,” I agree, “Here goes nothing!” I then dove head first into the Cave of Chaos. Sora’s POV Discord stretched as Manehattan returned. “Well, I suppose we’ll just focus on what’s going on out here then. Goodness knows these authors aren’t nearly competent enough to describe what Delsin’s going through right now.” Suddenly, voices were heard from inside him. “Oh! Hey, Mom. What are you doing here?” “What am I doing here? What are you doing here? You never visit, you never call. Have you found a girl yet? I mean, Come on! You look skinny.” Discord patted his stomach, grinning smugly. “And that’s just the beginning.” I sighed, shaking my head and turning to the now free Dusk. “So, what’s Delsin been up to since last I saw him? And how do you figure into all of it?” “He was tied up with trying to deal with some extremist gang known as the Descendants.” “And you helped him out?” “More like keep him sane,” she sighed, “I'm serious when I say this, he's tried too many times to make his job interesting with questionable results.” “Everypony remain calm!” A voice shouted from inside Discord, “I am a Fire Marshal!...By the way, what's this do?” “NO!!!” An explosion was heard and Discord belched smoke. “...yeah,” said Sora awkwardly. “If you’re trying to keep him sane, letting him dive straight into a Chaos god’s mouth probably wasn’t the best idea.” “Hey! Who turned out the lights?” Discord looked down at his stomach, eyes wide. “Well, didn’t know I had that in there. Hey, Delsin! If you see any angel statues, don’t blink!” “YAAAHHH!” “Reeeeeeally not the best idea,” muttered Sora. “Discord?” Discord, Dusk, the chaos pony and I turned to see Twilight and the others running towards us. “What are you doing here?” asked Twilight suspiciously. “And where’s Delsin?” “Ah! Monkey Witch!” They stared in shock at Discord’s stomach as he rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. “Yes, well, he did insist on getting that little trinket out of my stomach.” Seeing Fluttershy’s disapproving glare, he rolled his eyes. “Oh, fine.” He snapped his fingers and Delsin appeared before us, dripping wet with… something I didn’t want to contemplate. A plunger was clutched tightly in one hand and the other was gloved in a spiked gauntlet. His hair was now bright pink and his skin a pale purple. “There, see? He’s fine!” Delsin suddenly rushed forward and kicked Discord in the gut, causing him to cough up a glowing crystal. He then stuck the plunger on the back of his head, punched his left eye with the gauntlet, then pulled out a spiny sea urchin out of his hair and slammed over his right. Disord leaned back, the urchin and gauntlet still covering his eyes. “Well, that was rude.” I walked over and made to put a hand on Delsin’s shoulder, stopping when I remembered that he was soaked in unmentionable fluid. “Look on the bright side. You made it out with most of your sanity intact.” “Wait until a trigger happy Dupe shows up with a minigun,” he said, eye twitching, “You'll be lucky to make it out without looking like Swiss cheese.” I laughed and shook my head, thinking back to a few of the more trigger happy heartless I’d had to fight. “I can imagine. How about we get you home before goat-face here can cause anymore trouble.” “I resemble that remark!” Discord bleated. Delsin growled something at Discord, before turning to me. “Can I get cleaned up first?” I smirked, stepping back and summoning Wishing Star before aiming above Delsin’s head. “Blizzara. Fira.” A ball of ice appeared above Delsin before being surrounded by a ring of fire. Ice cold rain poured down, washing the mysterious substance away. “Better?” I asked. “Much, thanks,” he said, “And don't worry too much about Obsidian, Neon, and Stella. Dusk can take ‘em home when they're done.” I nodded, putting up Wishing Star and clasping Delsin on the shoulder. “I guess our contract is complete, then. Send me a message the day before the wedding so Sol, Luna and I can be ready to attend.” “Gotcha,” He said, turning towards the Void portal that opened up. He entered it, but a loud ding was heard and he came rocketing back out, hitting me and sending us into a lamp post. “Lamp post,” I muttered. “Much more forgiving than a wall. Bends when you hit it and everything.” “Is there an angry solar alicorn coming towards us?” I looked up, seeing an alabaster alicorn approaching. “There is indeed. Hello again, Princess Sun-butt. Your half-sister should be over there talking with a friend of mine,” I said, pointing towards the plaza. “Thank you, Sora. I'll trust Dusk with getting her home,” she then turned her attention to a dazed Delsin, “As for this one, he now owes me a cuddle session.” She then grabbed his pant leg and dragged him unceremoniously through the portal. I shook my head as the portal closed. “Poor guy. Alicorn strength snuggles are nothing to be sniffed at. Hey, chaos pony! You think you can help me round up the others so Dusk can get them home? I think Coco should be alright for now.” “My name’s Screwball. Got it memorized?” She then gave a loud whistle, after which, a bolt of neon struck Discord’s leg, wrapping him up in neon bindings and a rock missile missed his head by millimeters. Obsidian, Neon, and Stella were suddenly present. “Why is it that everyone attacks me on sight these days?” Discord pondered aloud, sticking one end of the bindings into his mouth and slurping them up. “Really, is it that hard to believe that I’m reformed?” “I was aiming at him/her!” The two earth ponies shouted, pointing at each other. “Ah, young love.” I shook my head, turning to the assembled ponies. “Well, it looks like everything’s just about wrapped up here. Thanks for the help, even if it’s technically Delsin’s fault that there was a problem in the first place.” “In his defense, he didn't know,” Dusk said, opening another void portal. “Oh I don’t really blame him,” I said, shrugging. “He’s not the first to bring a villain to my world. Third, now that I think of it. Farewell, everypony. May you always walk in the path of light.” “Whatever,” she responded, leading the ponies through the portal. Screwball paused before entering. She dug through her beanie hat and pulled out a red and blue egg. “Karmic Eagle egg,” she said, tossing it to me. “Read the beginning chapters of the FanFiction to get a good idea of what it is.” She then dove through the portal. Without even looking away from the closing portal, I held out my empty hand to Discord. Sure enough, he placed a manuscript into my hand titled “inFAMOUS Displaced”. “Well,” I muttered, making sure the Bearers couldn’t hear me. “That confirms that theory.” Author's Note Find the various references and post them in the comments. Chapter 20: The Spider and the Conduit This chapter was written with the assistance of DarkSpider. A Crossover with his story, Spider in Equestria. inFAMOUS Displaced Chapter 20 The Spider and the Conduit Ever had the feeling that something wasn’t right? I had that feeling after leaving the Manehatten pavement and exiting the portal. However, instead of seeing the elegantly crafted ceiling of Celestia’s bedchamber, I saw a much simpler ceiling. Also, Tia’s grip on my leg loosened. I didn’t really need to scan her to know there was something wrong. Somepony else helped in that. “Um, pardon me, but who are you and what in heaven’s name are you wearing?” Asked a posh, feminine voice. “What kind of question is that?” I asked the pony, just barely starting to struggle to my feet. “It’s...what in all of Heaven’s Hellfire is going on?!” I could only stare as I now saw an anthropomorphic Rarity. Rarity’s eyes widened when she saw my face. “Y-you're a human?” “More like a Conduit, but yeah,” I replied as calmly as I could. Tia was anything but calm. “Rarity! What has happened? Did Discord escape and do this to you? And why are you so calm about it?!” Rarity looked at Celestia with complete shock. “P-princess? Why are you like...that?” “I’m asking the same about you!” Tia exclaimed, “If this is Discord’s doing, the very pits of Tartarus won’t hide him from my rage!” “Hey, calm down! Both of you!” I shouted out. “First off, why are you like...that?” I gestured at her humanoid body. Before she could reply, another female voice came from the door. “Hey Rarity, who're you talking…” She stopped. I saw a hooded figure, female if the voice is to be trusted. She was roughly three feet tall and by her feet (hooves?) was what looked like a small yellow fox. “This day has just gotten more awkward,” I said, pinching the bridge of my nose. The figure pointed at me. “Displaced?” “THANK THE HEAVENS!” I shouted out, “Are you another Displaced or know the Displaced of this Equestria?” She sighed. “I'm one of the Displaced. Wait here, I'll be right back.” With that she left, the fox following her. “Cheery,” I mumbled. “So, Discord didn’t do...whatever he did to Rarity?” Tia asked me. “More than likely.” (Dark’s POV) I was just watching Rainbow practice a few moves with Mike still at his usual place on my shoulder, when Cece ran to me. “Tito, come on, you gotta see this.” “What happened Cece?” I asked as Rainbow landed. “A Displaced and their version of Celestia showed up in Carousel Boutique.” Rainbow and I widened our eyes before I webbed my bag to me and ran to the boutique, Rainbow and Cece close behind. When we got there, I saw a pony version of Celestia and a very familiar looking human with Rarity. “Don’t touch the chain!” The human told Rarity. “Delsin Rowe?” I asked. He turned to the door as something shadowy seemed to flow out his outstretched arm, seeming to aim at me. His face had the look of fear, before it turned to annoyance. He lowered his arm and said, “Can you get her to stop criticizing my chain’s function?!” I chuckled. “You don't know Rarity if you think that could happen.” “You know this guy?” Cece asked me. “I know who he turned into.” “Can we please get back on...HEY!!!” He shouted out, trying to get his chain back from Rarity’s telekinetic grip. “Rarity, stop that right now. You do NOT want to mess with a Conduit.” “A what?” Cece said. “Not now.” “Thank you,” the Conduit said, thankfully. “Now does anyone or anypony care to explain how I got intercepted between a friend's Equestria and my Equestria?” “What are you talking about?” Rainbow asked. “I was helping another Displaced fight my doppelganger,” he began to explain. “After all was said and done, I go through the portal home, but I get decked back through.” He glared at Celestia. “She then drags me through the same portal, and now, here we are.” I shrugged. “Something must've happened that sent you here then.” “And I think, I just found it,” Celestia announced, gently pulling a blue and red feather off of a nearby hat. She turned to Rarity with a questioning gaze. “Did you happen to use this on that hat before we arrived?” She nodded. “Yes. Why?” She asked before grabbing the feather. “That, Curly Que, is my token,” Delsin said. “So Rarity accidentally summoned you?” Cece asked. “Well that's better than when Tito was accidentally summoned a few days ago. We headed up in the middle of a bunch of angry Beedrill.” “Oh, that's why your...pets or companions looked familiar,” he said with a snap of his fingers. “They're Pokémon, but I couldn’t tell because all I've seen were drawings and not living flesh and bone.” I nodded. “Yeah. Got them right before we came back here. Now, before I forget, we should introduce ourselves.” I walked up to Delsin and held out my hand. “My name is Tito, but most call me Dark, and this is my partner, Michael.” He didn’t take my hand at first, but after my spider sense tingled a bit, he took it. “Delsin Rowe, Equestrian Eagle.” “Nice name. I just go by DarkSpider, but that's a given. Anyway, the pink hedgehog over there is my sister Cece and her Fennekin, Emily.” “Hedgehog?” “Oh right, guess you wouldn't know exactly.” Cece and I then took off our hoods and I lowered my scarf, revealing our faces. “There we go.” My spider sense tingled again as he nodded his head and shook Cece’s hand. “That explains a few things.” “What do you mean?” She asked. “Your voice and height,” he stated. Her eye twitched. “My what?” Delsin looked at me, confused. “Did I say something wrong?” “Ever since she turned into Amy Rose, she hates whenever people mention her height.” “Oh. Sorry. I can somewhat relate to that,” he said. “Um, Dark?” Rarity asked. “I have a small question. Why is Celestia like that?” “Oh, right. Long story short, this dimension is one where everyone is anthropomorphic. While hers is obviously one where everyone is the same as how you are in the show.” I then pulled out my phone and put up the picture I showed Cece back when we found each other and gave it to Rarity. “See?” Rarity looked the picture in shock. “So that's what we look like where you're from?” “Pretty much.” I then put my phone away. “Then I guess we have a problem,” Delsin added. “What's that?” He pointed his thumb at Celestia. “That means Tia here will stick out like a sore thumb.” “Oh…..right…. Well, I could get Twilight and she can teleport you two to the castle.” I then remembered something. “Hey, you know when in the timeline you are in your Equestria?” “I honestly haven't paid much attention to that,” he said, lowering his head in regret, “I had my hands full dealing with the Skullcaps and Descendants.” “What?” Cece asked. “Two major gangs that ‘rule’ Manehatten and Canterlot, respectively.” “More gangs? Ha, they're nothing.” “Not unless they've got Conduits in their ranks.” “Still don't know what that is.” Delsin sighed. “An individual that has a special gene that allows them complete control over a specific element or something like that,” Delsin explained, “The Skullcaps have rock conduits…” “Rock Conduits?” I asked. “Like Augustine?” “Finally,” Delsin abruptly spoke, “Someone who knows the game...but Augustine is concrete.” “Same difference. Anyway, I'll get Twilight. You two, stay here,” I told Delsin and Celestia before putting on my cover and running out the door. (Delsin’s POV) After Tito left, I was left with four females to one male...the one male being me. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Tia smirking and lightly pointing her horn in my direction. Rarity saw her movements and subtly smirked as well. “Help,” I whispered before Dark Rolling away from Rarity’s lunge for my vest. Before Rarity could try again, Rainbow grabbed her by the collar of her shirt. “Rarity, you heard Dark. You shouldn't mess with him.” “But that doesn't mean I can't,” Celestia said, telekinetically hoisting me into the air by my ankles and prying my vest off of me. “No fair,” I said, as she tossed it to Rarity. When Rarity caught it, the Blast Core in the pocket fell out. “What's this?” Rarity said before picking it up with her magic. “That's called a Blast core.” “Why was that in your pocket?” Rainbow asked, letting go of Rarity’s collar. “I managed to find one before coming here,” I said, rubbing my temples, “It wasn’t easy to get, let me tell you.” Rarity just shrugged before putting it back in the pocket. I looked back to Tia, “Could you please put me down?” She did so...ever so roughly, head first. “Ow.” “Um, if you don't mind me asking, can you two tell me a bit about yourselves?” Rarity asked. “Well, you pretty much know Tia, even if she isn't anatomically the same,” I said, “As for me, I'm engaged, I have five powers…” “Oh, you're engaged? How lovely. To whom?” In response to the question, I placed my arm around Tia’s neck. They all widen their eyes at that. “Wait, you're engaged to Celestia?” Rainbow asked. “Being trapped in stone with telepathy while Luna and Stella were on the moon has interesting results.” They all stayed silent for a moment until Cece started laughing like crazy. “HAHAHA! HAHA!” “Did I say something funny, Pinks?” I asked her, raising my eyebrow. After about a minute, she calmed down. “First of all, don't call me that. Second, I was just imagining Twilight’s reaction when she hears about this.” Tia began giggling, “If this world's Twilight is like our world's Twilight, we can expect her to break for a while.” “Well she completely broke when another Displaced told her that some Displaced had a version of her as one of his “mates”.” I stifled a laugh. “That would be priceless to see.” “I didn't see it properly since Tito had me wrapped up in his webs and holding me over his shoulder like Santa’s bag.” “I'm not even going to ask.” “Why did he do that exactly?” Rainbow asked her. Before Cece could reply, something flew right at her and her face had a web on it. “That's not important,” Tito said, walking in with Twilight, the web suddenly vanishing from Cece's face. When Twilight saw me and Celestia, she did a double take. “Princess?” “Twilight?” Twilight place a hand on her forehead. “I'm going to get a headache one of these days with all this dimensional activity.” “Just don't electrocute yourself.” Everyone gave me a weird look. It then dawned on me. “Oh sorry, reference to my Twilight. She’s an electric conduit, so her normal relaxing bath is anything but relaxing.” “So she's like Cole?” Tito asked. “I'm sorry, but what are you two talking about?” Twilight asked. “And your version is an electric what?” “We're talking about a game series and my version of you can control electricity without magical aid,” I answered. Her eyes widened. “I can do WHAT?” ‘Wow,’ I said telepathically to Cece, ‘Forget the engagement news, this is better.’ Cece looked around in confusion. “What was that?” She whispered. Tito put a hand on her shoulder. “I'll tell you later Twi. Luckily I know some things on that series. Now, can you send them to the castle? I'll walk there in a bit. We need to talk,” he finished, looking at his sister, who just shrugged. Twilight nodded. “Of course.” She then turned to Rainbow and Rarity. “Are any of you coming?” Rainbow shrugged. “Sure. Could be fun.” Rarity shook her head. “Sorry, but I have to finish a few orders, and this distracted me quite a bit. I'll see if I can come over later though.” “At least let me have my Blast core back,” I said, grabbing my vest and pulling out the crystal, “You can look this over if you wish.” She sighed. “Fine. Though you should talk to the me from your world so she can make you a proper outfit.” She said, grabbing the vest with her magic. “Okay, ready.” Twilight nodded before she closed her eyes and her horn and hands started glowing and in a flash of light, the four of us were teleported into a crystal room with a round table and several thrones around it. Not that I was paying attention, since the teleport caused me to fall to my knees and vomit the remaining neuro-tar out of my system onto the floor. “Are you okay?” Twilight asked. “I'm okay,” I said, spitting the last globs of tar out of my mouth. “Just don't let that stuff make skin contact.” “Okay…” She used her magic to pull out a mop and clean it up. “Anyway, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Twilight Sparkle.” She said, sticking her hand out. I checked her with a ray sphere pulse and then shook her hand, finding her DNA clean. “Delsin Rowe, Equestrian Eagle.” She shivered slightly. “What was that?” “Oh, I think you felt my Ray Sphere pulse,” I said. “Your what?” “It's an ability I picked up from another conduit. It allows me to ‘read’ the DNA of an individual to check for the Conduit gene.” Twilight's horn started glowing. “Exactly why would you need to do that?” “To keep myself from accidentally absorbing another conduit’s power,” I said. “What do you mean?” “So, most conduits can control only one type of element or thing. Like paper, wire, neon, smoke, etc.” I said, “ I'm an an exception, because my power is power absorption. I have multiple powers from that, but I can control only one at a time.” “That's so cool,” Rainbow said. “The main downside is that when I absorb a power, I read the mind of the conduit I'm getting the power from...and not on purpose,” I snapped, “The images I saw when I got electricity will probably scar me for life.” Celestia shuddered, “I can agree with that.” “What powers do you have?” Rainbow asked. “Smoke, neon, electricity, light, and darkness.” “Sweet.” “Can you get more?” Twilight asked. “Yes I can, by shaking hands or hooves with someone who has the gene...and said gene needs to be active,” I explained, “If the gene isn't active or the power the conduit has is artificially placed, nothing will happen.” “Interesting…” She said, the sound of a quill on paper could be heard. “What do you mean if it isn't active?” “Are you familiar enough with genetics to know the difference between dominant and recessive traits?” Twilight nodded. “Now when the gene isn’t active, the individual is just like anyone, the gene is recessive. When enough stress or Ray Sphere Radiation is present, the gene activates and the individual becomes stronger, heals faster, and can control an element or thing of some kind, the gene becomes dominant.” More writing could be heard. Before anyone could say anything else, Tito walked in with his hood off and his scarf on his neck, Mike still on his shoulder. “So, what I miss?” He asked. “Talking about my ray sphere pulse.” “Your what?” “It’s a sense that allows me to see if someone has the conduit gene,” I explain, “I used it before I shook yours and your sister’s hands.” “Oh, is THAT what my spider-sense picked up earlier? Huh. Weird. I'm used to warnings and beacons, but what you did was...different.” “It could be like feedback or whatever happens with microphones and speakers.” He shrugged. “Probably. So, what powers you got?” Twilight grabbed a piece of paper and said, “According to him, smoke, neon, electricity, light, and darkness. That's all.” He whistled. “Light and dark? Sweet. Too bad you don't have video though. That was the coolest in my opinion.” “Of course those are my only powers in relation to the conduit gene. I have telepathy and some magic, but it’s not the strongest and can only ‘boost’ my powers in certain areas.” “Telepathy and magic? Huh. Surprising.” “Yeah, well, I do occasionally have visions of the future, but I don’t control them. I predicted Nightmare Moon’s return and cleansing in my world.” Tito chuckled. “Dude, I know a few things myself long before I came here. Then again, I saw the show.” “The show,” I said neutrally. “I recall some bits and pieces, but a thousand years can affect a person’s memories. And I’m serious about those visions. They saved the lives of a few Displaced from my doppelganger.” “Not saying you're lying, just saying your example is something hundreds of Displaced know about by the time they get sent to Equestria. Also, what do you mean doppelgänger? You have an evil double or something?” “Yeah, alternate Equestria where he...I...become infamous rather than heroic. Luckily, his Discord and Starlight Glimmer permanently stopped his ability to get more powers.” “Huh.” He stayed silent for a few seconds before he did a double take. “Wait, Displaced can meet alternate versions of THEMSELVES?” “Actually, for me, when it comes to my doppelganger, after he lost his power absorption, he swore to spread chaos throughout the Multiverse.” “That doesn't answer my question.” “I’m not really sure. If anything, the thing that caused me to be able to meet him, was a visit from his Twilight, another electric conduit who is obsessed with eliminating him. From there, he had the ability to enter the Equestrias I’ve been to or summoned someone from.” “Okay then. I hope I don't have to deal with something like that. Meeting an evil version of myself would give me an actual reason to use my gun, and I don't exactly want that.” “Well, considering what I said, I may be staying here until Nisled is taken care of.” “Nisled?” “He’s my karmic opposite,” I deadpanned, “I decided to nickname him with my name spelled backwards.” “Oh, I get it.” He then muttered something under his breath that I couldn't hear. When he was finished, he looked at me. “Anyway, Cece told me you were engaged. Care to tell me who you're marrying?” I looked to Tia and then back to him, “A thousand years in stone with telepathy for me and a long time without her sister brought us together and I proposed.” Twilight eyes widened and her mouth dropped. When Tito looked at her, he fell to the floor laughing along with Rainbow. Tia tried to hold back her laughter, but ultimately failed. I just smiled. After a few moments, Tito calmed down, took out a phone from his pocket and took a picture of Twilight’s face before taking a deep breath. “You know, now I wish I took a picture of her when Seb told her about that other version of her being a Displaced’s mate,” he said. “Okay, time to snap her out of it. Mike?” The frog nodded before shooting a bunch of bubbles from his mouth at Twilight, splashing her with water. She shook her head and look at Tito. “Was that necessary?” He shrugged in response. “It was either that or slap you. I figured this was better.” She sighed before looking at me. “So you two are really engaged?” I nodded. “She nearly broke my arm when I proposed, but yeah.” Twilight put a hand on her forehead again. “Well, congratulations, but I think I'm going to need a long sleep after today.” “Yeah, somethings will need to be sorted out in sleep,” I said, before speaking to Tito. “By the way, you, Cece and two others of your choice are invited.” I pulled out an invite and gave it to him. Tito widened his eyes before grabbing the invite and looking at it. “Seriously? You're inviting me, a guy you just met, to your wedding?” “Well, of the few Displaced I’ve met, they’ve been good guys,” I said, “I can safely say that you and your sister are okay to come.” Tito stood silent for a moment before shrugging and pocketing the invite. “Okay. Just call me up whenever it happens. Oh, that reminds me.” He reach into his pocket and pulled a silver spider emblem with DS in the center and tossed it to me. “That's my token. Just toss it to call me.” I caught the token and I heard his voice in my head. ‘My name is Dark. I'm a web-swinger with a blade and a lot of heart. If you need a companion to talk to, or an ally to help fight your enemies, just toss this medallion in the air and I'll be there. I'm always willing to meet new people. But know this, I will not allow anyone to harm innocents.' “Catchy,” I said. “I especially like the part about harm to innocents. I don’t like innocents being harmed and I’m lucky that my powers can heal people.” “Well I wanted others to know where I stand. Luckily, I haven't met anyone who hurts innocents. Well, except for a few ponies in Manehatten, but they're a joke. Anyway, I have a few questions for you.” “Go ahead and shoot,” I said, “Just, not with the gun.” “Don't worry about that. I only used it for shooting on Hearth’s Warming Eve.” Twilight and Rainbow then looked at him, confused. “Why would you do that?” Twilight asked. Tito immediately looked nervous and said, “Anyway, just a few questions, such how you met your version of the Mane 6?” “My...statue or whatever was part of a mechanism that hid the dormant elements,” I explained. “I had them insert a blast core into a hole in the statue pedestal to activate the mechanism. That also served as the catalyst for me to break out of stone. I then summoned someone who was Displaced as Sora and we gave Nightmare Moon one heck of a beating.” “However, just before the Elements fired off, I was able to enter her mind and I found two personalities fighting for dominance. I separated them just as the Magic hit and it created another sister for Tia. She was called Stella.” “Huh. Wait, Sora? Can you be a little more specific?” “Three thousand year old guy who looks 16, dressed as Sora from Kingdom Hearts 2, mean temper, can beat the crap out of me easily.” Tito stayed silent, reaching into his bag and pulling out a pen and notebook and writing something down. “Anyway, the Elements also activated their conduit genes. Twilight got electricity, Rainbow had a much better control over clouds or weather, Rarity got gems or crystals, Fluttershy had plants, Applejack had wood, and Pinkie...let’s just say, she’s now a living party cannon.” “Huh. That's actually kinda cool. Though, I can only imagine how painful it'd be for me if my version of Rainbow here had the same powers as yours,” Tito said as he put the notebook back in his backpack. I looked over Rainbow with my ray sphere pulse. “She does have the gene, but it’s currently dormant. And I don’t recommend activating it as of yet.” “Wait, you're saying I'm one of those conduits?” Rainbow asked. “Yes and no,” I answered, “Yes as in yes you have the conduit gene, but no, it’s not active, therefore, you’re still normal...as normal a pegasus can be when she’s friends with a princess.” “But does that mean it can become active in the future?” Tito asked. “Yes. Just hopefully, not like Cole.” “Um...I only saw videos of Second Son. Exactly how DID Cole discover his abilities?” “Ray Sphere detonation. It was given to him by his future self and it destroyed roughly four to five city blocks of Empire City. He was right in the center of the blast...and he survived.” “Oh...well I doubt that would happen because one, nopony has any idea what that Ray Sphere stuff is, and two, the only ponies that had a time travel spell lost it. Though, should we be worried if it DOES go active? “When the gene becomes active, there may be a few close calls and accidents,” I stated, “When Cole woke up after his powers woke, he couldn't be around electrical devices, cars and firearms would explode, and he couldn't be in water. Another thing to consider is emotions. If a regular pony lost their temper, the worst that could happen would be minor injuries. If a conduit lost their temper, casualties can number in the double digits.” Twilight and Rainbow widened their eyes at that while Tito just nods. “Um, Delsin? Can I ask you something in private?” He said. I nodded and followed him out of the throne room, Mike jumping onto Rainbow’s shoulder. He closed the door and turned to me. “Sorry. Just don't exactly want Rainbow to hear about this and get any ideas.” “If this is about the conduit temper thing, I have to say this: Karma's a @#$@@.” “It's not that. I think Rainbow can control her temper. Mostly. Though, you remember when I said it'd be painful for me if she was a Conduit? I was talking about when we first met. Long story short, we did NOT get along.” “So, you're asking if her gene becomes active, how much pain will you be in if she kicks your butt?” “No. Thanks to Sebaste, the first Displaced I met and the guy my gun used to belong to, we became pretty good friends.” ‘I'll say,’ I thought. “Anyway, main point?” “I just want to know exactly what can activate the Conduit gene.” “A particular type of stress and/or pain. Familiar with First Light? DLC to Second Son? Details of Fetch?” “It's been a little while since I seen anything about Second Son, and I didn't even see past the part where you get the video powers. As for Fetch, wasn't she the girl who you get the neon power from who hates drug dealers?” “Yeah, she is, but about stress, when Eugene got his powers, he was subject to bullying and it triggered the gene. As for Fetch, when she was under emotional turmoil, her powers got stronger.” “Emotional turmoil? If I remember correctly, her parents found out she was a Conduit, turned her to the DUPPs, she and her brother ran away, and then the whole drug thing. Did she discover her powers before or after that?” “She had her powers before the drug thing. Brief spoiler, near the beginning of First Light, as she was talking to Augustine about before she was captured, Fetch mentioned that when her brother was kidnapped, her stressed emotions triggered new abilities with her neon power.” He nodded. “Okay then. Hopefully it won't be too bad for Rainbow when it becomes active.” “Don't worry too much about her,” I teased, “If your marefriend is anything like the Rainbow I know, she'll be fine.” He did a double take at that. “My WHAT?!” I smirked. “I may not look it, but I've been around for a bit more than a thousand years. You learn a few tricks. As for what I said, about Rainbow being your marefriend, think about it. For one, my telepathy picked up quite a bit of concern primarily for her. Second, your voice carried that same concern.” Tito just pinched the bridge of his nose and muttered, “I thought I was done with this nonsense when I left Ashur and Aurora’s dimension.” He then took his hand away and sighed. He then looked at me with an annoyed expression. “First, she's not my marefriend. And second, of course I'm worried about her. She's my best friend,” he finished, crossing his arms and turning away. “Don’t get a heart attack over it, I should be concerned about that,” I joked, “I'm much older, therefore, more at risk. I was just commenting on your loyalty to her wellbeing. A loyalty I show to Tia.” “So?” “So if she's hurt and put in the hospital, more than likely you'd be there every second of her treatment and recovery,” I paused for emphasis. “And I get the feeling she'd do the same for you.” “Element of Loyalty dude. She cares about everyone close to her. As for me, again, she's my best friend. That's something I never had before and not something I want to lose.” “Well then liste…” I stopped, mid-sentence as I suddenly had a pre-vision headache. As I fell to my knees and grabbed my head in pain, my vision blurred and I saw Cece and I weakened and watching Tito and Nisled fighting. Somehow, Nisled got the upper hand and delivered a punch that knocked him down and somehow drained his energy, weakening him. As Nisled took Tito’s sword to strike him down, his Rainbow Dash looked at the scene with rage and glowing hands. The vision then darkened and I fell into unconsciousness. (Dark’s POV) When Delsin screamed, I turned to him and saw him holding his head in pain. Before I could do anything though, he fell to the floor, unconscious. Celestia rushed out of the throne room, panic and worry on her face when she saw Delsin out cold. “What happened?” “I don't know,” I said. “We were talking, and then he just screams and faints.” She walked over to him with her horn glowing and touched it to his forehead. After a few seconds, she looked at me. “He's had another vision.” “How do you know?” “Stella is not only a master dream walker, but she is also an expert with memories,” she explained, “I had her search his memories of the visions he's had, and she taught me how to recognize if he's had a vision based on what she saw and felt.” “Okay. Any idea how to wake him up?” “He’ll need rest, as it seems this vision took more out of him than the other visions did,” she said, standing up and lighting her horn. “As for myself, I need to return to my Equestria. I'm not sure if there are time differences between worlds, but I don't want Stella and Luna pranking the Nobility too much.” “Well then, I guess this is goodbye, but can you do me a favor?” “What is it that you ask?” “Whenever we meet again, can I take a picture of you guys? It's a thing I thought of doing as a better way of remembering a Displaced I met besides their token.” Celestia smirked. “Make sure Delsin doesn’t know, and a picture perfect moment will be provided.” “I'll see if Cece can take it. Now, anything else before you leave?” “No, thank you though.” Her horn glowed much brighter and in a flash, she was gone. Author's Note I like doing crossovers. It's just easier to write while bouncing ideas around with a chapter's co-author. Chapter 21: Secrets Revealed This chapter was written with the assistance of DarkSpider. A Crossover with his story, Spider in Equestria. inFAMOUS Displaced Chapter 21 Secrets Revealed (Dark's POV) I was walking around the castle, cover off, heading to my usual spot for training, when my spider sense picked up something. Huh. Wonder what it- A loud explosion shook me out of my thoughts. “WHAT THE HELL?!” I screamed, before running to where the noise came from. Upon arriving at the explosion site, I saw a door blown off it's hinges and Pinkie Pie was pinned to the wall with black thorn vines across from the open doorway with a confused look on her face. “Um, should I even ask?” “I was just trying to welcome your new friend, and then this happened,” Pinkie said. I sighed before pulling out my sword and cutting the vines. When I did, they disappeared, freeing Pinkie. “Thanks Tito.” “Don't mention it, Pinkie. Just go find Twilight or something.” She nodded and walked away, looking a little sad, while I walked into the room, most of the furniture were in shambles and were covered in a shadowy smoke. Delsin was on his knees, panting and sweating badly. “Hey. There a reason you attack Pinkie like that and why you look like that?” “PTSD!” He snapped before getting his breathing normal. “I don't take surprises well.” “Oh...wish we knew that. Any reason you have that?” “I was captured by griffins in the first five minutes of being Displaced,” he began, “After escaping and freeing the ponies that later became the Akomish, I helped Tia and Luna fight the war so they could deal with Discord. I fought and killed for a year before getting encased in stone by the Griffin King, who was a cement conduit.” “Huh. Sorry, but...Ako-what?” “Akomish, a sub-tribe, for lack of a better term.” “Okay… Any reason that you mentioned that?” “My Twilight is Akomish.” “Wait what?” “And if looks are anything to go by, the conduit and Akomish I got smoke from, Smoke Shot, is one of her ancestors...she looks just like her.” “Huh. Cool. Speaking of which, how did you get those powers exactly?” “Smoke, I tried to evade capture, but my chain was pulled and I landed on Smoke. Light, I got from Sora. He was fawning over Stella and when I pried him off of her, I got it. Electricity, I got from Dusk Spark, Nisled’s Twilight. She’s out for his head. Darkness, I got that in a sparring match with Vanitas-Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Displaced character. Neon, I stopped Streak’s murder streak in Manehatten after her husband's and unborn foal’s deaths.” “Dusk Spark? Now I can't help but think of Twi’s R63. Also, can you tell me more about Nisled? All I know is he's your moral opposite.” “He has smoke, neon, video, concrete, and basic chaos magic.” “So, besides chaos magic, the same powers as in the game.” “Eeyup. Plus, due to his chaos magic, he is immune to death,” Delsin grimly reported. “Great…” I said with sarcasm evident in my voice. “And when we fight him, we need to keep the Bearers of Harmony away from the fight,” he said. My vision was then filled with the images of 5 of the Mane 6 lying dead and mangled. I immediately grabbed my forehead and leaned towards the wall. “What was that?!” “What I saw when Dusk Spark gave me her electric powers. Sorry if you get scarred for life.” I clenched one of my hands into a fist and closed my eyes. “He did that to them?” I asked, growling. “And when I more officially met Dusk Spark, he tore off the only biological arm or foreleg she had left.” “Had left? What do you mean?” “She was more machine than pony by the time her friends were killed.” When I heard that, I immediately punched the wall, causing a few cracks to show on the crystal. I then opened my eyes and growled again. “I'm gonna kill that son of a @#$&$!” Delsin jumped a bit. “Dude. What's up with your eyes? They’re red.” That confused me. “What are you talking about? My eyes are brown.” He extended his hand towards me and a shadowy smoke flowed out of my chest and into his hand. As that happened, my anger slowly lowered. He then looked me in the eyes and said, “Now they are.” “Again, what are you talking about?” “Your eyes were literally red with anger. I siphoned off the anger, and they're back to brown.” “Wait, what? I'm seriously confused here.” “Things are different here than on Earth. Emotions can affect us differently. I nearly blew up the old castle when Nisled took Dusk’s arm or foreleg.” “What does that have to do with my eyes?” He then grabbed my face...and he suddenly had my undivided attention. “Magic and emotions can cause things to happen. Your eyes literally changed and I had more energy to fight with. Put two and two together.” “So...you're saying my eyes changing is tied to me being angry and some magic?” He let go of my face and replied, “That's the idea.” His hands then lit up in a blue aura and the room was restored to it’s original looks, door included. “Now, let's change subjects. I don't want to try to give you a concussion while we're both emotionally all over the spectrum.” “Aye.” Then a thought came to mind. “Hey, what exactly happened yesterday? You just passed out.” He put his hand to his head, and shook it lightly. “I had a vision.” “I heard. Of what?” “A Bringer of Chaos will soon come fast, That the thought of secrets will be last. When that what is hidden is brought to light, Can the Infamous Vulture be sent to flight.” “Um...what?” He shook his head again. “Your guess is as good as mine. Those words just...come to me.” “Okay… Should I be concerned?” “Don't get too wound up over it. Let's eat breakfast before hitting our heads against the proverbial brick wall.” I nodded before walking away to the dining room, Delsin right behind me. (Delsin’s POV) We walked into the dining room to be greeted with the sight of Pinkie Pie telling Twilight, a drake I assumed was Spike, Cece, and an unknown unicorn about what happened involving the explosion. “So I threw open the door shouting, ‘Surprise!’ And when he woke up, he saw my party cannon and freaked out!” She explained, waving her arms like mad. “He blew me across the hall, and ruined my party cannon!” She pulled her cannon out of nowhere and pointed at it's now ruined state. “Just look at it! It takes a lot to build one and even more to replace!” She finished with her hair a bit less poofy. “Next time Pinkie, you shouldn't throw a surprise party for a Displaced,” Tito said. “Stick to a normal one. You never know what a Displaced is capable of.” “Or if you do do a surprise party, leave the artillery at home,” I told her. “Kay…” Pinkie said. “You didn't have to destroy my party cannon though.” “So, what’s to eat for breakfast?” I asked, clapping my hands together. “Spike made pancakes,” Twilight said. “Want some?” “Sure, why not?” I said, taking a seat. “And I don't think I got your name,” I said, pointing to the unicorn. “Oh, my name is Starlight Glimmer,” she said. “Nice to meet you.” Upon hearing her name, I pulsed my ray sphere pulse nearly twenty times before calming down. Her DNA was clean, thank Karma. Tito grabbed his head. “Dude! Why did you do that?” “I was checking her DNA for the gene. Thank all that is green and Holy that she's clean.” “Did you have to do it so much? I got a headache from that.” “Nisled’s Starlight Glimmer was a Ray Sphere conduit. She could activate the Conduit gene on anyone...at the cost of hundreds of lives per conduit.” “Oh… Wait, didn't you say that his version of her, as well as Discord, are the reason he's not as strong as before?” “Yes,” I answered. “Evidently, she was brainwashed to try and form a Conduit army, but his Mane 6 fought her out of it and she saw her mistakes.” Tito nodded and just leaned by a wall while everyone was looking between us. “Um, what are you talking about?” Starlight asked. “How you are different from various versions of yourself through different parts of the Multiverse,” I said. My hand then felt something under the table, and when I pulled it out, it was a cigar. “Is this here in case of a smoke emergency?” I asked Pinkie. Pinkie nodded. “Twilight told me about what you can do so I found a few things to help you.” She pulled out a neon ‘Open’ sign to prove her point. Replacing the cigar, I gave her a questioning look. “Is that all she told you?” “No,” Twilight said. “I wanted to tell the rest of my friends everything else.” “Smart, I'll give you that,” I commented, while draining the neon out of the sign Pinkie was holding. “When were you planning on telling?” “In about ten minutes. And I'm hoping you can tell us some more.” “Okay, I'll greet them in the entryway,” I said, before zooming off in a blur of neon. A few minutes of running through the impossibly maze-like structure, I arrived just as the doors opened. “Oh, hey Delsin,” Rainbow said, flying in. “I'm not gonna ask ‘What’s up?’ for fear of you saying that you are.” She rolled her eyes before she landed in front of me and crossed her arms. “So you're going to tell us more about yourself?” “When we're in the proper setting and everyone else is here.” “Great. See ya in the throne room.” She then flew off in a rainbow blur. “I'm right behind ya!” I began running in a neon blur easily catching up to her. Since I didn't know the castle like she did, I kept my speed close to hers to keep up and react when needed. At one point, she saw me running to keep up and, feeling competitive, boosted her speed and crashed through the throne room door. “Ow…” She said as she crashed onto the floor. I ran over to her, flashing some neon around her to ease her pain. Chuckling, I said, “That was fun.” “Yeah. The only other two I know who can keep up with me without help is Cece and Dark, but they never really feel like racing.” “Eh, maybe later.” The throne room door then opened. Tito walked in with his hood on and saw us. “Okay, what was that noise and why is there a hole on the door?” He asked. “Um, a high speed, and rainbow colored projectile making an explosive strike on the door,” I joked. He just stared at me, his eyes unknown with that hood. “Seriously?” He deadpan. “We had a race and it got out of hand,” Rainbow said with a sigh as she sat on the throne with her cutie mark. Tito shook his head. “Okay then. Anyway, I'll be watching some videos. Let me know when everypony else is here.” He then jumped to the large chandelier and sat on it, pulling out his phone. I ran up the wall in neon and sat on one of the ceiling supports. “And I'll sit here, waiting for everyone to get here and ask questions.” A few minutes later the throne room door opened again and the rest of the Mane 6 arrived with Starlight, and Cece as well. I jumped down from my perch and landed in front of the group, no harm on myself from the high fall. “Hello.” Applejack took a step back, Rarity jumped, and Fluttershy? She screamed and ran to the back. Everyone else just looked at me. “Who’re you?” Applejack asked. “Delsin Rowe, the Equestrian Eagle,” I said while using my ray sphere pulse to look everyone over. Everyone, but Rainbow, lacked the gene. “Okay, can you at least let me know when you're gonna do that?” Tito yelled from his spot in the chandelier. I lit my arm up in neon and pointed at him. “Deal with it. At least you don't have to sleep through head breaking headaches from visions and accidental mind readings.” “Dark, you know this guy?” Applejack asked. Tito jumped off the chandelier and landed next to me. “Yeah. He's a Displaced who turned into a guy that can absorb powers of those with a certain gene. And apparently he's staying here until a certain event happens. I'll let him and Twilight explain.” “Okay then.” They then all sat on the thrones with their respective cutie marks. “You're up dude,” Tito said before jumping onto the underside of the chandelier, sticking to it from his back and looking down on us. “Creepy, but cool,” I commented before turning to the group. “Soooo...the guy I'm Displaced as is called Delsin Rowe. I don't really remember my original name, nor do I really want to. I served in a military position, causing some issues with PTSD. I'm engaged to, no joke, my Princess Celestia. I have smoke, neon, electricity, light, darkness, and some magic at my disposal. And for some reason, I'm craving ramen.” I pulled a cigar out of Pinkie’s ear and continued. “Does anyone have a lighter or something?” Tito pulled a lighter out of nowhere and tossed it at me. I caught it and lit the cigar, no smoke coming from it or my mouth. “Any questions?” “How about you explain what you found out about Rainbow,” Twilight asked. “As well as what Conduits are so that everypony else understand.” “Gotcha. So, I'm what is known as a Conduit. A person with something special in my DNA that allows me to control an element or something like that.” I let some smoke flow around my arms to demonstrate. “Now, the gene can be in almost anyone, but it may not be active. If it isn't, they're normal. If it is, then they can do their thing with their element. Rainbow Dash has that gene.” “Wait,” Cece said. “You're saying Rainbow is a Conduit? How?” “In order, she had the gene, but it's not active. As for how, the best answer is that there are Conduits all throughout the Multiverse. Most, if not all, aren't aware of it.” Tito then began to lower himself upside down with a web. “Considering what you said about Sora being a Conduit, that makes the most sense. So no one else here has it?” “Yes, and for that, I'm rather glad,” I sighed. “If I had to train eight other dimensional Conduits, I'd throw myself off a cliff...not that it would do any good.” “Wait, you're actually going to train her?” “At least the basics, and in an environment where we won't get odd looks.” “I know a great place. The usual spot Rainbow and I spar. It's in a nice field a few yards out of town. Nopony ever really goes by there, so you should be fine.” “You can show me later. Anymore questions?” “Yes,” Twilight said. “You mentioned someone named Nisled yesterday. Can you tell us exactly who that is?” “Yeah, I was hoping to avoid that,” I said, nervously scratching the back of my head. “Why?” Rainbow asked. “The description can get a little...gory,” I said. “Um...what do you mean?” Tito immediately climbed back up to the chandelier and sat on one of the branches, not looking at anyone. “It's not really a good idea to tell any of you.” “Why?” “Short version: a crazy, psychopathic, chaos-high, *worst ever, @#$#@#&, plothole-*” “Dude, you're just growling now,” Tito said. “Use your words.” “*What!?*” I suddenly realized that I was speaking Skullcap. “Sorry. I slip into that language when either swearing, upset, or tossing insults. Basically, he's an infamous, sadistic jerk.” “Okay…” Starlight said. Tito then spoke up. “Moving on, what Displaced have you met?” “I've met a few. In one Equestria, there was a mad god of time, alongside an anthropomorphic cat with gambling issues, a book nerd, and a crazy mask guy. Then there was Sora, I got my Light power from him. Then there was Vanitas, who I got darkness from.” I then pulled out Carrow's gold coin, as well as Sora’s and Vanitas’ keychains to show. They all stayed silent for a moment before Tito said, “Twilight, you're taking notes right?” “Of course,” she replied. “Give me the list on those Displaced later. Now, how about you tell us about the friends you have in your world?” “My friends are Obsidian Shard, Neon Streak, Jet Second, Dusk Spark, Screwball, Princess Stella...Smoke Shot...” “Jet Second? Don't you mean Jet Set? And wait, Screwball exists in your dimension? Can you...describe her behavior?” “First off, he isn't proud of being the son of a Descendant.” I saw everyone's confused looks. “An extremist, tribalist gang. Said member is Jet Set...Senior.” ‘As for me,' a voice suddenly projected. Looking up at ceiling, past Tito’s seat, Screwball suddenly popped into existence. “A child in an adult’s body...or teenage behavior...mixed with gentle chaos.” When everyone saw Screwball, they were shocked. Applejack, Fluttershy, and Starlight because of the non anthro pony, while everyone else just seemed surprised that she was here. When Cece noticed her though, she pulled a large hammer, about the same size as her, out of nowhere. “Another one?” Cece said. “You better be nicer than the last one we met.” “Don't be so antagonistic,” Screwball and I said, simultaneously. We looked at each other briefly before asking, “Where was I?” “Quick question,” Tito said, looking at Screwball. “What are you doing here?” “I just wanted to answer your question about me,” she said. She then floated to his ear and whispered something before shooting back, shouting, “TOOTLES!” She then vanished. “Wonder why she said that…” “Said what?” I asked “Something about being careful next time I'm in Manehatten,” he said with a shrug. “Um...anything else? Or a power demonstration?” Tito shook his head. “Not now. Now, you should explain what's going to happen soon.” “You mean the whole ‘banishing Nisled’, or something else that fate decides to drop on my head.” “The former. They should know what might happen to them if they interfere. But don't show them what you showed me.” “Alright, when you see someone that looks like me, but has that...aura of evil, don't confront him.” “Why not?” Rainbow asked. “I'm sure we can all take him.” “Can you handle suffocation, nasty burns, raging demons, concrete shanks, and/or the magical off-chance of being turned into fried chicken and being eaten alive?” They all widen their eyes at that. “Well...no…” “Then try to stay back. He did horrible things that would melt your brains if you knew or found out.” “Then what are we SUPPOSED to do? Let him wander around Ponyville, hurting or killing innocent ponies?” “First, we let him wander INTO Ponyville. Somepony will then raise some sort of alarm-” A scream was heard from the town. “-just like that. We then wait for an explosion-” An explosion was heard. “-it's then time to kick him around and out of town.” Tito then dropped from the chandelier beside me and look to the others. “You all stay here and don't interfere. You too Cece.” “What? Why?” His sister asked. “Because I don't want any of you to die. Come on Delsin.” He then put on his cover and ran out in a blue and black blur. I ignored Tito’s protective advice for his sister. “Get on my back.” “Why?” She said. “If he knows of my powers as well as I know of overprotectiveness, he'll have webbed up the castle exit so you wouldn't follow him. I, however, have another way out.” She hesitated for a moment before sighing. “Fine. Fluttershy, watch Emily and Mike.” She then put on her hood and jumped to my back. “Hold on tight,” I instructed, before Smoke Dashing both of us into a nearby fireplace and out of the chimney. I let her off my back once we landed on the roof of the castle. “You okay?” “Yeah. Just...feeling weird.” “Sorry. Now, where are you, you Vulture,” I said, looking over Ponyville until I saw Tito fighting Nisled in a sword-to-video claw fight. “Anyway that you can give me a boost?” She pulled out her hammer. “I have one way.” “That's fine, just watch...the spot, or you'll do more damage than good.” “Don't worry. Also, this will hurt.” She then slammed her hammer on my back, sending me flying to Nisled. “INCOMING!” (Dark’s POV) I immediately stopped trying to slice this red psycho when I heard Delsin, and the next thing I know, my spider-sense went off and I jumped away from Nisled as Delsin crashed into him in a huge explosion, blowing my hood off. When I landed, Delsin reformed from smoke and Nisled was a few yards away with his back on the ground. Delsin popped his back and neck. “She was right, that did hurt. But it hurt him more than me.” “What took you so long?” I said, walking to him. “Blame your overprotectiveness, and my vision from yesterday,” he said, pointing to the roof of the castle. I widened my eyes as a red blur dropped to the ground. “YOU BROUGHT HER?!” 'MY VISIONS NEVER LIE!!!’ I then heard loudly in my head. ‘SHE NEEDS TO BE HERE!!!’ I shook my head and glared at him. “If she dies, I don't care what your Celestia does to me, I'm going to kill you.” Nisled suddenly gave a flying kick to Delsin’s face. “Not if I beat you to it.” I was going to slice at him again when a hammer came flying at him and knocked him back a few feet. Cece then walked passed me and picked up her hammer. “You know, you're not that smart, fighting three super strong Displaced.” “And you underestimate your opponents,” he sneered before suddenly becoming pixelated and turning invisible. I just used my spider-sense to pick up on him. Before I could though, Cece’s hammer flew out of her hand and she was sent flying into Delsin, her hood falling off of her head. Both of them went sprawling. Cece seemed barely conscious. Delsin made to get up, but the hammer flew towards him and knocked his head into the dirt. “Predictable,” Nisled said, as he became visible behind me. I just growled and swung my sword at him. He caught the blade in his hand and gripped it tightly, blood oozing from his hand. “Did I hit a soft spot? Well, to make you glad, at least for now, I won't kill your sister...yet.” “Burn in hell,” I said, webbing him in the face and punching him in the gut. “I rule hell.” His hands became pixelated and my spider sense went off. I rolled out of the way as a demon slashed at me. I immediately cut off its head and it dissolved in a bunch of pixels. I then dodged a video claw strike and landed a strike on his arm. He roared out in rage and tried again, but that left him open for another hit, this time on the other arm. His head then became a pixelated demon head with ram horns and he charged me. I jumped to the side before stabbing him in the back. “Did you really want to do that?” He then flipped himself forward, which flipped me over him. I let go of my sword to avoid getting slammed into the ground. After I landed, I saw one of his arms covered with pixels and the other covered in a red aura. Before he could do anything, I webbed his feet and pulled, causing him to fall to his back. I then charged him, but the pixelated arm fired a too fast to dodge ball of light that stuck to my chest, knocking me back. Three video swords then appeared and started flying at me. I web-zipped to a nearby roof, barely dodging most of them as they impaled a tree that was behind me, one slicing my side. “Fire in the East,” I heard Nisled say behind me. I turned, only to receive a bunch of pixels to my chest, launching me into the dog pile that was Cece and Delsin. “Attack in the West.” I struggled to stand, but Nisled’s hand grabbed me by the throat and lifted me up and cutting off my air. I saw him plunge his hand into his chest and pull my sword out of it, the wound sealing up instantly. “Say goodbye, annoying arachn-” He was suddenly blown away in a wave of warm, humid air, causing him to drop me. I looked up at where the wave came from and saw Rainbow hovering in the air with a murderous look on her face, her arms glowing a blue color and steaming. “So,” I heard Nisled say as he stood up. “The bluebird has come out to play?” He pointed my sword at her. “Let’s play!” He charged her and swung the sword. Just as it was an inch from her throat, she vanished in a puff of steam clouds. The steam clouds quickly moved to me and Rainbow reappeared, albeit a little dizzy looking. “That'll take some getting used to,” she said before shaking her head and glaring at Nisled. “A Conduit’s first moments with their powers are their hardest...and their most vulnerable.” He charged her again and thrusted the blade. She hardly moved herself, dodging the blade by barely an inch. She then grabbed his sword arm and pulled, flipping him and disarming him. He rushed to his feet but immediately found my sword pointed at his throat. “Tell me why I shouldn't shove this down your throat.” “Um, iron overdose?” He tried to joke. He prepped his hands to knock her back, but she pulled the blade back and slammed the sword’s pommel into his face and then beheaded him. His head was blubbering out a bit of nonsense as it rolled, and the body fell, as if dead. Rainbow took a deep breath before widening her eyes and stepping back at the headless body. Delsin managed to get on his feet, Cece’s hammer in his hands. He walked over to Rainbow and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. He then pulled a strange sphere out of his pocket and somehow merged it with the hammer, giving it a red glow. He then approached Nisled’s head. “Well,” the head suddenly spoke. “Looks like I'm getting that job with Gallagher after all.” Delsin then slammed the hammer onto the head, causing it and the body to vanish in a red flash. He then collapsed, unconscious. Before I was able to do anything, I felt a pain on my side and my vision went black. (Rainbow’s POV) My senses were barely registering after what I did. The last thing I remember was seeing that creep choking Dark. Next thing I know, his headless body is on the ground in front of me. What happened? “Rainbow Dash!” I heard a somepony say. Turning around, I saw Twilight flying towards me, an annoyed look on her face. She landed in front of me and said, “What were you THINKING?! You heard what Delsin said. You could have died.” She then saw the sword in my hand and Delsin and Dark unconscious on the floor, Cece struggling to get up. “What happened?” “I-I d-don’t know,” was all I could say before I heard a few ponies coming to us, whispering a few things as they looked at all of us. “W-what...what's going on?” Mayor Mare asked. “And Rainbow Dash, what's wrong with your hands?” What's going on...What's wrong? I looked at my hands and saw that they were steaming and glowing. I immediately dropped Dark’s sword in surprise and stared at my hands. I then looked at Twilight and chuckled nervously. “I guess it's active now…” “Sorry to interrupt,” Cece said, limping to me. “But can we PLEASE get them some help?” She pointed to Dark and Delsin. I immediately widened my eyes when I saw a red spot on Dark’s side. I flared up my wings, grabbed Dark, and flew as fast as I could to the hospital. When I arrived, I received a lot of stares, but I didn’t care. All I cared about at this point was his safety. “Nurse Redheart!” The pale white earth pony came running towards me. “What is it Rainb-what in the world?” She said, seeing Dark’s unconscious body. “Not important. Can you help him?” “Uh, I guess so.” Redheart called for a stretcher and had him immediately wheeled into the emergency room. I began to pace the waiting room, stopping only to sit for a few seconds and then was back to pacing. The doors to the hospital then opened, all of my friends, including Cece, who was still limping, and Delsin, who looked okay, but exhausted. “Rainbow?” I turned to see Twilight looking at me with a worried expression. “You okay?” “Yeah,” I said. “Just a little worried, y’know?” “How worried, may I ask?” Delsin asked with a grin on his face. I shrugged. “Honestly, I don't really know.” Cece then looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “Why are you smiling?” Delsin just gave her a look and Cece just said with a confused look, “What do you mean?” Delsin facepalmed and she pulled out her hammer. “I will use this if you don't explain!” He shook his head and she put her hammer back. “Wait, are you implying what I think you're implying?” He nodded. Cece then looked at me for a moment before falling onto the floor, laughing like crazy. “Oh, that's hilarious. HAHAHA!!” After a few moments, she calmed down and stood back up. “Well then...this'll definitely be interesting.” She said with the same kind of smirk she had on Hearth’s Warming Eve. “Woah woah woah,” I said. “What are you two talking about? And how are you telling her anything without talking?” I asked Delsin. ‘First off,’ I heard in my head. ‘You will find out, soon enough. Secondly, it's called telepathy. I shook my head and put a hand on my forehead. “What the hay?” Delsin looked around with a mock confused look. “I don't see any hay.” I just glared at him. “If you're done making jokes, mind helping me figure out how to control this?” I said, showing him my still glowing hands. “Okay, basic conduit training.” He turned towards a vent, but stopped. “Oh, before I forget.” He pointed a glowing blue hand at me and my wings suddenly snapped against my back. “Any pegasi conduits I've trained, I've trained them to work without wings...for if the need arrives.” I sighed. “Fine. So do we go to the place Dark told you about?” “Yes, but not by normal means,” he said. “If we were, I wouldn't have bound your wings. Follow me.” He then vanished into smoke through a nearby vent. “How am I supposed to follow if he does that?” “Can't you do the same thing you did during your fight with Nisled?” Cece said. “What are you talking about?” I asked. My vision suddenly blurred and I felt dizzy. I then saw myself in third pony view. My vision self was being rushed by Nisled. My vision self reacted by dashing away in a cloud-like form. The vision shifted, showing me all angles of the scene. My real vision returned and I was on my knees. “You okay?” Cece asked, stepping towards me. “Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine.” I let my arms steam a bit more thickly before stopping it. “I think I may have figured it out. Let me know when Dark wakes up.” I stood in front of the vent and thought back on what I saw. I rushed to the vent and I felt myself literally turning into a cloud and enter the vent. It shot me up through a fan on the hospital roof, where I became solid again. I put a hand on my head and said, “That feels so weird.” “It takes getting used to,” I heard Delsin say from behind me. I turned and saw him smoking a cigar while holding a bottle of water. “I'll take your word for it. Where'd you get that anyway?” I asked, pointing to the bottle. “Two words, Pinkie Pie.” I nodded in understanding as he tossed the cigar to the side and dumped the water on the hospital roof. “So...now what?” “Brief lesson on limits,” he answered, stamping out the cigar. “Despite being super powered, you will find out that you still have limits. Let's say you encounter somepony that can fire pieces of lead far faster than you can fly. While you can heal significantly faster than a normal pony, if you are hit faster than you can heal, death can be certain.” “So I can heal fast? How fast?” In response, his hands lit up blue and I felt a slight pinch on my arm. I looked where I felt it and saw a nasty looking cut...or it was nasty, as I saw it healing faster than a normal cut would in less than a minute, but it was sealed up, the only proof was the blood stain on my blue fur. “Was that REALLY necessary?” I asked, rubbing the spot the cut was. “You seem like one of those ‘learn by experience’ kind of students.” I sighed. “Okay, what else?” “Ammunition,” He said. “When a Conduit uses their abilities, they can run low on ‘fuel’ or ‘ammo’. If you absorb your element, you obtain said fuel, as well as heal much faster, and a brief energy boost.” “Okay...exactly what is my element?” I asked, looking at my hands. “I have a hunch, but I think it's water.” “What? What led you to think that?” “Well, you turned into a cloud to get up here. And what is a cloud made of?” “Okay…” “Now that water I dumped, you're going to absorb it.” “Um, how?” He pulled a neon sign out from behind something on the roof and pointed his hand at it. The light from the sign then floated into his hand. “Do that physically. Mentally, you want the water, command it.” I pointed my hand at the puddle and envisioned the water moving into my hand. Surprisingly enough, it actually happened. The water defied gravity and flowed into my hand. It didn’t feel wet, but neither did it feel dry. It seemed to feel like the prank slime I use on occasion. “That feels weird,” I said, looking at my hand again. “It’s different from element to element.” “Okay, now what?” “Gliding...without wings,” he said. “Wait what?” “Watch.” He then ran and jumped high. As he began to fall, neon started flowing from his hands, slowing down his descent. He “glided” to the ground, some distance away. “Try it. And don’t worry if you don’t get it the first time. You’ll survive the fall.” “Uh, how do I do that?” My vision blurred again and I saw myself again, except leaping off of a rooftop in what looked like Manehatten. My vision self ran and jumped off the roof. In the same way Delsin did, my vision self seemed to cause a ‘jet’ of clouds or steam downward and I floated to the rooftop of a shorter building. I saw all angles before my vision returned. I then put my hand on my head. “What the hay is that?” “What happened?” Delsin said in front of me suddenly. I yelped a bit, jumping back. “What the? How did you do that?” “My neon not only allows me to run really fast, but I can run up walls,” he said. “But that’s not important. You were wondering about something or another?” “Yeah. I just saw something in my head.” “What did you see?” “Just saw the same thing you just did, but with me doing it.” “Hmm...I’m guessing you’re body is getting used to this. So your mind is just ‘digesting’ what your body can do.” “That doesn't explain why I'm seeing these things.” “Your mind is just telling you how to do things.” He stepped back and made to point, but paused. “Where’s yours and Dark’s sparring field or whatever?” I pointed south. “A little while in that direction. We figured it was a good spot since nopony usually goes there so he can fight without his cover and nopony can know he's a human.” I then let out a sigh. “Don't think that'll be a problem anymore.” “Public matches,” Delsin chuckled. “1 bit for admissions.” He shook his head in amusement. “Kidding. Stupid Idea. Anyway, glide down.” I looked down, three stories to the ground. Enough of a height that wouldn’t kill a pony, but break whatever hits the ground first or at least badly sprain said something if a pegasus. I gulped, thinking about my lack of wing ability. I looked into the distance and put out a dead sprint. I leapt up, somewhat higher than I normally could do. I then remembered the gliding vision and imitated the stance and focused on my hands. Immediately, steam jetted out of my hands, keeping my aloft enough for a decent glide...If I wasn’t knocked off balance by doing so. I yelled out in fear as I flailed about, trying to stop my fall. I saw the ground approaching fast, so I closed my eyes, preparing for impact. When I landed, I felt the landing, but it didn’t hurt. “Ooookay, MAY need to work on that,” I muttered. “It was fun though, right?” “Maybe for you, but I prefer my wings.” “Once you get that down, it can give you a speed boost when you get your wings back.” “I'll keep that in mind.” “Next, parkour.” “What?” He walked up to a building, looked at it, and then began climbing. His hands and feet seemed to find holds for him to climb. I walked to the building and just looked at him. “Seriously?” “If your powers can help you skip this, it'll come,” he said as he pulled himself up onto the building’s roof. “What do you mean by that?” It happened again. This time, I was running through Ponyville and came close to a building. A spire of ice then formed under my hooves and launched me up and landed on top of the building. “Is that just gonna keep happening?” “Whatever it takes to get things through your thick skull.” “Very funny,” I said, rolling my eyes, the sarcasm in my voice obvious. I focused on my feet and the spire of ice came, launching me up. I landed gracefully on the roof in front of him. “Okay, that wasn't so bad.” “Now that you’ve got that down, lead the way.” He stepped back and gestured for me to lead. I smirked and launched myself up and began to glide in the direction of the sparing field. Author's Note Part 2 Ponies! I hope you like it! Chapter 22: Testing Rainbow This chapter was written with the assistance of DarkSpider. A Crossover with his story, Spider in Equestria. inFAMOUS Displaced Chapter 22 Testing Rainbow (Dark's POV) “CLEAR!” I immediately felt a huge shock on my chest and I quickly sat up, opening my eyes. Looking around, I saw that I was in some white room and Discord was holding a pair of defibrillators. “Good, you're awake,” he said as they disappeared from his hands. “I must say, you must've lost a lot of blood to be out for so long.” “What time is it?” “Oh, it's about one in the afternoon. You came here around noon yesterday, according to Twilight and your sister. And according to that Delsin person, you were in a pretty bad fight.” “You got that right…” I then looked down and noticed I only had a bunch of bandages covering my torso. “Where's my cloak?” Discord snapped his talon and my cloak appeared in my lap. “I took the liberty of cleaning off all that blood. And don't worry about your costume. That's back in your room in the castle.” I grabbed my cloak and put it on. I then stood up and looked at Discord. “So where am I?” “You're in Ponyville Hospital,” I heard someone say. Turning around, I saw a unicorn stallion with amber fur, blue eyes, and wearing one of those coats doctors wear. “Hello. My name is Doctor Stable.” “Dark,” I said with a nod. “I know. Your friends were able to give me the information we needed about you. Including your species.” I widened my eyes at that last statement. “My what?” “Oh right,” Discord said. “During that fight you had with that Nisled character, your cover fell off and just about everypony in town saw your face and found out about your little secret. Heck, Twilight was pestered all day yesterday answering questions about you and your sister. As if she doesn't have enough to worry about, having to get everything that was damaged fixed.” I just sat back on the bed and facepalmed. “Great,” I muttered to myself. “Just great…” “Indeed. Good luck with that by the way. Though, imagine how surprised I was when I saw Rainbow Dash turning a tree into an ice sculpture. Really, since when can a pegasus do THAT?” I immediately looked at him when he said that. “Wait, she did WHAT?!” “Of course, then there's lobbing balls of water from her hands and turning into a cloud. While one would say, ‘That doesn't make sense,’ I would say, ‘I don't, so who else should?’” “I guess the gene did activate…” “Um, what gene are you talking about?” The doc asked me. “A gene that Rainbow Dash has that can give her abnormal abilities. It's been dormant up until now.” “Hmm. I would have to check on this…” “Good luck with that. There's only one guy in Equestria who truly knows how it works and he's only visiting. I'm not even sure you can properly find it without that Ray Sphere ability of his.” When he opened his mouth, I immediately said, “Don't ask.” “Okay then. Well, I'll be back in a moment.” He then left the room. “T-minus 5 seconds,” Discord chuckled to himself. “Huh?” I said to him. Before he could reply, however, I felt my spider-sense go off for a second before a pair of hands wrapped around me and squeezed my body. “You're awake!” I turned to the person trying to suffocate me and saw a certain hedgehog. “Cece...can't...breathe.” “Oh, sorry.” She immediately let me go. “But you can't blame me. You were out for a day!” “I heard. Honestly, I'm surprised I'm still alive.” “You can thank Rainbow for that. Oh, that reminds me.” She then pulled out my sword and gave it to me. “I got that after the fight while she was taking you here.” I took my sword and put it on my back. “And how's Rainbow?” “Oh, she's fine. After training with Delsin, she stayed here all night, waiting for you to wake up, but I told her to get herself something to eat.” “And Delsin?” She shrugged. “Last I saw him, he said he had to do something at the Square.” “Huh. Wonder what he's doing…” “Only one way to find out,” Discord said. He then snapped his talon and in a flash, we were standing in front of the Town Square. Standing nearby was Delsin, wearing a new vest with what looked like a shield with blue angel wings on the back. He looked as though he just finished up something with some spray paint. “Man, if art was a crime,” he said to himself. “Then I'm a criminal mastermind.” “What are you doing?” I asked, walking up to him. “GAH!” He jumped back, his hands lighting up with electricity. When he saw us, his hands stopped sparking and calmed down. “Well, long story short, after tiring my student out, I was bored and just let the can do it's thing.” He pointed to the can of spray paint. “And what exactly does THAT mean?” “Do you have a camera or a phone with a camera?” “Yeah. Oh, that reminds me, I'll need a picture of you before you leave.” “Would you mind if my fiancé was in the picture?” He asked. “Sure, as long as I get it. It's a thing I'm doing now. Take pictures of Displaced, and those they're close to, as memoirs. Figured that's a better way to remember them than just their tokens.” “Makes sense. Kinda makes me wish I didn't drop my phone in the snow those thousand years back.” “Hmm… I could try something… Though, you want a phone, or just a camera?” “A phone,” He answered simply. “Besides, when and if I find a Conduit with Video powers, I'll be lacking on sources.” “Okay, but seriously, how would anypony be able to fuel up if they have that power?” Delsin simply pointed at a brown earth pony colt, who was wearing a familiar looking propeller beanie and was playing an arcade game. “Point taken. Cece, can you give me the gem Tomas gave me?” She nodded before pulling out the blue gem and tossing it to me. “What's that?” Delsin asked. “A little gift from a Team Rocket Displaced. Said he got it from his Discord. Thing is filled with chaos magic and, according to him, I can spawn anything with it, as long as it fits in my bag or pockets.” “Gotcha,” he said. “Will I be able to contact you with it?” “Um...I have no idea. May need some form a magic to do that, what with us being in different dimensions and all.” “I'll have to tinker around with some blast shards…are you going to let me ramble or will you get me some way to show you my largest mural yet?” “What mural?” He pointed to the Town Square and we saw a mural that covered the entire square, but we couldn't clearly see what was depicted. “What the hell?” “That’s why I need a camera device. With some help, I can get you an aerial photo for you to see.” “Okay...let's see if this works…” I reached into my pocket and pulled out a phone that looked similar to mine. “Huh. I guess it does. May want to ask Twilight to help with the battery before you leave though,” I said, tossing it to him. “Well, fine workmanship.” He walked over to a random garbage can and pulled a neon sign out and drained it. “I don't want to fry it with my electric powers. I'll see if Twilight can work with that as well.” He then ran and jumped high, his phone snapping the picture he needed. He landed and messed with his phone. Both my phone and Cece’s then chimed. “How did you get our numbers?” Cece asked as she pulled her phone out. Nearby, Discord tried to act inconspicuous. I looked at Discord and shook my head, pulling my phone out as well. I pulled up the picture and I almost dropped my phone in amazement. The mural showed Spider-Man’s chest emblem and Amy Rose’s pink silhouette being sheltered by three spires of ice, arranged like the supports of a teepee tent. Above the spires was Rainbow’s Cutie mark. Said mark seemed to be depicted as either raining, hailing, or snowing. The Cutie marks of the rest of the Mane 6, as well as Starlight’s, circled around the spires and symbols. “Okay…” I said, looking at the picture. “Question. How much paint is even IN that can?” “The can’s magic,” he stated bluntly. “Your point?” “Of course… Why am I not surprised…” “Seriously Delsin?!” I heard above me. A moment later, Rainbow landed in front of Delsin with an annoyed look on her face. “What?” He asked. “First you tease me while training, and you then do this?!” She shouted, pointing to the mural. “Let me tell you something,” he responded. “You are the Element of Loyalty, correct?” She nodded, not dropping her scowl. “Under normal circumstances, you would be willing to help your friends in almost any case. However, a much stronger form of loyalty is needed for anyone, including yourself, to do what you did to my opposite. I believe I mentioned that much yesterday.” “It's nothing like that!” She snapped back, almost too quickly, a small blush on her face. “Your quick response and barely visible blush say otherwise.” Her blush darkened before she flared up her wings and flew away, the air suddenly becoming humid. “Huh. She didn't even notice you were awake,” Cece said to me, but I sighed. “Considering her ego, when it gets bruised, she goes crazy and ignores almost everything else,” Delsin said. “Ain't that the truth…” I said. “So, can we go back to the castle to eat? I'm hungry and all this staring is making me uncomfortable,” I finished, gesturing to all the ponies staring at us. “I'll get a shortcut up.” He pulled out one of the Displaced Keychains and pointed forward. Suddenly, a dark vortex appeared. He then held out the keychain to Cece and I. “Hold on to this. These Corridors can corrupt the user, unless you have this keychain, or are me.” He then walked into the portal, gently pulling us along with the keychain. Light was suddenly shut out as we walked. We walked for a good distance before light returned and we were in the dining hall. “You know, I think Discord could've just taken us here if we asked,” I told him. “And miss the chance for me to show off a bit?” “If what you used can ‘corrupt people’, then I'm perfectly fine with missing it.” “My bad,” he said, scratching the back of his head. “Anyway, food now, last bit of showing off later.” I just nodded and went to the kitchen. I made myself a peanut butter sandwich and Delsin getting a lemon muffin, Cece saying she already ate before I woke up. Then we all sat on the table and I put my sword, still in its scabbard, on the table before saying, “You know, I'm surprised.” “About what?” “I lasted longer than you in the fight and did most of the work.” “I wasn't paying attention! Besides, if you didn’t have the Banishing Key, he would have a better chance against the two of you. Three if you count Rainbow’s steam.” “That's why I said ‘most’ and not ‘all’. Honestly though, I owe Rainbow my life...” Delsin just tried to hold back a laugh. “What?” He began to laugh harder and he looked at Cece, who then shook her head and began laughing as well. “Oh, that would be priceless!” Cece then said. Oh great. Using telepathy. “What are you guys talking about?” “Now is not the time,” Delsin responded. “Focus on putting two and two together with your feelings first.” “This again? Are you serious?” Delsin placed his head on the table. “One would think that after a thousand years, I would know how to avoid contracting foot-in-mouth disease.” Cece and I just stared at him in confusion about that statement. Before we can say anything, however, Twilight came walking in, reading a letter to herself, not noticing us. “HEY!” Delsin suddenly shouted. Twilight suddenly jumped and looked at the three of us. When she saw me, her eyes widened. “Dark? When did you wake up? And when did you get here?” “Woke up about half an hour ago, thanks to Discord,” I said as she sat with us. “Came here about five minutes ago via shadow travel thanks to Delsin.” “They're called Dark Corridors, but yeah,” Delsin muttered under his breath. “Well it reminds me of shadow travel in Percy Jackson...and now I'm wondering if anyone got Displaced as any of those characters…” “Who knows?” He answered. He suddenly looked as though he forgot something. “I just had an epiphany! Lightning has struck me brain!” Why is it whenever I hear that word, all I could think of is the Simpsons? “What are you talking about?” “Well, it involves what I trained Rainbow Dash yesterday,” he explained. “I taught her how to use her powers to get from point A to point B, and taught her how to fight individuals and groups, but I never taught her how to take on opponents that are, technically speaking, stronger than her.” “I'm sure I can help with THAT,” I said, flexing my hand on my sword hilt. “Have you ever took on a giant, six headed snake that's drawing power from one POWERFUL individual and two friends that were trapped in unbreakable orange bubbles?” “Wait WHAT?” “Meh, me neither.” I just stared at him, completely at a loss for words. “Dude, first off, what I described was the final boss of The World Ends With You. Second off, when I say stronger, I meant something like what I described. Third off, close your mouth, you're a spider, not a codfish.” I immediately shook my head. “Okay...anyway, what's exactly her element?” “Rainbow Dash can manipulate all forms of water.” “Wait, water?” Cece asked. “Did I stutter?” “Hmm…” “Anyway, you want to get an idea of what I was thinking about concerning what to teach Rainbow?” “Yeah,” I replied. “Okay, Twilight you might want to stand back.” His hands glowed blue and the dining table and chairs moved off to the side. His hands glowed blue, but it was interspersed with tendrils of shadow. Black, skeletal wings appeared on his back and he slammed his fists together. All at once, his body glowed brightly and seemed to increase in size. When he stopped glowing and growing, a giant, anthropomorphic ram stood in his place. “Welcome to my kitchen!” It bellowed. “WHAT THE HELL?!” I screamed, as Cece pulled out her hammer on instinct and Twilight jumped back. “I'll POUND you!” The ram began slamming its fists on the ground, shaking everyone up. “I'll MINCE you!” It swung its arm at me to knock me aside, but I pulled my sword out of its scabbard and blocked it. “Time for a taste test.” It inhaled and my sword was pulled out of my hands and was caught by its teeth. It spat the sword out, embedding it into the wall. “I'll char your bones BLACK!” It opened its hands and fired of spheres of lightning at Cece and I. We just jumped back and Cece ran at it, hitting it and sending it flying. After crashing into the wall, it stood up and proudly shouted, “We've preheated, LONG ENOUGH!!!” The ram then suddenly began looking like TV static and then vanished, leaving Delsin on his knees. “Um...what just happened?” I asked. “Ovis Cantus. Just an idea of what I have in mind for Rainbow’s last lesson.” “So...you want to send a crazy monster at her?” “Not really, but that's part of it,” he said. “It's a three stage battle I had in mind.” “...so a boss fight?” “If going by video game terms, yeah.” I just sighed. “Seriously?” “I've been mostly isolated for a thousand years, so stupid ideas come to me easily.” “Now THAT I believe.” “So the three stage battle will be like this,” he began, “Stage 1: she faces off against me with the help of one of you and the other helps me.” “Wait what?” An image of a man with long black hair, sunglasses, a suit and red headphones flashed in my vision. “Who the heck was that?” “Megumi Kitaniji, the antagonist of The World Ends With You.” “What's that?” “A game that, evidently, you haven’t played,” Delsin explained, “Spoiler warning. He's the final boss. Three stages. One: himself and a brainwashed Shiki Misaki. Two: he becomes a giant red snake. Three: What I creatively described earlier.” “O~kay then…” “Now, how to get Rainbow here without revealing the teaching moment?” Delsin asked, rubbing his chin in contemplation. I just shook my head before pulling my sword out the wall. “Well, while you figure that out, I'll go get my costume,” I said, heading to my room. (Delsin’s POV) When Tito walked off, Cece and Twilight turned to me with somewhat questioning looks. “Any ideas?” I asked. Cece shrugged. “If you're going to be that...thing from the start, we can just tell her that a monster is in the castle.” “I would need you, Twilight, and Tito for that form.” “Why?” Using my magic, I conjured a smaller version of Draco Cantus for the two to see. Pointing to the images of Joshua, Beat, and Shiki, I explained. “Taking the form of Noise takes a lot out of me. That's why your fight with Ovis Cantus was short. Now, if I was to take this form solo…” I pointed to the snake portions. “...then I would feel like I ran from the Frozen North to the Badlands, without stopping or breaks. That's where these three come in. If the energy consumption is spread between you three and me, we'll feel as if we jogged from Canterlot to Ponyville, proper breaks included.” The images of Joshua, Beat, and Shiki were then replaced with Twilight, Tito, and Cece respectively. “Okay...though, I just realized something.” “What's that?” “If anypony sees us HELPING a monster, that won't really help show them we're NOT monsters.” “That's kind of where the three stage battle works,” I pointed out. “You're seen FIGHTING said monster, then said monster takes ‘unwilling’ individuals for a power boost.” She sighed. “Okay. Hope this doesn't get out of hand.” When Tito came back from putting on his costume, we set about figuring out how to draw Rainbow to the Castle for the three stage battle. “Again, can't we just tell her a monster is attacking the castle?” Cece asked. “Who would be the one to deliver that without accidentally revealing the hidden test?” I countered. “Besides, we’re doing a three stage battle, not just a plain monster slaying session.” “I could do it,” Twilight said. “You’re the ‘primary battery’ in stage three. If you left to get help, I’d have to pursue. We’re trying to keep it at the castle.” “She's the best option,” Cece said, crossing her arms. “For one thing, she's the only one of us who can fly and also, the only one who nopony will be scared of, considering the looks Tito and I got earlier.” I sighed in defeat. “Alright, but expect to be chased by a few of these.” I snapped my fingers and a few Decadravens appeared out of static. She widened her eyes in shock. “O-okay…” I dismissed/erased the summoned Noise and continued, “Now that we have that obstacle out of the way, figuring out the stages. Stage one, I’ll disguise myself and ‘fight’ Tito and Cece in the castle entry while Twilight fetches Rainbow while being ‘chased’ by Decadraven Noise. Does that sound good so far?” They all nodded. “Stage two, Rainbow and Twilight arrive and I break off from the fight, fleeing to the throne room. Once there, I take the form of Anguis Cantus and ‘fight’ all of you. Okay?” “Okay,” Tito said. “Stage three, once I’m beaten down, I pull you three in as ‘batteries’ for the form of Draco Cantus, leaving Rainbow to fight with what resources are left. All good and clear?” “I guess so.” “Alright then,” I said, resummoning the Decadravens. “You better run or fly away, Twilight.” Twilight nodded before flying away as fast as she could, the Noise hot on her tail. “As for you two-” I activated my dark suit and summoned Karmic Gear. “Don't hold back.” I then lunged, my blade swing barely missing Tito’s nose by a hair. “Just got out the hospital, and already in another fight,” he said, pulling out his sword, Cece pulling out her hammer. “Why did I agree to this?” Cece then ran at me, swinging her hammer. I parried the attack, flipping over her and snapped my fingers. A few Gabba bats appeared and proceeded to try to attack her with buzz saw like attacks. As I turned my attention to Tito, Cece gasped and kept her hammer between the Noise and herself. “If I had to guess, it's because you're not fighting to kill or avoid being killed,” I replied. Tito shot a web at a few of the bats and swung his sword at them, dissolving them. “Still, kinda stupid. Even for me.” He then ducked under a swipe from a Mosh Grizzly and stabbed it, causing it to dissolve as well. I closed in and began to sword fight, using my after image ability to try to throw