Spider in Equestria

Chapters

2. I Have Powers? AWESOME!!!
3. I'm in Equestria? Okay then
5. Meeting More Ponies
6. So I'm Displaced?
7. New Clothes, New Friend, and Some More Questions Answered
8. Meeting the Human Expert, and Cece's First Day In Equestria
9. Meeting the Magician
10. Exploring Manehatten
11. Reunited
12. Appointment With Royalty
13. A Hearth's Warming Surprise
14. Rocketing Into A New Dimension
15. Going Through the Mirror
16. The Spider and the Conduit
17. Secrets Revealed
18. Testing Rainbow
19. Sudden Changes
20. Spartan Reunion
21. A Shocking Encounter
22. An Egg-cellent Adventure
23. Colorful Confessions
24. Reunion
25. A New Member Of The Family
26. The Magician's Struggle
28. Test Run
29. A Link To New Possibilities
Chapter 30
31. Blazing Reunion
32. Fiery Reception
33. Living Shadows
34. Temple Crashers
35. Metal Strangers
Chapter 36
37. Hatching An Enhancement
38. Tough Love
40. Perplexing Hexes
Chapter 41
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
45. Mirrored Perspective
46. Hexed Clown
47. Dive Into The Heart Part 1: Trial Of Power
48. Dive Into The Heart Part 2: Trial Of Courage
49. Dive Into The Heart Part 3: Trial Of Restraint
50. Dive Into The Heart Part 4: The Light Of Harmony
51. Stone Garden Zone
52. Stone Garden Zone Act 2: Egg Breaker
53. Stone Garden Zone Act 3: Stage Clear
54. Stone Garden Zone Act 4: Ambition
55. Dog Days
Chapter 57
58. The Fenrir Mercenaries
59. Blooming Rose
60. Jubilee Trouble
61. Wolves In Sheep's Clothing
62. Darkness Rising
63. Shrouding Dark Cloud
Chapter 64
65. City Escape
66. Plucked Rose
1. My First Convention
4. Answering Questions, and A New Place To Call Home
27. A Link To New Potential
39. Toxic Heist
42. Return To Ponyville
56. Dog Days Part 2: Tinkering With Fate

2. I Have Powers? AWESOME!!!

"Oh...anyone get the number on that truck," I said with a groan, grabbing my head as a headache subsided. I slowly opened my eyes and was shocked. Instead of the convention, I was in the middle of a forest. "Where the hell am I? Someone must've knocked me out. Wait, where's Cece?" I looked around, but I couldn't see my sister anywhere. "Great. I'm in the middle of a forest, at night, and my sister is missing. Well, this is bad." I looked around and noticed I still had everything on me: my sword, my backpack, and everything inside. "Whoever brought me here clearly didn't understand mugging. Better for me I guess. So, might as well try to get out of here. Figure out where I am."

With that said, I ventured out into the wilderness. Though, as I was looking around, I felt...different somehow. I couldn't explain it, but I felt stronger. I didn't understand, but I didn't think too much of it. After wandering around aimlessly for about 5 minutes, I decided to stop and have a look at the sword I bought. Taking it out of the sheathe in my back, I examined the blade. It was a blade as black as night with a dark blue hilt. "Huh. Looks pretty cool. And seems perfect." After a few practice swings, I put it back and continued walking.

I sighed and looked around, noticing all the trees looked completely identical. With a sigh, I muttered, "Can things get ANY worse? ...did I seriously just ask that?" Immediately after, I heard a growl coming behind me. "Screw you Murphy." I turned around but what I saw surprised me. It was a large wolf with glowing green eyes. That wasn't the surprising part. The surprising part was that it look like it was made entirely of wood and it was at least the same size as me.

"What the hell? A timberwolf? Am I going crazy? Okay, craiziER?" The timberwolf growled again and leapt at me with its claws aimed straight for my face. I immediately yelped and ducked before it can connect. After it landed, it tried to attack again. This time, I grabbed it by its legs and tossed it through a few trees. Before I can even process that, I felt something telling to move to the right. I quickly rolled to my right and barely avoided getting torn to shreds by another timberwolf. Just going on pure instinct, I shot my hand and some white substance came out of it and trapped the timberwolf. After that, I ran as fast as I could away from them.

After I ran for a few minutes, I caught my breath and thought about what happened. "Okay, let's see. I MAY have gone more insane than I already was, but it look like..." I put my middle fingers to my palm in the usual Spider-Man gesture and webs shot out of my wrist. "Okay, I can shoot webs, I'm stronger, and if that little warning earlier was any indication, I MAY have spider-sense. Hmm, well, only one more thing I have to confirm my suspicions." I climbed a tree, sticking to the wood easily. "Okay, yup. I have the abilities of a spider. AWESOME!!!" A bunch of birds flew away from my screaming. "Oh. Hehe, should probably be careful with the whole powers thing. I don't want to be seen as a freak. I already have enough problems as is. So, on to the next subject, the fact that I just fought 2 timberwolves from My Little Pony. How does THAT make any sense. Hehe, it'll be funny if I ended up in Equestria. Well, I might as well get out of here and see if I get answers."

With that said, I web-zipped to another tree a few yards away and jumped across the trees until I heard a scream. "That doesn't sound good." With that, I web-zipped a few times to the source of the scream. When I got to my destination, I saw a pack of timberwolves surrounding people who I couldn't see due to them being in the shadows. I grabbed a rock and used my webbing to spin it around like a slingshot and flung it at one of the timberwolves, shattering it's head and basically killing it. That got their attention. When one try to pounce on me, I webbed its hind legs and slammed it to the ground. I webbed it up so it wouldn't escape, and turn to the other two. When one tried to pounce at me, I webbed it up and threw it to the other one, knocking them both out. After webbing the last two up, I turned to the two figures that had screamed, and for the fourth time today, I just stood there completely surprised.

In front of me were Apple Bloom and Scootaloo from MLP. Apple Bloom had yellow fur, a red mane and tail, orange eyes, and a large pink bow on her mane. Scootaloo had orange fur, purple mane and tail, as well as eyes, and two small wings coming out of her back. They both had near identical cutie marks of a shield. The only difference was that Scootaloo had a wing on the center of hers and Apple Bloom had an apple. Oh, and did I mention they were both anthros? Yeah, bipedal, hands, and wearing clothes.

This left me so surprised, we just stood there staring at each other for about a minute before I heard a familiar voice come from my right.

"Get away from them, you monster!"

Before I can even turn around, I felt a huge force hit me in the head, and blacked out again.

Author's Note

And this is chapter two. Hope you enjoyed my story so far. I know it's short, but I'm just starting. Constructive criticism is both appreciated and wanted. Well, until next time.

Edit 02/25/2018: For anyone who wonders why Tito's spider-sense didn't detect that last attack, read the second comment of this chapter.

3. I'm in Equestria? Okay then

“Okay, THAT hurt like hell. Who even was that?” I opened my eyes, but instead of being in the forest, or a cave, I was in some sort of room made of crystal. I felt nothing on my back and when I checked, I noticed my backpack and sword were gone. I looked around the room but didn't see them anywhere. I look at my chest and noticed I still had my medallion my mom had given me for my 16th birthday. It was a silver spider with ‘DS’ on it. “Great. Now I get mugged." I sighed. "Well, at least I still got my necklace. Now, let's find out where I am.” When I got to the door, I noticed it was unlocked. “Weird. If they wanted to mug me and kidnap me, why leave the door unlocked?" I just shrugged. "Awe well. Easier for me I guess.”

When I exited the room, I found myself in a hallway made of the same crystal. “Where have I seen this before?” I shrugged it off and decided to worry about it later and web-zipped to the ceiling, because if there's one of the many things about Spider-Man that I know of, or anything for that matter, it's that people don't usually look up. I went across the hallway, until I saw a door that was slightly open. I went in the room and heard some voices, but I couldn't make out what they were saying. I saw a strange looking chandelier in the center of the room and decided to go to it. As I got closer, I was able to hear the conversation.

“-idea to fly in there without waiting for anypony and not having a plan.”

“What was I supposed to do? Stay with you and let those two get hurt? As if. Besides, I had a plan: fly in and beat up anything that tried to hurt me or them.”

Ha. That reminds me of that scene from Avengers. Wait, why do those voices sound familiar?

“That's not a very good plan.”

“Whatever.”

By this point, I've reached the chandelier and was sitting on it. Then I heard a third voice, this one rather quiet. “I'm just happy those two are okay. Though, I don't think you should've kicked that creature. You could've hurt it.”

“Oh yeah? What do you think would've been a better idea? Go up to it and try to communicate with it? I saw that thing take out four timberwolves with its bare hands. It even shot some weird looking white goop off its hands.”

Oh, looks like they're talking about me now.

“Yes, but it seemed kind of mean to do that,” that quieter one said.

“Wait,” the first one said, “what do you mean that it shot ‘white goop’ out of its hand?”

I can't help but imagine Goop from Ben 10, but white.

“Exactly that. It shot some white gooey thing from its hands and it stuck the timberwolves to the ground. It looked weird.”

“Fascinating.” I heard the sound of something being written down. “So it can shoot a substance from its hands, and able to hold its own against timberwolves rather well. And if the sword it had was any indication, it knows how to use a blade. Hmm, any idea what is it?”

Before I can hear what they were going to say, I felt like I was being watched. I turned to my left, only to see a large pair of blue eyes right it my face.

“Hi.”

To put it simply, I panicked. I lost my footing and fell on some table. Luckily, it stayed intact, both the table, and my back. Thank god I'm more durable now. When I looked around, I noticed I was in front of more ponies, these ones also being anthropomorphic. One had yellow fur, as well as wings sticking out of her back, blue eyes, and a pink mane and tail, with a picture of 3 pink butterflies on her. The second one had purple fur as well as matching eyes, a horn sticking out of her head, as well as a pair of wings on her back, dark purple mane and tail with a pink streak on them, and a star for her mark. The last one, who was right in front of me, had light blue fur, and also had wings on her back as well, along with red eyes and her mane and tail had pretty much every color of the rainbow, and her mark was a cloud that had a lightning bolt that was red, yellow, and blue. In other words, I was in front of Fluttershy, Princess Twilight Sparkle, and Rainbow Dash, all of whom are from MLP.

Well I think I know where I am now. Question is, if I'm right, HOW did I get here?

We all just stared at each other for about a minute, probably because they didn't expect me to fall from the ceiling, and I didn't expect to land in front of a bunch of humanoid ponies. Then Fluttershy let out a small ‘eep’ before hiding behind her chair. Twilight just continued staring at me. While Rainbow Dash on the other hand, flew right at me. Luckily, I was ready this time and jumped over her before she got a hold of me and landed on the top of her throne. Before I can turn around however, she tackled me to the floor. I was able to kick her off of me and quickly got back onto my feet. Before she was able to readjust herself, I pulled her towards me and punched her in the face. After that though, I was suddenly floating and surrounded by a purple aura. I turned towards Twilight and saw her with one hand facing me, with both her horn and the hand glowing with the same aura.

“I believe that's enough of that,” she said. Rainbow flew down next to her, with a hand on her head. “I will not allow you to harm my friends.”

“I didn't need your help Twi,” Rainbow said to the alicorn. “I could've taken it.”

“Maybe, but I wasn't going to let you get hurt fighting it. Now,” she then turned to face me, “who are you and why did you attack us.”

I stood, er, floated there quiet, looking at myself with the costume, thinking about how to respond.