him off. Cece then swung her hammer at me, sending me to a wall. I recovered mid-air, my feet hitting the wall first. I then “jumped” off the wall swinging my sword at Cece’s hammer, aiming to cut through the handle, rendering it useless. Tito shot a web at her back and pulled her towards him beforehand and he swung at me. I parried and flipped over him and managed to elbow him in his kidney section. “Damn!” He said, grabbing his side. Cece then swung her hammer at me again, much faster and harder. I was able to parry the attack, but I was still knocked back, my feet sliding across the floor. Once I stopped, I struck out at her with a Dark Impulse combo, two blade swings and a dark hand construct punch. She managed to block the sword strikes, but the punch sent her flying. I then fell forward, feeling something pull at my legs. The visor to my helmet cracked a bit from the impact. I stood up, ready to keep fighting, but I was then thrown up against a wall by a lavender aura and my hands and feet were frozen to it. I looked to the entryway door and saw Rainbow and Twilight, the former fixing me with a deadly glare. “So who exactly are you?” Rainbow asked, crossing her arms. I smirked under my helmet. “Catch me and find out.” I then Dark Rolled out of the restraints and kept dark rolling until I reached the throne room, with Rainbow just behind me. She swung at me a few times, but I knocked the punches aside and took her legs out from underneath her. I then jumped away from the door as the other three came in, Mike on Tito’s shoulder and Emily by Cece as well. “I'll ask again,” Rainbow said, her hands steaming. “Who are you and what do you want?” I smirked again. “Megumi Kitaniji, and I want you to SUBMIT!” I felt Reaper wings form on my back briefly before my physical form altered and stretched, transforming into Anguis Cantus, a giant red snake whose body snaked through most of the castle, the head remaining in the throne room. I then roared loudly, as such that it was heard throughout Ponyville. (Dark’s POV) We all covered our ears when he roared. When he was done, I uncovered mine and stared at him. A giant red snake...why do I feel like I'm gonna fight weirder things in my life? Delsin didn’t give me much more of a chance to think more upon it. He struck towards me, almost as if trying to eat me. I immediately web zipped to the chandelier, Mike hanging onto my neck. The giant snake turned his attention to Rainbow. He roared (much more quietly) and a blood red fireball shot towards her. Rainbow immediately turned into a bunch of clouds and moved away before reforming into herself. It swiped its head towards Cece and Twilight. Cece jumped away while Twilight teleported to the other side of the room. It kept going after Cece by striking, swiping, and firing differently colored fireballs at her. She was able to avoid the strikes and swipes, and began knocking back the fireballs with her hammer. She missed one, red colored, and it knocked her against the wall and seemed to weaken her a bit, Emily running to her side. I growled before pulling out my sword and swinging at Delsin's neck. I sliced him a bit, but he reared back and fired a cluster of fireballs too fast to properly dodge. It was either dodge one get hit by many or dodge many and get hit by one. I forgot which way I chose, but I was launched by the attack, hitting the wall next to my sister, Mike flying towards another. “Ow…” I muttered. I saw Twilight move towards us while Rainbow was shooting ice at Delsin. Twilight knelt down by us and put her hand up, both it and her horn glowing. After a few moments, I felt better and got up. “Healing spell?” She nodded as Cece got back up and charged at Delsin, swinging her hammer and hitting him in the side of his face. The hit drove his snout/muzzle/face into the wall, getting stuck in the process. He struggled for a bit before his body burst into static, leaving him in his dark suit on the ground, exhausted looking. “Ha, that all you got?” Rainbow asked. Delsin stood up, shakily. I could only imagine a smirk on his face as he said, “No.” His hand then flung what looked like a giant, three pronged shuriken. The shuriken missed Rainbow by a hair and flew towards Twilight. She was too surprised to act and when it hit, it didn’t do anything but wrap her up in ethereal bands, forcing her body to look like a cross. “Twilight!” Rainbow screamed, before flying to her friend and trying to get her out of the bands. Twilight then was levitated out of her grip towards Delsin. My vision was then hazed in orange and I found myself trapped in an orange orb. I looked around and saw that Cece and Emily were in the same situation. “Hey!” Cece yelled. The orbs Cece and I were in were then grabbed by deep purple, ethereal claws. I then saw the main head of the new creature. Twilight was just under the beast’s chin, seemingly bonded to it’s neck to the point that the only thing you could see of her is from her shoulders up. “Hey!” Rainbow said, before seeing what Delsin turned into. “What the hay!” Delsin’s main head stayed back as five other heads I didn't notice earlier moved to attack her. Just before they did, the rightmost head was hit by something, causing it to comically hit the others like one of those desk toys. The leftmost one recovered first and attempted to look at the threat, causing it to hit the others again in the same manner. In the rightmost head's view was Mike, staring up at Delsin with an angry look. “Enough!” One of the lesser heads said, lunging at Mike. Mike jumped out of the way and fired a Water Pulse at it. The head recoiled from the attack and a different one tried. Mike just jumped onto it and used Bubble on its eyes before jumping off, the head crashing into a wall. I then noticed two heads snaking around behind Rainbow as she watched Mike fight. “Rainbow!” I yelled. She turned and saw the heads just as they fired massive fireballs at her. She immediately turned into clouds and reformed behind the heads. “My turn,” she said, before shoot some ice at them, freezing most of the two heads. They roared in pain, flailing about and distracting the other heads. Cece laughed. “Those things don't seem so tough.” Rainbow suddenly formed two swords out of ice and hacked and slashed the two partially frozen head. The heads then lunged at her, but Rainbow turned into clouds at the last second, causing the two heads to collide. She reformed in front of them and a spire of ice launched her upward above them. She then flapped her wings to speed her decent and impaled the heads with the ice swords. The heads burst into static, leaving three lesser heads and Delsin. “Wow….” I muttered, blinking. Another head lunged at her, but she was able to dodge by sidestepped it. She then cloud dashed to where Mike was and tossed him onto the head that attacked her. He then made a Water Pulse and fired at it before landing. The head dissolved into static as another head lunged at him. Mike dodged the strike by leaping onto the other last head. Mike jumped off the head causing the attacking head to bite the jumped head dissolving that one. When Mike landed on the ground, he was suddenly enveloped in light. “What's going on?” Twilight asked. “Well what do you know…” I said, watching Mike as his body shifted and changed. The light died down revealing a two foot tall blue frog with frubbles on its neck like a scarf. “Frogadier,” Mike said. “He evolved,” I muttered with a smile. The last head struck, but Mike jumped out of the way, landing next to Rainbow. He then fired a Water Pulse at her. She only extended her arm towards the attack and absorbed it. Her eyes flashed blue before going back to red. Rainbow then rushed the final head and jumped onto it. She then then exhaled a jet of steam from her mouth, burning between the eyes and causing it to dissolve. Mike jumped onto Rainbow’s back as she regarded Delsin angrily. “Let's end this!” She then slammed her hands on the ground and everything seemed to shake. Immediately, the room was suddenly flooded by a wave of water that slammed Delsin against the wall, dissolving his Noise form and freeing Cece, Emily, Twilight, and I. Rainbow then punched Delsin’s helmeted face, shattering the visor and sending him against the wall. The spot he hit was then covered in darkness and he seemed to dissolve. Once he was gone, all that was left was a strange crystal and a blue and red egg. I walked to Rainbow as she stared at the items and picked up the crystal. “What are these?” “What you are holding is called a Blast core.” We all looked up and saw Discord, leisurely munching on popcorn while paging through a manuscript titled “inFAMOUS Displaced”. “I have to say, watching the actual experience is much more entertaining than the reading. It doesn't do it justice.” “Um...first off, what are you doing, and how long have you been here?” I asked. “Oh, I was just comparing what’s written here,” he held up the manuscript. “To what just happened, and I must say, Delsin had you going Rainbow.” “Wait, what are you talking about?” Rainbow asked. “It’s because he was the strange figure and crazy snakes the whole time,” he chuckled. “All so you could learn that Karma Bomb.” “What?” “Oh, and that Blast core you’re holding came from the stomach of a different version of me.” Rainbow immediately let go of the blast core and wiped her hand on her jacket. “Okay, that's gross. Wait, you're saying that whole thing was because of DELSIN?!” “What would you do if I said ‘yes’?” “Well, I'd like to use those swords on him.” “I’ll say yes, but I’d recommend not slicing him to bits.” “Don't worry. I won't go THAT far.” “Um, sorry to interrupt, but what's that?” I asked, pointing to the manuscript. “Not for you,” Discord responded, poofing it out of existence. “Too many spoilers. But I must say that Wayward’s concept of Screwball is interesting. I should do something like that here...” He then shook his head. “I’m getting ahead of myself. I don’t recommend going any distance with those ice blades, Rainbow.” “And why not?” She asked. “Because in a few moments, he’ll have just finished having his ability to summon, control, and transform into Noise stripped from him. I mean, seriously, that power isn’t related at all to inFAMOUS and I’m not sure what Wayward was thinking, giving him that power. This isn’t TWEWY.” We just stared at him. “Umm...who and what are you talking about?” “Oh, no one you need be concerned with,” he said with a mischievous grin. “But a good swift kick in his rear should be enough for you, Ice Wing.” “Fine,” Rainbow said with a shrug. A few moments later, Delsin was shot out of a void portal with another Blast core. Rainbow didn’t hesitate and kicked him hard, sending him flying. After landing, he struggled to his feet. “Anyone get the number on that truck?” “That's for tricking me,” Rainbow said, hovering above him with her arms crossed. “Anything else?” He asked. “Oh, I got one,” I said, before punching him in his side, sending him to his knees. “That's for earlier.” I then walked away and leaned on a wall. “Ow...Any input from Twilight, Cece, or your other friends?” They all shook their heads. “Tito and Rainbow already did quite enough,” Cece said, petting Emily. “And Twilight helped with the pain I had anyway.” “Okay, that’s…” Delsin groaned in pain. “That smarts.” He then looked at us. “Anyone care to help me up?” Twilight walked to him and used the healing spell on him. “Thanks.” He stood up, popped his back, neck, and other joints before looking at me. “These Blast cores,” he levitated the two cores to me, “belong to a conduit in need...if you find one. The egg,” he levitated the egg to Twilight, “is to be cared for.” “What kind of egg is this?” Twilight asked. “Karmic Eagle,” Discord said. “Much like a regular eagle, but the color scheme is different. Red and blue if I remember correctly.” “I never heard of it. Is it from Equestria?” “My Equestria,” Delsin said. “When Celestia met Screwball for the first time, Screwball was scared so badly, she accidentally created them.” “So...this'll be a brand new species in this dimension?” “Well...yeah.” Twilight’s eyes beamed and I just put my hand up. “Worry about that later, Twi. And don't forget to tell Fluttershy. Right now, can we just sit and relax?” “I'm with Dark,” Rainbow said. “That fight was rather tiring.” “Do you want me to get Celestia first? You know, for the picture?” Delsin asked. “Sure,” I replied. “As well as anyone else who's close to you if you want.” “Okay.” He tossed his feather token to Discord. “Mind helping me?” “Can’t go contrary to Wayward’s or the other’s will.” He took the feather and snapped his fingers, opening a void portal. Delsin stepped through. *GLOMP* *BANG* *DING* Delsin shot back out of the portal, a bucket stuck to his head and a small, dark blue alicorn, with black and white mane and tail latched onto his back. “D! It’s good to see you again! I thought you and Tia got lost!” “Mmphr prhm mrph!” Delsin responded. “Um….who's that?” Cece asked, pointing to the alicorn. “No idea,” I told her with a shrug. “We shall be elated to tell thee,” said a voice from the portal. Out of the portal stepped Pony Celestia, and Pony Luna. Accompanying them was an alicorn that seriously looked more like a robot than a pony. “Better question, who's the RoboCop pony?” I asked. The pony’s forelegs lit up in purple lightning. “You want to find out the easy way or the hard way?” “Easy way please. I just been in a fight with 2 Conduits within two days and don't want another so soon.” “Then don’t crack robot jokes. My name is Dusk Spark. Got it memorized?” “This isn’t Kingdom Hearts either!” Discord complained. “Just shut up, Dingus.” I stared at Dusk. “So you're Nisled’s Twilight?” My spider-sense went off, but I didn’t have time to react, as Dusk was suddenly in front of me and tackled me. “THAT...IS...NOT...MY...NAME!!!” I heard the sound of water splashing and I felt a huge shock as my vision suddenly went all over the place. When my vision cleared, Cece and Rainbow were standing over me. “No one hurts my brother,” Cece said, pulling out her hammer. I glanced to the side, seeing Dusk smoking and sparking as she stood up. “Then watch where you aim your squirt guns. Electricity 101. Water and Electricity don’t mix. Get that memorized!” I got up. “What's your problem? It was a simple question.” Delsin spoke after removing his odd headwear. “Did I fail to mention that calling her…” Delsin received a death glare from Dusk. “...that upsets her? “That would've been good to know.” “Why do you look so weird?” The small alicorn said to Rainbow from Delsin’s back. Rainbow blinked. “What do you mean “weird”?” “Well, you look like a human, but you have a few pony parts.” I sighed. “To explain that, this is a world where all the sentient life on Equis are humanoid. Hence why Rainbow and Twilight here look like that.” “Oh,” she said. She then saw Cece and unlatched herself from Delsin to get a closer look. “Your eyes are bigger than mine!” Cece just blinked and stepped away, holding Emily closer to her. “Oooh, what’s that? It’s so cute.” Emily just hid her face on Cece and let out a small whimper. Mike then stepped between Cece and the alicorn, glaring at her. “Froga.” The alicorn’s pupils became pin pricks. “AH!” She then ran back to Delsin and latched onto his head, knocking him over. “What’s that!” “Sorry about Mike,” I said, walking to her and Delsin. “He's really protective of Emily and doesn't like when people scare her. By the way, we haven't introduced ourselves.” I held my hand up to her. “My name is Tito, but most call me Dark.” She took my hand and shook it lightly. “I’m Stella. I was once part of Lulu’s mind.” “Doph anybony hafe a crewbrr?” Delsin called out from underneath Stella’s legs. Discord summoned a crowbar and proceeded to help Delsin pry Stella off of him. As I was watching that, I simply said, “So you pretty much have Nyx as well as Screwball.” “Telepathy combined with the Elements of Harmony can do weird things,” he commented after his mouth was clear. His face then flashed confusion. “By the way, are you saying Nix or Nyx and what does that have to do with Screwball?” “I said Nyx and she's one of two fillies I rarely hear about, besides Screwball. Nyx only shown up in a fanfic that introduced her, and Screwball...well besides that song “Daddy Discord” I mostly only know about those two seconds in Return of Harmony and...a certain fanfic that I still don't want to talk about near anypony close to the mom of that version of Screwy.” “Makes sense. So, picture?” “Right, right.” I pulled out my phone. “Line up in a row.” Celestia, Luna, Stella, and Dusk stood in a line, respective order. Delsin went to stand by his fiance, but when he did, she magically flipped him upside down. “I need to show him who’s in charge,” she jokingly said. I chuckled. “Can you set him right please? Need a good picture.” She set him correctly on the ground. I then pointed my phone at them. “Say “Karma”.” I took the picture. “Okay then. Anything else?” “Before I go, I almost forgot.” He pulled a photo out of his pocket. “Sora wanted me to give this to every Displaced I meet so that no one takes his Solar Diarch seriously.” I took the photo and stared wide eyed at what I saw. The image was of a male pony version of Celestia in a pink frilly dress, looking absolutely ridiculous. "Um Dark?” Rainbow said. “You okay?” I snickered before handing it to her and Cece and they fell over laughing, causing me to do the same. Twilight used her magic to grab the picture and looked at it, before her mind broke again. About four minutes later, I calmed down and look at Delsin. “So what, Sora’s world is an R63 one or something?” “Half-n-half. Some are male, others, still female.” He chuckled, “Thinking about that, you should have seen the look on Rainbow Blitz’s face when I detonated a smoke grenade in his face.” I snickered at that name but Rainbow immediately stopped laughing and looked at Delsin with a confused look on her face. “Wait, who?” “Male version of you, Rainbow Blitz” he said simply. Rainbow immediately stared at him with wide eyes, open mouth, and a shocked expression on her face. “W-WHAT?!” “Did I stutter?” He asked as he brought a pipe to his lips. “By the way, look down.” We looked down to Rainbow’s hooves and saw a small ball leaking small bits of smoke. “What's that?” Cece asked. “A carefully timed smoke grenade,” Delsin answered as Rainbow slowly backing away. “I’ve used that in the various Guard barracks to give surprise wake up calls to the new recruits.” “When would it go off?” “It should go off around midnight, which gives you guys plenty of time to choose who’s pillow it will end up under.” I immediately webbed up the smoke bomb and put it in a web bag. “Nope. Not letting any of you two use this,” I said, looking at Rainbow and Cece. Suddenly, I felt the weight of the bag leave my hands. Delsin managed to smoke dash and snag the bag. “Keep away!” He said, passing the bag to Cece. I immediately web it up before she could catch it and shot webs at Rainbow and Cece's legs before glaring at Delsin. “Seriously?” I asked, using my powers to keep the bag in my hand this time. “Lighten up, Tito,” he said. “What’s wrong with a little prank war?” “You obviously haven't seen or heard about “28 Pranks Later”.” I said, releasing the two I webbed up. “Not really, but I’ve had my head forced into more buckets than I care to count,” he answered, giving a slight glare to Luna. “You wanna know what happens?” “I’ll find out when and if it does happen.” He then smoke dashed to Celestia. “In the meantime, I need to help wrap up a few things in my world and start tinkering with blast shards.” “Before you go, can I see your phone for a second?” He tossed me the phone. I then walked to Twilight, who was still frozen. “Rainbow, if you please.” Rainbow nodded before shooting a ball of water at Twilight. She shook her head and glared at us. “REALLY?!” “Delsin is about to leave and I was hoping you can do the spell before he goes.” She sighed before performing the spell. “Thank you very much, Twily.” I then tossed it back to Delsin. “There. It'll never one out of power now.” “Thanks. It'll be good for video and electric emergencies.” He turned to Celestia, who was just opening a portal. “I'll try to contact you when I have a signal booster built.” He then stepped through the portal with the Royal alicorns. Dusk stopped before entering the portal. Turning to Twilight, she said, “Make sure to give Her Royal Cake Flank up in Canterlot my regards.” She then jumped through the portal before any response could be made, the portal closing behind her. Author's Note This was drawn out and rather long. Also, yes, Delsin has been stripped of some of his powers. The ones I never really liked sometime after giving them. Chapter 23: Portal Trouble This chapter was written with the assistance of Company Master Sebaste. A Crossover with his story, For the Emperor and the UNSC! (Rebooted version). inFAMOUS Displaced Chapter 23 Portal Trouble (Delsin's POV) We (being Tia, Lulu, Stella, Dusk and myself) exited the portal from Tito’s world to our world, Celestia’s office specifically. I could honestly say that it felt good being home. But, it's usually around that time that Karma decides to be a $#@&¥. “Your Highnesses!” An Eagle Guard officer barged into the room and bowed. “An update on our search for the Skullcap leaders in Manehatten!” “Rise, and report.” “We've discovered an abandoned hideout, but it's what is in the hideout that may catch your interest.” The guard pulled out some photos and hoofed them over to me. I looked at the pictures with some interest. “What is this?” “We're not sure, but we're hoping you could help us identify the device.” “Alright, I'll depart immediately...and Tia’s coming-” Tia suddenly activated a teleportation spell. And we arrived in the Manehatten Guard post. “-with,” I finished. Tia simply giggled at my deflated statement. “I had the feeling you would allow me to come.” “Well, don't get used to it,” I said, playfully poking her nose. She swatted my hand away. “Just go find that device.” “Where is it?” “Just a few blocks North,” a nearby guard said. “You'll notice it easily. The place is crawling with Guards and Anti-Skullcaps.” “Thanks.” I exited the guard post and trekked the few blocks north to the site. The guard that gave me directions wasn't really lying with his description of the place. Guards and Anti-Skullcaps constantly moving. It took me a while, but I was able to find somepony to take me to the device. The room the device was in seemed impressively built. The interior alone seemed like it could take the very Wrath of God and survive with barely a scratch. The device itself, however, caught my attention. It was a large circular frame with blast shards attached to said frame. The machinery was more complicated than I could adequately describe. The only thing I could say about it was that there was a spot for something to go on the device to activate it. “This must be the Mother Ship,” I jokingly commented as I walked into the room...only to trip on something and knocking over a desk that had two odd looking swords and a handle for something. The swords clattered to the ground harmlessly, but the handle, in a fit of Bad Karma, decided to bounce onto the device's activation pad. The portal kicked to life and flung three armored beings on top of me. “Gah!” “Dooof!” “Owww!” I unceremoniously pushed one of the armored beings off of me, just in time to hear the door to the chamber closing. “Oh CRAP!” I smoke dashed to the door just as it closed and latched. “CRAP!” “Ugh… anyone get the ID of that Pelican Gunship?” One of the figures spoke up. I whipped around, smoke trailing my arm as I got a better look at the newcomers. Two of them looked like Spartans from Halo, although one had a mismatched arm. The third looked like a better outfitted version of the Iron Armor MK 1. “Where… where the heck are we?” Another figure asked, surprising me as the voice was female. “Better question is, who are you?” I asked, silently prepping a smoke grenade. The three spun around to face me, their bodies showing their shock. “Vik? You’re not the only one seeing this guy, right?” The third figure asked. The first figure shook his head. “Buddy, we weren't expecting to do a house call. We have no idea why the heck we were even called here!” He said. I lowered my arm, canceling the smoke. “I was meaning your names, since we might be stuck in this chamber for a while.” “Name’s Viktor, and these two are Alexandra and Sebastian, Alex and Sasha respectively.” He said. “Delsin Rowe,” I said as I used a ray sphere pulse to check the three. Viktor and Sasha were clean, but Alex had the gene, and it was active. “I'm going to avoid shaking your hand for the time being,” I said to her. She nodded before Sebastian seemed to realize something. “Wait… Delsin? Tito mentioned you when we were in his world….” Something felt off about what he said. “That's interesting. I just actually was done in his world a few hours ago...at least, according to my perspective.” “Weird,” he said, “you were there a few weeks ago, according to him. Time must be different in each Equestria.” “That...actually makes sense. Maybe synchronization may happen once I...HEY!” I saw a young colt placing the item handle in the portal device. It turned on, sucking the colt in and then exploded, sending blast shards into the walls. “Ah shit….” Viktor growled. “How the hell are we supposed to get out now?!” “Let me see if somepony outside can help us out.” I walked to the door and banged on it. “Hey! Could somepony help us out here?” A loudspeaker suddenly crackled to life. *Who's in the chamber!?* “Nobody but us chickens.” Viktor wisecracked before Alex whacked him on the back of the head. “Thank you,” I muttered before responding. *Delsin Rowe and three-* *The demon has been captured! Retake the base!* “Sheesh, and I thought Spartans being called demons by the Covenant was original…” Alex muttered. *Let us out of here or-* “Or what, darling?” A seductive, feminine voice said from the loudspeaker. Wait a minute. “SASHA!?” “I was wondering when you'd find that trap,” she said, “It took a lot of effort to plan out.” “Old friend of yours?” Sebastian asked. “And why the heck does she sound like Rarity?” “For one thing, I've heard of her, just never met her. Second, she sounds like that because she's practically a-” “Now, now. No need to call me names until we at least have our first date.” “Put a cork in it lady.” Viktor growled. “You already blew this out of proportions when you got us involved.” “Delsin, dear? Would you kindly keep your pets-” I fired a cinder missile at the speaker, shutting up the transmission. “Boring conversation anyways… so how the hell are we supposed to get out of here?!” Viktor asked. “Only one idea left.” I extended my hand for Alex to shake. “I'm gonna need your help. And I'll apologize after we shake.” Alex hesitantly nodded and took my hand. Our hands then suddenly lit up in blue auras and both of us fell unconscious. (Alex's mind) My life had been perfect. I had a brother that cared for me and two great parents, but then one day, when my mom and I were coming back from a mall, a man that had had too much to drink crashed into our car and totaled it. My right arm smashed into the door and was crushed between it and the car. My mom survived also, but when we got to the hospital, the doctors said my arm couldn't be saved and they had to amputate it. The next few days were a blur for me, but a company that made custom prosthetic arms offered to make one for me. Since I was a big fan of SoulCalibur, and of Ivy Valentine in particular, I asked if they could make it after her right arm armor. A few weeks after I got the arm, Viktor, his friend Sasha and I went to the New York Comicon, both me and Vik went as Spartans from Halo 5 while Sasha went as a Astartes from a game called Warhammer 40,000. Unfortunately, Sasha forgot our weapons, but we soon found a vendor that was dressed as a trader from the same game. After we bought the weapons we needed… all three of us blacked out. I woke up next to Viktor who had been looking around at the forest we were now in. Soon after that, what looked like wooden wolves attacked us, I was so scared, I thrust my hand out to deflect any attack. What I didn't expect was a burst of energy that shot out of my hand and smashed into them, turning them into nothing but bits of twig. I realized then that I was able to use magic, and to this day, I'm still scared of my power… but I know that I will use it to protect others. (Back in the real world) After the power vision, I woke up to see the business end of a rifle pointed at my face. “Umm...trigger happy, lately?” Viktor raised his weapon and gave me a hidden glare. “What did you do to Alex?!” He growled. Sebastian was lowering his own weapon, a more heavy looking automatic weapon that was clip fed and from the look of it fired heavy caliber bullets. “You shake her hand and she suddenly faints! So what did you do!?” “You guys familiar with InFAMOUS?” I asked them. “We’ve heard of it, never really played it.” Sebastian said, his weapon suddenly vanishing from his hands. “Third game in the series, the protagonist has the ability to absorb the powers of others of his kind.” I pointed at Alex, who was just beginning to stir. “She's one of them.” “A conduit? Please, the character her arm’s based off of used magic herself. She wasn't a conduit.” Viktor snorted. “I've met two Displaced that had their conduit genes active, but in ways related to the character. Sora for light, Vanitas for darkness.” “Hang on, I’ve heard of those names, they're characters from Kingdom Hearts. You mean there are KH Displaced?!” Sebastian asked in disbelief. “Can we get back on the topic of escape?” I asked. “I need to see what I can now do.” “Sorry.” “Now, you see the glowing crystals that are embedded in the walls?” The two nodded just as Alex shakily stood up. “Grab them. They'll come in handy later.” The three began extracting the blast shards as I examined the door. I closed my eyes and began to feel an energy flowing into my eyes. When I opened them, I was able to see the lock mechanism in the door. “What do you know, this door wasn't designed with intelligent beings in mind.” Alex looked over to me. “So it can be lock-picked?” She asked. I turned to her, seeing her armor’s weak spots. She recoiled a bit upon seeing me. “In a way, yes. But no pick will be needed in the process.” I turned my attention back to the door and carefully examined the three bolts that held the door closed. I tested my telekinesis on them and found it was like those trial and error puzzles. It took a few seconds, but the lock was disengaged. “Say hello to Freed-” The door was suddenly impaled by eight rock spires, forcing the door to stay closed. “What in Dorn's name?” Sebastian yelped. “Who the hell did that?!” “Must have been one of the Skullcaps,” I growled. “Most of them are rock conduits.” Sebastian growled before his entire form suddenly began to glow. “I'm not gonna stay in this room and let those idiots try and harm anypony!” He shouted before the glow became so bright, me and the others had to block our eyes. When it died down, we stared at him in shock. Towering above us was a massive robot, with what looked like a rotary type cannon and a massive fist with a built in gun underneath. Sebastian's voice then emanated from it. ++Well… this was unexpected…++ Viktor whistled. “Dang dude, you’re a flipping Dreadnought!” I shook my head. “If you're going to go crazy, aim for the ponies painted in red, have bone armor, and have black veins on their faces. Everypony else is not to be harmed under ANY circumstances.” ++I'm not a bloody Berserker, I do know enemies from civilians.++ Sebastian muttered before he pulled his fist back. ++To quote a certain Marvel hero: IT'S CLOBBERING TIME!++ He roared as he swung his fist forward. The door flew off its hinges and crashed into the wall. He then changed back into his power armored form and staggered. “Geez, that… took a lot out of me…” A glowing chunk of rock suddenly flew into the chamber and exploded, sending shards of rock over the four of us. While the three armored Displaced had protection, I wasn't as lucky, getting hit with a few chunks in the ribs and abdomen. As one, the three suddenly had ranged weapons that weren't in their hands before, and opened fire on our attackers. The rapid chatter of an assault rifle was accompanied by the heavy thud of Sebastian's gun. Alex quickly ran over to where I was, what looked like a high tech energy rifle in her hands. “You okay?” She asked. I pulled the rocks out of me, the blue light of magic ‘leaking’ out before the wounds sealed up. “Just the day in the life of a Conduit.” I stood up and unraveled my chain. “Now, let's beat these guys into next Tuesday.” I ran forward, teleported in front of a few Skullcaps and lashed out with my chain. The chain transformed into ethereal ruins and struck hard, behaving like a whip. The three others soon also charged in, each armed with a different melee weapon. Sebastian was armed with a mace that crackled with energy while Viktor was armed with a massive two handed hammer. Alex however was armed with what looked like a normal sword until she flicked her wrist and the blade transformed into a whip. “Let's see you fly!” Viktor yelled before he swung his weapon. When it hit, a visible shockwave sent five Skullcaps flying. I teleported to a catwalk above the combat and began firing off bolts of magic at the Skullcaps below. I charged a shot and fired three homing bolts of magic that hit and restrained them. “Oh, I'm SO going to use this!” Sebastian smashed aside a Skullcap and shouted, “I'm getting tired of you boneheads! This isn't exactly humerus!” I dodged a rock bullet and tossed the attacker off of the catwalk. “Now’s not the time for silly puns,” I shouted out. “Save them for tomarrow...DANG IT!!!” “Fine, I'll finish punishing these guys and leave the jokes for later.” Sebastian chuckled as he punched a Skullcap and sent him sprawling. I jumped off the catwalk and slammed my fist on the ground, causing several Skullcaps to be sent flying from the magical shockwave. “You guys may want to hold onto something!” I then summoned my magic and began to gather energy into the center of the room. All the Skullcaps, loose boxes, and debris were then sucked into it. I held the energy for a few more seconds before I released it in an explosion that blew the Skullcaps against the walls, wrapped up in magical restraints. The boxes and debris were vaporized. I then collapsed onto my knees, exhausted. “Holy throne…” Sebastian muttered. “So what do we with these guys?” Viktor asked, looking at the restrained Skullcaps. “Wait until the authorities arrive?” “That’s usually best,” I said. I then looked around the room briefly. “Now to find our way out of here.” “Kyra’s picking up an exit a few feet from us.” The Spartan said, looking around. “I have a nav point on it.” “Then lead the way. This definitely wasn’t the back alley hideout I entered earlier.” Viktor nodded before he lead us out of the room. We wandered through the seemingly empty corridor checking every door we came across. “Cheerful place,” I commented after searching the fourth room, finding it empty. “Trust me, I’ve been in places that would kill.” Sebastian muttered. Viktor then halted and held up a hand. “I’ve got eyes on the exit. But I'm hearing footsteps outside…” he said. “Wait… I'm hearing a female voice outside and it's not that mare from earlier… geez, she’s got a quite a mouth on her, she… Ouch, Celestia is not gonna be happy about being called that name!” Suddenly, something small came running from the exit and hid behind my legs. “That crazy robot pony is after me!” “Who’s this?” Alex said, taking her helmet off and letting her black hair flow onto her shoulders before kneeling down and looking at the colt. “Yah!” The colt suddenly jumped up and held onto my neck. I was able to get a better look at him while struggling to climb onto my head. He looked like the kind of painted horse you would see Native Americans ride in old west pictures. His barrel was covered with an apparatus of some kind with a variety of tubes coming out of it. And his hooves looked like they were scarred by something. “Please, don't eat me!” The colt shouted. Hearing his voice suddenly brought something back to me. “Wait a minute, you're that conduit that begged for my help using that neuro-tar on me!” “I recognize him, that's Pipsqueak! But… what happened to you?” Sebastian asked the colt. “He was tortured,” we heard from the door. Looking, we saw Dusk walking through the door, an odd combination of a scowl and sad face on her face. “So you're Dusk…” Sebastian said, with a nod. “Yeah? What's it to you?” “Dark and Rainbow mentioned you when we were in his Equestria. They weren't kidding about you being one moody Alicorn.” He chuckled. “Don't remind me,” she said, “Anyway, you found Pipsneak and I'll leave you five to deal with Sasha.” She began walking off. “Dusk.” Alex said, causing her to turn around. “You’re not the only one who went through a hard time.” “Don't try to sympathize,” she said nonchalantly. She then static teleported out of site. “Geez, she must be really fun at parties.” Viktor said sarcastically. He then looked at Pipsqueak. “So why did you need Delsin's help?” He asked. “Well, the power that I have was forced upon me,” he said, “It hurt for it to happen. Then they tried to make me do things...bad things.” Alex's eyes narrowed in anger and her tone was steely as she said, “Whoever did this… just pissed off the wrong Displaced.” “I think we should definitely take care of Sasha. If she goes down, that's one less problem for me.” “What do you know of her?” Viktor asked. “Tar conduit that looks like the very spawn of Tartarus itself...from what I remember from the game,” I said. “And I hope she has the decency to wear better covering clothing than what the game depicted.” “So I'm guessing her weakness is fire?” Sebastian asked. “No,” Pipsqueak answered. “She wears a thing like me.” He pointed to the tube covered apparatus on himself. “You pull the tubes out and it gets harder for her to control her powers.” “Or take the tubes out from afar…” Alex mused. “Sounds like a plan,” I said, pointing to the door. “So, this way buddy?” “Yup!” Pipsqueak answered. We followed him down the hallway as it began to slope downward. As it began to level out, we noticed that there was a black liquid up to ankle depth. “Ugh… even though my helmet I can smell the stuff… it’s gonna take forever to get my armor cleaned.” Sebastian groaned. I knelt down and examined the liquid. “Guys, when we take on Sasha, don't let any of this stuff touch your head or spine.” “Let me guess, it does something to you?” Alex asked as she resealed her helmet. “Brief contact will mess with your head a bit, longer exposure, ingestion, or injection will mean a complete takeover of your mind.” “Good thing we wear helmets and armor then.” Viktor said. “Otherwise, that wouldn't be good.” We advanced into the neuro-tar, but partway in, Alex was suddenly pulled under the surface of the tar. “ALEX!” Viktor shouted. “You really don't know proper dating etiquette,” Sasha’s voice came out of a loudspeaker. “Bringing another girl with you to pick up your date? How heartless.” “That girl is my sister!” Viktor snarled, what looked like a handheld railgun appearing in his hands. “And you just made the wrong choice, you Tartarus spawn!” “Delsin, we need to talk in private, away from your pets.” I felt my leg get tugged by something. When I looked down, I was suddenly pulled under and instantly blacked out. (3rd person POV) “Delsin!” Viktor shouted as the Conduit was yanked under. “Pip, can you guide us to where we need to go?” Sebastian asked the colt. “I think so,” he said nervously. “Don't think you're off the hook either, welp!” Pipsqueak shouted out in fear, jumping up and latching onto Viktor’s visor. “You want him? You go through us…” Sebastian growled. “You think we're scared of you? We’ve seen things that would give you nightmares…” “I can show you nightmares,” she said as something was formed from the liquid. Sebastian snorted. “Please, that's not scary.” The Alien suddenly sprouted a unicorn horn and wings. Its tail then morphed into multiple, whip-like tails. Sebastian’s gun arm was snagged by one of the tails as it flew at him, bio-blades brandished. “If that's supposed to scare me, then you need to do a better job.” He said before a handheld flamethrower appeared in his hand. “CLEANSE AND BURN!” He roared before a jet of flame engulfed the construct. The construct howled in pain as it burned, but it managed to land a strike with its Bio-blade before dissolving. “Stronger than I thought,” Sasha said, “And to think I fell for Delsin.” “Sorry, but I'm not in the mood for dating.” Sebastian growled, wincing as his enhanced physiology healed his wound. “Now give Alex and Delsin back!” A door nearby opened up, revealing a larger, more flooded room. “Claim them if you can.” “Kyra, keep an eye out for any movement.” Viktor said, after repositioning Pipsqueak on his helmet. “You got it,” The AI replied. The two entered the room, their weapons at the ready. Knowing now that the tar was vulnerable to fire, Viktor had replaced his weapon for a flamethrower and was now sweeping it back and forth in case an attack happened. Once they were in the room, they heard footsteps up above them. They looked up and saw that both Delsin and Alex were being suspended by tendrils of tar coming from a bald woman in jogging pants and a zipped up jacket with tubes coming out of it. “Let me guess, you’re Sasha?” Viktor asked. “Very perceptive,” she said. “Why go to all of this? You could be helping ponies, not enslaving them and having them do your bidding!” Sebastian said, glaring behind his helmet. “Answer me this,” she said, “Was Hitler truly a heartless monster?” “Depends on who you’re talking to.” Viktor replied, his voice guarded. “But what you did to Pipsqueak… even someone like Hitler wouldn't want that to happen to someone.” “And yet he did it to the Jews.” “Just what is your point?” “The same as him. Destroy those who would deny safety for freedom, and bring down the false rulers of this land.” “By enslaving others? Killing the Princesses? That's not freedom, that's tyranny! You’re just as bad as Sombra!” Viktor spat, “He tried the same thing as you are doing now and failed miserably, what makes you think you'll succeed?” “Simple, unlike him, I’ll have a proper means of escape, should I fail.” “Then I have one thing to say.” Viktor said. “Boom.” She looked down to see a plasma grenade glowing blue at her feet. She simply giggled as the explosive went off. She was dissolved in the explosion and the tar tendrils holding the prisoners were now coming from the flooded floor. “Vik, now!” Sebastian yelled before the two unleashed a flamestorm from their weapons. “Bet you did Nazi that coming!” Viktor snarked. “Clever pun,” they heard her say. She suddenly rose from the floor and began to grapple with him. He was surprised by her strength, her lithe frame hiding it. “You honestly have no idea who you're dealing with.” He growled before he rammed his head against hers, the helmet multiplying the impact force and stunning her. He then kicked her away and after summoning twin SMGs, took a few pot shots at the hoses and disconnected four. “I'm not some police officer you can overpower, I'm a Spartan of the UNSC, the elite of the elite.” He then activated his thrusters and slammed into her, sending her smashing into a wall. “And you just pissed me off big time.” She smiled and dissolved. A giggle was heard behind him and he was hit hard with two tendrils, sending him flying into another wall. “And I’m not your average succubus.” “But you do have one thing that applies to any living being.” Sebastian said. “You can BURN!” He growled as he unleashed a blast of flame at her. She screeched in pain and dissolved. More tendrils came from the pool and began knocking the two warriors every which way, hitting every other wall. Alex suddenly yelled, “HEY!” before she suddenly teleported out of the tendril holding her. “You want to fight someone? Then bring it on!” She snarled, her gauntlet suddenly charging with arcane energy. She then whipped her sword out and flicked her wrist, the blade separating into its whip form. “Since I’ve managed my escape,” she said, raising from the floor. “I can spare a few minutes.” Alex smirked under her helmet before she suddenly teleported before Sasha could react and delivered a combination of blows from her weapon and magic blasts to the Conduit. “Still think you can beat me? I was trained by Twilight in magic and in combat by a Spartan named Eliteslayer!” She said as she delivered a powerhouse blow with her right arm, the punch sending Sasha into the wall. She then walked forward, restraining the Tar Conduit with bands of magic. “I'm called the “Spartan Mage” for a reason, I'm both a UNSC Spartan, and a powerful magic user.” She then sheathed her sword and summoned a single pistol. Taking aim, she then fired and disconnected the rest of the hoses. “And you just failed.” Sasha coughed in pain, but continued to giggle and laugh. “Are you sure that I’ve failed?” “Unlike you, we care about the ponies and their well-being. And we will defend them at all costs.” Sebastian said as he cut Delsin down from his tendril. “Did you forget what I said? I said, ‘I’ve managed my escape.’” The sound of another portal device opening then exploding was heard. The fake Sasha then dissolved. “...shit…” Viktor swore. “She may have escaped… but we managed to save Pip.” Alex said, looking at the colt. “Well, now another world is going to have her as a problem,” Delsin commented. “I just hope this won’t be like my doppleganger.” “I think she'll end up hitting the wall. The Multiverse isn't a picnic for the uninitiated.” Viktor said. “But if we do encounter her, she’ll find us ready and waiting.” “How much do you know about my doppelganger?” “Enough to know that he’s a threat to the Multiverse. But he’ll find out that there are beings that can easily remove his powers for good.” Sebastian said, his tone steely. “Let’s not resort to the authors or whatever they’re called just yet,” Delsin shuddered. “I already had a bad encounter with mine or whatever.” “I wasn't talking about the authors. There are beings known as Displacers and Void Dwellers that are more than a match for any Displaced.” Viktor explained. “They haven’t interfered yet in my dealings with him. He’s limited to where I’ve been or summoned from in the Multiverse. So, you’ll have a wacknut to deal with when it comes to your world.” “If he does attack, he’ll find he’s bitten off more than he can chew.” Alex spoke up. “He is resistant to death,” Delsin answered, leaving the group speechless. “Your point?” “The point is, there's a Displacer that guards our universe. Along with a void dweller named Ahriman, who used to be a Displaced himself apparently.” “Okay, I’ll admit, I may not have to deal with him on your world, but I’ll still need to head to your world to at least find that colt that, for some reason, activated that portal and traveled to your world.” “Right… Let's hope your Celestia doesn't get too worried about you…” Sebastian said. “Incidentally, congrats on being engaged.” “Ah, so you heard,” Delsin said. “There are some invitations, should you be open to come.” “Hopefully we’ll be able to, if this damn war ends soon…” Viktor said. “Okay, let’s get to the surface.” He turned to Pipsqueak. “Pip, lead the way.” (Delsin’s POV) After Pip led us out of the underground hideaway, we found ourselves just outside one of the warehouses at the edge of the city. “This is frustrating,” I said to no one in particular. “I went just a few blocks north of the guard station and now, I’m who know’s how far away from that original spot!” “Let me try something.” Alex said before she launched a burst of magic into the air, the orb exploding after it hit a few feet. “Magic flare, should get the guard’s attention.” A bolt of neon suddenly came flying from a nearby rooftop, hitting Alex in the leg and causing her to be bound up from head to toe in neon bands. “Hey! What was that for!?” The Spartan asked indignantly. In response, a rock grenade landed and exploded between the other two. “Oy! We’re friendlies!” Viktor shouted. “NEON!!! OBSIDIAN!!! GET YOUR FLANK ENDS DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!!!” I bellowed. Two earth ponies were suddenly standing at attention in front of me. “You called?” Neon asked. “When are you two gonna stop doing that!? Seriously! I leave homeworld for a few days and you’re both already at each other’s throats!” “Um, mind getting me out of these?!” Alex asked, struggling against her bonds. “Just give me a sec.” I walked up to a shop window and drained the neon sign in the front. I unraveled my chain and swiped at the bonds, cutting them clean off. “Thanks.” She said, rubbing her wrists. “No problem. Stay here for a moment, I’m gonna see if there is any guard movement that saw your flare.” I then ran up the side of a tall skyscraper in a blur of neon. Once I arrived at the top, I was able to see some of the pegasi from the Solar Division making their way to our position. I jumped off of the building and landed just behind Sebastian. “Anyone coming towards where we are?” He asked. “A few pegasi from the Solar Division.” “Welp, while we're waiting, I'm gonna listen to some music.” Viktor said, “Kyra, active music file 8300, key word For Freedom We Rise.” “Do you happen to have Calling or Twister in your music bank or whatever?” “No, never even heard of those songs.” He said, just as the music file in his helmet activated. “Oh, okay.” I suddenly remembered something. “Hey, you remember your ‘disbelief’ over a few Kingdom Hearts Displaced?” “Yeah…” Sebastian replied. “Well, get this. Sora’s Equestria is partial r63.” I pulled out the picture of Solaris in a dress and showed it to him. “And look at what he did to the Solar Diarch.” Sebastian took one look and busted out laughing. “Well that's definitely something! And Eliteslayer mentioned that in a Equestria he visited, there was a male version of Ruby running around.” “I can see that you’re already acquainting them with an alternate version of myself.” I turned to the sound of the voice to see Tia walking towards us. “Heh, you got that right, honey,” I said. The three Displaced knelt down in respect. “It's nice to meet you Celestia.” Viktor said. “Don’t overstress it, Dude,” I said. “I agree,” Tia said. “Set your formalities aside. Anyone who is on good terms with my fiance, is on good terms with me.” “Sorry, just kinda used to doing it with our Celestia.” Sebastian chuckled. They then stood up and he continued, “The name's Sebastian, and these two are Alexandra and Viktor.” He said, nodding to the two Spartans. “A pleasure to meet all of you.” “The pleasure is all ours, it’s not often we meet a Celestia that's engaged to a Displaced.” Viktor chuckled. “I heard suspicions from Delsin that another Displaced is in love with his Princess Luna.” Sebastian frowned. “Sebaste mentioned that a Displaced he met mentioned a Gilgamesh… but I haven't really heard much about the guy to know much.” “She was talking about Sora,” I mumbled. “Wait, the guy who's version of Celestia was in the dress? Huh.” He then chuckled, “This’ll definitely be a tale to tell Twi and Nyx…” “All talking aside, I think we should return to Canterlot,” I said. Turning to the three I said, “You're free to tag along as well to rest up before we tackle trying to rebuild the portal tech.” Viktor nodded. “We're fine with that, but are we teleporting there? If not, we have our own transportation.” he asked. “Where is it?” I asked, looking around, trying to find it. While I couldn't see it, I had the feeling he was smirking. Suddenly, a large aircraft appeared next to the three, the troop hatch open. I recognized it as a Pelican Gunship from Halo 3. “When you're able to summon any weapon or vehicle from the games, you don't need to have others transport you.” He chuckled. “Holy...can I try flying a Banshee?” I asked in fanboy like excitement. “Sorry, I can only really do one vehicle at a time.” Viktor said, rubbing his head in embarrassment. “If I do anymore, it’ll leave me too exhausted.” I slumped in defeat, “Okay, but I call co-pilot position.” He nodded, “That's fine with me. Let's get this show on the road!” He said as he headed inside the Pelican. I was practically shouting in excitement until Tia boarded as well. “I'm personally kind of curious how this works,” she said. “I hope you don't mind if I ride along, mostly to keep Delsin in line.” Sebastian chuckled before a new vehicle appeared next to him. It was heavily armed, with twin rotary cannons underneath, heavier versions of his gun and missile launchers. Two VTOL like engines were mounted on the sides and the whole thing was boxy, like it could take a lot of punishment. “I’ll do escort duty, don't want anything to take out a transport with a VIP.” He said before he jumped into the cockpit of the new vehicle. The two aircraft started up their engines and began making their way to Canterlot. I was excited to actually see the inside of a video game vehicle, but even then, the cockpit seemed like what you would see in a military aircraft. “Alright, I'm opening up the throttle, so you better buckle up!” Viktor warned. “Kyra, put a nav marker on Canterlot.” “Copy that.” “Everyone strapped in?” I asked, mostly to Tia. “I am,” she confirmed. “Alright, brace yourselves!” The Spartan said as he opened the throttle and the transport shot forward, Sebastian's ship managing to keep up, the underslung guns tracking left and right. We soon arrived at the castle, both Viktor and Sebastian bringing their vehicles to land in the courtyard. “That was Awesome!” I shouted out as the transport opened...and a paper shuriken struck and stuck into my shoulder. “Gah!” I looked out the transport and saw at least 20 Bio-guard or so, each with shocked looks on their faces. “Delsin!” Alex shouted. She began to advance out of the Pelican, but I held her back and stepped forward, pulling the projectile out of my shoulder, neon leaking from the puncture. “Who threw this?” The guards all moved out of the way, leaving a lone guard with an embarrassed look on his face. I dropped the shuriken and fired a neon bolt at the pony’s leg, restraining him. “He's got janitorial work for the rest of the week.” The guards nodded and took him away. “Noobs, they always manage to goof up.” Sebastian chuckled as he walked up to us. “At least he hit me and not anyone else.” “First rock, now paper? What's next, scissors?!” Viktor asked. “Who knows? Because I don't.” I stretched a bit. “I'm still a bit worn out from helping teach Dash, getting a few powers stripped from me, and nearly getting killed by a psychotic woman. I'll be napping if anyone needs me” (3rd person POV) Delsin walked off, leaving the Princess with the three warriors. “Jet Second!” A pony in silver armor walked up. “Yes, your Majesty?” “Show these three to the guest bedrooms.” “Yes mam. Follow me, please.” The guard began leading them into the castle. “So I'm guessing you're related to Jet Set?” Alex asked as the walked through the halls. “Yes, but I'm not proud of it,” he said. Viktor snorted. “I'm not a fan of the nobles myself. At least some of them are a lot nicer, like Fancy Pants.” He said. “Others just grind my teeth at how they act.” “The nobles that fit in the annoying category in your world are more than likely criminals here.” “That wouldn't be surprising, nobility usually ends up getting corrupted, at least those that lord it over others.” Sebastian spoke up. “There's more to it than that, but you've got the basics down.” “So how long have you been serving the Princesses?” “A few months, actually. The Bio-guard is relatively new. Before that, I was considered for the Eagle Guard.” “The Eagle Guard?” The three looked at him in confusion. “An Akomish exclusive Division of the Royal Guard,” he answered, adjusting the armor on his right arm to show the Akomish tattoo. “That's another reason I'm not proud of my father. He treated the Akomish like trash.” A stony silence came from the three. “So not only is he a jerk, but he’s a bloody racist.” Viktor muttered. “Let's not forget tribalist, anti-alicorn, second in command of the Descendants, and various criminal charges for being an all around idiot.” “Yeah, he’s lucky Sebaste isn't here. I’ve seen the guy get angry, and trust me, if he had heard that, Jet Set would not be having a good time.” Viktor said with a nervous chuckle. “I would pity him in that instance alone,” Second said. The group arrived at a series of doors. “Here are your rooms, I hope to see you three again.” “You too Jet.” Alex said before her armor disappeared, revealing the T-shirt and pants underneath, the same thing happening to the others. Only Alex’s right arm was still armored. “We’ll see you later hopefully.” He nodded and walked off. Just as he rounded a corner, he was suddenly bowled over by an young almost black alicorn. “Sorry! My bad!” She said. She kept running past the three, but stopped after she passed them. “Nyx?!” Sebastian asked in shock before he saw that she was completely different from the filly he knew back in his Equestria. “Huh?” The alicorn looked at him with confusion. Said look suddenly changed to wonder. “Wow, you’re tall!” Sebastian chuckled and knelt down. “Being turned into a Space Marine can do that. My name's Sebastian, but I'm usually called Sasha. What's your name, young one?” He asked. “My name’s Stella. Wait, you said you were a Space Marine? Did you have to fight a crazy alien to get here? And are they Space Marines too?” The others chuckled. “No, we’re called Spartans, and the three of us are Displaced. I'm Viktor, and this is my sister Alexandra, or Alex for short.” Viktor said, nodding his head towards the female Spartan, who was helping Jet Second up. “Get back here!” A somewhat larger, yellow alicorn came careening around the corner, knocking Alex and Second down again. “I recognize that voice!” Sebastian said, turning to see the Alicorn charging towards them. “What the… Luna?! What in Dorn's name happened to you!?” He asked in surprise. “I’ll explain later!” Stella yelled. She then ran past them with Luna on her tail. “Ugh…. Anyone know why there was a yellow Luna running around?” Alex groaned as she and Second got back up. “This happens almost on a regular basis,” Second said. “Luna and Stella have been pranking each other since they got here.” “Oh god… right, royal prank war…” Viktor chuckled. He then opened the door to his room. “I'm gonna grab a power nap, someone wake me up when we're needed.” He said before he entered the room and closed the door. “See you later Jet.” Alex said before she and Sebastian entered their rooms. Author's Note To those who read this, I apologize now for what I had Sasha (inFAMOUS) say concerning Hitler, the Jews, and the Holocaust. I did not mean to offend anyone. I'm sorry. Chapter 24: Angels of War This chapter was written with the assistance of Company Master Sebaste. A Crossover with his story, For the Emperor and the UNSC! (Rebooted version). inFAMOUS Displaced Chapter 24 Angels of War (Delsin’s POV) A few hours after resting I walked into the guest wing, absorbing the smoke of a pipe I held. Standing just outside of one of the rooms was Viktor. “Hey, you’re up.” “Yeah, had a bit of a power nap. Alex and Sasha are still resting in their rooms. Saw Luna earlier, but she was… yellow for some reason and chasing a Alicorn teen named Stella. Apperantly it was part of a prank war or something…” he said. “Oh, that,” I said. “Must have been payback for the catapult incident.” “Catapult… you know what, I'm not gonna even ask.” He said. “By the way, how did Stella even appear? She reminds me of Nyx a bit,” He then asked. “My telepathy mixed with the magic of the Elements of Harmony when fighting Nightmare Moon.” “Wow, that must have been quite the shock for Celestia and Luna.” he said, a surprised look on his face. “It was, but Sora was a little over the top in making her seem nonthreatening.” Viktor chuckled. “Things for me have been.. hectic to say the least. You’ve heard of Doom?” He asked. “I have an idea, but fill me in.” “Well recently the three of us and another Displaced that lives in our Equestria named Sebaste were called into another Equestria that was guarded by three Doom Marines, and to be honest, they were absolute jerks. But anyways, we met a being they called “Guardian” and she's asked if the three can help stop a crazy pony named Flame Tail. Right now, we’re just waiting on their answer before we can let them know.” He then frowned. “Honestly, I’d trust them as far as I can throw them. But we need all the help we can get.” “So, you’re asking for help from some twithead against somepony that sounds like Brooke Augustine.” “You don't know what our Equestria is like, Flame Tail has managed to convince other cities to join his Crusade against the Princesses, and unlike other Equestrias, the tech level is more advanced. And we didn't really ask for the Doom Marines. Like I said, I don't really trust them. They're too unpredictable, a wild card if you will.” He said. He then shook his head. “I don't really like thinking about it, so I'm not gonna say any more on the topic.” “Okay. Either way, problems are your life and you’ve got lunkheads that you’re not fond of willing to help you with or without your permission.” He snorted. “You can say that again. But enough of that, what brings you here?” he asked. “Well, the sooner we get a portal device up and built, the better,” I said. I then let smoke flow around my arms. “So a few smoke grenades for wake up calls were in order.” “What…” He began to ask before two thumps were heard in the rooms Alex and Sebastian were in. The two soon burst out, coughing as smoke followed them from the rooms. “*cough* Who's the wise guy *cough cough* that set off that smoke bomb?!” Sebastian asked, an irritated look on his face. “Just don’t turn me into swiss cheese after I say ‘guilty’.” I took a deep breath, raised my hand, and said, “Guilty!” Viktor chuckled. “Well that's one way of getting a wake up call.” He said. The other two rolled their eyes before their armor reappeared on them. Viktor soon followed their example, his own armor reappearing on him. “So how exactly are we supposed to get a portal working? From what I've seen, the devices here are a bit too flimsy to hold a portal.” He asked. “Then we analyze the tech that make up Dusk, scan the energy of a blast shard, then run it through your A.I.s and see what happens,” I theorized. “Or I can open one myself.” Alex said. “I’ve done it before.” “Not to insult your abilities, but there’s another reason for a device to be built,” I said. “Just by hearing from you guys that Dark’s world runs on a different time axis, I’m guessing that if I have an easily accessible portal to his world, time will be synced in both worlds.” “That would make sense.” Viktor said. He suddenly stiffened as a message suddenly appeared inside his visor. “Just got a message from Sebaste, he says a colt just suddenly appeared in Ponyville. It must be that same colt we saw that ran into that portal!” “Has he noticed anything odd about him?” “He did notice that… okay, this isn't making any sense, he says that a few Kirins had just popped up besides the colt and he’s moving in to engage them… and that's it.” I jumped a bit when I heard that. “Wait, Kirins? That colt’s gotta be a conduit!” “That's impossible!” Alex said. “How could that colt be a conduit?” “Probably the same way your hair is its current color,” I answered. “It's in the DNA.” “If he’s a conduit… oh no… we have no idea what his abilities are, and neither does Sebaste!” Sebastian said. “Then we'll build the portal device after we take care of getting him back here! Alex! Portal! Now!” She nodded before her hand glowed and a portal opened in front of them. “Let's go!” Viktor said before he ran into the vortex. “Right behind you!” I then ran into the vortex. (3rd person POV) Just as Delsin came out of the portal, Sebaste came crashing into him, a pixelated residue covering him. “Tartarus damn it!” The Recon Spartan growled before he saw who he landed on. “Oh geez, sorry mate!” He said, scrambling up and helping the Conduit up. Viktor and the other two were standing nearby with two Rainbow Dashes, one however had cybernetics replacing her tail, wings, right eye and front legs. “That's okay,” he responded, “I've had...LOOK OUT!!!” He smoke dashed past the two Rainbow’s and wrapped his chain around the neck of a Kirin, strangling it until it dissolved into red pixels. “Right… time to fight fire with fire.” Sebaste snarled before two Holograms of himself appeared, both equipped with energy swords. With a roar, he charged forward, a Gravity Hammer appearing in his hands. He smashed aside one Kirin while his copies gutted two more, all three dissolving. “Video...I was wondering when I'd see that,” Delsin commented as he pelted one Kirin with smoke. “Who the buck are you?” One of the Rainbows asked, her front hooves having two clawed gauntlets that gripped what looked like some sort of automatic weapon. “I'll explain once we stop Tartarus from figuratively boiling over!” Delsin shouted out, dodging a slash. The cybernetic Rainbow rolled her eyes before her right hoof suddenly split and a gun barrel poked out of it. Targeting a nearby Kirin, she opened fire, the bark of the weapon being the last sound it heard. “Rainblade, over here!” Viktor called over to her. She quickly swooped over and began to slash at the Kirin Viktor had engaged, the built in blades in her wings dealing massive damage. “Okay! That's it!” Delsin pulled what looked like a phone out of his pocket. Electricity then began flowing from the phone into his hand. He replaced the phone in his pocket and his eyes began glowing a bright blue and he shot lightning at ten Kirins in two seconds, killing them instantly. “Yow! Watch the lighting!” Sebaste yelped as a bolt managed to miss him by a few inches. “You just focus on fighting!” He shouted back. “I'll...What?!” “I think we took all of them out…” Alex said as she looked around. “Uh, Guys! I’m gonna need some neon! I’ve got the location of the Conduit!” “Here you go!” Pinkie said, setting up a neon light. Sebaste and the others looked at her in shock. Delsin simply nodded and drained the sign of its neon. He then ran off in a blur of neon, following what looked like a bright blue alicorn in medieval armor. “Okay, can someone explain what is going on here?!” Sebaste asked in annoyance. “We’ll explain on the way, right now we need to follow Delsin!” Viktor said. “Looks like the kid’s headed to the…. Oh son of a… he’s headed towards the EAF HQ!” Sebaste swore before he was in a Broadsword Fighter and streaking towards the EAF base. The other three were soon following him in their own vehicles. When they arrived, they found that a good portion of the personnel were seemingly trapped in bubbles of neon, their movements in slow motion. A few others were held down by a few bright blue swords stuck in the ground around them. “Looks like Delsin was here…” Viktor said. Sebaste then looked at the Orbital Spartan, a raised eyebrow hidden under his helmet. “The guy Dark told us about?” He asked. Viktor nodded before he led the way inside. As they walked in, Kyra suddenly appeared on Viktor's shoulder and said, “Guys, take a look at the monitors! They’re getting drained by something!” Sebaste quickly ran to one of the monitors and saw that the screen was fading to black. “Damn it, that kid is gonna cause the system to crash!” He growled. “I'm picking up two signatures nearby, proceed with caution.” Kyra warned. The four nodded before they advanced to the room ahead. Upon entering, they found...nothing. The only thing that stood out were three sets of glowing monitors. “Where the heck is Delsin?!” Sebastian asked, looking around. In response to his question, Delsin suddenly appeared from one of the monitors...face first onto the ground. “What in Faust's name?!” Sebaste yelped. Delsin shakily stood up, spitting some blood out of his mouth. “You can run, but you can’t hide,” he taunted. “Kid, we don't want to hurt you. We just want to get you back to your family.” Viktor called out. Delsin walked up to another monitor and suddenly disappeared. “Sheesh, talk about pulling a Blue Skidoo!” Sebaste joked before he suddenly found himself sucked in also. “Ah frag…” When his senses cleared, Sebaste found himself on a stone pedestal in the middle of a massive lake of lava. “Geez, this puts a whole new meaning to heating things up!” He chuckled nervously. An explosion was heard above him, followed by yelling. Looking up, he saw Delsin plummeting into the lava near the pedestal. A splash later, the yelling ended. “Delsin!” The Spartan yelled. Steeling his resolve, he ran to try and jump in to save him. He stopped when he saw Delsin already at the pedestal trying to climb out of the lava. “I don’t know about you, but I’m not excited to be COOKED ALIVE!!!” He bellowed. “Sheesh, the heck's the kid’s problem?” Sebaste asked, looking up to where the colt was, disguised as a giant, bright blue alicorn. “Once we wear him down, I’ll get the answers we need,” Delsin responded. “In the meantime, do you have an RPG or something?” “How about a Hydra launcher?” Sebaste asked, a gun that had what looked like a revolver and Missile launcher mated with a rifle appearing in his hands. Taking aim, he fired a salvo of five rockets that smashed into the illusion, detonating on impact. The illusion dissolved into pixels and both Sebaste and Delsin were ejected from the computer...this time, Delsin landing under Sebaste. “Is this gonna become a regular thing with you mate?” Sebaste asked as he helped Delsin get up. “You make it sound like getting punched by Tia everytime I go through a portal home isn’t.” “Wait, she does that?” The Spartan snickered. “She knocks me back through and then drags me home by my leg.” The four super soldiers burst out laughing at that. Sebaste then frowned as he turned to the monitor. “Okay, so looks like it's round two for us…” he growled. “Three,” Delsin corrected. “And this time, we all go through...And I get a chance to fly a Banshee while in there!” “Alright, sheesh…” Viktor muttered. Delsin then led the group into the last monitor, everyone arriving in the lava land. They appeared on a platform that was suspended in the air above the lava lake. Nearby, a bunch of pixels began to gather, until it formed a giant alicorn, supported by a few dozen smaller ones. “Ye are all persistent! Thou shalt fall before me!” “Doth mother know you weareth her drapes?” Sebaste snarked, earning an eye roll from the others. “Last chance, Thanatos!” Delsin called out. “Surrender or get de-rezzed!” “I bow NOT to the whims of mere mortals!” “And what does that make you, the Pope?” Viktor spoke up. “Or does it make you a chicken?” Thanatos responded by firing a bunch of pixel missiles at the group. “Scatter!” Delsin called out, running and jumping to another floating platform. “And where’s that Banshee!? He needs some plasma to the face!” It soon appeared next to him, but when he turned to look at the four, he saw a bubble shield surrounding them. “For a so called god, you hit like an amoeba!” Sebaste taunted before the four Displaced charged out and unleashed heavy ordinance on the Alicorn, Both Alex and Viktor were armed with Rocket launchers while Sebastian had a massive cannon that fired bolts of plasma and Sebaste had the Hydra launcher. After a few minutes of being peppered by attacks, the Alicorn dissolved into a bunch of pixels and smaller alicorns, that flew off over them. The summoned Banshee suddenly came flying in and began dog fighting with the more braver alicorns. “Did you guys call in for an airstrike?” They heard on the comms. “That we did.” Sebaste chuckled. “Sorry I didn’t come sooner. I got some of the controls mixed up, and I think I dented the back bumper or whatever.” “Won't make a difference, whatever damage the vehicle we summon takes gets instantly repaired when we resummon it.” “I still don’t like damaged vehic...Oh, No you don’t!” An explosion in the direction of the flock of Alicorns was heard. The Banshee came screaming back and around as a beam of pixels followed it. “Get firing before I decide to go Kamikaze!” “Too bad it’s not Bushido dignified.” Sebaste joked before he opened fire. The missiles stopped short, hitting a force shield of some kind. “Damn it, target’s shielded!” “Take out the smaller ones, I’ll keep the big guy busy!” The Banshee then peppered Thanatos with plasma, not damaging him, but getting his attention, nonetheless. Sebastian then summoned what looked like a AFV, but it had two triple barreled cannons that could rotate independently and bracers that dug into the platform. The guns then took aim at the alicorns and roared into life, AA tracers zipping through the air. “Say hello to the Stalker AA tank!” He roared through the comms. The alicorns surrounding Thanatos suddenly began to try and dive bomb the group, most of them getting shredded by the AA tracers. “Not so fast!” Sebastian growled as he guided the guns. Viktor and Alex meanwhile had switched to a Hydra launcher, and with Sebaste, they each locked onto multiple alicorns and fired, the missiles streaking to their targets and eliminating them. Within a short amount of time, the alicorns were eliminated, leaving Thanatos vulnerable. “What should I prescribe? A lethal dose of HURT PERHAPS!?” The Banshee suddenly began unloading everything it had on him while going on a collision course. “Delsin, the hell are you doing?!” Sebaste commed. “Trust me, once he’s down, we all will be ejected before I crash and burn.” “I hope you're right…” the Spartan said as he watched Delsin scream towards the Alicorn. The Banshee struck the alicorn, turning it into pixels. Before he could crash into the lava, everyone, minus the vehicles, were ejected from the computer. On the ground, in front of the monitor they exited was a brown colt, part of his face was covered in a black goop. Delsin wasted no time and grabbed his foreleg, pixels flowing from the colt into him and both fell unconscious. “Neuro-Tar!” Sebastian swore. “He must have escaped from Sasha!” “Well while we wait for these two to wake up, mind telling me what this is all about?” Sebaste asked. Viktor nodded and explained what had happened after they had been summoned to Delsin's world. “So let me get this straight, you fought a conduit that controls tar?! That's just nasty!” The Recon said, sounding disgusted. “Tell me about it…” Sebastian muttered just as he heard Delsin groan. “I think my other favorite game, Rome Total War, will become reality...once I figure out these powers,” he muttered. “We’d better get that tar off the kid. He’s suffered enough.” Viktor said. “Then you go do that,” Delsin said, pointing at him. “I’m gonna find a bed, and go cry myself to sleep.” He then began walking out of the room, acting as though his back was thrown out. “Wonder what he saw…” Sebastian muttered as Viktor removed the tar from the colt’s face and picked him up. “Dunno, but let's get out of here.” Sebaste said as the four followed Delsin, the colt slung over Viktor's shoulder. When the five got out however, they say both Luna and Celestia waiting for them, along with Twilight, her mechanical wings folded along her back. “I’m guessing you’re here to either congratulate us, or beat us up the side of our heads for destroying a military base,” Delsin said. “As much as I want to face the scourges, I’ve seen enough for one day. I’m clocking out.” He then fell face first on the ground, unconscious again, but asleep. The three Princesses looked on in confusion. “Um… is he usually like that?” Twilight asked. “Only when he’s fought very hard.” Viktor chuckled. He then shifted the colt, “This little guy’s the reason the base is shut down, he controls video images and has to drain stuff to power him. But he’s from his Equestria.” He said, nodding his head at Delsin. Celestia nodded in understanding. “We’ll speak to him when he awakens, right now, take him to Twilight's castle. He looks like he could use the rest.” “Yes your Highness.” Sebaste said, saluting the two elder Princesses. Twilight's horn then began to glow before she, Delsin and the other four were inside her castle. She then levitated Delsin and said, “I’ll put him in a guest room, you put Button Mash in another room.” “Button…” Viktor looked at the unconscious colt in shock. “No wonder I didn't recognize him, he’s missing his beanie!” “We’ll worry about that later, right now, we need to put him in a guest room.” Alex said, opening a nearby door. Soon, the colt was tucked in and the four Displaced were walking out of the room. “I’ll stay with him until he wakes up.” She said. Sebaste nodded. “Let me know when he does, right now, I need a rest…” he said as he headed to his quarters. The other two followed suit, after telling Alex that they would see her later. (Delsin’s POV) “GAH!!!” I sat up suddenly on the bed that I was apparently given. A hand then pushed me back into a laying position. “Be still, my Lord. Ye have been through a terrible ordeal and still need to rest.” A deep voice said. I turned to the voice and saw a Video Angel standing over me, holding me on the bed. “Please tell me I’m in Heaven.” “I’m afraid not, my Lord. Ye fell unconscious after dealing with a young colt and his servant, Thanatos.” “And you are?” “I am He Who Dwells!” He proclaimed, pounding a fist on his chest. “Delsin, you alright? I heard you cry ou- WHAT IN DORN'S NAME?!” Sebastian exclaimed as he saw the angel standing next to the bed. “Welcome, Sir Sebastian. I am He Who Dwells, the Servant of Lord Delsin, Future Prince of his Realm of Equestria,” he said with a bow. “He Who Dwells? Sounds like a cheesy name from Skyrim.” The Astartes replied. “What is this realm, ‘Skyrim’, that ye speak of?” “Guardian Angel, or whatever. Stand down,” I commanded as I carefully sat up on my bed. “How are you feeling mate?” Sebastian asked me. “Like Tartarus decided to empty its contents on my face,” I said. “That video conduit we fought? It's Button Mash.” “Haven’t met him officially yet.” “Well, he’s in another guest room a few doors down from you. Alex is keeping an eye on him.” “Sounds okay. Anything else going on?” “Not really, other than the Princesses are waiting to talk with you. They understand why we trashed the base, so we’re not in trouble.” “True justice considereth all that goes into an action,” He Who Dwells agreed. “Okay, time to meet with Royalty.” I eased myself off the bed, my angel helping support my weight. “They're in the throne room, and also, welcome to the Castle of Friendship.” Sebastian said. “Lead us forth, Sir Sebastian.” He nodded and led the two of us to the throne room. Twilight and the rest of the Mane 6 were there, along with Rainblade and a black Alicorn teen with a dark bluish purple mane and teal eyes that had a reptilian look to them. Sebaste and Viktor stood by the door, along with what seemed to be two droids. “Greetings stranger.” Celestia said. “I understand you came here to retrieve a colt that caused some trouble earlier?” “Indeed, your Majesties,” He Who Dwells spoke. “The colt, as we currently understand, was not in his right mind when he activated the device that brought him here.” “Dude, let me do the talking, and you watch the door.” The angel nodded and stood by the door, his hand on his sword. “Anyway, what he just said, and also to see if, with your help, the portal tech that brought Button here can be properly replicated.” “Portal tech?” Twilight spoke up, her wings beginning to raise in excitement. “Great, you just got her into egghead mode…” Rainbow said, earning a chuckle from the others and a glare from Twilight. “I can think of one other thing that could get her academic side further excited.” “What would that be?” Rainblade asked. I scanned the room with my ray sphere pulse, checking everyone’s DNA. “Aside from Alex, there is one other in this room with a unique DNA gene that allows powers like mine,” I said. Pinkie suddenly popped up behind me and asked, “Is it me? Is it, is it, is it?!” She asked. “No, it’s her,” I said, pointing to the black alicorn. “But the gene isn’t active.” “Wait, Nyx has the Conduit gene?!” Sebastian asked in shock. “That's impossible!” “How so?” “It’s… it’s just that she doesn't seem like she's really ready to handle that kind of power...” “Don’t overstress about it. I said that the gene is still inactive, so you have until...whenever it activates to NOT stress about it. And when it does, I can help train her.” I pulled out my token for Sebastian to take. “An Eagle feather?” He asked, taking it and looking at it. He then heard a small set of hooves clopping before Button, a bright blue alicorn, and Alex walked in. Both Sebaste and Viktor made to summon their weapons but Alex said, “They're not going hurt anypony. Button, you have something to say?” “I’m sorry for ruining your base...I didn’t mean to.” Celestia chuckled before she said, “Other than the data bases wiped, no harm was done. But I must ask, why were you here in the first place?” she asked. “Lord Button had his mind taken over by a Succubus by the name of Sasha. She wished to cause havoc in more worlds than that of Lord Delsin’s,” The alicorn stated. “Why that…” Sebastian growled. “If she ever comes here, she’ll find herself as a wanted woman.” “If she even manages to make it here,” I said. “Remember, the portal tech she had built was sketchy at best. It exploded after being used.” Celestia nodded before she turned to Button Mash and said, “I'm truly sorry you had to go through that.” Luna and Twilight murmured agreement. Nyx then spoke up. “How exactly are you even supposed to get this… portal built?” She asked, her voice curious. “The only thing we have to go by was what she used as both energy sources and portal stabilizers,” I explained. “Guys you still have those crystals I asked you to grab?” They nodded and pulled them out of hidden compartments in their armor. I took one of them and placed it on the table. “These are called Blast shards, magically irradiated pieces of crystal and debris.” “What's so important about these?” Twilight asked, her eyes curious. “They serve as pretty good energy sources, or,” I picked the shard up and absorbed the radiation. “They can strengthen a Conduit’s power.” “So they're power enhancers?” “Mostly for conduits, but yeah.” “And you're using these “blast shards” to build a portal?” “Sasha was successful in the short run. I aim to make a portal last longer, so that I don't end up missing a few weeks to a few months of a friend's life. In short, I'm trying to sync the time axis of my world with another world.” “Hmm…” Sebaste rubbed the chin of his helmet. “If you think this will work… then we'll see how this goes.” “Let us then make haste!” Dweller and the alicorn bellowed. “Alex, open a portal to Delsin's Equestria. Time to get this show on the road.” Sebaste said. She nodded before a portal was soon swirling in front of us. “We’ll see you guys after this is done.” The Spartan said to the ponies in the room before he turned to me. “Delsin, mind leading the way?” I nodded and entered the portal, with Dweller right behind me. Shortly inside, I met an obstacle. *DING* I was knocked back through the portal with Dweller practically plastered to my back. Tia then came through and dragged me home by my leg. The others followed, trying and failing to hold in their laughter at what had happened. Dweller shook his head and looked at the alicorn, who had a somewhat confused look on his face. “Do not over think their relationship, Thanatos,” he told him. “I doubt I will need to.” (3rd person POV) Delsin was dragged out of sight from the four as a small company of Bio-guard and Eagle Guard rounded a corner. Sebaste was still snickering from what had happened earlier as he looked around. “Lot of guards here, and I don't recognize the divisions…” he muttered as he calmed down. The symbol of the Royal Guard Reserves soon appeared on his left shoulder pad as he spotted Luna nearby. “Ye have returned,” Luna commented. “I'm sorry for my appearance and behavior when we first met. It was embarrassing what Stella did.” “Stella?” Sebaste asked in confusion. “Who's she?” “She is her sister, created from the telepathic abilities of Lord Delsin and the Magic of the Elements of Harmony,” Dweller explained. “And who are you?” Luna asked him and Thanatos. “I am He Who Dwells.” “And I am Thanatos.” “Thanatos was created by this little one here.” Sebastian said, nudging Button Mash forward. “He like Pipsqueak was under the control of Sasha, at least until now.” “For that, we thank thee,” he said, giving a nod in the Astartes’ direction. “Trust me, the next time I see her, she won't be getting away as easily as she did in that warehouse.” Sebastian growled. He then turned to Luna. “We were never really formally introduced, the name’s Sebastian, and the three Spartans are Alexandra, Viktor and Sebaste. Sebaste wasn't with us the last time I was here as he was defending our Equestria.” “That is understandable. It took a lot for me to visit a different Equestria at one time.” Sebastian chuckled and said, “I know what you mean, it was a shock to visit another universe the first time I was summoned. So why were you yellow earlier? I know it had something to do with a prank war you two have…” “She mixed yellow food coloring into my personal hygiene products. The coat, mane and tail were okay, but the Royal Dentist had a fit over my teeth.” “Oh throne, she got your toothpaste?!” The Astartes burst out laughing. “Not even Rainbow Dash and Rainblade go that far in their pranks with Pinkie!” “SURPRISE!!!” Pinkie suddenly said from an explosion of confetti. “GAHH! What in Dorn's name?!” He yelped as he stumbled backwards. “Throne damn it Pinkie!” He swore as the Spartans chuckled. “About time you showed back up again, I was hoping to show someone this cool trick I learned AND a ‘Welcome to this Dimension’ party!” “So I'm guessing the Element Bearers are Conduits here?” Sebaste asked while Sebastian recovered from the shock. “DUH! I mean, how was I able to replace my Party cannon with the PARTY MISSILE!” Her forelegs became covered in confetti and a missile was fired down the hall, exploding and decking out that section of the hall for a party. Two Solar Guards that were in that section had their helmets replaced with party hats and had party favors in their mouths...which they blew into, unenthusiastically. “Merciful Emperor…” Sebastian muttered, “As if she wasn't hyper enough, now we have to worry about party airstrikes from her….” The three Spartans also gawked at Pinkie in shock. “What? It makes parties easier to host.” “Not everyone is really gonna appreciate seeing an airstrike come down on them Pinks.” Viktor chuckled nervously. “I was talking about my powers in general, but I'll keep that in mind. SEE YA!!” She suddenly vanished into a pop of confetti. “Faust above… I’ve met many Pinkies, but this one ranks high in the WTF meter.” Sebaste said, his mind still reeling. “At least she stays in Ponyville...for the most part,” they heard Delsin’s voice say. They turned to where the voice came from, but he wasn't there. Button, Thanatos, and Dweller began trying to hold back laughs. “Delsin? You trying to hide from Celestia?” Sebaste asked with a smirk. “No, she let me go, so long as I managed to pull off something,” he said from a different portion of the hall. “And that would be…?” Alex asked, noticing a blip on her HUD. Three glowing blue swords suddenly appeared above Viktor, causing him to fall on his back in surprise. The blades then impaled the ground around him, trapping him. “What the…?!” He yelped. “Damn it Delsin!” The air pixelated behind Sebaste and Delsin appeared. “And that was done on the fly,” he said proudly. “Yeah, I get the point.” Viktor snarked. He then smashed the blades, his augmented strength more the the swords could take. They then dissolved into pixels and vanished. “But I'm not a pincushion. That would be Sonic's domain.” “So, now that I'm free, let's get started on figuring out the portal tech...and see if we can get a cell phone to text and call across dimensions.” Sebaste nodded. “So where is this tech being stored?” he asked. “We've got the blast shards, all we need is an idea of Dusk’s tech that make her up and begin tinkering.” “Somehow I don't think she's gonna let us analyze her tech… She's more grumpy than Granny Smith!” Viktor said. A mechanical arm came flying down the hall, hitting his force shield. “I heard that!” She shouted from down the hall, her left arm missing. “Just telling the truth!” Viktor shouted back as Sebaste shook his head. “You should learn to lighten up sometime!” Two mechanical wings came flying down the hall. “There! I'm lightning up! Much less of a load now! “I didn't mean that literally! I meant you need to cheer up a bit!” The Spartan said as he dodged the parts. “Geez, I feel like I'm talking to Drax here!” “I'm not even gonna ask,” Delsin said as he picked up the pieces. “By the way, thanks for letting us borrow some of...your tech.” “You're...WHAT!?” “And now we hit the the deck because of the angry Alicorn cyborg…” Sebaste muttered. “I hate being a Displaced sometimes…” A few bolts of lightning came flying down the hall. Delsin placed himself in the line of fire, getting hit by most of the bolts. A few minutes of being peppered with electricity, Delsin pulled up a static shield, blocking the bolts for the others. “Take the tech and run!” He shouted with sarcastic desperation. “I'll hold her here!” Sebaste nodded before he activated a Promethean shield and stood in front of the other three while they grabbed the wings and leg. As soon as they had the parts, they bolted, the three Spartans activating their thrusters while Sebastian pounded along behind them. Meanwhile, in the Canterlot Garden, a statue composing of various animal parts began to crack. Author's Note YAY! New chapter! Discord will be out of his "cell" soon. Chapter 1: Displaced and Already in TroubleinFAMOUS Displaced Chapter 1 Displaced and Already in Trouble I never really agreed to go to that convention. All I did was make a bet with a friend to get $1,000 off of him, and it would have been comparatively cheap, considering that the convention was in San Diego, CA and I lived in Idaho Falls, ID. Just drive down I-15, spend money on gas and food, rent a hotel for the night, visit the convention, and drive home. All in all, it would have cost me about $200-300 to get there and back, not to mention, the money I get from the bet would have paid it off. However, one dipwad of a purchase at the convention, and all that money I used went down the drain...not that said money would be any use to me. ************************** I felt something that I thought wasn’t supposed to be at a convention...snow. I opened my eyes (when did I have them closed in the first place) and I was greeted by the sight of snow in all directions. I looked down at myself and found that I was dressed in the costume that I bought at the convention. I was wearing the clothes that Delsin Rowe from inFAMOUS: Second Son wears. That included the heavy-duty chain on the right arm and a bottle of spray paint in my jacket pocket. “Okay, this is getting weird fast,” I comment out loud, “How did I get to Canada, and why am I wearing a costume that I just bought?” I look around more to try to find any clues as to what happened. Amidst my searching, I heard the sound of snow being stepped on. I turned to the sound and saw something that made me think I was hallucinating. I saw a small unicorn and group of griffins. The unicorn was roughly three to four feet tall, was a grey color with a red mane and tail and had a mark on it’s flank that resembled flame. It was chained up as if it was a prisoner of some sort. The most noticeable chain was connected to a shackle that was on the unicorn’s horn. The griffins numbered about ten or so and were about three to five feet tall. They all wore a chainmail like armor, except for one of them. It was wearing a more heavy, yet regal armor. That was their leader, their alpha. Seeing these creatures gave me the impression that I was either dreaming or was transported to another world. I have heard of people that disappear after going to a convention, but at this point, a dream is more possible. The Alpha Griffin spoke (surprising me in the process). “This will make a fine addition to the slave trade.” Wait, what? “You two,” he said to two of the griffin warriors, “Take him into custody.” The two griffin warriors moved forward to arrest me, but I unraveled the chain that I had on my arm and started swinging the chain around, hoping to intimidate them. That, however, only gave them the opening. One of the griffins grabbed the chain and pulled. I was sent flying towards the unicorn. My arms were flailing all over the place to try to stop my fall. My hand unintentionally grabbed the unicorn’s horn. As soon at it made contact, I blacked out. ************************ My life was set and perfect before the War. I had a husband, a few kids, and a livelihood. But when the Griffons came, they took it all. They left nothing behind. I was one of few survivors of the raid that ruined my life. From there, I followed them and found that they were doing the same to every village as they did mine. It was at that point, I decided to fight back. I was going to do what I could to end this war and all the suffering it has caused. ************************* I awoke from the vision and got a look at where I was. I found that I was in a cage of some sort with a number of other small, multicolored equines. The one I had seen before I fell unconscious was lying in the same cage. All of the other ones were looking at me very warily, as if I would eat them. The pony that I was captured with started to groan and wake up. Once it did, it rubbed its horn and said, “What did you do?” I was caught off guard by what the unicorn said and the fact that she (judging by the voice) spoke. “I don’t know. It seemed familiar though, as if I’ve seen something like that happen before.” I paused and considered what had happened and concluded that I wasn’t in a dream. A person doesn’t go unconscious and never experiences visions like Delsin Rowe does when absorbing a Conduit’s power. Hold on...Visions when absorbing a Conduit’s power...I wonder. I focused on pulling the power that I absorbed from the unicorn and looked at my hands expectantly and I saw smoke coming from my hands and arms. I guess she has some of the Conduit gene. “How are you doing that?” one of the ponies asked me, “This cage was built to prevent any usage of magic.” “How so?” I asked. “That blue crystal,” he said, pointing to a large blue crystal on the top of the cage. “It seems to have a way of disabling a pony’s magic.” The crystal glowed a blue color and seemed to have a blue aura coming off of it. “It looks like a blast shard.” The pony I was captured with asked, “What is a blast shard?” “A crystal substance that can allow a Conduit to absorb its power and become stronger.” “What’s a Conduit?” “A Conduit is someone that can control/weaponize a form of matter or energy. As it turns out, I am one.” “Is that how you did that smoke thing?” The male pony said. “That and the fact that I just absorbed the power of smokey pony here…” “My name is Smoke Shot!” she snapped. “Sorry, Smoke Shot, and…” “Stop talking!” A griffon guard shouted. I looked out of the cage and saw that the few ponies and I were in a camp of some sort filled with at least fifty or so griffons. An army camp by the looks of it. I whispered to Smoke Shot and the other ponies, “I think I recall seeing a vision when I absorbed Smoke’s power. In that vision, I heard mention of a war. This camp seems like a fraction of what the Griffons have in terms of manpower...or birdpower...for this war. Am I correct?” “Yes,” Smoke Shot whispered back, “I’ve been spying on these turkeys for a while, trying to find any interesting things that may interest the Princesses. I think I may have gotten lucky and discovered some of their plans, but I was discovered in the process.” “What were they planning?” “I believe it was an invasion of The Crystal Empire. I’m not entirely sure. If we were to bust out of here and find this group’s orders, we may have what we need to warn the Crystal Empire and send reinforcements.” “Are you crazy?!” one of the other ponies whisper-shouted, “If we are to bust out of here, we should head straight to a Royal Guard Garrison and have them deal with this. I’m not going to die to get information.” “And once you get to a garrison and tell them of this group, they will be uninformed about their strength,” Smoke whisper-shouted back, “What if they get reinforcements while we are telling them?” “One Royal Guard is worth ten of these turkeys in a fight!” “Shut up!” The Griffon guard shouted. Jeez! Arguing over what to do once we escape. Really immature, but both sides do have a point. If we stay and gather intel, we can have the guard ready for whatever these buzzards may have up their proverbial sleeves and I may find a few more blast shards. But that means that many of the prisoners here may die in the process. If we just run, we all may end up alive, but that means that the nearby garrison will be unprepared and may march into a massacre. So what should we do? Gather Intel or Run For It? ************************* Gather Intel “I say we gather intel,” I state in a whisper, “If we can get the idea of what they’re planning, we can end this war sooner and the innocent will be spared.” “What about us!” the cowardly pony whisper-shouted, “We’re not soldiers. We’ll be slaughtered and served to their King on a spit.” “That’s the value of sacrifice. A few dying to allow many more to live,” I countered, “We also hold an advantage over these buzzards. They have armor, meaning that they will be a bit clumsy. We don’t need to defeat every buzzard here, we just need to keep them busy so that the professionals can nab the intel the Royal Guard need.” “If I’m going to be getting the Intel, I need two volunteers who are good at sneaking around,” Smoke said, “Also, if we link up through a telepathic line, we can call for help more readily and easily.” “The rest of us need to cause a ruckus, burn supplies, and comb the camp for Blast Shards,” I state, “The stronger I am, the more of a ruckus I can cause. It should get them to come after me instead of you.” "That makes sense,” said the cowardly pony, “I guess there’s no way for me to be talked out of the idea.” “That’s what I want to hear. Now, get ready.” I stood up and started absorbing the Blast Shard. ********************** Run For It “I don’t really think we should risk our necks to do something that the military can do. You know...trained professionals.” “Now, that’s what I want to hear,” said the cowardly pony. “Ugh, fine,” Smoke complained, “You go and run like the cowards that you are.” “Hey,” I reassured, “It takes guts to try to break out of a place guarded by this many buzzards.” “Besides, we just head straight for the edge of camp and after that, we’re home free,” announced the cowardly pony. “Alright. Freedom, here we come!” I stood up and started absorbing the Blast Shard. Author's Note Points: 0 Rank: Neutral Ooh! Ooh! Do you later absorb my 4th wall awareness? That depends. On what? Your behavior. Don't worry, I'll be good. Chapter 10: Wakfu WarfareinFAMOUS Displaced Chapter 10 Wakfu Warfare Geek and I had been walking through the Everfree forest for a few minutes. Things seemed calm, but I was far from it. I let Geek take point while I watched our backs. Since my Light element wasn’t active, I kept my telepathy open to scan for hostiles. "This doesn't feel right," I said, coming to a stop and letting smoke flow through my hands. Geek stopped and looked back at me with a worried look. "What doesn't feel right?" I looked around, keeping an eye out for trouble. "We've been walking through who knows how much of the Everfree, and we haven't seen or heard from anything. It leads me to believe that we're being watched." Geek suddenly started looking around more frantically than me. I kept a cool head and kept my eyes, ears, and mind open for anything out of the ordinary. I felt a mental twitch behind me, and I reacted, throwing a sulfur bomb in that direction. The bomb detonated and the area behind us was enveloped in thick smoke. Coughing was heard from within the smoke. A figure and a pony stumbled out of the smoke. The figure was a skinny guy wearing a mismatched set of clothing. He had what looked like a Navy SEAL cap on, as well as a jacket that Santa Claus would be seen wearing. The guy also had a staff, and he looked like he knew how to use it. I had no doubt that he could hurt us if we weren't careful. As for the pony, I recognized him as the Skullcap from earlier. He seemed to have attempted to clean himself off the body paint. His face had neuro-tar veins in his face, showing that he still had it in his system, but not as badly. The man stood up after recovering from his coughing fit. "That was NOT cool, whoever you are," he said with rage in his voice. "Anyway, the Master wants me to eliminate you." He got into an aggressive stance. "So I guess I'll have to bid you adieu." The guy jumped towards Geek and I. I pushed Geek away and smoke dashed backwards. The guy then gathered some golden energy and thrust his hands towards me. I then felt the worst headache I've had in a thousand years. 'Someone! Distract him! Break up the attack!' Geek took the initiative and shot a fireball at Crazy Claus, disrupting the attack and changing his attention. Crazy Claus roared in rage and ran to clobber him. Before he could get close, a pony sized ball of rock suddenly flattened him into the ground. The rock stopped in front of me and broke apart. Inside the rock was the pony. He got out of the rock and saluted me. *Obsidian Shard! At your command, Sir!* He garbled. *Wait! Hold on!* I screeched. *What just happened?* I didn't get an answer, as Crazy Claus roared out again and went to Kung Fu Obsidian. I unraveled my chain and lashed out. Crazy dodged and jumped over us both. He then pulled what looked like Christmas presents out of his pocket and chucked them at us like grenades. Not taking chances, Obsidian and I jumped back and fired rock and smoke at the packages. We were far enough away from them to not get hit by any shrapnel. "Guys! Be careful!" Geek shouted out behind us. "Those explosives had Wakfu mind control on them. Don't step in that area!" We nodded our heads and kept firing at Crazy. He got fed up by getting peppered by rock and cinder, so he charged up more energy and small white wings sprung out on his back. He then flew at me at a high speed and grabbed me by the throat, lifted me up and began to choke me. As I was fighting to keep breathing, I managed to get my hands on his head and began to scan it for information on his master. I found that his master, the Paradox Child perhaps, had six others under his control. From whatever magical or mental connection they had, I found that one was fighting Nox and Damien, while another was searching for Carrow. I didn't get anything more than that, as Crazy roared in pain and fell, dropping me in the process. I managed to land on my feet without injury. Crazy, on the other hand, landed face first in the dirt. When I saw his back, I saw a shard of obsidian embedded in his spine. He's probably paralyzed now. Despite that, took extra precautions and commanded some smoke to hold him down. Geek then approached the downed man and began to examine him. "His Wakfu signature matches the signatures of the anomalies we were looking for." Before he could say anything more about the guy, I placed my hands on the guy's head and superheated it, cooking the guy's brains and killing him. "What was that for?!" Geek asked. "Cliche video game trait: defeat a sub-boss or a connection to the boss to weaken the boss," I stated. "Such a trait may apply to this guy's master." "Strange way to put it," he muttered. "What do we do now?" Obsidian asked in the common tongue. "WE," I said, gesturing to Geek and I, "Are going to find Nox and Damien and help them." "Wait! Why..." "Nox has a brain too, Genius!" I deadpanned. "If this world is thrown off kilter, then it would be useless to him and whatever he's planning." "Well...I..." "As for you," I said, pointing at Obsidian. "You're going to find Carrow, keep her safe, and get her here to help us. We need all the help we can get." *Make Haste! Ponyville may be the best bet!* *Sir! Yes Sir!* Obsidian then galloped away to Ponyville. Geek and I then continued further into the Everfree. Obsidian Shard's POV I ran to Ponyville as fast as my hooves could take me. I would sometimes use a rock boost to give me some forward momentum. I arrived in town and began my search for Carrow. From what my scrambled memories could tell me, this Carrow was the cat woman that restrained me when I wasn’t in control of myself. "YOU B**** PREPARE TO DIE!" I heard from an isolated portion of town. I followed the voice and saw a bipedal cat facing off against a human girl all dressed up and fancy. "Dimensional Psychosis!" I heard the girl shout. The cat then looked as though as she was going to die as the girl summoned a magic circle around her. While I had to search for Carrow, I couldn't let the cat get harmed or killed. What can I say? I'm kinda fond of cats. I used a rock jump to get above Fancy Hat. As I fell down, I summoned an obsidian blade in my hoof. I landed on the girl's back, knocking her down and canceling the spell she was doing. Before she could throw me off, I plunged the blade into her neck, severing several vital nerves and blood vessels. I proceeded to stab her in the back until she stopped twitching and struggling. I looked at the cat, who had her eyes closed, anticipating death. "Hey, are you okay over there?" I said gently. The cat open her eyes to peek at me, but upon seeing me, her eyes shot open wide. I was confused as to why, until I looked over myself. I was covered in fresh blood. "Ugh! I just cleaned that off of me!" I ripped a portion of the girl's pant leg off and began to wipe the blood off. "Now I've got to start all over!" After I cleaned most of the blood off of me, I addressed the cat. "I hope you're Carrow, because I was instructed to keep you safe." I trotted forward as a white unicorn with blue mane teleported to her. "Here I am Carrow!" The unicorn said. "Do you need me to be your foal-sitter now?" "That won't be entirely necessary. By the way, my name's Obsidian Shard." I offered my hoof to the cat and she shook it. "My name is Carrow Coxen the Ecaflip." She then pointed to the unicorn. "And that's Vinyl." "Nice to more officially meet you. Anyway, I think we should find Delsin. You would be safer near him." I then use a rock boost to shoot me towards the Everfree. I landed and looked back to Carrow and Vinyl, who both had shocked expressions. "We don't have all day! Hurry up!" They then ran and caught up with me just as I used another rock boost. Dusk Spark's POV I can't believe how stupid that Masqueraider is. I saw him talking with someone under mind control who made himself to like he was Displaced. At least the weirdo with the axes didn't do anything aggressive. As Axe Man walked away, I saw Mask Face create a sentry or whatever in Tartarus he made with a short statue and a mask. That then started following Axe Man deeper into the Everfree. Considering that that guy needed a few eyes on him, Kudos to Mask Face. I noticed that Zecora was there with Mask Face. I static teleported close to eavesdrop on the conversation. "That'll do it thank you," Zecora said, "But for now, stay ready to bid adieu." "What's that mean?" Mask Face asked. "Once you hear it there will be death, one way or another, so go forth......when your ready to do so." That sounded weird. Apparently, not every Zecora rhymes in every sentence. My electromagi-scan can tell that she is safe. I had already done so to Axe Man, showing that he's hostile and has traces of mind control. Since I went through the trouble of going through Tartarus and back to try and keep what Hellish future I've lived in from happening, I guess helping Delsin help these guys out would be worth it. I static teleported to a hidden position and began to tail Axe Man and Mini Mask. Before I could follow him far, I felt something I haven't felt for several years. S***! He’s here! I left Axe Man to find Delsin. Just don’t die at his hands, Delsin. Points: +7 Rank: Champion Chapter 25: Demons of Chaos This chapter was written with the assistance of Company Master Sebaste and DemonG. A Crossover with their stories, For the Emperor and the UNSC! (Rebooted version) and Hunter of Ash and Cinder, respectively. inFAMOUS Displaced Chapter 25 Demons of Chaos (3rd person POV) The group had been working on the portal for nearly a week. Aside from a few interruptions from Stella and, at one point, Screwball, the project was going smoothly. “Okay!” Delsin called out from under the device. “Throw the switch!” “Why did I just get a henchman vibe from that?” Sebaste muttered as he flipped the switch, only to duck as a wooden ruler spun past him. He glared at a now embarrassed Pinkie. “Really? You had to pull that gag?” Before Pinkie could respond, the sound of electrocution, minus the screaming, was heard from where Delsin was. Sebaste quickly turned off the power and waited as some smoke curled up from under the device. “You alright mate?” Viktor called over. The smoke then flowed back under the device. “Note to self: don't place the wires like that.” “My Lord, is the device ready?” Dweller asked. “Just had to know if the electrical wiring was set...and...Done!” He pulled himself out from under the device. “Now for a test run. Second, you have that box of tokens?” “Right here, sir,” Second answered. Delsin began sifting through the box. After a few moments, he pulled out a small bell. He looked at it as if listening to something. “This should do.” He placed it in the connection reader. He then flipped the switch and pressed a few buttons, causing the device to start humming. “Fingers crossed it won't blow up…” Alex remarked. The portal frame lit up, a blue portal forming in it. Then a ringing was heard from the token and the frame began to shake violently. “Uh oh! HIT THE DECK!” Everyone, except Pinkie, dropped to the ground. Pinkie simply pulled out a deck of cards and hit it, scattering cards in front of the three new people in the room. The portal then closed behind them. Sebaste slowly stood up. “Who are you three?” He asked, his posture showing that he was ready to summon a weapon if the three proved hostile. One of them, tall and wore dark leather and a face mask with hat, looked around. His right arm was in some sort of clawed gauntlet. Beside him was another being with the same outfit but shorter with a cane. The last one wore a futuristic suit of armor. “Well, this is new.” The tall man said ignoring Sebaste. “Huh?” Delsin stood up, slowly his chain at the ready. “What do you mean?” The man looked over to the one with a cane and nodded. It pulled out a small orb thing and threw it up in the air. It spun a few times before letting out a blue light for a second. It fell back down and the being pushed a few things on it. “The rift brought us to another world, let’s hope it’s not filled with marshmallows.” the being with the cane said. “I thought you like marshmallows?” The man said. “The ones not trying to eat me.” “Right…” The man looked up to Delsin and tilted his head. “Hello.” “About time you noticed us,” Delsin said in annoyance. “Oh, I already noticed you. I just chose not say anything until now.” the man replied. “Sheesh, Arrogant aren't you?” Sebaste asked, an eyebrow raised under his helmet and his arms crossed. “Call it all you want, doesn’t matter to me.” he said as he turned around to the device. “Nice Rift gate by the way.” “Rift gate?” Alex asked, her voice sounding confused. “I believe that's his terminology for the device,” Delsin said, wrapping his chain back around his wrist. “And to be honest, it's better than what I called it.” Sebaste then looked closer at the man before he suddenly jerked back as a realization hit him. “I recognize the game he’s from, Bloodborne or something like that…” “First name was right.” The man said before looking around. “What’s with the mess?” Before anyone could say something he flicked his wrist and everything started to move and cleaning itself up. It took a few minutes but everything was soon clean and the man was holding a deck of cards. “Much better.” “Well that was new…” Sebastian spoke up, eyeing the three from where he was. “To explain the mess, we were building that Rift gate and we were fearing an explosive malfunction. I told everyone to ‘hit the deck’ and Pinkie took it literally,” Delsin explained. The three of them looked at the pink mare for a moment. "Oh, it’s one of these worlds! Awesome.” “What the… it’s a pink horse!” “Hey! I'm a pony, thank you very much!” She complained. “Hey don’t be rude.” the man said. “You three are new to being Displaced, aren't you?” Sebaste asked. “They,” he pointed at the two. “Kinda, not really Displaced, me on the other hand have been through this.” “I didn’t join the Rift Hunters for this.” the being, who sounded female, said. “Don’t lie, you totally did.” the man said. Sebaste sighed, “Just who are you three exactly?” He asked. The man and woman looked at one another before removing their headgear. The man had dark blue hair, beard and blue eyes with a scar under his left eye. The woman had short brown hair with green eyes. They both, plus the being in the suit, bowed. “Apologies for not saying before, name's Jace Belaguard and this,” he gestures towards the woman. “Is Ynra, head hunter for the Rift hunters.” “The name’s Eliteslayer, and behind are Alexandra, Sebastian and Viktor. The Displaced next to me is Delsin.” Sebaste said, gesturing to the others as he introduced them and himself. “Nice to met you all, oh and this…” he turned to the person in the suit, his expression changed a bit. “I need to talk to you, now.” he grabbed the being and disappeared into ash. Ynra looked at the rest of the group and shrugged. “Family matter, the head doesn’t like the fact his family came with.” she said. “His… well, that's not exactly surprising to me, I know a Displaced who has family spread across the Multiverse.” Sebaste chuckled. Ynra turned to the device and looked at it. “So, oddly enough that you all were doing a test on a rift gate at the same time as we were, funny that it’s so big.” “Hmm… that is a bit surprising.” Sebastian then walked forward, the thump of his metal boots echoing through the room. “But what are these “Rift Hunters” you mentioned?” “It’s a branch that stems from a group known as Hunters, who have been around for a very long time.” she gestures at the device. “Some time ago rifts started to pop up all over the place bringing creatures with them, so the Head Hunter, who was the man was just here, made the Rift Hunters. A group to research the rifts.” She turned to look at Sebastian. “If you have any other questions better ask the head.” “There might be one question you could answer,” Delsin said. He pointed to the Rift gate. “Would this device be able to sync the time axises of two different worlds?” Ynra thought about it for a moment and shrugged. “I have no idea, never tested it.” “It’s okay, I’m just trying to avoid a “Chronicles of Narnia” time axis difference with a friend of mine.” “That begs the question, who’s Equestria are you trying to time sync with?” Sebaste asked. “I’m trying to sync up with Tito’s world. I don’t know why, but I feel that I’m going to be working with him quite frequently. As of right now, a month or so could have passed in the time it took for us to even get this far.” Delsin emphasised that by pointing to the Rift gate and then Ynra. “Hey, we been looking into rifts for some time now yet we still have no idea how they keep popping up.” she said. She looked back at the device. “Jace might know of a way but that’s a long shot.” “I know of one long shot and how it somehow end up working,” Delsin began. “Back a few thousand years, blast shards and blast cores would neutralize a pony’s magic. The then Prince Sombra of the Crystal Empire had crystal ponies immigrate to Equestria, where their descendants later passed on their immunity to said problem. Now, ponies can handle them without said negative effects.” Delsin took a breath and finished, “It was a long shot for their genetics to do that for the entire current population, and yet it happened. So any shot is worth the shot.” As Delsin finished Jace reappeared with someone else. A woman with long pink hair, glasses and tan skin. She wore a tank top with the sun on it and blue jeans. “Sorry, what did I miss?” “Just wondering about time synchronization and if the Rift gate can do that,” Delsin said. Jace looked at him and back at the device. “For one you don’t really need that big thing to open Rifts.” he said. “Well we don't exactly have any other way to open a portal.” Viktor remarked. “Unless you have a token that can hold a portal open for a long time?” “What he just said,” Delsin agreed. Jace thought about it and frowned. “What do you mean, time synchronization?” he asked. “Two worlds operate on different time axes. One hour in one world could be a week in another. The thing I’m trying to accomplish is to make it so that one hour in one world is the same amount of time in another.” “Oh well… that… well that could be done.” He looked back to Delsin. “You’ll also destroy both worlds on the way but it’s possible.” He said in a carefree way. “Can it be done WITHOUT the potential of cosmic destruction?” Delsin asked. Jace stared at him for a moment. “How much do you know about Rifts? Nevermind, don’t answer that. You know that each of the realities for each Displaced are there own, different time wave and all that junk. Rifts are a tear that cuts through the thread that keeps one reality from another. A rift forms or opens if a strong surge of chaos cuts said thread.” “So tokens are part of this ‘surge of chaos’ you’re talking about?” “No no no, tokens are different, think of it like a wall with gates and tokens are a pass. Rifts on the other hand are someone taking a hammer to said wall and make a hole in it.” Jace explained. “Discord.” Sebaste said. “I don’t think he would do something that dumb. Anyway back to the question before, no, it’s impossible to get the times of two worlds that are different to be the same but other means without blowing the two worlds up.” “What about using the ‘official gates’ of this ‘wall’?” Delsin pulled out his token and Tito’s token. “Make it easier to access that world by way of a special portal or whatever. I heard from my fiance about a Sunset Shimmer using a mirror portal, and the world she’s on, it’s theorized, runs on the same time axis as this world.” “If it was different realities but what your fiance is explaining is a parallel universe. Completely different.” Jace explained. “Getting the times the same of a parallel universe is different from doing so of a different reality, the world won’t blow up. As for the gate thing, still won’t work, this is stuff I was told by someone who can make rifts with a snap of his fingers.” “Did someone mention me?” A voice spoke. (Delsin’s POV) I jumped at the sound of that voice. “Discord! Where are you!?” Smoke flowed down my arm, ready to attack at a moment’s notice. “No need to be antagonistic. I’m not being antagonistic. Your other worldly friend, on the other paw…” I turned to Jace with a questioning look. Jace looked at me for a moment then away. “Nope, not you, not even close.” he said. “Aww, I hate the filter that Wayward put on my internet site! I never was able to get the manuscript of your story!” Jace looked up at this. “Right… better you not read it, I’ve dealt with beings that make you small.” Jace said. “I’m not even going to ask,” Discord and I said. “Anyway, I just want to point out that what you said isn’t entirely true, but neither is it false.” Jace looked at the ceiling. “So who’s world am I in?” he asked, ignoring Discord. “Well this got awkward fast…” Viktor muttered. “You’re in my--” “Wayward’s world,” Discord interrupted. “It’s rude to switch subjects, you know.” “I don’t really care, you’re being nosy.” Jace said. The woman giggled at this. “Well, the author, Wayward, just finished his research on the subject and came up with something.” A small manuscript titled, “When lightning strikes…” appeared in front of him. “Read chapter 18. You’ll be surprised what you may find.” Discord paused, as if you could imagine him thinking. “Another thing I should mention would be that if you still say it’s still impossible, the author will manipulate a wormhole or do whatever to allow a time synced portal to be possible.” Jace took the manuscript and looked at it for a moment before it turned into dust. “Not my world, not my rules, just don’t mess with things that you don’t understand.” Jace said as he looked at me. “You telling me that or him,” I asked. He stared at me for a minute. “Discord, this one acts like he can do whatever he wants so I don’t care, I’m telling you that.” he said. He paused for a moment and turned away. “I’m not trying to tell what you want to do, just be careful at what you are doing.” “I think Delsin knows what he's doing.” Alex said, her right arm whirring as she crossed her arms. “I believe, he was addressing me,” Discord said, physically behind her. Only to be sent into the wall after being sent flying from a magic blast by the startled Spartan. “Frighten easily lately? Or just magic happy?” “You try being in a war and expect an attack from enemy forces at any moment.” She retorted. “Ah, of course,” he said, pulling himself out of the wall. “Your story is kind of vague on the details of that, so I wasn’t properly informed.” I heard Jace mutter something. “Anyway I know that feeling all too well.” he said to Alex. “Really? How?” She said, her tone starting to sound steely. Jace looked at her and his face went dark. “You try surviving in a world that everything and anything can kill you without a thought. Even the land itself.” he simply said. “So, Discord,” I said. “How do we get a special portal up?” “It’ll take me, your friend’s me, and both yours and his token,” I held out the tokens for him to take. “I’ll get this end up, and my other me can get his end up.” He took Tito’s medallion as his paw arm glowed yellow. A door then formed on one of the empty walls. Discord floated to it. “I’ll be right back.” He went through the door and was gone. Sebastian sighed before his armor disappeared, revealing him in his normal clothes. “So what now?” He asked. “Explore? Never been here.” Jace said. He seemed to find a few chairs as the pink haired woman and Yrna sat down. “So who's the lady with you?” Sebaste asked, nodding to the pink haired woman. Jace raised an eyebrow. “Full name or short?” he asked. “Short.” Jace looked over at the woman. “You can call me Tia.” she said. I stared at her in shock. “Celestia?!” Sebaste stepped back in shock. The Royal Guard symbol on his left shoulder pad suddenly caught Jace's and Celestia's eyes. “Huh, that’s something.” Jace said as he nodded to the symbol. “Got it a long time ago. Back when I was in a different Equestria.” He replied. “I never really noticed it,” I said, still shocked about seeing a human Celestia. “Then again, there are cases where I’m completely clueless. I guess it’s just one of many possible side effects of being alone for a thousand years.” I heard Jace snort at this. “Only a thousand? That’s young.” “I’ve heard of Displaced that were imprisoned longer.” Sebaste said. “The times of imprisonment, is it important right now?” Jace asked. “Age is,” I threw in. “Somewhat. I ended up getting punched in the face for trying to help a Displaced who was roughly three thousand years old. That’s old compared to my one thousand.” “Well you know someone older and unless you tick me off I won’t punch you in the face.” Jace said with a smile. “I’m BACK!!!” Discord said from the door. “The portal is synced and everything. I even threw in Cell service into the deal.” When he said that I pulled out my phone and texted a quick message to Tito. ‘Respond five minutes after receiving this text.’ “I must say, this Discord is more… untamed than ours.” Tia said to Jace. “Have you ever considered reforming your Discord?” Sebaste asked. Jace looked at him. “Do you mean this one or mine?” he asked. “Yours.” Jace looked at him for a moment then looked away. “He’s… well not reformed but he’s not like this unless you push him too far.” Jace said. “Huh, our Discord is reformed, but he’s been a bit busy as of late…” I heard a chime from my pocket and I checked my phone. Tito responded in the time frame I asked. ‘Delsin? Hey. It’s been a little while.’ I smiled and muttered, “Yes, it has been.” Another chime. ‘You would not believe what happened the last week.’ I texted back, ‘Hold on. I’ll contact you when I’m on your world.’ ‘Wait, what are you talking about?’ ‘You’ll see.’ ‘Okay...hopefully you like my...daughter…’ Daughter? I looked over at Jace and saw that he was making three orbs of… something, float around his hand. “What in Dorn's name are those?” Sebastian asked in confusion, the other three echoing his confusion. “Just some orbs of chaos, nothing big.” Jace said nonchalantly. The orbs just kept spinning around his hand as they started to change shape to a star, a square, and a ring. “What? Never saw chaos before?” Sebaste snorted. “I’ve faced off against a Chaos sorcerer and his cronies in a war back in my old Equestria, so yes, I’ve seen and faced chaos.” “I’m sorry about interrupting, but I need to go somewhere and I don’t mean any offence but, I think you all--” I gestured to all the Displaced in the room. “--need to head home. Who knows what may have happened if time is off kilter or whatever wherever and such.” Sebaste nodded before he looked over at Alex. She nodded in return before her gauntlet glowed with arcane power. A portal soon opened front of the others but before the four Displaced headed to their Equestria, the Recon turned me and the other three and said, “It was an honor meeting you all, and I wish you all luck in your endeavors.” He then entered the portal and vanished. Alex then looked at me before saying, “Good luck with your engagement Delsin. Hope things go well for you.” The other two gave a farewell salute before they too began to enter the portal. “Hey! I just remembered something!” This caused the soldiers to stop. “Am I able to use your tokens as weapons?” “Yep.” Alex replied. “Say what now?” Jace ask as he looked at the three. “Our tokens serve a dual purpose, they allow for another Displaced to summon us, but they are also weapons for those that will use them wisely.” She replied. She then turned and caught what seemed to be an assault rifle with an energy bayonet flying out of the portal. “This one's Sebaste's token.” She said, tossing it to me. “Infinite ammo, so you don't have to worry about reloading.” “That’s good,” I said, before hefting the rifle and putting a few rounds in the portal device, causing a controlled explosion. “That’ll do it.” She giggled before waving goodbye and vanishing into the portal. “Hope we'll see each other again sometime mate.” Viktor said. Then he too vanished into the portal. Sebastian rolled his eyes before he looked over at me. “They may be my friends, but sometimes they forget to ask things.” He chuckled. “Do you have an invitation for the wedding of you and Tia?” I pulled one out of my pocket and handed it to him. “There you go. See ya!” “Later Delsin, tell Stella we said hello.” He said before he then entered the portal and it then closed with a pop. I looked back at the other three and saw Jace still making orbs spin around his hand, now there’s a blue orb and an orb on fire. “What are you doing?” I asked. “Training, you were all talking so I was just doing this to keep me in tip top shape and stuff.” he said. He looked at me before making them disappear. “So you want me to leave as well?” “I don’t mean to offend you when I say yes.” He shrugged and stood up. “Eh, doesn't matter to me that much.” He looked around and flicked his wrist. The bell from before appeared in his hand. “If ya need help, don’t be afraid to call.” I took the bell and handed him an invitation a well. “I’ll see you around.” Jace looked at the invitation for a minute. “A wedding between you and your Celestia, huh that would be interesting, anything else ya need to tell me before I go?” I tossed a Banishing Key to him. “I have a doppelganger that’ll try to kill you. Just use that, and he won’t be back.” “A doppelganger? Well there’s a story behind that but let’s cut that part to later and just give me some info about him, powers, weaknesses, fears and personality.” he said. “Smoke, neon, video, concrete, and chaos magic are his thing. He’s resistant to death, fears stronger chaos users, and is an all around idiot with half a brain,” I listed off. “Oh! And he looks like me, except his jacked is red and his vest shows a Vulture instead of an Eagle.” I turned around, showing him the back of my vest. “Resistant to death? That’s… disturbing.” Tia said with a frowned. “Not a problem with me, in truth with what you said then I’m going to be his worst nightmare.” Jace said with a grin. “Sounds good to me,” Discord said, twirling a yo-yo contrary to gravity. “While I may be ‘irresponsible’ with my chaos powers, Nisled takes it to down right...urgh, I can’t even find a word to describe how disgusting it is.” “Right, again the way you said it then… Nisled is probably the weakest chaos user there is if he thinks like that.” Jace said as he put the invitation in his pocket. I raised an eyebrow at him. “What he means is that anyone that thinks chaos as magic isn’t that strong with it.” Tia said with a smile. “Just don’t traumatize him too badly,” I said. “He may be sadistic, but he shouldn’t be taken down too far.” “No promises but I’ll see what I can do.” Jace said until he jerked his head over. “What’s that?” I stared at him confused as he waved his hand. I looked over and saw another blue orb float over to us. Inside was something black. “Is that… tar?” Yrna asked. “Dude I don’t know what you do here but make sure you clean up, black tar is just gross.” Jace said as he looks at it. “That’s what was leftover from some issues involving someone who could control that stuff. Incinerate it please.” Jace eyed me for a second and made the orb turn red. The tar burst into black flames and after a few seconds there wasn’t anything in it.” “Should I be worried about this one?” he asked. “Not sure. She built a portal to another world, but I’m not sure which one. I’ll be able to find her and take her down,” I told him. “Depends on if she build the portal right, some of them will take you to other worlds while others… well all that was left is ash. The void is a dangerous place.” he said. “It was unstable, but it worked. That’s how three of those four you saw earlier got here...unintentionally. After its second use, it self destructed,” I said. “Probably a safety feature.” “Right… Just to be on the safe side I’ll keep an eye out for her, mind give me a picture so I know what I’m looking for.” he said. Discord pulled out a picture from his ear and handed it to Jace. Jace took it and looked at it, he tilted his head a bit. “Well… that’s something.” he said as he pocketed the picture. “Anything else you need to do, say, or show me?” “Don’t let her tar touch your spine or head. She can then control you through it...if that’s even possible with you.” “If she tries then she will have one big surprise.” Jace said to me. “Last call for anything to show me and other stuff.” “Nothing else that comes to mind,” I stated, before suddenly remembering. “Oh, wait! Another Displaced managed to get his Diarch of the Sun dressed up weird.” I showed him Sora’s picture of Prince Solaris. The three of them stared at it for sometime. “I don’t get it, it just shows a horse with a horn and wings in a dress.” Tia said. “I agree, what’s the point of this?” Jace asked. “In most Equestrias, the inhabitants are sentient ponies, and their Princess or Prince is a horse,” I sighed in annoyance. “The joke is that Sora, the Displaced that took this picture, wants the rest of the multiverse to not take him, meaning Solarus, seriously.” “I don’t know, even if I would look like that, which would be kinda cute, I wouldn’t take myself seriously if I was a winged horse.” Tia said. “Until you actually see her angry side, you wouldn’t normally take her seriously...or him…” “Are you saying that I’m not threatening as is?” Tia asked me. Her gaze seemed to pierce through me. “Even if you see me as a horse?” “I’ll just say no comment and please stop...you’re scaring me.” “Good,” she started with a loving smile as she cracked her knuckles. “I would hate if you have to tell your Celestia that you got beaten to a bloody pulp by something else.” “Just go please. I’m close to wetting myself in fear.” She eyed me for a second before turning around. In a bright flash a white portal opened. “I’ll see you when you get back brother.” Tia said before she and Yrna walked through it. Leaving me and Jace alone. “Well she’s a bit ticked, sorry about that. She can be caring but the idea of anyone seeing her as a joke rubs her the wrong way.” Jace said. “I deserved it. Foot-in-mouth disease issue I’ve had.” “Luckily it wasn’t Luna, she would just punch you if you insult her.” Jace sighed at this. “Growing up with those two, the most oddest sisters ever.” He thought about it until he snapped his fingers and a piece of paper appeared. “Speaking of family, mind keeping an eye out for this one.” He passed me a picture of some girl with brown hair, eyes and some goggles on. “Who is she?” “My sister, she’s a displaced as well.” he said as he looks away. “She’s a bit of a knucklehead but nice.” “I’ll keep an eye out, but no guarantee of finding her.” I checked my phone before looking back at him. “I’ll see ya later then?” “Yup, see ya.” with that he turned into ash. Now I was alone. “Well, I’m suddenly confused as to why I’m alone when there were some ponies and a draconequs here earlier.” I shrugged. “Meh, I needed a nap anyway.” Author's Note Finally...exhausted my brains...hurts...
Chapter 2: Gather IntelinFAMOUS Displaced Chapter 2 Gather Intel “I say we gather intel,” I state in a whisper, “If we can get the idea of what they’re planning, we can end this war sooner and the innocent will be spared.” “What about us!” the cowardly pony whisper-shouted, “We’re not soldiers. We’ll be slaughtered and served to their King on a spit.” “That’s the value of sacrifice. A few dying to allow many more to live,” I countered, “We also hold an advantage over these buzzards. They have armor, meaning that they will be a bit clumsy. We don’t need to defeat every buzzard here, we just need to keep them busy so that the professionals can nab the intel the Royal Guard need.” “If I’m going to be getting the Intel, I need two volunteers who are good at sneaking around,” Smoke said, “Also, if we link up through a telepathic line, we can call for help more readily and easily.” “The rest of us need to cause a ruckus, burn supplies, and comb the camp for Blast Shards,” I state, “The stronger I am, the more of a ruckus I can cause. It should get them to come after me instead of you.” “That makes sense,” said the cowardly pony, “I guess there’s no way for me to be talked out of the idea.” “That’s what I want to hear. Now, get ready.” I stood up and started absorbing the Blast Shard. The Blue aura moved from the Shard to my hand and before we all knew it, the physical remains of the shard crumbled into pebbles. I looked at my hand and saw the blue aura fade away into smoke. I kept the smoke on my hand to try and get a feel for what smoke is like. I’ve watched walkthroughs of inFAMOUS: Second Son and I didn’t know how conduits were able to have control over their element. I did, however, have a hypothesis. In order to control their element, they had to be their element. Feeling the smoke in my hands, I felt the warmth that it held. It also had a form of mystery to it...you know…’what’s behind the smoke and mirrors’ kind of a thing. It felt immaterial as well. With those thoughts in mind, I charged towards the cage side, aiming for the lone griffin guard. Just before I made any contact with the side of the cage, I suddenly became a cloud of smoke and passed through the cage bars. I then reformed back into physical form...right on top of the Guard. He was taken by surprise and before he could do anything, I smashed my fist into his helmet, knocking him out instantly. I then restrained him with smoke, should he come to. I searched the guard for the keys, but I couldn’t find anything. I didn’t want to risk being found and having the prisoners either tortured or killed for nothing. I turned back to the cage and did the only thing I could think of. I tore the door to the cage off of it’s hinges. That was followed by avian squawking. We’ve been discovered. “Alright, Out! Now!” I shouted to the cage occupants. All of the ponies in the cage, with the exception of Smoke Shot, the cowardly pony, and a pegasus, left the cage and began to brawl with griffins that heard the cage being broken. Smoke Shot and the other two ponies began to run the opposite direction. Before they got very far, I managed to call them back. “Smoke! The Telepathy spell!” She cast the spell and I heard a voice in my head. ‘Okay, can you hear me?’ ‘Yeah.’ ‘Now, go help the others. If we find anything of interest, or we need help we’ll give a shout out.’ ‘Got it.’ After that experimental conversation, I went to where the majority of the prisoners went to distract the guards. Every so often as I ran, I heard a few yell of pain and squawks. I approached the scene of a brawl between a pegasus and a griffin and gave the griffin a piece of my mind in the form of a well placed punch in the beak. It hurt like heck but I didn’t have time to check my hand’s condition. I kept running around to various parts of the battle and giving the griffins broken beaks or ribs. Now while that made it seem that the battle was going our way, it wasn’t. For every beak or set of ribs I break, there was a pony that was either injured or dead. There was the occasional pony that had a lucky break and had managed to avoid injury. Those that could told me as to where any blast shards were. Roughly part way through the fifth blast shard, I received a message from Smoke Shot, but it sounded like there was static-like interference ‘Hey!...We’ve...Problem!’ ‘What’s wrong?!’ ‘Our magic...disabled, but...find the blast...stopping it.’ ‘On my way! Where are you?’ ‘North...Camp...Leader...Help!’ I began to worry. I ran around the camp, rallying the remaining prisoners to try and save the intel operation. We ran as fast as we could to get to the northern portion of the camp, searching for the intel group and the blast shard that they were having problems with. When we arrived at a clearing in front of a tent that was bigger than the others we’ve trampled, we saw a horrendous site. The Alpha Griffin that lead the group that captured me, was strangling the life out of the pegasus that went in the Intel group. The cowardly pony was already dead, lying in front of the Alpha. Smoke Shot was lying some distance away from the scene. This may have looked bad, but it got worse. Once the Alpha finished strangling the pegasus, he pulled out a chain...my chain...and began to advance on Smoke Shot. I looked at the prisoners I had gathered and I could see that, magic or no magic, they would be slaughtered. Just as the Alpha was about to reach Smoke shot, I moved forward towards the griffin. My movement caught his attention and he turned towards me with my chain ready. “Hmm, you ponies seem to not get it,” he sneered, “We griffins are meant to rule over all creatures. You all are low life herbivores.” “Last I checked, I’m not a pony and I’m omnivorous,” I countered, “And leave them out of this. This is between you and me.” “How is this between us two?” He asked in ridicule, “Our war is with the ponies, not you or your kind.” “You got me involved by capturing me,” I said, “Something about slave trade.” I saw that he understood what I said. He quickly shook off his surprise and readied the chain to strike at me. “A mistake that I will remedy easily, thanks to the Anti-crystal I have on me.” Anti-crystal? Is that a blast shard? Before I could contemplate more of what he said, he came at me with the chain. I was able to avoid the various strikes and swings until I caught the chain. A grin suddenly formed on his face and I saw his muscle tense to pull me towards him. Unlike when I first met the griffins, I was ready when he pulled. I fell backwards and his pull pulled me towards him. As I slid towards him, I adjusted my hand that had the chain end. As he was ready to bury his claws into my gut, I punched him with my chain hand. I slid under him as he was rubbing his beak. After I was past him, I got up and pulled hard on the chain. He was then flipped onto his back. As he was about to get up, I kicked him hard, causing his armor to shift and a blast shard flew out of it. I walked to the shard and picked it up and turned to the downed griffin. “Is this an Anti-crystal?” I asked the griffin. He nodded. I absorbed the power and crumbled the remains in my hand, much to the griffin’s shock. I then said, smugly, “Next time you go toe to toe with a conduit, don’t carry a blast shard with you.” I then walked up to the scared griffin and restrained him with swirling smoke. I then turned to the gathered ponies and called out, “Search the camp for any more prisoners, intact supplies and tools, and more blast shards!” They ran off in different directions as I went over to where Smoke was. I didn’t know much about pony anatomy, but he could tell that her back legs were bent in a direction that the weren’t supposed to point. I carefully picked her up and brought her to a wagon that had became designated for the wounded. I set her in the wagon and searched for the dead. After they were gathered, we gave them a proper burial, each one given a grave. For each grave site, I placed a board where their head was and I used the spray paint to paint their flank mark on it as best as I could. Apparently, the spray paint I used was magical in some way, because when I sprayed on the board, it seemed to read my mind and sprayed the mark on perfectly and without blemish or color deviation. After the burial of the dead, and the inspection of supplies, we began to head out. The wagon that had Smoke in it was in the lead with myself following to relay her directions to the Royal Guard Outpost to those pulling the sick wagon. The wagons carrying the supplies and tools were following, with the blast shard wagon bringing up the rear. We had traveled for several hours before the sun started to set. When the sun was halfway set, I called for the camp to halt. We set the wagons around in a half circle and had the blast shard wagon away from camp. With mine and Smoke’s help, we had a fire going and we brought the wounded out and began to tend to them. It took me a moment to figure out, but I began to heal the wounded as best I could with my smoke. Their wounds and broken bones just mended almost instantly. But even with the Insta-heal or whatever, they needed to rest and recover from the shock of being wounded. After healing the last pony, I sat by the fire next to Smoke. I absorbed some of the smoke to recover from the healing session and began to relax. Smoke looked up at me. I noticed in my peripheral vision that her look seemed to be a look of wonder. I decided to break the ice (no pun intended on the weather). “You seem to be amazed.” I noticed her shocked face. ‘I am. You were amazing. You had taken down every brute of a turkey with ease.’ ‘Yeah. I’m amazed as well. I was just an average joe with the average job. Next thing I know, I have powers and I helped a bunch of prismatic ponies escape from a detachment of a griffin military.’ ‘And yet, you aren’t freaking out?’ ‘I’ve seen and experienced worse. My dad had a tendency to act more like a teenager than an adult.’ ‘That doesn’t sound too bad.’ ‘If bad doesn’t include strapping himself to a flagpole, hoping to be struck by lightning.’ ‘Never mind.’ I chuckled a bit at her sudden change of heart. ‘I really need to figure out how telepathy works. I want to be able to talk mentally without another to ready the line, so to speak.’ ‘You said that what you did wasn’t magic and therefore, you couldn't do magic.’ ‘I know, but there are other ways to talk telepathically...I think.’ ‘How?’ ‘I’m not sure.’ I looked at the blast shard wagon in the distance and I decided to go count how many blast shards there were. ‘I’ll be right back, I’m going to do some counting.’ I walked out of the camp to the blast shard wagon. Once I got there, I tipped the wagon over so I could count as I refilled the wagon. When I did, I started hearing a strange humming sound. It seemed to come from the pile I had made. I dug through the shards until I got to the source of the humming...A Blast Core. I got excited and ran back to the camp. I got to where Smoke Shot was and as soon as she saw the blast core in my hands, her eyes got big. “What are you doing with that blast shard!” “This isn’t a blast shard,” I said, “It’s a blast core.” “Blast core?” “Yeah. This is much like a blast shard, except instead of making me stronger, it gives me new abilities.” “Well, then, absorb it and get the power.” I did however have another idea. “Hold on,” I interject, “I want to try something.” “What?” “A conduit can absorb it and get more abilities by channeling their element through it. I wanted to know if you channeled a spell through it while I held it, would I be able to use that spell?” I asked. “I don’t know,” she responded, “I may be worth the try. What kind of spell do you want to learn?” Hmm. This is tough. I could learn a combat spell, but I don’t want to be overly aggressive or violent. There may be the availability for a more useful, non-violent spell, but I may be unprepared for a fight in the future. So what kind of a spell should work? Combat Spell or Non-violent Spell? ********************** Combat Spell “Do you think a combat spell would work?” I asked. “Do you have any type in preference?” “Something explosive.” “Okay,” she said, then had a look of confusion, “How will we do it?” “Fire the spell at the blast core as I hold it,” I instructed. I held it in my hands, making it an easy target for Smoke to shoot. She charged her horn with an orange aura. “Ready?” She nodded. “One, Two, Three!” She fired her spell at the blast core and scored a direct hit. Unfortunately, due to the explosive nature of the spell, I was knocked back. My head hit a wagon and I blacked out instantly. ************************ Non-violent Spell “Let’s play it safe, I want to learn telepathy,” I stated. “Okay,” she said, then had a look of confusion, “How will we do it?” “Weave the spell into the blast core as I hold it,” I instructed. I held it tightly in my hands as Smoke charged her horn with an orange aura. “Ready?” She nodded. “One, Two, Three!” She enveloped the blast core in the orange aura. At first, nothing seemed to happen. But then, I started to feel pain. And this is not pain as in “I stubbed my toe,” or “I banged my head on the doorframe.” This was pain as in “AARRGG! My insides are being ripped out without painkillers!” I began to yell in pain, but as I yelled, I looked at Smoke and saw that she was yelling as well. She seemed to be in pain as well. After who knows how long of pain and yelling, we both collapsed. After a few seconds, my vision went dark. Author's Note Points: +1 Rank: Protector
Chapter 3: Non-violent SpellinFAMOUS Displaced Chapter 3 Non-violent Spell “Let’s play it safe, I want to learn telepathy,” I stated. “Okay,” she said, then had a look of confusion, “How will we do it?” “Weave the spell into the blast core as I hold it,” I instructed. I held it tightly in my hands as Smoke charged her horn with an orange aura. “Ready?” She nodded. “One, Two, Three!” She enveloped the blast core in the orange aura. At first, nothing seemed to happen. But then, I started to feel pain. And this is not pain as in “I stubbed my toe,” or “I banged my head on the doorframe.” This was pain as in “AARRGG! My insides are being ripped out without painkillers!” I began to yell in pain, but as I yelled, I looked at Smoke and saw that she was yelling as well. She seemed to be in pain as well. After who knows how long of pain and yelling, we both collapsed. After a few seconds, my vision went dark. ************************* I couldn’t tell if I was blacked out for a few seconds or several hours, but when I felt aware of anything, I saw myself in a form of vision. In this vision, the other me raised his left hand to his temple. The vision went white for a moment, showing him do the same thing. Except he was in a corridor and there was somepony behind him. Other Me didn’t notice him until his hand went to his temple. His head jerked as if he realized that the pony was behind him. He then rapidly undid the chain and gave the pony a whack with it. *********************** I woke up to unstable ground and uncomfortable sleeping conditions. After my head and vision cleared, I found that I was in the back of the blast shard wagon. The convoy was moving. I managed to get out of the moving wagon and I ran to the wagon at the head of the train. Looking into it, I saw that Smoke Shot was conscious, but was exhausted. She was still leading the refugees the nearest Guard outpost. I got into the wagon with her and she noticed my entrance. “You’re awake!” She shouted in excitement. “I am,” I state, rather bluntly. “You know, we never really got you name,” she said, “Most of us have learned each other’s names, but I didn’t catch yours.” At that I was conflicted. I never liked lying, but I wasn’t sure how I was going to get home in the first place. Those factors gave me issues on how I would be called. But, ultimately, I settled on… “Delsin Rowe.” “What?” “My name is Delsin Rowe. Commit it to memory,” I said as I pointed to my head with my hand. As soon as my hand made contact with my head, I suddenly felt a rush of information. I could “hear” the surface thoughts of everypony in the camp. Smoke Shot and the confusion from my physical reaction to my flood of thoughts. The pony far in the back of the wagon train complaining about the weight of the wagon. The griffins hidden in the snow bank that...Wait...Griffin? I removed my hand from head and exited the wagon. I looked around and tried to figure out where I had felt the griffin. I even put my hand to my head and tried to match my visual with my mental. No luck. I stood there trying to find the griffins until I noticed that the blast shard wagon passed me. Well, I needed the help to find those griffins just in case. I grabbed a small handful or two of blast shards and absorbed them. I then entered my Scan and and managed to match my visual with my mental. The griffins were hiding behind snow banks to the left and right of the wagon train. An Ambush! This was confirmed when a Griffin popped over the top of the left snow bank and fired a crossbow at me. The bolt hit me in my right shoulder, sending me into the blast shard wagon and knocking it over. The pony that was pulling the blast shard wagon began to complain about the mess I made, but I wasn’t paying attention to that. I was dealing with some intense pain. My vision was partially blurry as I pulled the bolt out of my shoulder. As soon as it was out, I felt as though the pain was starting to flow out. I looked at my shoulder and saw the wound closing up with bits of ash and smoke coming from the wound. Once my injury was healed and my head cleared, I used my smoke ability to get onto my feet and scanned the area again. The Griffins behind the left snow bank had moved to the other side. All of the ponies in the wagon train had armed themselves with whatever weapons were salvaged from the POW camp and moved to the left of the now stopped wagon train. This ambush was going to be a massacre. I moved my hand to my head and gave a warning to everypony in the wagon train of the ambush. ‘The ambush is coming from the other side!’ The mental shout I gave scared a few ponies, but they all turned around just when the Griffins came out of hiding. The two groups began to fight. I was about to, but my foot bumped up against some blast shards. I picked up a few and absorbed them. I then felt as if I knew how to fight. I gathered some smoke in my hands and began to fire off small shots of smoke at the griffins. Most of my shots hit the griffins in the body, but the shots that hit their heads caused them to go into coughing fits. However, even with my support, we were being overwhelmed. ‘Everypony hitch up! Leave the blast shard wagon! I’ll keep them distracted’ I then called out to the griffins, “Hey! You Buzzards!” That got their attention. “Get a load of this!” I then lobbed a sulfur bomb at them. When the bomb exploded, the griffins caught in the blast began to cough uncontrollably. Those that weren’t, began to charge at me. I fired off smoke shots and cinder blasts to give me time to get some distance between me and the wagon train. Once I was far enough away from the wagon train, I pulled out my chain and began to fight. My mental abilities allowed me to predict (mostly) how the griffins were going to attack. I would smoke dash whenever a griffin tried to attack me from behind and I would retaliate with a chain to the beak. I started to grow tired and it became harder to fire off smoke. My smoke dash was even becoming an issue. As I started using smoke less and less, my opponents began to notice and became more bold. I was soon overwhelmed and bound up. One of the griffins had a battle ax and was ready to take my head off. I closed my eyes and readied myself for death. Waiting...Waiting...Waiting…‘Is there a problem with your ax, buddy?’ I opened my eyes and saw that the griffin that held the ax had a dead, blank look in his eyes. He then dropped the ax dangerously close to my head and then fell over. His helmeted head landed on my head. The impact caused me to fall into unconsciousness. As my vision was blurring and darkening, I distinctly could see a bright silhouette hovering over me with a darker one next to it. ********************* I woke up to hearing a campfire nearby along with sounds that are attributed with an army camp. I was inside a tent that had a red heart embroidered on it. The sun was shining bright enough for the cross to be visible inside the tent. I looked around and saw a variety of injured or otherwise afflicted ponies. There was also a campfire built inside the tent to keep the cold air out of the tent. I got up and moved to the fire and began to absorb the smoke. Halfway through the process, I heard the tent flap open. Looking to the tent entrance, I saw two alicorns in partial battle armor staring at me with shocked expressions. Once my smoke absorption was complete, I unraveled the chain on my right wrist. The alicorns lowered and charged their horns threateningly, but they stopped when I threw the chain at their hooves. I looked them up and down and said, “You both look like the ones in charge here.” The darker of the two alicorns stepped forward and said, “We are. As is our sister. We are Princess Luna and she is Princess Celestia. We would like to ask of thee as to thy name.” “My name is Delsin Rowe,” I replied. Princess Luna looked at me with a confused look. “That is a strange name,” she said. “It's the name I chose,” I replied. Princess Celestia stepped forward and said, “We wish to speak with you.” “Okay,” I said, as I moved to a cot and began to heal the occupant. After I had healed him and sent him out, I looked back at the Princesses. “Um, are you going to speak or…” I trailed off. Princess Celestia recovered from the shock first. “We were hoping to talk to you in private.” I was a bit surprised. “Can it wait for a few minutes?” I asked as I absorbed some more smoke and moved on to the next patient. Celestia seemed ready to object, but Luna spoke first. “Verily. We, on the other hoof, desire to know of how thy power works.” I raised my eyebrows in amazement. I finished the pony I was healing and turned to the Princesses. “I can give you a demonstration of my powers, but as I’m working, I’ll explain as best I can,” I paused to start work on the next pony, “I’m what is called a conduit. Someone with the inborn traits to manipulate/control a form of matter or energy,” I pointed to the fire, “As you can see, I can control smoke. Most of what have been able to do with it only skims the surface of what I can do.” “What can you do?” Celestia asked, with a look of concern in her face. “My ability to heal is part of it. I can shoot concentrated balls of smoke, blast smoke in a form of scattershot, fire an explosive like shot of smoke. I can throw a non-lethal smoke bomb, restrain enemies with swirling smoke, turn myself into smoke briefly…” I paused and saw Celestia’s face. “Is everything alright?” I asked. Celestia shook her head, as if to clear her head, then said, “I’m just concerned. You have all of this power, and I’m concerned that you will abuse it.” I finished healing the last pony and then turned back to the Princesses. “The only thing holding me from abusing it is responsibility. With very few exceptions, I’m to be held responsible for anything I do with my powers.” That seemed to cause Celestia to relax a bit. “Anyway, you wanted to talk to me about something?” I asked. “Yes,” Luna said, “We both wish to commend thee on thy actions of saving our spy, Smoke Shot, and helping her retrieve vital information and saving the Prisoners as well. If there is any way that we can repay thee, speak thy mind.” I stepped back a moment and began to think. I did want to go home, but already, in the first few days I spent in this world, I’ve had more adventure than what a college life offered. So that was out of the picture. I considered a high rank or position, but that would be greedy on my part. Then a thought struck me...The Akomish. “I wish to speak to the ponies that I had freed, including Smoke Shot.” “Is that your request?” Celestia asked. “It goes a bit deeper than that, your Highnesses,” I said with a kneel and bow to that (no sarcasm), “I heard from Smoke that the other prisoners had ‘bonded,’ if bonding means ‘knowing almost everyponies’ names.’ I wish to incorporate them as Akomish tribe members.” “Akomish?” I pulled back the left sleeve of my jacket, revealing a Native American tattoo. “Basically, the Akomish will be a group of ponies that will respect your rule and will be dedicated to helping and defending others, ESPECIALLY each other,” I said. ************************* My request to start the Akomish was granted and the ponies that I freed were eager to join. I laid the specifications of the help they were to extend if asked for or otherwise noticed needed. I also allowed them to marry outside of the tribe and if they wanted their children to be Akomish as well, it had to be at the consent of the non-Akomish spouse. Those who marry in the tribe have their children born in the tribe as well. As a means to distinguish Akomish from non-Akomish, I used my spray paint can to mark their left arms with a Native American styled version of the Equestrian Flag, or what was on the flag. Two alicorns, one blue and the other red, circling around a sun and moon, blue and red respectively. After initiating all the ponies that I had saved as Akomish, Celestia and Luna declared for a feast to be made in honor of the new tribe. The feast itself was vegetarian, and was spread in a medieval fashion. The Princesses, the top commanding officers in the Royal Guard, myself, and Smoke Shot sat at a table that was set up at the back of the celebration tent that was set up. The remainder of the Royal Guard and the Akomish sat at various tables strewn about and around the tent, with a few braziers set up on and between the tables. The party (for lack of a better term) seemed to go well. I was able to tell Celestia and Luna of my origins. ********************* A few days earlier… I looked up at the convention center with apprehension. Too many crazy things happen at conventions. I’ve heard of the kidnapping and thefts and how certain things are bought by the the kidnapped before they were kidnapped. Nevertheless, I made a bet that would get me needed money to pay for college. All I had to do was buy something cheap, yet high quality and get back to Idaho Falls and get paid. Simple enough. I entered the convention center and I was immediately admitted in after showing my ID. Thank God for the internet and ID. The inside seemed to have more room on the inside than the outside, almost like the TARDIS from Doctor Who. Despite that, There was barely enough room in the center to breath, let alone walk. I quickly moved to the souvenir booths to escape the crowds near the celebrities. Browsing around, I saw some really high quality items, but they ranged in a price that wasn't worth the money. One item, or more appropriately, one set caught my eye. It was an authentic replica of Delsin Rowe’s clothes from inFAMOUS: Second Son. “Do you like it?” I heard a creepy voice say. I jerked back in surprise and see the booth vendor. Creepy guy, I could say that much. He was dressed as someone from a videogame, but because of my low amount of time that is free, I don't have much (if any) to play any. “You a big inFAMOUS fan?” He asked. "Yeah,” I replied, “Mostly Second Son, but overall a good series.” “You seem to have luck on your side,” he chuckled, “That costume is on sale for twenty dollars, AND, because you look to be one with a taste for authenticity, I'll even throw in this industrial chain and can of spray paint.” He then pulled out a chain and a spray paint can for me to see. “Deal!” I say, without hesitation. He pulled out a bag that had the full costume in it and moved to put the chain in it. “Um, could I just wrap the chain around my arm?” “Sure,” he answered, handing me the chain and placing the spray paint can in the bag. I took the chain and the bag and proceeded to leave. “Have a nice trip!” He called out to me as I walked away. As I turned from him, I distinctly saw a strange twinkle in his eyes. It scared me a bit, but I just continued away. I was only about ten feet from the convention center door when I tripped. I closed my eyes and readied my arms to brace myself from the fall. It was then I felt something that I thought wasn’t supposed to be at a convention...snow. ****************** Present day “Art thou stating that thy name isn’t Delsin Rowe?” Luna asked. “On my birth world, it wasn’t,” I answered, “Here in Equus, it might as well be, considering that I don’t know how to go back...or forward for that matter.” Celestia giggle-coughed at my joke and then regained her composure. “I’m sure we can help you in both trying to find a way back and what to do to move forward.” “Thank you, Princess,” I said, “I don’t know what…” “Your Majesties!” A Royal Guard Courier whisper-shouts to the Princesses, “Urgent…” he begins to say, but I shoot a subdued smoke shot in his mouth and he dissolves into a coughing fit. I look back to Celestia and saw her shocked/angry face. “I hate being interrupted,” I explain quickly. I absorb the remaining smoke from the courier’s system and wait for him to talk. “Ahem, *Cough*, Your Majesties, I have urgent news from the Capital.” “What is it?” Celestia asked. “The Capital is under attack by a draconequus.” Celestia and Luna had shocked looks on their faces. “Has anything been done to try and remove the creature?” Luna asked. “We have done all that we could, your Majesties.” “Has anypony been harmed?” Celestia asked. “With the exception of those attacked by animals it created, nopony has been harmed,” he stated, “But if they encounter the draconequus, they are elaborately pranked or brainwashed.” He then lifted his helmet off and his mane is revealed to have been transformed into a mess of snakes. Both the Princesses recoil at the site of the snakes and immediately cast a spell to counteract the Medusa Hairstyle. Celestia then starts rubbing a hoof on her temple. “My stress levels are too high from this war as it is,” she states, “But add a Creature of Chaos and I feel that the stress is going to be the death of me.” “We need to make haste and vanquish this creature,” Luna said. “We cannot, Luna,” Celestia said, “The Griffins will use our absence to their advantage.” “But if we don’t, our ponies will feel that we have abandoned them and won’t welcome us back happily,” Luna retorted, “If we are to confront these threats, we need to divide and conquer!” “We cannot fight a draconequus individually. If we are to face it, we need to do it together, but we can’t leave the war as well.” Hmm, this seems like a problem. The Princesses can’t handle both problems at once. But if I helped, both problems can be handled. So, should I wage the war or deal with the draconequus? ********************** Wage the War “Just to throw in my opinion, if I was to wage the war, then both of you could return to your land and deal with the draconequus.” The Princesses looked at me with surprised yet grateful looks. “This will definitely help with my stress levels.” “All I ask is that the Akomish goes with you and is given a new start in life.” “Thy request will be granted,” Luna said. The Princesses and the Commanding officers rose from the table to handle the switch of war powers. Smoke Shot and I rose to prepare the Akomish for departure. ************************* Deal with the Draconequus “Just to throw in my opinion, if I was to deal with the draconequus, then both of you could stay and wage the war.” The Princesses looked at me with strange mix of emotions. “While this may help with my stress, I’m not too sure about this.” “Just keep the Akomish safe,” I said, “And leave the rest to me.” I then grabbed Smoke Shot and smoke dashed out of the tent with her. Author's Note Points: +2 Rank: Protector Sorry for the delay. Wayward had a vacation that interrupted his writing. Thank you, Fluttershy. Hey! What about me!? Cool Your Jets!
Chapter 4: Wage the WarinFAMOUS Displaced Chapter 4 Wage the War “Just to throw in my opinion, if I was to wage the war, then both of you could return to your land and deal with the draconequus.” The Princesses looked at me with surprised yet grateful looks. “This will definitely help with my stress levels.” “All I ask is that the Akomish goes with you and is given a new start in life.” “Thy request will be granted,” Luna said. The Princesses and the Commanding officers rose from the table to handle the switch of war powers. Smoke Shot and I rose to prepare the Akomish for departure. After we all left the tent to deal with the switch of war powers, I suddenly doubled over, but not in pain. Everypony noticed my movement and rushed to help me. “Delsin! Are you okay?!” Celestia said, worriedly. “I just feel as if I suddenly have an adrenaline rush,” I reply. Before anypony or myself did anything more, I suddenly began to glow a bright blue color. I closed my eyes to keep the light from blinding me. After a few seconds, the glow ceased and the rush ended, but I still felt refreshed. Opening my eyes, I noticed two things. One was the fact that everypony’s eyes were looking at me in almost disbelief. The other thing was the fact that my clothes looked slightly more clean and brighter. I quickly took off my vest to confirm my suspicions of a Karmic Shift. Looking on the back, I saw, instead of the original eagle motif, the motif shifted to the Guardian Rank position. Smiling, I turn the vest around for them to see the image on the back. “Well, as the Greatest Conduit has said before, ‘Karma’s a b****’.” ******************** After the war powers for the Griffin-Pony War were transferred to me and the troops and Akomish were addressed, things started rolling into motion. The Akomish that wanted to start a new life as soon as possible left with the Princesses and a contingent of Royal Guard. The Akomish that were anxious to help in the war were made members of the Royal Guard (including Smoke Shot). Before they were given armor, I had insisted on a few aesthetic differences to the usual Royal Guard armor. While the armor would hold most of its looks, I asked that the plumes were red and blue feathers instead of the typical pony hair, and the Akomish symbol would be placed on the back of the armor. The Akomish that were made members of the Royal Guard were then named the Eagle Guard. My armor was, at first, difficult to work with the Royal Armorsmith to work, but with the aid of magic, it was made. My armour was a chain hauberk with some plates worked onto the chest and back portions of the armor and a helmet designed after Roman centurion's helmet with the same feather plume as the Eagle Guard. The armor was made with the same magical gold/steel alloy, and was to be worn with my Karmic vest off. As soon as I had put it all on, it flashed blue briefly before it looked a bit brighter, the plume had a slightly more blue dominance, and the Akomish insignia was on the backplate of the hauberk (the blue alicorn and the blue sun were slightly bigger than the red one with the red moon). I insisted that I kept my chain to still use as a weapon. The Royal Weaponsmith was hesitant at first, but he okayed it after checking over the weapon and making sure it was in good condition. After preparing the Eagle Guard and myself for eventual conflict, we packed up camp and started our march north. From what Smoke Shot was able to gather from the intel that we gathered a few days ago, the Griffins were planning on equipping each of their soldiers with an Anti-crystal (blast shard) and attacking the Crystal Empire. Looking at the map that the Griffins had, we planned our course to intercept them just south of the Empire. There we would be joined by the Crystal Guard from the Empire. We marched to our destination, received our reinforcements, and readied ourselves for battle. We had catapults and ballistas placed at the rear flanks with contingents of Crystal Guard to guard them. We had a line of Unicorn Royal Guards in the front to act as skirmishers until the fighting officially began. They would then act as a Phalanx, working to keep the Griffins back as much as they could for the next line, the Crystal Guard and the Earth Pony Royal Guards, to engage in combat. The Unicorns would then flee behind the combat, join their brethren and begin casting spells. As for the Eagle Guard, Smoke Shot and I, we had an important role to play in the upcoming battle. The Eagle Guard would function an important role almost like how the Companion cavalry that Alexander the Great used. They manned (or was it ponied) a set of catapults in the rear center that would send incendiary rounds that would explode, dealing massive casualties to the Griffins. However, the rounds would still remain and smoulder, allowing for Smoke Shot and I to have ‘fuel’ for our abilities as we fought behind enemy lines. I mention the fact that Smoke Shot needed ‘fuel’ as well because...well...she’s a conduit as well. She didn’t really show her conduit abilities until on the march towards the Empire. A catapult piece wasn’t secure in the wagon it was in and she was walking next to it. The piece almost crushed her, but she smoke dashed out of the way before it could. From there her abilities became more defined. It got to the point that she could manipulate smoke with her hooves better than her magic. The battle came and it was won...with a few complications. The front line of the Griffin invasion force were equipped with blast shards, causing the Unicorns in the front to get slaughtered. The Crystal Guard seemed to have an immunity to the magic nullifying power of the shards and plowed through the front lines. From there, the battle was practically won. ********************* “I cannot thank you enough for this,” Prince Sombra said to Smoke and I, “ If there is anything we or I can do to repay you, please let us know.” “Thank you, my lord,” I said with a bow, “For now, rest for our troops and ourselves will benefit us greatly.” “Of course,” he said with a similar bow, “Before you rest, I wish to speak with you, Master Delsin.” “Alright,” I said. I turned to Smoke, “Make sure the troops get rest. Attend to the Akomish.” She nodded and wandered off to do her job. I then followed Sombra into the castle lobby, where a crystal heart was on a special pedestal as it was spreading light and love across the known world. Even I could feel it’s power. “Magnificent, is it?” “I don’t think there are words to describe what I see and feel,” I reply “Thank you,” he said, “It took several generations of my forefathers and myself to craft this.” He then bent over, coughing into his hoof from something that wasn’t smoke. I moved to help him, but he waved me off. “I’m fine. It’s just...the magic that was used to construct the Crystal Heart has nasty side effects.” He showed me his hoof and it had splotches of dark purple that seemed to have an evil feeling to it. “Using darkness to create light,” I said, “Rather risky, isn’t it?” “My forefathers tried searching for other means, but there was no other way,” he said, “I have been hit worse with this malignant magic. I will live long enough for it to take my body from my possession and reign in darkness. An overcharge of light from the Crystal Heart can cure me, but I only have a few months left before the darkness takes me.” “And you’re telling me this for what?” “As you had noticed on the battlefield, the Crystal ponies have an immunity to the magic-nullifying effect of the Anti-crystals or blast shards as you call them,” he said, “What I am proposing is that we send the Crystal Guard that helped you in battle and their families to Equestria, where they can spread the immunity through their seed. That way, the shards can be used for good rather than evil.” “Thank you. Equestria will be in debt to you.” “It is a gift. Once I fall to darkness, you would never be able to settle the debt.” “Fair enough. I’ll send the refugees to Equestria with a detachment of Royal and Crystal Guards. The remaining Guards will help us on our march to Griffinstone.” Sombra looked at me with concern. “Are you going to destroy them?” “That is a last resort. I intend on sneaking into the city and trying to negotiate peace.” “I don't think it will work, but I won’t question your methods, so good luck,” Sombra said, solemnly, “Your supplies will be replenished and I hope you have a safe journey and life.” With that I started to walk away. Before I got too far, I noticed something that spiked my curiosity. I noticed a small cubby hole near the base of the entrance to the Crystal Palace. I knelt down to inspect what was there and I found two items there that seemed out of place. One was a silver keychain of some sort that had the Hidden Mickey on the end. The other was an amulet that had two small orbs on it, one purple and the other green. I pulled the keychain out and I heard a voice in my head. ‘I am the Warrior of Light, enemy of darkness and all who walk within. If you find yourself trapped by the shadows and cannot find the light, call on my name, the name of Sora, and I will answer.’ That was seriously weird. I pulled out the amulet and I heard a pair of voices. ‘HI! My names Plague!And mine's Amnesia!We are the son,and daughter,of Alduin and if you ever need our help just hold the amulet up and we'll come as quick as we can!Be warned though, our Dad might come along.’ Once again, Weird. I was about to pocket both items when I noticed that the two colored orbs on the amulet fused into one red orb. I then heard another voice. ‘My name is Epidemic, and I am the son of Alduin, the combined form of the Twins. If you ever need help, hold up the amulet and I will come. Be warned, if the calling is just a waste of valuable time, I will kill you, so don't waste my time.’ Now, I’m officially creeped out. I pocketed the two items and left the palace. ****************** “Are you sure about this?” Smoke Shot asked as we stood ready, hidden on a rooftop in Griffinstone. We had suited up in lighter and more quiet armor. I had exchanged my hauberk for a one-piece mail vest painted black. I wore my vest over it to muffle the sound of the metal jingling. I replaced my helmet with my beanie for stealth as well. Smoke decided to forgo the armor and went with cloth tied to her hooves to hide the clop of her hooves. “I’m positive. If we approached with a flag of truce, they won’t take it seriously,” I whisper back, “Especially with me leading them.” “And what makes you think he will listen to you if you suddenly appear out of his fireplace.” I shrug my shoulders and reply, “There’s only one way to find out. Let’s go.” I then began to smoke dash towards the Griffinstone Palace. Smoke Shot followed suit. Any patrols we saw we either avoided or, if they couldn’t be avoided, we subdue them and move them out of sight. After a while of moving through the city, we arrived at the palace. I had Smoke Shot stay behind to watch the way I ascended to the roof. I was thankful that I knew that Conduits could survive high falls, otherwise I would have refused to try to climb the palace. I got to the roof and searched for a chimney that would bring myself to stand before the Griffin King. “Halt! Who Goes There!?” I heard a Griffin Guard shout out. I smoke dashed to a nearby pillar and hid. “Who are you yelling at!? I heard another guard shout out to his companion. “I thought I saw something.” “Great! You’re yelling at what you ‘thought’ you saw!” “I swear! I saw something!” I jumped out of hiding and I slammed my fist into the guard’s helmet, knocking him out. I then lashed out with my chain at the other guard, knocking him down. I then restrained him and walked back from him as he was whimpering from the blow to his ego. I decided to rub it in. “You liked that?!” I taunted, “Well, there’s more where that came from! That’s what you get for trying to fight The Equestrian Eagle!” (Yes, the Royal Guard nicknamed me that) I suddenly felt that my left foot was no longer on the roof. Looking back I found that I was standing over the top of the Palace’s great hall. I had no forewarning and I was suddenly falling. I crashed into the fire that was burning in the center of the room. Thankfully, due to my immunity to falling and my smoke powers, I wasn’t burned. All the Griffins in the room suddenly looked to where I was. Crap! ‘Smoke Shot! Return to the troops! Have them ready to attack at my signal!’ ‘What is your signal!?’ ‘You will know when it happens!’ “Well, well, well,” I hear from the main point of the room, “If it isn't the Equestrian Demon.” Looking up from my charred and prone position and saw the Griffin King. He was decked out in the most expensive looking crown, robe, etcetera, etcetera. Too much gold for one being to own, let alone wear. I dragged myself from the fire and stood at my highest. “Lord King of Griffinstone,” I begin to say, but I was interrupted by a nearby guard. “Kneel before the king!” He shouted as he slammed the shaft of his spear into the back of my knee joints, forcing me to kneel. As soon as my knees met the ground, my lower legs and my hands seemed to become encased in stone...No...Not stone...Cement! I looked back towards the King and saw that his right talon was encased in cement as well, but they were moving freely. That could only mean… Aww, Crud! I’m dealing with a Cement Conduit. I have to act fast. I can try to vie heavily for mercy and hope that there is still some good in him. But he would have every reason to not stop. After all, I did trespass. I might as well clear the room and force the King to beg for mercy. What should I do? Beg for Mercy, or Force my Hand? ************************ Beg for Mercy “Lord King of Griffinstone,” I said, “I have come to…” “I know why you’re here, Demon!” The Griffin King shouted, “You are hoping to steal our great treasure!” He pointed towards a wooden pedestal that held what looked like a golden goblet that had a large, perfect sphere of ruby in the cup portion and the lip of the cup rose up like a flame. “That is not my purpose,” I try defending. “LIES!” He bellowed, “You are in league with the ponies! You disrupted my plan to conquer Equestria! For that, You Must DIE!” I began to feel the cement creep up my arms and body. Panicking I called for help. ‘Smoke! Call for the attack then get your flank end over her now!’ ************************** Force my Hand “Undo these binds so we can talk like civilized beings,” I said while grinding my teeth. “You are in no position to make demands,” The Griffin King boasted. “You will make a fine addition to my collection of statues of my enemies.” I began to feel the cement creep up my arms and body. I smirked a bit and I smoke dashed backwards, out of the binds, and closer to the fire. “Nice try,” I taunt. I then gather as much smoke as I can from the fire and I then I begin the process to perform an Orbital Drop. Author's Note Points: +3 Rank: Guardian KARMIC SHIFT! YAY! A KARMIC SHIFT PARTY! Voting has ended.