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Come on Twilight, do you really think that thing can understand you? I bet it tried to sneak out and fell. Then it decided to attack us so it can have something for dinner.”

That just got me annoyed. “Okay, first off, I'm not an it, I'm a he. Second, in case you hadn't noticed, I only attacked you,” I pointed at Rainbow, “out of self defense. But the punch was just payback for kicking me in the face. And third, why the hell would I eat you? I rather not eat something that can actually think for itself.”

They just stared at me with wide eyes, apparently surprised that I could talk. Immediately though, Twilight shook her head and recomposed herself. “And what is your name?”

I look at myself again before saying, “Back home, most called me Tito. But in this suit, I guess you can call me DarkSpider, or just Dark.”

“DarkSpider? Never heard that name before.”

“Sounds stupid to me,” said Rainbow.

That made me glare at her. “Look who's talking, Skittles. Besides, I made that name up when I was 10. And I rather like it. Most original name I ever came up with.” In hindsight, I'm pretty sure everyone in those HiE fanfics I read who wanted to make fun of Rainbow or insulted her called her that. Or a walking pride flag, but I'm not going there.

“Skittles? That's not my name. I'm Rainbow Dash, fastest flier in all of Equestria, and future WonderBolt.”

Wait, future WonderBolt? I guess the events of Newbie Dash hasn't happened yet.

“Okay then,” Twilight said. “What do you want?”

That question confused me. “What do you mean?”

“What are you doing here? Why were you on my chandelier? And what is that substance that shoots from your hand?”

“Well, I have NO idea what I'm doing here, nor how I got here, I was on your chandelier because I wanted to hear what you were saying, and it's call webs. Ever heard of them?”

“Webs? Well you do have ‘spider’ in your name. But how can you possibly do that?”

“Um, spider DNA I guess.”

“Spider DNA? Does that mean you're part spider? Can you do more things? What even are you? Can you-”

“Enough!” I shouted. I understood her curiosity, but I barely processed her questions. “I'll answer all your questions, one at a time, but can you at least put me down first?”

Twilight seem to consider it, but Rainbow quickly said, “Woah woah woah. Twilight, you're not seriously thinking of trusting this guy, are you? What if he attacks us again?”

I figured this would happen. “For one thing, if I wanted to, I could just shoot a web at her face to disrupt the whole magic thing of hers, and web those wings of yours so you can't fly, and then I'll be able to take you down easily. But since I have no reason to, that's why I haven't done it.”

Rainbow just narrowed her eyes at me. “And why should we trust you?”

I just held my right hand up and said, “I will not harm anyone of you in anyway, shape, or form unless it is in self defense. You have my word. And I NEVER break my word.”

“Well that's good enough for me,” Twilight said before putting me down and disabling the magic around me. She then held out her hand. “My name is Twilight Sparkle, and these are my friends Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy,” she said, pointing to the pegasi, the latter still hiding behind her throne.

I shook her hand and afterwards, replied, “Oh I'm well aware of who you are Princess. Though is there someplace else we can talk? And maybe get something to eat? I've haven't eaten for a while.”

Twilight looked like she was about she to say something, but stopped when she saw something behind me. Sensing the same presence as earlier, I turned around and found myself facing a pony with pink fur, a darker pink, as well as poofy, mane and tail, bright blue eyes, and 3 balloons representing her cutie mark. And finally, a smile so big, it can rival the Joker’s, but when his was sadistic and scary, hers was friendly and kind. I immediately knew who this was, and even smiled behind my mask.

“Hi,” Pinkie Pie said. “I'm Pinkie Pie. I saw you climbing the walls and I thought you can use some company, plus, I've never seen you before, and since I know everypony in Ponyville, that means you must be new here. And if you're new, that means you don't have any friends. And if you don't have any friends, that mean you must be lonely. And if you're lonely-”

“Pinkie, I think he gets the point,” Twilight said, putting a hand on Pinkie’s shoulder.

I chuckled softly. “It's a pleasure to meet you Pinkie. You can call me Dark. Now, about the whole food thing…”

Pinkie hopped a few times. “Ooo, we can eat in the dining room. I brought some tasty treats I'm sure you'll all enjoy. Come on.” With that said, Pinkie ran out of the throne room.

Twilight shook her head and sighed. “Sorry about that Dark. She can get rather excited when meeting new ponies.”

I couldn't help but smile some more behind my mask. “It's okay Princess. If anything, it's nice to see someone so happy. Now come on, I'd like to see what treats she brought. And while we're there, I'll answer a few of your questions.”

“Okay, also you can just call me Twilight.” And with that said, the 4 of us left the throne room, heading for the dining room.

Author's Note

Well, that's the third chapter. Definitely the longest of them so far. I hoped you enjoyed it. And again, if you have anything to say to make it better, let me know. Also, happy Independence Day.

5. Meeting More Ponies

After introducing me to Spike and Starlight, Twilight gave me a small tour of the castle. She mostly just showed me where the bedrooms were, including my new room, the throne room, the kitchen, the library, etc. She said she'll give me a complete tour in the future. Fluttershy and Pinkie went home for the night, while Spike went to bed, and Twilight and Starlight went to the library, saying they were looking for a spell to fix something, leaving me with Rainbow.

Great, I'm stuck with the one pony (so far) that hates my guts. I can just tell this is a good idea.

Deciding I might as well call it a night, I turn towards the hall to my room. “Well, I'm going to bed. See ya arou-”

I was immediately interrupted when I was shoved to the wall, with Rainbow’s face right in front of mine.

Damn. Why is it my spider-sense doesn't warn me when stuff like this happen?

“Listen here, bug-boy, and listen good, cause I'm not saying this again. I don't know what your deal is but if you so much as think about hurting any of my friends, you're going to end up in the hospital, got it?”

Even though I can practically feel the venom of her words, I just rolled my eyes and pushed her away from me. “You really think you scare me? Lady, compared to timberwolves, you're downright adorable. And another thing, why would I hurt any of you outside of self defense? I helped out those fillies, and, other then when you attacked me earlier, I've cooperated with you since I got here. And one more thing, if from the stories I heard are true, why the heck would I attack a princess, and her friends? Unlike a few enemies you may have faced, I can only match you in a fight, and that's only because of your speed giving you an advantage. I don't have an army, or magic, or any of that, so I will be beaten rather badly by Twilight. And that's not counting the other princesses. So unless I'm some stupid brute who like to hurt others for fun or wants to fight beings who are practically goddesses, I'm staying away.” I went back to walking to my room, not even bothering to hear her reaction.

When I went inside my room, I looked around. Nothing special really. Just a bed, a dresser, a night stand, with a lamp, a wardrobe, and a door to a bathroom. I took off my mask, put it on my night stand, and got on my bed. After I got myself comfortable, I immediately fell asleep.

The next day, I woke up rather early. Looking out the window, I noticed it wasn't even dawn. I sighed and put my hands to my sides, when I felt something on my hip. Placing my hand to it, I remembered that I put pockets in this suit and I put my phone in there. I guess with everything that's been going on, I just forgot about it. Awe well, now I can listen to some music. I pulled my phone out, unwrapped my headphones and turned it on. Checking the time, I noticed it was 5:38 A.M. I guess even in another dimension, I wake up before 6. I turned towards the door and noticed my stuff was by it, including my sword, as well as a note. Walking towards them, I picked up the note.

“I figured it was for the best to give these back, and I trust you won't use that sword on anypony.
-Twilight”

Huh. I guess she's more trusting than I thought.

I left my backpack, but put my sword to my back, put on my mask and left my room. Seeing as how everyone is no doubt sleeping, I might as well do something productive. During my tour, I saw a huge room that was perfect for training. When I reached it, I put my headphones in my mask, put on ‘Monster’ by Skillet, unsheathed my sword, and just swung it around, practicing my style. I was at it for a while, before Twilight came in and saw me. When I noticed her, I sheathed my sword, and paused my music. I then turned towards Twilight.

“Morning Twilight.”

“Morning Dark. I'm surprised to see you up so early. I'm not used to anypony but Owlicous being up before me.”

Oh right, her pet owl. Forgot all about him

“Really? What time is it?”

“7:08”

Wow. I've been at it for over an hour? I barely even broke a sweat.

“Yeah, well, I usually wake up around 6 or earlier. Been like that for years. And since you guys were still sleeping, I decided to train a bit.”

“I noticed. Well, I'll leave you to your own devices. Just know that breakfast is in 20 minutes. Hope you can join us. We have quite a bit planned for today.” After that, she left.

I put an alarm for 7:25, put on ‘A Hero Forms’ by TryHardNinja, and practice some other moves without my sword. When my alarm went off, I put my stuff in my pocket and went to the dining room. When I got there, I saw everyone else already sitting down, eating pancakes. When I got close, Twilight turned towards me.

“Dark, so glad you can join us. Come grab a seat. I hope you like pancakes.”

I grabbed myself a plate and sat down. I poured some syrup on it, uncovered my mouth, and began eating. After swallowing my first piece, I turned to Twilight. “So what were you saying about plans?”

“Simple. First I want to introduce you to two of my friends, Rarity and Applejack. I'm sure you'll get along with them.”

“Yeah. I bet we'll get along just as well as me and Rainbow Dash,” I sarcastically said under my breath.

Twilight frowned at that statement. “I'm sure it'll be fine. And speaking of Rainbow, you going to have to talk to her.”

This caught me off guard. “What? Why do I have to go and talk to her? She hates me.”

“I don't think it's that bad,” Spike said.

I glared at him and said, “When I first got here, I saved two fillies from a pack of timberwolves and you know what she does? Kick me in the back of the head and knock me out. Then, when I accidentally interrupted their little meeting yesterday, she attacks me again. Then, last night, before I go to bed, she pins me to the wall and threatens me. So tell me, if that isn't hatred, what is it then?”

They all went quiet after that. We just continued eating for a few minutes until Twilight cleared her throat. “Well, that's kind of the reason why I want you to talk to her. You know, get to know each other, become friends.”

At this point, I finished my pancakes and washed my plate and fork. I put down my mask and sighed. “It's not that simple Twilight. I don't really think talking will do any good with her. She seems like someone who doesn't really care about words. But, let's worry about that another time. Anything else?” I asked, wanting to change the subject.

That at least brighten her mood a bit. “Well, I was expecting to give you a tour around Ponyville, but I don’t think what you’re wearing is good for a casual walk around the town. Do you have anything else to wear?”

I shook my head. “My clothes were back at the hotel I was staying in. These are the only clothes I have now I guess.”

“Hmm. Well I guess we can ask Rarity to make you something else to wear.”

“Wait, exactly who IS Rarity? Pinkie mentioned her yesterday, but I don’t remember any of you guys saying who she was.” I already knew about Rarity, but I need to pretend I don't know anything about them, so I might as well ask.

“Oh, she's one of my friends and is an expert clothing designer. I'm sure she can make you the perfect outfit.”

“Not to mention she's the most beautiful pony in Equestria,” Spike said dreamily with hearts floating around his face.

I just looked at the others in confusion. Not because of him having a crush on Rarity, that's been a thing since the very first episode. I was just confused about the hearts.

“Spike has a bit of a crush on Rarity,” Twilight informed me.

“I noticed,” I said, looking at Spike.

Deciding to bring him out of his daydream, I snapped my fingers in front of his face. Instantly, the hearts popped like bubbles and he looked at me in confusion. “What happened?”

“I brought you back to reality Romeo. Now,” I looked towards Twilight, “when are your friends supposed to be coming?”