Chapter 5: Beg for MercyinFAMOUS Displaced Chapter 5 Beg for Mercy “Lord King of Griffinstone,” I said, “I have come to…” “I know why you’re here, Demon!” The Griffin King shouted, “You are hoping to steal our great treasure!” He pointed towards a wooden pedestal that held what looked like a golden goblet that had a large, perfect sphere of ruby in the cup portion and the lip of the cup rose up like a flame. “That is not my purpose,” I try defending. “LIES!” He bellowed, “You are in league with the ponies! You disrupted my plan to conquer Equestria! For that, You Must DIE!” I began to feel the cement creep up my arms and body. Panicking, I called for help. ‘Smoke! Call for the attack then get your flank end over her now!’ ‘On it!’ ‘And when you get here, be careful, the Griffin King is a Cement Conduit. He’s currently in the process of imprisoning me in stone.’ ‘On the double!’ After our conversation, I could do nothing but wait and watch the King’s smirk as the cement creeped up me. It became hard to move and, eventually, breathe. It wasn’t until I heard the sound of conflict outside the entrance to the hall, that I had hope that help was on the way. It must have shown in a smile, because the King snapped at me. “Don’t expect statues to save you,” he said as he made his way to the door. Right as he got to the door, it was blasted off of it’s hinges onto the King. With his concentration staggered, the concrete stopped creeping up my body, stopping just shy of my throat. “You called?” I heard Smoke Shot’s voice. “About time you got here!” I shouted back. Before I could get a response from her, the door was blasted to pieces. With my limited movement, I could see Smoke Shot rematerializing from a smoke dash right in front of me. “Don’t worry, I’ll get you out of this!” She said. I suddenly felt the cement creeping up my neck. “Don’t worry about me!” I command, “Focus on the King! The less time he has to concentrate on killing me, the better chance I have to live!” The cement was starting to cover my jaw and the crown of my head. ‘Now! Fight Him!’ Smoke Shot ran off and I began to hear a fight breaking out between the two conduits. The cement slowed, but it didn’t stop. It covered my ears; I couldn’t hear. My mouth was covered; I couldn’t speak. My nose was covered; I couldn’t breath. My eyes were covered and all I could see was darkness...endless darkness. I then saw light. It engulfed my vision. I then heard a voice. It was faint, but I heard it. ‘Delsin! Wake up!’ ************************* I suddenly was able to see, but it felt weird. I was in a white void of some kind. Looking around, I saw a light lilac colored pony with poofy darker lilac and white mane. Her eyes were weird, as they were lilac and had white spirals in them. She was wearing a propeller beanie and her Cutie mark was a screw and a baseball. “About time you got here!” I heard her say. As soon as the first word was out of her mouth, I recognized the voice. “Hold on, were you the one that called for me to wake up?” I asked her. “Yes, I did,” she replied with a goofy looking grin. “My name’s Screwball, Princess of Chaos, the Chaos Spawn, other insulting titles, yadda, yadda.” “Chaos Spawn?” “Oh yeah, you weren’t there when he was imprisoned,” she said in embarrassment, “Well long story short, Discord, the Draconequus God of Chaos, was imprisoned in stone for attacking the Capital of Equestria and causing mayhem. Part of his mayhem was taking an orphaned filly and progressing her age and giving her Chaos Magic.” “So, then you…” I start. “Am an adult in physical age, and a youngster in mind,” she finished. “However, part of the Chaos magic also progressed some of my mental maturity, meaning I can think as an adult, but I have some...childish tendencies.” “An adult body, and a youngster’s mind makes a teenager?” “Chaotic and confusing, yes,” she agreed. “Anyway, we’re getting off topic.” “Yes, I was wondering when you were going to tell me as to why I’m here...wherever here is,” I deadpanned. “I’ll tell you the where before the why,” she said, “You are in mind, and I’m here to talk to you about the Displaced.” “Displaced?” “You went to a convention in your world, right?” I nodded. “You bought an accurate replica from a vendor at a cheap price, right?” I nodded again. “And then you end up here in Equestria.” I nodded once again. “You are among many humans that did just that and ended up in a version of Equestria within the Multiverse.” “So, I’m not the first and neither am I the last?” I ask. “Yeah, but don’t ask how I know!” She warned, “As far as I know, I don’t and I’m just telling you gibberish.” “Regardless, it makes sense and I want to know a bit more, who’s out there and what I’m to do.” “Well,” she contemplated, “First, pull out the tokens in your pocket.” “Tokens?” “The Hidden Mickey chain and that Amulet you found!” She snapped, “Geez, you’re slow!” I pulled out the tokens and showed them to her. “Those tokens are what Displaced use to summon other Displaced to their aid, for whatever reason. One of these two will help you in a critical point in your future.” “Can you tell me which one?” “Actually, no,” she replied, “Your future is rather chaotic, in a way. You have many decisions that will shape you into someone who will bring Harmony or Chaos.” “It’s the whole Karma thing, isn’t it?” “Yeah, that is a way to sum it up. Harmony’s True Hero or Infamous Chaos Bringer,” she said, “Your choices will affect that and how ponies and other Displaced see you.” “And speaking of Displaced, if they have tokens, wouldn’t that mean that I should have one.” “You can make one, but your current circumstances wouldn’t allow you to be of use if summoned,” Screwball said. “Ah, right,” I said in realization, “The ‘Being Trapped in Stone’ thing, right?” “Right. And just so you know, you aren’t dead,” she said. “I kinda figured that, considering that we’re talking as if I’m alive and will re enter the world anytime soon.” “Half true,” Screwball pointed out, “A little bit of time and you’ll wake up, but you’ll still be trapped in stone.” “How does that even work?” I asked, “I wouldn’t be able to breathe or sleep, so I would die of suffocation or insanity.” “Well, from my vantage point, The Elements of Harmony blasted into the room just as you were fully covered in cement,” She answered, “It stripped the Griffin King of his powers and sealed you in stone, very much alive and sane.” “So the cliché ‘Magic solves everything’ applies here?” Screwball nodded. “So then, I’m going to be in stone for how long?” “A thousand years, give or take,” she said. She then noticed my shocked expression and quickly reassured me, “Don’t worry, you’ll have Princess Celestia and I to keep you company, not to mention you have telepathy to communicate and see with. I’ll see you on the outside!” Screwball then vanished and I was blinded by white light. ************************ ‘Ugh, did somepony get the number on that wagon?’ I tried to move and pop my joints, but nothing happend. I then suddenly remembered what Screwball told me and I began to panic. ‘Calm down and relax!’ I heard Screwball’s voice say, ‘Just focus your mind and you will be able to see.’ I slow my mind down and tried to think and clear my mind. I just focused on my eyes and immediately I “saw” everything around me. I saw two thrones, one with a sun motif and the other had a moon motif. I could see strange magical jewels on the floor around a crying Princess Celestia. She was at the base of a statue, which was me, and was crying as if there was no tomorrow. ‘Your Majesty? What’s wrong?’ She sniffed and began to shake her head. “Get a grip on yourself, Tia,” she said out loud to herself, “You lose your sister to Darkness and now you are hearing the voice of an old friend.” ‘That’s because you are.’ “Well, I shouldn’t be having Delsin’s voice in my head.” ‘Why?’ “He’s dead. He died in the war with the Griffins.” ‘And what makes you think that The Elements of Harmony...Whatever those are...didn’t save my life and I’m not just imprisoned in stone?’ At that, Celestia looked up at my statue with tears in her eyes. Despite the tears, her eyes filled with hope, awe, and wonder. “Delsin? Is that truly you?” ‘Yes, Tia. Its me.’ “Oh, Delsin!” She hugged me and I could feel her happiness mixed with her sorrow. ‘Now, I’m going to ask again; what’s wrong? And where’s Luna?’ Sniffing and crying out another batch of tears, she told me, “She’s gone. Darkness corrupted her and I had no other choice but to banish her to the Moon. And it is only now that I wish you were awake to help her see reason before I banished her. I now can’t bring her back.” I was about to console her, but I was engulfed in a vision. I saw a unicorn that resembled Smoke Shot and had the Akomish tattoo facing off against a dark alicorn with five other ponies: two earth ponies, two pegasi, and one other unicorn. I saw myself and one other fighting the alicorn. Suddenly, the necklaces and tiara the ponies had on shined brightly and shot a rainbow colored beam at the alicorn. Just as the beam struck the alicorn, I grabbed her skull and I started to see two alicorns. The vision cut there, but lingering in my view was writing on the wall that said, ‘1000 year to be fulfilled.’ I contemplated what I saw and thought for a moment. This pretty much was a vision from the future. It was to come to pass and nothing could stop it. Before I could say anything to Celestia, I blurted out something' ‘1000 years hence since thou hast spoken Among the Stars of the Night Sky The Nightmare’s prison shall be broken And Sun shall no longer fly.’ ‘But fear thee not, Celestial One For these Elements are here For the Nightmare’s curse to be undone On the Longest day of the Thousandth year.’ Princess Celestia looked at me with a confused look. “What was that?” I then repeated what I said. “What does that even mean?” ‘Would it help if I told you of the vision I saw as well?’ I then told her what I saw in my vision. After retelling what I saw, her face was that of wonder and hope. “They are the same,” she said, “In a thousand years time, Nightmare Moon will escape and the only way to truly defeat her would be the Elements of Harmony. You and another warrior will be instrumental for the Elements to do their job.” ‘And the pony that wore the tiara that had one of the elements on it, would resemble Smoke Shot and would be Akomish.’ “So, what do we do now?” Celestia asked me in a more hopeful voice. ‘You are going to do your job. That is, ruling Equestria. As for me,’ I mentally sigh, ‘I’m going to wait.’ *********************** From there, things became boring and mundane. Celestia had to relocate the Capital, due to the structural damage done to the original Capital and its castle. I was left behind in the ruins, mostly because of the fact that the base of my statue held a mechanism that protected the Elements of Harmony. Insert a Blast shard into the mechanism and the Elements of Harmony would be released. Celestia and Screwball visited every now and again, the former to ask for advice or reminisce on her younger days with Luna, the latter coming to talk and keep my "prison" clean. There was that awkward time when the ended up visiting at the same time. Luckily, I managed to keep Celestia from attacking Screwball and they were able to become good friends. The only downside to this was that Screwball accidentally created a new species of eagle out of fright. The eagle itself was red and blue in a two-faced way (left half was blue while the other half was red). The first eagle, which I named Karma, became the Guardian of my Statue and a close friend. As the first one of her race, she was immortal like the Princesses were and kept careful watch over me. The land around the castle ruins changed dramatically. A forest, named the Everfree, grew up and around the ruins and housed creatures that, in effect, protected the castle. I was able to communicate with those creatures and was pretty much their leader...their Prince. Karma was my second in command and was the true personification of Justice, just as I was the personification of Good...Or Evil...Depending on my Karmic alignment. The years sped by, and I saw and dealt with many of the creatures that inhabited the Everfree. I then knew that my freedom was close when I felt a dark presence in the castle. Nightmare Moon had returned. Soon, an Akomish would challenge her and the Elements will have new bearers. And I would be free. ******************* I saw five ponies enter the castle where my statue stood. Two of them were earth ponies, two were pegasi, and one was a unicorn. Karma flew in through an open window and landed on my shoulder while looking at the assembled group. ‘These visitors are not like the others.’ ‘Wait, Karma. Don’t gouge out their eyes just yet.’ The last pony, the one that I had seen in vision entered the castle. She looked just like Smoke Shot, but with a color difference. She was a lavender purple with a purple mane and tail, both with magenta highlights. The tattoo on her arm was unmistakable, she was Akomish. ‘Karma, this group is to not be harmed. Go to Ghastly Gorge and obtain a Blast Core from the Quarray Eel settlements.’ Karma nodded her head and flew off. “Come on Twilight,” said the orange earth pony, “Isn’t this what you were waiting for?” The Akomish unicorn that was addressed looked around the room in confusion. “Well, we made it to the ruins, but where are the Elements of Harmony?” ‘Hidden for the time being.’ The entire group was startled by my interaction, the yellow pegasus more so. They didn’t know as to where my “voice” came from. “I don’t like this,” said the orange pony, “This is just unnatural.” ‘Unnatural is matter of perspective.’ “Who’s saying that?” Asked the pink earth pony, “It sounded like a colt or a stallion. Is he hiding? Is he waiting to throw a party for us?” ‘I am the Guardian of the Elements. What is the purpose of your visit?’ “We are here because Nightmare Moon returned and we need the Elements of Harmony to defeat her, or the night will last forever,” the Akomish, Twilight, summed up. ‘I commend you for coming here to seek the Elements and use them for the good of this world. However, I cannot give the Elements to you until…’ *THUNK!* Karma flew in at that time and dropped the blast core on my head and it clattered to the floor in front of my statue. The ponies looked to the blast core and back to my face. ‘Ow, KARMA! How many times have I told you? Don’t interrupt me when I’m trying to sound like a sage or prophet!’ The present ponies winced at my mental volume. ‘I couldn’t resist. You know that.’ ‘Just keep watch for Nightmare Moon.’ Karma nodded and flew off. “That was strange,” the white unicorn said, “Having a conversation with a bird.” ‘That Karmic Eagle just dropped a blast core on my head. You...I...well...nevermind! Just...Twilight, place the Blast core into a small cubby hole at the base of the statue and the Elements will be revealed.’ Twilight obeyed and levitated the Blast core into the cubby hole I mentioned. Once it was in place, the core’s energy flowed into the mechanism that hid the Elements. With a loud boom, and lots of rubbing stone, the Elements’ pedestal rose from the center of the room (which was behind me). The two pegasi flew up and grabbed the five from the pedestal and the group began questioning me as to where the sixth was. Luckily, the Akomish unicorn mare said what I was going to say, concerning how the sixth element appears when the five are present with a spark. The Akomish mare began channeling magic into the Elements to try and bring forth the sixth. The other ponies left the castle to give her some room to work. As she was channeling magic into the Elements, I began absorbing the remaining energy from the blast core. Blast shards were used in the Elements’ hiding place as to prevent me from leaving my stone prison and dying before the Elements are to be used again. Before either Twilight and I were done with our respective tasks, I felt an evil presence enter the room. I checked Twilight and the Elements and she was oblivious to anything. The Elements on the other hand were in the process of being teleported elsewhere. I had no choice but to interrupt her and get help. ‘Twilight! The Elements!’ I shouted to her. I then sent a shout out, ‘Twilight needs help!’ I then worked on absorbing the blast core energy faster. As for everypony’s reaction to their respective messages, the reacted as I had hoped. Twilight took notice of the Elements’ and went after them. The other ponies arrived in the castle just as she and the Elements disappeared. As few cracks appeared in the statue, the orange pony called out, “Twilight! Where are you?” “Wait! Look!” The white unicorn shouted out. The cracks on the statue had enlarged and became more numerous until the entire statue broke to pieces. "What in the hay just happened?” The cyan pegasus said. ‘Just watch.’ Smoke began to pour from the pieces of stone and move near the Elements’ pedestal. The smoke began to swirl in a specific spot until the smoke came together, reforming me physically. However, my body was unprepared for physical reformation, because as soon as I was back, my legs gave out from under me. Luckily, my arms were okay enough to catch me before I face planted. “Ugh! Now I know why I need help,” I said out loud, “I’d be too weak to move immediately after being freed from stone.” The yellow pegasus had a concerned look on her face and went to approach me. “Oh, you poor thing.” Before she could get close, I held up my hand to stop her. “Ah, first off, I’m not a thing,” I said, causing her to ‘EEP’ in fright. “Second off, go help Twilight. She’s in that tower.” I pointed to the tower in question. “Alright, you heard the...whatever he is...Come on!” The orange pony shouted out and ran through a door with the rest of the group following. After they left, I pulled myself to the Elements’ pedestal and used that as a means to try to stand and walk again. “Okay, easy does it,” I mutter to myself. I took a few tentative steps with my hand on the pedestal to steady myself, until my legs no longer felt numb. I then stretched my arms and legs a bit to undo the kinks that developed over the years. “Well, now that that’s taken care of, I just need to figure out who the other guy from my vision was. Celestia told me that I was the only one of my kind here, so I guess that I have to get help from one of these guys.” I pulled out the Hidden Mickey keychain and the Amulet (Epidemic phase). Now, who should I summon? Sora or Epidemic? ****************** Summon Sora/Summon Epidemic I held up the keychain/amulet to my eye level. “Okay buddy, let’s see if this works,” I said before I raised it above my head and called out, ‘SORA/EPIDEMIC! I call for thy aid!’ Author's Note Points: +4 Rank: Guardian The choice presented in this chapter leads to either a crossover with Show Stopper's A Heart Eclipsed or a non-cannon crossover with Prince_Zodiac's A Displaced Dragon Voting has been closed.
Chapter 6: Summon Sora This chapter was written with the assistance of Show Stopper. A Crossover with A Heart Eclipsed. This takes place later in his story. inFAMOUS Displaced Chapter 6 Summon Sora I held up the keychain to my eye level. “Okay buddy, let’s see if this works,” I said before I raised it above my head and called out, ‘SORA! I call for thy aid!’ A flash of light filled the room, vanishing as quickly as it had come and leaving a brown haired young man looking around. “Wow, this place is a dump.” He looked over to me and extended his hand. “You must be the one who called. Sora, Warrior of Light. Nice to meet you.” I waved his hand away. “Delsin Rowe, Equestrian Eagle, love to stand and chat, but I need to knock somepony’s head around and being trapped in stone for a thousand years doesn't help,” I said in almost one breath. “Ah.” Sora crossed his arms and nodded sagely. “A thousand years can be tiring for those not used to it. Here let me help.” Another flash of light caused a keyblade to appear in his right hand, one whose teeth looked like some sort of green hourglass. He pointed the blade at me, muttering “A basic Cure should do. No need to waste power when you just need an energy boost.” Green energy surrounded me, and the weakness in my body was washed away. “So, who are we knocking around? Just got done herding a swarm of Berry Bubble clones, so I think I’m ready for just about anything.” “A Nightmare,” I said as I stretched again, testing my regained flexibility. “And not the Dream Eater type.” I allowed smoke to cover my arms as I moved to find my way to the tower. “And by the way, who's Berry Bubble?” “You might know him as a mare named Pinkie Pie,” said Sora. “So, what exactly do you mean by, ‘a nightmare’? I might be able to fight it better if I know what we’re up against.” “Celestia and Screwball never really gave me all the details,” I said. “Celestia again, huh?” muttered Sora. “I’m starting to think that that’s the norm. He’s Prince Solaris in my world.” “Interesting detail,” I mutter, “Could you get a smoky fire started? I feel a bit empty.” Sora raised a questioning eyebrow before shrugging and ripping some vines off the wall as they passed. He grabbed a plank of wood, wrapping the vines around one end. “Fire.” With a point of his keyblade and a word, the end of the makeshift torch burst into flame, giving off a stream of black smoke. “This should burn for a good bit,” he said, holding out the makeshift torch. “Not sure what you need the smoke for, though.” “Observe,” I extended my hand towards the torch, but didn’t take it. Taking a deep breath, the smoke began to flow from the torch to my hand. I then began to feel a bit more energized. Looking to Sora’s questioning face, I tossed a Sulfur bomb at his feet. After it went off, Sora began coughing uncontrollably for a minute before I reabsorbed the smoke. “Okay,” said Sora, coughing a few more times. “Just got finished with a gun happy Venom, so that isn’t the strangest power I’ve ever seen. Hope you know how to use it in a fight.” ‘I fought in a war with that power,’ I projected into his mind. Sora glared at me, pointing his blade at my feet. “Blizzard.” I found myself falling flat on my face as my feet were engulfed in a block of ice. “Only one being is allowed in my mind,” Sora said, kneeling down next to my head. “And you aren’t her. Got it?” I freed myself with a Smoke Dash, knocking Sora down in the process. I then commanded some smoke to hold him down. “FYI: my telepathic abilities can only do communication and surface emotion reading. If I was to invade your mind, I would need to have my hand to your head.” “Don’t care,” he said, not even bothering to struggle. “Last time I got involved with an empath, it ended badly. Very badly. I’d prefer to keep my mind and my emotions to myself.” Blue spikes burst out from Sora’s body, severing the smoky binds before retreating back through gaps in Sora’s clothes. He blinked and looked down at his chest in shock. “Okay. Maybe hosting an empath isn’t so bad, but only because I know he’s entirely on my side. Thanks, Rave.” “I’m not going to question your distaste for mind games,” I said, glancing out the window towards the tower the ponies went to. ‘But if we are to survive the fight against the Nightmare, we’re gonna need it. Got it?’ “Fine, fine. But I’ll stick with talking, myself. I only go mind to mind with those that I sleep with, and you’re not my type.” Sora followed my gaze, staring out towards the tower. “Huh. Getting a weird sense of deja vu. Where did you say we were again?” “First off, I didn’t say,” I said in exasperation, “Second off…” ‘The Elements have appeared!’ “The Elements have...KARMA!!!” I fired off a Cinder Missile in the bird’s direction, barely missing her. ‘Are you going to get up there and watch or keep playing down here?’ I couldn’t properly respond to that. I quietly projected to Sora, ‘That bird sometimes. She’s only five hundred years old and she’s already acting like a b****.’ Sora shook his head, chuckling to himself. “Ah, a master and his familiar. Truly a wonderful relationship.” He turned his attention to Karma. “You mentioned the Elements appearing. Strange. In my world they were lost until the new Bearers found them to fight…” Sora trailed off, eyes widening in horror. “...Nightmare...” He took off, running down the hallway and around the corner out of sight. I took off after him after I noticed he was gone, with Karma flying close behind me. I managed to catch up with Sora and looked past him into the room. There, the Elements were placed on the ponies as I had seen in my vision. As the Elements were about to fire off, a blast of shadow knocked the Akomish unicorn out of place, causing the Element’s magic to fizzle out. “You foals,” The Nightmare cackled. “You thought you could defeat me as I hold this power!” Shadow began to flow around her hooves. As she began to charge an attack, I exclaimed, ‘Holy Crap! She’s a Conduit!’ The shadow burst forth, streaming towards the Elements in a series of spikes. “REFLEGA!” A barrier of light burst into being around the Elements, deflecting the spikes of shadow and sending them curving back to strike the dark alicorn who had summoned them. Sora stood before the Elements, keyblade pointed forward and a cyan shield on his arm. ‘I’ll guard the Elements while they get ready.’ I nearly jumped, hearing Sora’s voice in my mind. ‘Nothing will get past me. As for that twisted, parasitic mockery over there…’ Sora’s shield lowered enough for me to see the loathing burning in his eyes. ‘Delsin. Take it down!’ I Smoke Dashed forward and delivered a flying kick to Nightmare’s face. ‘Give me support as I do it. If she tries to blindside me, or I run low on ammo, do your magic.’ I unraveled the chain on my wrist and waited for Nightmare Moon to rise, having learned a few things about respect for one’s opponent in a fight. She rose up and looked at me. “Delsin Rowe, The Equestrian Demon,” she said with venom in her voice. “I has been too long.” I swung my chain at her, catching her in the face and knocking her down. “Perhaps not long enough.” I Smoke Dashed forward and restrained her to the ground. “Now, what happened to Luna!” Nightmare dissolved into shadow and reappeared a few feet away in front of me. “They are safe. Locked away from sight and sound.” Shadow flowed from her hooves, and a variety of clones appeared surrounding me. I Smoke Dashed out of the circle and began to fire off as many Smoke Shots and Cinder Blasts as I could to clear the clones out. “Fira!” A circle of fire appeared in the middle of the remaining clones and rapidly expanded, striking them down and engulfing the real Nightmare as well. She screamed in pain as the air was filled with the smell of burned feathers and singed fur. “Aeroga! Magnera!” A whirlwind appeared around me as a yellow aura surrounded Nightmare. ‘That cyclone should deflect all projectiles. The spell on the abomination will make any projectiles curve in to strike her.’ “Fire!” A ball of fire was launched from Sora’s keyblade. It was off target, aimed to hit somewhere to Nightmare’s left, but it curved around in midair to strike her in the chest, blowing her back. ‘Good shot!’ I said as I Smoke Dashed forward towards Nightmare. I dropped a Sulfur Bomb at her hooves, and Smoke Dashed away. The Bomb went off and Nightmare Moon began coughing. ‘Any chance for a spell to launch me into the air?’ Sora smirked. ‘You asked for it.’ He pointed his keyblade at my feet. “Firaga!” An explosion went off at my feet, launching me into the air. Forgetting to curse, I wrapped my chain around my hand and superheated it. As I came down, my arm was engulfed in fire and smoke. I arrived at the ground a few feet from Nightmare and slammed my fiery arm into the ground, causing a smoky shockwave that knocked Nightmare to the center of the room. ‘Hey, Sora!’ I shouted out. ‘Got a Limit up your sleeve?’ Sora cocked his head to one side. ‘You know, I’ve never tried. I guess it makes sense that I would be able to, though. Let’s try it out!’ His keyblade began to glow, the light spreading to cover his whole body. “Oh yea,” he said, grinning. “This is going to be good.” I felt a warmth spreading out from my chest and found myself wrapped in a similar glow. I tossed an end of my chain to Sora for him to catch. He caught the end and I pulled hard on the chain and began to flail him around, hitting the Nightmare several times before slamming him feet first on the ground, causing a shockwave of light knocking her aside. Sora then let go of the chain and began a series of rapid strikes and slashes with his keyblade. He jumped aside briefly, allowing me to lob a series of explosive fireballs. Both seemed to take their toll on her. We repeated our attacks for a few minutes before we stopped. I ran towards Sora and leapt into the air, landing on the tip of his blade. He used his keyblade to launch me into the air. I smiled as I flew up above Nightmare Moon. I turned myself upside down and activated my Smoke Thrusters to speed my decent. Sora turned his keyblade on me and I felt as if gravity increased, but I was focused on one thing...where I was going to land. I soon met the ground, mere inches from Nightmare Moon. With an explosion of smoke and ash, Nightmare Moon landed right in front of the assembled mares, all who had their Elements charged. As I reformed from my Smoke attack, I heard Nightmare Moon mutter something in a younger, more softer voice. “I just wanted the night to be loved.” The statement itself didn’t shock me. It was the fact that the voice didn’t sound like Luna OR Nightmare Moon. The Elements then launched their attack towards her. Remembering my vision, I ran forward and latch my hands to her skull mere seconds before the attack hit. My mind then entered her mind. ******************************* My vision was engulfed in a strange landscape. Looking around, I found that I looked like the surface of the moon. But I also saw something rather strange. I saw two Nightmare Moons, one with a crescent moon cutie mark, the other with a star. If this was the Nightmare’s mind, then I concluded that those two seemed to be fighting for dominance. I looked around further and I saw Equus in all it’s glory. I saw a rainbow beam come towards the moon. I looked back at the quarreling Nightmares and made a split-second decision. I ran towards them and separated them from each other just as the rainbow beam struck the moon. *********************** Back in the real world, The Elements’ beam struck us, blasting me into Sora and through a wall in the process. I couldn’t see past the bright amount of light that came from what the Elements were doing. After a moment, the light dimmed and the Element bearers were on the floor where they fired the magic from, and they were all unconscious. One thing I notice about them was their arms. They had strange auras around them. “Always a wall,” Sora muttered from beneath me. “Never a door or a window. Doors are soft and cushion the blow. Windows shatter, taking a lot of the force out. No. It’s always a buysomeapples wall.” I “accidentally” elbowed him in the face. “Stop complaining. I’ve suffered love while I was in stone. The agony of loving somepony as they are aware I’m alive and in stone and me not being sure if they decide to wait for you.” Sora shoved me off and gave me a glare that could melt stone. “Fell in love with Luna and she with me. She and Solaris, who I love like a brother, found me while I was in shadow form. They thought I was a heartless who had killed me and used the Elements to seal me in stone. I didn’t even get telepathy. They thought I was dead, and I couldn’t tell them otherwise. Then Luna’s grief among other things turned her into a heartless, and Solaris had to banish his sister for a thousand years. I, meanwhile, am down in the dungeons wondering if I’ll ever get out of there and don’t find out about Nightmare Moon until I’m released. Once I find out, I assume that she was destroyed. So yeah, you don’t get to talk to me about heartache.” He stood up, stretching his back. “Besides, once you’re three thousand you get to complain about things like this.” Ignoring his come back, I stepped forward towards the Element Bearers and examined their arms more closely. I backed up a bit after I realized something, ‘Crumb Cakes and Icing! The Elements acted like a non-destructive Ray Sphere! They’re now Conduits!’ ‘Interesting. Would probably be even more interesting if I knew what conduits were. Also…’ My mind was instantly filled with the image of a wrinkled old green earth pony in a bathtub. “Gah!” I shouted, trying to wipe the image from my mind. “What the heck?” Sora shrugged. “Fight’s done, and so is the telepathy. I’ve got plenty more scaring images where that one came from, so stay out.” “Take a look at their arms,” I state as I pointed out Twilight’s arms, covered in purple electricity. “Interesting,” he said, looking closely. He stared at Twilight’s arms for several moments before looking back up at me. “What am I looking at, exactly?” “Are you serious? Have you ever even heard of inFAMOUS?” “Eenope.” “Long story short, it involves people that have a particular gene that allows an individual to control a form of matter or energy,” I said. I then pointed to each of the Bearers. “Twilight can now control electricity. Skittles can control clouds. Prissy can control gems. Pink hair, flowers. Cowgirl, wood. Sugar Rush controls...confetti?...streamers?...wrapping paper?” “It’s Berry, I mean Pinkie Pie. Don’t question it. It’s probably parties. So, basically they all became superheros?” “Yes and no,” I said, and began to explain further. “Karma, the aspect, not the bird, plays a huge part in this. In the inFAMOUS game series, Cole MacGrath and THAT Delsin Rowe are governed by that aspect. The more good karma they have, the more focused they are on other’s welfare rather their own and vice versa. It also affects how the people of Empire City, New Marais, and Seattle see them. They could easily be heroes or Infamous villains.” Sora looked over the girls again and turned back to me, raising an eyebrow. “Like I said, superheros. I don’t see any of them going villain. Trust me, I’ve met their equivalents a couple of years down the line. They aren’t going villain any time soon unless being all mares instead of three mares and three stallions changes something.” “The antagonist of the first game, Kessler, was a future version of Cole MacGrath,” I explained. “Although, Kessler’s purpose was actually to shape Cole into the hero he never was.” “I see. No, wait,” he closed his eyes, opening them to reveal twin orbs of light. He looked over the girls again, smiling. “Now I see. There is darkness in every heart, I won’t deny that. But these are still six of the purest hearts I’ve ever seen.” He turned those freaky glowing eyes to me and stared at me for a moment. “You’re pretty clean, too. But… there’s something there. Not darkness, but potential. Potential for either great darkness or great light.” He shrugged. “Or an even balance.” He then looked behind me. “Eeyup, the Elements did their thing. No darkness in…” His eyes blinked back to normal. “...either of them?” I turned around and saw what he saw. One was Luna, almost as I remembered her. The other was another alicorn. She was a midnight blue color, deeper in color than Luna was and her mane was pitch black with white highlight patches. She looked younger than Luna and her cutie mark was that of a star. A name sprung to my mind as I looked her up and down. Stella. I heard the Element Bearers stirring from their unconsciousness. “Oh, my head,” the pony, codenamed Skittles, said. “Is everypony okay?” Cowgirl asked. I walked forward to the group. “Thanks to us, you are.” The Akomish unicorn stood up and asked, “Who are you?” “I’m Delsin Rowe, Founder of the Akomish, and the Equestrian Eagle.” I point to Sora. “And the keyblade guy over there is Sora, The Warrior of Light. What are your names?” “I’m Twilight Sparkle, and these are all my friends.” She then pointed to each of her friends. “There’s Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash.” Sora snorted. “‘Rarity’. Should have guessed. Well, it’s good to see that all of you are alright. Nice jewelry, by the way.” The Element Bearers looked at their new accessories, finding the Elements on golden necklaces, except for Twilight, who’s Element was attached to a tiara. “Y’know, Twilight, I thought you were just spouting a whole lot of hooey,” Applejack said. “But I reckon, we do represent the Elements of Friendship.” “Indeed you do!” We all heard from one side of the room. In a flash of light as brilliant as the sunrise, Princess Celestia appeared in all her glory. Everypony bowed down, except for Twilight and I. She trotted forward to greet her mentor. I could only stand there with tears in my eyes as I watched teacher and student greet each other like mother and daughter. Celestia then noticed me and walked over. “Tia,” I barely choked out. “Del,” she choked out before she rushed to me and hugged me for all it was worth. “Is my sister back?” “That and more,” I said, pointing to the younger of the two night alicorns. “You have a new sister.” “And she’s so cute!” Sora rushed over, picking up the midnight alicorn and swinging her around, startling her and Luna awake in the process. “Just look at her. She’s the cutest little alicorn I’ve ever seen. Sorry Luna, not even you in that sexy maid uniform compares to the shear levels of adorableness right here.” Luna, who had also been awakened by Sora’s shout, blushed furiously. “Wh- what?” “So cute! Hey,” Sora held the alicorn out at arm’s length, looking into her slightly fearful eyes. “What’s your name?” “Um, uh, S-Stella.” “...she stuttered. She stuttered! Oh my gosh, you just keep getting more and more adorable! Cute little Stella. Oh, I can’t wait to tell my Luna about you, you cute little star butt.” He looked over to see Celestia staring at him, along with the others. “Oh yeah. Hey there, sun butt. So this is what you look like as a mare. This is going to be weird once I go back home and tell Prince Solaris about you. Hey, could I get a photo of you to take back with me to show him?” Everyone turned to stare at Celestia who just kept opening and closing her mouth, trying to think of something to say. “You know,” piped up Luna, speaking for the first time, “I can sort of see it.” While everypony else was focused on the now blushing Celestia, Sora leaned down to whisper in Stella’s ear, just loud enough for me to catch it. “Sorry for doing this so suddenly. You’re basically Nightmare Moon given form, and I wanted to dispel any lingering fears and doubts that might have formed.” Stella looked up at him, the fear leaving her eyes a bit as she processed what he said. “Um, thank you, I guess. Does that mean you can let me down now?” “Nope,” Sora replied, hugging her all the tighter. “What I said still applies. You’re still too yaying adorable for words.” “Dude! I can understand you liking her enough to hug her like that, but put her down now!” I reach over and grabbed one of his arms. As soon as I grabbed, my arm and the arm I grabbed was engulfed in light and I blacked out. *************************** “They’ve broken through the main gate! They’ll be here any second!” I looked at the green pegasus with the white and teal mane. “Yay it all. Where’s Smart Cookie?” The pegasus saluted. “Sir! She stayed behind to hold them off. to give us time to get to her.” “SHE WHAT?” I ran out the door that Private Pansy had just entered through, turning down corridors and leaping down flights of stairs, Pansy and Clover following right behind. We turned a final corner just in time to see a light orange earth pony get over-run by a veritable wall of shadow. “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” “Oh Luna no,” whispered Clover, sinking to the ground. “No, not Cookie.” A flash of light revealed a wicked looking keyblade in Pansey’s hoof. “DIE!” she screamed, leaping into the fray. “DIE YOU MISERABLE MOCKERIES OF LIFE!” “NO!” I rushed forward, summoning Oathkeeper and Oblivion. “Pansy, don't! You can't fight them all! We need to get back!” I hacked and slashed, but for every heartless I destroyed, three more popped up between me and Pansy. “It should have been safe here.” I looked back to see Clover just sitting there, staring at the endless sea of black. “My wards were perfect. It should have been safe.” “Clover, get up!” I shouted. “We need to get going. Pans-” I turned just in time to see five invisibles sink their blades into her flesh. “PANSY!!!” “Ahh-” Her cry was choked off as a final blade found its way through her throat. I tore my eyes away, desperate to save at least one of them. “Clover! Come on! We need to move!” “Both gone now,” she whispered, curled up on the floor. “Cookie gone. Pansy gone. All gone into darkness. All because we stayed. All because we let them find us.” “No.” I stumbled under the onslaught, barely able to deflect the incoming blows, much less destroy the heartless between me and Clover. “No, it can't be that. It's not…” Did I do this? Did I lead them to their deaths? All because I wanted somewhere to rest my head for more than a month at a time? I looked up from my thoughts to see an invisible floating over to Clover, sword raised. “No! No! Clover! Get up! Run! Ru-” The sword came down. Clover didn’t even scream as her head was severed from her shoulders. “no... Oh Tartarus, no! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!” Light exploded all around me, filling the air with keyblades. I grabbed Pansy’s Reaper and my own Ultima and began to slash viciously, the storm of keyblades swirling around and destroying everything they touched. Heartless were slaughtered, and I didn’t stop. Walls crumbled, and I didn’t stop. The ceiling and three floors of fortress fell towards me, and my keyblades just kept on slashing. Finally, after hours of mindless lashing out, it was over. I knelt in a crater, surrounded only by fading wisps of darkness as I clutched three keychains close to my heart, three cracked keychains depicting the cutie marks of the best friends I had ever known. I knelt there, alone in that crater, and wept like a child. *************************** I stirred from my unconsciousness and looked over to where Sora had collapsed. He was also starting to stir from his unconsciousness. I rolled over, onto my hands and knees, preparing to stand up. Sora slowly got to his feet, brushing himself off and looking away. “You saw that, didn’t you?” “Not on purpose, if that’s what you’re asking.” I respond. “I understand your distaste for mind reading, but-” Sora turned, cutting me off with a blow to the face. I was sent flying back until I slammed into a wall. I looked up to see him standing there, arm still outstretched and breathing heavily. “You’re right,” he said, lowering his arm and turning away again. “You do understand now. After all, you saw it.” He spread his arms, as if showing off to an audience. “Sora, the Warrior of Light, at his finest and most powerful when not a force in the world could stop him!” His arms dropped to his side, and he looked up to the ceiling. “And all of it bucking useless. All of it too late to save three of the best ponies I’ve ever met.” He dropped his head, sighing deeply. “Just give me your token and let me get out of here. I need to go cool my head.” I walked forward and placed my hand on his shoulder. “Let me say a few things first.” I pulled back my head and slammed it into his, knocking him over. “That was for interrupting me. I wasn’t finished.” I sighed and rubbed my now sore head. “In inFAMOUS: Second Son, the protagonist, Delsin Rowe, has the ability to absorb the powers of other Conduits and use them as his own. A side effect to the absorption process is seeing a key memory of their life or hearing a monolog summary of a key portion of their life. If I had to guess anything, it made Delsin see an unbiased view of that conduit.” I pointed at him. “When you first arrived and acted all crazy at me about telepathy, I thought you were competing with Karma for the 'Twit-head of the Year' award.” I knelt down to his level. “After seeing that memory, I can see why you won’t allow intruders. You don’t want your facade to drop, exposing you at your weakest.” I looked at him. “But I tell you this, ‘Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hooves. Thou art not yet as Job; thy friends do not contend against thee, neither charge thee with transgression, as they did Job. And they who do charge thee with transgression, their hope shall be blasted, and their prospects shall melt away as the hoar frost melteth before the burning rays of the rising sun.’” All was quiet in the room for a time, until a single chuckle broke the silence. This chuckle was soon repeated by another. And another. Soon Sora was laughing outright, his cries filling the room and verging on maniacal. Eventually, he calmed down enough to speak. “You just don’t get it, do you.” He slowly got to his feet, a little unsteady as he stood. “You think I’m covering for something? That I put on a mask? Who the yay do you think you are? How long have you lived? How many friends have you seen be born, live and die before your eyes? I was a general in Equestria for over a thousand years. I’ve suffered many losses.” He clenched his hands into fists as they shook. “I’ve wept in Luna’s hooves more times than I can count. I’ve spared with Sol in full view of the guard just to get my aggression out. You think that that was the worst loss I’ve suffered? I’ve had to make calls on the battlefield that led to the loss of hundreds of lives. In terms of failure, this one was nothing. But you know what? IT SURE HURT LIKE TARTARUS!!!” Twin flashes lit the room, and Sora was left holding two deadly looking keyblades. The first had a long, thin, silver shaft that looked almost like a metal spine with red tendrils weaving together to form the handle, and 4 scythe blades on the end in the shape of key teeth. The other’s shaft was a deep, dark purple with black and green vines twining around it. The hilt was a light purple in another vine design, and the blade featured a wicked looking curve which was stained blood red. The keychain featured a cracked flower, and Delsin recognized it as Pansy’s keyblade. “You see,” said Sora, “I don’t push that memory away because I’m weak or afraid or it. I push it away because IT MAKES ME ROYALLY PISSED OFF!!!” He turned and glared at me, his formerly blue eyes now glowing yellow. “I tell my keybladers that even we are not above corruption. That’s as true of me as it is of anyone, and you just found the one button that might send me over the edge if you push hard enough. So I want to get out of here before I do something that I’ll regret. I know it’s stupid to be angry. I know you had no control over it. I know I’ll forgive you and that we might even become friends once I have a chance to calm down. And right now I really couldn’t care less! So give me your token and let me get out of here before I DO TO YOU WHAT THOSE INVISIBLES DID TO PANSEY!!!” I looked at him with an emotionless gaze as I telepathically spoke with Screwball. ‘Screwball, take two feathers from Karma, one red and one blue, and merge them together. That will be my token.’ ‘And your message?’ ‘I am Delsin Rowe, The Equestrian Eagle. Should you need aid, or someone to talk to or spar with, call me up.’ I held out my hand and an blue and red eagle feather appeared. I handed it over to Sora, but I left him with a few words. “Three things to think about when you get home. First, there is a wedding in a few months and I’ll send you an invitation. As much of a twit you are, you’re a good guy. Second, don’t ever call my fiancé ‘Sunbutt’ ever, unless you want me to kick my foot in yours. Third, don’t beat yourself up over your mistakes. I’ve done some bad things myself. I’m not proud of them, but I don’t beat myself over the head because of them.” Sora stuffed the token into his pocket, both keyblades still out. “Getting lectured by a brat,” he muttered. “Better get out of here before I really do it.” In a flash of light, he was gone. I turned to the assembled group, all of whom had shocked expressions. “Celestia, take care of Stella, and get this group to the edge of the forest. I need to cool down.” I walked to one of the windows and leapt out of it, not caring if I got hurt or not. Unbeknownst to me, I glowed brightly again and the back of my vest changed to the Champion symbol. Author's Note Points: +6 Rank: Champion There is no Karmic Decisions for this chapter. HOW DARE YOU!!!! Holy Crap! See you next chapter!
Chapter 7: Aftermath and New ProblemsinFAMOUS Displaced Chapter 7 Aftermath and New Problems The battle that Sora and I had against Nightmare Moon had drained me, more emotionally than physically, but it was enough for me to spend the night in Ghastly Gorge with some of the more friendly Quarray Eels. Waking up, I absorbed a blast core and began to work on figuring out my new power. I found that the power I had gotten from Sora was Light (although, personally speaking, I was expecting a keyblade). I was in the final process of testing this new power and it’s capabilities when I heard my name being called. Looking around the Gorge, I saw Celestia and Twilight walking down a path I had carved with my Light power. I walked towards them to prevent issues with the Quarray Eels. “It’s nice to see you again, Tia,” I said, hugging her. “How’s freedom treating you?” She asked me. I gave her a peck on the cheek, “Not the best, but it’s better than being in stone. However, I feel that this visit isn’t all about me.” “I came with that focus on you. Twilight, however, came for other purposes.” She looked over to her student that she had told me many times about. Kneeling down to her level, I spoke. “What do I owe the pleasure, Sister,” I greeted, using the Akomish title for her. "Well...uh...Brother,” she responded hesitantly, “I came because of this.” She held up her left hoof and purple electricity sparked to life on it. “My friends are also experiencing some fear with their...new developments.” She held her electrified hoof to her chin in thought. “Although, Pinkie Pie seems to have no problems with it. She is working with it about as well as you did with the smoke.” “Judging by what Sora said yesterday about a certain Berry Bubble, both have antics and quirks that are to be expected,” I said. I stood back up and looked around. “Now, the best way to overcome your fears of your newfound powers is to learn how to control them.” Turning to Celestia, I spoke. “What is the closest city, town, or settlement?” “Ponyville,” both Twilight and Celestia said. They looked at each other in brief amazement before the three of us broke out laughing. Like teacher like student. After the laughing had died down, Twilight spoke. “Why did you want to know?” I turned to her and gave her a deadpan stare. “I’ve been in stone for a thousand years,” I said with a sigh, “I want to know what has changed in that time, and have a destination for us to head to while we train.” “Wait,” Twilight backed up a bit. “We’re training now?” I gave two shrill whistles, causing Twilight and Celestia to cringe and splay their ears back in pain. Then, a blast core came flying out of the nearest Quarray Eel den, right into my head. To say it hurt was an understatement. I began cursing what no good person should ever curse and fired a few Light Bolts into the den, eliciting a fierce growl from inside. After calming down, I picked up the blast core and tossed to Twilight, who caught it in her magic. “Yes, we’re training now. I still need to figure out how to use my new power.” I encased my arms in pure light, bright enough for it to be noticeable, but not enough to blind Twilight or Celestia. “I’ve only mastered three things of my new power: basic combat,-” I pointed to the den. “-which you have seen, defence,-” I generated a shield of hard light in my left arm. “-and finally, speed.” I jumped onto the side of Ghastly Gorge, parkour style. As soon as I pushed off, I was enveloped in light and I was launched to the top of the other side of the Gorge. Upon landing on my feet, the light dissipated. I looked down into the canyon and called out to Twilight. “Use your powers to absorb the Blast core. Once you wake up, we’ll begin training.” She looked at the core uneasily as it was held in her magic. She looked up back up towards me and I gave her a nod of approval. She then took the core in her front hooves and began to charge electricity into it. A few seconds into the process, the core dissolved and she collapsed in a heap in the center of the gorge. Celestia gingerly moved Twilight closer to the Eel dens. One of the eels looked out and saw Celestia approaching with the young Akomish in her magic. It bowed towards her and retreated back into its den. Celestia placed Twilight next to that den and then flew up to where I was standing. I sat down on the edge of the gorge and she sat next to me. We sat there in silence, watching Twilight sleep off the core. I looked over at Celestia and I couldn’t easily gauge her emotions. In the thousand years that I had known her, she only showed her emotions if she was relaxed or said emotions were in the extreme levels. But her eyes always betrayed her emotions, no matter how well she could sit stone faced. In this instance I could see a form of sadness combined with concern. “Is something bothering you?” I asked her, placing an arm over her withers. She eased closer to me, and I began to stroke her ethereal mane. “I now have a second sister to work to protect. Not to mention Twilight’s new development.” She sighed. “I just don’t want Stella to feel fear around me and I don’t want Twilight hurt.” “I guess Sora had the right intentions in doing what he could to prevent you from harming her, in case you were thinking that she was the new physical embodiment of Nightmare Moon.” I chuckled, remembering Sora’s light minded moment. “As for Twilight, her becoming the Bearer of the Element of Magic would attract trouble to her alone. Getting powers is not that much of a deviation from that.” I suddenly felt uneasy for some reason and I stood to look around me. Celestia seemed to notice my paranoia. “What’s wrong?” I shook my head before looking back into the woods but as soon as I did that, my vision changed. I seemed to be aware of every patch of light, mostly in what I would call the spiritual realm. Within the patch of forest that I was looking at, I saw the world in grey and I could see pony and animal shapes in varying degrees of black and white amongst the grey trees. Most of the white shapes were animalistic, while the black shapes had pony forms. I blinked my eyes briefly, canceling my Light Vision. I remembered where the closest black form was. I lunged behind a tree and tackled a strange looking pony from behind it. I did my best to try and keep a hold of him but, I was thrown of, dangerously close to the edge of the Gorge. Celestia took the initiative and knocked the pony to the ground and restrained him. I got up and managed to get a good look at him. It was an earth pony, one of the larger ones. I couldn’t tell what his body color was, because, as far as I could tell, he was painted with what looked like blood. His body was also covered with bones from various animals and possibly ponies. He was wearing a black skullcap with the image of a white pony skull embroidered on the front. The cap was placed on his head in such that most of the pony’s face was concealed but he could still see. The same skull that was embroidered on the skullcap was painted in white where the cutie mark was supposed to be. I approached the pony with a scowl on my face. “What were you doing, hiding there?” The pony simply scowled back. We stared at each other for a few moments before he spoke in a guttural voice. “I will not compromise my brothers or our cause.” He then moved his hoof to a hidden pouch in his bony armor and pulled out something I had never heard about or seen for nearly a thousand years. He pulled out a grenade. Without hesitation, I shot a Light Bolt directly into his face. The shot didn’t seem to faze him as he moved the grenade to his mouth. He placed the grenade in his mouth and pulled the pin out with his hoof. I ran and grabbed Celestia, putting myself between her and the grenade. There was a deafening explosion behind me and then silence. Turning around I saw that the strange pony had committed suicide in the worst way. There was the sound of electricity from the Gorge and Twilight climbed up and saw the horrendous scene. Barely one second after she saw the mangled corpse, she did an about-face and hurled whatever she had for breakfast onto the head of snoozing quarray eel. After her stomach was relieved of it’s cargo, she turned to us and asked, “What was that explosion?” Pointing to the carcass, I said, “That pony committed suicide using an explosive called a grenade.” At that point, Twilight had a look of horror on her face that made it seem as if she wanted to teleport her breakfast back into her stomach so she could empty it again. “What kind of pony would do that kind of thing?” She asked. ‘One who was not in control of himself,’ Karma stated. I looked over to the corpse and saw Karma on a bush, analyzing the carrion. ‘Just by the scent alone, I can tell that this pony’s blood is not normal.’ Celestia, Twilight, and I walked over and instead of seeing the usual red blood, we saw something black oozing from the mangled body. I bent down and stuck my finger in the strange liquid. It was pitch black and had an oily yet sticky composure. I brought it to my nose and then tested it a bit on my tongue. I spit out the strange liquid and stood. ‘Let me guess. Oily yet sticky?’ “Having a slight scent of petroleum and tastes like coal.” ‘Indicating that Sasha…’ “Or somepony like Sasha is controlling them.” I turned to Celestia and Twilight and saw them rubbing their heads just under their horns. “We were doing it again, weren’t we?” “You were,” Celestia confirmed with a nod, “At least you have figured out that this pony wasn’t in control of his actions.” I smiled at her compliment. Before I could respond, I heard a teleport from behind me, but it didn’t sound magical in nature. I turned around and saw an unusual looking alicorn. She was around Twilight’s size and from what I could tell from what wasn’t covered by tech and clothing, she had the same coat color. The tech she was covered in gave her a creepy cyborg look. Her mane was shaved rather close and was mussed up. Where her horn and left eye was, was a metal plated horn and a glowing blue, mechanical eye. Her wings looked mechanical in nature, resembling a jet's wings but still maintaining a bird's flexibility. Her left arm was purely mechanical and where a hoof should have been, a mechanical griffin claw was. All three of us stared at the strange arrival with suspicious stares. None of us dared to speak for a few moments, but the cyborg in front of us gave us a smirk and spoke in a gravelly yet familiar voice. “I bring a message from the conduit that controls the Skullcap gangs.” Twilight walked forward. “What’s the message?” The cyborg turned in her direction. “Only one is to receive this message. Understand that, Twibright Snarkle?” Twilight cringed at the horrible nickname. Celestia lit her horn threateningly. “State your message and leave! I will not tolerate your threatening tone and ridiculous nicknames towards anypony, especially my student!” “This doesn't concern you, Cake Flank!” The cyborg then stood on her back legs and thrust forward with her front ones, sending a static shock wave in Celestia’s direction. The sudden attack threw her off guard and she was sent flying across the Gorge, screaming most of the way. Seeing my fiance thrown around as she just was angered me. I lit up my arms and turned to confront the cyborg, but I wasn’t given the chance. A blob of tar struck me on the right side of my face, knocking me down into the Gorge. I heard Celestia calling my name, but it seemed muffled. I fought to hear, see, or even remain conscious, but fell into the black void. ************************** ‘Help me.’ ‘Who's there?’ ‘Help me.’ ‘You're not giving me anything to work with to help you.’ ‘I can't say anything more, other than the tar will help you help me. The pain is just too great to bear. I can't take any more abuse.’ This is getting me nowhere fast. I have no other choice other than to completely trust this conduit or not. He/she is apparently in pain and may be needing help. But it could also be a trap, luring me in for capture. So, what should I do? Trust the conduit or not? Author's Note Points: +6 Rank: Champion So Delsin is now dealing with a gang of ponies of unknown intentions being led or controlled by a conduit like unto Sasha. Voting has been closed.
Chapter 8: Trust the Conduit This chapter was written with the assistance of Dragonblade0196. A Crossover with The time god of Equestria. The dialogue may not 100% match, but the story does. inFAMOUS Displaced Chapter 8 Trust the Conduit I’ll admit, he or she is pretty convincing. I’ll trust him...or her...for the time being. ‘Is there anything you can tell me. Something that will allow me to try to help you.' ‘Yes, you’re in Ponyville, correct?’ ‘I assume so. If not, I’m still in the Everfree.’ ‘My mother and father live there. I’m allowed limited contact with them, but I have managed to devise a code with my father to keep him up to date with Skullcap activity so that my sister will remain safe and out of harm’s way. Tell him, ‘the TIME is nigh’ and he’ll know what to do.’ ‘What are their names and tribes?’ ‘My father is Dr. ‘Time Turner’ Hooves, a brownish grey earth pony with an hourglass cutie mark. He’s also a time conduit, but he rarely uses his power. Mother is Ditzy ‘Derpy’ Doo, a grey pegasus with bright blond hair and bubbles as a cutie mark. She also has a...problem with her eyes, but don’t mention it in front of her. And finally, my twin sister is Dinky Doo, a unicorn filly with Mom’s coat and mane colors. She lacks a cutie mark at this time, once again, be careful what you say.’ ‘Thanks, I’ll do what I can.’ ********************* I felt the real world start to come back to me. As consciousness began to return to me, I began hearing voices. “Lulu! He’s waking! Find Tia!” “Okay!” I heard a few hoofsteps before a loud voice. “PRINCESS CELESTIA, THY FUTURE HUSBAND IS WAKING!!!” If I wasn’t awake before the loud voice, I was definitely awake after. My eyes shot open and my arms were wrapped in Light, ready for a fight. However, instead of a battlefield, I was in what looked like a hospital room. Looking around, I saw Stella looking at me with big eyes that held both wonder, and fright. I also saw Luna walking back into the room with a smug look of accomplishment. She noticed that I was awake, and she suddenly was interested in the design of the tiles. “I woke him, didn’t I?” I looked out the window and saw that the sun was barely rising. “What gave it away?” I asked sarcastically. “Was it because I look like I was scared awake, or was it the Royal Canterlot Voice that could have woken up the entire hospital, if not the entire city?” “Town,” Stella corrected. “We’re in Ponyville at this time and knowing Lulu, she yells like that a lot, even when I tell her that it isn’t needed.” Luna huffed. “It’s not entirely my fault that our little ponies have changed over my thousand year absence and I have a hard time fitting in.” Stella groaned and rolled her eyes. “Fine. Be stubborn in your ways. Just don’t come crying to me when you discover how this age redefined cake.” She smiled as her thoughts obviously drifted. “Miss Pie makes the best cupcakes that have ever existed.” Getting up from the hospital bed, I walked over to the quarreling sisters and just hugged them both. They began to gag a bit from my strong hug nearly cutting off their air supply. I let go of them as the door opened and Celestia and the doctor walked in. I rushed forward and gave her a hug and a kiss. She interrupted her scowl to give me a smile and a kiss back. After I broke the embrace, she resumed her mean look and moved to Luna. Luna seemed to try and shrink from Celestia’s gaze, and Stella seemed to have a bit of a victorious look to herself. Just as Luna looked like she was about to cry in fear, Celestia grinned and gave Luna a fierce hug, once again, nearly choking the life out of her. Celestia let her go and allowed Luna to gasp for air and gap at her sister’s prank. “Gotcha,” she said, causing laughter from Stella and I. Luna could only blush a bit at being pranked. “Ahem.” We turned to the doctor as he pulled a clipboard off of the bed I was on. I sat down on the bed and let him do his doctor stuff. “From what Their Majesties have told us, your healing factor has taken care of most of the damage that came from the assault.” I gave him a questioning look. “Most of the damage?!” I asked. He magically lifted a small mirror for me to see my face and I did a double take of my face. The right side of my face was covered with black veins and my right eye was pitch black. If I had to say anything, it seemed like whatever hit me made me look like a tame, yet inFAMOUS version of Two-Face. “Well.” I looked to Celestia, closing my left eye, and confirming that I could still see with it. “That happened.” Tia gave me a questioning look. “What happened?” “So, do you recall what I said about Sasha?” All three alicorns nodded. “So, what happened was that Cybercorn must have obtained tar from the one controlling the Skullcaps. I had a conversation with that conduit and I need you to look some things up for me before I go throwing my trust to anypony.” “What do you need for this trust and why are you planning on trusting this conduit?” Stella asked. She then gasped. “Does that mean you are being controlled?!” She flew over to me and began shouting in my right ear. “Let my soon-to-be brother go!” The yelling escalated as Tia, Luna, the doctor, and I combined our efforts to pry her off of me. After Stella was pulled off of me and was restrained and calmed, I set the borrowed crowbar down and recounted the dialogue I had with the conduit, including the details of the conduit’s family. “I do recall the many times that Ditzy landed in the hospital, both literally and figuratively,” the doctor said. “However, I cannot legally tell you any information unless she was to sign for it to be revealed.” “It is alright, Doctor.” Tia held up her hoof to reassure him. “We don’t need medical records, we just need to look to census records and deliver the message to his father to learn of the truth.” “And I believe we should start on that, post haste!” Luna exclaimed. She rose from her sitting position and in a bright flash, teleported away. Tia rose as well, but turned to Stella and I. “Do you wish to search the records with us or stay with Del?” She asked playfully. Stella answered by squeeing loudly and latching onto my back. She squeezed hard, not enough for me to be cut off from air, but hard enough for me to have to use the crowbar, if the need arose. “I guess that answers that.” I walked to Tia and gave her a goodbye kiss. “I’ll see you when you get back.” She nodded and vanished in a bright light. “I’m so excited to explore this new world!” Stella squeed. “Where do you want to go first?!” “Well, for starters, let’s leave the hospital.” I turned to the doctor. “I am allowed to leave, correct?” “The Princess just signed you out before she came to the room,” he confirmed. “Well, now that's been taken care of.” I picked up the crowbar. “Now the next step, let’s get you off my back.” *************** After the doctor and I pried Stella off of my back, we exited the hospital and began to make our way to the town square (or circle, as it was technically that). Ponies were wandering to and fro in the streets as the sun was beckoning for them to start this new day. I saw that a few ponies gave us either apprehensive looks and backed away from us or bowed to us. Apparently, Luna’s shouting did unintentionally send that news across town. Stella seemed amazed by everything that she saw. At one point, she was trying to flag down Pinkie as she was using her confetti thrusters to glide to Applejack’s apple stand, which seemed to have been built on the fly using now living trees embedded in the roadside. Both of us were amazed at how Rainbow Dash was doing stunts with her conduit abilities mixed in and how Fluttershy was helping an nearby Earth pony with her gardening by willing the weeds to not grow. “It seems as though everypony is getting used to their conduit abilities,” I commented. “You should have seen them when they were just starting to realize their powers. Twilight nearly electrocuted the Sea serpent in the river on our way out.” “That bad?” “Yeah.” We kept walking, but as soon as we arrived at town square, I heard somepony yelling. “You brutes!” We heard the voice, evidently Rarity’s, shout. “This is a crime against fashion if there ever was one!” *We don’t care about your stupid mane! The Mistress wants you roughed up, so we’ll do what we must to rough you up!* “And that growling is so uncouth!” I turned to Stella as we listened to the conversation. “Did you understand what that growling was?” Stella asked me. “I did.” I ran to the town hall and began to scale it. “I guess it’s a side effect to what happened with the tar. The Skullcaps must speak their own language and the tar makes it possible for me to understand it.” I managed to get to the top of Town Hall and scanned the area to locate where Rarity was. It wasn’t hard when I knew what I was looking for. I was looking North towards Canterlot and I saw in one of the districts of the town a fight was taking place. Rarity was on a rooftop, shooting a variety of gems at her attackers, some Skullcaps. Every so often, she would will a gem pillar to shoot up from underneath herself causing herself to be launched into the air and land on another rooftop. She did that whenever a Skullcap did the same thing with a pillar of earth instead, and would shoot rocks instead. “Stella!” I shouted down to her. “Do you know any combat spells?” She flew up to my position. “Yeah, why?” “Well, we’re going to help Rarity with those bricks that call themselves Skullcaps!” I grabbed the flagpole on the building and spun around it, activating my flowmotion. I began to practically fly to where Rarity was fighting. As I got close, I tested a theory of mine concerning flowmotion. I latched a “string” of Light to his leg and began to spin around him. The string seemed to hogtie him as he stood. When I felt that the string was tight enough, I grabbed his neck and flung him into the gathered Skullcaps, felling them like bowling pins. My act drew their attention. I unraveled my chain for engagement as Stella landed next to me, her horn lit and wings extended for intimidation. *So the Equestrian Demon decides to join the party.* One of the Skullcaps growled. *It would do us great pleasure to break those legs of yours, let them heal, and break them again.* The Skullcap rose his head and let loose a loud, guttural screech. *The Demon has arrived! So has the Unholy Spawn of the Nightmare!* The Skullcaps turned their attention to us. The Skullcaps seemed to wait before charging us. On instinct, I lobbed a ball of hard light that “exploded”, causing several of the Skullcaps to backpedal in fright and brief blindness. It didn’t deter the ringleader of the group, as he just charged past the blindness and jumped to tackle me. I reacted by trying to jump back, but time suddenly seemed to crawl to a slow, including my movements. ‘You are being summoned!’ ‘Not Now, Screwball! Can’t you see that I’m busy!’ ‘I informed Pinkie Pie of Rarity’s problem and she’ll be here shortly. I guarantee that the gathered Skullcaps will be restrained or dead by the time you get back.’ ‘The fact still stands that this is a bad time!’ ‘And the Displaced that is summoning you seems to be undergoing a lot of stress! So it may be urgent!’ ‘Alright, already! Let’s just get this over with!’ ‘Okie Dokie Lokie!’ ‘Hey! That’s MY line!’ ‘Pinkie! How did you?...’ ‘Don’t Ask!’ I felt a tugging in my chest and my vision blacked out briefly. When my vision returned, my peripheral vision informed me that I was elsewhere, but one thing seemed to have remained constant. The Skullcap was still flying towards me. Time seemed to resume and the Skullcap knocked me over onto the ground. The Skullcap then lunged his head at my throat, but I put my arm out and held him back. ‘Gosh Flippin’ Dang It! Whoever summoned me better not get mad for accidentally summoning a Skullcap as well!’ ‘If you can distract him with your natural telepathy, I should be able to reset his mind and he’ll be his normal self.’ ‘As normal as anypony can be when they have a neuro-tar in their system.’ ‘Yes, like that.’ "Hey, Delsin. Do you need any help? Because when it comes to first impressions, your failing." I heard a voice deadpan. I took a moment to try and find the voice's owner, but that brief distraction allowed the Skullcap's gnashing teeth to get closer. "Just do one thing for me!" I lit my arm up with bright light and slammed my bright fist into his jaw. The Skullcap went flying into the opposite wall. "Hold him down! And for Karma's sake, don't let him bite you or use his grenade!" "Fleahopper." Suddenly some water vapor restrained him and even stripped him of his bone armor, skullcap, and grenade. I took advantage of the breather to stand up and get a visual of my surroundings and who summoned and helped me. The one closest to me seemed to catch my attention, was a female anthro cat. I decided to thank her for the help. "Thanks, the help was much appreciated." I then looked at the room I was in. Judging by what I could see, the building that is was in looked like the interior of a cluttered workshop inside a clockwork of some kind. It also seemed that the room had been through a beating. "How is this place still standing?" "Don't worry about that. My dad can fix this place up with the bugs, which will keep him occupied...So let us go into the world...Also I'm going to grab Damien." As she ran off to grab...whoever that was, I scanned the area with my telepathy. I felt a telepathic connection coming from the cat woman. I tapped into it and caught some of the conversation she was having with someone or somepony. 'So...What will you do with this Delsin guy? He seems...pleasant though not exactly the prettiest.' I decided to interrupt at this point. 'Hello, ladies.' I saw the cat jump a bit in fright. 'If you're talking about me, you're being kind of rude.' "Yes, and honestly your arrival, despite you not doing much, has already fixed my problem." She suddenly stopped. "Oh wait here's my token, and my dad's token should be laying somewhere over there," she said while giving me a golden coin that had her face embossed on it. I took the coin and examined it. For some reason, I felt some form of power radiating from it. "Thank you, but is there an enchantment on this? Normal gold wouldn't have a strong feeling of power or engery." I thought for a moment before continuing "Or is it fools gold?" "Nah it's my bonafide 100% magic coin that summons a card magician." She smirked. "Just so you know, and I'm quoting this, 'I have magic cards...and magic hands meow~'." Strange thing about what she said, it went clearly over my head. 'Just to let you know, she's practically trying to seduce you.' If I was shocked, I apparently didn't show it. 'Thank you, Screwball.' I then turned back to the cat woman. "Thanks, catgirl, but I'm already taken." I then turned to the restrained Skullcap. "I almost forgot that he was there. Give me a moment to fix this guy's head and the conversation will resume." I then walked over to him and placed my hand on his head to begin the telepathic interference. 'Beginning interference.' 'Give me a few seconds.' "Hey Delsin when your done just go through the piles on your left!" The cat blurted out unusually loud. 'Okay...And...Got it!' I removed my hand from the Skullcap's head, who now was unconscious. I then said, rather loudly, "Well I'm going to find your dad's token!" I then moved to the pile to my left and began sifting through the pile. I honestly found almost everything in the pile interesting, I even found a sonic screwdriver, of all things. As soon as I found a skull with a mark that looks like the devil's star that's blood red with many other symbols surrounding it I heard the cat say, "Sooo...did you find it?" She smiled sheepishly. "I forgot to tell you what his token is, but it seems you may have already found it." I then turn to her, showing her the skull. "So, his token is a skull with a symbol on it?" I asked, raising my eyebrow in a questioning manner. "No...it's a pocket watch with three dials. If you press both of the dials on the side it slows down time. Though mine doesn't have much to offer in support, though maybe it can absorb stuff..." She then trailed off in thought at the possibilities of her token. I pulled her token out and examined it again, thinking of what could be useful from it. "You know, amidst all this chaos, I forgot to ask your name. I'm guessing that you may have learned my name from my token." I looked her up and down. "Come to think of it, where is my token? I don't see it on you." She then grinned a huge grin and spoke in a posh, sophisticated manner. "Hello there Delsin Bow. I'm Carrow Coxen, the Ecaflip, and adopted daughter of Noximilien Coxen, the time lord." "Its Delsin Rowe, not Bow," I said, face palming. "Despite grammar issues, this honestly helps keep introductions to a minimum." I then took a look at the guy Carrow dragged over, Damien I think she said his name was. He seemed to have a belt that held different masks each with a different expression, though they each seemed to be alive. His clothes looked like rags with a black color, almost like soot. It seemed to give the apperance of a medieval thief with no sleeves. "I take it that this is one of your friends. You already got my name, but Its nice to meet you." I held out my hand to shake, but he acted as if it didn't exist. "Hello there. I'm Damien the Masqueraider, the guardian of Zecora and of the Everfree forest, and just so the both of you know I'll be heading back now. I don't want her to be in trouble." He then teleported to the ground then ran off. Seeing him go. I finally noticed that we're about a 100ft above ground. 'How does Carrow even live here!?' 'The same way I do.' 'ZIP IT, KARMA!' "Is he always this weird?" I asked Carrow while still looking around the large landscape. "He generally likes playing the part, and Masqueraiders only show emotion through masks, so he wasn't really trying to be weird. Though sometimes, I'd bet he was," she replied as she began to walk towards Noximilien and started talking to him. Then she got a look of concern on her face as her dad began to stare at me with his blue, mechanical eyes. I then saw that he materialized a sword and pointed it at me like he was aiming, so I readied myself for a fight. "Line of Fire." The area around me began to rise in temperature intensely as a beam of pure fire was fired directly at me from Nox's sword. I jumped to the side to try and make the attack miss and hit something else to generate smoke. He anticipated my intentions s and teleported in front of me and tried to hit me, but he missed. I managed to absorb some smoke from his first attack and then lobbed a sulfur bomb straight at him. However, it somehow detonated just after it left my hand, taking me by surprise and causing me to back up towards a hole made by Nox's first attack. I then suddenly felt no floor beneath my feet and the wind rushing past me. Before I could comprehend anything further, I hit the ground really hard and blacked out. Author's Note Points: +7 Rank: Champion Well, it looks like Delsin is screwed. HEY! I wasn't talking about you Screwball. Anyway, what will happen to Delsin now? Why did Nox attack him? Will this be resolved? Who knows? I don't! (Well, I do, but I can't reveal that because, SPOILERS!)