“Any minute now. We're going to meet them at the entrance and I'll introduce you to them. Hopefully it'll go smoothly.” With that, she left to go to the entrance with me close behind. “So, exactly what happened with you and Rainbow last night?”

“Exactly what I said. When I was going to my room to go to sleep, she pinned me to the wall and threatened to put me in the hospital if I hurt you guys.”

Twilight sighed. “Yeah that sounds like something she'd do. I'm sorry that had to happened, but she's only looking out for us. She's really a great pony to be with. Most of the time.”

“Well ever since I showed up, she's been nothing but a huge...you know what, I'm just going to shut up and keep walking. We'll figure out what to do with her later.” I wasn't worried about calling her a bitch, but I don't think Twilight would've liked me calling one of her best friends that.

We arrived at the entrance and after a few minutes, heard the door knock. When Twilight went to open it, I quickly web-zipped to the ceiling. Reason why is because I didn't want to just stand there. I want my meeting with them to be at least a bit more memorable. When she let them in, I instantly recognized them.

Applejack was an earth pony, like Pinkie, who had orange fur, a blonde mane and tail that had a hair band on the end of them, green eyes, 3 apples for her cutie mark, and a cowboy hat. I know it's actually called a Stetson, but screw you, I'm calling it a cowboy hat. Even though she's a girl. Rarity on the other hand was a pure white unicorn with a purple curled mane and tail, blue eyes, and 3 diamonds for her mark.

“It's good to see you two today,” Twilight told her friends.

Applejack tipped her hat and said, “Good ta see you too Twi. Boy, you would not believe the story Apple Bloom told me this morning.”

This caught all of our interest. “And what is it she said?”

“She said that her and Scootaloo were at the Everfree Forest to see Zecora when a bunch of timberwolves attacked. Then, some black and blue creature comes in and single handedly defeated all those timberwolves with nothing but its bare hands. Then apparently Rainbow knocked it out and took them home. Never said what happened to that critter.”

Twilight chuckled nervously. “That is strange. Anyway, there was someone I want you two to meet today.”

Rarity beamed at this. “Oh, a friend of yours Twilight? It's always nice to meet somepony new. So, where are they?”

“He's right...over….” Only now did she not notice me down there. She looked around the room but couldn't find me. Like I said before, no one ever looks up. “He was here a second ago.”

Applejack looked around. “Um, who're you talking about Twi? I don't see anypony else here but us.”

And there isn't anypony else, if you wanna be technical.

“I don't understand. He was right here a second ago. Where could he have gone? It's not like...he…” While she was rattling on, I lowered myself from the ceiling with a web until I was behind Rarity and Applejack. Then Twilight noticed me and was caught off guard.

“Twilight, dear, what's wrong?” After that, Applejack and Rarity both turned around and saw me hanging upside down from the ceiling.

“Hi.”

Rarity immediately screamed and then fainted. Applejack though just stepped back.

“What in the hay are you?”

I let go of my web and landed on my feet, but I briefly saw my web disappear when I stood up.

Strange. I don't remember them doing that.

“My name is Tito, but you can call me DarkSpider or just Dark,” I said, holding out my hand.

Applejack hesitantly shook my hand. “Applejack. And that there is Rarity.” She said that last part pointing at her unconscious friend.

Before I could say anything though, the door burst opened and a certain blue pegasus landed on the floor. When she saw Rarity knocked out behind me, she glared at me with a murderous look in her eyes.

Aw crap baskets

“Why you little-” Rainbow flew right at me, top speed, looking like she was going to strangle me. Luckily for me though, I've been getting better at dodging her now. Not to mention my spider-sense actually worked this time. I web zipped to the wall and she crashed on the floor. When she tried to get me again, I just jumped to the ceiling. When she came at me a third time however, she caught me mid-dodge and slammed me to the floor. She lifted her hand up to punch me, but before she could I webbed her fists together. I then kicked her off me and wrapped her in a web cocoon, covering everything but her head. She then lost her balance and squirmed on the floor like a worm. I stood back up and just watched her.

“What the-get this stuff off me and fight me like a stallion.”

At this point Twilight and Applejack came to us. “Rainbow,” Twilight said, “calm down.”

“Calm down? CALM DOWN?!? Why the buck would I calm down? He attacked Rarity and tied me up. Why are you even siding with him Twilight? He's just some freak that belongs in the dungeons.”

That actually struck a nerve, but thanks to my mask, they didn't know. Clenching my fist, I said, “I didn't attack your friend. She just fainted.”

“And why should I believe you? You're just some shady freak who wears a mask so nopony knows that you are one. What makes you think that I would believe someone like you is telling the truth.”

Applejack then stepped in. “Actually Rainbow, he is.”

Rainbow then look at her in shock and disbelief. “W-what? But I heard Rarity screaming.”

“Rarity and I came here and when Rarity saw ‘im, she freaked out and fainted.”

Rainbow then calm down a little. “So, he didn't hurt Rarity? At all?”

Applejack shook her head. “Nope. He didn't harm anypony. Well, at least until you came and went crazy on ‘im.”

Rainbow just went silent after hearing that. Twilight then went up to me and asked, “Can you get her out of those webs? I think she won't try and hurt you right now.”

“Why should I? She deserves to be like that for an hour. At least then she might learn,” I said, crossing my arms.

“Dark. Please.” Then she gave me those puppy dog eyes.

Damn it. I forgot these ponies can turn adorable at will.

I let out a sigh. "Fine.” Right when I was about to go to help her get out, however, the cocoon vanished.

How did that happen?

“Well then,” Twilight said, “now that that's taken care of, let's get Rarity to the throne room and try to wake her up.” She then lifted the mare with her magic.

“You go. I'm going to my room.” With that I walked to my room.

“Dark-”

“Twilight,” I cut her off, “I need some time alone right now. Call me when she wakes up and you informed her of what happened. Until then, just leave me be.” I then continued to my destination. When I reached my room, I sat on my bed, took off my mask, and wiped my eyes. “Everywhere I go….”

Author's Note

Wow. I didn't think I'd be done with this until tomorrow. I'll be honest this went a completely different route than I anticipated. Rainbow and Tito weren't even supposed to fight. Well, I guess I should expect that. So, Applejack and Rarity are now here. By the way, don't expect me to be good when it comes to Applejack's accent. Besides a few small things, I'm just going to have it be regular speech. I'm not good with western talk. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter, and, until next time, see ya.
-Dark

6. So I'm Displaced?

After I finally calmed down, I turned my phone back on, and put on “Hero” from Skillet. Then, a few minutes later, I heard something fall. Looking over, I noticed a weird looking chainsaw, and a gun that looked like that assault rifle from Halo. “What the heck?” I went and picked up the assault rifle, but when I did, I started hearing voices.

"This is Sebastian of the Dark Angels Chapter... And I'm Spartan Sebaste-915 of the UNSC.... Together, we are humanity's last hope in the future. If you're in need of the galaxy's most powerful super soldiers, or if you are needing to bring death to the enemies of the Imperium and the UNSC, we will answer the call... AVE IMPERATOR, FOR THE UNSC, FOR TERRA!"

I blinked a few times after hearing that, looking around. “What the heck was that?” I then examined the rifle. “Sebastian? Sebaste? Who the heck…” Deciding to just give in to my insanity, I said, “Sure. Come on over.”

Something that looked suspiciously like a portal suddenly opened up a few feet in front of me. Then two beings came from the portal and landed in front of me with the portal closing behind them. One was in red and silver Halo 4 style Orbital armor while the other guy was a complete mystery. He too was in armor but it looked even more high tech while also looking archaic. He towered over the Spartan with some sort of backpack attached, but it was the shoulder pads that were the most confusing. The right one had what looked like a white winged sword while the left one had a red sideways double arrow like what you would see on a signpost. On one of his knees was a red stripe and all of his armor was dark green while on his chest a gold double-headed eagle stood out. Both of them were looking around in confusion.

I looked at them for a few seconds before I finally processed what happened. “Okay, no offense, but who are you, how the hell did you get here, and what do you want? I had a bad day today and I don't need to fight anymore people.”

The two jumped when I spoke and looked at me for the first time. “Oookay, is it me, or did an alternate Spiderman call us?” The Spartan asked the other figure who shrugged.

I just sighed and said “Don’t let the look fool you. I'm not Spider-Man, unless you know of one with a black and blue suit. Name’s Tito, but in this suit, it's DarkSpider, or just Dark. So exactly who are-wait, did you say Spider-Man? Meaning you actually KNOW about Spider-Man?”

The other figure chuckled, his voice sounding deeper from his helmet. “Yeah, why do you…” he stopped speaking as he realized something. “You’ve been Displaced haven't you?” He then asked.

“Displaced? What are you talking about?” I'm really confused right now, but hey, I wanted something to get my mind off of what Rainbow said, and I guess this is the result.

The Spartan sighed before saying “Basically what he means is you were sent to Equestria somehow. A lot of Displaced we’ve met were sent by this person called the Merchant, same with Sasha and I.”

When I heard that, I did a double take. “Wait, so…you're telling me that the guy who gave me my mask and sword is the reason I'm here? And that there are other people here in Equestria?”

The Spartan growled. “Yeah, that's the idiot that sold an assault rifle and a Godwyn pattern Bolter to me and Sasha. As for the others, they're in their own versions of Equestria. You're now part of a multiverse.”

“Multiverse? Okay. Wait, so when these Displaced go to their Equestrias, do they...change?”

“If you mean they turn into what they're cosplaying as? Yes, and they also gain the powers and abilities of what they become, though with me and Sebaste, we’re able to summon any kind of vehicle or weapon from our respective games.” The other figure said. “Speaking of which, we never introduced ourselves, the name’s Sebastian, or Sasha for short, and my friend in the Spartan armor is Sebaste.”

“Cool. You can call me Tito or Dark, whichever you prefer. Also, I-wait,” I said, just realizing something rather important, “you said when they become Displaced, they turn into whoever they're cosplaying as? Does that mean if, say, someone dressed up like a pink anthropomorphic hedgehog with a hammer, and bought that hammer from the Merchant, they're turned into the pink hedgehog?”

The Spartan, who I now knew as Sebaste, nodded. “Yeah, pretty much. It was a shock for the both of us when we woke up and found out that we were now what we had cosplayed as. And the life of a Displaced isn't all sunshine and rainbows, we found that out the hard way…” He trailed off as if he was reliving a memory he didn't really like remembering. When he spoke again, his tone was distant. “Both Sasha and I have been defending our Equestria for a long time now, and some of the things we’ve seen you wouldn't even believe. But from what you described, that sounds - wait, you said pink anthropomorphic hedgehog with a hammer?!”

I sighed. “Yes. See, I was with my sister Cece when we met the Merchant. She was dressed as Amy Rose from Sonic. I bought my mask and sword, she bought a large hammer. Before I got Displaced, she disappeared. And if what you said is true, she could be anywhere in the multiverse.”

“I wouldn't count on it, from what we've learned, if two people buy something together from the same merchant, they get Displaced to the same Equestria. But in your case, your sister could be anywhere in this Equestria since she got Displaced first.” Sebastian said, before taking his helmet off and revealing a face that was lined with a few battle scars, along with short dark brown hair and brown eyes that reminded me of those soldiers from Afghanistan, haunted from seeing thousands of battles and seeing comrades fall.

“Really? Well I guess that's something to look forward to. Though, she may be completely confused. Unlike me she knows nothing about Equestria. By the way, sorry about how I was when you got here. I had a bit of a bad day so far thanks to a certain rainbow pegasus.” I grabbed my mask, and put it back on, my thoughts drifting back to Rainbow.

Sebaste facepalmed. “Let me guess, she acted all aggressive and got in your face?” He asked.

“Actually, she knocked me out after I saved two of the Crusaders from timberwolves, attacked me when I fell in front of her in the throne room after I woke up, and then she pinned me to a wall and threatened to put me in the hospital if I hurt her friends. And that was all yesterday. Today, she bursts through the entrance and attacked me, all because Rarity screamed and fainted when she saw me. I mean, it's not even noon." With a sigh, I said, "So, long story short, she hates my guts.”

“Maybe you’d like us to talk some sense into her?” Sebastian asked. “And I don't mean clobber her, just try and convince her that you're not the monster she makes you out to be.”

“If what she said earlier is any indication, she doesn't think I'm a monster, but just some freak. It doesn't help being the only human here, who has spider powers.”

“Ouch, even for Rainbow, that's taking it too far for her!” Sebastian said with a wince.

“You wanna know the funny thing though? Before I came here she was one of my favorite of the Mane 6. Imagine my reaction to one of my favorite characters doing all that to me.”

“I can imagine that…” Sebaste said, shaking his head. “Though did you tell her and the rest of the Mane 6 that they were part of a show? Because that may have a hand in her reaction to you.”

“Of course not. I don't want them questioning their existence. Though I may have let slip I might know a few things. I asked them what was the most recent noteworthy event that happened to them, aka, what was the latest episode. The examples I gave were being framed, opening up a new shop somewhere, traveling through time, and becoming an aunt. I did get the info I needed though”

“And that set her off…” Sebastian said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Sheesh, even the Rainbow Dash in our Equestria wasn't that brash…”

“Infinite worlds, infinite possibilities. Meaning that a lot of the same person will be at least slightly different. Isn't that the whole thing with multiverse?”

“Pretty much.” Sebaste chuckled. “So where exactly are we? I figured we’re in Ponyville, but as to where, that's drawing a blank in my mind.” he then asked.

“Twilight’s castle. Specifically, my room. Twilight offered to let me stay here with her, Spike and Starlight. She's definitely been nicer to me than Rainbow.”

“Castle? When did… Oh yeah, Episode 26 of season 4, right after they took out Tirek…” Sebaste facepalmed. “ You said Starlight was here? That means that we're in Season 6 Territory…”

“Yup. So far that I know, Twilight’s an aunt, and Rarity found a place to open a new shop in Manehatten. Though, if the other episodes happen, it'll be weird. I mean, Rainbow becoming a WonderBolt, and Trixie coming back? That's going to be quite the experience.”

“Well I don't know about you, but I need to stretch my legs. Standing in a room in armor doesn't really help them.” Sebastian said. “You have any idea how heavy Astartes armor is? Try having five 10 pound weights on you!”

“Well, I guess you guys can walk around the castle for a bit, but I have one more question before you do that.”

Sebaste looked at me before saying, “What do you need to know?”

I lifted up the assault rifle. “What was with the whole voice thing when I picked this up?”

“The Voice that you heard? That's to let someone know that whoever gets the token, they are available to help or chat. You can actually do that yourself, just choose something that's related to your costume or character, put some of your soul into it, make up a phrase to let others know that you are willing to help and send it into the Void.” Sebastian replied. “If you want, I can make a copy of what you want to use for your token.

“.......what?”

I couldn't see Sebaste's face, but I got the feeling he was rolling his eyes. “The short version is that you can make your own Displaced Token. You choose something to send into the Void, which is basically the realm that separates all the Equestrias from one another and whoever is in that Equestria will get it. The voice is basically your calling card, letting others know that you are willing to help.” he explained.

“Oooohhhhhh. Okay then.”

“Sasha can get a bit… Eggheadish when explaining things, personally I blame him hanging around Twilight too much!” He joked before dodging a punch from Sebastian who growled good naturedly.

“That sounds like something Rainbow would say. But what can I use…” I look at my chest and noticed my medallion. I grabbed it and said, “You said my token has to be related to me or my suit, right?”

Sebaste nodded. “You need to put a bit of your soul in it in order for it to work. That's how you’ll know you're getting summoned, and you also need to say something to let others know about you and that you are available to help. But Sasha can create a copy of that Medallion for you so that you still have the original.”

I took off my necklace. “Um, how do I do the whole ‘put a bit of my soul in it’ part?”

“That, I can help you with.” Sebastian said, putting a hand over the Medallion and my hand before his was covered in a dark green aura and I felt… something leave me before my Medallion suddenly glowed. “It… is done…” He said, sounding tired out. “That usually takes a lot outta me.”

“You okay?”

“Yeah, just never did the token creating process with someone else. Now all you need to do is say something and send it into the void.” He said.

I thought for a moment, before closing my eyes, holding up my medallion and saying, “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 to 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.” I opened my eyes. “How's that?”

Sebastian grinned. “That was amazing. You're definitely not someone that will allow anyone, pony or Displaced that need protection get hurt! Would you like me to send it into the Void? Oh wait, before I forget!” His hand glowed again before a copy of the Medallion appeared in his hand. “You're gonna want this. This way, you still have the original.” He said before handing it to me.

I grabbed the medallion and put it on. “Okay, so how do I send it to the void?”

“Either toss it into the air or have someone else send it for you.” Sebaste replied.

I just shrugged and tossed it into the air where it disappeared with a flash of light. “Okay then. Anything else?”

The two shook their heads. “Nope, that's all actually.” Sebaste said. “So shall we get on with the tour? It's been awhile since Sasha and I have gotten some downtime from all the fighting we’ve been through.”

“Sure. But I'm surprised that-” I stopped when I heard my door open.

“Dark?” Twilight said, coming into my room. “Are you okay? I thought you could-” she then noticed Sasha and Sebaste. “Um, who are you?”

“David and Goliath.” Sebaste joked before getting bonked on the back of the head by Sebastian. “Ow!”

“Sorry about that, Sebaste likes to crack jokes sometimes, my name's Sebastian, or Sasha for short. And you just met Sebaste, our resident wise cracker.” Sasha said.

“Well my name is Twilight Sparkle, and it's a pleasure to meet you, though, now there are 3 humans here. How is that even possible?”

“We already know who you are Twi, as for how we got here? We were summoned from our Equestria.” Sebaste said before realizing something. “Um, since when did you have hands? The Twilights I’ve seen all have hooves and walk like normal ponies, on all fours.”

“Um, I always had hands. Wait, did you say YOUR Equestria? And other Twilights?”

“Um… yes?” The Spartan replied. “Surprise?” He said, holding his hands up in a confused manner.

“Okay,” I said, putting my hand on Twilight’s shoulder. “I'll explain later Twilight, but long story short, it's something called multiverse theory. As for you guys,” I said to my fellow Displaced, “this world is anthropomorphic. Meaning humanoid ponies. Hence the hands and clothes. Now, how about we give you that tour?”

The two nodded. “That sounds like a good idea. And sorry for the shock we gave you Twi. Sasha and I have only seen pony versions of yourself, so you can understand the confusion on our part.” Sebaste said. “Indecently, congrats on being an aunt!”

“Um, thanks?” Twilight looked extremely confused. “Anyway, before we can do anything else, I need Dark to come with me to the throne room and get a proper introduction to my friend.”

“Great, I have to deal with Rainbow some more,” I said, very annoyed.

“Mind if we tag along? I would like to see the other girls.” Sebastian said before he realized what he said. “Erm, I mean, we would like to meet the others also.”

I just shrugged. “I don't see why not. Though, pro tip: if Rainbow attacks, just duck.”

Twilight sighed. “I promise Dark, Rainbow won't attack anyone.” With that, she left the room, and, after grabbing my backpack, the rest of us followed.

“Sooo… This is an impressive castle, not even Canterlot comes close to it!” Sebaste said as we walked through the corridors to the throne room. “And I’ve been in it myself.”

“Why thank you.” Twilight said. “It is pretty nice, though seems a bit too big for so few inhabitants.” By that point, we were right outside the throne room.

“Welp, here we go…” Sebaste muttered. “Let's hope Rainbow isn't in anger mode…”

“With me, that seems to be all the time,” I said. When we went inside, I saw that all of Twilight’s friends were here and in their respective thrones. When we got close, they all looked at us and Twilight sat in her throne, with the rest of us standing, me with my arms crossed, while Sebastian and Sebaste stood in a military stance, arms crossed behind their backs and legs spread.

“Who are they?” Rainbow said.

“Just some fellow Displaced from another universe.” Sebaste replied. “Nice to see you Dashie.”

“What did you call me?”

“Um, all I said was Dashie…” Sebaste said, his body language saying that he was bracing himself for whatever might happen next.

Oh boy.

“Only my friends are allowed to call me that, and I don't know who the hay you are. So give me one good reason why I should let you call me that and not kick your flanks.”

“How about you being stuck to that seat of yours?” I said, right before I webbed her hands to the armrest.

“Geez, Aggressive much Rainbow?” Sebastian asked. “You really need to get a handle on that temper!”

Rainbow growled, trying to get her arms free. Then she glared at me. “Let me out of this, you freak. So I can kick all your flanks.”

“What I tell ya,” I said to Sasha, shaking my head.

“ENOUGH!” Sebaste snapped, shocking everyone in the room.

Rainbow stopped struggling and everypony looked at Sebaste with a tint of fear in their eyes.

“Rainbow, just because Dark is different doesn't mean he's a freak. If anything, you’re acting like a character from a comic book series from where Sasha and I came from before we got Displaced, he treated another person like how you're treating Dark, he labeled him a freak and even made others hate him! And all because he was helping others! If anyone should be ashamed, it should be you Rainbow, how would you like it if someone called you a freak for being able to perform a Sonic Rainboom?” The Spartan asked.

Rainbow just stared at him with disbelief. After a moment, she turned away from all of us. Then, like before, Twilight turned to me. “Dark, can you get those off her? Please?”

I sighed. “Yeah yeah. I'll get her-” Once again, the moment I was going to her to free her from my webs, the webs disappeared and she rubbed her wrists. “Okay, how and why does that keep happening?”

“What in Dorn's name?!” Sebastian exclaimed. “Hmm, maybe it dissolves after a period of time?” He suggested.

“They do, but it's supposed to be an hour. I don't understand why they dissolve at random. Whenever I used them to web swing, zip, or hang on they disappear when I let go. The only other time I used them was to restrain Rainbow. Twice. And both times, right when I was going to help her get out, they vanish.”

“Hmmm, maybe they disappear so that it makes it easier for someone to grab whoever got webbed?” Sebaste said.

“It's easier to carry someone who's in a cocoon than someone who isn't, what with the fact they can't really move.”

“Then I have no idea why they disappear.” The Spartan said, shrugging his shoulders. “As far as answers go, I'm foxed. It’s almost like they vanish when they're… not….needed…” he trailed off as he realized what he just said.

I just shrugged. “Maybe. But we'll have to figure that out later.”

“Indeed,” Twilight said. “I believe proper introductions are in order, seeing as how I barely know anything about Dark, much less you two.”

“The three of us are what you could call Displaced. We… come from an entirely different world but were sent here against our wills by a person called the Merchant. As Dark told you Twi, you are all part of a bigger picture, a multiverse to be exact. Both Sebaste and I come from a different Equestria than yours, and… it’s seen some hard times recently. The only way a Displaced can contact another is through a token, basically a summoning device. In fact, that's how we ended up here, Dark found our tokens and called us over.” Sebastian explained.