Chapter 9: Karma and PTSDAuthor's Note This chapter was written with the assistance of Dragonblade0196. A Crossover with The time god of Equestria. The dialogue may not 100% match, but the story does. As a side note, I've published this chapter with my tablet and it's keyboard lacks a tab button. When I get the chance, I'll edit the chapter with my computer. 3/20/2016: Computer Edit. Chapter 9: Karma and PTSD inFAMOUS Displaced Chapter 9 Karma and PTSD I didn't know how long I was out, but as I was coming to, I heard a twig snap. Having been in a war, the sound signaled to my mind of trouble. And not just any kind of trouble...an ambush! My eyes shot open and I jumped up with my chain out. With a screech, I began to lash it around and fire off cinder missiles and sulfur bombs at random, destroying anything unlucky to be within range of the chain and damaging almost everything else. As my vision was obscured by the smoke, I turned to where I heard the twig snap. The smoke cleared and I was able to clearly see the intruder. It was a geeky looking guy in blue and brown clothing and a strange gauntlet. He seemed to have seen my 'tantrum' and was rather surprised from it. I was about to question who he was when my stomach felt off. 'Uhgg, why do I feel sick?' 'Your body is still in its acclimation process to the neuro-tar your system.' 'What?' 'You need to vomit to feel better.' I offered no argument and just let it out. Whatever I ate, if I ate, came flying out of my mouth mixed with a large amount of a thick, black liquid. I hurled two or three times before I felt better. As I was getting ready to stand, I heard more vomiting. I looked and saw that Mr. Blue Geek had thrown up as well. *Hey, Buddy!* I called out. *Do you need any help, because when it comes to first impressions, your failing.* I stood up and carefully walked around the messes the the Geek and I made. I grabbed him by his shirt sleeve and steadied him on his feet. His face had a look of fear, the kind that says, 'Crap! I'm gonna die!' "Oh come on!" Geek squealed loudly, like a scared school girl. "I'm too young to die!" 'Why is he...Oh! I was speaking Skullcap!' I cleared my throat before speaking again. "Sorry about getting you sick and scared close to the same time. I have a neuro-tar in my system, a new language forced into my head, and PTSD issues. Not to mention that I was summoned by a cat that looks like a compulsive gambler and was then attacked by her father, who looks like a discount, yet cosmic Iron Man." I shook my head. "And this is after I was attacked and almost killed by a Skullcap, so my visit here hasn't been the best." Geek suddenly had big eyes. "What?!" He grabbed me by the lapels. "Did you say you met a cat that looks like a compulsive gambler?" "Wait! Do you know her?" His face then became flustered. "Um......yes...maybe......are you going to help me?" 'That was random.' "Where'd that last part come from? And I might help you, but that depends on what. Because if this has to do with winning a lady's heart...you'll have to do it alone. I don't see anything profitable in it for me, other than potentially missing limbs." "Um...no...it's about fighting Nox by absorbing his power so you can fight him on an equal level...and also I'll give you my power which is elemental manipulation which the three elements I control is water, fire, and earth." He said, tacking on a grin. "OH *HELL* NO!" I then proceeded to walk away. "Why did you just outright refuse? Especially with the opportunity to gain four extremely vital powers?!" He asked. I twisted my neck, popping a few joints in the process and turned back with a glare on my face. "Three reasons." I held up three fingers, and counted down with them. "First off, I'm not a power hungry *B^^^^^^*! That's just bad Karma for me. Second off, Noximilien put off more of the 'Overprotective Father' mentality in his forethoughts when he attacked me. So, I don't really have any reason to fight him, other than for information on his reasons to attack me *and to kick his rear end up between his shoulder blades*. Third off, what's your reasons for wanting to fight him?" I ended by pointing my index finger at him. "Well that fortress you see there is more than just a mobile house. It's specifically designed to absorb an entire species magic killing them in the process, and right now I need to beat him to get back to the world I came from. He's the one who sent me here in the first place." His answer caused me to give the 'are you kidding me' look. "Hold up. So you want me to help you despite the fact that he could kill me when he's bored. You're just going to send me right into my grave." "You know Carrow's dad is not Nox right?" Once again, 'are you kidding me' look. "It's an adoptive relationship, you dolt!" I deadpanned rather loudly. "So, he's just trying..." I was suddenly hit with a headache. I grabbed my head in pain as my legs gave out as well. My vision blurred and I saw that I was standing in front of Nox with Geek and the former Skullcap standing behind me to my right and Carrow to Nox's right. Nox and I seemed to be talking about something, but Vision Me saw or heard something behind both Carrow and Nox. Vision Me smoke dashed past Nox, grabbed Carrow and tossed her towards Geek and the ex-Skullcap just as a dome barrier of earth rose up around them. I then pushed Nox over half a second before I was hit with...a beam of red neon? The vision and the headache vanished. Geek approached me with a concerned look on his face. I then felt another, yet weaker, headache hit and I blurted out a prophetic poem. "Karma’s wrath has been set free The Time Lord and Karma’s Champion Must work together to oversee The safety of this world." "Paraphrased Scripture in hand Can ensure this well. 'United they stand, Divided they fall'." My headache faded quickly. I could see that Geek was visibly worried. "Hey are you okay?" He asked as he weaved some magic into a healing spell of some kind. My fatigue from the vision and prophecy faded and I stood up. I was about to respond when I felt another mental conversation going on in Carrow's connection. 'Hey Carrow I've been poking around the library, and some device's hidden in the basement of the library. I then noticed that there are constant anomalies going on and some of them are powered by an odd form of magic. It seems like it may cause some problems.' 'Um...Vinyl about that there's this guy called Delsin Rowe that popped in from another reality and my dad sent him flying out the window of a 100meter high drop.' 'Hey, Carrow! You should realize that I'm still alive, and wondering WHAT THE HELL NOX'S PROBLEM IS! See if you can get him down here so we can talk like the thousand year old guy I am and the however old guy he should be!' 'Oh...hi there Delly! It's nice to hear. Also, apparently my dad had a vision that involves you, so he wants to change the future by killing you...just to put it simply you better run instead of talk unless you can think of a way to make him not want to end your life.' 'I'm going to spitball a guess on his vision...he saw himself and myself talking about something and then you, geek boy, he get hit with what looks like laser beams.' 'Nope. It was about everyone he knows and loves gets murdered by someone exactly like you or is you along with a little boy impaling him.' 'So he can see the many ways that the future can turn out, rather than an outright prophetic vision.' 'In a way. Honestly, he likes keeping things hidden and manipulating what he wants though, but he doesn't look at every possibility since it would kill him from doing so. I think I'm not entirely sure. As I said, he lets you know what he wants you to know. Wait a sec! How can Delsin know what might happen so accurately?' 'Can I add my two bits?' 'Yes, Screwball.' 'Delsin was exposed to the full measure of Harmonic Magic from the Elements of Harmony in his Equestria. This not only saved his life and greatly extended his life expectancy, but it gave him an unconscious and uncontrollable ability to see the future as it WILL happen. It also causes him to spout out a prophecy related to what he sees in vision.' 'Well that sounds interesting don't you agree Carrow.' 'I would think so, but time can become complicated it's quite odd, so I'm still processing this...wait before I go remember this...FEAR THE PARADOX CHILD...well that's what my dad said' I then felt the connection break from me. "Well, that happened," I said out loud, forgetting that Geek was still nearby. "What happened?" He asked, causing me to jump in fright and ready myself to fight. Upon seeing him flinch from my reaction, I calmed down. "I had a mental conversation with Carrow and she mentioned something about a Paradox Child. Does that ring any bells?" I said to him. "I'm not sure," he said. "But judging by the name, this is not just another person getting sent here causing the Wakfu bursts. It's probably coming here by it's own free will. Though, I'm not sure what to think of it. The anomaly came from the Everfree forest, so maybe head there." I nodded in agreement and we started towards the Everfree. Points: +7 Rank: Champion
Chapter 11: Karmic EffectinFAMOUS Displaced Chapter 11 Karmic Effect Delsin's POV After another long while of searching the Everfree Forest for more of the creeps that was "protecting" the Paradox Child, Geek and I arrived at the Ruins of the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. Upon seeing the Ruins, nostalgia struck hard. As if in a trance, I walked into the castle and went to the spot where (in my Equestria) the statue of myself once stood. I looked around, getting a feel of the place that was like unto the place I spent a thousand years in stone. One thing that stood out was that the Elements of Harmony were still there. "The Event must not have happened yet." I said. "What event?" Geek asked, stepping up beside me. I pointed to the Elements on the special pedestal. "Look at these. These are the Elements of Harmony in their inert form. On the Thousandth Summer Sun Celebration, Nightmare Moon will return and these will be the means of purifying her." I looked at Geek who had a look of wonder in his eyes. He went to grab one of them, but I fired a weak smoke shot at his hand, startling him. "Don't touch. Fate will determine when they will be used and by who. It will be here where they will be used." I hear a sound above me and Obsidian lands right next to me. He salutes to me and was about to give a report, but before he could speak, I hear and sense Carrow. "Hey Dad! How are you? We've been looking for you!" She said as if she hadn't a care in the world. I turn around and see Carrow standing behind Nox and giving him a huge grin. "Nonononono, you shouldn't be here! You have to escape! NOW!" Nox said with no emotion in his voice. He didn't take his eyes off of me as he said that. Despite not having any emotion in his voice, I could sense the fear he felt. "Nox, what is going on her-" Before I could finish my sentence, I felt a sudden headache hit. I stumbled a bit and held my hand to my head. 'Delsin!' 'Karma?!' 'Nisled is coming!' 'What?!' 'Damn it, Delsin! The Vision!' I understood what Karma was implying and I sprung into action. I smoke dashed to Carrow, grabbed her and tossed her to Obsidian and Geek. *Obsidian! Form a barrier! NOW!* Geek caught Carrow (rather clumsily) just as Obsidian formed an obsidian wall between them and Nox and I. Just after I shouted to Obsidian, I smoke dashed close to Nox and shoved him back a few feet. I looked to the doorway of the room and I saw a red beam of Neon headed straight for my head. I jumped, more out of surprise reaction and the Neon shot hit me in my left shoulder. I yelled out in pain as the shot knocked me to the ground. My vision was blurred from the pain for a few minutes as I saw my attacker stroll right up to me. When my vision cleared, I saw something that was next to impossible for me to comprehend. I saw myself...but I was different. The jacket was a red-ish color, his face seemed darker, and I could probably bet my engagement that the symbol on the back of his vest was the Bio-Terrorist symbol. The other me knelt down, grabbed my vest lapels and hoisted me off of the ground and against the wall. "You know, you're a real pain in the ass," he said before throwing me across the room, where he (somehow) caught me and slammed me onto the floor. "And since you took my chance to throw this world into pure, unfiltered Chaos, I'll just kill you here and now, and let your world fall into Chaos at the hooves of your heart broken fiancé." He then gave me a maniacal grin as he charged up Neon in his fist. Just before he attacked, I heard the sound of electricity and he was pulled away from me in a flash of electricity. "Over my dead body!" I heard a gravelly voice shout out. I looked up and saw the Cybercorn standing with her arms covered in purple electricity. The other me stood up and saw the electrified hoof and talon ready to attack. Other me began to laugh. "Of course, I'll grant you that request, Twilight Sparkle." A shockwave blasted out, knocking him back. "I've said it once, Nisled, and I'll say it again!" Her eyes glowed an angry purple and her lighting began to have a black edge to them (if lightning had edges). "That name died when you BRUTALLY MURDERED MY FRIENDS!!! MY NAME IS DUSK SPARK!!!" She then launched herself at Nisled and both of them fought, Neon coated chain against gigawatt blades. A lot of dust was kicked up in the fight, obscuring the brawl from view. I heard a number of explosions from within the dust cloud. Various Neon and electric shots fired out in random directions from it. One shock grenade landed in a patch of vines and exploded, making the vines smoulder and smoke. I used the smoke to heal myself. Nox then walked over and helped me up. "Well then. You are now safe from me trying to kill you, since now I know you aren't the one in the many futures I saw." He said to me. "Doesn’t that give you a headache?" I tried joking. If Nox gave a response, I didn't hear it as I noticed the fight winding down. The dust cloud cleared and I saw that both Nisled and Dusk were breathing heavily. Nisled seemed really dinged up, but Dusk looked worse off. Her clothing was torn to shreds and her mechanical wings and horn were torn off. "Ya'know, I really loved that fight. I think I'll keep you alive." He then kicked Dusk in the gut. She grunted in pain and fell down. "But I'll at least keep part of your request." He grabbed her non-mechanical arm, and I was half-expecting for him to absorb her power. However, he did something completely different. He pulled her non-mechanical arm clean off and threw it at the obsidian barrier extremely hard. So hard that the arm broke through the stone barrier. Dusk was screaming, bloody murder. I heard yells and scream of fear coming from inside the barrier. That just set me off. *YARGH!* I fired off a cinder blast, knocking him away from Dusk and against a wall. I then fired off cinder missile after cinder missile, covering the wall Nisled was on with an excessive amount of soot. The area also had a lot of smoke from all the missiles. After I fired off all the missiles that I could, I fell to my knees in exhaustion, both from firing the missiles and the temper flare. I was about to reabsorb the smoke, but I sensed something was off. The smoke seemed to flow to where Nisled was. When the smoke cleared, it wasn't because the smoke flowed off, it was because Nisled absorbed it. He was chuckling in an evil way. "Oh, man, you need to remember to not use smoke against a smoke conduit." I didn't respond. I had only a look of shock on my face. Nisled approached me with his chain unraveled. I stood up and unraveled my chain. "Then let’s just fight." We've both swung our chains and they met, causing a lot of pings and rattles. We kept fighting with our chains and I practically lost contact with the real world, focusing only on Nisled. Obsidian's POV Having seen blood, combat, and dismembered body parts, I didn’t really have a freak out from the purple pony arm and hoof crashing through my barrier. The blue geek and Carrow must have had issues, because as soon as their soft minds processed the arm on the ground, Geek jumped into Carrow's arms and both of them began to yell and/or scream in fear. I rolled my eyes and covered the arm with a stone covering. Their fear volume went down a little bit, but it was still loud. I growled in frustration and fired two smooth and low velocity rocks into their mouths, shutting them up instantly. "If you're done screaming like a bunch of babbling baboons, then we need to figure out what's going on out there a come up with a plan!" 'Delsin is fighting his Karmic opposite, Nox is readying to fight the Fire Mage, and we can beat them IF we get Delsin stronger.' "Thank you, and no-" Wait a moment. "Who in Tartarus said that!?" I looked over to Geek and Carrow and saw that they had the same confused look on their faces. A few seconds after I spoke, I heard the recognizable sound of teleportation and an Earth pony mare was inside the barrier. "Hi ther-" She began to say, but out of reaction, I encased her legs in stone. "HEY!" She shouted before teleporting out of the restraints. "Do you do that to everypony that offers their help?" I was flabbergasted. I never saw an Earth pony use magic...unless... "Are you a conduit?" In response, she teleported to the ceiling of the barrier, turning herself upside down and sticking to it. "Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. Either way, you want to get rid of Nisled and the Fire Mage, and I can help with both." "How and why?" Geek asked, as he peered out of the hole to view the fight. "Your Wakfu seems to match what I can sense from Delsin's doppelganger, so for all we know, you're working with him." The mare waved her hoof dismissively and teleported to in front of Geek. "For one thing, just because my Wacky-Foo or whatever matches Nisled's, it doesn't mean I work with him. I could simply have a similar energy signature or have the same powers." She emphasized that last point by placing a vest on that resembled Delsin's (it had her baseball and wood screw cutie mark on the back) and put on a beanie, like Delsin's. As she was floating in Geek's face, I remembered something. "Wait a moment!" I said in fancolt excitement. "You're Screwball! The Creator of the Karmic Eagle, Benevolent User of Chaos, and Prankster Extraordinaire!" She bowed in her floating position. "Creator of the Karmic Eagle?" Geek asked in confusion. "It was an accident," she muttered as she pulled a blue and red eagle egg out of her propeller beanie and tossed it to Geek. He barely caught it and once he had a good grip on it, he examined it in wonder. "Benevolent User of Chaos and Prankster Extraordinaire?" Carrow asked in confusion. Screwball pulled a card out of thin air, teleported to Carrow, gave her the card, and spun her around at a rapid speed. After a few seconds, Carrow was transformed into a giant card. Carrow was on the face side while Screwball's cutie mark was on the back side. Carrow looked like she was trying to escape the card. Before any actuall ruckus could be made by her, Screwball tipped the card over, revealing Carrow in the pose that she was in on the face side of the card, albeit, lacking the look of terror. Screwball picked up the giant card, shrunk it to the size of a regular playing card, and gave it to her. "A present from a prank. This card will produce a combat oriented clone when ever you need a distraction to get away or if you need someone to help you in a bad fight." Carrow suddenly developed an excited look. "Can it play poker or gamble?" "Yes it can, but its not recommended. If it loses...Well...you don't want to see the aftermath." Carrow dropped her excited look. "Um, not to interrupt the gift party, but you said that we need to help Delsin," I said. Screwball facehoofed at that. "Ugh, curse this teenage mind," she muttered. Turning to Geek and Carrow, she said, "Alright, first, channel your Wacky-Foo or whatever you call magic into this floodlight blub." She pulled out a floodlight bulb and Geek and Carrow began to charge the bulb with their magic. Screwball then turned to me. "As for you, make something that looks like this." She then pulled up a picture of something strange. A weapon perhaps. I commanded the rocks to form the shape desired. It was rough on the outside, but it looked how it needed. I looked to see how Carrow and Geek were doing, and I saw that they had finished charging the floodlight bulb. Screwball took the weapon, cracked it open in the middle, placed the floodlight bulb inside it, and closed it. She then floated to the hole and took aim with it. "DELSIN! CATCH!" A flash of light left the tip of the weapon and flew out of the barrier. Screwball reopened the weapon and the now depleted floodlight bulb clattered to the floor. "Now, we need to replicate the energy of a Blast Core so that Delsin can get stronger. Delsin's POV The brawl between me and Nisled had dragged on for quite a while. We would swing our chains and fists at each other, smoke dashing every so often, trying to throw each other off. Neither of us could gain an advantage over the other. "DELSIN! CATCH!" I turned my head to the source of the voice and I saw an orb of light passing another fight headed towards me. I understood the intentions of whoever sent the ball of light. I gave Nisled a sharp jab to his throat and I caught the ball of light, absorbing it in the process. "Alright! Now I can take this fight to the next level!" I began to fire off light bolts at him at a rapid pace. They did some damage, scorching his clothing a bit, but he shrugged off the attacks. Even my flash grenades didn’t seem to do much. The fight carried on for a few more minutes before I began to feel a bit drained. Nisled recognized this and began to fight a bit more aggressively. Just before he could overwhelm me, I felt a surge of energy hit me and I could see that the edges of my vision turn turquoise and I could see myself firing a laser version of my light bolt. My vision cleared just as Nisled went to deliver a punch. I sidestepped the punch and fired off my new light beam. I did so by placing both of my fists forward, both enclosed in light and one beam of light came from it, hitting Nisled and sending him flying into the far wall. He got up and dusted himself off. "It looks like I'm gonna have to step up my game." He then reached behind himself, and pulled out a Neon "Open" sign and drained its neon. The fight resumed, me firing off light bolts, flash grenades, and light beams and he sped around the room, firing neon bolts at me, as well as rushing in with his neon chain and working in a few slashes before retreating. After a while of fighting again, I began to feel drained again, but before Nisled could even notice, I was hit again by another energy surge. My vision showed me using what looked like two Keyblades, Oathkeeper and Oblivion. Once my vision cleared, I channeled light into my arms, willing the Keyblades to appear. When they did, they were...different than what I thought. Both Oathkeeper and Oblivion didn't have real color to them. The were both a bright white color and they seemed to be solid, yet ethereal. I also couldn't feel what I felt when I was near Sora's Keyblades...Magic. These were just cheap copies. "RAAGH!" Cheap copies that saved my life from two red video based claws. The Key constructs held very well. I pushed him off of me and I began to hack and slash with my key constructs against his video constructs. Evidently, his constructs aren't very strong, as it doesn't take a lot to hack through his claws and his summoned demons. His video sword was a bit tougher, but I was still able to hack through it as well. I managed to bludgeon his forehead with the guard of the Oblivion construct, knocking him back. I turned towards the barrier and I saw that Screwball was at the hole, aiming what looked like a grenade launcher at me. She fired what looked like a turquoise energy at me and it sailed a few feet before a concrete barrier rose up and intercepted it. Then some concrete plugged the hole that Screwball was firing out of. I turned to Nisled and saw that he had switched to concrete. "I've had about enough of you!" Nisled's arms then went from it's golden concrete glow to a blood red mist and his eyes turned yellow. He then fired what looked like a concentration of the mist at me. I was so surprised by the move that I didn't dodge. I had no idea what element he had just used and I didn't know if it would have done if it missed me or hit me. I say that because when the shot hit me, I glowed red for a few moments, but the glow then shrunk and was over my pocket. I dug into my pocket and pulled out Carrow's Token and saw that it's energy spiked and seemed to have absorbed the spell. The red energy aura around the coin dissipated and was replaced by a turquoise aura. Thinking on instinct, I absorbed the energy from the Token and my vision went turquoise again. I saw myself literally glowing in light and I was levitated. Pillars of light then began erupting from the ground, harming enemies and healing allies. Once my vision cleared, I began to charge the light within my body and began to levitate. Before I knew it, I was glowing extremely bright and began to summon pillars of light. Nisled and whoever Nox was fighting were hit by pillar, after pillar, after pillar. Nox was enveloped in a pillar or two, healing any injuries and strengthening him. After a few minutes, I dropped back to the ground, physically spent, but emotionally recovered. Nisled was laying in heap, apparently exhausted from taking the beating he took. I looked over to Nox and his opponent, and they seemed evenly matched in the fight. His opponent looked weird fighting that tux with what looked like bunny ears on his head. Nox still seemed to glow from the effect of my Light Barrage. Deciding that the fight between Nox and Bunny Tux has taken enough time. I lept into flowmotion and using hard light rope, I spun around the well dressed mage until he was tied up well. I then pulled really hard on the light rope and Bunny Tux was spun rapidly around and then landed in a dizzy heap next to Dusk Spark. She then electrocuted her griffin hand and brought it down on Bunny Tux and bands of electricity held his arms and legs down to the ground. At that I remembered what had transpired with Dusk, and so I ran to her and began to examine the now healed up stump where her right arm was. The flesh had healed over and was starting to scar, but there was still a chunk of bone that was sticking out of the stump. Nisled really doesn't know how to amputate limbs very well. I looked up to Nox as he stood over me. I gestured my head in Nisled's direction. "You can do what you want with Nisled. I'm going to see to the clean up." I stood up and carried her to the concrete and stone barrier. I knocked on the stone portion. *If you have any medical experience, I need you out here.* The stone portions of the barrier fell down, leaving the concrete portions to be held up by Screwball's magic. She carefully lowered the concrete to the ground, as Obsidian, Geek, and Carrow came out to see the aftermath of the fight. Dusk Spark's POV Whatever Delsin did with that Light Element or whatever, it was the perfect relief for my pain...my physical pain. I've had my wings, horn, and left arm forcefully removed in the same manner before my world's Discord saved my life. "I didn't mean for this kind of chaos to happen," he had said to me, as he placed cybernetic limbs on me. He was going to honor my position as an Alicorn and have a hoof on my cybernetic arm, but I wanted to gouge out Nilsed's eyes every chance I got for what he did to my life. And I couldn't do that with hooves. Now, I was broken again. I've lost another limb and it could take forever for me to even try to get a replacement. After Delsin gave the Fire Mage motion sickness and I placed arc restraints on him, Delsin carried me to where the youth and the Anti-Skullcap was, asking in his guttural tounge for help. The stone barrier and, subsequently, the concrete that covered it in spots came down, allowing Carrow, Gamma, Obsidian, and Screwball to leave their "fortress" and see the now more ruined...ruins. "Yikes," Gamma commented. "This room looks like it was hit by a miniature atomic bomb!" "And that pony's arm," Carrow said, approaching me with Obsidian beside her. "What happened to it?" "Amateur amputation," I said. "As you can see, I've had quite a few." Carrow looked ready to barf at that point. I looked over in Nox's direction, and I saw him lifting Nisled up to eye level. Of course, Discord had done a few other enhancements to me, so I used my hearing enhancement to figure out what was going on. Nox had pulled out a magical sword and had it at Nisled's throat. "Remember your place when fighting a GOD." Nisled chuckled. "Oh don't worry. I know." Nox then lopped off Nisled's head. I smiled, seeing Nisled die gave me some satisfaction. I just wished it was me that took his head off. I turned my attention to Obsidian, who was encasing the stub that once was her right arm in a stone covering. "Thanks," I muttered. He nodded. "No problem. I'm just glad this is over and what's-his-face can now get along with Delsin." "Let's not tempt fate," Screwball said. "Anyway, I've gotta go do something real fast, I'll be back as soon as I can." She then vanished. I laid my head back, lazily looking at Nisled's dead body. Out of boredom, I sent out a light pulse and I felt that Nisled still had life in him. It wouldn't have surprised me, as most dead people/ponies/creatures still have bioelectricity in some of the hours after death. What surprised me was that after I saw the life signals, the body began to move. The body stood up and faced Nox. Before Nox could even react, his whole body, minus the shoulders up, were incased in concrete. Nisled's body walked to over to where his head had rolled, picked it up, and placed it on his shoulders. Immediately, a red aura surrounded the breaks in flesh and sealed it up perfectly, as if his head hadn't been chopped off at all. His mouth twitched into a maniacal smile as he turned back towards Nox. "I can see my place when fighting a GOD," he bragged as his hand charged up with the red energy...Chaos Magic at it's worst. "I see myself on top." Points: +7 Rank: Champion
Chapter 12: Saying Good-Bye (without saying it)inFAMOUS Displaced Chapter 12 Saying Good-Bye Delsin's POV I was rather confused and scared at the same time. Nisled apparently had control over a power that could heal him instantly and keep him from dying. If he had that kind of power, who knows what other powers he may have, aside from what is seen in game. Nisled readied to attack Nox, but just as he was about to fire off a shot of...something, I saw a lilac blur shoot past the red aura, dissipating it instantly. Nisled looked at his aura-less arm in confusion. He relit his arm and the same lilac blur shot past and undid the aura again. He yelled out in anger and frustration and pulled his arm back with concrete on it. Just as he was going to punch Nox, I heard an eagle cry and a feathery red and blue blur attacked Nisled. As Nisled was distracted, Nox teleported out of his concrete prison, reappeared in front of Nisled and punched him in the face, sending him flying. Just before he hit the wall, he was enveloped in a yellow aura. Nisled noticed this and seemed to thrash about in fear. He was levitated towards the barely intact ceiling and then slammed him repeatedly on the ground like a sledgehammer. It wasn't until he was forcefully embedded into the floor, that the aura left and the sledgehammer slammer appeared. It was Screwball. When Nisled saw Screwball, he gave a girlish scream, scrambled out of the hole and backed himself into a corner. Screwball gave me a mischievous look that said, 'I'll take care of this'. Her eyes then glowed yellow and she gave out the EXACT creepy child laugh that you hear in Call of Duty: Zombies (when the mystery box moves). She turned to where Nisled was cowering and pulled a round sphere from her propeller beanie. She then placed it on the ground and six symbols lit up on it. It was there that I noticed that it resembled the Summoning Key from Call of Duty: Black Ops III Zombies. The Key then levitated to head level and began to glow red. Nisled glowed red and began to convulse in pain. A few minutes passed before both the key and him stopped glowing. Nisled stumbled forward and fell to his hands and knees. Suddenly, a portal of some kind opened behind him and a yellow beam of energy shot from the Key and hit Nisled in the face. The blast knocked him into the portal and it closed. At that, Nox began howling in laughter. I was confused as to why that was, but before I could ask, his laughter stopped. "Carrow! GET AWAY!" He shouted. I turned to where Carrow was impaled several times over with red spikes. The foal that was standing next to her suddenly transformed into a young human. The Paradox Child. "Too late, big guy," he said. I went to stand and get ready to fight, but before I could do anything, someone or something teleported in front of me. I didn't see who it was, but I was given a nice introduction...from the underside of a boot. I was kicked back hard and felt like I was flying for a brief second before landing on a hard surface and blacking out. Celestia's POV "Stella, calm down," I said, trying to calm my newest sister down. "Getting upset over this won't help." "Then what can?!" She shouted back. "I go to help my soon-to-be brother and the Bearers of Generosity and Laughter fight some Skullcaps, but just ten seconds into the fight and he vanishes off the face of Equus. What else am I to do?" I was about to respond, but I was cut off when I heard the sound of a portal opening. I turned just in time to see something large fly out of the portal and barrel over Stella. Both of them went flying into a wall. As it turned out, it was Delsin that flew out of the portal. Stella was pinned under him and Delsin's head made an interesting impression in the road. As amusing as that was, I had to show some concern for his health and welfare. "Delsin! Are you okay?" I called out to him as I ran to him. I gently shook him until his eyes fluttered open. "Wakfu...Key...Nisled Ewor...Pure, Unfiltered Chaos," he mumbled. Not understanding anything he was saying, I hoisted him up in my magic and backhoofed him. He was then alert and in pain. "What the Deuce was that for?!" "Three things," I answered. "One: you put Stella in distress by vanishing for several hours. Two: I was under the similar distress when she told me. And three: you were muttering some incomprehensible nonsense." "What did I say?" I repeated what he said, and his face seemed to remember something. He then told me of what he had been doing for the past few hours. "I can't say whether I'm surprised or not," I said, "I guess being a Displaced means that you have to help when called upon." "And since I discovered my opposite, I need to keep my wits about me so he doesn't try to plunge this world into Chaos." "Don't worry, he won't," a disembodied voice called out. Both of us were scared almost senseless. Delsin ended up jumping up and I caught him in my front hooves as we turned to where the voice came from. As it turned out, it was Screwball with two other ponies. One was a grey Earth pony with long black hair and a black arrowhead as a cutie mark. The other pony I could barely recognize as the one that tossed me across Ghastly Gorge. I dropped Delsin, and lit my horn, ready to fight. However, Delsin held out his hand. "Tia, not now. I understand that she needs to answer to the crime of assaulting Royalty, but she's been given a beating and needs to be attended to." Reluctantly, I canceled the spell I had ready. "Alright, get her to a hospital..." "And we need the tech from her world to replace her missing arm and fix the rest of her missing parts." I was taken by surprise by Delsin's comment. "What do you mean?" I asked. In response, he walked to the strange pony. The pony sat down and allowed him to take her mechanical arm. He then twisted her arm at it's base and it came off like a part of a machine. "This is what I mean," he said, waving it as if to prove a point. He replaced the arm and allowed her to go to the paramedics that came at my suggestion. "Now I've had a crazy time in the time I've been free and I need to get some rest...AFTER I talk to Doctor Hooves." "Understood, let's begin searching for him." Delsin's POV It took us a while to find Doctor Hooves. It was by chance that we stumbled upon Ditzy, or rather, she accidentally crashed into me. After explaining what we needed to tell her husband something, she led us to her house. While my fiancé was led into the house, I scanned the area and found a presence in a shed in the back. I had the guards that Celestia had brought stay to watch the house as Obsidian and I approached the shed. I pressed my ear to the wall and I heard somepony with a thick British accent mumbling about something. Not knowing what to expect, I simply knocked a few times on the shed door. "I'll be out in a moment!" A moment later, the shed door opened and the Earth pony known as Dr. 'Time Turner' Hooves came walking out. He took one look at us and jumped back into the shed. "Go Away! I'm not letting you capture me and end my chances of seeing my son again!" I banged my fist on the door and called out, "Doctor, the TIME is nigh!" Upon those words being said, he carefully peered out of the shed at me. "You've talked with my son?" I pointed to the right side of my face, showing him the neuro-tar 'scars.' He then nodded his head and walked back into the shed. I was about to bang on the door again, but I heard the sound of things falling and choice swear words from inside, and it gave me pause. He then came out with a box in his arms. "I believe that my son may have covered all that is to be known about me, but I don't think he told you about what that phrase meant." "Yeah, he was kind of vague," I confirmed. "So, what does it mean for me or you?" "In one of my visits with him, I showed him a few items that were peculiar in some way or another. After he saw them, he told me to keep them safe and give them to the one with that phrase IF he doesn't absorb my powers." That caught me off guard. "I think he may have done research if he knew that someone or somepony would SPECIFICALLY be able to do that." "Either way, here are the items." This meeting seems rather brief, but I'll be gaining something beneficial. On the one hand, Doc here has items that, if I'm to guess correctly, seem to sound like Tokens for various Displaced. On the other hand, Doc is a time conduit and if I was to be summoned back to Wakfu Equestria, I would be prepared. And I could get those tokens afterwards, anyway. So, what's best? The Tokens or Time. Points: +7 Rank: Champion I have a poll set up for the vote on this chapter. Now, after having had taken almost too long to write this, I may need some help writing. Leave ideas (not votes) in the comments so I can see what great Ideas you have for some of Delsin's future.
Chapter 13: The TokensSomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.
Chapter 14: Enter the Darkness This chapter was written with the assistance of Golden Flare. A Crossover with his story, Prince of the Everfree. InFAMOUS Displaced Chapter 14 Enter the Darkness After I landed, the invisible started struggling in my arm. Seeing no other clear option of ending his resistance, I moved my chain into my hand and smashed it into his face. With a grunt, the unicorn dropped his invisibility. I then grabbed his mask and pulled it off. The unicorn then gasped loudly, as if he was welcoming the open air, and then proceeded to vomit on the stone floor of… Oh great, once again, I'm inside that ancient castle that my fiancé once called home. I looked around to figure out as to where in the castle I was. As far as I could tell, I was inside the throne room. I sent out a radar pulse to find what Displaced summoned me. My pulse found two other life forms. One was the unicorn, retching and giving thanks to Mother Faust. He must be Akomish, only they refer to her as that. The other was standing near the ruined thrones of the two sisters. I turned to the thrones and saw what I never expected. Vanitas. My left arm started to generate smoke as my right came up to my face in a facepalm. “Crumb Cakes and Icing! I hope I wasn’t summoned by a psychopath! That crazy time god was bad enough!” I moved myself into a cautious stance, watching him and waiting for hostility. “Ummm…may I ask what in Celestia's name is going on?” Vanitas asked, then pointed at the unicorn, “And who is that?” “Answering your questions in order; you summoned me in the middle of a fight, and that guy,” I pointed to the unicorn, “Was an unwilling member of a crime gang that's bent on removing my fiancé from the throne.” I aimed my right hand at him, readying a cinder blast...just in case. “Okay then, is he going to be a problem? Cause I need some answers.” He lifted his head briefly, as if he had a HUD he was checking. He then pointed his keyblade at the unicorn. “Stand clear. Freeze!” Vanitas then froze the Descendant in a solid block of ice, rendering him immobile. “Okay, let’s talk,” I said, lowering my arm and canceling the flow of smoke. “What is it that you want to know?” “Who are you and what’s going on here? That merchant tricked me and sent me to Equestria as Vanitas, but he agreed that I’d play some game of his.” He asked. I sighed in annoyance, and answered, “The name's Delsin Rowe, and as far as I can tell, you are now a Displaced.” “A Displaced? What’s that?” “That’s short for Dimensionally Misplaced. The basics of a Displaced is this: you go to a convention, buy something high quality, yet cheap, from a certain merchant and POOF!” I set off a smoke grenade at my feet to add dramatics. “And now, you're here, in Equestria, with the powers and abilities of the character you dressed up as. Any further…” I then suddenly felt my head hurt. I grabbed at it and fell to my knees as another vision came to me. In the vision, I saw Vanitas on the ground outside. His visor was cracked badly and Nisled was standing over him with a Diamond Sword in his hands. He then moved to stab Vanitas in his heart, but I suddenly pushed him out of the way and was struck in my shoulder. The Descendant (in his aura giant form) then appeared and knocked him into the ravine that was just down the path from the castle. My vision ended and I was able to relax a bit. I turned to Vanitas as he rushed over to me. “Whoa, you alright?” He asked. I shook my head, “I just got the worst headache from seeing you have a close encounter with death, with me and Frosty over there saving you, and you ask if I'm okay?” I stood up and drove my fist into a nearby wall. “I'd be okay if what death we saved you from didn't involve my Karmic Opposite!” “Wait, what!? What do you mean, ‘Karmic Opposite’!? You mean an alter ego!?” This is going to be a long conversation. I turned around, showing him the image on the back of my vest. “You see the image on my back?” I sensed him nodding. “Now imagine the vulture is killing the eagle instead and you have an evil version of me.” “Ouch! Does he have any weaknesses?” I nodded, “Yes. He's deathly afraid of individuals who are stronger than him in chaos magic usage,” I chuckled a bit, “Which is kind of funny, because when he met Screwball, he literally screamed like a girl.” “Seriously?...Wait. All my abilities are level one! I'm a walking target for this guy!” Vanitas began to panic. I was going to fire off a smoke shot to get him briefly concerned about his lungs, but I felt something in my radar. “I think we can worry about Nisled later,” I fired a cinder blast at the chunk of ice, freeing the unicorn inside, “Considering that you have visitors.” “Visitors?” the sound of clanking metal filled the air, “The Royal Guard! Alright, let me do the talking, I know what I did was with good intentions, which I’ll explain to you later, but I still assaulted members of the Guard, so this burden’s mine.” Suddenly, the main doors slammed open, revealing an entire legion of guards, ranging from unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies, none of which looked very happy. “So...care to tell me what you did to piss these guys off now, or should I shut up?” Then, the princesses came up from behind the guards, sporting battle armor of their own, “Oh, you’re about to find out, cause I’m pissed too.” Vanitas stormed up to the two and bellowed, “WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM!?” “Um, what?” Luna asked, shocked, but confused. “Your guards were trying to tie down and kill a Manticore! I don’t know what they told you about me, but I draw the line at animal abuse!” Vanitas words startled the princesses greatly, the Royal Guard, attempting to murder a Manticore? It’s simply unheard of! “H-He’s lying!” a familiar voice spoke, the guards moving to reveal one of their ranks, “H-He attacked us, for no reason!” “Yeah!” another one said, “And he broke one of our spears!” he pointed a hoof at Vanitas, “Do you know how much those things cost to make!?” “DOES IT LOOK LIKE I GIVE A FLYING ****!?” Vanitas roared. Before any of the two guards could answer, I smoke dashed up to the first one, ending in a tackle and commanded some smoke to hold him down. I looked to the other one just in time to see him collapsing in pain from being struck...down there. The Descendant then dropped his invisibility and gave the guard a light smirk. “Nice shot, dude.” Vanitas complemented. “ENOUGH!” Luna shouted in her Royal Canterlot Voice, she clears her throat and speaks with a calmer voice now everyone in the vicinity have stopped, “Okay, now, start from the beginning...um…” “Vanitas.” “Vanitas, tell us what happened.” “Okay, it went like this…” Vanitas explained that he was in the Everfree Forest for personal reasons, probably not wanting to explain the whole Displaced concept to them, found the two guards tying up a Manticore, and them getting ready to spear it to death. Vanitas did what anybody would do and stopped them, but his methods were a little too violent for the Royal Guard. He freed the Manticore and found this abandoned castle for a place to live. “...And so, here we are, just about ready to have it out for each other.” Celestia and Luna’s expressions were unreadable as they turned to the two guards who reported Vanitas, “...Is this true?” Celestia asked. “Umm…” the guards hummed. Luna stomped a hoof, “My sister asked you a question!” “Y-Y-Yes!” one of them said, “I-It’s true!” “Who's side are you on!?” the other exclaimed. “The princesses’, of course! You knew what we were doing was wrong, and you dragged me along for the ride!” “Who cares if some dumb animal gets killed!? These things are dangerous anyway! It's better if put them down before they become a problem in the future!” he saw that everyone, even his buddy, was staring at him in shock, “...Oops.” “Lieutenant Stone Sword,” Celestia speaks in a stern voice that chilled even the Royal Guard, “you are hereby dishonorably discharged. The guards will escort you to the dungeons. Seize him!” Every guard leveled their spear toward Stone Sword’s neck, preventing him from escaping. He was about to be dragged out when he glowered at Vanitas. “I'm going to remember you for this, Vanitas, this ain't over.” With that said, he left willingly with about half of the entire battalion watching him in case he tried anything funny. “Lieutenant Leather Armor,” Celestia turned to the partner in crime, “since you seem to be the regrettable one of this whole ordeal, but still an accessory to it, I'll let you off with a suspension, two weeks.” he breathed a sigh of relief, “After this is settled, spend time with your wife, okay?” He nodded, “Thank you, Your Highness.” After Leather Armor was escorted out, I looked from Vanitas to the Princesses and to the Descendant. I sighed and said, “Well, that was fun. What now?” “This is probably the part where we either talk things out, or they slap the cuffs on me.” Vanitas commented. “Knowing Tia, she'll try diplomatic methods before imprisonment,” I state, “Luna, on the other hand, she'd probably have more violent methods.” “Okay...better choose my words carefully then.” Vanitas clears his throat and walks over to the princesses, “Your Highnesses, do not fear, I come in peace, while I possess dark magic, I mean no harm...well, except for the two guards who tried to kill that Manticore, but that's totally different.” The princesses giggled, “It's fine, good sir,” Celestia said. “That's good to hear, now how about we introduce ourselves formally? I'll start off,” Vanitas put a hand over his chest and bowed, like a Keyblade Wielder would do to show respect for his or her master, “my name is Vanitas.” “I am Princess Celestia, raiser of the sun and ruler of Equestria.” “I am Princess Luna, co-ruler of Equestria alongside my sister and bringer of the night.” They turned to me and The Descendant, waiting for an introduction, “Delsin Rowe, the Equestrian Eagle, leader and founder of the Akomish tribe.” “Jet Set the Second, Akomish outside of my father's wishes,” The former Descendant said with a bow. Vanitas claps his hands once, “Okay! Glad that's taken care of! Now, before we talk more, Your Highnesses, I need to speak with these two privately.” the princesses raise an eyebrow, “Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere.” Celestia sighs, “Very well.” She, Luna, and the remainder of the Royal Guard step outside the door and close it, Vanitas turns to me, “Okay, two quick questions: what was that feather I used to call you here and how do I get one like that?” “Oh, that was my token,” I pulled Sora’s keychain out for him to see. “Every Displaced has one.” “Okay, how do I get my own?” “Do you have something that you want to use for it?” I asked. “Maybe…” Vanitas calls his Keyblade and removes his keychain, “How about this?” I took the keychain and looked it over. “I think this will work. I'll see what can be done.” I held it above my head and mentally called out, ‘Screwball! Will you help with making a token?’ The keychain began to float in a yellow aura. A void portal then opened up and the keychain multiplied, with all but two going through it. The last two keychains landed in my hands as the portal closed. ‘I worked the token to allow those who possesses one to use the Portals of Darkness with no negative effects.’ I chuckled a bit. “Screwball went all out with this.” I tossed Vanitas one of the keychains, while I held the the other one up, thinking of a destination. Almost immediately, a Portal of Darkness opened up. I walked in and it closed behind me. I walked for a few seconds and I saw light in front of me. When I walked into the light, I saw that I was behind Vanitas and Jet. “Yo!” I called out, scaring the both of them. “Okay then, now what do I do?” Vanitas asked, after catching his breath. “Imprint a message that you would want other Displaced to hear, much like what you heard with my token.” “Okay, here we go,” Vanitas took a deep breath, “I am Vanitas, if there is anyone in need of help, I’ll be there to answer the call.” Vanitas holds up the keychain, “Now what?” “Now, when anyone finds your token, they'll hear that,” I hold up his chain, “From there, it is up to them if they summon you or not.” “So, should I just toss it in the portal, or is this one yours?” “I've got mine. Just reattach yours back onto your keyblade.” “Okay.” Vanitas did just that, and returns his attention to me, “So what happens now?” “I think that discussion can be discussed with the Princesses. They may have an idea of what you can do,” I cracked my neck, “As for me, I'll need to stay here until my doppelganger is blocked from reentering this world after being banished from it.” “And I'll just stick with you,” Jet said to me, “After that mind gas, I'm going to need some help staying out of trouble.” “Alright, guess we have a game plan.” Vanitas walks over to the double doors, “Okay! You can come back in now!” The Princesses enter the throne room once more, skepticism etched on their faces. “See? Told you I wasn't going anywhere,” Vanitas said, “Now do you trust me?” “More or less,” Celestia said, “I believe you should come with us to Canterlot to test your dark magic to be sure that you are not a threat.” “Fair enough, under one condition.” “And that is?” Luna asked. “Afterwards, I get to take up permanent residence in the Everfree Forest.” “...Done.” Celestia reluctantly agreed. “I hope you don’t mind if Jet Second and I tag along,” I say, “We may even help in Vanitas’ testing.” “Okay then, shall we go, Vanitas?” “Yup, let's go.” Celestia then lit her horn and we were teleported to the Canterlot throne room. Just barely after the teleport, I had a feeling of nausea. Urgh. Why? I then let my gut spill out of my mouth and onto the red carpet. “Gross, dude!” Vanitas exclaimed, “Couldn't you find a bathroom before you did that!?” “It's not his fault,” Luna said, “Teleportation leaves many non-unicorns nauseous.” “Less chat, more electrocution!” I call out. “Wait just a second here!” Vanitas objects, “Nobody said anything about electrocution! Plus, I have a fear of electrocution!” “Not you!” I shout out, “I was talking about me! I can control more than just smoke, for your information!” “Oh.” Vanitas chuckled, “I knew that...kinda.” “Just...Somepony Shock Me!” “Okay! Just let me get Dark Thundaga set into my Command Deck!” Vanitas glanced up at his HUD and back to me, then summoned his Keyblade and whipped into the air, “Show me anguish!” A black lightning bolt came and shocked me down to the bone. After absorbing the electrical energy, my body felt nauseous again. I then floated in the air and my form glowed red for a moment. After landing on my feet, my eyes widened in shock (no pun intended). “CRAP! I need to drain that Bad Karma out of me! Forgive me!” I then began to fire off red bolts of lightning at a random vase, hitting everything but the vase. It wasn’t until I managed to hit the vase with a blue bolt that I stopped. I looked to the gathered group and found them looking at me with shocked expressions (seriously, I’m not coming up with these on purpose). “Dude...what the actual ****?” Vanitas said. “I was not expecting that.” Celestia added. “Neither was I, sister.” Luna agreed. I gave the group a sheepish look. “Sorry. I guess I absorbed the Darkness from that shock unintentionally. I had to drain it out before I went down a rank.” “Maybe I should’ve gone with plain Thundaga.” Vanitas said. “Past mistakes aside, I’m itching to actually test out my electric powers,” I swung my arms down, generating Gigawatt blades on my arms. “That’s new.” “What do you mean, ‘that’s new’? You DO know all of what you’re capable of, right?” “Yes and no,” I answer, “Yes, involving what powers I have, I have the general idea. No, I don’t know everything about what I have and what I could get.” “That worries me. What if you get something super powerful and dangerous, even to yourself?” “It’s weaker than the original set,” I explain, “If I had more power with smoke, I could have unintentionally suffocated the discharged guard with the smoke restrainment.” “I’ll take your word for it. So what now? More tests?” “Yeah, THINK FAST!!!” I shot off a lightning hook, catching Vanitas in the chest and pulled him towards me, only for me to deliver a few electric jabs and a kick to his abdomen, sending him to his starting point. “Oh, you wanna dance!? Fine, let’s dance!” Vanitas fired a slow fireball that split into three, speeding at me and catching me in the leg, arm, and chest. “OW! What the Deuce!” Time to distract him. I telepathically retaliated, projecting this video from the dark recesses of my memory into his head. As he was distracted, I tossed a sticky grenade at him, with it landing on his foot. A few seconds after I tossed it, it detonated, sending Vanitas flying into the pillar next to the door. I then pulled up a polarity wall, just in case. But Vanitas disappeared in a puff of darkness and reappeared behind me, “Gotcha!” he said as he attacked me with a downward swing from above. “Gah!” I was knocked forward, landing face first onto the floor. ‘Second! A little help!’ Second entered his aura giant form and took a swing at Vanitas, knocking him off of his feet. Vanitas stood back up, jumped up high, and dove into the ground, creating a red and black puddle of darkness lurking toward me. When he was directly under my feet, he flew out with his Keyblade pointed out, nailing me in the chest and knocking me back. While in midair, he dove back down into floor to repeat his attack, but I was ready for him and dodged the moment he resurfaced, but what I didn’t see coming was fireballs spewing from the tip of his blade and hitting me several times. ‘Grrr! Second! I need to change powers! I need a bright light!” Second charged his aura form to be extremely bright. Vanitas briefly shielded his face from the light, giving Second and I the time to come up with a plan without speaking or using telepathy. I absorbed the light from Second and he shrunk down and turned invisible. I then flashed my Oathkeeper and Oblivion constructs for intimidation purposes. I lightly saw him flinching, but he was then punched in the gut by an unseen hoof. I then rushed in and pulled off a combo with the blades. “Darkness waits!” He quickly recovered and summoned several afterimages as he attacked me back and forth in rapid succession, his moves and appearances nearly unpredictable. I flailed my arms and keyblade constructs around, hoping to get a lucky shot. Vanitas, however, knock the blades out of my hands. However, I managed to grab his arm and Darkness flowed down his arm onto my arm. Both of us began to struggle, him trying to pull me off, and me trying to fight blacking out. However, the blacking out happened, both Vanitas and I collapsing to the ground. “It started when I first watched my brother play Kingdom Hearts; Sora’s skills and spells were good, great even, but something drew me to the enemies. They had unique abilities, weapons, battle styles, I studied them as much as I could, especially since I didn’t have the money to buy the other games. And so, I came to my first convention, cosplaying as Vanitas, he was the one I liked the most; his power, his ability to summon the Unversed, it made me want to be him, or at least pretend to be. But then, the merchant tricked me and sent me to Equestria as Vanitas. I thought it was a dream come true, but I was scared out of my mind, never in all my life could I have the power of darkness. Darkness was portrayed as evil, but I can change that: darkness can be used for good purposes, and I’ll prove it. To everyone. As I came to, I found that Second and the Princesses were looking down at us in concern. “Are you okay, brother?” Second asked in Akomish tradition. I nodded in response. I let Darkness flow over my arms and I sunk into the floor. After getting up in the Dark corridor, I rose from the floor, but my clothing was different. It seemed to mirror Vanitas’ clothes, except that my helmet/visor had a shape reminiscent to a bird’s beak, the clothing was tinted blue rather than red, and the dress/skirt/kilt portion resembled blue eagle feathers. I looked up from my clothes and saw that Vanitas had gotten to his feet. I summoned a more blue version of his Void Gear keyblade and prepared to fight. “Okay. I don’t know what the hell just happened, or why you look similar to me, but this little sparring match ends with me as the victor. Suffer!” Vanitas charged at me with his Void Gear pointed towards me, darkness trailing behind him, from what I learned from his memories, he just used Dark Haze. However, despite my knowledge of what he can do and what he was doing, I wasn't able to stop the attack. I took it and I was sent flying. When I hit the throne, time seemed to slow to a crawl and my chest seemed to shoot out lightning, much like how when a boss is defeated. My vision was briefly filled with light as time resumed. I tumbled over the throne, landed head first on the ground and blacked out. Author's Note Points: +8 Rank: Champion The name of this chapter came from this song.
Chapter 15: Unbreakable Chains This chapter was written with the assistance of Golden Flare. A Crossover with his story, Prince of the Everfree. InFAMOUS Displaced Chapter 15 Unbreakable Chains *Beep* *Beep* *Beep* *Beep* I awoke to the sound of a heart monitor. Opening my eyes, I found that I was in a hospital...or at least the castle infirmary. I was out of my Dark suit, and my vest, chain mail, and shirt was replaced by a hospital gown. Amongst the beeping of the machinery, I could hear snoring. Jet Second was sleeping on a chair, and he had removed his body suit, revealing his Akomish tattoo and his Cutie mark (a Roman Numeral 2). I sent out a radar pulse to see who else was here. Aside from the infirmary/hospital staff and any of the “guests”, I could sense Vanitas just outside the door, along with what I assumed was one of the Princesses. Vanitas entered the room and looks at my awakened form, “Well look who decided to join us in the land of the living. Sorry for knocking you out, by the way, I was too into the heat of battle.” “Meh, I'm a glutton for punishment. No doubt, I'm going to get a horseshoe shaped bruise somewhere on my head from my fiancé when I get home.” “Oh, that reminds me, how DO I send you home? I never asked that.” “From what I gathered from Screwball's session on the Displaced, you say, ‘Our contract is complete,’ or something along those lines,” I answer, “However I refuse to be sent home until Nisled is dealt with. I don't trust Dusk Spark entirely to not try to insult Celestia’s love for cakes and sweets.” “Alright, so how do we deal with this bastard then? If what you're saying is true, even my strength won't beat him. How is this going to work?” “Step one,” I held out one finger, “Literally rip him to shreds. Step two: let him arrogantly pull himself back together. And step three: let a powerful chaos user do the rest. Simple, easy, and (potentially) entertaining.” “How do we draw him out, then?” “Two ways,” I answer, “Both involve him coming to us. Let him try to kill me or let him try to kill you...and neither of us are willing bait in either scenario.” “Well...what if I let him beat me to within an inch of my life, and you come to help? Trust me, in my old life, I’ve done crazier things, I even had a close brush with death, I can handle this.” “Just don't hold back. If he realizes that you're baiting him into a trap, he'll literally turn you into fried chicken and eat you alive.” “...Three things: one, your world has weird powers, two, I’ve been sword fighting since I was a little kid, and three, I'm not the kind of guy who takes a beating without a fight.” “Three more things,” I say in a mock Asian accent, “One, weird is reserved for Pinkie Pie and my father. Two, that won't matter if you're turned into a concrete pincushion. Three, good, that saves us a bit of trouble.” I sat up in the bed, and growled out in Skullcap while rubbing my arm, *Why do they have to insert the needles in sensitive parts of my tattoo?* “Uh, what was with all the growling?” “Unless you want your face to look like this,” I pointed to my neuro-tar scarred half of my face, “Then trust me when I say, I hate needles being stuck into my tattoo.” Jet Second rolled over in his chair, rubbing his tattooed forearm. “Mmph, stupid ants...tickling my arm,” he sleep spoke. “If you say so.” Vanitas said, “Alright then, after you get released, we’re going after your evil counterpart.” “We can start by cleaning up your new castle,” I say, “If we know the ins and outs of it, there's less of a chance of getting ambushed or being taken by surprise.” “Okay, let’s do this.” After waking Second up, we were guided to the castle gardens. We were planning on heading back to the Everfree via Portal of Darkness, with one end there and the other near the edge of the Everfree. However, once in the gardens, I barely noticed the spot where I remembered the time I was talking to my Celestia in my Equestria. The nostalgia hit rather suddenly, all I could do was stop and look at the spot referenced. “Hey man, you okay?” Vanitas asked. I jumped a slight bit at his vocal intrusion. “I’m fine. I was just remembering a conversation with Tia after my first meal in over a thousand years.” “Remind me to ask you about that later, right now, we better get moving,” Vanitas looks at the palm of his hand, “I hope this works.” he held it outward and opened the dark corridor, “Whoa! I did it! I can't believe it!” I rolled my eyes at his excitement. I glanced back at the spot, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw something. “Hang on, I thought I saw something.” I moved to what I saw and found three chests, one was larger than the other two. “Hey! Check out what I found.” Vanitas quickly joined me and said, “Whoa, sweet! May I do the honors?” “One moment.” I sent out a radar pulse to see if there was anything harmful or noticeable in the chests. One of the smaller ones had what felt like Ray Field energy, while I couldn’t identify what was in the other two. “Open this one first,” I pointed to the chest with the Ray Field energy. “Okay, you're the boss,” Vanitas walked over to the aforementioned chest and tapped it with his Void Gear, opening it. Inside, was a blast core. “Whoa, what's with the shiny rock?” I, personally, couldn’t believe my eyes. “What is a blast core doing out here?” “Oh, that's what it is? Well, you got me, but everything happens for a reason, that's what I was raised to believe.” I picked up the blast core, with a bit of smirk on my face. “Since I have this, I might as well absorb it.” “Go for it, I can't use it anyway.” “Just, make sure you keep me safe. I’m gonna need to sleep this off.” I began to channel the Dark element through my arms and into the core. After a few seconds, the energy from the core entered me. I was levitated into the air briefly, with tendrils of Darkness extended out. I then fell to the ground, feeling sleeping, my eyes closing and falling asleep. Upon waking up, I found that I was now on the edge of the Everfree Forest. “Ah, you’re finally awake,” Jet Second said, “Have a nice nap?” “Yeah,” I said, while shakily getting to my feet, “I think I may have something new for my Dark powers.” I looked around a bit and sent out a radar pulse, but I couldn’t see Vanitas. “Hey, where’s Vanitas?” “He went to scout ahead, clear the path of any dangerous creatures,” Second said, pointing into the forest. “Okay,” I said, “Maybe I can test out the addition to my powers.” I closed my eyes and concentrated. I felt as if some of my fear, anger, and many other negative emotions surface for a brief moment before subsiding. “YAAH! What in Tartarus is that?!” Second shouted out. I opened my eyes and saw that I had managed to do something. I summoned a Flood Unversed...but there was something off about it. I couldn’t tell what, but it was off. I decided to try something. “Go and search for Vanitas, and help him if he’s in trouble. If not, stay with him.” I felt the Unversed’s understanding and it ran off into the Everfree. “Okay, now…” Before I could finish, I suddenly heard a war cry of some sort. I reacted and raised my right fist up and something cyan smashed into it. It stuck to my fist for a moment before falling off, dazed. “Rainbow Dash!” I heard an angry, western accented voice shout out, “Why didn’t ya wait for tha rest of us?” I turned to where the voice came from and saw a familiar orange mare followed by a few other mares, the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony. I raised my hands in surrender and Second backed up. “Am I in trouble for something?” The lavender unicorn, Twilight Sparkle, stepped forward, “I wouldn’t necessarily say that you’re in trouble. We saw you carried by someone…or something...out of a dark portal of some kind,” she explained, “We’re not sure what happened, since Fluttershy left to tell us.” They must be referencing Vanitas. “Tell me, did the someone or something look like this?” I enveloped myself in Darkness, putting on my Dark suit. After the Darkness receded, the gathered ponies (except the unconscious one) suddenly reeled back in fear. “What in Equestria is that outfit?!” The white unicorn, Rarity, asked in horror, “It looks absolutely horrid.” I disengaged the suit for her sake, shrugging my shoulders. “I’m sorry, I don’t choose the design.” “Then let me design something else rather than what you showed us.” “Rarity! Ah think that we have better things to talk about than our clothin’ colors matching the grass or not,” the orange earth pony, Applejack, stated rather forcefully. I tried to break up the fight, “Girls! Girls! Settle…” My vision was suddenly filled by sky blue eyes. “DOWN!!!” I suddenly fell on my rear in an attempt to escape the blue eyed terror, Pinkie Pie. “Hi!” She said, with an impossibly massive grin on her face. “What are you doing on the ground? Shouldn’t you be standing up and talking and partying and enjoying…” Dear Mother Faust, she scares me. No sooner had I thought that, another Unique Flood Unversed tackled her away from me. “Pinkie!” The butter yellow pegasus, Fluttershy, whisper-shouted. Twilight took no hesitation and fired a magic blast at the Unversed, striking it in it’s chest and dissolving it. I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my chest, shouting out in pain from it. Fluttershy was on me in an instant. “Oh my gosh, are you okay?” She asked in a caring manner, “What happened? Do you have a heart condition?” I shook my head as the pain ebbed away. “No. She shot that creature and I was sharing it’s pain.” The gathered ponies had shared shocked expressions. Twilight looked as though she was going to speak again, but she looked past me. Wondering what she was looking at, I sent out a radar pulse and felt Vanitas’ signature. “Hey, I'm back. Did he wake up yet?” Vanitas looks at me, then Second, and lastly the Mane 6, “Uh, did I miss something?” At that moment, Rainbow Dash woke up. Upon seeing Vanitas, she was instantly in the air and doing another charge, aimed at Vanitas this time. She didn’t make contact, as the First Unversed I had summoned tackled her and began to wrestle her. It lost, receiving a hoof to its head and dissolving. I suffered a massive, but not debilitating, headache. OW! Flippin’ Freal and Donuts! “Whoa, whoa, whoa! Let's all just take it easy here—” Vanitas couldn't finish his sentence as Rainbow charged him again, but actually hitting him this time. She was about to bring a hoof down onto his visor, but she was knocked off by “something” invisible, holding her down. Vanitas was able to get up and continue. “Okay, let's try this again. How about we all calm down, and talk this out like adults?” “And what will you be telling us?!” Rainbow shouted out from under her unseen captor, “That you’re here to conquer Equestria! No Thank You!” She tried to struggle out, but I send out another Unversed to help Second. “No, far from it! I'm not here to pick a fight! Just cool down!” “Yeah right, like I’m gonna…” “Dashie,” Fluttershy interrupted, “I think we should hear him out...If that’s okay with you.” Rainbow looked as though she would object, but an *Ahem* from Twilight, and glares from the other mares, stopped her. “Grrr! Fine! Just let me go.” Second shimmered back to full visibility and the Unversed pulled itself off of her. She roughly pushed him away and bucked the Unversed in it’s groin. While it didn’t dissolve, I still felt the pain...Owie! “Ooh! That's gonna hurt in the morning.” Vanitas cringed, but recollected himself, “Okay then, I believe introductions are in order, my name is Vanitas,” he pointed to Second, “that's Jet Second,” then to me, “and the guy nursing his crotch, is Delsin Rowe.” “I'm Twilight Sparkle, and this is Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and I'm certain you've met Rainbow Dash.” “Thoroughly.” Vanitas snarks, “Anyway, I just want to say that I mean you no harm, though I plan on living in the forest after I get things taken care of.” “Things? What kind of things?” “Personal stuff, you understand, right?” Twilight looks hesitant, but nods. “Good. Give me one second, I have to talk to my pals here,” Vanitas walks over to me and Second and whispers, “How far away is your alter ego? I don't want any of these ponies to become collateral damage.” *I hate Rocky Mountain Oysters.* “I couldn’t be able to tell you, even if I wanted to,” I answered, “The best way to minimize collateral damage and/or casualties is to tell them to steer clear of him...and he’s more of a doppelganger than an alter ego. I don’t do Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” “Okay then,” Vanitas walks back to the girls, “Listen up everyone,” the Mane 6 turned to him, “There's a guy who looks similar to Delsin, and he's extremely dangerous, let us handle him and steer clear.” “And what if we don't want to?” Rainbow asked, condescendingly. “He’ll turn you into fried chicken and eat you alive,” I deadpan. That turned Rainbow pale, as if she was imagining that happening. “It's true, this guy hasn't lied to me yet, so I trust him.” Vanitas added. Twilight stepped forward, “Well, alright then. But, after this is settled, you're coming back with us to test you, I can sense the powerful dark magic within you and I want to make sure it isn't hazardous—” “The princesses already did that, genius.” Twilight blinked, “...What?” “They stormed my home, I nearly got killed fighting Delsin and Second, and I had to fight my way back to this forest while he was unconscious.” “So that's why you were carrying him.” “Of course! What did you think I was doing? Carving him open and feeding off of him?” Rainbow suddenly had a sheepish smile. I could feel Vanitas deadpanned under his mask, “You did, didn't you?” I snickered at Rainbow as she blushed in embarrassment. Vanitas sighed, annoyed, “Anyway, just go back to Ponyville and I'll come and see all of you when it's over, Delsin and Second will probably be going home after this.” “Okay, we trust you, right girls?” Five out of the six voiced their agreements, “Right, Rainbow?” “...Yes.” she grumbled. “Good, glad we're all on the same page.” Vanitas said. The Element Bearers turned tail and headed back to Ponyville, leaving me, Second, and Vanitas at the forest’s edge. Vanitas helped me up, “Okay, where in your vision did you see me get my behind kicked by your doppelgänger?” “Near the canyon/gorge some distance from the castle ruins,” I replied. “Alright, then let's get going, I cleared the path up ahead, so we should be safe for the time being.” We began our trek to the castle ruins, journeying through the Everfree without dealing with any of the dangerous monsters that lurk in there. After crossing the rickety rope bridge, we made it back to the ruins, with everything quiet...too quiet. “Okay, we're back,” Vanitas said, summoning his Keyblade, “if he shows up, I'll be ready.” I didn't reply, as I was scanning the area, both physically and with my radar pulse. Despite what Vanitas said, I believed that he was in for a surprise. “Obsidian Shard! Dusk Spark!” I shouted out, “You can stop hiding! I know you're here!” Almost immediately, I heard hoofsteps and mechanical whirring sounding from one of the nearby bushes. From said bush, Obsidian and Dusk walked out, the former looking sheepish, and the later looking rather miffed. Vanitas got into his battle stance, “Alright...who are you two and what are you doing here?” “Shut up, Bucket Head,” Dusk snapped, “I was asked...no, ordered...by Princess Stella Starshine to bring you back.” She paused, raising her head in contemplation. “However, I think I’ll just let you stay here. You probably have some reason to stay. And myself, personally, I want to see Princess Cello’s pissed off face when she sees you be late to the cuddle time she planned out.” “Bucket Head!? I'll show you a bucket head!” Vanitas was about to clock Dusk, but I restrained him, “Let me go! I'mma bust his flank wide open!” “She a mare,” I dead panned. I then looked back to Dusk, “And you, can you ever not insult people?” She simply crossed her heart, flapped her hands, and pantomimed putting something in her eye. I raised my eyebrow at this. “The Pinkie Pie Promise you made with Discord?” She nodded. “Fair enough.” “Wait. That thing’s a girl!?” ‘Honestly? Couldn't the voice tip you off?’ I telepathically asked. ‘Well, from what I learned, Twilight’s rule 63 version of herself is named Dusk as well...hang on, how’d you get inside my head?’ ‘Telepathy,’ I stated, ‘And while this ‘Rule 63’ thing may be true, it isn't for her. She’s trying to forget her former name, due to the fact that she lost her family, friends, and pieces of herself to Nisled.’ ‘Oh...okay then, forget I said anything, let's just get down to business,’ he communicated. “So, you want to help us give Nisled a thrashing?” I asked the two. “As much as I want to, we can't,” Dusk answered. She pointed to Obsidian, “He's still has that report assignment to finish, and I still have to finish a ridiculous game of chess with Luna...and I'm sure you know how ticked off she'll be if I'm not back in a reasonable amount of time.” “If you have to rush, then go,” I told them. Dusk electrified her horn and opened a void portal, and left with Obsidian in tow. After she left, I could only sigh. “Lulu has gotten a bit more aggressive since Stella was pulled from her mind.” “We’ll talk more on that subject another time, right now we’ve got bigger fish to fry,” Vanitas looked around anxiously, as if he thought Nisled would pop out at any time, “Okay...where is that S.O.B.?” “We'll find out...eventually,” I said, “In the meantime, we might want to busy ourselves with either training for the fight, or fixing up your new castle...Well, new in the sense of...You get the idea.” “Yeah, I know what you mean, and ever since our little fight, I don't think I'm ready to knock you out again when I need you the most, besides, the princesses chewed me out for that little incident while you were in the hospital.” “That's understandable. Besides, part of training can involve just seeing what you're capable of,” I explain, “For example: when I played Kingdom Hearts II, I didn't even know what Upper Slash and Finishing Leap was in the first ten playthroughs.” “At least you GOT to play KH II, I watched my brother play it, and he saved over every possible file, not only filling up our memory card, but not letting me take a crack at it, it sucked, honestly.” Vanitas took a deep breath, “But I get what you're saying, I mean, I have every skill and spell in KH:BBS, and I haven't used all of them yet, I just stuck to what I knew.” That got me thinking. “There may be a way for us to train that may benefit both of us.” “Oh? Enlighten me.” “As you may have already noticed, I've barely learned how to summon and use Unversed,” I began, “My idea is this: teach you how to summon and use Unversed, and we then see what we can do while fighting each other's Unversed. That, in turn, will help us build tolerance to the pain from our Unversed.” “Alright then, let's get to work.” We entered the castle and looked around until we came to what appeared to be an ancient training courtyard. I turned to Second and said, “Scout out the castle. Map out every detail you can find.” He nodded and went to accomplish that. “Now, you ready to use Unversed?” “Yeah, I'm ready.” I activated my Dark suit, except the visor, and began. “From what I remember from earlier, you just need to let your negative emotions...surface, for lack of a better term.” Darkness coated my arms as I let said emotions flow before they manifested as Unversed...that oddly looked like Decadravens from TWEWY. “Odd, I thought I was summoning Unversed, not Noise. Maybe that's what seemed odd about the Unversed I first summoned.” “Maybe it works differently with different users of Unversed; if you're closer to Noise in TWEWY instead of normal Unversed, maybe that's the only type of Unversed you can summon.” “If I summon Noise-like Unversed, then perhaps I can do what the GMs can.” Concentrating on my negative emotions, I slammed my fists together and my vision was filled with static. When it cleared, I was standing/sitting above Vanitas as an Ovis Cantus. Mentally smiling, I spoke with it's deep voice, “Welcome to my kitchen.” “I rather skip the appetizer and go straight to the main course.” Vanitas quipped. “I'll try to ignore that comment,” I said as I reverted back to my original size, “In the meantime, try summoning some Unversed.” “Okay, I'll try, but I can't guarantee anything.” Vanitas closed his eyes and focused on negative emotions as he muttered to himself, “Okay, Vanitas, think of your loved ones facing dangerous fate…” as several scenarios ran through his mind, Unversed started popping up, spreading like wildfire, and didn't show any signs of stopping. “DUDE! Slow down!” I shouted out as I pulled out Karmic Gear (my Dark keyblade) and my chain and started bashing and slashing at his Unversed. “Ow! Huh?” Vanitas looked around when he felt the pain and saw just about a hundred Unversed, “Sweet Celestia, I overshot it!” he helped sliced through about half the entire horde, trying to ignore his self-inflicted pain, but stopped when said pain from the Unversed became unbearable, “MOTHER OF CELESTIA, THIS HURTS!!” he exclaimed as he crumpled to the ground. I tossed Karmic Gear, producing a combination of Strike Raid and a boomerang, knocking back most of the Unversed around him. I then rushed to him and used my conduit heal ability to try to ease his pain. While I focused on that, the Decadravens kept attacking the Flood of Unversed. “Agh, thanks for that, I don't think I could've used Curaga after all that.” Vanitas stood up, shaking off the remainder of his pain, “Okay, let's get this training started right.” Time for some music for the moment! I telepathically played this song into Vanitas’ head, loud enough for him to “hear” it but quiet enough so as not to distract him. I then summoned several Decadravens and a Cornix Canor and sicced them on him. The Decadravens stayed at a low altitude to distract/harass him while the Cornix stayed out of reach, swooping down to either attack him or grab random debris to drop on him. Vanitas dodged their attacks and used his Afterimage ability to attack them as he created façades of himself, confusing my Unversed before they were destroyed, leaving behind Cornix Canor, which he finished off his Flame Burst skill. I aimed my hand at Vanitas and fired of a Dark Volley, peppering him with Dark plasma. Vanitas took the brunt of the hit, but blocked a few stragglers with his Renewal Block plus regaining some of his lost HP and retaliated with Fission Firaga, catching me in an explosion. After I reached the ground after being flung back, I “melted” into the ground, leaving behind a small “puddle” of Darkness. With my awareness, I felt that more faux-puddles appeared. My puddle flared a bright blue before going dark. All of the puddles started moving rapidly around at my command, hoping to confuse Vanitas. Once I was done mixing them up, I arranged the puddles in a circle around him. In an instant, all of the faux-puddles started firing off their own Dark Vollies, while my puddle moved under him and I launched out of it, striking with Dark Impulse. Vanitas was unable to avoid all of the attacks and took a huge amount of damage, even his Renewal Block couldn't help him. He panted heavily as if my attacks knocked the air out of him, “Okay...you win, just...let me...catch my breath...hoo! Man, I'm tired!” To help speed up his recovery, I summoned a few Pig Samba for him to take out and get either needed items or even a new ability (if there were any new ones, if what he said was true about knowing all abilities). Vanitas defeated them quickly after regaining his lost breath, and received a few Hi-Potions as a reward. “You both done yet?” We heard Second say from the entrance of the courtyard. “I’m done with mapping the main portion of the castle.” His horn lit up and it lit up Vanias’ visor as well. “Let’s get some rest,” I said, “We need to be ready for Nisled when he comes. Second will take the first watch.” I turned to Vanitas. “Where can we rest?” “I found the princess’s old bedchambers, we can sleep there.” “Sounds good. Let’s get some rest.” Meanwhile, in a different portion of the Everfree, a cockatrice was fleeing from an unseen predator. While most creatures would flee from it, the cockatrice felt a need to flee from something. It didn’t even know what or where it was, it just had to flee. After a few minutes of running, it stopped inside some bushes. After it caught its breath, it went to leave, but smoke suddenly enveloped the bush. Coughing badly, it exited the bush, only to come face to face with Chaos...but not just any Chaos...Pure, Unfiltered, Chaos. Author's Note Points: +8 Rank: Champion The name of this chapter came from this song. On a side note, yes, I didn't have any clue what Upper Slash and Finishing Leap did for most of the time that I've played KHII.
Chapter 16: Dismiss This chapter was written with the assistance of Golden Flare. A Crossover with his story, Prince of the Everfree. inFAMOUS Displaced Chapter 16 Enter the Void I couldn’t sleep...or at least, not well. I stirred awake when Second and Vanitas switched watches. Once he was gone, I fell back to sleep only to see a few images of war in my vision. The faces of many brave ponies, Akomish and otherwise, flashed before my face before ending with Smoke Shot’s face. After waking back up, I couldn’t get back to sleep. From what I could see of the sky, it was a few hours until sunrise. I quietly got up and snuck out of the room, found a set of strong vines and climbed to the highest point of the castle. I never did get a very good look of the Everfree with my own eyes after being freed, but I knew most of the forest by heart, thanks to my telepathy. I sent out a few radar pulses, attempting to find Vanitas. It was difficult, as he had a few Unversed patrolling the castle and they felt too similar to him. Once I discerned where he was, I jumped off the tower I was on, activated my dark thrusters and glided to the castle’s main entrance, where he was. He turned to me and spoke with a tired voice, “Couldn't sleep?” “PTSD,” I answered. “My second time having normal sleep and I’m plagued with the remnants of a war I fought in.” “Yeah, similar to me, only my Anxiety kept me wake; been diagnosed with Anxiety when I was a kid, there were times when I'd have anxiety attacks and my body would spasm out on me.” I gave a whistle. “You’ve got the better end of the deal than me or one other Displaced I’ve met,” I told him, “In your case, you don’t see those you see as comrades-in-arms, brothers, sisters...as dead lifeless faces.” I gave a sigh. “Not to mention, Twilight Sparkle looks like one of them.” “Sounds like you’ve got it rough,” he gave a sigh of his own, “believe it or not, Anxiety isn't the only thing I'm diagnosed with, and I've been taking meds for them, been like two days since I've taken them.” I lightly chuckled, “Like I said, you’ve got the better end of the deal. Anyway, I’m sure you have a few questions from yesterday that you want answered.” I waved my hand nonchalantly. “Ask away.” “Okay, um...that spot you were staring at back at the gardens, what was that about anyway?” I look at him with disbelief written on my face. “Have you ever been engaged to be wed?” “Can’t say that I have, honestly.” “That was the most calm I’ve been in a thousand years,” I said, “That one moment with my fiance...I had to cherish every moment of calm I could while in stone, waiting...waiting for Luna to return...waiting for me to be free...just,” I shuttered, “waiting for when I could truly comfort her.” “Wow...that's...actually really sweet of you to do, you must really love her a lot.” “I do.” I gazed to the East longingly. “She suffered those thousand years. Losing a friend and her sister to corruption within three years of me getting encased...keyword: encased, in stone. I wasn’t until after 600 years of “dating,” I was able to propose to her...without the ring, embarrassingly enough.” “I'm sure she appreciated your attempt nonetheless.” “Yeah, she did. She nearly broke off my left arm in her hug…” I trailed off for a moment. “Any further questions?” “Yeah, about Dusk Spark, what exactly happened to her?” “To best convey that, things need to be put in context,” I began, “The Multiverse is part of a Displaced’s life. I’m from a different version of Equestria, one where a number of ponies are Conduits, or individuals that can control/weaponize almost any element possible. However, to concern Nisled, he is from an alternate version of my Equestria.” I looked to where I felt his eyes would be behind his mask. “A version where his aim...my aim...was to be Infamous rather than Heroic.” “Whatever he had done over time in his world had led him to murder Dusk’s parents and Spike...Whoever that is...shortly after her ascension. From there, she was practically on an obsessive manhunt. Every rumor, she pursued. She physically lost a bit of herself in any encounter with him.” “After an entity known as Tirek was defeated, the families and connections of her friends, the other bearers of the Elements, were murdered during the chaos. Later, they discovered Nisled’s plan to engineer an army of Bio-terrorists to take over and rule the world.” “After dealing with their version of the Beast, Starlight Glimmer, Nisled took advantage of their exhaustion and murdered and mangled her friends,” I shuddered in disgust from the images from getting Dusk’s powers, “Word’s can’t describe how bad it was. I can only show you.” I telepathically projected the images of their dead bodies in the process of being mangled. I didn’t wait for a reaction, I just continued, “He would have killed Dusk, but their Discord and the Beast interfered, removing any chances of him to take over her world and to get stronger. Any powers he built up over time were taken away, leaving him with smoke, neon, video, concrete, and basic chaos.” “Dusk then felt it necessary to go back in time to kill him and end the chaos before it began. Her trip went differently than expected.” “Because she arrived in your Equestria when she did and not her Equestia’s past...Right?” Vanitas asked. I just simply nodded. “Whoa...if it were me, I would've gone insane.” “Good thing it wasn’t you then. Any more pressing questions?” “Yeah, one last thing, how did YOU get Displaced? Were you at a convention like me?” “Yes, but under different circumstances. I was a student at the University of Idaho in Idaho Falls, but I had money issues. Then, one of my friends said he would pay me a thousand dollars to go to a convention. Me, not being one for certain types of crowds, wouldn’t go to a convention under normal circumstances. But with a chance to keep myself from getting into debt, I went. I didn’t go dressed, as I wanted to use as little money as possible to gain a “profit” off of this.” “I did, however, have a bit of cash to buy something, which was the costume of Delsin Rowe, this chain,” I showed him the chain on my arm, “And a can of magic spray paint.” “Damn, man, you got a real bang for your buck, even though you got teleported to Equestria as the guy whose outfit you bought.” “Yeah. Twenty bucks for the whole thing...a rip off, if you ask me.” I turned to a section of the castle wall that seemed to be in better condition than the some of the castle. An idea formed in my head and I pulled out my paint can. “Do you mind if I…” I could feel him smirk under his mask, “Oh, God, totally.” I found a few stray board of wood and I managed to prop them onto the wall to act as templates. With difficulty, I was able to paint the symbol of the Unversed (in blood red) onto the wall, surrounded by the images of the Elements of Harmony. I then had an aura of darkness painted around Unversed symbol, while the Elements had auras of their respective colors (toned to be slightly darker for contrast). Where the dark aura met the rainbow aura, I had the colors mix, as if the darkness was coexisting with the light. I was about to put away the paint, when I felt a bit of inspiration. I added the cutie marks of Celestia and Luna to upper left and lower right, respectively. When I did, the Princess’s cutie marks and the Unversed symbol seemed to light up and two large chests appeared. One had the Unversed symbol and the other one had the Neutral Karmic symbol on it. “Dibs on the Unversed marked chest!” Vanitas declared. “I figured that would be the point,” I said as I moved to the Karmic chest. I went to open it, but it was locked. “Hey, a little help here.” “Oh right, sorry.” he said sheepishly as he summoned Void Gear and tapped the chest, unlocking and opening it. When it was opened, the inside of the chest gave of a bit of light before it died down. Inside the chest was a Banishing Key. I showed the Dimensional sphere to Vanitas and said, “There's been a slight change in plans. Nisled gets ripped to shreds, he pulls himself back together, and then we banish him from this world.” “Alright then. Welp, my turn!” Vanitas tapped his own chest and it opened, revealing a keychain with a stone medallion of a dragon as its token. “One of the keychains the merchant was talking about! Hmm...I think I have an idea on what this one is.” he removed the Void Gear keychain and equipped the new one, making it transform into a new Keyblade; the blade takes the appearance of a pin tumbler lock key with bandages wrapped around the base, with the rest of the Keyblade like all the others. “Sweet! It's Fenrir! One of my personal favorites!” “That has great range and strength, but maximum ground and midair combos are decreased by 1,” I quote from memory, “Also, it seems a bit too...clunky looking, in my opinion.” “Eh, everybody has their opinions, it's one of my favorite Keyblades, you think it's clunky, it's all good.” Vanitas says positively. “Besides, with every Keyblade, where there's a benefit, there's a defect.” “More power for less swings,” I say in an advertising voice, “What a price!” Vanitas chuckles, “Nice sales pitch, pal.” he removes the Fenrir keychain and reattached his Void Gear keychain, “So now what?” “Let me check,” I said, and I sent out a radar pulse. I sensed hostility immediately from behind him. I reacted as soon as I sensed that, pulling out Karmic Gear and lunging in his direction, but stabbing past his head. I felt my blade hit something and the air shimmered a bit, revealing a Stealth Sneak Heartless with my keyblade buried in it’s skull. It slowly dissolved, leaving a crystal-like heart to float away. “Whoa! What was that!? A Heartless!?” “I would assume so,” I answered, sending out another radar pulse. In that pulse, I sensed more hostility, but it was towards a few benevolent signals. “And I think it may not be the only one in the area.” I ran to the rope bridge, leaped up and used my dark thrusters to glide across. I ran into the forest, sending out a pulse every so often to locate the signals. I summoned a few Garage wolves to speed up the search. One of them alerted me to something. Once I found that wolf, I saw several Living Bone surrounding three ponies. I couldn’t recognise them, but I wasn’t caring about that at the moment. I charged in, chain and keyblade in hand, but one of them just knocked me away with it’s mace tail. “Oh nuts! Heal!” Vanitas cast Curaga on me, mending the damage that was dealt to me, “You alright, man?” “Yeah, I’m okay. Those mares,” I pointed to the three mares, “On the other hand, won’t be. Light that bush near them on fire, place a shield around them, and I’ll do the rest.” “Okay. Go!” Vanitas cast Flame Burst, the fireballs lighting the bush on fire. I rushed over to the burning bush, and absorbed the smoke from the fire. I then smoke dashed to the center of the clearing just as Vanitas cast Barrier over himself and the mares. I then lowered myself to the ground and then jumped, splitting into three burning embers. Reforming at the peak of my high jump, I began to fall head first. I ignited my smoke thrusters to speed my fall and increase the damage. I landed, making an explosion of embers, ash, smoke, and fire that blew the pack of Living Bone away. All of the Heartless dissolved into darkness, except for one, which I promptly dealt with, with a melee combo with my chain. “We did it!” Vanitas cheered, then turned to the ponies, “You all okay?” “We’re quite alright, Darling,” one of them said. Once I heard her voice, I recognized who it was. “Rarity?” I was finally able to figure out the three mares. “Applejack? Rainbow Dash?” “We don’t have much time to explain!” Rainbow yelled in my face. “Our sisters had planned a sleepover in their clubhouse,” Applejack said, “I went to check on them this morning…” “AND THEY WERE GONE! MISSING!” Rarity finished and fell on a teleported couch and began to sob almost uncontrollably. “Okay, okay, don't worry, we'll help you find them, right, Delsin?” Vanitas asked. “Where’s their clubhouse?” I answer, “Let’s see where you saw them last.” We, being myself, Vanitas, and the three mares hurried in the early sunrise to Sweet Apple Acres. When we arrived at the clubhouse, I sent out a few radar pulses to check for their sisters, but I could only sense hostility. “Vanitas, electrocute me and keep an eye out for Heartless,” I told him. He complied without a word, casting Thunder on me and readying for a fight. The mares prepared for a fight as well, while I entered the somewhat cramped quarters of the clubhouse. What I saw was a bloody mess in the middle of the clubhouse. I never did see a cockatrice before, but I could tell it was one. I checked where its head was and placed my hand on it. I was able to “read” the leftover bioelectric energy from its brain, seeing it’s death by the hands of Nisled. After I separated from it, I could see the “echo” of him running away. I exited the clubhouse just as Vanitas finished off a Candy Apple Heartless. “Never thought these guys would make an appearance.” he turned to me, “So, what did you find?” then smelled the air, “And what smells like something died?” “Because something did die,” I said, the mares turning pale from my words. “Nisled was here and while I didn’t find any evidence of their sister’s kidnappers, I found a corpse of a cockatrice in there. The leftover bioelectric energy it had allowed me have the information I need to track him down. It is very likely that they were kidnapped by him, Applejack took note of their disappearance, and then he brought over and killed the cockatrice.” “Uh, what?” Rainbow said. I slammed my head onto a nearby tree in frustration, knocking off all of the apples in the process. “Long story short, I can lead us to where they have been possibly taken.” “Then what are we standing here for!? Let's move!” Vanitas declared. “I’m waiting for his echo to stop insulting me in Sign language.” “...Say what now?” Vanitas asked, dumbfounded. I didn’t answer, I simply telepathically showed him how Cole MacGrath read echos, and I followed the echo, which was now doing a poor imitation of the Joker. We followed the echo all the way to… “The Castle?!” I exclaimed, “He went all the way back to the castle?!” “This could be bad.” Vanitas said. “Yeah, I agree,” I turned to the mares, “You might want to wait somewhere safe. This could get messy” The mares nodded in understanding and vanished into the forest. I walked towards the castle, sending out a radar pulse every so often to check for danger and keep the echo going. The echo when into the main entryway and stopped over a certain tile and just vanished. I examined the tile that the echo stopped on and managed to pry it from the floor, revealing a secret passageway. “You think he went down there?” Vanitas asked me. “The echo ends here, so more than likely.” I moved the tile away from the passageway and dropped down, my arms becoming electrified to provide light. “Hey, wait up!” Vanitas shouted as he dropped after me. I turned on the spot and slapped my hand over where I believed his mouth would be. “Keep quiet!” I whisper-shouted, “Let’s just try to…” My rebuke was interrupted by gunfire. On instinct, I pushed Vanitas behind cover and dove behind him. I put my hand back over the “mouth” of his mask and peered out to see what we were up against. What I saw were the Reapers, just like the ones from inFAMOUS. I listened carefully to the conversation they were having in Reaper (which sounded exactly like Skullcap). *I just saw two figures dive behind that pillar!* *Check it out! Our master wants the hostages to remain secure.* *What if it’s the boy in the mask?* *Shoot to kill.* “Dude, are you following any of this?” Vanitas whispered. “Shush!” I held my finger to my mouth to emphasis that. I then peeked out as far as I could without alerting the Reapers. Three approached our hiding spot. Two were armed with riot shields and AK-47s. The third was a suicide bomber. ‘There are three Reapers approaching us. I’m going to zap one of them. Once you hear the explosion, give them Hell.’ ‘Roger that.’ I peeked out again and readied a precision bolt. Time slowed down for a brief moment as I carefully aimed at the suicide bomber’s bomb. I fired that one bolt, frying the Reaper and igniting the bomb. It went off, vaporizing the three Reapers. ‘They must be Chaos constructs! Give no quarter!’ ‘Right!’ Vanitas jumped out and cast Dark Thundaga around the area striking most of the Reapers. I followed behind him, frying whatever Reaper that was lucky enough to escape his onslaught. It wasn't before long that we reached the end of the passageway, where a door was. They were stuck closed, but they weren't for long, as I simply punched a hole in one, the tore them both off their hinges. “Nice! Let's see what's behind door number one!” Vanitas said. Without answering, I opened the door and found three fillies, all tied up and gagged. One was a yellow earth pony with a red mane. The next was a marshmallow white unicorn with a purple and pink mane. The last was an orange pegasus with a maroon mane. “It's the Crusaders! But why foal-nap them, of all ponies? Why not one of the Element Bearers?” Vanitas asked. “I'm not sure, but we did find them,” I answered. I moved to the earth pony filly and undid her gag. Once the gag was off, she shouted a warning, “Watch out!” I then heard Vanitas struggling against something. Turning, I saw Nisled holding him in a full nelson just as they teleported out of the chamber. Panicking, I finished undoing all the binds and gags and then ran as fast as I could with the fillies in my arms. I managed to get to the exit of the castle to see Second and Vanitas barely holding their own against what looked like a brainwashed Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash. “Harmony is just a dreamy mist,” Rarity droned as she flung spell after spell at the duo. “Order and Chaos can never coexist,” Applejack continued in a monotonous way. “Embrace that here in the Everfree,” Rainbow spoke as she flew. “AND YOU SHALL SEE WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD THIS SHALL BE!” The three said and managed to knock Vanitas to where Nisled stood. “Agh! That smarts!” Vanitas glares up at Nisled through his mask, “You think you can just kill me without a fight, you cheap knockoff?” Nisled responded by trapping Vanitas’ arms and legs in concrete and kicking him forcefully in the visor. The visor cracked, and he was flung to the spot where my vision was depicted. Nisled's hands and Vanitas lit up a red color, and he flinched as if he took a massive hit. “AHHHHHHHH!!!” Vanitas screeched in anguish as he barely clung to consciousness. “Who’s cheap? Me or the guy who sent you here?” Nisled asked arrogantly, as he summoned a diamond sword (much like from Minecraft). He raised the sword to strike, but I dove down and knocked Vanitas out of the way. The blade went through my shoulder (that's in one side and out the other). I yelled out in pain from the strike, which must have gotten Second’s attention, as he managed to knock the brainwashed ponies back long enough to change into his aura giant form and knock Nisled into the canyon/gorge. When that happened, the mares fell unconscious. After pulling the sword out of my shoulder, I ran to Vanitas and used a ray sphere pulse to check his vitals. I managed to confirm that he was alive, but just barely. Without instruction, Second poured some of his own life force into him as I prepared a healing volt. Vanitas received the volt as gratefully as you can imagine. “Ah! What happened!? Where's Nisled!?” Vanitas asked as he looked around frantically. “You were beaten to within an inch of your life, and a few volts of electricity cleared that up,” I answered, “As for Nisled, he's down in there.” I pointed to the canyon/gorge. “Can you scan to see if he's dead or something? You know, that pulse thing you do?” “I won’t bother. It'll take more than what we have to kill him,” I deadpanned, “And I mean it. I saw him get beheaded, only for the body to pick up the head and reattach it as if it had to do that on a regular basis.” I walked to the edge of the crevice, and peered down. “That's why he needs to be banished.” “If that's what it takes, then so be it, let's banish the bastard.” “Alright, let's get going...after I switch elements. Hit me with something Dark.” “Thunder!” Vanitas cast Dark Thundaga, electrocuting me with sinister lightning. I was able to drain out the lightning and absorb the Darkness. I let my Dark suit flow onto me and Karmic Gear appear in my hand. Turning around, I nodded to Vanitas and dramatically fell backwards into the crevice. The wind whipped past as I fell head first. Just before I hit the ground, I flipped to feet first and landed without getting hurt. Vanitas just jumped off the cliff and landed on his feet with no ceremony, no tricks, no nothing, I guess he's done messing around and getting serious, “Where'd he go?” he whisper-shouted. ‘Only one way to find out,’ I tell him. I pulled out my Banishing Key and held it above my head. It then began to float around and glow. It stopped in front of me and charged with some kind of energy. I sent out a brief pulse to find Nisled, but he was where we may have least expected. ‘DUCK!!!’ We both managed to duck just as the Key fired a beam in the spot where we were standing, striking Nisled and sending him hurtling into a void portal near the mouth of a cave. “Did that do it? Is he gone?” Vanitas asked me. “Yep, he's gone,” I answered, “Now, let's see about…AHH!” I suddenly felt something and it hurt my head. I fell to my knees with a hand on my head. “Whoa! You okay there, man?” ‘Karmic Champion. Prince of Darkness. Come forth.’ “Did you hear that?” I asked. “Yeah, what was that about?” ‘Come forth.’ “I think it's coming from that cave,” I said, pointing into the cave near Nisled's Banishment spot. “Let’s go check it out.” “Okay.” We started walking, and kept an eye out for any Heartless. As we went further in, I couldn’t deny my feelings. “Do you feel as if we're walking into a Holy place?” “A little bit, why do you ask?” Vanitas looked as if he realized something, “Your powers aren't unholy or something, are they?” “Not that I'm aware of.” ‘They are not. However, ye must remove the shoes from off thy feet, for the ground upon which you stand is Holy Ground.’ “Well, you heard the Voice,” I said as I powered down my Dark suit and removed my shoes, “Remove your shoes...if you can.” “Um...I kinda can’t, my suit’s melded onto my body, thanks to that merchant.” Vanitas said, bitterly. ‘He is an exception, Champion.’ “Alright,” I respond, but I then realized something, “Come to think of it, who or what are you?” ‘Come further and you shall see.’ We moved further in until I saw something that just blew my mind. It was a crystalline tree that felt like a living Blast Core. “Whoa! The Tree of Harmony! It looks more amazing seeing it up close and personal!” Vanitas said. “I'll admit, I'm impressed,” I said, “But what called us here?” “That would be me,” then someone stepped out from behind the tree. “Holy!...Cole!?” “Who?” Vanitas asked, then saw somebody he never thought he’d see again, “Bro!? No way!” “What?! You see him?” “I see somebody, but I don't believe it. How did my brother get here!?” “Your brother dressed as Cole MacGrath?” “No, my brother dressed as Ventus from Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep. Wait…” Vanitas began to think about something, “Do I have a concussion, or did I finally go crazy and now I'm seeing hallucinations?” “You're suffering neither problems,” ‘Cole’ said, “Your minds are perceiving my appearance differently. Delsin sees Cole MacGrath while you see Ventus.” “Ohhhh, I get it now,” Vanitas said, “So, who are you then?” “I am the Spirit of the Tree of Harmony.” “No freaking way!” Vanitas said in surprise. “Wait, why did you call us here?” “I speak concerning both of you and I offer gifts to help in your futures,” Spirit answered. He turned to Vanitas and spoke, “You already know what is to come in Equestia’s future, give or take a difference. All I can do is offer aid in what way I can.” The spirit pulled two items out of “his” pocket, one was a black crystal shaped like the Unversed symbol, the other was a white crystal shaped like the Mark of Mastery symbol. “What are these things?” Vanitas asked. “The Elements of Dusk and Dawn,” it answered, tossing the jewels to him, “When my strength wanes, you and your friend will need to use those to reveal what needs to be sealed.” “Friend...Dean! Dean is here!?” Vanitas exclaimed. “Given time, he will be,” the spirit then looked at me, “Delsin Rowe, your doppelgänger, Nisled, will continue to try to spread his ideal of pure, unfiltered Chaos through the Multiverse. However, he cannot travel to any Equestria where you haven’t been or summoned someone from.” “Does that mean that Sora will have to deal with him until he's properly banished?” It nodded. I hung my head down and said, “He's already pissed off at me for trying to comfort him when he didn't need it. Now he's got a psychopath to deal with.” “Don't worry, I'm sure he can handle it, if he's anything like the real Sora, he'll take care of things.” Vanitas tried to reassure me. “It's not him I'm worried about,” I responded, letting Darkness flow down my arms. “If he saw me with these powers, he'd sooner stab me 27 times in the chest before accepting help, and that's including with how upset I unintentionally got him.” “It’s for that reason, I'm willing to help you.” The spirit then sent a rainbow orb of energy at me. When it hit me, I felt a surge of energy and my vision went through the entire color spectrum. When I could see properly again, I noticed that my clothing (and, therefore, my Karmic rank) had changed to Hero. Not only that, but I felt as if I had a new power. “Whoa! What happened? Are you okay?” Vanitas asked me. “I feel...different,” I answered, “I think I skipped the Paragon rank straight to Hero.” “I also altered one of your abilities, gave you new ones and gave you access to Magic.” “What do you mean?” I asked. The spirit sighed in annoyance and pulled out a piece of paper for me to take. I read over the page quickly, then looked at Vanitas with a mischievous grin. “What is it? What did it say?” he asked. In answer, my right hand lit up in a blue aura as I said, “Smoke and Mirrors.” Instantly, in a flash of blue smoke, my clothing switched to neutral and several neutral clones of myself appeared. “That’s...new.” I dispelled the clones and restored my clothes. “Evidently, what the spirit meant was that I'm now able to match Nisled. He wields Chaos and I wield Harmony,” I explained, “What you saw me do was a fusion of Harmony Magic and smoke.” “Sweet! So, what happens now?” “Well, for starters, I need to return home and check up on my fiancè. And thinking about that, when Tia and I smooth out the details, I'll see about getting you an invitation to the wedding,” I said. “Awesome! So I just do the thing and send you back?” “Eeyup.” “Alright then. It's been great meeting you, and I hope to see you at the wedding. Delsin, our contract is complete!” As soon as that was said, a void portal opened up. I gave Vanitas a goodbye salute and walked through...only to get decked in the face with a golden horseshoe and fly back through the portal. “Uh…was that supposed to happen?” Vanitas asked. “Do I have a horseshoe shaped bruise on my face and is there an angry white alicorn walking through the portal with fire in her eyes?” I asked. “Yes to both questions...and she's making me uncomfortable,” Vanitas answered. I gave a slight whimper and answered, “Then yes, that was supposed to happen.” I felt a tugging on my pant legs and I was unceremoniously dragged through the portal while Tia was muttering, “You and I need to talk about all of this.” Author's Note Delsin is now a Hero! Sorry for simply skipping past Paragon and going straight to Hero. I was having trouble with the story and providing Karmic choices (seeing as how he simply kept following Good Karma). Also, how do you think Celestia will punish Delsin (and keep it clean!)?"
Chapter 17: Making PlansAuthor's Note This is more of a filler chapter before anything major happens. Chapter 17: Making Plans inFAMOUS Displace Chapter 17 Making Plans “So, let me get this straight,” Tia said to me, disappointment heavy in her voice, “Being a Displaced makes it so that if you are needed for whatever reason, you are summoned to a different version of Equestria.” “Yes,” I replied. “And you were summoned twice.” “Yes.” “Both times I got worried.” “I’m sorry, but yes.” “And according to the Spirit of the Tree of Harmony, your doppelganger is wishing to spread a deadly form of Chaos through these Equestrias.” “Yes.” “And he’s limited to any Equestria you’ve been to or have summoned a Displaced from.” “Yes, unless he was properly banished.” “Then why summon or be summoned if you allow such evil to move?” I sighed from my strange prison (so much rope binding me that I looked like an overgrown ball of yarn). “If I had to name three reasons, here they are. One: If we needed help for something beyond us, we can get said help. Two: If I’m need to help someone, I can help. And Three: If I didn’t, I’m sure that wouldn’t guarantee his interference.” Tia looked at me with confusion. “I can understand the first two, but what do you mean about the last one.” “He, she, or it said that he couldn’t do that, but I’m sure that he could send others in his stead,” I answered, shifting in my prison. “Now, if you don’t mind, could you release me from my...prison and we can work our wedding invites to the various National Leaders, VIPs, and Displaced I’ve met.” “The wedding invites...and any other business...can come after a little cuddle session.” She smiled as she unraveled the rope. I’m gonna stop writing right there. Anyway, skipping past the cuddle session to my bedroom where I was preparing wedding invitations for any Displaced I encountered and will encounter. My Primary concern, however, was with Sora. Since Nisled wasn’t dealt with in his Equestria, I had to at least warn him. With his invitation, I send a letter detailing Nisled and other things. To Whom It May Concern, I have a number of things to say in this letter. As Screwball may have told you, they are important. The most important parts first, and the last are not as important. First, shortly after you left I was summoned by another Displaced and I had learned that I have a doppelganger. He is from an alternate version of MY Equestria, an Equestria where “my” goal is to become Infamous, rather than be a hero. He is a powerful user Chaos user, but he is limited to four elements (smoke, neon, video, and concrete), and can’t harm his own Equestria. You can thank the Beast and his version of Discord for that. With his powers of Chaos, he is resistant to Death (and I mean it, he was beheaded and he just reattached it). Going along with that, he has a desire to spread pure, unfiltered Chaos throughout the multiverse. It’s not like what Discord does, as it is more along the lines of deadly rather than prank worthy (in hindsight, the literal Medusa hairstyle Discord gave to a Royal Guard was more funny than dangerous). However, he is limited to the Equestrias I’ve either been to or summoned other Displaced from...So, yeah...You’ve got trouble either coming your way, or it already came...so I’m not expected to have a warm welcome if I’m summoned...if you even summon me. With this in mind, I have a few things to suggest when dealing with him. First off, do NOT engage him unless you are confident you can handle him. Second off, keep the Element Bearers away from him, he can and will kill them without a second thought. Third off, since killing him won’t work, Banishment is best procedure, but not with the Elements of Harmony. I can either send you the tool to do it, or you can summon me to handle the device. Second off, I’m sorry if what I said and did hurt you emotionally. It wasn’t my place to try to help you when you didn’t need it. If you wish to heal, it is something you must do on your own. Third off, I’ve gotten a bit stronger since I’ve last seen you. I now have the powers of electricity and (dare I even write it, knowing who I’m writing two) Darkness. The electricity I got from my Twilight’s doppelganger (a cybernetic alicorn that can use electricity and has a few ray sphere abilities) and the Darkness I go from Vanitas, a dark keyblade wielder. To ease your mind about my powers of Darkness that I’ve obtained, when I was with Vanitas, the Spirit of the Tree of Harmony gave me access to Harmony magic. It is something that I can mix with my natural powers to have interesting spells and it also prevents corruption from the Darkness that I possess. After dealing with my doppelganger, perhaps a sparring match would be in order. I can’t wait to see how you react to Noise. And Last off, as you had mentioned wanting one, I’ve sent a picture of Celestia and I with the wedding invitation. Just be warned, Screwball may have enchanted the picture, letter, and/or invitation that may cause strange punishment for calling my fiance the nicknames you call your...solar diarch. If you end up being dressed up as Neku Sakuraba as one of the forms of punishment, send me a picture back. Your friend (hopefully), Delsin Rowe The Equestrian Eagle Future Prince of the Akomish After writing out the invitations and my letter to Sora, I had the ones I knew sent with Screwball. I then got into bed and fell asleep. The next morning, I found a scroll addressed to me. Inside the scroll was Sora’s response and a picture of a male version of Tia in a frilly, pink dress, of all things. I have sent word of your doppelganger to the entirety of the Equestrian Keyblade Army as well as the Royal and Night Guards. They have orders not to engage unless left with no other option, but to send word to me ASAP. Should he appear in our Equestria, I will confront him personally. Should my power prove inadequate to banish him from my world, I will call upon you for aid. That said, should you receive a summons from me, be prepared to fight from the moment your foot lands upon the soil. Explanations will have to come later. As for your actions and words regarding my past... look. I'm sorry. I always get a bit depressed whenever that event comes up, and that depression turns into rage if anyone pushes too hard. Or at all. Just... don't worry about it. Let's put that bit of the past behind us. Hakuna Matata and all that jazz. Darkness, huh? Well, I wish you luck. Darkness is a tricky one to handle, but if you've got the Tree of Harmony's blessing, I can't really argue. Just be careful. As for sparing... sure. Why not? I'm always looking for a young whippersnapper to put in his place. Let's see how lightning and darkness stand up to Light, fire, ice, lightning, time, air, gravity, healing, and I'm sure you get the picture. Good luck. And now, having finished laughing my yay off at Sol's reaction to seeing himself as a mare (fair warning, he popped a wingie), I would like to congratulate you and Celestia. I would be honored to attend. Just summon me a day or so before. As for the punishments, I've lived with Sun Butt and Lunatic for over a thousand years. If I feared prank-themed retribution for calling them names like that, Equestria would have never had the 20 Year Prank War. (Which I won, by the way.) I look forward to both your wedding and whatever retribution Screwball's enchantments may inflict upon me. Also, here's a photo of Solaris in a frilly pink dress. Create as many copies as you can, and spread them to every Displaced you meet. My and Luna's goal is to not allow him to travel anywhere in the multiverse and be taken seriously. Your friend (definitely), Sora Warrior of Light High General of the Equestrian Keyblade Army Master of the Keyblade Friend of the Twin Crowns Vanquisher of Sombra Bane of Darkness Sealer of Chaos Protector of the Heart Light-Bearer Father of the Changelings Defender of the Crystal Empire Order of Starswirl 1st Class Lord of the Dance (Las Pegasus) He-Who-Holds-More-Titles-Than-Thou Sora’s letter got a two word response on a small scrap of paper. Show off. From there, I decided to work out a plan of having all Royal guards of all branches (Solar, Lunar, Eagle, and the soon to be established Stellar) that are Conduits brought together for creating the Bio-Guards...And yes, that is a play off the term “Bio-Terrorist” from inFAMOUS: Second Son. Of course, even with such additions, I was sure that trouble would happen that I would need to interfere.
Chapter 18: Manehatten Mess (Part 1)Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.
Chapter 19: Manehatten Mess (Part 2) This chapter was written with the assistance of Show Stopper. A Crossover with A Heart Eclipsed. This takes place later in his story. inFAMOUS Displaced Chapter 1 Manehatten Mess (Part 2) We waited until morning to “interrogate” the conduit. I put on the quotation marks because I knew why she did what she did, but I was wondering if she knew what she did in the long run. When Stella, Obsidian, the conduit, and myself were gathered together, the conduit seemed hostile. “If this is an interrogation, you should know that Mister Blue Eagle,” she said, referring to me, “Already saw why I did what I did!” I held up my hands to calm her down. “First off, I have a name, Delsin Rowe. Second off…” I didn’t get a chance to finish when the mare squeed really loud while bouncing around like Pinkie Pie. “You’re Delsin Rowe!?” She shouted in excitement, “I wasn’t able to recognize you! The pictures of you in the history books look different than what you look like now.” “Anyway, the sec…” “Of course, I’m more of a fan of Smoke Shot. From what you saw, I take after her. Everything was taken from me through this Gang war and I want to end it!” She proclaimed almost gladly. I looked at her with horror. “Do you...even...know...who makes up...MOST OF THE SKULLCAPS!?!” I bellowed at near Royal Canterlot Voice, “I understand that you lost your family in this senseless conflict, but you need to stop!” “Why?! She lost everything and I’ve lost everything. She did what she could to end the war and I intend to do the same.” “Since when does such actions lead to murder?” “They murdered my husband and unborn foal!” “You were caught in the crossfire!” I countered before I suddenly got in her face. “Not to mention the fact that you are killing innocents!” “The Skullcaps…” “Shut it!” I halted her sentence. “The members of the Skullcaps are kidnapped from their families and brainwashed to serve. As for the Steel Beaks, they have lives that involve loved ones. How does killing innocents serve to honor your family’s death?” The mare looked at me with horror. “I didn’t know...Pencil...Fetch...Why?” She muttered to herself. “There is a way to redeem yourself,” Stella said. The mare perked up at this. “How!?” She shouted out, “I only wanted to right the wrongs done to me, but I don’t know what to do to right the wrongs I’ve done.” “There are three steps to fixing that,” I said, “The first is to give us your name.” “Neon Streak.” “The second and third steps go hand in hand...or hoof in hoof to use pony vocabulary,” I said, “You have to admit your guilt and do your best to not do what you did wrong.” “That’s it? Isn’t there more?” ‘Technically there is.’ “What...Ttthhhe…” Obsidian said as time seemed to slow down. ‘Sora is calling for you!’ ‘What?! When?! Where?!’ ‘Calm down. I’ll get you there in a jiffy.’ ‘Make sure that everypony here comes with. I may need all the help I can get.’ ‘Gotcha!’ Delsin’s POV Getting summoned by a keyblade was a very different experience from getting summoned by token. One moment I was talking with Neon, and the next I was standing in a plaza on the other side of Manehattan, frozen in time along with Neon, Obsidian, and Stella. Thought the sun shined brightly, the situation was anything but peaceful. A pegasus in red armor floated frozen in the air nearby, his hoof outstretched as if to direct the ponies around him. To my side stood a cream coated earth pony with an artfully designed keyblade in her mouth, probably the one who summoned me. Finally, my eyes fell upon Sora, dressed in white and with several keyblades surrounding him, the one in his left hand raised and ready to come down on a familiar being armored in concrete. Suddenly, time was in motion again. Ponies screamed as they ran, the armored pegasus directing them away. Sora’s blade fell upon Nisled, followed by a barrage of blows from the three that floated around him. The earth pony beside us turned to me, eyes hard even as tears streamed down her face. “Sora needs you,” she said, before summoning a large lion and running off to help coordinate the evacuation. I looked to my three companions and saw their confusion. “Obsidian, Neon, I’ll explain later. In the meantime, Neon, I need you to get on the rooftops and begin sniping.” She nodded and rushed off at light speed. “Obsidian, barriers between Nisled and the fleeing ponies.” Looking at where Obsidian was, I saw a stone pillar instead. “As for you,” I said, turning to Stella, “Try to keep up.” I then sped to the fight at light speed, but because this was my first time in light speed, I overshot and ended up crashing through a window. “Stop playing around and get fighting!” Sora shouted, dodging a punch by vanishing and reappearing a few paces back. “Coco! I need you back here the MOMENT everypony is out of range! Bring the Captain, too.” “Yes sir!” shouted Coco from the other side of a stone wall. I pulled myself back onto my feet and drained the neon from the sign hanging in the ruined window. I then sped to one of the golem’s legs and struck out with a neon covered chain, the neon allowing the chain to slice through it as if it was a light saber. The Golem stumbled a bit and turned its attention on me and was about to hit me, but a few neon bolts from a nearby rooftop knocked its aim off. Not that it would have done any good; I sped up the side of another building and jumped off, aiming a slam on top of the golem’s head. The blow knocked the golem to the ground and I sped to the side just as Sora took advantage of the sudden weakness. “Graviga!” he shouted, and the ground cratered around the golem. Sora flipped into the air above it, switching out the keyblades in his hands even as one of the ones orbiting him took aim. “Firaga! Blizzaga! Thundaga!” The trio of magical blasts struck the golem at once, trapping it in a pillar of ice even as fire and lightning raged within. Sora landed next to me, barely sparing me a glance before glaring back at the golem. “Alright, soldier. How do we handle this guy?” “Tear him apart, let him put himself back together, and then banish him,” I reply. Sora nodded, a malicious grin forming on his face. “Let’s just focus on smashing away that concrete armor then,” he said. “Trust me, Coco’s going to want to do the ‘tearing apart’ bit herself.” He leapt into the air again as the pillar of ice began to crack. Floating above the golem, he summoned a small swarm of keyblades, the cloud about the size of a house. “Let’s see how you handle this!” With a wave of his arm, the swarm descended upon the pillar, shattering it and delivering a barrage of blows to the golem. Neon and I fired neon bolts into the swarm, each shot enhancing a keyblade before it struck. After the attack, I charged up a shot and hit the head dead on, shattering the front and revealing Nisled’s torso. Sora jumped in behind him, a scythe-looking keyblade in one hand while the other held a massive blade wrapped in bandages. He struck out at Nisled’s back, cracking the armor there. Before Nisled could turn to counter, Sora vanished and appeared at his side, striking one of his legs. Several slenderwalks later, Nisled’s armor was cracked and shattered in half a dozen places, a few pieces falling off entirely. “One last blow should do it for the armor,” Sora said, grinning as he saw Coco approaching. “Delsin, finish off the armor and get out of the way. You don’t want to be caught in the middle of this.” “Hit me with lightning,” I shouted out, “I know what I can do!” “Thundaga!” A bolt of lightning descended, striking me. I absorbed the electricity and let the lightning flow into my arms. I raised my arms to the sky and the distinct sound of thunder was heard. I let my arms fall and blue lightning struck Nisled’s armor several times, breaking it into pieces. Nisled fell to the ground and was hit a few times with a few spare bolts. Sora grabbed my shoulder, slenderwalking both of us back several yards. Seeing my glare, Sora just shook his head. “Trust me, you don’t want to be in the splash zone.” Several flashes of light drew my attention back to Nisled and my eyes went wide. A veritable menagerie of animals surrounded him, every one of them snarling and gnashing their teeth at him. Standing before them was Coco, her eyes cold as she stared Nisled down. “Kill.” The hoards descended, ripping, tearing and biting at every inch of Nisled that they could reach. Nisled howled in pain as his limbs were torn to shreds. A lion, a small dog, a scraggly wolf and an elephant grabbed his arms and legs, ripping them out entirely as a swarm of smaller critters tore into his chest. “Down.” All at once, it was over, The bloodstained animals sat back, as docile as kittens. Only Nisled’s head remained recognizable, and even that hadn’t survived unscratched. I moved forward, working to try to keep my breakfast down. I gripped his head and pulled it off of the torso to examine it. “Hi!” The head suddenly said. I yelped and chucked the head on the ground. I then sped to a garbage can and let my breakfast have freedom. “Yeah, that’s what I expected,” said Sora, walking forward and picking up the head himself. “So, you’re the infamous Nisled.” He shook his own head, tossing Nisled’s up and down. “If that’s the best fight you could put up, I honestly don’t see what the big deal is.” “That was only the opening act,” the head said. “Of course it was,” Sora muttered. “Wow, you even talk like a cheesy villain. Hey Delsin!” He turned to look at the upchucking displaced over his shoulder. “You ready to get this yaying buysomeapples out of my world?” “HOLD IT RIGHT THERE, PORCUPINE!” The head interrupted, “Is that a manhole cover you’re standing on?” Sora leapt backwards, hovering in the air as he glared at the head. “I have no idea, but I’ve dealt with Discord many times before. Random changes of topic mean not to humor the likes of you.” “There’s more to it than that. LET ME SHOW YOU SOMETHING!!!” With those words, the manhole cover was blown off of it’s cover by a smoky explosion. From the hole, came out a pony shaped figure. “Firaga.” The figure exploded into flame as Sora casually pointed his blade at it. “Thundaga. Blizagga. Firaga. Once again, dealt with Discord. You summon something, I blast it full force immediately. Thundaga. Blizagga." “Yeesh, you’re lucky that wasn’t anypony important and just simply shared some of their DNA.” Sora shrugged. “Didn’t sense anything but corruption and darkness from it. It was a pretty safe bet.” He looked over to see me walking over now that I’d finally gotten my stomach under control. “So, ready to make with the banishing?” “You got it.” I pulled out a Banishing Key and let it float on it’s own. The head and the key glowed red and a beam from the key hit the head, shooting it out of Sora’s hands and into a nearby void portal. Sora flashed back from Final Form, stretching out his back. “Well, that takes care of that. Now, I just fought a being from another world who killed at least six ponies, one of whom I knew and liked. I need some happiness therapy.” He turned, grinning and running to Stella, scooping her up into his arms. “Stella!” he cried, squeezing her tightly. “Oh, you’re just as cute as ever!” Before Stella could respond to that, a grey blur headbutted Sora in the gut, but a neon blur knocked that off of him and dust was kicked up as a brawl between Obsidian and Neon began. “General!” Sora looked up from where he lay, still holding Stella to his chest, as Thunder Kicker flew towards him. “Stand down,” said Sora, waving him off as he stood. “Everything’s fine. Get some keybladers checking around here. That big guy was putting out enough darkness to attract a titan. There’s bound to be a few large heartless swarms nearby. And get the Chief. This whole area is going to need some serious reconstruction.” “Sir!” The pegasus saluted before dashing off to follow his orders. “Now then,” Sora muttered, stroking a disgruntled Stella’s mane. “One more thing to do.” He turned and walked over to Coco, who stared straight at where Nisled’s head had vanished. Her summons had tried to comfort her, but had vanished soon after the battle had ended. “How you doing, Coco?” Coco sniffed, not even looking at Sora as the tears began once again. “You’re right. Stupid question.” Sora knelt down next to her, smiling softly. “But hey, you know what would make you feel better?” Coco turned to him, only to freeze as she locked eyes with Stella, who Sora held out to her. “Hug the cute alicorn.” “What?” “WHAT!” “Hush, Stella,” said Sora. “Coco’s hurting really bad, and hugging cute ponies helps people feel better. Now Coco, hug the cute alicorn.” “Um…” muttered Coco, blushing slightly as Stella glared at her. “I- I don’t know if I-” “Hug. The. Cute. Alicorn.” Hesitating a moment longer, Coco slowly reached out and wrapped her hooves around Stella. Immediately, she burst into tears, holding Stella close and sobbing into her shoulder. I stepped forward and tapped Sora’s shoulder, getting his attention and motioning for him to step back. He nodded, giving Coco one last smile before standing and stepping away. A stray neon bolt suddenly hit Sora’s leg, causing him to be wrapped up in neon bindings. “Of course,” he muttered, falling over on his face as I turned to the brawl between the two conduits I brought along. I saw that Obsidian had pinned Neon down and the arm that had shot the shot was held behind her back. *HAVE YOU HAD ENOUGH!?* I bellowed in Skullcap, causing Obsidian to suddenly look up at me in embarrassment and Neon in confusion. He released her and stepped back. Neon wasted no time in rapidly spinning around and decking him. “Ah, the wonders of having companions,” Sora said, his voice slightly muffled by the ground. “Could be worse. I had two who kept sneaking off for some lovey-dovey time and repeatedly threw off our schedule. Now, would you mind getting me out of here?” I activated a small gigawatt blade and sliced off the binding. “There you go. Enough fiber for you,” I joked, helping him to his feet. “Hilarious,” he muttered, looking around at the damaged plaza and sighing. “Man, this is going to take a while to fix. Not to mention explaining what that thing was, talking to the families of the ponies he killed… yeah, I’ll be staying in Manehattan longer than I’d thought.” “I might stay for a bit as well,” I said, picking up a piece of debris and examining it, “I may be put to work, but it beats dealing with the paperwork involving a surge of conduit gangs.” “Yeah, that’s the one good thing about the heartless,” admitted Sora. “Keeps organized and major crime away and even discourages minor crimes. Of course, then you have to deal with personified evil trying to devour the hearts of innocents everywhere you go, so, you know, it’s a trade off.” “So, random conversation break off, do you know Flowmotion?” Sora raised an eyebrow. “Well, I find that most motion flows pretty well. It’s really only the young or impaired whose movements are jerky and halted.” I facepalmed. “How far into Kingdom Hearts did you get before being displaced?” “1. 2. Chain of Memories. A bit of 358/2 Days. I forgot almost everything else about my old life before Equestria a long time ago, even before I was petrified.” “Ah, okay. Dream Drop Distance must have either not come out, or you didn’t get a chance to play or watch it before getting displaced.” “More likely the second,” said Sora. “I do remember the title, but very little else.” He looked over at the two conduits who were still rolling around and fighting. “So, what’s their story?” “Obsidian Shard and Neon Streak,” I said, “Obsidian was a former member of the Skullcap gang. My first time being summoned freed him from neuro-tar influence.” “And Neon?” “A gang war between the Skullcaps and the Steel Beaks killed her husband and unborn foal. She wanted blood, but I had to remind her of the accidental circumstances of their deaths to pull her back.” “I see.” He continued to watch the fight for a while before smirking and cupping his hands around his mouth. “Oh will you two just get over it and kiss already?!” The two conduits froze, mid-punch. They stared at Sora with angry, yet blushing faces. They turned back to each other and nodded. Neon suddenly rushed forward, knocking Sora’s legs out from underneath him. When his back hit the pavement, an obsidian pillar shot up right next to his neck, barely a centimeter from it. “Wow,” said Sora, unfazed as he grinned up at me. “Did you see those blushes? There’s no way they haven’t already fallen for each other. How long do you think before you’re having the same problem I had?” “Ehh?” “See? They’re not even denying it!” “All teasing aside, in what way can I help here?” “Depends on what you can do.” Sora and I looked over to see a light blue earth pony walking over. “Red Light. Chief of Police here in Manehattan. Thanks for the help with… whatever that was.” “Let’s just say ‘Bio-Terrorist’ and leave it at that,” I said. “Right,” Red Light said, shaking his head and dropping the subject. “Anyway like I said, it depends on what you can do. I know that Sora here has a few different spells, but they’re all better at destruction than rebuilding. Not to mention he’s a bit of a wimp compared to us ponies.” “HEY!” “Each of my elements have uses,” I began, “Smoke, I can fit through certain debris and get back out again. Light, illumination. Electricity, my kinetic pulse can lift debris. Neon, I can cut through most materials. I don’t even want to mention the last element.” “Probably a good idea,” said Sora. “Even Luna doesn’t advertise that one outside of her own guard.” Red Light raised an eyebrow but once again shrugged it off. “Well, the biggest concern here is checking out the damaged buildings. We need to make sure they’re structurally sound before we can send anypony in. That smoke thing should let you do that safely. Sora, you can… Well, I guess you could...” “You know,” said Sora, his eye twitching a bit, “I think I’ll help out with the heartless patrols.” “Hold up,” I said. I lit up my hand with Harmony magic and formed a Squirrel Noise on his shoulder. “That Noise will help you...support if needed.” “...okay. What’s it do?” “What you tell it,” I answer. I turned to the Chief, “You happen to have some smoke on hand...er...hoof?” “Do I look like a unicorn to you?” “Don’t you use pipes, cigars, or cigarettes?” Red Light raised an eyebrow. “Sure we use pipes. How else are we supposed to transport water? But what does that have to do with smoke?” “NEVERMIND!” I shout as I used a lightning tether to get to the top of a building’s chimney to absorb some smoke. Once that was accomplished, I dropped down in front of Red and said quietly, “Smoking is bad for you, anyway.” “That’s it, boys! Time to wrap up for the day!” “Aww!” I mockingly complained, “And I was just starting to have fun!” “Speak for yourself!” I looked over to see Sora walking over, his clothes torn, his face scratched up, and his glare stuck on the squirrel on his shoulder, Rave peaking up through his shirt collar to glare as well. “This guy was pretty much useless when we ran into the heartless. Not to mention running off and drawing MORE swarms towards us.” I facepalmed. “Did you tell it to?” “My exact words were, ‘help me take out all of these heartless’. I think he heard it as ‘ALL’ of them. In the city. I had to pin him down to stop him after the eighth swarm.” I smoke dashed at Sora, snagged the Noise, and reformed a few feet behind him. I examined the Noise for any ‘Programing glitches’ and found nothing wrong. “I guess you were a bit too vague.” “Not my fault I’m used to dealing with real ponies. Even this guy,” he jerked his thumb at Rave, “is able to interpret orders.” “I guess fashioning Noise out of scratch makes them like computers,” I said, squeezing the Noise until it burst into static, leaving behind a pin. “If I had a soul to work with, that would be a different story.” “Maybe,” said Sora, shrugging. “I wouldn’t have recommended it, though. Soul magic is even more frowned upon here than shadow magic.” “What’s that about soul magic?” Sora turned to see Twilight and the other Bearers walking over. “You do know that that’s the most horrible form of dark magic there is, don’t you?” “Different world, different rules.” Sora stepped aside, gesturing to me. “Allow me to introduce you all. Bearers of the Elements, this is Delsin, the Equestrian Eagle. Del, this is Princess Twilight Sparkle, Elusive, Fluttershy, Rainbow Blitz, Applejack, and Berry Bubble, the former Bearers of the Elements of Harmony.” “Yo!” I greet, looking them up and down with a ray sphere pulse. “Nice to meet you,” Twilight answered. “You must be another of those ‘Displaced’.” “Correct,” I congratulated. “Sweet!” Rainbow flew up to my face, looking me up and down. “So, what can you do? Summon swords? Shoot lasers? Change shape?” “Look down,” I told him. He did so just when a smoke grenade went off, covering the immediate area with smoke. “You just love doing that one, don’t you,” Sora asked as Rainbow shot out, coughing and glaring back at me. “No one really liked those grenades in the game,” I said, reabsorbing the smoke. “Gotta use ‘em when I can.” Sora rolled his eyes, smiling as he looked around. “Well anyway, looks like you were able to get a lot done here. Let’s just find your companions and get you on your way. Where are they, anyway?” I scanned around until I found Stella. Next to her was Coco, talking. I didn’t delve into their minds, but I could tell they were occupied. “Let’s wait on that, Coco seems into a conversation with Stella, and knowing Obsidian, he’ll still be brawling with Neon.” Just then a neon blur sped past, nearly knocking me for a loop. “Or being chased by her.” “Weird,” said Sora, watching them chase each other around. “Usually it’s the stallion that chases the mare. But I’m glad to hear that Stella’s still with Coco.” He sighed and looked down. “Her heart is good, one of the purest I’ve ever seen. But it’s also fragile. Losing her father, especially after her mother fell to darkness a while back…” “Don’t need to go too far with that,” I said, recalling what Dusk Spark showed me. “One a higher note, we still need to spar. I did mention that in the letter you sent, right?” “You were serious about that?” asked Sora, looking up in surprise. “How long has it been for you since we last met?” “It’s been a few months, all filled with paperwork and dealing with a tribalist gang.” Sora smirked, crossing his arms. “And you think that’s enough time for you to catch up with me? Especially since I’ve spent the last year fighting heartless.” “In Second Son, the protagonist was able to beat two conduits with their own elements, and that’s taking into account that he had only minutes of experience while they had roughly seven to eight years experience.” “Yeah, but you’re not that guy,” pointed out Sora. “Just like I’m not actually Sora. It comes down to what you can do and what I can do. And personally, I’m not sure you can improve that much in six months. But if you’re so eager to get your but kicked…” Reaper and Ponderer appeared in his hands in twin flashes of light. “Don’t hold back anything.” I unraveled the chain in my hand, smirking. “Good to hear.” I smoke dashed forward, sneakily placing a smoke grenade in his pocket and wrapping the chain around his leg. I reformed behind him and pulled his legs out from under him. I then drained a nearby neon sign and sped up the side of a building, shouting, “Race you to the park!” The smoke grenade burst, shrouding Sora within a cloud of smoke. A moment later, Sora casually strolled out. “Good start, tripping me and messing with my senses. But you lost the initiative when you failed to attack. Aerora.” A pair of whirlwinds appeared around his feet, lifting him up and flying him off after me as he pointed Ponderer at my back. “And now you’ve lost that initiative to me. Thundara!" Six shots of lightning shot out of the blade, twisting around each other before splitting up and coming at me from every direction. I didn’t bother dodging, letting the lightning hit me and switching my element. As I lost momentum, I turn to Sora letting electricity flow over my arms. “Oopsie on your part,” I said, grabbing him and pumping a few volts into him as we fell. “Not so much,” said Sora, pushing away from me and flipping over. “Didn’t put much force into it. Still, good on you to absorb and counter. I expected you to choose a direction and dive towards it, taking one bolt rather than six. You took back the initiative, countered beautifully, and then let me talk.” Biter swung around from out of nowhere, slamming me the rest of the way to the ground. “Bad move, that last one.” I managed to pull myself out the crater I was put in. “I hope you like math,” I verbally jabbed. I stood up and activated my spell, Reaper Creeper. A pair of Reaper wings appeared on my back and my power boosted a bit. “Zetta Slow!” I then warped behind him and zapped him in his kidneys. Sora grunted, pointing Ponderer at the ground. “Firaga!” A fireball exploded at our feet, blowing us both back in opposite directions. “Nice one,” he muttered as Biter floated over to orbit around him. “Need to work on your taunts, though.” “Invectorial!” I warped just behind him and fired off a few scatter shot lightning bolts. “Sine.” I warped to his left, and jabbed his neck. “Cosine!” I warped to his right and forcefully elbowed his ribcage. “TANGENT!” I warped behind him and pumped a few volts of electricity into his spine. Sora quickly stabbed his blades into the ground, letting the electricity flow through them and out of his system. He swung them both up, flinging dust and dirt into my eyes. I stumbled back, reaching up to clear my vision, only to feel a blade striking me in the back. A series of blows struck me from all sides before a loud whooshing of air told me that Sora had jumped back. “Blizzaga!” I back flipped away from the spell, summoning energy for another spell. “Smoke and Mirrors!” Instantly, my clothing went neutral and four smoke clones appeared. Four of us ran off to switch elements. #1 found a bright street light and drained it. #2 drained a nearby neon sign. #3 obtained smoke from the earlier fire blast. #4 just simply manipulated a few shadows, draining the absence of light from them. “Having fun?” All five of us said, echoing each other. Sora glared at #4 for a moment before shaking his head. “Definitely shadowmancy,” he said, smiling at the clones. “I will admit, I wasn’t expecting this. Clones though? Really? I deal with swarms of heartless all the time, many of whom use completely different attacks and elements. Aeroga. Reflera.” A whirlwind whipped up around Sora as a shimmering in the air surrounded him. Rave spread out, covering Sora’s whole body except his face, twin bucklers appearing on his arms. “I’ve had a long time to work on my defence.” He rushed forward, all three of his blades swinging for my head, chest and legs. ’s 1-3, and 5 were dispelled from the wind attack and as my clothing reverted to Hero rank, Sora’s melee attack struck, sending me tumbling a ways away. I looked at him but then noticed something just behind him, my eyes opening in fear. Sora looked over his shoulder, raising an eyebrow. “Cyborg Twilight. That’s new.” “THAT IS NOT MY NAME!!!” Dusk screeched, charging forward, just barely touching his cheek before he leapt away. Dusk landed just in front of me as I saw his somewhat shocked face. Sora sighed, closing his eyes and shaking his head. “That’s a pretty horrific past,” he said, opening his eyes to reveal twin orbs of light. “And yet, a heart that mostly strives for light. Impressive. Many ponies would have given into darkness long ago. Then again,” he blinked the heart-sight away, smiling at her. “Twilight never was an ordinary pony.” “If you’re referring to me, let it be known that Twilight Sparkle died that day,” she sneered, “My name...is DUSK SPARK!!!” She fired off a shockwave, knocking Sora backwards into a wall. She teleported directly onto him, her cybernetic claw latched onto his face and electricity flowing into her. Not thinking, but reacting, I fired off a dark plasma bolt that struck her on the side of the head. I then ran over to her stunned body and restrained her with dark thorns. Sora sluggishly raised Ponderer. “Cura.” Green lighting coursed from the keyblade tip into his body. “So that’s what blue tastes like.” “It’s not so bad. I’ve been struck by lightning nearly…” I silently tried to count, “I forget how many times, but I can barely feel it. The only thing I can compare it to is drinking a cool glass of water.” “Guess lightning magic is different from actual lightning then,” said Sora, pulling himself to his feet. “Lightning from heartless and training with keybladers never tasted like anything but ash.” He walked over to Dusk, kneeling down next to her. “Sorry if that name’s a trigger for you. That second time I was referring entirely to your past. It takes a lot more than the death of your closest friends to change your heart.” His face darkened as he glanced up at me. “Trust me. I would know.” “I can somewhat relate,” I said, “The best friend I had among the Akomish had to die, mostly because she couldn’t wait the full time I was trapped.” Sora shared a glance with Dusk before looking back up at me, his face deadpan. “Watching your friends being torn apart and killed right before your eyes vs the inevitable passage of time which you can brace for. Yeah, you can definitely relate.” “I was trying for optimism and evidently, I failed spectacularly,” I snapped. “She went MIA a year after I was trapped, so I don’t really know how she died!” Sora stood up and put a hand on my shoulder. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” He shrugged. “Still doesn’t really compare, though. ‘A’ for effort. Why’d she attack me, anyway?” “Do you really think I want ‘Her Royal Cake Flank’ breathing down my neck if you killed her fiance?” Dusk snapped. Sora let out a chuckle. “I think Sun-butt would forgive me for roughing him up a bit in a sparring match.” ‘Depends on which Sun-butt you’re referring to,' Screwball telepathically said. Sora scowled, projecting an image of Granny Smith shriveled up in the bathtub. Suddenly, Sora’s clothing suddenly was transformed into the clothing of Neku Sakuraba, hairdo and all. Sora looked himself over before shrugging. “Lame comeback. Probably a reference that I don’t get. Just stay out of my head, whoever you are. Only my Luna is allowed in there." “Yeesh,” Screwball said, poofing into existence, upside down behind Sora’s head. “No need to scar a child in an adult’s body over it." Sora looked over his shoulder and sighed. “Another chaos user. Great.” He looked back at me. “I assume that this one is on your side?” “Despite being the ‘Princess of Chaos’, she was never on Discord’s side to begin with,” I said. “Thinking back on it, if she met Dusk’s Discord, she’d hang with him.” “Good to know,” said Sora. “Now, no offence, but I suggest you get out of here soon. If my Discord senses you here, he’ll show up immediately. I’d rather not deal with that headache.” “Too late!” Sora whipped around, pointing Ponderer, Reaper and Biter at the draconequus who floated to his right. He inhaled slowly before lowering his blades. “Next time you sneak up on me like that, I’ll let my reflexes carry me through.” “PTSD is the worst,” I mumbled. “It’s not as bad as that,” Sora muttered, letting his keyblades vanish as Rave returned to his arm. “Just that I’m so used to striking out when I hear his voice that I have to actually restrain myself, ‘reformation’ or no.” “I guess ‘His Royal Pink Frills’ didn't take you into account when he cooked up that idea.” “Considering I’d threatened to smack him upside the head if he even considered it…” muttered Sora. “Male or female, the Solar Diarch can be a pain in the neck,” Dusk agreed. “On that, we can all agree.” Sora sighed, waving Discord off. “Go on, then. Have your fun with… whoever this is. I’m sure you’ll have a blast tormenting the sanity of innocent ponies while Delsin and I finish up here.” Just as Discord was about to float off, I looked at him with a ray sphere pulse and noticed something. “Hold up!” I felt talon and claw grab me from behind and lift me into the air. “Like this?” asked Discord, his face now that of a baboon. “Oh I do wish that summoner and her lion were here to see this!” “First off, no. Please put me down, gently.” Discord grinned, summoning a syringe with a human skull and crossbones on it. I grabbed his goatee and roughly pulled his eyes to mine, “Without deathly results.” Discord just laughed, dropping me to the ground where I landed painfully, despite the fall itself feeling slow and gentle. “Oh you humans are so much fun to mess with! Ponies get scared and start panicking, but you lot get angry at the drop of a hat!” The syringe turned into a top hat, which he dropped onto my head. “Now, what was it you wanted to say?” “Did you eat a blast core?” “Oh, that,” said Discord, summoning an X-ray machine and placing it over his body. Among the various pieces of assorted paraphernalia I saw it, the blast core resting between a tuba and a rabid chihuahua. “I must say, that was quite the delicious snack! Not as good as Star-butt’s ‘reforming’ spell, but a decent taste none the less.” I looked at him weirdly, “Okay, interesting thought.” I then reached up and grabbed his goatee again and pulled him down to head level. “Also, I hope you don't mind.” “You pulling on my beautiful beard?” asked Discord dryly. “I actually do.” “Not that,” I said. I forcefully opened his mouth, “I was talking about this.” I then plunged my arm down his throat and began rummaging through whatever was there. Discord rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers. Manehattan was replaced with a desert at night, a giant version of Discord’s head made out of sand rising up from the ground. “Who disturbs my slumber!” he roared. Sora facepalmed. “He just has to choose references that I actually get, doesn’t he?” “Discount Robin Williams,” I agree, “Here goes nothing!” I then dove head first into the Cave of Chaos. Sora’s POV Discord stretched as Manehattan returned. “Well, I suppose we’ll just focus on what’s going on out here then. Goodness knows these authors aren’t nearly competent enough to describe what Delsin’s going through right now.” Suddenly, voices were heard from inside him. “Oh! Hey, Mom. What are you doing here?” “What am I doing here? What are you doing here? You never visit, you never call. Have you found a girl yet? I mean, Come on! You look skinny.” Discord patted his stomach, grinning smugly. “And that’s just the beginning.” I sighed, shaking my head and turning to the now free Dusk. “So, what’s Delsin been up to since last I saw him? And how do you figure into all of it?” “He was tied up with trying to deal with some extremist gang known as the Descendants.” “And you helped him out?” “More like keep him sane,” she sighed, “I'm serious when I say this, he's tried too many times to make his job interesting with questionable results.” “Everypony remain calm!” A voice shouted from inside Discord, “I am a Fire Marshal!...By the way, what's this do?” “NO!!!” An explosion was heard and Discord belched smoke. “...yeah,” said Sora awkwardly. “If you’re trying to keep him sane, letting him dive straight into a Chaos god’s mouth probably wasn’t the best idea.” “Hey! Who turned out the lights?” Discord looked down at his stomach, eyes wide. “Well, didn’t know I had that in there. Hey, Delsin! If you see any angel statues, don’t blink!” “YAAAHHH!” “Reeeeeeally not the best idea,” muttered Sora. “Discord?” Discord, Dusk, the chaos pony and I turned to see Twilight and the others running towards us. “What are you doing here?” asked Twilight suspiciously. “And where’s Delsin?” “Ah! Monkey Witch!” They stared in shock at Discord’s stomach as he rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. “Yes, well, he did insist on getting that little trinket out of my stomach.” Seeing Fluttershy’s disapproving glare, he rolled his eyes. “Oh, fine.” He snapped his fingers and Delsin appeared before us, dripping wet with… something I didn’t want to contemplate. A plunger was clutched tightly in one hand and the other was gloved in a spiked gauntlet. His hair was now bright pink and his skin a pale purple. “There, see? He’s fine!” Delsin suddenly rushed forward and kicked Discord in the gut, causing him to cough up a glowing crystal. He then stuck the plunger on the back of his head, punched his left eye with the gauntlet, then pulled out a spiny sea urchin out of his hair and slammed over his right. Disord leaned back, the urchin and gauntlet still covering his eyes. “Well, that was rude.” I walked over and made to put a hand on Delsin’s shoulder, stopping when I remembered that he was soaked in unmentionable fluid. “Look on the bright side. You made it out with most of your sanity intact.” “Wait until a trigger happy Dupe shows up with a minigun,” he said, eye twitching, “You'll be lucky to make it out without looking like Swiss cheese.” I laughed and shook my head, thinking back to a few of the more trigger happy heartless I’d had to fight. “I can imagine. How about we get you home before goat-face here can cause anymore trouble.” “I resemble that remark!” Discord bleated. Delsin growled something at Discord, before turning to me. “Can I get cleaned up first?” I smirked, stepping back and summoning Wishing Star before aiming above Delsin’s head. “Blizzara. Fira.” A ball of ice appeared above Delsin before being surrounded by a ring of fire. Ice cold rain poured down, washing the mysterious substance away. “Better?” I asked. “Much, thanks,” he said, “And don't worry too much about Obsidian, Neon, and Stella. Dusk can take ‘em home when they're done.” I nodded, putting up Wishing Star and clasping Delsin on the shoulder. “I guess our contract is complete, then. Send me a message the day before the wedding so Sol, Luna and I can be ready to attend.” “Gotcha,” He said, turning towards the Void portal that opened up. He entered it, but a loud ding was heard and he came rocketing back out, hitting me and sending us into a lamp post. “Lamp post,” I muttered. “Much more forgiving than a wall. Bends when you hit it and everything.” “Is there an angry solar alicorn coming towards us?” I looked up, seeing an alabaster alicorn approaching. “There is indeed. Hello again, Princess Sun-butt. Your half-sister should be over there talking with a friend of mine,” I said, pointing towards the plaza. “Thank you, Sora. I'll trust Dusk with getting her home,” she then turned her attention to a dazed Delsin, “As for this one, he now owes me a cuddle session.” She then grabbed his pant leg and dragged him unceremoniously through the portal. I shook my head as the portal closed. “Poor guy. Alicorn strength snuggles are nothing to be sniffed at. Hey, chaos pony! You think you can help me round up the others so Dusk can get them home? I think Coco should be alright for now.” “My name’s Screwball. Got it memorized?” She then gave a loud whistle, after which, a bolt of neon struck Discord’s leg, wrapping him up in neon bindings and a rock missile missed his head by millimeters. Obsidian, Neon, and Stella were suddenly present. “Why is it that everyone attacks me on sight these days?” Discord pondered aloud, sticking one end of the bindings into his mouth and slurping them up. “Really, is it that hard to believe that I’m reformed?” “I was aiming at him/her!” The two earth ponies shouted, pointing at each other. “Ah, young love.” I shook my head, turning to the assembled ponies. “Well, it looks like everything’s just about wrapped up here. Thanks for the help, even if it’s technically Delsin’s fault that there was a problem in the first place.” “In his defense, he didn't know,” Dusk said, opening another void portal. “Oh I don’t really blame him,” I said, shrugging. “He’s not the first to bring a villain to my world. Third, now that I think of it. Farewell, everypony. May you always walk in the path of light.” “Whatever,” she responded, leading the ponies through the portal. Screwball paused before entering. She dug through her beanie hat and pulled out a red and blue egg. “Karmic Eagle egg,” she said, tossing it to me. “Read the beginning chapters of the FanFiction to get a good idea of what it is.” She then dove through the portal. Without even looking away from the closing portal, I held out my empty hand to Discord. Sure enough, he placed a manuscript into my hand titled “inFAMOUS Displaced”. “Well,” I muttered, making sure the Bearers couldn’t hear me. “That confirms that theory.” Author's Note Find the various references and post them in the comments.
Chapter 20: The Spider and the Conduit This chapter was written with the assistance of DarkSpider. A Crossover with his story, Spider in Equestria. inFAMOUS Displaced Chapter 20 The Spider and the Conduit Ever had the feeling that something wasn’t right? I had that feeling after leaving the Manehatten pavement and exiting the portal. However, instead of seeing the elegantly crafted ceiling of Celestia’s bedchamber, I saw a much simpler ceiling. Also, Tia’s grip on my leg loosened. I didn’t really need to scan her to know there was something wrong. Somepony else helped in that. “Um, pardon me, but who are you and what in heaven’s name are you wearing?” Asked a posh, feminine voice. “What kind of question is that?” I asked the pony, just barely starting to struggle to my feet. “It’s...what in all of Heaven’s Hellfire is going on?!” I could only stare as I now saw an anthropomorphic Rarity. Rarity’s eyes widened when she saw my face. “Y-you're a human?” “More like a Conduit, but yeah,” I replied as calmly as I could. Tia was anything but calm. “Rarity! What has happened? Did Discord escape and do this to you? And why are you so calm about it?!” Rarity looked at Celestia with complete shock. “P-princess? Why are you like...that?” “I’m asking the same about you!” Tia exclaimed, “If this is Discord’s doing, the very pits of Tartarus won’t hide him from my rage!” “Hey, calm down! Both of you!” I shouted out. “First off, why are you like...that?” I gestured at her humanoid body. Before she could reply, another female voice came from the door. “Hey Rarity, who're you talking…” She stopped. I saw a hooded figure, female if the voice is to be trusted. She was roughly three feet tall and by her feet (hooves?) was what looked like a small yellow fox. “This day has just gotten more awkward,” I said, pinching the bridge of my nose. The figure pointed at me. “Displaced?” “THANK THE HEAVENS!” I shouted out, “Are you another Displaced or know the Displaced of this Equestria?” She sighed. “I'm one of the Displaced. Wait here, I'll be right back.” With that she left, the fox following her. “Cheery,” I mumbled. “So, Discord didn’t do...whatever he did to Rarity?” Tia asked me. “More than likely.” (Dark’s POV) I was just watching Rainbow practice a few moves with Mike still at his usual place on my shoulder, when Cece ran to me. “Tito, come on, you gotta see this.” “What happened Cece?” I asked as Rainbow landed. “A Displaced and their version of Celestia showed up in Carousel Boutique.” Rainbow and I widened our eyes before I webbed my bag to me and ran to the boutique, Rainbow and Cece close behind. When we got there, I saw a pony version of Celestia and a very familiar looking human with Rarity. “Don’t touch the chain!” The human told Rarity. “Delsin Rowe?” I asked. He turned to the door as something shadowy seemed to flow out his outstretched arm, seeming to aim at me. His face had the look of fear, before it turned to annoyance. He lowered his arm and said, “Can you get her to stop criticizing my chain’s function?!” I chuckled. “You don't know Rarity if you think that could happen.” “You know this guy?” Cece asked me. “I know who he turned into.” “Can we please get back on...HEY!!!” He shouted out, trying to get his chain back from Rarity’s telekinetic grip. “Rarity, stop that right now. You do NOT want to mess with a Conduit.” “A what?” Cece said. “Not now.” “Thank you,” the Conduit said, thankfully. “Now does anyone or anypony care to explain how I got intercepted between a friend's Equestria and my Equestria?” “What are you talking about?” Rainbow asked. “I was helping another Displaced fight my doppelganger,” he began to explain. “After all was said and done, I go through the portal home, but I get decked back through.” He glared at Celestia. “She then drags me through the same portal, and now, here we are.” I shrugged. “Something must've happened that sent you here then.” “And I think, I just found it,” Celestia announced, gently pulling a blue and red feather off of a nearby hat. She turned to Rarity with a questioning gaze. “Did you happen to use this on that hat before we arrived?” She nodded. “Yes. Why?” She asked before grabbing the feather. “That, Curly Que, is my token,” Delsin said. “So Rarity accidentally summoned you?” Cece asked. “Well that's better than when Tito was accidentally summoned a few days ago. We headed up in the middle of a bunch of angry Beedrill.” “Oh, that's why your...pets or companions looked familiar,” he said with a snap of his fingers. “They're Pokémon, but I couldn’t tell because all I've seen were drawings and not living flesh and bone.” I nodded. “Yeah. Got them right before we came back here. Now, before I forget, we should introduce ourselves.” I walked up to Delsin and held out my hand. “My name is Tito, but most call me Dark, and this is my partner, Michael.” He didn’t take my hand at first, but after my spider sense tingled a bit, he took it. “Delsin Rowe, Equestrian Eagle.” “Nice name. I just go by DarkSpider, but that's a given. Anyway, the pink hedgehog over there is my sister Cece and her Fennekin, Emily.” “Hedgehog?” “Oh right, guess you wouldn't know exactly.” Cece and I then took off our hoods and I lowered my scarf, revealing our faces. “There we go.” My spider sense tingled again as he nodded his head and shook Cece’s hand. “That explains a few things.” “What do you mean?” She asked. “Your voice and height,” he stated. Her eye twitched. “My what?” Delsin looked at me, confused. “Did I say something wrong?” “Ever since she turned into Amy Rose, she hates whenever people mention her height.” “Oh. Sorry. I can somewhat relate to that,” he said. “Um, Dark?” Rarity asked. “I have a small question. Why is Celestia like that?” “Oh, right. Long story short, this dimension is one where everyone is anthropomorphic. While hers is obviously one where everyone is the same as how you are in the show.” I then pulled out my phone and put up the picture I showed Cece back when we found each other and gave it to Rarity. “See?” Rarity looked the picture in shock. “So that's what we look like where you're from?” “Pretty much.” I then put my phone away. “Then I guess we have a problem,” Delsin added. “What's that?” He pointed his thumb at Celestia. “That means Tia here will stick out like a sore thumb.” “Oh…..right…. Well, I could get Twilight and she can teleport you two to the castle.” I then remembered something. “Hey, you know when in the timeline you are in your Equestria?” “I honestly haven't paid much attention to that,” he said, lowering his head in regret, “I had my hands full dealing with the Skullcaps and Descendants.” “What?” Cece asked. “Two major gangs that ‘rule’ Manehatten and Canterlot, respectively.” “More gangs? Ha, they're nothing.” “Not unless they've got Conduits in their ranks.” “Still don't know what that is.” Delsin sighed. “An individual that has a special gene that allows them complete control over a specific element or something like that,” Delsin explained, “The Skullcaps have rock conduits…” “Rock Conduits?” I asked. “Like Augustine?” “Finally,” Delsin abruptly spoke, “Someone who knows the game...but Augustine is concrete.” “Same difference. Anyway, I'll get Twilight. You two, stay here,” I told Delsin and Celestia before putting on my cover and running out the door. (Delsin’s POV) After Tito left, I was left with four females to one male...the one male being me. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Tia smirking and lightly pointing her horn in my direction. Rarity saw her movements and subtly smirked as well. “Help,” I whispered before Dark Rolling away from Rarity’s lunge for my vest. Before Rarity could try again, Rainbow grabbed her by the collar of her shirt. “Rarity, you heard Dark. You shouldn't mess with him.” “But that doesn't mean I can't,” Celestia said, telekinetically hoisting me into the air by my ankles and prying my vest off of me. “No fair,” I said, as she tossed it to Rarity. When Rarity caught it, the Blast Core in the pocket fell out. “What's this?” Rarity said before picking it up with her magic. “That's called a Blast core.” “Why was that in your pocket?” Rainbow asked, letting go of Rarity’s collar. “I managed to find one before coming here,” I said, rubbing my temples, “It wasn’t easy to get, let me tell you.” Rarity just shrugged before putting it back in the pocket. I looked back to Tia, “Could you please put me down?” She did so...ever so roughly, head first. “Ow.” “Um, if you don't mind me asking, can you two tell me a bit about yourselves?” Rarity asked. “Well, you pretty much know Tia, even if she isn't anatomically the same,” I said, “As for me, I'm engaged, I have five powers…” “Oh, you're engaged? How lovely. To whom?” In response to the question, I placed my arm around Tia’s neck. They all widen their eyes at that. “Wait, you're engaged to Celestia?” Rainbow asked. “Being trapped in stone with telepathy while Luna and Stella were on the moon has interesting results.” They all stayed silent for a moment until Cece started laughing like crazy. “HAHAHA! HAHA!” “Did I say something funny, Pinks?” I asked her, raising my eyebrow. After about a minute, she calmed down. “First of all, don't call me that. Second, I was just imagining Twilight’s reaction when she hears about this.” Tia began giggling, “If this world's Twilight is like our world's Twilight, we can expect her to break for a while.” “Well she completely broke when another Displaced told her that some Displaced had a version of her as one of his “mates”.” I stifled a laugh. “That would be priceless to see.” “I didn't see it properly since Tito had me wrapped up in his webs and holding me over his shoulder like Santa’s bag.” “I'm not even going to ask.” “Why did he do that exactly?” Rainbow asked her. Before Cece could reply, something flew right at her and her face had a web on it. “That's not important,” Tito said, walking in with Twilight, the web suddenly vanishing from Cece's face. When Twilight saw me and Celestia, she did a double take. “Princess?” “Twilight?” Twilight place a hand on her forehead. “I'm going to get a headache one of these days with all this dimensional activity.” “Just don't electrocute yourself.” Everyone gave me a weird look. It then dawned on me. “Oh sorry, reference to my Twilight. She’s an electric conduit, so her normal relaxing bath is anything but relaxing.” “So she's like Cole?” Tito asked. “I'm sorry, but what are you two talking about?” Twilight asked. “And your version is an electric what?” “We're talking about a game series and my version of you can control electricity without magical aid,” I answered. Her eyes widened. “I can do WHAT?” ‘Wow,’ I said telepathically to Cece, ‘Forget the engagement news, this is better.’ Cece looked around in confusion. “What was that?” She whispered. Tito put a hand on her shoulder. “I'll tell you later Twi. Luckily I know some things on that series. Now, can you send them to the castle? I'll walk there in a bit. We need to talk,” he finished, looking at his sister, who just shrugged. Twilight nodded. “Of course.” She then turned to Rainbow and Rarity. “Are any of you coming?” Rainbow shrugged. “Sure. Could be fun.” Rarity shook her head. “Sorry, but I have to finish a few orders, and this distracted me quite a bit. I'll see if I can come over later though.” “At least let me have my Blast core back,” I said, grabbing my vest and pulling out the crystal, “You can look this over if you wish.” She sighed. “Fine. Though you should talk to the me from your world so she can make you a proper outfit.” She said, grabbing the vest with her magic. “Okay, ready.” Twilight nodded before she closed her eyes and her horn and hands started glowing and in a flash of light, the four of us were teleported into a crystal room with a round table and several thrones around it. Not that I was paying attention, since the teleport caused me to fall to my knees and vomit the remaining neuro-tar out of my system onto the floor. “Are you okay?” Twilight asked. “I'm okay,” I said, spitting the last globs of tar out of my mouth. “Just don't let that stuff make skin contact.” “Okay…” She used her magic to pull out a mop and clean it up. “Anyway, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Twilight Sparkle.” She said, sticking her hand out. I checked her with a ray sphere pulse and then shook her hand, finding her DNA clean. “Delsin Rowe, Equestrian Eagle.” She shivered slightly. “What was that?” “Oh, I think you felt my Ray Sphere pulse,” I said. “Your what?” “It's an ability I picked up from another conduit. It allows me to ‘read’ the DNA of an individual to check for the Conduit gene.” Twilight's horn started glowing. “Exactly why would you need to do that?” “To keep myself from accidentally absorbing another conduit’s power,” I said. “What do you mean?” “So, most conduits can control only one type of element or thing. Like paper, wire, neon, smoke, etc.” I said, “ I'm an an exception, because my power is power absorption. I have multiple powers from that, but I can control only one at a time.” “That's so cool,” Rainbow said. “The main downside is that when I absorb a power, I read the mind of the conduit I'm getting the power from...and not on purpose,” I snapped, “The images I saw when I got electricity will probably scar me for life.” Celestia shuddered, “I can agree with that.” “What powers do you have?” Rainbow asked. “Smoke, neon, electricity, light, and darkness.” “Sweet.” “Can you get more?” Twilight asked. “Yes I can, by shaking hands or hooves with someone who has the gene...and said gene needs to be active,” I explained, “If the gene isn't active or the power the conduit has is artificially placed, nothing will happen.” “Interesting…” She said, the sound of a quill on paper could be heard. “What do you mean if it isn't active?” “Are you familiar enough with genetics to know the difference between dominant and recessive traits?” Twilight nodded. “Now when the gene isn’t active, the individual is just like anyone, the gene is recessive. When enough stress or Ray Sphere Radiation is present, the gene activates and the individual becomes stronger, heals faster, and can control an element or thing of some kind, the gene becomes dominant.” More writing could be heard. Before anyone could say anything else, Tito walked in with his hood off and his scarf on his neck, Mike still on his shoulder. “So, what I miss?” He asked. “Talking about my ray sphere pulse.” “Your what?” “It’s a sense that allows me to see if someone has the conduit gene,” I explain, “I used it before I shook yours and your sister’s hands.” “Oh, is THAT what my spider-sense picked up earlier? Huh. Weird. I'm used to warnings and beacons, but what you did was...different.” “It could be like feedback or whatever happens with microphones and speakers.” He shrugged. “Probably. So, what powers you got?” Twilight grabbed a piece of paper and said, “According to him, smoke, neon, electricity, light, and darkness. That's all.” He whistled. “Light and dark? Sweet. Too bad you don't have video though. That was the coolest in my opinion.” “Of course those are my only powers in relation to the conduit gene. I have telepathy and some magic, but it’s not the strongest and can only ‘boost’ my powers in certain areas.” “Telepathy and magic? Huh. Surprising.” “Yeah, well, I do occasionally have visions of the future, but I don’t control them. I predicted Nightmare Moon’s return and cleansing in my world.” Tito chuckled. “Dude, I know a few things myself long before I came here. Then again, I saw the show.” “The show,” I said neutrally. “I recall some bits and pieces, but a thousand years can affect a person’s memories. And I’m serious about those visions. They saved the lives of a few Displaced from my doppelganger.” “Not saying you're lying, just saying your example is something hundreds of Displaced know about by the time they get sent to Equestria. Also, what do you mean doppelgänger? You have an evil double or something?” “Yeah, alternate Equestria where he...I...become infamous rather than heroic. Luckily, his Discord and Starlight Glimmer permanently stopped his ability to get more powers.” “Huh.” He stayed silent for a few seconds before he did a double take. “Wait, Displaced can meet alternate versions of THEMSELVES?” “Actually, for me, when it comes to my doppelganger, after he lost his power absorption, he swore to spread chaos throughout the Multiverse.” “That doesn't answer my question.” “I’m not really sure. If anything, the thing that caused me to be able to meet him, was a visit from his Twilight, another electric conduit who is obsessed with eliminating him. From there, he had the ability to enter the Equestrias I’ve been to or summoned someone from.” “Okay then. I hope I don't have to deal with something like that. Meeting an evil version of myself would give me an actual reason to use my gun, and I don't exactly want that.” “Well, considering what I said, I may be staying here until Nisled is taken care of.” “Nisled?” “He’s my karmic opposite,” I deadpanned, “I decided to nickname him with my name spelled backwards.” “Oh, I get it.” He then muttered something under his breath that I couldn't hear. When he was finished, he looked at me. “Anyway, Cece told me you were engaged. Care to tell me who you're marrying?” I looked to Tia and then back to him, “A thousand years in stone with telepathy for me and a long time without her sister brought us together and I proposed.” Twilight eyes widened and her mouth dropped. When Tito looked at her, he fell to the floor laughing along with Rainbow. Tia tried to hold back her laughter, but ultimately failed. I just smiled. After a few moments, Tito calmed down, took out a phone from his pocket and took a picture of Twilight’s face before taking a deep breath. “You know, now I wish I took a picture of her when Seb told her about that other version of her being a Displaced’s mate,” he said. “Okay, time to snap her out of it. Mike?” The frog nodded before shooting a bunch of bubbles from his mouth at Twilight, splashing her with water. She shook her head and look at Tito. “Was that necessary?” He shrugged in response. “It was either that or slap you. I figured this was better.” She sighed before looking at me. “So you two are really engaged?” I nodded. “She nearly broke my arm when I proposed, but yeah.” Twilight put a hand on her forehead again. “Well, congratulations, but I think I'm going to need a long sleep after today.” “Yeah, somethings will need to be sorted out in sleep,” I said, before speaking to Tito. “By the way, you, Cece and two others of your choice are invited.” I pulled out an invite and gave it to him. Tito widened his eyes before grabbing the invite and looking at it. “Seriously? You're inviting me, a guy you just met, to your wedding?” “Well, of the few Displaced I’ve met, they’ve been good guys,” I said, “I can safely say that you and your sister are okay to come.” Tito stood silent for a moment before shrugging and pocketing the invite. “Okay. Just call me up whenever it happens. Oh, that reminds me.” He reach into his pocket and pulled a silver spider emblem with DS in the center and tossed it to me. “That's my token. Just toss it to call me.” I caught the token and I heard his voice in my head. ‘My name is Dark. I'm a web-swinger with a blade and a lot of heart. If you need a companion to talk to, or an ally to help fight your enemies, just toss this medallion in the air and I'll be there. I'm always willing to meet new people. But know this, I will not allow anyone to harm innocents.' “Catchy,” I said. “I especially like the part about harm to innocents. I don’t like innocents being harmed and I’m lucky that my powers can heal people.” “Well I wanted others to know where I stand. Luckily, I haven't met anyone who hurts innocents. Well, except for a few ponies in Manehatten, but they're a joke. Anyway, I have a few questions for you.” “Go ahead and shoot,” I said, “Just, not with the gun.” “Don't worry about that. I only used it for shooting on Hearth’s Warming Eve.” Twilight and Rainbow then looked at him, confused. “Why would you do that?” Twilight asked. Tito immediately looked nervous and said, “Anyway, just a few questions, such how you met your version of the Mane 6?” “My...statue or whatever was part of a mechanism that hid the dormant elements,” I explained. “I had them insert a blast core into a hole in the statue pedestal to activate the mechanism. That also served as the catalyst for me to break out of stone. I then summoned someone who was Displaced as Sora and we gave Nightmare Moon one heck of a beating.” “However, just before the Elements fired off, I was able to enter her mind and I found two personalities fighting for dominance. I separated them just as the Magic hit and it created another sister for Tia. She was called Stella.” “Huh. Wait, Sora? Can you be a little more specific?” “Three thousand year old guy who looks 16, dressed as Sora from Kingdom Hearts 2, mean temper, can beat the crap out of me easily.” Tito stayed silent, reaching into his bag and pulling out a pen and notebook and writing something down. “Anyway, the Elements also activated their conduit genes. Twilight got electricity, Rainbow had a much better control over clouds or weather, Rarity got gems or crystals, Fluttershy had plants, Applejack had wood, and Pinkie...let’s just say, she’s now a living party cannon.” “Huh. That's actually kinda cool. Though, I can only imagine how painful it'd be for me if my version of Rainbow here had the same powers as yours,” Tito said as he put the notebook back in his backpack. I looked over Rainbow with my ray sphere pulse. “She does have the gene, but it’s currently dormant. And I don’t recommend activating it as of yet.” “Wait, you're saying I'm one of those conduits?” Rainbow asked. “Yes and no,” I answered, “Yes as in yes you have the conduit gene, but no, it’s not active, therefore, you’re still normal...as normal a pegasus can be when she’s friends with a princess.” “But does that mean it can become active in the future?” Tito asked. “Yes. Just hopefully, not like Cole.” “Um...I only saw videos of Second Son. Exactly how DID Cole discover his abilities?” “Ray Sphere detonation. It was given to him by his future self and it destroyed roughly four to five city blocks of Empire City. He was right in the center of the blast...and he survived.” “Oh...well I doubt that would happen because one, nopony has any idea what that Ray Sphere stuff is, and two, the only ponies that had a time travel spell lost it. Though, should we be worried if it DOES go active? “When the gene becomes active, there may be a few close calls and accidents,” I stated, “When Cole woke up after his powers woke, he couldn't be around electrical devices, cars and firearms would explode, and he couldn't be in water. Another thing to consider is emotions. If a regular pony lost their temper, the worst that could happen would be minor injuries. If a conduit lost their temper, casualties can number in the double digits.” Twilight and Rainbow widened their eyes at that while Tito just nods. “Um, Delsin? Can I ask you something in private?” He said. I nodded and followed him out of the throne room, Mike jumping onto Rainbow’s shoulder. He closed the door and turned to me. “Sorry. Just don't exactly want Rainbow to hear about this and get any ideas.” “If this is about the conduit temper thing, I have to say this: Karma's a @#$@@.” “It's not that. I think Rainbow can control her temper. Mostly. Though, you remember when I said it'd be painful for me if she was a Conduit? I was talking about when we first met. Long story short, we did NOT get along.” “So, you're asking if her gene becomes active, how much pain will you be in if she kicks your butt?” “No. Thanks to Sebaste, the first Displaced I met and the guy my gun used to belong to, we became pretty good friends.” ‘I'll say,’ I thought. “Anyway, main point?” “I just want to know exactly what can activate the Conduit gene.” “A particular type of stress and/or pain. Familiar with First Light? DLC to Second Son? Details of Fetch?” “It's been a little while since I seen anything about Second Son, and I didn't even see past the part where you get the video powers. As for Fetch, wasn't she the girl who you get the neon power from who hates drug dealers?” “Yeah, she is, but about stress, when Eugene got his powers, he was subject to bullying and it triggered the gene. As for Fetch, when she was under emotional turmoil, her powers got stronger.” “Emotional turmoil? If I remember correctly, her parents found out she was a Conduit, turned her to the DUPPs, she and her brother ran away, and then the whole drug thing. Did she discover her powers before or after that?” “She had her powers before the drug thing. Brief spoiler, near the beginning of First Light, as she was talking to Augustine about before she was captured, Fetch mentioned that when her brother was kidnapped, her stressed emotions triggered new abilities with her neon power.” He nodded. “Okay then. Hopefully it won't be too bad for Rainbow when it becomes active.” “Don't worry too much about her,” I teased, “If your marefriend is anything like the Rainbow I know, she'll be fine.” He did a double take at that. “My WHAT?!” I smirked. “I may not look it, but I've been around for a bit more than a thousand years. You learn a few tricks. As for what I said, about Rainbow being your marefriend, think about it. For one, my telepathy picked up quite a bit of concern primarily for her. Second, your voice carried that same concern.” Tito just pinched the bridge of his nose and muttered, “I thought I was done with this nonsense when I left Ashur and Aurora’s dimension.” He then took his hand away and sighed. He then looked at me with an annoyed expression. “First, she's not my marefriend. And second, of course I'm worried about her. She's my best friend,” he finished, crossing his arms and turning away. “Don’t get a heart attack over it, I should be concerned about that,” I joked, “I'm much older, therefore, more at risk. I was just commenting on your loyalty to her wellbeing. A loyalty I show to Tia.” “So?” “So if she's hurt and put in the hospital, more than likely you'd be there every second of her treatment and recovery,” I paused for emphasis. “And I get the feeling she'd do the same for you.” “Element of Loyalty dude. She cares about everyone close to her. As for me, again, she's my best friend. That's something I never had before and not something I want to lose.” “Well then liste…” I stopped, mid-sentence as I suddenly had a pre-vision headache. As I fell to my knees and grabbed my head in pain, my vision blurred and I saw Cece and I weakened and watching Tito and Nisled fighting. Somehow, Nisled got the upper hand and delivered a punch that knocked him down and somehow drained his energy, weakening him. As Nisled took Tito’s sword to strike him down, his Rainbow Dash looked at the scene with rage and glowing hands. The vision then darkened and I fell into unconsciousness. (Dark’s POV) When Delsin screamed, I turned to him and saw him holding his head in pain. Before I could do anything though, he fell to the floor, unconscious. Celestia rushed out of the throne room, panic and worry on her face when she saw Delsin out cold. “What happened?” “I don't know,” I said. “We were talking, and then he just screams and faints.” She walked over to him with her horn glowing and touched it to his forehead. After a few seconds, she looked at me. “He's had another vision.” “How do you know?” “Stella is not only a master dream walker, but she is also an expert with memories,” she explained, “I had her search his memories of the visions he's had, and she taught me how to recognize if he's had a vision based on what she saw and felt.” “Okay. Any idea how to wake him up?” “He’ll need rest, as it seems this vision took more out of him than the other visions did,” she said, standing up and lighting her horn. “As for myself, I need to return to my Equestria. I'm not sure if there are time differences between worlds, but I don't want Stella and Luna pranking the Nobility too much.” “Well then, I guess this is goodbye, but can you do me a favor?” “What is it that you ask?” “Whenever we meet again, can I take a picture of you guys? It's a thing I thought of doing as a better way of remembering a Displaced I met besides their token.” Celestia smirked. “Make sure Delsin doesn’t know, and a picture perfect moment will be provided.” “I'll see if Cece can take it. Now, anything else before you leave?” “No, thank you though.” Her horn glowed much brighter and in a flash, she was gone. Author's Note I like doing crossovers. It's just easier to write while bouncing ideas around with a chapter's co-author.