Twilight then turned to me in confusion. “You summoned them? Why?”

“I didn't know that they'd actually show up. I was mad and I see a gun and a chainsaw on the floor, and when I picked one up, I heard two voices and figured ‘what the heck’ and invited them.”

“Wait,” Applejack said. “What's a gun?”

“This.” Sebaste said before what looked to be a handheld railgun appeared in his hands and he targeted a nearby piece of pottery. Arcs of electricity appeared between the prongs and a whine was heard before an ear-splitting BANG! was heard and the pottery was instantly destroyed. “And that was just a ARC-980 Recoiless Carbine, or as some people call it, the Railgun. Humanity… is not a peaceful race, we’ve fought more wars than we can count. All the while, we’ve adapted to the changing years, and while Sasha and I are now two super soldiers from made up universes, that doesn't mean this won't become reality. But you won't have to worry about us using them on you, both of us only fight to defend Equestria.”

The effect of the gun got all of their attention, especially Rainbow though it obviously made them all uneasy. Well, except for Pinkie, who was in awe. When Sebaste said they're the good guys, though, they calmed down a bit.

“You’ve… never seen warfare, have you?” Sebastian asked.

“Closest thing any of them seen to all out war is Twilight when she went to that Sombra time line, so no they didn't,” I whispered to the super soldiers.

The girls all shook their heads, still shocked about the gun. Then I remembered a small fact that I forgot to talk to them about. “Hey, that reminds me, what am I supposed to with this and that chainsaw?” I ask, pulling the assault rifle from my bag. “Not like I can just carry them around with me. I'm pretty sure a lot of ponies will be afraid with me having a sword around, let alone those 2 things.”

“Chainsaw? Did it happen to look like it had a sword pommel with a guard on the handle?” Sebastian asked.

“Kinda. Why?”

“That's actually called a chainsword, and it's a common weapon from the Warhammer 40,000 universe.” Sebastian explained before having one appear in his hand.

“Okay...so, what do I do with them?”

“Just store them in your room, that way you can still keep them, but not carry them around like Rambo.” Sebaste said.

“Okay. I guess I can do that. So then,” I said, turning to the girls, “Any more questions?”

“I got one,” Rainbow said. “Where did you guys get those?”

I saw Sebastian smirk. “It's one of our powers, we’re able to summon any weapon or if we're able to, vehicle from our respective game universes. Plus a few other abilities…” he said, giving Sebaste an annoyed look. A hand tapped Rainbow's shoulder from behind and she turned to see Sebaste behind her. “BOOGABOOGABOOGA!” He yelled while the Sebaste next to Sebastian burst out laughing.

“AAAAAAHHHH!!!!” Rainbow screamed and fell off her throne.

I was too busy laughing to question how he did that, along with Pinkie and Applejack, but luckily, Twilight wasn't. “H-how did you do that?”

“Hologram, makes it easy for me to distract someone so that I can deal with another problem. Oh ho man, you should've seen your face Dashie, too freaking hilarious!” Sebaste gasped. “I haven't laughed this hard since I heard the story of Sasha's sister doing the Scooby Doo run after stepping on a bug!”

I finished laughing and Rainbow got back on her throne. She glared at me but didn't say anything.

“Okay, I have a question this time for you Twilight,” I said. “Besides you guys, does anypony else know about humans?” I wanted to confirm my suspicions about a certain pony.

Twilight tapped her chin. “Well, the only other ponies in Equestria who I believe know about humans are the rest of the princesses, and a unicorn named Lyra Heartstrings here in Ponyville.”

I fricking called it

“Well, that’s no surprise there, Lyra always seems to be interested in humans in a lot of Equestrias, hell, there are a lot of fanfics about her from what I can remember that have her interested in human culture.” Sebaste mused. “But that was back on Earth…”

“Yeah. I read one where a guy dressed as an assassin from Assassin’s Creed saved Ponyville from Diamond Dogs and she knocked him out with a shovel because she wanted him as her pet,” I whispered to him.

“A shovel? Seriously? At least it wasn't a frying pan.” He whispered back. Aloud he said, “So were there any more questions you wanted to ask?”

Twilight had a confused look on her face. “Did you say there were fanfics about Lyra? How is that possible?”

Aw crap

“I told you they don't know about that yet,” I whispered to them.

“You didn't hear that and these aren't the droids you’re looking for!” Sebaste said, waving his hand like he was Obi Wan Kenobi. “Ow!” he yelped when Sebastian whacked him on the back of the head.

Twilight got even more confused but decided to just forget about it. “Okay then. How about-”

Pinkie quickly interrupted her by shooting her hand up and jumping up and down on her throne. “Ooo. Ooo ooo ooo ooo. Pick me. Pick me.”

“Yes…” Sebaste looked to the left then the right before settling on Pinkie. “Pinkie.” Sebastian facepalmed and muttered something that sounded like “Stupid Over The Hedge.”

“What are your favorite types of sweets, and are you staying for Tito’s ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party?”

Sebaste chuckled before saying, “It's been awhile since I've actually eaten candy or any kind of sweets. But I used to get Skittles back on Earth, heh, their slogan was “Taste the Rainbow”.”

Twilight looked at Sebaste. “Skittles? That's what Dark called Rainbow yesterday. What are they though?”

Sebaste busted out laughing. “I can see why he called her that! As for what they are, they're a type of chewy sweet with a candy shell, and they come in all sorts of flavors, from Sour flavors to Berry. I used to get the original, that's where the slogan for the candy came from because each flavor is a different color. I believe they had recently changed the lime to green apple for the originals before Sasha and I were Displaced.”

I shrugged. “Well I wouldn't know. Never really liked them. I only liked Reese's.

“As for staying for Dark's party, that's a definite yes. Honestly, Sasha and I need a break from all the fighting we've been through. Being involved in a war is… taxing to say the least. That and rebuilding after getting slammed by a war in our own universe with another Displaced and his army.” Sebaste said.

“Yay.” Pinkie beamed. “Wait, what are your favorite types of cake, ice cream and cookies?”

“Vanilla, Cookies 'n Creme and… blast, forgot which kind of cookies I liked…. oh yeah, Chocolate chip.” Sebaste listed. “Sasha likes Marbled, Mint Chocolate chip and Peanut butter.”

“Huh, you and I have the same tastes on those. Cool.” I said.

“Thank you. Now I have to get everything ready for the party,” Pinkie said, before disappearing in a blur.

“Heh, Good old Pinkie. She's no Deadpool, but she's definitely Warner Brothers worthy.” Sebaste chuckled before Yakko popped up and started making goo goo eyes at the rest of the Mane 6. “What the?!” The Spartan yelped before sending him flying into the stratosphere where he disappeared in seconds. “Erm… let's pretend that didn't happen…” he said.

I blinked a few times before just shaking my head. “Yakko Warner, showing up out of nowhere and you making him disappear. You know, I have a feeling I have to get used to stuff like that happening from now on.”

“Heh, welcome to the Multiverse. Believe me, that's not the craziest thing I’ve seen. There's a Deadpool Displaced running around, and when Sebaste and I encountered him, well, let's just say I saw things that I'd rather forget.” Sebastian chuckled.

“Okay, noted….”

“Okay, anything else?” Twilight asked.

“Guess not.” Sebaste said, looking around. He then took his helmet off, revealing a mop of reddish brown hair and a face much like Sebastian's, only with blue eyes.

“Great. Because we have to get few things done today. Dark, I asked Rarity and she'll be more than happy to make you some clothes.”

“Great. I actually have a certain design I was going to work on at home once I finished this suit. If I'm right, it should allow me to go out without anypony knowing I'm a human, and it's not as out of place as this costume.”

Sebaste raised a questioning eyebrow at that. “Um, how exactly are you going to pull that off? You can't exactly turn into a pony… unless you're in the Spiders and Magic series.”

“The what? No, I can't turn into a pony. And to answer your question, simple. My designs include a cowl and scarf to hide my face, gloves for my hands, and if I'm correct, it'll hide my tail, if I had one.”

“What a tale that’d make!” Sebaste chuckled.

“Anyway, like I said, if I'm right about it, I will be able to walk around anywhere and nopony would guess I'm a human. At least, not for a while, if I'm careful.”

“Let's hope so, if not, it’s gonna be Old JJJ style all over again…” Sebaste said.

I growled. “Don't remind me. I hate Jameson. No matter how much Spider-Man helped people, he always made him look bad.”

“Yeah, never was a fan of old Mustache himself.” Sebastian said. “Sometimes I wanted to just go into the comic and knock his lights out.”

“Same.”

“Um, who are y'all talking bout?” Applejack asked.

“Nothing!” Sebaste said.

Deciding that I might as well tell them, I just sighed and said, “Long story short, a guy who owned some newspaper company in a comic I loved reading named J. Jonah Jameson. He always called someone with my powers a menace no matter how many times he saved people and saved the city.”

“And know what was worse? He actually convinced other people that the guy actually was a menace, police would shoot him on sight, people would call him names, and all because Jameson kept doing this campaign against him.” Sebaste said.

“Add to the fact that Jameson was actually responsible to some villains like Scorpion, a guy who has a scorpion tail that can shoot acid, and invested on a bunch of robots designed to kill him, and you can see why I'm not a fan.”

“And this was the guy I had told you you were reminding me of Rainbow. You think you calling Dark a freak is bad? You don't even hold a candle to what Jameson did.” Sebaste said, looking at Rainbow.

Rainbow’s eyes widened and she looked at me for a second, then looked to the ground. Then Twilight said, “Okay, before anything else happens, how about we get Dark to Carousel Boutique to get his suit ready for the party?”

I nodded. “I'm cool with that, but how are we going to get there? I doubt anypony will just ignore a guy in blue and black spandex with a sword on his back.”

“Teleportation?” Sebastian suggested.

Twilight smiled. “Exactly. I'll teleport Dark and Rarity to the Boutique so they can get it done, and I can give you two that tour.”

Sebastian smirked, “Sounds like a plan.” He said.

“Great. Now then, let's get started.” Twilight’s horn and hand glowed and in a flash of light, Rarity and I were at Carousel Boutique.

“Now then, let's get started on your measurements,” Rarity said, getting some measuring tape.

This is going to take a while

(Third Person POV, Twilight's Castle)

Sebaste marveled at the castle’s architecture as they walked through the castle. Damn, wait till Alex hears about this! She's gonna have a fit that she missed this! He thought. “So, have you figured out what exactly this castle is made of?” He asked Twilight.

“It's made by a type of crystal that I'm unaware of as far as I can tell,” she said

“Huh…” Sebaste grunted before noticing Rainbow dragging her feet behind them. “The rest of you guys go on ahead, I'm gonna check and see what's eating Dashie.” He said before walking over to the cyan mare.

Rainbow looked at Sebaste. “What do you want?”

“Just wanted to see what was wrong, You seem a bit subdued after that chat earlier.” he said.

“Nothing is wrong.”

“Yeah right, and I’m the Master Chief. There's something bothering you, and I'm getting the feeling that your animosity with Dark runs a bit deeper than it looks.” Sebaste said, crossing his arms.

Rainbow looked at Sebaste in confusion. “Who's Master Chief and what does he have to do with anything? And what do you mean by my beef with bug-boy is “deeper than it looks”?”

“Meaning, something must have happened to you that made you practically not trust any strangers and when someone appears and saves two of the CMC, you go and knock him out without hearing his side of the story and when he does wake up, you threaten to harm him again. I heard the story from Dark, so why the hostility with him?” Sebaste said while keeping an eye on the group with the helmet HUD while the two followed behind.