Chapter 21: Secrets Revealed This chapter was written with the assistance of DarkSpider. A Crossover with his story, Spider in Equestria. inFAMOUS Displaced Chapter 21 Secrets Revealed (Dark's POV) I was walking around the castle, cover off, heading to my usual spot for training, when my spider sense picked up something. Huh. Wonder what it- A loud explosion shook me out of my thoughts. “WHAT THE HELL?!” I screamed, before running to where the noise came from. Upon arriving at the explosion site, I saw a door blown off it's hinges and Pinkie Pie was pinned to the wall with black thorn vines across from the open doorway with a confused look on her face. “Um, should I even ask?” “I was just trying to welcome your new friend, and then this happened,” Pinkie said. I sighed before pulling out my sword and cutting the vines. When I did, they disappeared, freeing Pinkie. “Thanks Tito.” “Don't mention it, Pinkie. Just go find Twilight or something.” She nodded and walked away, looking a little sad, while I walked into the room, most of the furniture were in shambles and were covered in a shadowy smoke. Delsin was on his knees, panting and sweating badly. “Hey. There a reason you attack Pinkie like that and why you look like that?” “PTSD!” He snapped before getting his breathing normal. “I don't take surprises well.” “Oh...wish we knew that. Any reason you have that?” “I was captured by griffins in the first five minutes of being Displaced,” he began, “After escaping and freeing the ponies that later became the Akomish, I helped Tia and Luna fight the war so they could deal with Discord. I fought and killed for a year before getting encased in stone by the Griffin King, who was a cement conduit.” “Huh. Sorry, but...Ako-what?” “Akomish, a sub-tribe, for lack of a better term.” “Okay… Any reason that you mentioned that?” “My Twilight is Akomish.” “Wait what?” “And if looks are anything to go by, the conduit and Akomish I got smoke from, Smoke Shot, is one of her ancestors...she looks just like her.” “Huh. Cool. Speaking of which, how did you get those powers exactly?” “Smoke, I tried to evade capture, but my chain was pulled and I landed on Smoke. Light, I got from Sora. He was fawning over Stella and when I pried him off of her, I got it. Electricity, I got from Dusk Spark, Nisled’s Twilight. She’s out for his head. Darkness, I got that in a sparring match with Vanitas-Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Displaced character. Neon, I stopped Streak’s murder streak in Manehatten after her husband's and unborn foal’s deaths.” “Dusk Spark? Now I can't help but think of Twi’s R63. Also, can you tell me more about Nisled? All I know is he's your moral opposite.” “He has smoke, neon, video, concrete, and basic chaos magic.” “So, besides chaos magic, the same powers as in the game.” “Eeyup. Plus, due to his chaos magic, he is immune to death,” Delsin grimly reported. “Great…” I said with sarcasm evident in my voice. “And when we fight him, we need to keep the Bearers of Harmony away from the fight,” he said. My vision was then filled with the images of 5 of the Mane 6 lying dead and mangled. I immediately grabbed my forehead and leaned towards the wall. “What was that?!” “What I saw when Dusk Spark gave me her electric powers. Sorry if you get scarred for life.” I clenched one of my hands into a fist and closed my eyes. “He did that to them?” I asked, growling. “And when I more officially met Dusk Spark, he tore off the only biological arm or foreleg she had left.” “Had left? What do you mean?” “She was more machine than pony by the time her friends were killed.” When I heard that, I immediately punched the wall, causing a few cracks to show on the crystal. I then opened my eyes and growled again. “I'm gonna kill that son of a @#$&$!” Delsin jumped a bit. “Dude. What's up with your eyes? They’re red.” That confused me. “What are you talking about? My eyes are brown.” He extended his hand towards me and a shadowy smoke flowed out of my chest and into his hand. As that happened, my anger slowly lowered. He then looked me in the eyes and said, “Now they are.” “Again, what are you talking about?” “Your eyes were literally red with anger. I siphoned off the anger, and they're back to brown.” “Wait, what? I'm seriously confused here.” “Things are different here than on Earth. Emotions can affect us differently. I nearly blew up the old castle when Nisled took Dusk’s arm or foreleg.” “What does that have to do with my eyes?” He then grabbed my face...and he suddenly had my undivided attention. “Magic and emotions can cause things to happen. Your eyes literally changed and I had more energy to fight with. Put two and two together.” “So...you're saying my eyes changing is tied to me being angry and some magic?” He let go of my face and replied, “That's the idea.” His hands then lit up in a blue aura and the room was restored to it’s original looks, door included. “Now, let's change subjects. I don't want to try to give you a concussion while we're both emotionally all over the spectrum.” “Aye.” Then a thought came to mind. “Hey, what exactly happened yesterday? You just passed out.” He put his hand to his head, and shook it lightly. “I had a vision.” “I heard. Of what?” “A Bringer of Chaos will soon come fast, That the thought of secrets will be last. When that what is hidden is brought to light, Can the Infamous Vulture be sent to flight.” “Um...what?” He shook his head again. “Your guess is as good as mine. Those words just...come to me.” “Okay… Should I be concerned?” “Don't get too wound up over it. Let's eat breakfast before hitting our heads against the proverbial brick wall.” I nodded before walking away to the dining room, Delsin right behind me. (Delsin’s POV) We walked into the dining room to be greeted with the sight of Pinkie Pie telling Twilight, a drake I assumed was Spike, Cece, and an unknown unicorn about what happened involving the explosion. “So I threw open the door shouting, ‘Surprise!’ And when he woke up, he saw my party cannon and freaked out!” She explained, waving her arms like mad. “He blew me across the hall, and ruined my party cannon!” She pulled her cannon out of nowhere and pointed at it's now ruined state. “Just look at it! It takes a lot to build one and even more to replace!” She finished with her hair a bit less poofy. “Next time Pinkie, you shouldn't throw a surprise party for a Displaced,” Tito said. “Stick to a normal one. You never know what a Displaced is capable of.” “Or if you do do a surprise party, leave the artillery at home,” I told her. “Kay…” Pinkie said. “You didn't have to destroy my party cannon though.” “So, what’s to eat for breakfast?” I asked, clapping my hands together. “Spike made pancakes,” Twilight said. “Want some?” “Sure, why not?” I said, taking a seat. “And I don't think I got your name,” I said, pointing to the unicorn. “Oh, my name is Starlight Glimmer,” she said. “Nice to meet you.” Upon hearing her name, I pulsed my ray sphere pulse nearly twenty times before calming down. Her DNA was clean, thank Karma. Tito grabbed his head. “Dude! Why did you do that?” “I was checking her DNA for the gene. Thank all that is green and Holy that she's clean.” “Did you have to do it so much? I got a headache from that.” “Nisled’s Starlight Glimmer was a Ray Sphere conduit. She could activate the Conduit gene on anyone...at the cost of hundreds of lives per conduit.” “Oh… Wait, didn't you say that his version of her, as well as Discord, are the reason he's not as strong as before?” “Yes,” I answered. “Evidently, she was brainwashed to try and form a Conduit army, but his Mane 6 fought her out of it and she saw her mistakes.” Tito nodded and just leaned by a wall while everyone was looking between us. “Um, what are you talking about?” Starlight asked. “How you are different from various versions of yourself through different parts of the Multiverse,” I said. My hand then felt something under the table, and when I pulled it out, it was a cigar. “Is this here in case of a smoke emergency?” I asked Pinkie. Pinkie nodded. “Twilight told me about what you can do so I found a few things to help you.” She pulled out a neon ‘Open’ sign to prove her point. Replacing the cigar, I gave her a questioning look. “Is that all she told you?” “No,” Twilight said. “I wanted to tell the rest of my friends everything else.” “Smart, I'll give you that,” I commented, while draining the neon out of the sign Pinkie was holding. “When were you planning on telling?” “In about ten minutes. And I'm hoping you can tell us some more.” “Okay, I'll greet them in the entryway,” I said, before zooming off in a blur of neon. A few minutes of running through the impossibly maze-like structure, I arrived just as the doors opened. “Oh, hey Delsin,” Rainbow said, flying in. “I'm not gonna ask ‘What’s up?’ for fear of you saying that you are.” She rolled her eyes before she landed in front of me and crossed her arms. “So you're going to tell us more about yourself?” “When we're in the proper setting and everyone else is here.” “Great. See ya in the throne room.” She then flew off in a rainbow blur. “I'm right behind ya!” I began running in a neon blur easily catching up to her. Since I didn't know the castle like she did, I kept my speed close to hers to keep up and react when needed. At one point, she saw me running to keep up and, feeling competitive, boosted her speed and crashed through the throne room door. “Ow…” She said as she crashed onto the floor. I ran over to her, flashing some neon around her to ease her pain. Chuckling, I said, “That was fun.” “Yeah. The only other two I know who can keep up with me without help is Cece and Dark, but they never really feel like racing.” “Eh, maybe later.” The throne room door then opened. Tito walked in with his hood on and saw us. “Okay, what was that noise and why is there a hole on the door?” He asked. “Um, a high speed, and rainbow colored projectile making an explosive strike on the door,” I joked. He just stared at me, his eyes unknown with that hood. “Seriously?” He deadpan. “We had a race and it got out of hand,” Rainbow said with a sigh as she sat on the throne with her cutie mark. Tito shook his head. “Okay then. Anyway, I'll be watching some videos. Let me know when everypony else is here.” He then jumped to the large chandelier and sat on it, pulling out his phone. I ran up the wall in neon and sat on one of the ceiling supports. “And I'll sit here, waiting for everyone to get here and ask questions.” A few minutes later the throne room door opened again and the rest of the Mane 6 arrived with Starlight, and Cece as well. I jumped down from my perch and landed in front of the group, no harm on myself from the high fall. “Hello.” Applejack took a step back, Rarity jumped, and Fluttershy? She screamed and ran to the back. Everyone else just looked at me. “Who’re you?” Applejack asked. “Delsin Rowe, the Equestrian Eagle,” I said while using my ray sphere pulse to look everyone over. Everyone, but Rainbow, lacked the gene. “Okay, can you at least let me know when you're gonna do that?” Tito yelled from his spot in the chandelier. I lit my arm up in neon and pointed at him. “Deal with it. At least you don't have to sleep through head breaking headaches from visions and accidental mind readings.” “Dark, you know this guy?” Applejack asked. Tito jumped off the chandelier and landed next to me. “Yeah. He's a Displaced who turned into a guy that can absorb powers of those with a certain gene. And apparently he's staying here until a certain event happens. I'll let him and Twilight explain.” “Okay then.” They then all sat on the thrones with their respective cutie marks. “You're up dude,” Tito said before jumping onto the underside of the chandelier, sticking to it from his back and looking down on us. “Creepy, but cool,” I commented before turning to the group. “Soooo...the guy I'm Displaced as is called Delsin Rowe. I don't really remember my original name, nor do I really want to. I served in a military position, causing some issues with PTSD. I'm engaged to, no joke, my Princess Celestia. I have smoke, neon, electricity, light, darkness, and some magic at my disposal. And for some reason, I'm craving ramen.” I pulled a cigar out of Pinkie’s ear and continued. “Does anyone have a lighter or something?” Tito pulled a lighter out of nowhere and tossed it at me. I caught it and lit the cigar, no smoke coming from it or my mouth. “Any questions?” “How about you explain what you found out about Rainbow,” Twilight asked. “As well as what Conduits are so that everypony else understand.” “Gotcha. So, I'm what is known as a Conduit. A person with something special in my DNA that allows me to control an element or something like that.” I let some smoke flow around my arms to demonstrate. “Now, the gene can be in almost anyone, but it may not be active. If it isn't, they're normal. If it is, then they can do their thing with their element. Rainbow Dash has that gene.” “Wait,” Cece said. “You're saying Rainbow is a Conduit? How?” “In order, she had the gene, but it's not active. As for how, the best answer is that there are Conduits all throughout the Multiverse. Most, if not all, aren't aware of it.” Tito then began to lower himself upside down with a web. “Considering what you said about Sora being a Conduit, that makes the most sense. So no one else here has it?” “Yes, and for that, I'm rather glad,” I sighed. “If I had to train eight other dimensional Conduits, I'd throw myself off a cliff...not that it would do any good.” “Wait, you're actually going to train her?” “At least the basics, and in an environment where we won't get odd looks.” “I know a great place. The usual spot Rainbow and I spar. It's in a nice field a few yards out of town. Nopony ever really goes by there, so you should be fine.” “You can show me later. Anymore questions?” “Yes,” Twilight said. “You mentioned someone named Nisled yesterday. Can you tell us exactly who that is?” “Yeah, I was hoping to avoid that,” I said, nervously scratching the back of my head. “Why?” Rainbow asked. “The description can get a little...gory,” I said. “Um...what do you mean?” Tito immediately climbed back up to the chandelier and sat on one of the branches, not looking at anyone. “It's not really a good idea to tell any of you.” “Why?” “Short version: a crazy, psychopathic, chaos-high, *worst ever, @#$#@#&, plothole-*” “Dude, you're just growling now,” Tito said. “Use your words.” “*What!?*” I suddenly realized that I was speaking Skullcap. “Sorry. I slip into that language when either swearing, upset, or tossing insults. Basically, he's an infamous, sadistic jerk.” “Okay…” Starlight said. Tito then spoke up. “Moving on, what Displaced have you met?” “I've met a few. In one Equestria, there was a mad god of time, alongside an anthropomorphic cat with gambling issues, a book nerd, and a crazy mask guy. Then there was Sora, I got my Light power from him. Then there was Vanitas, who I got darkness from.” I then pulled out Carrow's gold coin, as well as Sora’s and Vanitas’ keychains to show. They all stayed silent for a moment before Tito said, “Twilight, you're taking notes right?” “Of course,” she replied. “Give me the list on those Displaced later. Now, how about you tell us about the friends you have in your world?” “My friends are Obsidian Shard, Neon Streak, Jet Second, Dusk Spark, Screwball, Princess Stella...Smoke Shot...” “Jet Second? Don't you mean Jet Set? And wait, Screwball exists in your dimension? Can you...describe her behavior?” “First off, he isn't proud of being the son of a Descendant.” I saw everyone's confused looks. “An extremist, tribalist gang. Said member is Jet Set...Senior.” ‘As for me,' a voice suddenly projected. Looking up at ceiling, past Tito’s seat, Screwball suddenly popped into existence. “A child in an adult’s body...or teenage behavior...mixed with gentle chaos.” When everyone saw Screwball, they were shocked. Applejack, Fluttershy, and Starlight because of the non anthro pony, while everyone else just seemed surprised that she was here. When Cece noticed her though, she pulled a large hammer, about the same size as her, out of nowhere. “Another one?” Cece said. “You better be nicer than the last one we met.” “Don't be so antagonistic,” Screwball and I said, simultaneously. We looked at each other briefly before asking, “Where was I?” “Quick question,” Tito said, looking at Screwball. “What are you doing here?” “I just wanted to answer your question about me,” she said. She then floated to his ear and whispered something before shooting back, shouting, “TOOTLES!” She then vanished. “Wonder why she said that…” “Said what?” I asked “Something about being careful next time I'm in Manehatten,” he said with a shrug. “Um...anything else? Or a power demonstration?” Tito shook his head. “Not now. Now, you should explain what's going to happen soon.” “You mean the whole ‘banishing Nisled’, or something else that fate decides to drop on my head.” “The former. They should know what might happen to them if they interfere. But don't show them what you showed me.” “Alright, when you see someone that looks like me, but has that...aura of evil, don't confront him.” “Why not?” Rainbow asked. “I'm sure we can all take him.” “Can you handle suffocation, nasty burns, raging demons, concrete shanks, and/or the magical off-chance of being turned into fried chicken and being eaten alive?” They all widen their eyes at that. “Well...no…” “Then try to stay back. He did horrible things that would melt your brains if you knew or found out.” “Then what are we SUPPOSED to do? Let him wander around Ponyville, hurting or killing innocent ponies?” “First, we let him wander INTO Ponyville. Somepony will then raise some sort of alarm-” A scream was heard from the town. “-just like that. We then wait for an explosion-” An explosion was heard. “-it's then time to kick him around and out of town.” Tito then dropped from the chandelier beside me and look to the others. “You all stay here and don't interfere. You too Cece.” “What? Why?” His sister asked. “Because I don't want any of you to die. Come on Delsin.” He then put on his cover and ran out in a blue and black blur. I ignored Tito’s protective advice for his sister. “Get on my back.” “Why?” She said. “If he knows of my powers as well as I know of overprotectiveness, he'll have webbed up the castle exit so you wouldn't follow him. I, however, have another way out.” She hesitated for a moment before sighing. “Fine. Fluttershy, watch Emily and Mike.” She then put on her hood and jumped to my back. “Hold on tight,” I instructed, before Smoke Dashing both of us into a nearby fireplace and out of the chimney. I let her off my back once we landed on the roof of the castle. “You okay?” “Yeah. Just...feeling weird.” “Sorry. Now, where are you, you Vulture,” I said, looking over Ponyville until I saw Tito fighting Nisled in a sword-to-video claw fight. “Anyway that you can give me a boost?” She pulled out her hammer. “I have one way.” “That's fine, just watch...the spot, or you'll do more damage than good.” “Don't worry. Also, this will hurt.” She then slammed her hammer on my back, sending me flying to Nisled. “INCOMING!” (Dark’s POV) I immediately stopped trying to slice this red psycho when I heard Delsin, and the next thing I know, my spider-sense went off and I jumped away from Nisled as Delsin crashed into him in a huge explosion, blowing my hood off. When I landed, Delsin reformed from smoke and Nisled was a few yards away with his back on the ground. Delsin popped his back and neck. “She was right, that did hurt. But it hurt him more than me.” “What took you so long?” I said, walking to him. “Blame your overprotectiveness, and my vision from yesterday,” he said, pointing to the roof of the castle. I widened my eyes as a red blur dropped to the ground. “YOU BROUGHT HER?!” 'MY VISIONS NEVER LIE!!!’ I then heard loudly in my head. ‘SHE NEEDS TO BE HERE!!!’ I shook my head and glared at him. “If she dies, I don't care what your Celestia does to me, I'm going to kill you.” Nisled suddenly gave a flying kick to Delsin’s face. “Not if I beat you to it.” I was going to slice at him again when a hammer came flying at him and knocked him back a few feet. Cece then walked passed me and picked up her hammer. “You know, you're not that smart, fighting three super strong Displaced.” “And you underestimate your opponents,” he sneered before suddenly becoming pixelated and turning invisible. I just used my spider-sense to pick up on him. Before I could though, Cece’s hammer flew out of her hand and she was sent flying into Delsin, her hood falling off of her head. Both of them went sprawling. Cece seemed barely conscious. Delsin made to get up, but the hammer flew towards him and knocked his head into the dirt. “Predictable,” Nisled said, as he became visible behind me. I just growled and swung my sword at him. He caught the blade in his hand and gripped it tightly, blood oozing from his hand. “Did I hit a soft spot? Well, to make you glad, at least for now, I won't kill your sister...yet.” “Burn in hell,” I said, webbing him in the face and punching him in the gut. “I rule hell.” His hands became pixelated and my spider sense went off. I rolled out of the way as a demon slashed at me. I immediately cut off its head and it dissolved in a bunch of pixels. I then dodged a video claw strike and landed a strike on his arm. He roared out in rage and tried again, but that left him open for another hit, this time on the other arm. His head then became a pixelated demon head with ram horns and he charged me. I jumped to the side before stabbing him in the back. “Did you really want to do that?” He then flipped himself forward, which flipped me over him. I let go of my sword to avoid getting slammed into the ground. After I landed, I saw one of his arms covered with pixels and the other covered in a red aura. Before he could do anything, I webbed his feet and pulled, causing him to fall to his back. I then charged him, but the pixelated arm fired a too fast to dodge ball of light that stuck to my chest, knocking me back. Three video swords then appeared and started flying at me. I web-zipped to a nearby roof, barely dodging most of them as they impaled a tree that was behind me, one slicing my side. “Fire in the East,” I heard Nisled say behind me. I turned, only to receive a bunch of pixels to my chest, launching me into the dog pile that was Cece and Delsin. “Attack in the West.” I struggled to stand, but Nisled’s hand grabbed me by the throat and lifted me up and cutting off my air. I saw him plunge his hand into his chest and pull my sword out of it, the wound sealing up instantly. “Say goodbye, annoying arachn-” He was suddenly blown away in a wave of warm, humid air, causing him to drop me. I looked up at where the wave came from and saw Rainbow hovering in the air with a murderous look on her face, her arms glowing a blue color and steaming. “So,” I heard Nisled say as he stood up. “The bluebird has come out to play?” He pointed my sword at her. “Let’s play!” He charged her and swung the sword. Just as it was an inch from her throat, she vanished in a puff of steam clouds. The steam clouds quickly moved to me and Rainbow reappeared, albeit a little dizzy looking. “That'll take some getting used to,” she said before shaking her head and glaring at Nisled. “A Conduit’s first moments with their powers are their hardest...and their most vulnerable.” He charged her again and thrusted the blade. She hardly moved herself, dodging the blade by barely an inch. She then grabbed his sword arm and pulled, flipping him and disarming him. He rushed to his feet but immediately found my sword pointed at his throat. “Tell me why I shouldn't shove this down your throat.” “Um, iron overdose?” He tried to joke. He prepped his hands to knock her back, but she pulled the blade back and slammed the sword’s pommel into his face and then beheaded him. His head was blubbering out a bit of nonsense as it rolled, and the body fell, as if dead. Rainbow took a deep breath before widening her eyes and stepping back at the headless body. Delsin managed to get on his feet, Cece’s hammer in his hands. He walked over to Rainbow and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. He then pulled a strange sphere out of his pocket and somehow merged it with the hammer, giving it a red glow. He then approached Nisled’s head. “Well,” the head suddenly spoke. “Looks like I'm getting that job with Gallagher after all.” Delsin then slammed the hammer onto the head, causing it and the body to vanish in a red flash. He then collapsed, unconscious. Before I was able to do anything, I felt a pain on my side and my vision went black. (Rainbow’s POV) My senses were barely registering after what I did. The last thing I remember was seeing that creep choking Dark. Next thing I know, his headless body is on the ground in front of me. What happened? “Rainbow Dash!” I heard a somepony say. Turning around, I saw Twilight flying towards me, an annoyed look on her face. She landed in front of me and said, “What were you THINKING?! You heard what Delsin said. You could have died.” She then saw the sword in my hand and Delsin and Dark unconscious on the floor, Cece struggling to get up. “What happened?” “I-I d-don’t know,” was all I could say before I heard a few ponies coming to us, whispering a few things as they looked at all of us. “W-what...what's going on?” Mayor Mare asked. “And Rainbow Dash, what's wrong with your hands?” What's going on...What's wrong? I looked at my hands and saw that they were steaming and glowing. I immediately dropped Dark’s sword in surprise and stared at my hands. I then looked at Twilight and chuckled nervously. “I guess it's active now…” “Sorry to interrupt,” Cece said, limping to me. “But can we PLEASE get them some help?” She pointed to Dark and Delsin. I immediately widened my eyes when I saw a red spot on Dark’s side. I flared up my wings, grabbed Dark, and flew as fast as I could to the hospital. When I arrived, I received a lot of stares, but I didn’t care. All I cared about at this point was his safety. “Nurse Redheart!” The pale white earth pony came running towards me. “What is it Rainb-what in the world?” She said, seeing Dark’s unconscious body. “Not important. Can you help him?” “Uh, I guess so.” Redheart called for a stretcher and had him immediately wheeled into the emergency room. I began to pace the waiting room, stopping only to sit for a few seconds and then was back to pacing. The doors to the hospital then opened, all of my friends, including Cece, who was still limping, and Delsin, who looked okay, but exhausted. “Rainbow?” I turned to see Twilight looking at me with a worried expression. “You okay?” “Yeah,” I said. “Just a little worried, y’know?” “How worried, may I ask?” Delsin asked with a grin on his face. I shrugged. “Honestly, I don't really know.” Cece then looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “Why are you smiling?” Delsin just gave her a look and Cece just said with a confused look, “What do you mean?” Delsin facepalmed and she pulled out her hammer. “I will use this if you don't explain!” He shook his head and she put her hammer back. “Wait, are you implying what I think you're implying?” He nodded. Cece then looked at me for a moment before falling onto the floor, laughing like crazy. “Oh, that's hilarious. HAHAHA!!” After a few moments, she calmed down and stood back up. “Well then...this'll definitely be interesting.” She said with the same kind of smirk she had on Hearth’s Warming Eve. “Woah woah woah,” I said. “What are you two talking about? And how are you telling her anything without talking?” I asked Delsin. ‘First off,’ I heard in my head. ‘You will find out, soon enough. Secondly, it's called telepathy. I shook my head and put a hand on my forehead. “What the hay?” Delsin looked around with a mock confused look. “I don't see any hay.” I just glared at him. “If you're done making jokes, mind helping me figure out how to control this?” I said, showing him my still glowing hands. “Okay, basic conduit training.” He turned towards a vent, but stopped. “Oh, before I forget.” He pointed a glowing blue hand at me and my wings suddenly snapped against my back. “Any pegasi conduits I've trained, I've trained them to work without wings...for if the need arrives.” I sighed. “Fine. So do we go to the place Dark told you about?” “Yes, but not by normal means,” he said. “If we were, I wouldn't have bound your wings. Follow me.” He then vanished into smoke through a nearby vent. “How am I supposed to follow if he does that?” “Can't you do the same thing you did during your fight with Nisled?” Cece said. “What are you talking about?” I asked. My vision suddenly blurred and I felt dizzy. I then saw myself in third pony view. My vision self was being rushed by Nisled. My vision self reacted by dashing away in a cloud-like form. The vision shifted, showing me all angles of the scene. My real vision returned and I was on my knees. “You okay?” Cece asked, stepping towards me. “Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine.” I let my arms steam a bit more thickly before stopping it. “I think I may have figured it out. Let me know when Dark wakes up.” I stood in front of the vent and thought back on what I saw. I rushed to the vent and I felt myself literally turning into a cloud and enter the vent. It shot me up through a fan on the hospital roof, where I became solid again. I put a hand on my head and said, “That feels so weird.” “It takes getting used to,” I heard Delsin say from behind me. I turned and saw him smoking a cigar while holding a bottle of water. “I'll take your word for it. Where'd you get that anyway?” I asked, pointing to the bottle. “Two words, Pinkie Pie.” I nodded in understanding as he tossed the cigar to the side and dumped the water on the hospital roof. “So...now what?” “Brief lesson on limits,” he answered, stamping out the cigar. “Despite being super powered, you will find out that you still have limits. Let's say you encounter somepony that can fire pieces of lead far faster than you can fly. While you can heal significantly faster than a normal pony, if you are hit faster than you can heal, death can be certain.” “So I can heal fast? How fast?” In response, his hands lit up blue and I felt a slight pinch on my arm. I looked where I felt it and saw a nasty looking cut...or it was nasty, as I saw it healing faster than a normal cut would in less than a minute, but it was sealed up, the only proof was the blood stain on my blue fur. “Was that REALLY necessary?” I asked, rubbing the spot the cut was. “You seem like one of those ‘learn by experience’ kind of students.” I sighed. “Okay, what else?” “Ammunition,” He said. “When a Conduit uses their abilities, they can run low on ‘fuel’ or ‘ammo’. If you absorb your element, you obtain said fuel, as well as heal much faster, and a brief energy boost.” “Okay...exactly what is my element?” I asked, looking at my hands. “I have a hunch, but I think it's water.” “What? What led you to think that?” “Well, you turned into a cloud to get up here. And what is a cloud made of?” “Okay…” “Now that water I dumped, you're going to absorb it.” “Um, how?” He pulled a neon sign out from behind something on the roof and pointed his hand at it. The light from the sign then floated into his hand. “Do that physically. Mentally, you want the water, command it.” I pointed my hand at the puddle and envisioned the water moving into my hand. Surprisingly enough, it actually happened. The water defied gravity and flowed into my hand. It didn’t feel wet, but neither did it feel dry. It seemed to feel like the prank slime I use on occasion. “That feels weird,” I said, looking at my hand again. “It’s different from element to element.” “Okay, now what?” “Gliding...without wings,” he said. “Wait what?” “Watch.” He then ran and jumped high. As he began to fall, neon started flowing from his hands, slowing down his descent. He “glided” to the ground, some distance away. “Try it. And don’t worry if you don’t get it the first time. You’ll survive the fall.” “Uh, how do I do that?” My vision blurred again and I saw myself again, except leaping off of a rooftop in what looked like Manehatten. My vision self ran and jumped off the roof. In the same way Delsin did, my vision self seemed to cause a ‘jet’ of clouds or steam downward and I floated to the rooftop of a shorter building. I saw all angles before my vision returned. I then put my hand on my head. “What the hay is that?” “What happened?” Delsin said in front of me suddenly. I yelped a bit, jumping back. “What the? How did you do that?” “My neon not only allows me to run really fast, but I can run up walls,” he said. “But that’s not important. You were wondering about something or another?” “Yeah. I just saw something in my head.” “What did you see?” “Just saw the same thing you just did, but with me doing it.” “Hmm...I’m guessing you’re body is getting used to this. So your mind is just ‘digesting’ what your body can do.” “That doesn't explain why I'm seeing these things.” “Your mind is just telling you how to do things.” He stepped back and made to point, but paused. “Where’s yours and Dark’s sparring field or whatever?” I pointed south. “A little while in that direction. We figured it was a good spot since nopony usually goes there so he can fight without his cover and nopony can know he's a human.” I then let out a sigh. “Don't think that'll be a problem anymore.” “Public matches,” Delsin chuckled. “1 bit for admissions.” He shook his head in amusement. “Kidding. Stupid Idea. Anyway, glide down.” I looked down, three stories to the ground. Enough of a height that wouldn’t kill a pony, but break whatever hits the ground first or at least badly sprain said something if a pegasus. I gulped, thinking about my lack of wing ability. I looked into the distance and put out a dead sprint. I leapt up, somewhat higher than I normally could do. I then remembered the gliding vision and imitated the stance and focused on my hands. Immediately, steam jetted out of my hands, keeping my aloft enough for a decent glide...If I wasn’t knocked off balance by doing so. I yelled out in fear as I flailed about, trying to stop my fall. I saw the ground approaching fast, so I closed my eyes, preparing for impact. When I landed, I felt the landing, but it didn’t hurt. “Ooookay, MAY need to work on that,” I muttered. “It was fun though, right?” “Maybe for you, but I prefer my wings.” “Once you get that down, it can give you a speed boost when you get your wings back.” “I'll keep that in mind.” “Next, parkour.” “What?” He walked up to a building, looked at it, and then began climbing. His hands and feet seemed to find holds for him to climb. I walked to the building and just looked at him. “Seriously?” “If your powers can help you skip this, it'll come,” he said as he pulled himself up onto the building’s roof. “What do you mean by that?” It happened again. This time, I was running through Ponyville and came close to a building. A spire of ice then formed under my hooves and launched me up and landed on top of the building. “Is that just gonna keep happening?” “Whatever it takes to get things through your thick skull.” “Very funny,” I said, rolling my eyes, the sarcasm in my voice obvious. I focused on my feet and the spire of ice came, launching me up. I landed gracefully on the roof in front of him. “Okay, that wasn't so bad.” “Now that you’ve got that down, lead the way.” He stepped back and gestured for me to lead. I smirked and launched myself up and began to glide in the direction of the sparing field. Author's Note Part 2 Ponies! I hope you like it!
Chapter 22: Testing Rainbow This chapter was written with the assistance of DarkSpider. A Crossover with his story, Spider in Equestria. inFAMOUS Displaced Chapter 22 Testing Rainbow (Dark's POV) “CLEAR!” I immediately felt a huge shock on my chest and I quickly sat up, opening my eyes. Looking around, I saw that I was in some white room and Discord was holding a pair of defibrillators. “Good, you're awake,” he said as they disappeared from his hands. “I must say, you must've lost a lot of blood to be out for so long.” “What time is it?” “Oh, it's about one in the afternoon. You came here around noon yesterday, according to Twilight and your sister. And according to that Delsin person, you were in a pretty bad fight.” “You got that right…” I then looked down and noticed I only had a bunch of bandages covering my torso. “Where's my cloak?” Discord snapped his talon and my cloak appeared in my lap. “I took the liberty of cleaning off all that blood. And don't worry about your costume. That's back in your room in the castle.” I grabbed my cloak and put it on. I then stood up and looked at Discord. “So where am I?” “You're in Ponyville Hospital,” I heard someone say. Turning around, I saw a unicorn stallion with amber fur, blue eyes, and wearing one of those coats doctors wear. “Hello. My name is Doctor Stable.” “Dark,” I said with a nod. “I know. Your friends were able to give me the information we needed about you. Including your species.” I widened my eyes at that last statement. “My what?” “Oh right,” Discord said. “During that fight you had with that Nisled character, your cover fell off and just about everypony in town saw your face and found out about your little secret. Heck, Twilight was pestered all day yesterday answering questions about you and your sister. As if she doesn't have enough to worry about, having to get everything that was damaged fixed.” I just sat back on the bed and facepalmed. “Great,” I muttered to myself. “Just great…” “Indeed. Good luck with that by the way. Though, imagine how surprised I was when I saw Rainbow Dash turning a tree into an ice sculpture. Really, since when can a pegasus do THAT?” I immediately looked at him when he said that. “Wait, she did WHAT?!” “Of course, then there's lobbing balls of water from her hands and turning into a cloud. While one would say, ‘That doesn't make sense,’ I would say, ‘I don't, so who else should?’” “I guess the gene did activate…” “Um, what gene are you talking about?” The doc asked me. “A gene that Rainbow Dash has that can give her abnormal abilities. It's been dormant up until now.” “Hmm. I would have to check on this…” “Good luck with that. There's only one guy in Equestria who truly knows how it works and he's only visiting. I'm not even sure you can properly find it without that Ray Sphere ability of his.” When he opened his mouth, I immediately said, “Don't ask.” “Okay then. Well, I'll be back in a moment.” He then left the room. “T-minus 5 seconds,” Discord chuckled to himself. “Huh?” I said to him. Before he could reply, however, I felt my spider-sense go off for a second before a pair of hands wrapped around me and squeezed my body. “You're awake!” I turned to the person trying to suffocate me and saw a certain hedgehog. “Cece...can't...breathe.” “Oh, sorry.” She immediately let me go. “But you can't blame me. You were out for a day!” “I heard. Honestly, I'm surprised I'm still alive.” “You can thank Rainbow for that. Oh, that reminds me.” She then pulled out my sword and gave it to me. “I got that after the fight while she was taking you here.” I took my sword and put it on my back. “And how's Rainbow?” “Oh, she's fine. After training with Delsin, she stayed here all night, waiting for you to wake up, but I told her to get herself something to eat.” “And Delsin?” She shrugged. “Last I saw him, he said he had to do something at the Square.” “Huh. Wonder what he's doing…” “Only one way to find out,” Discord said. He then snapped his talon and in a flash, we were standing in front of the Town Square. Standing nearby was Delsin, wearing a new vest with what looked like a shield with blue angel wings on the back. He looked as though he just finished up something with some spray paint. “Man, if art was a crime,” he said to himself. “Then I'm a criminal mastermind.” “What are you doing?” I asked, walking up to him. “GAH!” He jumped back, his hands lighting up with electricity. When he saw us, his hands stopped sparking and calmed down. “Well, long story short, after tiring my student out, I was bored and just let the can do it's thing.” He pointed to the can of spray paint. “And what exactly does THAT mean?” “Do you have a camera or a phone with a camera?” “Yeah. Oh, that reminds me, I'll need a picture of you before you leave.” “Would you mind if my fiancé was in the picture?” He asked. “Sure, as long as I get it. It's a thing I'm doing now. Take pictures of Displaced, and those they're close to, as memoirs. Figured that's a better way to remember them than just their tokens.” “Makes sense. Kinda makes me wish I didn't drop my phone in the snow those thousand years back.” “Hmm… I could try something… Though, you want a phone, or just a camera?” “A phone,” He answered simply. “Besides, when and if I find a Conduit with Video powers, I'll be lacking on sources.” “Okay, but seriously, how would anypony be able to fuel up if they have that power?” Delsin simply pointed at a brown earth pony colt, who was wearing a familiar looking propeller beanie and was playing an arcade game. “Point taken. Cece, can you give me the gem Tomas gave me?” She nodded before pulling out the blue gem and tossing it to me. “What's that?” Delsin asked. “A little gift from a Team Rocket Displaced. Said he got it from his Discord. Thing is filled with chaos magic and, according to him, I can spawn anything with it, as long as it fits in my bag or pockets.” “Gotcha,” he said. “Will I be able to contact you with it?” “Um...I have no idea. May need some form a magic to do that, what with us being in different dimensions and all.” “I'll have to tinker around with some blast shards…are you going to let me ramble or will you get me some way to show you my largest mural yet?” “What mural?” He pointed to the Town Square and we saw a mural that covered the entire square, but we couldn't clearly see what was depicted. “What the hell?” “That’s why I need a camera device. With some help, I can get you an aerial photo for you to see.” “Okay...let's see if this works…” I reached into my pocket and pulled out a phone that looked similar to mine. “Huh. I guess it does. May want to ask Twilight to help with the battery before you leave though,” I said, tossing it to him. “Well, fine workmanship.” He walked over to a random garbage can and pulled a neon sign out and drained it. “I don't want to fry it with my electric powers. I'll see if Twilight can work with that as well.” He then ran and jumped high, his phone snapping the picture he needed. He landed and messed with his phone. Both my phone and Cece’s then chimed. “How did you get our numbers?” Cece asked as she pulled her phone out. Nearby, Discord tried to act inconspicuous. I looked at Discord and shook my head, pulling my phone out as well. I pulled up the picture and I almost dropped my phone in amazement. The mural showed Spider-Man’s chest emblem and Amy Rose’s pink silhouette being sheltered by three spires of ice, arranged like the supports of a teepee tent. Above the spires was Rainbow’s Cutie mark. Said mark seemed to be depicted as either raining, hailing, or snowing. The Cutie marks of the rest of the Mane 6, as well as Starlight’s, circled around the spires and symbols. “Okay…” I said, looking at the picture. “Question. How much paint is even IN that can?” “The can’s magic,” he stated bluntly. “Your point?” “Of course… Why am I not surprised…” “Seriously Delsin?!” I heard above me. A moment later, Rainbow landed in front of Delsin with an annoyed look on her face. “What?” He asked. “First you tease me while training, and you then do this?!” She shouted, pointing to the mural. “Let me tell you something,” he responded. “You are the Element of Loyalty, correct?” She nodded, not dropping her scowl. “Under normal circumstances, you would be willing to help your friends in almost any case. However, a much stronger form of loyalty is needed for anyone, including yourself, to do what you did to my opposite. I believe I mentioned that much yesterday.” “It's nothing like that!” She snapped back, almost too quickly, a small blush on her face. “Your quick response and barely visible blush say otherwise.” Her blush darkened before she flared up her wings and flew away, the air suddenly becoming humid. “Huh. She didn't even notice you were awake,” Cece said to me, but I sighed. “Considering her ego, when it gets bruised, she goes crazy and ignores almost everything else,” Delsin said. “Ain't that the truth…” I said. “So, can we go back to the castle to eat? I'm hungry and all this staring is making me uncomfortable,” I finished, gesturing to all the ponies staring at us. “I'll get a shortcut up.” He pulled out one of the Displaced Keychains and pointed forward. Suddenly, a dark vortex appeared. He then held out the keychain to Cece and I. “Hold on to this. These Corridors can corrupt the user, unless you have this keychain, or are me.” He then walked into the portal, gently pulling us along with the keychain. Light was suddenly shut out as we walked. We walked for a good distance before light returned and we were in the dining hall. “You know, I think Discord could've just taken us here if we asked,” I told him. “And miss the chance for me to show off a bit?” “If what you used can ‘corrupt people’, then I'm perfectly fine with missing it.” “My bad,” he said, scratching the back of his head. “Anyway, food now, last bit of showing off later.” I just nodded and went to the kitchen. I made myself a peanut butter sandwich and Delsin getting a lemon muffin, Cece saying she already ate before I woke up. Then we all sat on the table and I put my sword, still in its scabbard, on the table before saying, “You know, I'm surprised.” “About what?” “I lasted longer than you in the fight and did most of the work.” “I wasn't paying attention! Besides, if you didn’t have the Banishing Key, he would have a better chance against the two of you. Three if you count Rainbow’s steam.” “That's why I said ‘most’ and not ‘all’. Honestly though, I owe Rainbow my life...” Delsin just tried to hold back a laugh. “What?” He began to laugh harder and he looked at Cece, who then shook her head and began laughing as well. “Oh, that would be priceless!” Cece then said. Oh great. Using telepathy. “What are you guys talking about?” “Now is not the time,” Delsin responded. “Focus on putting two and two together with your feelings first.” “This again? Are you serious?” Delsin placed his head on the table. “One would think that after a thousand years, I would know how to avoid contracting foot-in-mouth disease.” Cece and I just stared at him in confusion about that statement. Before we can say anything, however, Twilight came walking in, reading a letter to herself, not noticing us. “HEY!” Delsin suddenly shouted. Twilight suddenly jumped and looked at the three of us. When she saw me, her eyes widened. “Dark? When did you wake up? And when did you get here?” “Woke up about half an hour ago, thanks to Discord,” I said as she sat with us. “Came here about five minutes ago via shadow travel thanks to Delsin.” “They're called Dark Corridors, but yeah,” Delsin muttered under his breath. “Well it reminds me of shadow travel in Percy Jackson...and now I'm wondering if anyone got Displaced as any of those characters…” “Who knows?” He answered. He suddenly looked as though he forgot something. “I just had an epiphany! Lightning has struck me brain!” Why is it whenever I hear that word, all I could think of is the Simpsons? “What are you talking about?” “Well, it involves what I trained Rainbow Dash yesterday,” he explained. “I taught her how to use her powers to get from point A to point B, and taught her how to fight individuals and groups, but I never taught her how to take on opponents that are, technically speaking, stronger than her.” “I'm sure I can help with THAT,” I said, flexing my hand on my sword hilt. “Have you ever took on a giant, six headed snake that's drawing power from one POWERFUL individual and two friends that were trapped in unbreakable orange bubbles?” “Wait WHAT?” “Meh, me neither.” I just stared at him, completely at a loss for words. “Dude, first off, what I described was the final boss of The World Ends With You. Second off, when I say stronger, I meant something like what I described. Third off, close your mouth, you're a spider, not a codfish.” I immediately shook my head. “Okay...anyway, what's exactly her element?” “Rainbow Dash can manipulate all forms of water.” “Wait, water?” Cece asked. “Did I stutter?” “Hmm…” “Anyway, you want to get an idea of what I was thinking about concerning what to teach Rainbow?” “Yeah,” I replied. “Okay, Twilight you might want to stand back.” His hands glowed blue and the dining table and chairs moved off to the side. His hands glowed blue, but it was interspersed with tendrils of shadow. Black, skeletal wings appeared on his back and he slammed his fists together. All at once, his body glowed brightly and seemed to increase in size. When he stopped glowing and growing, a giant, anthropomorphic ram stood in his place. “Welcome to my kitchen!” It bellowed. “WHAT THE HELL?!” I screamed, as Cece pulled out her hammer on instinct and Twilight jumped back. “I'll POUND you!” The ram began slamming its fists on the ground, shaking everyone up. “I'll MINCE you!” It swung its arm at me to knock me aside, but I pulled my sword out of its scabbard and blocked it. “Time for a taste test.” It inhaled and my sword was pulled out of my hands and was caught by its teeth. It spat the sword out, embedding it into the wall. “I'll char your bones BLACK!” It opened its hands and fired of spheres of lightning at Cece and I. We just jumped back and Cece ran at it, hitting it and sending it flying. After crashing into the wall, it stood up and proudly shouted, “We've preheated, LONG ENOUGH!!!” The ram then suddenly began looking like TV static and then vanished, leaving Delsin on his knees. “Um...what just happened?” I asked. “Ovis Cantus. Just an idea of what I have in mind for Rainbow’s last lesson.” “So...you want to send a crazy monster at her?” “Not really, but that's part of it,” he said. “It's a three stage battle I had in mind.” “...so a boss fight?” “If going by video game terms, yeah.” I just sighed. “Seriously?” “I've been mostly isolated for a thousand years, so stupid ideas come to me easily.” “Now THAT I believe.” “So the three stage battle will be like this,” he began, “Stage 1: she faces off against me with the help of one of you and the other helps me.” “Wait what?” An image of a man with long black hair, sunglasses, a suit and red headphones flashed in my vision. “Who the heck was that?” “Megumi Kitaniji, the antagonist of The World Ends With You.” “What's that?” “A game that, evidently, you haven’t played,” Delsin explained, “Spoiler warning. He's the final boss. Three stages. One: himself and a brainwashed Shiki Misaki. Two: he becomes a giant red snake. Three: What I creatively described earlier.” “O~kay then…” “Now, how to get Rainbow here without revealing the teaching moment?” Delsin asked, rubbing his chin in contemplation. I just shook my head before pulling my sword out the wall. “Well, while you figure that out, I'll go get my costume,” I said, heading to my room. (Delsin’s POV) When Tito walked off, Cece and Twilight turned to me with somewhat questioning looks. “Any ideas?” I asked. Cece shrugged. “If you're going to be that...thing from the start, we can just tell her that a monster is in the castle.” “I would need you, Twilight, and Tito for that form.” “Why?” Using my magic, I conjured a smaller version of Draco Cantus for the two to see. Pointing to the images of Joshua, Beat, and Shiki, I explained. “Taking the form of Noise takes a lot out of me. That's why your fight with Ovis Cantus was short. Now, if I was to take this form solo…” I pointed to the snake portions. “...then I would feel like I ran from the Frozen North to the Badlands, without stopping or breaks. That's where these three come in. If the energy consumption is spread between you three and me, we'll feel as if we jogged from Canterlot to Ponyville, proper breaks included.” The images of Joshua, Beat, and Shiki were then replaced with Twilight, Tito, and Cece respectively. “Okay...though, I just realized something.” “What's that?” “If anypony sees us HELPING a monster, that won't really help show them we're NOT monsters.” “That's kind of where the three stage battle works,” I pointed out. “You're seen FIGHTING said monster, then said monster takes ‘unwilling’ individuals for a power boost.” She sighed. “Okay. Hope this doesn't get out of hand.” When Tito came back from putting on his costume, we set about figuring out how to draw Rainbow to the Castle for the three stage battle. “Again, can't we just tell her a monster is attacking the castle?” Cece asked. “Who would be the one to deliver that without accidentally revealing the hidden test?” I countered. “Besides, we’re doing a three stage battle, not just a plain monster slaying session.” “I could do it,” Twilight said. “You’re the ‘primary battery’ in stage three. If you left to get help, I’d have to pursue. We’re trying to keep it at the castle.” “She's the best option,” Cece said, crossing her arms. “For one thing, she's the only one of us who can fly and also, the only one who nopony will be scared of, considering the looks Tito and I got earlier.” I sighed in defeat. “Alright, but expect to be chased by a few of these.” I snapped my fingers and a few Decadravens appeared out of static. She widened her eyes in shock. “O-okay…” I dismissed/erased the summoned Noise and continued, “Now that we have that obstacle out of the way, figuring out the stages. Stage one, I’ll disguise myself and ‘fight’ Tito and Cece in the castle entry while Twilight fetches Rainbow while being ‘chased’ by Decadraven Noise. Does that sound good so far?” They all nodded. “Stage two, Rainbow and Twilight arrive and I break off from the fight, fleeing to the throne room. Once there, I take the form of Anguis Cantus and ‘fight’ all of you. Okay?” “Okay,” Tito said. “Stage three, once I’m beaten down, I pull you three in as ‘batteries’ for the form of Draco Cantus, leaving Rainbow to fight with what resources are left. All good and clear?” “I guess so.” “Alright then,” I said, resummoning the Decadravens. “You better run or fly away, Twilight.” Twilight nodded before flying away as fast as she could, the Noise hot on her tail. “As for you two-” I activated my dark suit and summoned Karmic Gear. “Don't hold back.” I then lunged, my blade swing barely missing Tito’s nose by a hair. “Just got out the hospital, and already in another fight,” he said, pulling out his sword, Cece pulling out her hammer. “Why did I agree to this?” Cece then ran at me, swinging her hammer. I parried the attack, flipping over her and snapped my fingers. A few Gabba bats appeared and proceeded to try to attack her with buzz saw like attacks. As I turned my attention to Tito, Cece gasped and kept her hammer between the Noise and herself. “If I had to guess, it's because you're not fighting to kill or avoid being killed,” I replied. Tito shot a web at a few of the bats and swung his sword at them, dissolving them. “Still, kinda stupid. Even for me.” He then ducked under a swipe from a Mosh Grizzly and stabbed it, causing it to dissolve as well. I closed in and began to sword fight, using my after image ability to try to throw him off. Cece then swung her hammer at me, sending me to a wall. I recovered mid-air, my feet hitting the wall first. I then “jumped” off the wall swinging my sword at Cece’s hammer, aiming to cut through the handle, rendering it useless. Tito shot a web at her back and pulled her towards him beforehand and he swung at me. I parried and flipped over him and managed to elbow him in his kidney section. “Damn!” He said, grabbing his side. Cece then swung her hammer at me again, much faster and harder. I was able to parry the attack, but I was still knocked back, my feet sliding across the floor. Once I stopped, I struck out at her with a Dark Impulse combo, two blade swings and a dark hand construct punch. She managed to block the sword strikes, but the punch sent her flying. I then fell forward, feeling something pull at my legs. The visor to my helmet cracked a bit from the impact. I stood up, ready to keep fighting, but I was then thrown up against a wall by a lavender aura and my hands and feet were frozen to it. I looked to the entryway door and saw Rainbow and Twilight, the former fixing me with a deadly glare. “So who exactly are you?” Rainbow asked, crossing her arms. I smirked under my helmet. “Catch me and find out.” I then Dark Rolled out of the restraints and kept dark rolling until I reached the throne room, with Rainbow just behind me. She swung at me a few times, but I knocked the punches aside and took her legs out from underneath her. I then jumped away from the door as the other three came in, Mike on Tito’s shoulder and Emily by Cece as well. “I'll ask again,” Rainbow said, her hands steaming. “Who are you and what do you want?” I smirked again. “Megumi Kitaniji, and I want you to SUBMIT!” I felt Reaper wings form on my back briefly before my physical form altered and stretched, transforming into Anguis Cantus, a giant red snake whose body snaked through most of the castle, the head remaining in the throne room. I then roared loudly, as such that it was heard throughout Ponyville. (Dark’s POV) We all covered our ears when he roared. When he was done, I uncovered mine and stared at him. A giant red snake...why do I feel like I'm gonna fight weirder things in my life? Delsin didn’t give me much more of a chance to think more upon it. He struck towards me, almost as if trying to eat me. I immediately web zipped to the chandelier, Mike hanging onto my neck. The giant snake turned his attention to Rainbow. He roared (much more quietly) and a blood red fireball shot towards her. Rainbow immediately turned into a bunch of clouds and moved away before reforming into herself. It swiped its head towards Cece and Twilight. Cece jumped away while Twilight teleported to the other side of the room. It kept going after Cece by striking, swiping, and firing differently colored fireballs at her. She was able to avoid the strikes and swipes, and began knocking back the fireballs with her hammer. She missed one, red colored, and it knocked her against the wall and seemed to weaken her a bit, Emily running to her side. I growled before pulling out my sword and swinging at Delsin's neck. I sliced him a bit, but he reared back and fired a cluster of fireballs too fast to properly dodge. It was either dodge one get hit by many or dodge many and get hit by one. I forgot which way I chose, but I was launched by the attack, hitting the wall next to my sister, Mike flying towards another. “Ow…” I muttered. I saw Twilight move towards us while Rainbow was shooting ice at Delsin. Twilight knelt down by us and put her hand up, both it and her horn glowing. After a few moments, I felt better and got up. “Healing spell?” She nodded as Cece got back up and charged at Delsin, swinging her hammer and hitting him in the side of his face. The hit drove his snout/muzzle/face into the wall, getting stuck in the process. He struggled for a bit before his body burst into static, leaving him in his dark suit on the ground, exhausted looking. “Ha, that all you got?” Rainbow asked. Delsin stood up, shakily. I could only imagine a smirk on his face as he said, “No.” His hand then flung what looked like a giant, three pronged shuriken. The shuriken missed Rainbow by a hair and flew towards Twilight. She was too surprised to act and when it hit, it didn’t do anything but wrap her up in ethereal bands, forcing her body to look like a cross. “Twilight!” Rainbow screamed, before flying to her friend and trying to get her out of the bands. Twilight then was levitated out of her grip towards Delsin. My vision was then hazed in orange and I found myself trapped in an orange orb. I looked around and saw that Cece and Emily were in the same situation. “Hey!” Cece yelled. The orbs Cece and I were in were then grabbed by deep purple, ethereal claws. I then saw the main head of the new creature. Twilight was just under the beast’s chin, seemingly bonded to it’s neck to the point that the only thing you could see of her is from her shoulders up. “Hey!” Rainbow said, before seeing what Delsin turned into. “What the hay!” Delsin’s main head stayed back as five other heads I didn't notice earlier moved to attack her. Just before they did, the rightmost head was hit by something, causing it to comically hit the others like one of those desk toys. The leftmost one recovered first and attempted to look at the threat, causing it to hit the others again in the same manner. In the rightmost head's view was Mike, staring up at Delsin with an angry look. “Enough!” One of the lesser heads said, lunging at Mike. Mike jumped out of the way and fired a Water Pulse at it. The head recoiled from the attack and a different one tried. Mike just jumped onto it and used Bubble on its eyes before jumping off, the head crashing into a wall. I then noticed two heads snaking around behind Rainbow as she watched Mike fight. “Rainbow!” I yelled. She turned and saw the heads just as they fired massive fireballs at her. She immediately turned into clouds and reformed behind the heads. “My turn,” she said, before shoot some ice at them, freezing most of the two heads. They roared in pain, flailing about and distracting the other heads. Cece laughed. “Those things don't seem so tough.” Rainbow suddenly formed two swords out of ice and hacked and slashed the two partially frozen head. The heads then lunged at her, but Rainbow turned into clouds at the last second, causing the two heads to collide. She reformed in front of them and a spire of ice launched her upward above them. She then flapped her wings to speed her decent and impaled the heads with the ice swords. The heads burst into static, leaving three lesser heads and Delsin. “Wow….” I muttered, blinking. Another head lunged at her, but she was able to dodge by sidestepped it. She then cloud dashed to where Mike was and tossed him onto the head that attacked her. He then made a Water Pulse and fired at it before landing. The head dissolved into static as another head lunged at him. Mike dodged the strike by leaping onto the other last head. Mike jumped off the head causing the attacking head to bite the jumped head dissolving that one. When Mike landed on the ground, he was suddenly enveloped in light. “What's going on?” Twilight asked. “Well what do you know…” I said, watching Mike as his body shifted and changed. The light died down revealing a two foot tall blue frog with frubbles on its neck like a scarf. “Frogadier,” Mike said. “He evolved,” I muttered with a smile. The last head struck, but Mike jumped out of the way, landing next to Rainbow. He then fired a Water Pulse at her. She only extended her arm towards the attack and absorbed it. Her eyes flashed blue before going back to red. Rainbow then rushed the final head and jumped onto it. She then then exhaled a jet of steam from her mouth, burning between the eyes and causing it to dissolve. Mike jumped onto Rainbow’s back as she regarded Delsin angrily. “Let's end this!” She then slammed her hands on the ground and everything seemed to shake. Immediately, the room was suddenly flooded by a wave of water that slammed Delsin against the wall, dissolving his Noise form and freeing Cece, Emily, Twilight, and I. Rainbow then punched Delsin’s helmeted face, shattering the visor and sending him against the wall. The spot he hit was then covered in darkness and he seemed to dissolve. Once he was gone, all that was left was a strange crystal and a blue and red egg. I walked to Rainbow as she stared at the items and picked up the crystal. “What are these?” “What you are holding is called a Blast core.” We all looked up and saw Discord, leisurely munching on popcorn while paging through a manuscript titled “inFAMOUS Displaced”. “I have to say, watching the actual experience is much more entertaining than the reading. It doesn't do it justice.” “Um...first off, what are you doing, and how long have you been here?” I asked. “Oh, I was just comparing what’s written here,” he held up the manuscript. “To what just happened, and I must say, Delsin had you going Rainbow.” “Wait, what are you talking about?” Rainbow asked. “It’s because he was the strange figure and crazy snakes the whole time,” he chuckled. “All so you could learn that Karma Bomb.” “What?” “Oh, and that Blast core you’re holding came from the stomach of a different version of me.” Rainbow immediately let go of the blast core and wiped her hand on her jacket. “Okay, that's gross. Wait, you're saying that whole thing was because of DELSIN?!” “What would you do if I said ‘yes’?” “Well, I'd like to use those swords on him.” “I’ll say yes, but I’d recommend not slicing him to bits.” “Don't worry. I won't go THAT far.” “Um, sorry to interrupt, but what's that?” I asked, pointing to the manuscript. “Not for you,” Discord responded, poofing it out of existence. “Too many spoilers. But I must say that Wayward’s concept of Screwball is interesting. I should do something like that here...” He then shook his head. “I’m getting ahead of myself. I don’t recommend going any distance with those ice blades, Rainbow.” “And why not?” She asked. “Because in a few moments, he’ll have just finished having his ability to summon, control, and transform into Noise stripped from him. I mean, seriously, that power isn’t related at all to inFAMOUS and I’m not sure what Wayward was thinking, giving him that power. This isn’t TWEWY.” We just stared at him. “Umm...who and what are you talking about?” “Oh, no one you need be concerned with,” he said with a mischievous grin. “But a good swift kick in his rear should be enough for you, Ice Wing.” “Fine,” Rainbow said with a shrug. A few moments later, Delsin was shot out of a void portal with another Blast core. Rainbow didn’t hesitate and kicked him hard, sending him flying. After landing, he struggled to his feet. “Anyone get the number on that truck?” “That's for tricking me,” Rainbow said, hovering above him with her arms crossed. “Anything else?” He asked. “Oh, I got one,” I said, before punching him in his side, sending him to his knees. “That's for earlier.” I then walked away and leaned on a wall. “Ow...Any input from Twilight, Cece, or your other friends?” They all shook their heads. “Tito and Rainbow already did quite enough,” Cece said, petting Emily. “And Twilight helped with the pain I had anyway.” “Okay, that’s…” Delsin groaned in pain. “That smarts.” He then looked at us. “Anyone care to help me up?” Twilight walked to him and used the healing spell on him. “Thanks.” He stood up, popped his back, neck, and other joints before looking at me. “These Blast cores,” he levitated the two cores to me, “belong to a conduit in need...if you find one. The egg,” he levitated the egg to Twilight, “is to be cared for.” “What kind of egg is this?” Twilight asked. “Karmic Eagle,” Discord said. “Much like a regular eagle, but the color scheme is different. Red and blue if I remember correctly.” “I never heard of it. Is it from Equestria?” “My Equestria,” Delsin said. “When Celestia met Screwball for the first time, Screwball was scared so badly, she accidentally created them.” “So...this'll be a brand new species in this dimension?” “Well...yeah.” Twilight’s eyes beamed and I just put my hand up. “Worry about that later, Twi. And don't forget to tell Fluttershy. Right now, can we just sit and relax?” “I'm with Dark,” Rainbow said. “That fight was rather tiring.” “Do you want me to get Celestia first? You know, for the picture?” Delsin asked. “Sure,” I replied. “As well as anyone else who's close to you if you want.” “Okay.” He tossed his feather token to Discord. “Mind helping me?” “Can’t go contrary to Wayward’s or the other’s will.” He took the feather and snapped his fingers, opening a void portal. Delsin stepped through. *GLOMP* *BANG* *DING* Delsin shot back out of the portal, a bucket stuck to his head and a small, dark blue alicorn, with black and white mane and tail latched onto his back. “D! It’s good to see you again! I thought you and Tia got lost!” “Mmphr prhm mrph!” Delsin responded. “Um….who's that?” Cece asked, pointing to the alicorn. “No idea,” I told her with a shrug. “We shall be elated to tell thee,” said a voice from the portal. Out of the portal stepped Pony Celestia, and Pony Luna. Accompanying them was an alicorn that seriously looked more like a robot than a pony. “Better question, who's the RoboCop pony?” I asked. The pony’s forelegs lit up in purple lightning. “You want to find out the easy way or the hard way?” “Easy way please. I just been in a fight with 2 Conduits within two days and don't want another so soon.” “Then don’t crack robot jokes. My name is Dusk Spark. Got it memorized?” “This isn’t Kingdom Hearts either!” Discord complained. “Just shut up, Dingus.” I stared at Dusk. “So you're Nisled’s Twilight?” My spider-sense went off, but I didn’t have time to react, as Dusk was suddenly in front of me and tackled me. “THAT...IS...NOT...MY...NAME!!!” I heard the sound of water splashing and I felt a huge shock as my vision suddenly went all over the place. When my vision cleared, Cece and Rainbow were standing over me. “No one hurts my brother,” Cece said, pulling out her hammer. I glanced to the side, seeing Dusk smoking and sparking as she stood up. “Then watch where you aim your squirt guns. Electricity 101. Water and Electricity don’t mix. Get that memorized!” I got up. “What's your problem? It was a simple question.” Delsin spoke after removing his odd headwear. “Did I fail to mention that calling her…” Delsin received a death glare from Dusk. “...that upsets her? “That would've been good to know.” “Why do you look so weird?” The small alicorn said to Rainbow from Delsin’s back. Rainbow blinked. “What do you mean “weird”?” “Well, you look like a human, but you have a few pony parts.” I sighed. “To explain that, this is a world where all the sentient life on Equis are humanoid. Hence why Rainbow and Twilight here look like that.” “Oh,” she said. She then saw Cece and unlatched herself from Delsin to get a closer look. “Your eyes are bigger than mine!” Cece just blinked and stepped away, holding Emily closer to her. “Oooh, what’s that? It’s so cute.” Emily just hid her face on Cece and let out a small whimper. Mike then stepped between Cece and the alicorn, glaring at her. “Froga.” The alicorn’s pupils became pin pricks. “AH!” She then ran back to Delsin and latched onto his head, knocking him over. “What’s that!” “Sorry about Mike,” I said, walking to her and Delsin. “He's really protective of Emily and doesn't like when people scare her. By the way, we haven't introduced ourselves.” I held my hand up to her. “My name is Tito, but most call me Dark.” She took my hand and shook it lightly. “I’m Stella. I was once part of Lulu’s mind.” “Doph anybony hafe a crewbrr?” Delsin called out from underneath Stella’s legs. Discord summoned a crowbar and proceeded to help Delsin pry Stella off of him. As I was watching that, I simply said, “So you pretty much have Nyx as well as Screwball.” “Telepathy combined with the Elements of Harmony can do weird things,” he commented after his mouth was clear. His face then flashed confusion. “By the way, are you saying Nix or Nyx and what does that have to do with Screwball?” “I said Nyx and she's one of two fillies I rarely hear about, besides Screwball. Nyx only shown up in a fanfic that introduced her, and Screwball...well besides that song “Daddy Discord” I mostly only know about those two seconds in Return of Harmony and...a certain fanfic that I still don't want to talk about near anypony close to the mom of that version of Screwy.” “Makes sense. So, picture?” “Right, right.” I pulled out my phone. “Line up in a row.” Celestia, Luna, Stella, and Dusk stood in a line, respective order. Delsin went to stand by his fiance, but when he did, she magically flipped him upside down. “I need to show him who’s in charge,” she jokingly said. I chuckled. “Can you set him right please? Need a good picture.” She set him correctly on the ground. I then pointed my phone at them. “Say “Karma”.” I took the picture. “Okay then. Anything else?” “Before I go, I almost forgot.” He pulled a photo out of his pocket. “Sora wanted me to give this to every Displaced I meet so that no one takes his Solar Diarch seriously.” I took the photo and stared wide eyed at what I saw. The image was of a male pony version of Celestia in a pink frilly dress, looking absolutely ridiculous. "Um Dark?” Rainbow said. “You okay?” I snickered before handing it to her and Cece and they fell over laughing, causing me to do the same. Twilight used her magic to grab the picture and looked at it, before her mind broke again. About four minutes later, I calmed down and look at Delsin. “So what, Sora’s world is an R63 one or something?” “Half-n-half. Some are male, others, still female.” He chuckled, “Thinking about that, you should have seen the look on Rainbow Blitz’s face when I detonated a smoke grenade in his face.” I snickered at that name but Rainbow immediately stopped laughing and looked at Delsin with a confused look on her face. “Wait, who?” “Male version of you, Rainbow Blitz” he said simply. Rainbow immediately stared at him with wide eyes, open mouth, and a shocked expression on her face. “W-WHAT?!” “Did I stutter?” He asked as he brought a pipe to his lips. “By the way, look down.” We looked down to Rainbow’s hooves and saw a small ball leaking small bits of smoke. “What's that?” Cece asked. “A carefully timed smoke grenade,” Delsin answered as Rainbow slowly backing away. “I’ve used that in the various Guard barracks to give surprise wake up calls to the new recruits.” “When would it go off?” “It should go off around midnight, which gives you guys plenty of time to choose who’s pillow it will end up under.” I immediately webbed up the smoke bomb and put it in a web bag. “Nope. Not letting any of you two use this,” I said, looking at Rainbow and Cece. Suddenly, I felt the weight of the bag leave my hands. Delsin managed to smoke dash and snag the bag. “Keep away!” He said, passing the bag to Cece. I immediately web it up before she could catch it and shot webs at Rainbow and Cece's legs before glaring at Delsin. “Seriously?” I asked, using my powers to keep the bag in my hand this time. “Lighten up, Tito,” he said. “What’s wrong with a little prank war?” “You obviously haven't seen or heard about “28 Pranks Later”.” I said, releasing the two I webbed up. “Not really, but I’ve had my head forced into more buckets than I care to count,” he answered, giving a slight glare to Luna. “You wanna know what happens?” “I’ll find out when and if it does happen.” He then smoke dashed to Celestia. “In the meantime, I need to help wrap up a few things in my world and start tinkering with blast shards.” “Before you go, can I see your phone for a second?” He tossed me the phone. I then walked to Twilight, who was still frozen. “Rainbow, if you please.” Rainbow nodded before shooting a ball of water at Twilight. She shook her head and glared at us. “REALLY?!” “Delsin is about to leave and I was hoping you can do the spell before he goes.” She sighed before performing the spell. “Thank you very much, Twily.” I then tossed it back to Delsin. “There. It'll never one out of power now.” “Thanks. It'll be good for video and electric emergencies.” He turned to Celestia, who was just opening a portal. “I'll try to contact you when I have a signal booster built.” He then stepped through the portal with the Royal alicorns. Dusk stopped before entering the portal. Turning to Twilight, she said, “Make sure to give Her Royal Cake Flank up in Canterlot my regards.” She then jumped through the portal before any response could be made, the portal closing behind her. Author's Note This was drawn out and rather long. Also, yes, Delsin has been stripped of some of his powers. The ones I never really liked sometime after giving them.
Chapter 23: Portal Trouble This chapter was written with the assistance of Company Master Sebaste. A Crossover with his story, For the Emperor and the UNSC! (Rebooted version). inFAMOUS Displaced Chapter 23 Portal Trouble (Delsin's POV) We (being Tia, Lulu, Stella, Dusk and myself) exited the portal from Tito’s world to our world, Celestia’s office specifically. I could honestly say that it felt good being home. But, it's usually around that time that Karma decides to be a $#@&¥. “Your Highnesses!” An Eagle Guard officer barged into the room and bowed. “An update on our search for the Skullcap leaders in Manehatten!” “Rise, and report.” “We've discovered an abandoned hideout, but it's what is in the hideout that may catch your interest.” The guard pulled out some photos and hoofed them over to me. I looked at the pictures with some interest. “What is this?” “We're not sure, but we're hoping you could help us identify the device.” “Alright, I'll depart immediately...and Tia’s coming-” Tia suddenly activated a teleportation spell. And we arrived in the Manehatten Guard post. “-with,” I finished. Tia simply giggled at my deflated statement. “I had the feeling you would allow me to come.” “Well, don't get used to it,” I said, playfully poking her nose. She swatted my hand away. “Just go find that device.” “Where is it?” “Just a few blocks North,” a nearby guard said. “You'll notice it easily. The place is crawling with Guards and Anti-Skullcaps.” “Thanks.” I exited the guard post and trekked the few blocks north to the site. The guard that gave me directions wasn't really lying with his description of the place. Guards and Anti-Skullcaps constantly moving. It took me a while, but I was able to find somepony to take me to the device. The room the device was in seemed impressively built. The interior alone seemed like it could take the very Wrath of God and survive with barely a scratch. The device itself, however, caught my attention. It was a large circular frame with blast shards attached to said frame. The machinery was more complicated than I could adequately describe. The only thing I could say about it was that there was a spot for something to go on the device to activate it. “This must be the Mother Ship,” I jokingly commented as I walked into the room...only to trip on something and knocking over a desk that had two odd looking swords and a handle for something. The swords clattered to the ground harmlessly, but the handle, in a fit of Bad Karma, decided to bounce onto the device's activation pad. The portal kicked to life and flung three armored beings on top of me. “Gah!” “Dooof!” “Owww!” I unceremoniously pushed one of the armored beings off of me, just in time to hear the door to the chamber closing. “Oh CRAP!” I smoke dashed to the door just as it closed and latched. “CRAP!” “Ugh… anyone get the ID of that Pelican Gunship?” One of the figures spoke up. I whipped around, smoke trailing my arm as I got a better look at the newcomers. Two of them looked like Spartans from Halo, although one had a mismatched arm. The third looked like a better outfitted version of the Iron Armor MK 1. “Where… where the heck are we?” Another figure asked, surprising me as the voice was female. “Better question is, who are you?” I asked, silently prepping a smoke grenade. The three spun around to face me, their bodies showing their shock. “Vik? You’re not the only one seeing this guy, right?” The third figure asked. The first figure shook his head. “Buddy, we weren't expecting to do a house call. We have no idea why the heck we were even called here!” He said. I lowered my arm, canceling the smoke. “I was meaning your names, since we might be stuck in this chamber for a while.” “Name’s Viktor, and these two are Alexandra and Sebastian, Alex and Sasha respectively.” He said. “Delsin Rowe,” I said as I used a ray sphere pulse to check the three. Viktor and Sasha were clean, but Alex had the gene, and it was active. “I'm going to avoid shaking your hand for the time being,” I said to her. She nodded before Sebastian seemed to realize something. “Wait… Delsin? Tito mentioned you when we were in his world….” Something felt off about what he said. “That's interesting. I just actually was done in his world a few hours ago...at least, according to my perspective.” “Weird,” he said, “you were there a few weeks ago, according to him. Time must be different in each Equestria.” “That...actually makes sense. Maybe synchronization may happen once I...HEY!” I saw a young colt placing the item handle in the portal device. It turned on, sucking the colt in and then exploded, sending blast shards into the walls. “Ah shit….” Viktor growled. “How the hell are we supposed to get out now?!” “Let me see if somepony outside can help us out.” I walked to the door and banged on it. “Hey! Could somepony help us out here?” A loudspeaker suddenly crackled to life. *Who's in the chamber!?* “Nobody but us chickens.” Viktor wisecracked before Alex whacked him on the back of the head. “Thank you,” I muttered before responding. *Delsin Rowe and three-* *The demon has been captured! Retake the base!* “Sheesh, and I thought Spartans being called demons by the Covenant was original…” Alex muttered. *Let us out of here or-* “Or what, darling?” A seductive, feminine voice said from the loudspeaker. Wait a minute. “SASHA!?” “I was wondering when you'd find that trap,” she said, “It took a lot of effort to plan out.” “Old friend of yours?” Sebastian asked. “And why the heck does she sound like Rarity?” “For one thing, I've heard of her, just never met her. Second, she sounds like that because she's practically a-” “Now, now. No need to call me names until we at least have our first date.” “Put a cork in it lady.” Viktor growled. “You already blew this out of proportions when you got us involved.” “Delsin, dear? Would you kindly keep your pets-” I fired a cinder missile at the speaker, shutting up the transmission. “Boring conversation anyways… so how the hell are we supposed to get out of here?!” Viktor asked. “Only one idea left.” I extended my hand for Alex to shake. “I'm gonna need your help. And I'll apologize after we shake.” Alex hesitantly nodded and took my hand. Our hands then suddenly lit up in blue auras and both of us fell unconscious. (Alex's mind) My life had been perfect. I had a brother that cared for me and two great parents, but then one day, when my mom and I were coming back from a mall, a man that had had too much to drink crashed into our car and totaled it. My right arm smashed into the door and was crushed between it and the car. My mom survived also, but when we got to the hospital, the doctors said my arm couldn't be saved and they had to amputate it. The next few days were a blur for me, but a company that made custom prosthetic arms offered to make one for me. Since I was a big fan of SoulCalibur, and of Ivy Valentine in particular, I asked if they could make it after her right arm armor. A few weeks after I got the arm, Viktor, his friend Sasha and I went to the New York Comicon, both me and Vik went as Spartans from Halo 5 while Sasha went as a Astartes from a game called Warhammer 40,000. Unfortunately, Sasha forgot our weapons, but we soon found a vendor that was dressed as a trader from the same game. After we bought the weapons we needed… all three of us blacked out. I woke up next to Viktor who had been looking around at the forest we were now in. Soon after that, what looked like wooden wolves attacked us, I was so scared, I thrust my hand out to deflect any attack. What I didn't expect was a burst of energy that shot out of my hand and smashed into them, turning them into nothing but bits of twig. I realized then that I was able to use magic, and to this day, I'm still scared of my power… but I know that I will use it to protect others. (Back in the real world) After the power vision, I woke up to see the business end of a rifle pointed at my face. “Umm...trigger happy, lately?” Viktor raised his weapon and gave me a hidden glare. “What did you do to Alex?!” He growled. Sebastian was lowering his own weapon, a more heavy looking automatic weapon that was clip fed and from the look of it fired heavy caliber bullets. “You shake her hand and she suddenly faints! So what did you do!?” “You guys familiar with InFAMOUS?” I asked them. “We’ve heard of it, never really played it.” Sebastian said, his weapon suddenly vanishing from his hands. “Third game in the series, the protagonist has the ability to absorb the powers of others of his kind.” I pointed at Alex, who was just beginning to stir. “She's one of them.” “A conduit? Please, the character her arm’s based off of used magic herself. She wasn't a conduit.” Viktor snorted. “I've met two Displaced that had their conduit genes active, but in ways related to the character. Sora for light, Vanitas for darkness.” “Hang on, I’ve heard of those names, they're characters from Kingdom Hearts. You mean there are KH Displaced?!” Sebastian asked in disbelief. “Can we get back on the topic of escape?” I asked. “I need to see what I can now do.” “Sorry.” “Now, you see the glowing crystals that are embedded in the walls?” The two nodded just as Alex shakily stood up. “Grab them. They'll come in handy later.” The three began extracting the blast shards as I examined the door. I closed my eyes and began to feel an energy flowing into my eyes. When I opened them, I was able to see the lock mechanism in the door. “What do you know, this door wasn't designed with intelligent beings in mind.” Alex looked over to me. “So it can be lock-picked?” She asked. I turned to her, seeing her armor’s weak spots. She recoiled a bit upon seeing me. “In a way, yes. But no pick will be needed in the process.” I turned my attention back to the door and carefully examined the three bolts that held the door closed. I tested my telekinesis on them and found it was like those trial and error puzzles. It took a few seconds, but the lock was disengaged. “Say hello to Freed-” The door was suddenly impaled by eight rock spires, forcing the door to stay closed. “What in Dorn's name?” Sebastian yelped. “Who the hell did that?!” “Must have been one of the Skullcaps,” I growled. “Most of them are rock conduits.” Sebastian growled before his entire form suddenly began to glow. “I'm not gonna stay in this room and let those idiots try and harm anypony!” He shouted before the glow became so bright, me and the others had to block our eyes. When it died down, we stared at him in shock. Towering above us was a massive robot, with what looked like a rotary type cannon and a massive fist with a built in gun underneath. Sebastian's voice then emanated from it. ++Well… this was unexpected…++ Viktor whistled. “Dang dude, you’re a flipping Dreadnought!” I shook my head. “If you're going to go crazy, aim for the ponies painted in red, have bone armor, and have black veins on their faces. Everypony else is not to be harmed under ANY circumstances.” ++I'm not a bloody Berserker, I do know enemies from civilians.++ Sebastian muttered before he pulled his fist back. ++To quote a certain Marvel hero: IT'S CLOBBERING TIME!++ He roared as he swung his fist forward. The door flew off its hinges and crashed into the wall. He then changed back into his power armored form and staggered. “Geez, that… took a lot out of me…” A glowing chunk of rock suddenly flew into the chamber and exploded, sending shards of rock over the four of us. While the three armored Displaced had protection, I wasn't as lucky, getting hit with a few chunks in the ribs and abdomen. As one, the three suddenly had ranged weapons that weren't in their hands before, and opened fire on our attackers. The rapid chatter of an assault rifle was accompanied by the heavy thud of Sebastian's gun. Alex quickly ran over to where I was, what looked like a high tech energy rifle in her hands. “You okay?” She asked. I pulled the rocks out of me, the blue light of magic ‘leaking’ out before the wounds sealed up. “Just the day in the life of a Conduit.” I stood up and unraveled my chain. “Now, let's beat these guys into next Tuesday.” I ran forward, teleported in front of a few Skullcaps and lashed out with my chain. The chain transformed into ethereal ruins and struck hard, behaving like a whip. The three others soon also charged in, each armed with a different melee weapon. Sebastian was armed with a mace that crackled with energy while Viktor was armed with a massive two handed hammer. Alex however was armed with what looked like a normal sword until she flicked her wrist and the blade transformed into a whip. “Let's see you fly!” Viktor yelled before he swung his weapon. When it hit, a visible shockwave sent five Skullcaps flying. I teleported to a catwalk above the combat and began firing off bolts of magic at the Skullcaps below. I charged a shot and fired three homing bolts of magic that hit and restrained them. “Oh, I'm SO going to use this!” Sebastian smashed aside a Skullcap and shouted, “I'm getting tired of you boneheads! This isn't exactly humerus!” I dodged a rock bullet and tossed the attacker off of the catwalk. “Now’s not the time for silly puns,” I shouted out. “Save them for tomarrow...DANG IT!!!” “Fine, I'll finish punishing these guys and leave the jokes for later.” Sebastian chuckled as he punched a Skullcap and sent him sprawling. I jumped off the catwalk and slammed my fist on the ground, causing several Skullcaps to be sent flying from the magical shockwave. “You guys may want to hold onto something!” I then summoned my magic and began to gather energy into the center of the room. All the Skullcaps, loose boxes, and debris were then sucked into it. I held the energy for a few more seconds before I released it in an explosion that blew the Skullcaps against the walls, wrapped up in magical restraints. The boxes and debris were vaporized. I then collapsed onto my knees, exhausted. “Holy throne…” Sebastian muttered. “So what do we with these guys?” Viktor asked, looking at the restrained Skullcaps. “Wait until the authorities arrive?” “That’s usually best,” I said. I then looked around the room briefly. “Now to find our way out of here.” “Kyra’s picking up an exit a few feet from us.” The Spartan said, looking around. “I have a nav point on it.” “Then lead the way. This definitely wasn’t the back alley hideout I entered earlier.” Viktor nodded before he lead us out of the room. We wandered through the seemingly empty corridor checking every door we came across. “Cheerful place,” I commented after searching the fourth room, finding it empty. “Trust me, I’ve been in places that would kill.” Sebastian muttered. Viktor then halted and held up a hand. “I’ve got eyes on the exit. But I'm hearing footsteps outside…” he said. “Wait… I'm hearing a female voice outside and it's not that mare from earlier… geez, she’s got a quite a mouth on her, she… Ouch, Celestia is not gonna be happy about being called that name!” Suddenly, something small came running from the exit and hid behind my legs. “That crazy robot pony is after me!” “Who’s this?” Alex said, taking her helmet off and letting her black hair flow onto her shoulders before kneeling down and looking at the colt. “Yah!” The colt suddenly jumped up and held onto my neck. I was able to get a better look at him while struggling to climb onto my head. He looked like the kind of painted horse you would see Native Americans ride in old west pictures. His barrel was covered with an apparatus of some kind with a variety of tubes coming out of it. And his hooves looked like they were scarred by something. “Please, don't eat me!” The colt shouted. Hearing his voice suddenly brought something back to me. “Wait a minute, you're that conduit that begged for my help using that neuro-tar on me!” “I recognize him, that's Pipsqueak! But… what happened to you?” Sebastian asked the colt. “He was tortured,” we heard from the door. Looking, we saw Dusk walking through the door, an odd combination of a scowl and sad face on her face. “So you're Dusk…” Sebastian said, with a nod. “Yeah? What's it to you?” “Dark and Rainbow mentioned you when we were in his Equestria. They weren't kidding about you being one moody Alicorn.” He chuckled. “Don't remind me,” she said, “Anyway, you found Pipsneak and I'll leave you five to deal with Sasha.” She began walking off. “Dusk.” Alex said, causing her to turn around. “You’re not the only one who went through a hard time.” “Don't try to sympathize,” she said nonchalantly. She then static teleported out of site. “Geez, she must be really fun at parties.” Viktor said sarcastically. He then looked at Pipsqueak. “So why did you need Delsin's help?” He asked. “Well, the power that I have was forced upon me,” he said, “It hurt for it to happen. Then they tried to make me do things...bad things.” Alex's eyes narrowed in anger and her tone was steely as she said, “Whoever did this… just pissed off the wrong Displaced.” “I think we should definitely take care of Sasha. If she goes down, that's one less problem for me.” “What do you know of her?” Viktor asked. “Tar conduit that looks like the very spawn of Tartarus itself...from what I remember from the game,” I said. “And I hope she has the decency to wear better covering clothing than what the game depicted.” “So I'm guessing her weakness is fire?” Sebastian asked. “No,” Pipsqueak answered. “She wears a thing like me.” He pointed to the tube covered apparatus on himself. “You pull the tubes out and it gets harder for her to control her powers.” “Or take the tubes out from afar…” Alex mused. “Sounds like a plan,” I said, pointing to the door. “So, this way buddy?” “Yup!” Pipsqueak answered. We followed him down the hallway as it began to slope downward. As it began to level out, we noticed that there was a black liquid up to ankle depth. “Ugh… even though my helmet I can smell the stuff… it’s gonna take forever to get my armor cleaned.” Sebastian groaned. I knelt down and examined the liquid. “Guys, when we take on Sasha, don't let any of this stuff touch your head or spine.” “Let me guess, it does something to you?” Alex asked as she resealed her helmet. “Brief contact will mess with your head a bit, longer exposure, ingestion, or injection will mean a complete takeover of your mind.” “Good thing we wear helmets and armor then.” Viktor said. “Otherwise, that wouldn't be good.” We advanced into the neuro-tar, but partway in, Alex was suddenly pulled under the surface of the tar. “ALEX!” Viktor shouted. “You really don't know proper dating etiquette,” Sasha’s voice came out of a loudspeaker. “Bringing another girl with you to pick up your date? How heartless.” “That girl is my sister!” Viktor snarled, what looked like a handheld railgun appearing in his hands. “And you just made the wrong choice, you Tartarus spawn!” “Delsin, we need to talk in private, away from your pets.” I felt my leg get tugged by something. When I looked down, I was suddenly pulled under and instantly blacked out. (3rd person POV) “Delsin!” Viktor shouted as the Conduit was yanked under. “Pip, can you guide us to where we need to go?” Sebastian asked the colt. “I think so,” he said nervously. “Don't think you're off the hook either, welp!” Pipsqueak shouted out in fear, jumping up and latching onto Viktor’s visor. “You want him? You go through us…” Sebastian growled. “You think we're scared of you? We’ve seen things that would give you nightmares…” “I can show you nightmares,” she said as something was formed from the liquid. Sebastian snorted. “Please, that's not scary.” The Alien suddenly sprouted a unicorn horn and wings. Its tail then morphed into multiple, whip-like tails. Sebastian’s gun arm was snagged by one of the tails as it flew at him, bio-blades brandished. “If that's supposed to scare me, then you need to do a better job.” He said before a handheld flamethrower appeared in his hand. “CLEANSE AND BURN!” He roared before a jet of flame engulfed the construct. The construct howled in pain as it burned, but it managed to land a strike with its Bio-blade before dissolving. “Stronger than I thought,” Sasha said, “And to think I fell for Delsin.” “Sorry, but I'm not in the mood for dating.” Sebastian growled, wincing as his enhanced physiology healed his wound. “Now give Alex and Delsin back!” A door nearby opened up, revealing a larger, more flooded room. “Claim them if you can.” “Kyra, keep an eye out for any movement.” Viktor said, after repositioning Pipsqueak on his helmet. “You got it,” The AI replied. The two entered the room, their weapons at the ready. Knowing now that the tar was vulnerable to fire, Viktor had replaced his weapon for a flamethrower and was now sweeping it back and forth in case an attack happened. Once they were in the room, they heard footsteps up above them. They looked up and saw that both Delsin and Alex were being suspended by tendrils of tar coming from a bald woman in jogging pants and a zipped up jacket with tubes coming out of it. “Let me guess, you’re Sasha?” Viktor asked. “Very perceptive,” she said. “Why go to all of this? You could be helping ponies, not enslaving them and having them do your bidding!” Sebastian said, glaring behind his helmet. “Answer me this,” she said, “Was Hitler truly a heartless monster?” “Depends on who you’re talking to.” Viktor replied, his voice guarded. “But what you did to Pipsqueak… even someone like Hitler wouldn't want that to happen to someone.” “And yet he did it to the Jews.” “Just what is your point?” “The same as him. Destroy those who would deny safety for freedom, and bring down the false rulers of this land.” “By enslaving others? Killing the Princesses? That's not freedom, that's tyranny! You’re just as bad as Sombra!” Viktor spat, “He tried the same thing as you are doing now and failed miserably, what makes you think you'll succeed?” “Simple, unlike him, I’ll have a proper means of escape, should I fail.” “Then I have one thing to say.” Viktor said. “Boom.” She looked down to see a plasma grenade glowing blue at her feet. She simply giggled as the explosive went off. She was dissolved in the explosion and the tar tendrils holding the prisoners were now coming from the flooded floor. “Vik, now!” Sebastian yelled before the two unleashed a flamestorm from their weapons. “Bet you did Nazi that coming!” Viktor snarked. “Clever pun,” they heard her say. She suddenly rose from the floor and began to grapple with him. He was surprised by her strength, her lithe frame hiding it. “You honestly have no idea who you're dealing with.” He growled before he rammed his head against hers, the helmet multiplying the impact force and stunning her. He then kicked her away and after summoning twin SMGs, took a few pot shots at the hoses and disconnected four. “I'm not some police officer you can overpower, I'm a Spartan of the UNSC, the elite of the elite.” He then activated his thrusters and slammed into her, sending her smashing into a wall. “And you just pissed me off big time.” She smiled and dissolved. A giggle was heard behind him and he was hit hard with two tendrils, sending him flying into another wall. “And I’m not your average succubus.” “But you do have one thing that applies to any living being.” Sebastian said. “You can BURN!” He growled as he unleashed a blast of flame at her. She screeched in pain and dissolved. More tendrils came from the pool and began knocking the two warriors every which way, hitting every other wall. Alex suddenly yelled, “HEY!” before she suddenly teleported out of the tendril holding her. “You want to fight someone? Then bring it on!” She snarled, her gauntlet suddenly charging with arcane energy. She then whipped her sword out and flicked her wrist, the blade separating into its whip form. “Since I’ve managed my escape,” she said, raising from the floor. “I can spare a few minutes.” Alex smirked under her helmet before she suddenly teleported before Sasha could react and delivered a combination of blows from her weapon and magic blasts to the Conduit. “Still think you can beat me? I was trained by Twilight in magic and in combat by a Spartan named Eliteslayer!” She said as she delivered a powerhouse blow with her right arm, the punch sending Sasha into the wall. She then walked forward, restraining the Tar Conduit with bands of magic. “I'm called the “Spartan Mage” for a reason, I'm both a UNSC Spartan, and a powerful magic user.” She then sheathed her sword and summoned a single pistol. Taking aim, she then fired and disconnected the rest of the hoses. “And you just failed.” Sasha coughed in pain, but continued to giggle and laugh. “Are you sure that I’ve failed?” “Unlike you, we care about the ponies and their well-being. And we will defend them at all costs.” Sebastian said as he cut Delsin down from his tendril. “Did you forget what I said? I said, ‘I’ve managed my escape.’” The sound of another portal device opening then exploding was heard. The fake Sasha then dissolved. “...shit…” Viktor swore. “She may have escaped… but we managed to save Pip.” Alex said, looking at the colt. “Well, now another world is going to have her as a problem,” Delsin commented. “I just hope this won’t be like my doppleganger.” “I think she'll end up hitting the wall. The Multiverse isn't a picnic for the uninitiated.” Viktor said. “But if we do encounter her, she’ll find us ready and waiting.” “How much do you know about my doppelganger?” “Enough to know that he’s a threat to the Multiverse. But he’ll find out that there are beings that can easily remove his powers for good.” Sebastian said, his tone steely. “Let’s not resort to the authors or whatever they’re called just yet,” Delsin shuddered. “I already had a bad encounter with mine or whatever.” “I wasn't talking about the authors. There are beings known as Displacers and Void Dwellers that are more than a match for any Displaced.” Viktor explained. “They haven’t interfered yet in my dealings with him. He’s limited to where I’ve been or summoned from in the Multiverse. So, you’ll have a wacknut to deal with when it comes to your world.” “If he does attack, he’ll find he’s bitten off more than he can chew.” Alex spoke up. “He is resistant to death,” Delsin answered, leaving the group speechless. “Your point?” “The point is, there's a Displacer that guards our universe. Along with a void dweller named Ahriman, who used to be a Displaced himself apparently.” “Okay, I’ll admit, I may not have to deal with him on your world, but I’ll still need to head to your world to at least find that colt that, for some reason, activated that portal and traveled to your world.” “Right… Let's hope your Celestia doesn't get too worried about you…” Sebastian said. “Incidentally, congrats on being engaged.” “Ah, so you heard,” Delsin said. “There are some invitations, should you be open to come.” “Hopefully we’ll be able to, if this damn war ends soon…” Viktor said. “Okay, let’s get to the surface.” He turned to Pipsqueak. “Pip, lead the way.” (Delsin’s POV) After Pip led us out of the underground hideaway, we found ourselves just outside one of the warehouses at the edge of the city. “This is frustrating,” I said to no one in particular. “I went just a few blocks north of the guard station and now, I’m who know’s how far away from that original spot!” “Let me try something.” Alex said before she launched a burst of magic into the air, the orb exploding after it hit a few feet. “Magic flare, should get the guard’s attention.” A bolt of neon suddenly came flying from a nearby rooftop, hitting Alex in the leg and causing her to be bound up from head to toe in neon bands. “Hey! What was that for!?” The Spartan asked indignantly. In response, a rock grenade landed and exploded between the other two. “Oy! We’re friendlies!” Viktor shouted. “NEON!!! OBSIDIAN!!! GET YOUR FLANK ENDS DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!!!” I bellowed. Two earth ponies were suddenly standing at attention in front of me. “You called?” Neon asked. “When are you two gonna stop doing that!? Seriously! I leave homeworld for a few days and you’re both already at each other’s throats!” “Um, mind getting me out of these?!” Alex asked, struggling against her bonds. “Just give me a sec.” I walked up to a shop window and drained the neon sign in the front. I unraveled my chain and swiped at the bonds, cutting them clean off. “Thanks.” She said, rubbing her wrists. “No problem. Stay here for a moment, I’m gonna see if there is any guard movement that saw your flare.” I then ran up the side of a tall skyscraper in a blur of neon. Once I arrived at the top, I was able to see some of the pegasi from the Solar Division making their way to our position. I jumped off of the building and landed just behind Sebastian. “Anyone coming towards where we are?” He asked. “A few pegasi from the Solar Division.” “Welp, while we're waiting, I'm gonna listen to some music.” Viktor said, “Kyra, active music file 8300, key word For Freedom We Rise.” “Do you happen to have Calling or Twister in your music bank or whatever?” “No, never even heard of those songs.” He said, just as the music file in his helmet activated. “Oh, okay.” I suddenly remembered something. “Hey, you remember your ‘disbelief’ over a few Kingdom Hearts Displaced?” “Yeah…” Sebastian replied. “Well, get this. Sora’s Equestria is partial r63.” I pulled out the picture of Solaris in a dress and showed it to him. “And look at what he did to the Solar Diarch.” Sebastian took one look and busted out laughing. “Well that's definitely something! And Eliteslayer mentioned that in a Equestria he visited, there was a male version of Ruby running around.” “I can see that you’re already acquainting them with an alternate version of myself.” I turned to the sound of the voice to see Tia walking towards us. “Heh, you got that right, honey,” I said. The three Displaced knelt down in respect. “It's nice to meet you Celestia.” Viktor said. “Don’t overstress it, Dude,” I said. “I agree,” Tia said. “Set your formalities aside. Anyone who is on good terms with my fiance, is on good terms with me.” “Sorry, just kinda used to doing it with our Celestia.” Sebastian chuckled. They then stood up and he continued, “The name's Sebastian, and these two are Alexandra and Viktor.” He said, nodding to the two Spartans. “A pleasure to meet all of you.” “The pleasure is all ours, it’s not often we meet a Celestia that's engaged to a Displaced.” Viktor chuckled. “I heard suspicions from Delsin that another Displaced is in love with his Princess Luna.” Sebastian frowned. “Sebaste mentioned that a Displaced he met mentioned a Gilgamesh… but I haven't really heard much about the guy to know much.” “She was talking about Sora,” I mumbled. “Wait, the guy who's version of Celestia was in the dress? Huh.” He then chuckled, “This’ll definitely be a tale to tell Twi and Nyx…” “All talking aside, I think we should return to Canterlot,” I said. Turning to the three I said, “You're free to tag along as well to rest up before we tackle trying to rebuild the portal tech.” Viktor nodded. “We're fine with that, but are we teleporting there? If not, we have our own transportation.” he asked. “Where is it?” I asked, looking around, trying to find it. While I couldn't see it, I had the feeling he was smirking. Suddenly, a large aircraft appeared next to the three, the troop hatch open. I recognized it as a Pelican Gunship from Halo 3. “When you're able to summon any weapon or vehicle from the games, you don't need to have others transport you.” He chuckled. “Holy...can I try flying a Banshee?” I asked in fanboy like excitement. “Sorry, I can only really do one vehicle at a time.” Viktor said, rubbing his head in embarrassment. “If I do anymore, it’ll leave me too exhausted.” I slumped in defeat, “Okay, but I call co-pilot position.” He nodded, “That's fine with me. Let's get this show on the road!” He said as he headed inside the Pelican. I was practically shouting in excitement until Tia boarded as well. “I'm personally kind of curious how this works,” she said. “I hope you don't mind if I ride along, mostly to keep Delsin in line.” Sebastian chuckled before a new vehicle appeared next to him. It was heavily armed, with twin rotary cannons underneath, heavier versions of his gun and missile launchers. Two VTOL like engines were mounted on the sides and the whole thing was boxy, like it could take a lot of punishment. “I’ll do escort duty, don't want anything to take out a transport with a VIP.” He said before he jumped into the cockpit of the new vehicle. The two aircraft started up their engines and began making their way to Canterlot. I was excited to actually see the inside of a video game vehicle, but even then, the cockpit seemed like what you would see in a military aircraft. “Alright, I'm opening up the throttle, so you better buckle up!” Viktor warned. “Kyra, put a nav marker on Canterlot.” “Copy that.” “Everyone strapped in?” I asked, mostly to Tia. “I am,” she confirmed. “Alright, brace yourselves!” The Spartan said as he opened the throttle and the transport shot forward, Sebastian's ship managing to keep up, the underslung guns tracking left and right. We soon arrived at the castle, both Viktor and Sebastian bringing their vehicles to land in the courtyard. “That was Awesome!” I shouted out as the transport opened...and a paper shuriken struck and stuck into my shoulder. “Gah!” I looked out the transport and saw at least 20 Bio-guard or so, each with shocked looks on their faces. “Delsin!” Alex shouted. She began to advance out of the Pelican, but I held her back and stepped forward, pulling the projectile out of my shoulder, neon leaking from the puncture. “Who threw this?” The guards all moved out of the way, leaving a lone guard with an embarrassed look on his face. I dropped the shuriken and fired a neon bolt at the pony’s leg, restraining him. “He's got janitorial work for the rest of the week.” The guards nodded and took him away. “Noobs, they always manage to goof up.” Sebastian chuckled as he walked up to us. “At least he hit me and not anyone else.” “First rock, now paper? What's next, scissors?!” Viktor asked. “Who knows? Because I don't.” I stretched a bit. “I'm still a bit worn out from helping teach Dash, getting a few powers stripped from me, and nearly getting killed by a psychotic woman. I'll be napping if anyone needs me” (3rd person POV) Delsin walked off, leaving the Princess with the three warriors. “Jet Second!” A pony in silver armor walked up. “Yes, your Majesty?” “Show these three to the guest bedrooms.” “Yes mam. Follow me, please.” The guard began leading them into the castle. “So I'm guessing you're related to Jet Set?” Alex asked as the walked through the halls. “Yes, but I'm not proud of it,” he said. Viktor snorted. “I'm not a fan of the nobles myself. At least some of them are a lot nicer, like Fancy Pants.” He said. “Others just grind my teeth at how they act.” “The nobles that fit in the annoying category in your world are more than likely criminals here.” “That wouldn't be surprising, nobility usually ends up getting corrupted, at least those that lord it over others.” Sebastian spoke up. “There's more to it than that, but you've got the basics down.” “So how long have you been serving the Princesses?” “A few months, actually. The Bio-guard is relatively new. Before that, I was considered for the Eagle Guard.” “The Eagle Guard?” The three looked at him in confusion. “An Akomish exclusive Division of the Royal Guard,” he answered, adjusting the armor on his right arm to show the Akomish tattoo. “That's another reason I'm not proud of my father. He treated the Akomish like trash.” A stony silence came from the three. “So not only is he a jerk, but he’s a bloody racist.” Viktor muttered. “Let's not forget tribalist, anti-alicorn, second in command of the Descendants, and various criminal charges for being an all around idiot.” “Yeah, he’s lucky Sebaste isn't here. I’ve seen the guy get angry, and trust me, if he had heard that, Jet Set would not be having a good time.” Viktor said with a nervous chuckle. “I would pity him in that instance alone,” Second said. The group arrived at a series of doors. “Here are your rooms, I hope to see you three again.” “You too Jet.” Alex said before her armor disappeared, revealing the T-shirt and pants underneath, the same thing happening to the others. Only Alex’s right arm was still armored. “We’ll see you later hopefully.” He nodded and walked off. Just as he rounded a corner, he was suddenly bowled over by an young almost black alicorn. “Sorry! My bad!” She said. She kept running past the three, but stopped after she passed them. “Nyx?!” Sebastian asked in shock before he saw that she was completely different from the filly he knew back in his Equestria. “Huh?” The alicorn looked at him with confusion. Said look suddenly changed to wonder. “Wow, you’re tall!” Sebastian chuckled and knelt down. “Being turned into a Space Marine can do that. My name's Sebastian, but I'm usually called Sasha. What's your name, young one?” He asked. “My name’s Stella. Wait, you said you were a Space Marine? Did you have to fight a crazy alien to get here? And are they Space Marines too?” The others chuckled. “No, we’re called Spartans, and the three of us are Displaced. I'm Viktor, and this is my sister Alexandra, or Alex for short.” Viktor said, nodding his head towards the female Spartan, who was helping Jet Second up. “Get back here!” A somewhat larger, yellow alicorn came careening around the corner, knocking Alex and Second down again. “I recognize that voice!” Sebastian said, turning to see the Alicorn charging towards them. “What the… Luna?! What in Dorn's name happened to you!?” He asked in surprise. “I’ll explain later!” Stella yelled. She then ran past them with Luna on her tail. “Ugh…. Anyone know why there was a yellow Luna running around?” Alex groaned as she and Second got back up. “This happens almost on a regular basis,” Second said. “Luna and Stella have been pranking each other since they got here.” “Oh god… right, royal prank war…” Viktor chuckled. He then opened the door to his room. “I'm gonna grab a power nap, someone wake me up when we're needed.” He said before he entered the room and closed the door. “See you later Jet.” Alex said before she and Sebastian entered their rooms. Author's Note To those who read this, I apologize now for what I had Sasha (inFAMOUS) say concerning Hitler, the Jews, and the Holocaust. I did not mean to offend anyone. I'm sorry.