“Okay, first of all, I only attacked him at first because I thought he was going to eat Scoots and AB when he was done with those timberwolves. And how would you react if some weird blue and black creature falls from the ceiling and lands in front of you? I was trying to protect my friends from him.”

“Except you could have heard his side of the story before you judged him, I’ve met many versions of you, but none have been as brash like you, I’ve been blindsided by a cybernetic version of you and that was when we first met a Displaced that… ended up ruining the Equestria Sasha and I lived in. But even she didn't attack without hearing the other’s side of the story.” Sebaste pointed out.

“Hey, I didn't even know he could talk until I already attacked him the second time. I thought he was a crazy violent animal.”

“Well, let me tell you, he was pretty close to tears when he summoned us. You attacking him really shook him up. But I think we’d better catch up to the others.” Sebaste said before smirking under his helmet. “Wanna race to them?”

Rainbow looked at him with wide eyes at first, but then donned a competitive smirk. “You're on.” With that, they both ran to the others, with Rainbow having a lot on her mind.

Sebaste chuckled as he ran before activating the thrusters on his suit, adding to his speed. “YEEEEHAH!” He whooped as he charged forward.

“So that's how it's gonna be? Fine.” Rainbow then used her wings to catch up with him.

Sebaste then screeched to a halt a few feet from the group. “Whoo, what a rush!” He said turning just in time for Rainbow to crash into him, sending the two tumbling smack into the rest of the group. “Ow…..” he groaned from underneath the pile up, his personal shields crackling before recharging.

“Everypony okay?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah. I'm just peachy.” Sebastian said before pushing Applejack and Fluttershy off him then helping the two mares up.

“Thanks. What in the hay happened?” Applejack said.

“Race got out of hand.” Sebaste said, as he helped both Twilight and Rainbow up. “Heh, my fault for stopping early.”

“Ya think?” Rainbow said, annoyed.

Sebastian chuckled. “Even here, Rainbow just can't back down from a race.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Oh, so you know everything about me then?”

“You can be brash, arrogant, you sometimes think with your hooves more than your head, but you are also extremely loyal to your friends and won't ever let them down.” Sebaste said.

Applejack nodded. “That sounds about right.”

“Heh, when you’ve been traveling the Multiverse, you tend to meet different versions of the same character.” The Spartan chuckled. “I’ve lost count of how many variations of Rainbow Dash I’ve seen over the last few years!”

Rainbow groaned. “So I'm guessing Dark is going to meet a lot too?”

“Depends on the Equestria he gets summoned to, not every one will have a Rainbow Dash. Like...ours.” Sebaste fell silent after that.

Rainbow widened her eyes in shock. “W-wha? Didn't you say you met the me from your universe?”

“We did, and she was just like you. But then… a Displaced named Ahriman and a group of his allies attacked our universe, Sasha and some other Displaced, along with me fought them to defend our Equestria. But… we failed. Our Celestia and Applejack were killed by a Chaos Marine Lord, while Rainbow… she was kidnapped by one of Ahriman's soldiers, who happened to be his version of Rainbow Dash. A year after, we both got a video recording of Rainbow being turned… into a combat drone. She’s now an expendable for the New Black Legion.” Sebaste said, clearly not wanting to remember the memory

This shocked all the girls, especially Rainbow and Twilight, who had tears in their eyes, and Fluttershy looked like she was gonna faint.

“I’d rather not talk about what's happened to my Equestria. Let's just get back to the tour.” Sebaste said before walking ahead of the group. Sebastian shook his head.

“It's kind of a sensitive topic for him. One that he doesn't like remembering.” He explained to the girls as they started walking forward again.

Twilight wiped her eyes, and caught up with them, as did Applejack and Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash, however, stayed there for a bit, wiping away her own tears. After staying there for a few moments, she went back to the group.

“So how many rooms does this castle have? I’ve lost count of how many I’ve seen.” Sebaste asked.

“I never really counted,” Twilight said. “There's just too many.”

“So are Spike and Starlight around?” Sebastian asked.

“Spike is watching some talent show, while Starlight may be in the library.”

“Mmhmm…” He said. He then tapped on his coms button, only to receive static when they activated. Damn it, they need to get fixed again! I knew I should have upgraded my helmet after I was disintegrated by Izra.

He took his helmet off and concentrated on it. In seconds it shimmered and changed form, the mouth grille became more pointed like a beak. Soon, Sebastian was holding a MK VI “Corvus” helmet.

“Um, what are you doing?”

“Just giving my helmet an update. The old one needed to be replaced anyways, the comms had been on the fritz after an encounter with a Void Dweller named Izra.” No need to tell them about the War of Shadows just yet…

“Void Dweller? What's that?” Applejack asked.

“A literal god that lives in the void between the Equestrias. But I’d rather leave that discussion for another time.” Sebaste said.

Twilight nodded. “If it's something to do with you Displaced, I believe Dark should be present. Speaking of Dark, I have a question concerning him.”

“What is it?” Sebaste asked.

“What exactly do you know about him?”

“All we really know is that both he and his sister got Displaced here by the Merchant, other than that, not much.” The Spartan replied. “Apparently his sister was Displaced as a character from a game back on Earth called Sonic.”

“Wait, he has a SISTER?” Rainbow asked. “What happened to her? And what's “Sonic”?”

“Sonic is a game series about a talking anthropomorphic blue Hedgehog that is actually as fast as you Dashie. The character that Dark’s sister got Displaced as is named Amy Rose who's also a anthropomorphic hedgehog, only pink. And well, she can really bring the hammer down, in this case literally as she’s armed with a large double headed, two handed hammer, about as big as her.” He explained.

“A blue hedgehog that's as fast as me? Your world is weird. But, where did she end up?”

“That's the problem, we have no idea. She could be anywhere in Equestria.” Sebastian said.

“Wait, this Equestria, or some other one?”

“This Equestria. If there's one thing Sasha and I have learned, if two or more people buy something from the same merchant then they get sent to the same Equestria.”

“So there's a pink hedgehog with a giant hammer running around in Equestria? That doesn't sound good. What do you know about this Amy person?”

“Not much actually, but she is as loyal to her friends like you Dash, and she packs quite a punch with that hammer of hers. She could smash a robot apart with one blow from it.”

“Woah. What about his sister?”

“If she was Displaced as her, she’d have the same powers as the character.” Sebaste said.

Twilight looked at him. “Um, exactly what's the thing with Displaced? You said you have the ability to summon weapons and vehicles from a game, and that Dark’s sister turned into a character from another game. What do you mean by that?”

Sebastian sighed. “The thing is, a lot of Displaced are teens like us. We all enjoy dressing up as our favourite characters and attending conventions as them. And when we buy something from the Merchant, something… I don't know if it's magic or not happens to us, and when we wake up, we’ve become what we're dressed up as. And from what I've heard, a lot of Displaced ended up getting turned to stone by Celestia, but some are lucky and help their version of the Mane 6 with their own adventures.”

“So, that's what happened to you? To Dark and his sister?”

“Yeah, pretty much.” Sebaste said.

“So,” Rainbow started, “Dark dressed up in a costume, bought something from this “Merchant", then ended up here in Equestria with the powers of who he dressed as? Who, or what, is he dressed as, exactly?”

“My guess is he created his own version of a Earth comic book hero called Spiderman, but made a few additions to the armament.” Sebaste said.

“Spider-Man? Didn't you guys mention him earlier? Who's THAT?”

Sebaste didn't answer but he brought up a hologram of a human in a red and blue costume, surrounded by a web design, the lenses of his mask glinting from an unseen light source. “This is who Dark based his costume off of. He’s a literal representation of the underdog surviving all sorts of situations, and is definitely worthy of the hero title.”

“Okay,” Twilight said. “But why is he called that?”

“Well, because he has the same powers that Dark has, though the webs he uses are artificial.” He then had the Hologram shoot a web at an unseen foe.

“So, he can stick to walls, and is stronger than a normal human too?”

“Yep, he also has a sixth sense that warns him of impending danger, so if someone is about to strike him, he’ll know before you even hit him. Kinda like Pinkie Sense.” Sebastian said before charging the Hologram, only for it to dodge his attack almost instantly.

“Sixth sense? Dark never mentioned having that. Though, it would explain how he's able to dodge Rainbow’s attacks like he can.”

“Heh, that ability does come in handy, but I’d rather stick with a Heads Up Display or HUD.” Sebaste said.

“Hmm. Is there anything else you know about him?”

“Nope. But Dark might.”

“Hmm.” They then continued the tour.

“So when exactly are Rarity and Dark supposed to get back?” Sebaste asked.

“Whenever they finish his new suit. How long has it been?”

“About 5 hours now.” He replied, checking his chronometer.

“Then it shouldn't be too much longer. Maybe about another hour or two.”

Sebaste nodded before activating a music file in his helmet, within seconds, “In The End” by Black Veil Brides was playing inside his helmet. Ah, nothing like some rock music to help me chill…. He thought.

Bobbing his head to the music, he didn't notice Starlight walking out of the room next to him until he suddenly felt himself slamming into something and falling on his rear. “Oof!” He grunted. Hearing a groan next to him, he looked over to see Starlight on the floor in front of him. “Oh geez, I'm so sorry!” He said, scrambling up to help her stand. “You okay?”

“Yes I'm fine,” Starlight said, then she looked at Sebaste. “Who are you?”

“Just a visiting Displaced. The name’s Sebaste. You must be Starlight, Nice to meet you.”

“Um, you as well, but what's a Displaced?”

“You remember Dark, how he suddenly showed up? Well, he’s not exactly… from Equestria.”

“Yeah, I was told. He's a human. What's your point?”

“I mean, he came from a different universe entirely. He got sent here by a person called the Merchant.”

“What?”

Twilight put a hand on Starlight’s shoulder. “Don't worry Starlight. We'll explain later. It's kind of a long story.”

Gahh, me and my big mouth… Sebaste thought, facepalming.

“So when exactly is this party Pinkie has planned?” Sebastian asked.

“Oh, that's easy,” came a bubbly voice behind him. “It starts about 5 minutes after Tito gets back.”

Sebastian jumped about a foot in the air at Pinkie's voice. “By Gulliman’s blood!” He yelped. “Don't do that Pinkie!”

“Sorry, Sasha, but I saw you guys here so I thought I'd join you. And you asked when's the party, so I told you.”

“It's… fine, just count yourself lucky I didn't have a weapon on me, I honestly don't want to harm anyone by accident or otherwise.” Sebastian said. “Ugh, I hate being involved in a war, makes you all jumpy.”

Pinkie patted him on the head. “Don't worry. This party is as much for you two to have fun as it is for welcoming Tito.”

Sebaste chuckled. “I remember when our Pinkie threw a party to both welcome Sasha and I and thank us for saving Twilight from some Chaos Marines. That was fun.”

“Oh, that reminds me. I should also have this be a “Thanks for saving Apple Bloom and Scootaloo” party.”

“Hope you can find a banner long enough to fit all of that!” Sebaste chuckled.

“Don't need to. I already have one,” Pinkie said, right before pulling a rolled up banner from her mane.

As one, both Displaced facepalmed. “Well, let’s get this party ready!” Sebaste said. “And I have the perfect way to surprise him…” he chuckled.

Author's Note

Well this is by far the longest, as well as most fun, chapter I wrote yet. This chapter was part 1 of my first crossover and it was with Company Master Sebaste, and his story. Here's a link to his story, For the Emperor and the UNSC. So, now Tito learned about Displaced, and made his token. I hope that the message I put is good. Kind of difficult to come up with stuff like that for me. Also, I mentioned one of my favorite stories, Keep Living For Friendship in this chapter. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the latest chapter of Spider in Equestria.
-Dark

7. New Clothes, New Friend, and Some More Questions Answered

“That was SO boring,” I groaned after exiting Carousel Boutique. Rarity and I spent the last few hours making my new clothes. It was already nightfall and we just finished. I decided I'll put it on back at Twilight’s and since Rarity couldn't teleport me back, I figured I'd get back on my own. Luckily, with my suit being so, well, dark, and it being night, I was easily able to stick to the shadows, and with my spider-sense, I was also able to stay clear of any ponies. I reached the window to my room within a few minutes and went inside. Once I hit the floor, I picked up the chainsword and put by a wall, as well as the assault rifle after I took it out of my bag. I then grabbed my new clothes and put them on over my costume. It looked similar to the clothes that assassins wore in the Assassin’s Creed games. A few differences include a blue scarf, black boots, and the rest of the outfit being blue and black instead of white and red, with matching gloves. The main part was basically a cloak that covered my entire body. After I finished putting it on, I took off my mask and put it in one of my pockets. Then, I looked at myself in the mirror.

May have been a pain to make, but it looks better than I'd hope.

I then put the scarf over my face and put up the hood. When I looked at the mirror again, my face was completely hidden.

Perfect. Now let's see how long I can have them fooled. Wait, this is Ponyville. Unless somepony catches me without cover, I should be fine for a little while.

I decided I was ready and left, putting my backpack on the bed and my sword on my back. When that was all said and done, I left the room and looked for everyone.

Now where are they?

I used my spider-sense to scan the area, but nothing showed up.

Okay, this is getting freaky….

I then walked over to the throne room, only to find it pitch dark. “Hello?” I called out. When nothing was heard, I went in only to have the doors suddenly slam shut.

“Okay, why do I have a bad feeling about this?”

Suddenly, a deep voice sounded all around me. “YOU ARE NOT PREPARED!” It roared.

A pair of hellish red eyes appeared a few feet from where I stood and started to approach my position.

Then a single voice whispered “Boo!” from right behind me.

“AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!” I screamed and jumped to the ceiling and stuck to it like a cartoon cat.

A roar of laughter was heard before the lights switched on and the Mane 6, Sebaste, Sebastian and what looked to be the whole of Ponyville were seen below. “Surprise!” Sebaste guffawed from where he was standing by the doors. “Hoo, can't believe that prank worked twice!”

I looked down at them and glared. “Oh screw you guys.” And then I whispered to myself, “I should try to focus more on my spider-sense. At least then I'll be able to know if I'm in danger or not.”

Sebastian chuckled before calling over to Pinkie, “Care to do the honors? I think it's time we let Dark know what this is all about.”

I let go of the ceiling and landed on my feet. “What are you guys talking about?”

"You see, we’re all here to….” Sebaste trailed off. I couldn't see his face under his helmet, but I had the feeling he was grinning under it. “... Welcome you to Equestria and thank you for saving both Scootaloo and Applebloom!” He finished as a banner unfurled from above.

I shook my head in shock. “What?”

“This party is for you mate!” The Spartan said. “Hit it Pinkie!”

“You got it,” Pinkie said before pulling out her party cannon and shooting it everywhere, including me. Luckily, I was able to jump out of the way and onto the chandelier.

“Note to self. Just have Pinkie start music and leave party cannon behind…” Sebaste groaned. He was completely covered in confetti.

“Since when does the location of the party cannon matter?” I asked him.

He shook the confetti off and looked up at me. “Never mind then…”

He then walked over to the DJ and had a hushed conversation with her before she nodded and he plugged in a iPod.

“Alright everypony, who’s up for some music?” He asked. “This song is done by a band called Three Days Grace, and the song is named “Animal I Have Become”!”

Everypony cheered as the music started playing.

The Spartan then activated his external speakers and began to sing along to the song, Sebastian providing the backup vocals.

I can't escape this hell
So many times I've tried
But I'm still caged inside
Somebody get me through this nightmare
I can't control myself

So what if you can see the darkest side of me?
No one will ever change this animal I have become
Help me believe it's not the real me
Somebody help me tame this animal
(This animal, this animal)

I can't escape myself
(I can't escape myself)
So many times I've lied
(So many times I've lied)
But there's still rage inside
Somebody get me through this nightmare
I can't control myself

So what if you can see the darkest side of me?
No one will ever change this animal I have become
Help me believe it's not the real me
Somebody help me tame this animal I have become
Help me believe it's not the real me
Somebody help me tame this animal

Somebody help me through this nightmare
I can't control myself
Somebody wake me from this nightmare
I can't escape this hell

(This animal, this animal, this animal, this animal, this animal, this animal, this animal)

The song ended and the two super soldiers bowed before Sebaste switched the music to an album called “Illusions” by an artist called Thomas Bergersen. As the music played, the two of them mingled with the ponies.

I just left the party about an hour later. I appreciated the fact Pinkie did all this for me, but I am NOT a fan of crowds. So, after meeting a few ponies, including the Cakes and the CMC, who thanked me for saving them, I left and wandered the castle for a few minutes until I found myself standing on a balcony overlooking Ponyville. I sat on the ledge, took off my hood, lowered my scarf, and just took in the view.

Where are you Cece?

“You know, it's not a good idea to have your face out in the open with so many ponies in the castle.”

I turned and saw Rainbow at the door the door with a cupcake in her hand.

I felt myself grow mad and just looked back at the city. "What do you want? To insult me some more, or to pick another fight?”

Rainbow shook her head and said, “No, I just want to talk.”

“Oh really?”

“Yeah. Like about your lost sister.”

If it wasn't for my ability to stick to things, I might've fell off the ledge. “W-what are you talking about?”

“Sebaste told us that you had a sister that ended up somewhere in Equestria like you did. Why didn't you tell me?”

I got off the ledge and turned to her. “Maybe because ever since I got here, you've been nothing but hostile to me. Not to mention you guys all have your own problems to deal with without me butting into your lives. Besides, why do you care? I thought you hated me.”

Rainbow’s ears drooped back and she looked away from me. “Look, despite how I've been, that doesn't mean I'll just leave you without your family. You need help finding your sister, and I'm willing to give it.”

I raised an eyebrow, feeling that there was a catch to this. "Why? What's in it for you? Think after I find my sister I'll just leave?”

She gained a shock look in her face when I said that. “What? No. I just want to help you. Why is that so hard to believe?” She said as she started to look angry.

I glared at her and clenched my fist. “How about knocking me out, straight up attacking me multiple times, and calling me a freak? As if I didn't have to deal with jerks like you enough back home.”

Rainbow’s eyes widen. “What?”

I looked away from her and put a hand on my head. “Even before I came here, I had to deal people like you all the time back home. Always calling me useless, a nerd, a nobody, a freak. Bullies all my life, and no matter what, they wouldn't stop. Those kinds of people are the reasons I had to isolate myself from the world.” After I said that, I looked at my hand and chuckled. “You know, now that I think about it, it's crazy. I already shared quite a bit with my personal hero, but now that I have his powers, I’m practically identical. All I need now is one, rather crucial event and people could say I'm Spider-Man.”

Then again, it's not like anyone is as close to me as Ben was to Peter.

Things were quiet for a few moments. Then she broke the silence. “Is that true? The whole bullying thing?”

I scoffed. "Why would I bother making that up to you? As far as I know, I gave you a reason to continue it. I promised that I wouldn't harm any of you unless you attack first. Meaning you can just insult me all you want and I can't do a single thing about it. Go ahead. I bet you're dying to.”

I waited for her to let me have it, but it never came. Instead, Rainbow put her hand on my shoulder. “I'm not like that. I wouldn't insult anyone just to hurt them. That's something I hate. Heck, you can just ask Fluttershy and she'll tell you.”

“Why not? I thought you hated me.”

She sighed, looking a little guilty. "Yeah, about that. Look, I'm...sorry for...everything. It was wrong of me to do all that stuff to you.”

I looked at her in confusion. “And what caused you to think that?”

“Well, Sebaste talked to me earlier and kinda help me to clear my head about the whole thing. And like you said, you’ve done nothing but cooperate since you got here. Besides it WAS kinda my fault for thinking the worst of you without any proof.”

“Oh, you think?” I asked in a flat tone.

She laughed sarcastically. “Very funny. My point is, I'm sorry. And...I was hoping we can start over. So,” she then stuck her hand out towards me, “friends?”

I just stare at her, thinking it over. After about a minute, when she started to look unsure, I grabbed her hand and shook it. “Fine.”

I just hope I don't regret this.

Later, after everyone else had left, the Mane 6, Starlight, Sebaste, Sebastian, and I met back in the throne room.

“So you had questions about what exactly a Displaced was?” Sebaste asked Twilight.

“Yes actually. For instance, what is your Equestria like?”

The question was met with a stony silence for a few minutes before Sebaste said, “Well, the Ponies are like you guys actually, but in a more pony like form. No clothes and they have four hooves. As for who leads it, well… Our Twilight has taken over responsibility for that, and both Sasha and I help her with leading the country.” His tone was bitter as he said this.

We all looked at him, the girls with looks of sadness and me with shock. “How...what happened to the other princesses?” I asked.

“Celestia…was killed during a war against another Displaced who invaded our universe while Luna was taken by the same person. He and his forces managed to reach Equis and launched an attack. Sasha and I, along with some other Displaced and some forces that somehow ended up in the same universe fought to the bitter end, but in the end… it was too late, we had lost. Both forces soon disbanded, but Equestria… was in ruins. We managed to repair everything, but the body count was too high… we lost both Applejack and Celestia. Rainbow was kidnapped by Rainborg, a cybernetic version of her from the enemy's universe, and was turned into a combat drone. We got a video message from Rainborg showing what happened to her. You think the Multiverse is all fun and games? You are dead wrong, it’s a kill or be killed world out there…” Sebaste said, his voice getting more and more flinty.

I'm happy I had my face covered, ‘cause I swear my eyes might be red right now. I clenched my fists and punched the wall, cracking it slightly.

“Seb, calm down.” Sebastian said, putting a hand on the Spartan’s shoulder. He then looked over to me and the Mane 6. “We’re working on a deal with the ones that invaded our universe, hopefully, this business can be put behind us. The two of us had already sent a message to Ahriman and just a few months ago, he helped us with dealing with a new threat, a robot from an unknown group called Dimensional Technology that tried to force us to leave Equestria and send us to our original world. But at the moment, things have been… hectic. Both Seb and I serve as soldiers for a faction in a different war. And right now, that war has just gotten jump-started and is active again. That and Seb’s sister Alexandra recently appeared in our universe as Ivy from Soul Calibur.”

Hearing that, I looked at them in surprise. “Wait, Ivy Valentine?”

“Yep, and Alex is a major SoulCalibur fan, so she already knows Ivy’s moves, plus she's just as nasty with that Snake Sword of hers…” Sebaste chuckled.

I barely paid attention. “Ivy Valentine, from Soul Calibur. Oh you gotta be kidding me.”

Rainbow looked at us in confusion. “Um, who are you talking about?”

“Just a character from a video game back on Earth.” Sebaste said.