Chapter 24: Angels of War This chapter was written with the assistance of Company Master Sebaste. A Crossover with his story, For the Emperor and the UNSC! (Rebooted version). inFAMOUS Displaced Chapter 24 Angels of War (Delsin’s POV) A few hours after resting I walked into the guest wing, absorbing the smoke of a pipe I held. Standing just outside of one of the rooms was Viktor. “Hey, you’re up.” “Yeah, had a bit of a power nap. Alex and Sasha are still resting in their rooms. Saw Luna earlier, but she was… yellow for some reason and chasing a Alicorn teen named Stella. Apperantly it was part of a prank war or something…” he said. “Oh, that,” I said. “Must have been payback for the catapult incident.” “Catapult… you know what, I'm not gonna even ask.” He said. “By the way, how did Stella even appear? She reminds me of Nyx a bit,” He then asked. “My telepathy mixed with the magic of the Elements of Harmony when fighting Nightmare Moon.” “Wow, that must have been quite the shock for Celestia and Luna.” he said, a surprised look on his face. “It was, but Sora was a little over the top in making her seem nonthreatening.” Viktor chuckled. “Things for me have been.. hectic to say the least. You’ve heard of Doom?” He asked. “I have an idea, but fill me in.” “Well recently the three of us and another Displaced that lives in our Equestria named Sebaste were called into another Equestria that was guarded by three Doom Marines, and to be honest, they were absolute jerks. But anyways, we met a being they called “Guardian” and she's asked if the three can help stop a crazy pony named Flame Tail. Right now, we’re just waiting on their answer before we can let them know.” He then frowned. “Honestly, I’d trust them as far as I can throw them. But we need all the help we can get.” “So, you’re asking for help from some twithead against somepony that sounds like Brooke Augustine.” “You don't know what our Equestria is like, Flame Tail has managed to convince other cities to join his Crusade against the Princesses, and unlike other Equestrias, the tech level is more advanced. And we didn't really ask for the Doom Marines. Like I said, I don't really trust them. They're too unpredictable, a wild card if you will.” He said. He then shook his head. “I don't really like thinking about it, so I'm not gonna say any more on the topic.” “Okay. Either way, problems are your life and you’ve got lunkheads that you’re not fond of willing to help you with or without your permission.” He snorted. “You can say that again. But enough of that, what brings you here?” he asked. “Well, the sooner we get a portal device up and built, the better,” I said. I then let smoke flow around my arms. “So a few smoke grenades for wake up calls were in order.” “What…” He began to ask before two thumps were heard in the rooms Alex and Sebastian were in. The two soon burst out, coughing as smoke followed them from the rooms. “*cough* Who's the wise guy *cough cough* that set off that smoke bomb?!” Sebastian asked, an irritated look on his face. “Just don’t turn me into swiss cheese after I say ‘guilty’.” I took a deep breath, raised my hand, and said, “Guilty!” Viktor chuckled. “Well that's one way of getting a wake up call.” He said. The other two rolled their eyes before their armor reappeared on them. Viktor soon followed their example, his own armor reappearing on him. “So how exactly are we supposed to get a portal working? From what I've seen, the devices here are a bit too flimsy to hold a portal.” He asked. “Then we analyze the tech that make up Dusk, scan the energy of a blast shard, then run it through your A.I.s and see what happens,” I theorized. “Or I can open one myself.” Alex said. “I’ve done it before.” “Not to insult your abilities, but there’s another reason for a device to be built,” I said. “Just by hearing from you guys that Dark’s world runs on a different time axis, I’m guessing that if I have an easily accessible portal to his world, time will be synced in both worlds.” “That would make sense.” Viktor said. He suddenly stiffened as a message suddenly appeared inside his visor. “Just got a message from Sebaste, he says a colt just suddenly appeared in Ponyville. It must be that same colt we saw that ran into that portal!” “Has he noticed anything odd about him?” “He did notice that… okay, this isn't making any sense, he says that a few Kirins had just popped up besides the colt and he’s moving in to engage them… and that's it.” I jumped a bit when I heard that. “Wait, Kirins? That colt’s gotta be a conduit!” “That's impossible!” Alex said. “How could that colt be a conduit?” “Probably the same way your hair is its current color,” I answered. “It's in the DNA.” “If he’s a conduit… oh no… we have no idea what his abilities are, and neither does Sebaste!” Sebastian said. “Then we'll build the portal device after we take care of getting him back here! Alex! Portal! Now!” She nodded before her hand glowed and a portal opened in front of them. “Let's go!” Viktor said before he ran into the vortex. “Right behind you!” I then ran into the vortex. (3rd person POV) Just as Delsin came out of the portal, Sebaste came crashing into him, a pixelated residue covering him. “Tartarus damn it!” The Recon Spartan growled before he saw who he landed on. “Oh geez, sorry mate!” He said, scrambling up and helping the Conduit up. Viktor and the other two were standing nearby with two Rainbow Dashes, one however had cybernetics replacing her tail, wings, right eye and front legs. “That's okay,” he responded, “I've had...LOOK OUT!!!” He smoke dashed past the two Rainbow’s and wrapped his chain around the neck of a Kirin, strangling it until it dissolved into red pixels. “Right… time to fight fire with fire.” Sebaste snarled before two Holograms of himself appeared, both equipped with energy swords. With a roar, he charged forward, a Gravity Hammer appearing in his hands. He smashed aside one Kirin while his copies gutted two more, all three dissolving. “Video...I was wondering when I'd see that,” Delsin commented as he pelted one Kirin with smoke. “Who the buck are you?” One of the Rainbows asked, her front hooves having two clawed gauntlets that gripped what looked like some sort of automatic weapon. “I'll explain once we stop Tartarus from figuratively boiling over!” Delsin shouted out, dodging a slash. The cybernetic Rainbow rolled her eyes before her right hoof suddenly split and a gun barrel poked out of it. Targeting a nearby Kirin, she opened fire, the bark of the weapon being the last sound it heard. “Rainblade, over here!” Viktor called over to her. She quickly swooped over and began to slash at the Kirin Viktor had engaged, the built in blades in her wings dealing massive damage. “Okay! That's it!” Delsin pulled what looked like a phone out of his pocket. Electricity then began flowing from the phone into his hand. He replaced the phone in his pocket and his eyes began glowing a bright blue and he shot lightning at ten Kirins in two seconds, killing them instantly. “Yow! Watch the lighting!” Sebaste yelped as a bolt managed to miss him by a few inches. “You just focus on fighting!” He shouted back. “I'll...What?!” “I think we took all of them out…” Alex said as she looked around. “Uh, Guys! I’m gonna need some neon! I’ve got the location of the Conduit!” “Here you go!” Pinkie said, setting up a neon light. Sebaste and the others looked at her in shock. Delsin simply nodded and drained the sign of its neon. He then ran off in a blur of neon, following what looked like a bright blue alicorn in medieval armor. “Okay, can someone explain what is going on here?!” Sebaste asked in annoyance. “We’ll explain on the way, right now we need to follow Delsin!” Viktor said. “Looks like the kid’s headed to the…. Oh son of a… he’s headed towards the EAF HQ!” Sebaste swore before he was in a Broadsword Fighter and streaking towards the EAF base. The other three were soon following him in their own vehicles. When they arrived, they found that a good portion of the personnel were seemingly trapped in bubbles of neon, their movements in slow motion. A few others were held down by a few bright blue swords stuck in the ground around them. “Looks like Delsin was here…” Viktor said. Sebaste then looked at the Orbital Spartan, a raised eyebrow hidden under his helmet. “The guy Dark told us about?” He asked. Viktor nodded before he led the way inside. As they walked in, Kyra suddenly appeared on Viktor's shoulder and said, “Guys, take a look at the monitors! They’re getting drained by something!” Sebaste quickly ran to one of the monitors and saw that the screen was fading to black. “Damn it, that kid is gonna cause the system to crash!” He growled. “I'm picking up two signatures nearby, proceed with caution.” Kyra warned. The four nodded before they advanced to the room ahead. Upon entering, they found...nothing. The only thing that stood out were three sets of glowing monitors. “Where the heck is Delsin?!” Sebastian asked, looking around. In response to his question, Delsin suddenly appeared from one of the monitors...face first onto the ground. “What in Faust's name?!” Sebaste yelped. Delsin shakily stood up, spitting some blood out of his mouth. “You can run, but you can’t hide,” he taunted. “Kid, we don't want to hurt you. We just want to get you back to your family.” Viktor called out. Delsin walked up to another monitor and suddenly disappeared. “Sheesh, talk about pulling a Blue Skidoo!” Sebaste joked before he suddenly found himself sucked in also. “Ah frag…” When his senses cleared, Sebaste found himself on a stone pedestal in the middle of a massive lake of lava. “Geez, this puts a whole new meaning to heating things up!” He chuckled nervously. An explosion was heard above him, followed by yelling. Looking up, he saw Delsin plummeting into the lava near the pedestal. A splash later, the yelling ended. “Delsin!” The Spartan yelled. Steeling his resolve, he ran to try and jump in to save him. He stopped when he saw Delsin already at the pedestal trying to climb out of the lava. “I don’t know about you, but I’m not excited to be COOKED ALIVE!!!” He bellowed. “Sheesh, the heck's the kid’s problem?” Sebaste asked, looking up to where the colt was, disguised as a giant, bright blue alicorn. “Once we wear him down, I’ll get the answers we need,” Delsin responded. “In the meantime, do you have an RPG or something?” “How about a Hydra launcher?” Sebaste asked, a gun that had what looked like a revolver and Missile launcher mated with a rifle appearing in his hands. Taking aim, he fired a salvo of five rockets that smashed into the illusion, detonating on impact. The illusion dissolved into pixels and both Sebaste and Delsin were ejected from the computer...this time, Delsin landing under Sebaste. “Is this gonna become a regular thing with you mate?” Sebaste asked as he helped Delsin get up. “You make it sound like getting punched by Tia everytime I go through a portal home isn’t.” “Wait, she does that?” The Spartan snickered. “She knocks me back through and then drags me home by my leg.” The four super soldiers burst out laughing at that. Sebaste then frowned as he turned to the monitor. “Okay, so looks like it's round two for us…” he growled. “Three,” Delsin corrected. “And this time, we all go through...And I get a chance to fly a Banshee while in there!” “Alright, sheesh…” Viktor muttered. Delsin then led the group into the last monitor, everyone arriving in the lava land. They appeared on a platform that was suspended in the air above the lava lake. Nearby, a bunch of pixels began to gather, until it formed a giant alicorn, supported by a few dozen smaller ones. “Ye are all persistent! Thou shalt fall before me!” “Doth mother know you weareth her drapes?” Sebaste snarked, earning an eye roll from the others. “Last chance, Thanatos!” Delsin called out. “Surrender or get de-rezzed!” “I bow NOT to the whims of mere mortals!” “And what does that make you, the Pope?” Viktor spoke up. “Or does it make you a chicken?” Thanatos responded by firing a bunch of pixel missiles at the group. “Scatter!” Delsin called out, running and jumping to another floating platform. “And where’s that Banshee!? He needs some plasma to the face!” It soon appeared next to him, but when he turned to look at the four, he saw a bubble shield surrounding them. “For a so called god, you hit like an amoeba!” Sebaste taunted before the four Displaced charged out and unleashed heavy ordinance on the Alicorn, Both Alex and Viktor were armed with Rocket launchers while Sebastian had a massive cannon that fired bolts of plasma and Sebaste had the Hydra launcher. After a few minutes of being peppered by attacks, the Alicorn dissolved into a bunch of pixels and smaller alicorns, that flew off over them. The summoned Banshee suddenly came flying in and began dog fighting with the more braver alicorns. “Did you guys call in for an airstrike?” They heard on the comms. “That we did.” Sebaste chuckled. “Sorry I didn’t come sooner. I got some of the controls mixed up, and I think I dented the back bumper or whatever.” “Won't make a difference, whatever damage the vehicle we summon takes gets instantly repaired when we resummon it.” “I still don’t like damaged vehic...Oh, No you don’t!” An explosion in the direction of the flock of Alicorns was heard. The Banshee came screaming back and around as a beam of pixels followed it. “Get firing before I decide to go Kamikaze!” “Too bad it’s not Bushido dignified.” Sebaste joked before he opened fire. The missiles stopped short, hitting a force shield of some kind. “Damn it, target’s shielded!” “Take out the smaller ones, I’ll keep the big guy busy!” The Banshee then peppered Thanatos with plasma, not damaging him, but getting his attention, nonetheless. Sebastian then summoned what looked like a AFV, but it had two triple barreled cannons that could rotate independently and bracers that dug into the platform. The guns then took aim at the alicorns and roared into life, AA tracers zipping through the air. “Say hello to the Stalker AA tank!” He roared through the comms. The alicorns surrounding Thanatos suddenly began to try and dive bomb the group, most of them getting shredded by the AA tracers. “Not so fast!” Sebastian growled as he guided the guns. Viktor and Alex meanwhile had switched to a Hydra launcher, and with Sebaste, they each locked onto multiple alicorns and fired, the missiles streaking to their targets and eliminating them. Within a short amount of time, the alicorns were eliminated, leaving Thanatos vulnerable. “What should I prescribe? A lethal dose of HURT PERHAPS!?” The Banshee suddenly began unloading everything it had on him while going on a collision course. “Delsin, the hell are you doing?!” Sebaste commed. “Trust me, once he’s down, we all will be ejected before I crash and burn.” “I hope you're right…” the Spartan said as he watched Delsin scream towards the Alicorn. The Banshee struck the alicorn, turning it into pixels. Before he could crash into the lava, everyone, minus the vehicles, were ejected from the computer. On the ground, in front of the monitor they exited was a brown colt, part of his face was covered in a black goop. Delsin wasted no time and grabbed his foreleg, pixels flowing from the colt into him and both fell unconscious. “Neuro-Tar!” Sebastian swore. “He must have escaped from Sasha!” “Well while we wait for these two to wake up, mind telling me what this is all about?” Sebaste asked. Viktor nodded and explained what had happened after they had been summoned to Delsin's world. “So let me get this straight, you fought a conduit that controls tar?! That's just nasty!” The Recon said, sounding disgusted. “Tell me about it…” Sebastian muttered just as he heard Delsin groan. “I think my other favorite game, Rome Total War, will become reality...once I figure out these powers,” he muttered. “We’d better get that tar off the kid. He’s suffered enough.” Viktor said. “Then you go do that,” Delsin said, pointing at him. “I’m gonna find a bed, and go cry myself to sleep.” He then began walking out of the room, acting as though his back was thrown out. “Wonder what he saw…” Sebastian muttered as Viktor removed the tar from the colt’s face and picked him up. “Dunno, but let's get out of here.” Sebaste said as the four followed Delsin, the colt slung over Viktor's shoulder. When the five got out however, they say both Luna and Celestia waiting for them, along with Twilight, her mechanical wings folded along her back. “I’m guessing you’re here to either congratulate us, or beat us up the side of our heads for destroying a military base,” Delsin said. “As much as I want to face the scourges, I’ve seen enough for one day. I’m clocking out.” He then fell face first on the ground, unconscious again, but asleep. The three Princesses looked on in confusion. “Um… is he usually like that?” Twilight asked. “Only when he’s fought very hard.” Viktor chuckled. He then shifted the colt, “This little guy’s the reason the base is shut down, he controls video images and has to drain stuff to power him. But he’s from his Equestria.” He said, nodding his head at Delsin. Celestia nodded in understanding. “We’ll speak to him when he awakens, right now, take him to Twilight's castle. He looks like he could use the rest.” “Yes your Highness.” Sebaste said, saluting the two elder Princesses. Twilight's horn then began to glow before she, Delsin and the other four were inside her castle. She then levitated Delsin and said, “I’ll put him in a guest room, you put Button Mash in another room.” “Button…” Viktor looked at the unconscious colt in shock. “No wonder I didn't recognize him, he’s missing his beanie!” “We’ll worry about that later, right now, we need to put him in a guest room.” Alex said, opening a nearby door. Soon, the colt was tucked in and the four Displaced were walking out of the room. “I’ll stay with him until he wakes up.” She said. Sebaste nodded. “Let me know when he does, right now, I need a rest…” he said as he headed to his quarters. The other two followed suit, after telling Alex that they would see her later. (Delsin’s POV) “GAH!!!” I sat up suddenly on the bed that I was apparently given. A hand then pushed me back into a laying position. “Be still, my Lord. Ye have been through a terrible ordeal and still need to rest.” A deep voice said. I turned to the voice and saw a Video Angel standing over me, holding me on the bed. “Please tell me I’m in Heaven.” “I’m afraid not, my Lord. Ye fell unconscious after dealing with a young colt and his servant, Thanatos.” “And you are?” “I am He Who Dwells!” He proclaimed, pounding a fist on his chest. “Delsin, you alright? I heard you cry ou- WHAT IN DORN'S NAME?!” Sebastian exclaimed as he saw the angel standing next to the bed. “Welcome, Sir Sebastian. I am He Who Dwells, the Servant of Lord Delsin, Future Prince of his Realm of Equestria,” he said with a bow. “He Who Dwells? Sounds like a cheesy name from Skyrim.” The Astartes replied. “What is this realm, ‘Skyrim’, that ye speak of?” “Guardian Angel, or whatever. Stand down,” I commanded as I carefully sat up on my bed. “How are you feeling mate?” Sebastian asked me. “Like Tartarus decided to empty its contents on my face,” I said. “That video conduit we fought? It's Button Mash.” “Haven’t met him officially yet.” “Well, he’s in another guest room a few doors down from you. Alex is keeping an eye on him.” “Sounds okay. Anything else going on?” “Not really, other than the Princesses are waiting to talk with you. They understand why we trashed the base, so we’re not in trouble.” “True justice considereth all that goes into an action,” He Who Dwells agreed. “Okay, time to meet with Royalty.” I eased myself off the bed, my angel helping support my weight. “They're in the throne room, and also, welcome to the Castle of Friendship.” Sebastian said. “Lead us forth, Sir Sebastian.” He nodded and led the two of us to the throne room. Twilight and the rest of the Mane 6 were there, along with Rainblade and a black Alicorn teen with a dark bluish purple mane and teal eyes that had a reptilian look to them. Sebaste and Viktor stood by the door, along with what seemed to be two droids. “Greetings stranger.” Celestia said. “I understand you came here to retrieve a colt that caused some trouble earlier?” “Indeed, your Majesties,” He Who Dwells spoke. “The colt, as we currently understand, was not in his right mind when he activated the device that brought him here.” “Dude, let me do the talking, and you watch the door.” The angel nodded and stood by the door, his hand on his sword. “Anyway, what he just said, and also to see if, with your help, the portal tech that brought Button here can be properly replicated.” “Portal tech?” Twilight spoke up, her wings beginning to raise in excitement. “Great, you just got her into egghead mode…” Rainbow said, earning a chuckle from the others and a glare from Twilight. “I can think of one other thing that could get her academic side further excited.” “What would that be?” Rainblade asked. I scanned the room with my ray sphere pulse, checking everyone’s DNA. “Aside from Alex, there is one other in this room with a unique DNA gene that allows powers like mine,” I said. Pinkie suddenly popped up behind me and asked, “Is it me? Is it, is it, is it?!” She asked. “No, it’s her,” I said, pointing to the black alicorn. “But the gene isn’t active.” “Wait, Nyx has the Conduit gene?!” Sebastian asked in shock. “That's impossible!” “How so?” “It’s… it’s just that she doesn't seem like she's really ready to handle that kind of power...” “Don’t overstress about it. I said that the gene is still inactive, so you have until...whenever it activates to NOT stress about it. And when it does, I can help train her.” I pulled out my token for Sebastian to take. “An Eagle feather?” He asked, taking it and looking at it. He then heard a small set of hooves clopping before Button, a bright blue alicorn, and Alex walked in. Both Sebaste and Viktor made to summon their weapons but Alex said, “They're not going hurt anypony. Button, you have something to say?” “I’m sorry for ruining your base...I didn’t mean to.” Celestia chuckled before she said, “Other than the data bases wiped, no harm was done. But I must ask, why were you here in the first place?” she asked. “Lord Button had his mind taken over by a Succubus by the name of Sasha. She wished to cause havoc in more worlds than that of Lord Delsin’s,” The alicorn stated. “Why that…” Sebastian growled. “If she ever comes here, she’ll find herself as a wanted woman.” “If she even manages to make it here,” I said. “Remember, the portal tech she had built was sketchy at best. It exploded after being used.” Celestia nodded before she turned to Button Mash and said, “I'm truly sorry you had to go through that.” Luna and Twilight murmured agreement. Nyx then spoke up. “How exactly are you even supposed to get this… portal built?” She asked, her voice curious. “The only thing we have to go by was what she used as both energy sources and portal stabilizers,” I explained. “Guys you still have those crystals I asked you to grab?” They nodded and pulled them out of hidden compartments in their armor. I took one of them and placed it on the table. “These are called Blast shards, magically irradiated pieces of crystal and debris.” “What's so important about these?” Twilight asked, her eyes curious. “They serve as pretty good energy sources, or,” I picked the shard up and absorbed the radiation. “They can strengthen a Conduit’s power.” “So they're power enhancers?” “Mostly for conduits, but yeah.” “And you're using these “blast shards” to build a portal?” “Sasha was successful in the short run. I aim to make a portal last longer, so that I don't end up missing a few weeks to a few months of a friend's life. In short, I'm trying to sync the time axis of my world with another world.” “Hmm…” Sebaste rubbed the chin of his helmet. “If you think this will work… then we'll see how this goes.” “Let us then make haste!” Dweller and the alicorn bellowed. “Alex, open a portal to Delsin's Equestria. Time to get this show on the road.” Sebaste said. She nodded before a portal was soon swirling in front of us. “We’ll see you guys after this is done.” The Spartan said to the ponies in the room before he turned to me. “Delsin, mind leading the way?” I nodded and entered the portal, with Dweller right behind me. Shortly inside, I met an obstacle. *DING* I was knocked back through the portal with Dweller practically plastered to my back. Tia then came through and dragged me home by my leg. The others followed, trying and failing to hold in their laughter at what had happened. Dweller shook his head and looked at the alicorn, who had a somewhat confused look on his face. “Do not over think their relationship, Thanatos,” he told him. “I doubt I will need to.” (3rd person POV) Delsin was dragged out of sight from the four as a small company of Bio-guard and Eagle Guard rounded a corner. Sebaste was still snickering from what had happened earlier as he looked around. “Lot of guards here, and I don't recognize the divisions…” he muttered as he calmed down. The symbol of the Royal Guard Reserves soon appeared on his left shoulder pad as he spotted Luna nearby. “Ye have returned,” Luna commented. “I'm sorry for my appearance and behavior when we first met. It was embarrassing what Stella did.” “Stella?” Sebaste asked in confusion. “Who's she?” “She is her sister, created from the telepathic abilities of Lord Delsin and the Magic of the Elements of Harmony,” Dweller explained. “And who are you?” Luna asked him and Thanatos. “I am He Who Dwells.” “And I am Thanatos.” “Thanatos was created by this little one here.” Sebastian said, nudging Button Mash forward. “He like Pipsqueak was under the control of Sasha, at least until now.” “For that, we thank thee,” he said, giving a nod in the Astartes’ direction. “Trust me, the next time I see her, she won't be getting away as easily as she did in that warehouse.” Sebastian growled. He then turned to Luna. “We were never really formally introduced, the name’s Sebastian, and the three Spartans are Alexandra, Viktor and Sebaste. Sebaste wasn't with us the last time I was here as he was defending our Equestria.” “That is understandable. It took a lot for me to visit a different Equestria at one time.” Sebastian chuckled and said, “I know what you mean, it was a shock to visit another universe the first time I was summoned. So why were you yellow earlier? I know it had something to do with a prank war you two have…” “She mixed yellow food coloring into my personal hygiene products. The coat, mane and tail were okay, but the Royal Dentist had a fit over my teeth.” “Oh throne, she got your toothpaste?!” The Astartes burst out laughing. “Not even Rainbow Dash and Rainblade go that far in their pranks with Pinkie!” “SURPRISE!!!” Pinkie suddenly said from an explosion of confetti. “GAHH! What in Dorn's name?!” He yelped as he stumbled backwards. “Throne damn it Pinkie!” He swore as the Spartans chuckled. “About time you showed back up again, I was hoping to show someone this cool trick I learned AND a ‘Welcome to this Dimension’ party!” “So I'm guessing the Element Bearers are Conduits here?” Sebaste asked while Sebastian recovered from the shock. “DUH! I mean, how was I able to replace my Party cannon with the PARTY MISSILE!” Her forelegs became covered in confetti and a missile was fired down the hall, exploding and decking out that section of the hall for a party. Two Solar Guards that were in that section had their helmets replaced with party hats and had party favors in their mouths...which they blew into, unenthusiastically. “Merciful Emperor…” Sebastian muttered, “As if she wasn't hyper enough, now we have to worry about party airstrikes from her….” The three Spartans also gawked at Pinkie in shock. “What? It makes parties easier to host.” “Not everyone is really gonna appreciate seeing an airstrike come down on them Pinks.” Viktor chuckled nervously. “I was talking about my powers in general, but I'll keep that in mind. SEE YA!!” She suddenly vanished into a pop of confetti. “Faust above… I’ve met many Pinkies, but this one ranks high in the WTF meter.” Sebaste said, his mind still reeling. “At least she stays in Ponyville...for the most part,” they heard Delsin’s voice say. They turned to where the voice came from, but he wasn't there. Button, Thanatos, and Dweller began trying to hold back laughs. “Delsin? You trying to hide from Celestia?” Sebaste asked with a smirk. “No, she let me go, so long as I managed to pull off something,” he said from a different portion of the hall. “And that would be…?” Alex asked, noticing a blip on her HUD. Three glowing blue swords suddenly appeared above Viktor, causing him to fall on his back in surprise. The blades then impaled the ground around him, trapping him. “What the…?!” He yelped. “Damn it Delsin!” The air pixelated behind Sebaste and Delsin appeared. “And that was done on the fly,” he said proudly. “Yeah, I get the point.” Viktor snarked. He then smashed the blades, his augmented strength more the the swords could take. They then dissolved into pixels and vanished. “But I'm not a pincushion. That would be Sonic's domain.” “So, now that I'm free, let's get started on figuring out the portal tech...and see if we can get a cell phone to text and call across dimensions.” Sebaste nodded. “So where is this tech being stored?” he asked. “We've got the blast shards, all we need is an idea of Dusk’s tech that make her up and begin tinkering.” “Somehow I don't think she's gonna let us analyze her tech… She's more grumpy than Granny Smith!” Viktor said. A mechanical arm came flying down the hall, hitting his force shield. “I heard that!” She shouted from down the hall, her left arm missing. “Just telling the truth!” Viktor shouted back as Sebaste shook his head. “You should learn to lighten up sometime!” Two mechanical wings came flying down the hall. “There! I'm lightning up! Much less of a load now! “I didn't mean that literally! I meant you need to cheer up a bit!” The Spartan said as he dodged the parts. “Geez, I feel like I'm talking to Drax here!” “I'm not even gonna ask,” Delsin said as he picked up the pieces. “By the way, thanks for letting us borrow some of...your tech.” “You're...WHAT!?” “And now we hit the the deck because of the angry Alicorn cyborg…” Sebaste muttered. “I hate being a Displaced sometimes…” A few bolts of lightning came flying down the hall. Delsin placed himself in the line of fire, getting hit by most of the bolts. A few minutes of being peppered with electricity, Delsin pulled up a static shield, blocking the bolts for the others. “Take the tech and run!” He shouted with sarcastic desperation. “I'll hold her here!” Sebaste nodded before he activated a Promethean shield and stood in front of the other three while they grabbed the wings and leg. As soon as they had the parts, they bolted, the three Spartans activating their thrusters while Sebastian pounded along behind them. Meanwhile, in the Canterlot Garden, a statue composing of various animal parts began to crack. Author's Note YAY! New chapter! Discord will be out of his "cell" soon.
Chapter 1: Displaced and Already in TroubleinFAMOUS Displaced Chapter 1 Displaced and Already in Trouble I never really agreed to go to that convention. All I did was make a bet with a friend to get $1,000 off of him, and it would have been comparatively cheap, considering that the convention was in San Diego, CA and I lived in Idaho Falls, ID. Just drive down I-15, spend money on gas and food, rent a hotel for the night, visit the convention, and drive home. All in all, it would have cost me about $200-300 to get there and back, not to mention, the money I get from the bet would have paid it off. However, one dipwad of a purchase at the convention, and all that money I used went down the drain...not that said money would be any use to me. ************************** I felt something that I thought wasn’t supposed to be at a convention...snow. I opened my eyes (when did I have them closed in the first place) and I was greeted by the sight of snow in all directions. I looked down at myself and found that I was dressed in the costume that I bought at the convention. I was wearing the clothes that Delsin Rowe from inFAMOUS: Second Son wears. That included the heavy-duty chain on the right arm and a bottle of spray paint in my jacket pocket. “Okay, this is getting weird fast,” I comment out loud, “How did I get to Canada, and why am I wearing a costume that I just bought?” I look around more to try to find any clues as to what happened. Amidst my searching, I heard the sound of snow being stepped on. I turned to the sound and saw something that made me think I was hallucinating. I saw a small unicorn and group of griffins. The unicorn was roughly three to four feet tall, was a grey color with a red mane and tail and had a mark on it’s flank that resembled flame. It was chained up as if it was a prisoner of some sort. The most noticeable chain was connected to a shackle that was on the unicorn’s horn. The griffins numbered about ten or so and were about three to five feet tall. They all wore a chainmail like armor, except for one of them. It was wearing a more heavy, yet regal armor. That was their leader, their alpha. Seeing these creatures gave me the impression that I was either dreaming or was transported to another world. I have heard of people that disappear after going to a convention, but at this point, a dream is more possible. The Alpha Griffin spoke (surprising me in the process). “This will make a fine addition to the slave trade.” Wait, what? “You two,” he said to two of the griffin warriors, “Take him into custody.” The two griffin warriors moved forward to arrest me, but I unraveled the chain that I had on my arm and started swinging the chain around, hoping to intimidate them. That, however, only gave them the opening. One of the griffins grabbed the chain and pulled. I was sent flying towards the unicorn. My arms were flailing all over the place to try to stop my fall. My hand unintentionally grabbed the unicorn’s horn. As soon at it made contact, I blacked out. ************************ My life was set and perfect before the War. I had a husband, a few kids, and a livelihood. But when the Griffons came, they took it all. They left nothing behind. I was one of few survivors of the raid that ruined my life. From there, I followed them and found that they were doing the same to every village as they did mine. It was at that point, I decided to fight back. I was going to do what I could to end this war and all the suffering it has caused. ************************* I awoke from the vision and got a look at where I was. I found that I was in a cage of some sort with a number of other small, multicolored equines. The one I had seen before I fell unconscious was lying in the same cage. All of the other ones were looking at me very warily, as if I would eat them. The pony that I was captured with started to groan and wake up. Once it did, it rubbed its horn and said, “What did you do?” I was caught off guard by what the unicorn said and the fact that she (judging by the voice) spoke. “I don’t know. It seemed familiar though, as if I’ve seen something like that happen before.” I paused and considered what had happened and concluded that I wasn’t in a dream. A person doesn’t go unconscious and never experiences visions like Delsin Rowe does when absorbing a Conduit’s power. Hold on...Visions when absorbing a Conduit’s power...I wonder. I focused on pulling the power that I absorbed from the unicorn and looked at my hands expectantly and I saw smoke coming from my hands and arms. I guess she has some of the Conduit gene. “How are you doing that?” one of the ponies asked me, “This cage was built to prevent any usage of magic.” “How so?” I asked. “That blue crystal,” he said, pointing to a large blue crystal on the top of the cage. “It seems to have a way of disabling a pony’s magic.” The crystal glowed a blue color and seemed to have a blue aura coming off of it. “It looks like a blast shard.” The pony I was captured with asked, “What is a blast shard?” “A crystal substance that can allow a Conduit to absorb its power and become stronger.” “What’s a Conduit?” “A Conduit is someone that can control/weaponize a form of matter or energy. As it turns out, I am one.” “Is that how you did that smoke thing?” The male pony said. “That and the fact that I just absorbed the power of smokey pony here…” “My name is Smoke Shot!” she snapped. “Sorry, Smoke Shot, and…” “Stop talking!” A griffon guard shouted. I looked out of the cage and saw that the few ponies and I were in a camp of some sort filled with at least fifty or so griffons. An army camp by the looks of it. I whispered to Smoke Shot and the other ponies, “I think I recall seeing a vision when I absorbed Smoke’s power. In that vision, I heard mention of a war. This camp seems like a fraction of what the Griffons have in terms of manpower...or birdpower...for this war. Am I correct?” “Yes,” Smoke Shot whispered back, “I’ve been spying on these turkeys for a while, trying to find any interesting things that may interest the Princesses. I think I may have gotten lucky and discovered some of their plans, but I was discovered in the process.” “What were they planning?” “I believe it was an invasion of The Crystal Empire. I’m not entirely sure. If we were to bust out of here and find this group’s orders, we may have what we need to warn the Crystal Empire and send reinforcements.” “Are you crazy?!” one of the other ponies whisper-shouted, “If we are to bust out of here, we should head straight to a Royal Guard Garrison and have them deal with this. I’m not going to die to get information.” “And once you get to a garrison and tell them of this group, they will be uninformed about their strength,” Smoke whisper-shouted back, “What if they get reinforcements while we are telling them?” “One Royal Guard is worth ten of these turkeys in a fight!” “Shut up!” The Griffon guard shouted. Jeez! Arguing over what to do once we escape. Really immature, but both sides do have a point. If we stay and gather intel, we can have the guard ready for whatever these buzzards may have up their proverbial sleeves and I may find a few more blast shards. But that means that many of the prisoners here may die in the process. If we just run, we all may end up alive, but that means that the nearby garrison will be unprepared and may march into a massacre. So what should we do? Gather Intel or Run For It? ************************* Gather Intel “I say we gather intel,” I state in a whisper, “If we can get the idea of what they’re planning, we can end this war sooner and the innocent will be spared.” “What about us!” the cowardly pony whisper-shouted, “We’re not soldiers. We’ll be slaughtered and served to their King on a spit.” “That’s the value of sacrifice. A few dying to allow many more to live,” I countered, “We also hold an advantage over these buzzards. They have armor, meaning that they will be a bit clumsy. We don’t need to defeat every buzzard here, we just need to keep them busy so that the professionals can nab the intel the Royal Guard need.” “If I’m going to be getting the Intel, I need two volunteers who are good at sneaking around,” Smoke said, “Also, if we link up through a telepathic line, we can call for help more readily and easily.” “The rest of us need to cause a ruckus, burn supplies, and comb the camp for Blast Shards,” I state, “The stronger I am, the more of a ruckus I can cause. It should get them to come after me instead of you.” "That makes sense,” said the cowardly pony, “I guess there’s no way for me to be talked out of the idea.” “That’s what I want to hear. Now, get ready.” I stood up and started absorbing the Blast Shard. ********************** Run For It “I don’t really think we should risk our necks to do something that the military can do. You know...trained professionals.” “Now, that’s what I want to hear,” said the cowardly pony. “Ugh, fine,” Smoke complained, “You go and run like the cowards that you are.” “Hey,” I reassured, “It takes guts to try to break out of a place guarded by this many buzzards.” “Besides, we just head straight for the edge of camp and after that, we’re home free,” announced the cowardly pony. “Alright. Freedom, here we come!” I stood up and started absorbing the Blast Shard. Author's Note Points: 0 Rank: Neutral Ooh! Ooh! Do you later absorb my 4th wall awareness? That depends. On what? Your behavior. Don't worry, I'll be good.
Chapter 10: Wakfu WarfareinFAMOUS Displaced Chapter 10 Wakfu Warfare Geek and I had been walking through the Everfree forest for a few minutes. Things seemed calm, but I was far from it. I let Geek take point while I watched our backs. Since my Light element wasn’t active, I kept my telepathy open to scan for hostiles. "This doesn't feel right," I said, coming to a stop and letting smoke flow through my hands. Geek stopped and looked back at me with a worried look. "What doesn't feel right?" I looked around, keeping an eye out for trouble. "We've been walking through who knows how much of the Everfree, and we haven't seen or heard from anything. It leads me to believe that we're being watched." Geek suddenly started looking around more frantically than me. I kept a cool head and kept my eyes, ears, and mind open for anything out of the ordinary. I felt a mental twitch behind me, and I reacted, throwing a sulfur bomb in that direction. The bomb detonated and the area behind us was enveloped in thick smoke. Coughing was heard from within the smoke. A figure and a pony stumbled out of the smoke. The figure was a skinny guy wearing a mismatched set of clothing. He had what looked like a Navy SEAL cap on, as well as a jacket that Santa Claus would be seen wearing. The guy also had a staff, and he looked like he knew how to use it. I had no doubt that he could hurt us if we weren't careful. As for the pony, I recognized him as the Skullcap from earlier. He seemed to have attempted to clean himself off the body paint. His face had neuro-tar veins in his face, showing that he still had it in his system, but not as badly. The man stood up after recovering from his coughing fit. "That was NOT cool, whoever you are," he said with rage in his voice. "Anyway, the Master wants me to eliminate you." He got into an aggressive stance. "So I guess I'll have to bid you adieu." The guy jumped towards Geek and I. I pushed Geek away and smoke dashed backwards. The guy then gathered some golden energy and thrust his hands towards me. I then felt the worst headache I've had in a thousand years. 'Someone! Distract him! Break up the attack!' Geek took the initiative and shot a fireball at Crazy Claus, disrupting the attack and changing his attention. Crazy Claus roared in rage and ran to clobber him. Before he could get close, a pony sized ball of rock suddenly flattened him into the ground. The rock stopped in front of me and broke apart. Inside the rock was the pony. He got out of the rock and saluted me. *Obsidian Shard! At your command, Sir!* He garbled. *Wait! Hold on!* I screeched. *What just happened?* I didn't get an answer, as Crazy Claus roared out again and went to Kung Fu Obsidian. I unraveled my chain and lashed out. Crazy dodged and jumped over us both. He then pulled what looked like Christmas presents out of his pocket and chucked them at us like grenades. Not taking chances, Obsidian and I jumped back and fired rock and smoke at the packages. We were far enough away from them to not get hit by any shrapnel. "Guys! Be careful!" Geek shouted out behind us. "Those explosives had Wakfu mind control on them. Don't step in that area!" We nodded our heads and kept firing at Crazy. He got fed up by getting peppered by rock and cinder, so he charged up more energy and small white wings sprung out on his back. He then flew at me at a high speed and grabbed me by the throat, lifted me up and began to choke me. As I was fighting to keep breathing, I managed to get my hands on his head and began to scan it for information on his master. I found that his master, the Paradox Child perhaps, had six others under his control. From whatever magical or mental connection they had, I found that one was fighting Nox and Damien, while another was searching for Carrow. I didn't get anything more than that, as Crazy roared in pain and fell, dropping me in the process. I managed to land on my feet without injury. Crazy, on the other hand, landed face first in the dirt. When I saw his back, I saw a shard of obsidian embedded in his spine. He's probably paralyzed now. Despite that, took extra precautions and commanded some smoke to hold him down. Geek then approached the downed man and began to examine him. "His Wakfu signature matches the signatures of the anomalies we were looking for." Before he could say anything more about the guy, I placed my hands on the guy's head and superheated it, cooking the guy's brains and killing him. "What was that for?!" Geek asked. "Cliche video game trait: defeat a sub-boss or a connection to the boss to weaken the boss," I stated. "Such a trait may apply to this guy's master." "Strange way to put it," he muttered. "What do we do now?" Obsidian asked in the common tongue. "WE," I said, gesturing to Geek and I, "Are going to find Nox and Damien and help them." "Wait! Why..." "Nox has a brain too, Genius!" I deadpanned. "If this world is thrown off kilter, then it would be useless to him and whatever he's planning." "Well...I..." "As for you," I said, pointing at Obsidian. "You're going to find Carrow, keep her safe, and get her here to help us. We need all the help we can get." *Make Haste! Ponyville may be the best bet!* *Sir! Yes Sir!* Obsidian then galloped away to Ponyville. Geek and I then continued further into the Everfree. Obsidian Shard's POV I ran to Ponyville as fast as my hooves could take me. I would sometimes use a rock boost to give me some forward momentum. I arrived in town and began my search for Carrow. From what my scrambled memories could tell me, this Carrow was the cat woman that restrained me when I wasn’t in control of myself. "YOU B**** PREPARE TO DIE!" I heard from an isolated portion of town. I followed the voice and saw a bipedal cat facing off against a human girl all dressed up and fancy. "Dimensional Psychosis!" I heard the girl shout. The cat then looked as though as she was going to die as the girl summoned a magic circle around her. While I had to search for Carrow, I couldn't let the cat get harmed or killed. What can I say? I'm kinda fond of cats. I used a rock jump to get above Fancy Hat. As I fell down, I summoned an obsidian blade in my hoof. I landed on the girl's back, knocking her down and canceling the spell she was doing. Before she could throw me off, I plunged the blade into her neck, severing several vital nerves and blood vessels. I proceeded to stab her in the back until she stopped twitching and struggling. I looked at the cat, who had her eyes closed, anticipating death. "Hey, are you okay over there?" I said gently. The cat open her eyes to peek at me, but upon seeing me, her eyes shot open wide. I was confused as to why, until I looked over myself. I was covered in fresh blood. "Ugh! I just cleaned that off of me!" I ripped a portion of the girl's pant leg off and began to wipe the blood off. "Now I've got to start all over!" After I cleaned most of the blood off of me, I addressed the cat. "I hope you're Carrow, because I was instructed to keep you safe." I trotted forward as a white unicorn with blue mane teleported to her. "Here I am Carrow!" The unicorn said. "Do you need me to be your foal-sitter now?" "That won't be entirely necessary. By the way, my name's Obsidian Shard." I offered my hoof to the cat and she shook it. "My name is Carrow Coxen the Ecaflip." She then pointed to the unicorn. "And that's Vinyl." "Nice to more officially meet you. Anyway, I think we should find Delsin. You would be safer near him." I then use a rock boost to shoot me towards the Everfree. I landed and looked back to Carrow and Vinyl, who both had shocked expressions. "We don't have all day! Hurry up!" They then ran and caught up with me just as I used another rock boost. Dusk Spark's POV I can't believe how stupid that Masqueraider is. I saw him talking with someone under mind control who made himself to like he was Displaced. At least the weirdo with the axes didn't do anything aggressive. As Axe Man walked away, I saw Mask Face create a sentry or whatever in Tartarus he made with a short statue and a mask. That then started following Axe Man deeper into the Everfree. Considering that that guy needed a few eyes on him, Kudos to Mask Face. I noticed that Zecora was there with Mask Face. I static teleported close to eavesdrop on the conversation. "That'll do it thank you," Zecora said, "But for now, stay ready to bid adieu." "What's that mean?" Mask Face asked. "Once you hear it there will be death, one way or another, so go forth......when your ready to do so." That sounded weird. Apparently, not every Zecora rhymes in every sentence. My electromagi-scan can tell that she is safe. I had already done so to Axe Man, showing that he's hostile and has traces of mind control. Since I went through the trouble of going through Tartarus and back to try and keep what Hellish future I've lived in from happening, I guess helping Delsin help these guys out would be worth it. I static teleported to a hidden position and began to tail Axe Man and Mini Mask. Before I could follow him far, I felt something I haven't felt for several years. S***! He’s here! I left Axe Man to find Delsin. Just don’t die at his hands, Delsin. Points: +7 Rank: Champion
Chapter 25: Demons of Chaos This chapter was written with the assistance of Company Master Sebaste and DemonG. A Crossover with their stories, For the Emperor and the UNSC! (Rebooted version) and Hunter of Ash and Cinder, respectively. inFAMOUS Displaced Chapter 25 Demons of Chaos (3rd person POV) The group had been working on the portal for nearly a week. Aside from a few interruptions from Stella and, at one point, Screwball, the project was going smoothly. “Okay!” Delsin called out from under the device. “Throw the switch!” “Why did I just get a henchman vibe from that?” Sebaste muttered as he flipped the switch, only to duck as a wooden ruler spun past him. He glared at a now embarrassed Pinkie. “Really? You had to pull that gag?” Before Pinkie could respond, the sound of electrocution, minus the screaming, was heard from where Delsin was. Sebaste quickly turned off the power and waited as some smoke curled up from under the device. “You alright mate?” Viktor called over. The smoke then flowed back under the device. “Note to self: don't place the wires like that.” “My Lord, is the device ready?” Dweller asked. “Just had to know if the electrical wiring was set...and...Done!” He pulled himself out from under the device. “Now for a test run. Second, you have that box of tokens?” “Right here, sir,” Second answered. Delsin began sifting through the box. After a few moments, he pulled out a small bell. He looked at it as if listening to something. “This should do.” He placed it in the connection reader. He then flipped the switch and pressed a few buttons, causing the device to start humming. “Fingers crossed it won't blow up…” Alex remarked. The portal frame lit up, a blue portal forming in it. Then a ringing was heard from the token and the frame began to shake violently. “Uh oh! HIT THE DECK!” Everyone, except Pinkie, dropped to the ground. Pinkie simply pulled out a deck of cards and hit it, scattering cards in front of the three new people in the room. The portal then closed behind them. Sebaste slowly stood up. “Who are you three?” He asked, his posture showing that he was ready to summon a weapon if the three proved hostile. One of them, tall and wore dark leather and a face mask with hat, looked around. His right arm was in some sort of clawed gauntlet. Beside him was another being with the same outfit but shorter with a cane. The last one wore a futuristic suit of armor. “Well, this is new.” The tall man said ignoring Sebaste. “Huh?” Delsin stood up, slowly his chain at the ready. “What do you mean?” The man looked over to the one with a cane and nodded. It pulled out a small orb thing and threw it up in the air. It spun a few times before letting out a blue light for a second. It fell back down and the being pushed a few things on it. “The rift brought us to another world, let’s hope it’s not filled with marshmallows.” the being with the cane said. “I thought you like marshmallows?” The man said. “The ones not trying to eat me.” “Right…” The man looked up to Delsin and tilted his head. “Hello.” “About time you noticed us,” Delsin said in annoyance. “Oh, I already noticed you. I just chose not say anything until now.” the man replied. “Sheesh, Arrogant aren't you?” Sebaste asked, an eyebrow raised under his helmet and his arms crossed. “Call it all you want, doesn’t matter to me.” he said as he turned around to the device. “Nice Rift gate by the way.” “Rift gate?” Alex asked, her voice sounding confused. “I believe that's his terminology for the device,” Delsin said, wrapping his chain back around his wrist. “And to be honest, it's better than what I called it.” Sebaste then looked closer at the man before he suddenly jerked back as a realization hit him. “I recognize the game he’s from, Bloodborne or something like that…” “First name was right.” The man said before looking around. “What’s with the mess?” Before anyone could say something he flicked his wrist and everything started to move and cleaning itself up. It took a few minutes but everything was soon clean and the man was holding a deck of cards. “Much better.” “Well that was new…” Sebastian spoke up, eyeing the three from where he was. “To explain the mess, we were building that Rift gate and we were fearing an explosive malfunction. I told everyone to ‘hit the deck’ and Pinkie took it literally,” Delsin explained. The three of them looked at the pink mare for a moment. "Oh, it’s one of these worlds! Awesome.” “What the… it’s a pink horse!” “Hey! I'm a pony, thank you very much!” She complained. “Hey don’t be rude.” the man said. “You three are new to being Displaced, aren't you?” Sebaste asked. “They,” he pointed at the two. “Kinda, not really Displaced, me on the other hand have been through this.” “I didn’t join the Rift Hunters for this.” the being, who sounded female, said. “Don’t lie, you totally did.” the man said. Sebaste sighed, “Just who are you three exactly?” He asked. The man and woman looked at one another before removing their headgear. The man had dark blue hair, beard and blue eyes with a scar under his left eye. The woman had short brown hair with green eyes. They both, plus the being in the suit, bowed. “Apologies for not saying before, name's Jace Belaguard and this,” he gestures towards the woman. “Is Ynra, head hunter for the Rift hunters.” “The name’s Eliteslayer, and behind are Alexandra, Sebastian and Viktor. The Displaced next to me is Delsin.” Sebaste said, gesturing to the others as he introduced them and himself. “Nice to met you all, oh and this…” he turned to the person in the suit, his expression changed a bit. “I need to talk to you, now.” he grabbed the being and disappeared into ash. Ynra looked at the rest of the group and shrugged. “Family matter, the head doesn’t like the fact his family came with.” she said. “His… well, that's not exactly surprising to me, I know a Displaced who has family spread across the Multiverse.” Sebaste chuckled. Ynra turned to the device and looked at it. “So, oddly enough that you all were doing a test on a rift gate at the same time as we were, funny that it’s so big.” “Hmm… that is a bit surprising.” Sebastian then walked forward, the thump of his metal boots echoing through the room. “But what are these “Rift Hunters” you mentioned?” “It’s a branch that stems from a group known as Hunters, who have been around for a very long time.” she gestures at the device. “Some time ago rifts started to pop up all over the place bringing creatures with them, so the Head Hunter, who was the man was just here, made the Rift Hunters. A group to research the rifts.” She turned to look at Sebastian. “If you have any other questions better ask the head.” “There might be one question you could answer,” Delsin said. He pointed to the Rift gate. “Would this device be able to sync the time axises of two different worlds?” Ynra thought about it for a moment and shrugged. “I have no idea, never tested it.” “It’s okay, I’m just trying to avoid a “Chronicles of Narnia” time axis difference with a friend of mine.” “That begs the question, who’s Equestria are you trying to time sync with?” Sebaste asked. “I’m trying to sync up with Tito’s world. I don’t know why, but I feel that I’m going to be working with him quite frequently. As of right now, a month or so could have passed in the time it took for us to even get this far.” Delsin emphasised that by pointing to the Rift gate and then Ynra. “Hey, we been looking into rifts for some time now yet we still have no idea how they keep popping up.” she said. She looked back at the device. “Jace might know of a way but that’s a long shot.” “I know of one long shot and how it somehow end up working,” Delsin began. “Back a few thousand years, blast shards and blast cores would neutralize a pony’s magic. The then Prince Sombra of the Crystal Empire had crystal ponies immigrate to Equestria, where their descendants later passed on their immunity to said problem. Now, ponies can handle them without said negative effects.” Delsin took a breath and finished, “It was a long shot for their genetics to do that for the entire current population, and yet it happened. So any shot is worth the shot.” As Delsin finished Jace reappeared with someone else. A woman with long pink hair, glasses and tan skin. She wore a tank top with the sun on it and blue jeans. “Sorry, what did I miss?” “Just wondering about time synchronization and if the Rift gate can do that,” Delsin said. Jace looked at him and back at the device. “For one you don’t really need that big thing to open Rifts.” he said. “Well we don't exactly have any other way to open a portal.” Viktor remarked. “Unless you have a token that can hold a portal open for a long time?” “What he just said,” Delsin agreed. Jace thought about it and frowned. “What do you mean, time synchronization?” he asked. “Two worlds operate on different time axes. One hour in one world could be a week in another. The thing I’m trying to accomplish is to make it so that one hour in one world is the same amount of time in another.” “Oh well… that… well that could be done.” He looked back to Delsin. “You’ll also destroy both worlds on the way but it’s possible.” He said in a carefree way. “Can it be done WITHOUT the potential of cosmic destruction?” Delsin asked. Jace stared at him for a moment. “How much do you know about Rifts? Nevermind, don’t answer that. You know that each of the realities for each Displaced are there own, different time wave and all that junk. Rifts are a tear that cuts through the thread that keeps one reality from another. A rift forms or opens if a strong surge of chaos cuts said thread.” “So tokens are part of this ‘surge of chaos’ you’re talking about?” “No no no, tokens are different, think of it like a wall with gates and tokens are a pass. Rifts on the other hand are someone taking a hammer to said wall and make a hole in it.” Jace explained. “Discord.” Sebaste said. “I don’t think he would do something that dumb. Anyway back to the question before, no, it’s impossible to get the times of two worlds that are different to be the same but other means without blowing the two worlds up.” “What about using the ‘official gates’ of this ‘wall’?” Delsin pulled out his token and Tito’s token. “Make it easier to access that world by way of a special portal or whatever. I heard from my fiance about a Sunset Shimmer using a mirror portal, and the world she’s on, it’s theorized, runs on the same time axis as this world.” “If it was different realities but what your fiance is explaining is a parallel universe. Completely different.” Jace explained. “Getting the times the same of a parallel universe is different from doing so of a different reality, the world won’t blow up. As for the gate thing, still won’t work, this is stuff I was told by someone who can make rifts with a snap of his fingers.” “Did someone mention me?” A voice spoke. (Delsin’s POV) I jumped at the sound of that voice. “Discord! Where are you!?” Smoke flowed down my arm, ready to attack at a moment’s notice. “No need to be antagonistic. I’m not being antagonistic. Your other worldly friend, on the other paw…” I turned to Jace with a questioning look. Jace looked at me for a moment then away. “Nope, not you, not even close.” he said. “Aww, I hate the filter that Wayward put on my internet site! I never was able to get the manuscript of your story!” Jace looked up at this. “Right… better you not read it, I’ve dealt with beings that make you small.” Jace said. “I’m not even going to ask,” Discord and I said. “Anyway, I just want to point out that what you said isn’t entirely true, but neither is it false.” Jace looked at the ceiling. “So who’s world am I in?” he asked, ignoring Discord. “Well this got awkward fast…” Viktor muttered. “You’re in my--” “Wayward’s world,” Discord interrupted. “It’s rude to switch subjects, you know.” “I don’t really care, you’re being nosy.” Jace said. The woman giggled at this. “Well, the author, Wayward, just finished his research on the subject and came up with something.” A small manuscript titled, “When lightning strikes…” appeared in front of him. “Read chapter 18. You’ll be surprised what you may find.” Discord paused, as if you could imagine him thinking. “Another thing I should mention would be that if you still say it’s still impossible, the author will manipulate a wormhole or do whatever to allow a time synced portal to be possible.” Jace took the manuscript and looked at it for a moment before it turned into dust. “Not my world, not my rules, just don’t mess with things that you don’t understand.” Jace said as he looked at me. “You telling me that or him,” I asked. He stared at me for a minute. “Discord, this one acts like he can do whatever he wants so I don’t care, I’m telling you that.” he said. He paused for a moment and turned away. “I’m not trying to tell what you want to do, just be careful at what you are doing.” “I think Delsin knows what he's doing.” Alex said, her right arm whirring as she crossed her arms. “I believe, he was addressing me,” Discord said, physically behind her. Only to be sent into the wall after being sent flying from a magic blast by the startled Spartan. “Frighten easily lately? Or just magic happy?” “You try being in a war and expect an attack from enemy forces at any moment.” She retorted. “Ah, of course,” he said, pulling himself out of the wall. “Your story is kind of vague on the details of that, so I wasn’t properly informed.” I heard Jace mutter something. “Anyway I know that feeling all too well.” he said to Alex. “Really? How?” She said, her tone starting to sound steely. Jace looked at her and his face went dark. “You try surviving in a world that everything and anything can kill you without a thought. Even the land itself.” he simply said. “So, Discord,” I said. “How do we get a special portal up?” “It’ll take me, your friend’s me, and both yours and his token,” I held out the tokens for him to take. “I’ll get this end up, and my other me can get his end up.” He took Tito’s medallion as his paw arm glowed yellow. A door then formed on one of the empty walls. Discord floated to it. “I’ll be right back.” He went through the door and was gone. Sebastian sighed before his armor disappeared, revealing him in his normal clothes. “So what now?” He asked. “Explore? Never been here.” Jace said. He seemed to find a few chairs as the pink haired woman and Yrna sat down. “So who's the lady with you?” Sebaste asked, nodding to the pink haired woman. Jace raised an eyebrow. “Full name or short?” he asked. “Short.” Jace looked over at the woman. “You can call me Tia.” she said. I stared at her in shock. “Celestia?!” Sebaste stepped back in shock. The Royal Guard symbol on his left shoulder pad suddenly caught Jace's and Celestia's eyes. “Huh, that’s something.” Jace said as he nodded to the symbol. “Got it a long time ago. Back when I was in a different Equestria.” He replied. “I never really noticed it,” I said, still shocked about seeing a human Celestia. “Then again, there are cases where I’m completely clueless. I guess it’s just one of many possible side effects of being alone for a thousand years.” I heard Jace snort at this. “Only a thousand? That’s young.” “I’ve heard of Displaced that were imprisoned longer.” Sebaste said. “The times of imprisonment, is it important right now?” Jace asked. “Age is,” I threw in. “Somewhat. I ended up getting punched in the face for trying to help a Displaced who was roughly three thousand years old. That’s old compared to my one thousand.” “Well you know someone older and unless you tick me off I won’t punch you in the face.” Jace said with a smile. “I’m BACK!!!” Discord said from the door. “The portal is synced and everything. I even threw in Cell service into the deal.” When he said that I pulled out my phone and texted a quick message to Tito. ‘Respond five minutes after receiving this text.’ “I must say, this Discord is more… untamed than ours.” Tia said to Jace. “Have you ever considered reforming your Discord?” Sebaste asked. Jace looked at him. “Do you mean this one or mine?” he asked. “Yours.” Jace looked at him for a moment then looked away. “He’s… well not reformed but he’s not like this unless you push him too far.” Jace said. “Huh, our Discord is reformed, but he’s been a bit busy as of late…” I heard a chime from my pocket and I checked my phone. Tito responded in the time frame I asked. ‘Delsin? Hey. It’s been a little while.’ I smiled and muttered, “Yes, it has been.” Another chime. ‘You would not believe what happened the last week.’ I texted back, ‘Hold on. I’ll contact you when I’m on your world.’ ‘Wait, what are you talking about?’ ‘You’ll see.’ ‘Okay...hopefully you like my...daughter…’ Daughter? I looked over at Jace and saw that he was making three orbs of… something, float around his hand. “What in Dorn's name are those?” Sebastian asked in confusion, the other three echoing his confusion. “Just some orbs of chaos, nothing big.” Jace said nonchalantly. The orbs just kept spinning around his hand as they started to change shape to a star, a square, and a ring. “What? Never saw chaos before?” Sebaste snorted. “I’ve faced off against a Chaos sorcerer and his cronies in a war back in my old Equestria, so yes, I’ve seen and faced chaos.” “I’m sorry about interrupting, but I need to go somewhere and I don’t mean any offence but, I think you all--” I gestured to all the Displaced in the room. “--need to head home. Who knows what may have happened if time is off kilter or whatever wherever and such.” Sebaste nodded before he looked over at Alex. She nodded in return before her gauntlet glowed with arcane power. A portal soon opened front of the others but before the four Displaced headed to their Equestria, the Recon turned me and the other three and said, “It was an honor meeting you all, and I wish you all luck in your endeavors.” He then entered the portal and vanished. Alex then looked at me before saying, “Good luck with your engagement Delsin. Hope things go well for you.” The other two gave a farewell salute before they too began to enter the portal. “Hey! I just remembered something!” This caused the soldiers to stop. “Am I able to use your tokens as weapons?” “Yep.” Alex replied. “Say what now?” Jace ask as he looked at the three. “Our tokens serve a dual purpose, they allow for another Displaced to summon us, but they are also weapons for those that will use them wisely.” She replied. She then turned and caught what seemed to be an assault rifle with an energy bayonet flying out of the portal. “This one's Sebaste's token.” She said, tossing it to me. “Infinite ammo, so you don't have to worry about reloading.” “That’s good,” I said, before hefting the rifle and putting a few rounds in the portal device, causing a controlled explosion. “That’ll do it.” She giggled before waving goodbye and vanishing into the portal. “Hope we'll see each other again sometime mate.” Viktor said. Then he too vanished into the portal. Sebastian rolled his eyes before he looked over at me. “They may be my friends, but sometimes they forget to ask things.” He chuckled. “Do you have an invitation for the wedding of you and Tia?” I pulled one out of my pocket and handed it to him. “There you go. See ya!” “Later Delsin, tell Stella we said hello.” He said before he then entered the portal and it then closed with a pop. I looked back at the other three and saw Jace still making orbs spin around his hand, now there’s a blue orb and an orb on fire. “What are you doing?” I asked. “Training, you were all talking so I was just doing this to keep me in tip top shape and stuff.” he said. He looked at me before making them disappear. “So you want me to leave as well?” “I don’t mean to offend you when I say yes.” He shrugged and stood up. “Eh, doesn't matter to me that much.” He looked around and flicked his wrist. The bell from before appeared in his hand. “If ya need help, don’t be afraid to call.” I took the bell and handed him an invitation a well. “I’ll see you around.” Jace looked at the invitation for a minute. “A wedding between you and your Celestia, huh that would be interesting, anything else ya need to tell me before I go?” I tossed a Banishing Key to him. “I have a doppelganger that’ll try to kill you. Just use that, and he won’t be back.” “A doppelganger? Well there’s a story behind that but let’s cut that part to later and just give me some info about him, powers, weaknesses, fears and personality.” he said. “Smoke, neon, video, concrete, and chaos magic are his thing. He’s resistant to death, fears stronger chaos users, and is an all around idiot with half a brain,” I listed off. “Oh! And he looks like me, except his jacked is red and his vest shows a Vulture instead of an Eagle.” I turned around, showing him the back of my vest. “Resistant to death? That’s… disturbing.” Tia said with a frowned. “Not a problem with me, in truth with what you said then I’m going to be his worst nightmare.” Jace said with a grin. “Sounds good to me,” Discord said, twirling a yo-yo contrary to gravity. “While I may be ‘irresponsible’ with my chaos powers, Nisled takes it to down right...urgh, I can’t even find a word to describe how disgusting it is.” “Right, again the way you said it then… Nisled is probably the weakest chaos user there is if he thinks like that.” Jace said as he put the invitation in his pocket. I raised an eyebrow at him. “What he means is that anyone that thinks chaos as magic isn’t that strong with it.” Tia said with a smile. “Just don’t traumatize him too badly,” I said. “He may be sadistic, but he shouldn’t be taken down too far.” “No promises but I’ll see what I can do.” Jace said until he jerked his head over. “What’s that?” I stared at him confused as he waved his hand. I looked over and saw another blue orb float over to us. Inside was something black. “Is that… tar?” Yrna asked. “Dude I don’t know what you do here but make sure you clean up, black tar is just gross.” Jace said as he looks at it. “That’s what was leftover from some issues involving someone who could control that stuff. Incinerate it please.” Jace eyed me for a second and made the orb turn red. The tar burst into black flames and after a few seconds there wasn’t anything in it.” “Should I be worried about this one?” he asked. “Not sure. She built a portal to another world, but I’m not sure which one. I’ll be able to find her and take her down,” I told him. “Depends on if she build the portal right, some of them will take you to other worlds while others… well all that was left is ash. The void is a dangerous place.” he said. “It was unstable, but it worked. That’s how three of those four you saw earlier got here...unintentionally. After its second use, it self destructed,” I said. “Probably a safety feature.” “Right… Just to be on the safe side I’ll keep an eye out for her, mind give me a picture so I know what I’m looking for.” he said. Discord pulled out a picture from his ear and handed it to Jace. Jace took it and looked at it, he tilted his head a bit. “Well… that’s something.” he said as he pocketed the picture. “Anything else you need to do, say, or show me?” “Don’t let her tar touch your spine or head. She can then control you through it...if that’s even possible with you.” “If she tries then she will have one big surprise.” Jace said to me. “Last call for anything to show me and other stuff.” “Nothing else that comes to mind,” I stated, before suddenly remembering. “Oh, wait! Another Displaced managed to get his Diarch of the Sun dressed up weird.” I showed him Sora’s picture of Prince Solaris. The three of them stared at it for sometime. “I don’t get it, it just shows a horse with a horn and wings in a dress.” Tia said. “I agree, what’s the point of this?” Jace asked. “In most Equestrias, the inhabitants are sentient ponies, and their Princess or Prince is a horse,” I sighed in annoyance. “The joke is that Sora, the Displaced that took this picture, wants the rest of the multiverse to not take him, meaning Solarus, seriously.” “I don’t know, even if I would look like that, which would be kinda cute, I wouldn’t take myself seriously if I was a winged horse.” Tia said. “Until you actually see her angry side, you wouldn’t normally take her seriously...or him…” “Are you saying that I’m not threatening as is?” Tia asked me. Her gaze seemed to pierce through me. “Even if you see me as a horse?” “I’ll just say no comment and please stop...you’re scaring me.” “Good,” she started with a loving smile as she cracked her knuckles. “I would hate if you have to tell your Celestia that you got beaten to a bloody pulp by something else.” “Just go please. I’m close to wetting myself in fear.” She eyed me for a second before turning around. In a bright flash a white portal opened. “I’ll see you when you get back brother.” Tia said before she and Yrna walked through it. Leaving me and Jace alone. “Well she’s a bit ticked, sorry about that. She can be caring but the idea of anyone seeing her as a joke rubs her the wrong way.” Jace said. “I deserved it. Foot-in-mouth disease issue I’ve had.” “Luckily it wasn’t Luna, she would just punch you if you insult her.” Jace sighed at this. “Growing up with those two, the most oddest sisters ever.” He thought about it until he snapped his fingers and a piece of paper appeared. “Speaking of family, mind keeping an eye out for this one.” He passed me a picture of some girl with brown hair, eyes and some goggles on. “Who is she?” “My sister, she’s a displaced as well.” he said as he looks away. “She’s a bit of a knucklehead but nice.” “I’ll keep an eye out, but no guarantee of finding her.” I checked my phone before looking back at him. “I’ll see ya later then?” “Yup, see ya.” with that he turned into ash. Now I was alone. “Well, I’m suddenly confused as to why I’m alone when there were some ponies and a draconequs here earlier.” I shrugged. “Meh, I needed a nap anyway.” Author's Note Finally...exhausted my brains...hurts...