I was going to mention a certain detail to them that a certain gun lover loved to mention in a web series I watched, but I decided against it. One, because the guy's sister turned into her and I don't think he'd like it if I said it. And two, that's not something someone says in public. But...

“Any other questions?” Sebastian asked.

“Before anything, I have a quick statement about Ivy,” I said.

“Yes?”

“Ever seen something called “DEATH BATTLE” from Screwattack?”

“Yeah, why do…” Sebaste sputtered to a halt. “Buddy, if this is related to my sister, then tread carefully mate…” he growled.

“Just checking. Never even heard of Soul Calibur before that, but the reason her and her opponent were pit against each other? Well...I heard dumber. Though, can you show them exactly who we're talking about?”

Sebaste nodded, before showing a hologram of a lightly armored female human with a metal gauntlet on her right hand while in her left she held what looked to be a whip with a series of blades mounted on a sword handle, but with a flick of her wrist the whip formed into a sword. “This is Ivy Valentine, heiress and warrior. She can use both Alchemy and Magic and her sword… would you believe it's sentient?”

The girls all looked at the hologram in complete shock. Fluttershy fainted and most of the others were blushing like mad. It was so funny, I was laughing like crazy. I might have joined them if I didn't already know what she looked like.

“Now if you’ll excuse me…” Sebaste growled before charging towards me, thrusters flaring. I was able to jump to the wall before he hit me.

He impacted the wall below with enough force to crack it before stumbling back.

“Very funny mate… very funny…” He growled, crossing his arms and glaring up at me.

“Hey, it's not like I was gawking at her or anything. I just wanted to see how the girls will react.”

“Any other questions that doesn't involve my sister?” Sebaste asked.

“Yeah, but first, you need to promise you won't hurt me if I get down. Oh, and you can turn off the hologram now. The girls may get jealous,” I said that last part snickering.

“I wasn't planning on hurting you anyways.” Sebaste answered, switching the Hologram off. “That was just a mock charge. If you planned on say harming an innocent, then you would be worried about me charging at you.”

I jumped off the wall and sat on the table. “Not a problem. “With great power comes great responsibility,” remember?”

Sebaste chuckled and nodded. “So what else would you like to know about the Displaced or the Multiverse?”

Seeing as how the girls were still in shock, I decided to give one. “Okay, what kind of Displaced have you met?”

“Honestly, I’ve lost count. I remember meeting an Anubis Cruger Displaced, two Displaced that were Team Rocket, a Deadpool Displaced, and a bunch of others that I can't remember off the top of my head….” Sebaste said.

“Wait, Cruger? As in Doggie Cruger from Power Rangers S.P.D?”

“Yep, that Cruger. Oh wait, there was also a Ben 10 Displaced that’s… well, literally a Jotun from Norse mythology. But if you ask me, he’s a bit cold. and… then there's Ahriman, a Chaos Space Marine Displaced, the same guy we fought in that war… and a Church Displaced.”

“.....I just can't help but think of Thor right now. And how can you turn into a church?”

“Church? From RvB? That guy?” Sebaste said, facepalming.

“RvB? Oh you mean Red vs Blue? I don't remember too much of that. I was a bigger fan of RWBY.”

“Well Church is the guy that turned out to be an AI called Epsilon. As for RWBY, we had an encounter with a Grimm in an entirely different universe just a few days ago. The thing had… fused with something called a Roidmude from an TV series called Kamen Rider… We managed to take it out, but the world that we were in…. You're familiar with Equestria Girls right?” Sebaste asked.

“Of course. I seen all 3. Even has one of my...favorite….” I stopped when I remembered that the girls still don't know.

“Um, what are you talking about?” Rainbow asked.

“Erm… just discussing how many Displaced Sasha and I have met.” Sebaste said.

“Anyways, two Displaced are in that particular universe, one’s a female Kamen Rider Gold, while there's a… male Ruby running around at random there also.” The Spartan continued.

“Cool. Though…” I had an idea on how to get certain info. I turned to Twilight and say, “Hey Twilight, I have a question for you. Can't believe I didn't ask this sooner. How exactly do you know about humans?” I turned to Sebaste and Sasha. “Or do you guys have any idea?”

The two shook their heads and shrugged. “To quote Corporal from Penguins of Madagascar: “Nope, not a clue.””

Twilight took a deep breath before saying, “It's a long story, but the short version is that soon after I became a princess, an...incident happened and I ended up in a world the mirrored this one, but everypony was a human.”

I looked at her, hoping they thought that my face was one of shock. “So, you're telling me that you actually ended up on Earth? How?”

“Simple,” Pinkie said. “She went through a magical portal in the shape of a mirror to follow Sunset Shimmer and receive her Element of Harmony, but she-”

“Ended up meeting human versions of the Mane 5, won a contest, saw Sunset turn into a raging she-demon and purified her with the Elements.” Sebaste finished what Pinkie was about to say.

Applejack looked at Sebaste with a suspicious look. “I thought y'all didn't know anything ‘bout that.”

Sebastian sighed. “The thing is…back on Earth, there's a show about-” I stopped him with a web to the face. “Gah!”

“Not a good idea, dude,” I whispered to him.

“They're gonna find out eventually…” Sebaste pointed out. “Might as well tell them now.”

I looked at them for a second before lowering my head and sighing. “Fine. I'll be up there.” I web-zipped to a branch and sat on it, waiting.

“As I was saying…” Sebastian said, ripping the web off his helmet, “Back on Earth, there's a TV show about you girls, we don't know how, but a woman named Lauren Faust practically created your world for us humans to see on TV. But we know that it's a different story here. But you girls are big hits on Earth, with millions of Bronies and Pegasisters as the fans call themselves, watching the antics that happen here. The show has practically recorded from when you met the girls Twi, to the redemption of Starlight, so far.”

All of the girls were shocked to hear that. I just said to Sasha, “I don't think you needed to mention bronies and pegasisters dude.”

“Oops…” Sebastian chuckled.

“Like I said, I blame him hanging out with our Twilight too much!” Sebaste joked.

“Wait,” Twilight said, “Dark, you knew about this?”

I sighed. "Yeah. Pretty much. I know about Nightmare Moon, the Grand Galloping Gala, both of them, Discord, everything worth knowing up to Flurry Heart’s Crystalling.”

“But he didn't want to worry you or even burden you with this, and it was mostly my fault, I should have kept my stupid mouth shut…” Sebaste said, hanging his head.

I sighed, then got off the chandelier and landed at the door. “If you guys need me, I'll be in my room. No doubt you guys will have questions about this, and I don't want to answer them right now, so you should ask these two.” I then left and got to my room. I went inside and lie down on my bed, listening to ‘Angel By Your Side’ from JT Machinima.

(Third Person POV, Throne Room)

Sebaste sighed. “Ugh, me and my stupid mouth….” He groaned, facepalming.”

Applejack looked annoyed. “I can't believe he didn't tell us about that.”

“He wanted to protect you guys and not burden you with what he knew.” Sebaste said. “How do you think he’d react if you told him Earth was made up?”

“Still,” Twilight said, “why couldn't he tell us that he knew?”

“Because he wanted to let things happen on their own.” Sebastian said, leaning on a nearby pillar, toying with a Combat knife. “He never wanted you to worry about how he knew. It's a curse we Displaced have to face, we know about you, but we can't reveal it until it's too late and you end up finding out that your world is a cartoon in another universe.” He snorted in self anger. “Sometimes being a Displaced can be a real pain…”

“Well that would explain the cartoon he downloaded on his laptop,” Pinkie said while eating a cupcake.

“Oh crap…” Sebaste looked at Pinkie, a look of worry on his face, though it was hidden under his helmet. “How much did you watch?”

“Everything up to the Season 6 premiere. I didn't want any spoilers.”

“Damn it!” Sebaste swore. “If Dark finds out, he’s probably gonna flip! How did you even get ahold of his laptop?!”

“While he was unconscious. I looked through his bag and I found his laptop. He downloaded quite a few things, from shows, to movies, to videos like Bronies React and Death Battle. It's pretty cool that Dashie can beat a Transformer.”

Sebastian facepalmed. “So you already knew about MLP… damn it….” He groaned.

Sebaste then looked at his chronometer. “Sasha, we need to get back, Alex must be frantic by now.”

“Awe, you're leaving already? You should let Dark know at least.”

Sebaste nodded. “It was nice meeting you girls. Maybe we’ll see you guys again.” He said before nodding to Sebastian. The Astartes walked over to Sebaste and with a flash of green light, teleported the both of them to Dark’s room.

(Dark's POV)

I was watching Death Battle: Batman vs Spider-Man with my face uncovered, when in a flash of light, Sasha and Sebaste were standing in the center of my room. “What the hell-oh it's you guys. How'd it go?”

“It… went okay. They were a bit surprised and hurt that you didn't tell them, but they understood that you didn't want to burden them with the knowledge, though… erm, Pinkie kinda already found out about MLP…” Sebaste said

“How?”

“Apparently she went through your bag and found out about it on your laptop. She even watched the show up to Flurry’s crystalling.” the Spartan replied. “But Sasha and I need to get back to our universe. Was there anything you wanted to know before we left?”

“Okay, about 3 things left. First, if I do find Cece, how can I help her make a token?”

“Just give us a call and we can help. Just make sure she doesn't bring the hammer down on us.” Sebaste joked

“Unless you mess with her, I don't think that'd be a problem. Second, is there anyway of getting back home?”

“Back to Earth? I'm… afraid not. Whatever magic that Merchant used, he made so that we can never get back to earth…” Sebastian said. “We’re stuck here.”

I just shrugged. “I'm okay with that. Heck, despite only being here a day, my life here is at least twice as good as it was on Earth.”

“And the last question?” Sebaste asked.

“You guys know a way I can keep my stuff charged?” I asked, chuckling nervously.

“Hmmm… Try asking Twi for an Eternal Battery spell to get cast on your electronics, that way, they don't lose charge at all.” Sebastian replied.

“Hopefully she knows it here. Okay, that's about it. I guess I'll see you guys around, hopefully with my sister next time.”

“You too, Tito. Hope things go well for you mate.” Sebaste said before Sebastian opened a portal to their Equestria.

“Wait.”

“Yeah?”

“How will you guys contact me? Do you even have my token?”

Sebaste chuckled. “You already have a way to contact us, hanging on your wall.” He said, pointing to the Chainsword and Assault rifle.

“I know that I have a way to contact you, but I wanted to know if YOU had a way to contact ME.”

Sebastian didn't answer, but then what looked to be an earpiece appeared in his hand. “Here.” He said, tossing it to me. “Put that in your ear. I made it so that if Seb or I need your help, it’ll bring you to our Equestria. All we need to do is comm you.”

I grabbed the earpiece and put it on. “Okay, but I will need to take it off once in awhile to put on my headphones.”

“Understandable. Well, we’ll see you around sometime!”

“Until next time Sebaste and Sebastian,” I replied giving a small salute.

The two returned the salute in their own ways, Sebaste with the regular military salute, Sebastian with a fist across his chest before they entered the portal and vanished, the portal closing with a pop.

“Nice guys. I hope things go well for them back in their Equestria." With a yawn, I said, "It's getting late. I might as well go to bed.” And with that said, I closed my laptop, and went to sleep.

(Third Person POV, Manehatten)

A small cloaked figure ran across the alleys of the city, making sure to stay away from the ponies that roamed the streets. Once she reached a dead end, she jumped onto the fire escape and climbed up it until she reached a window. Then she opened it and went inside.

“Any luck?”

The cloaked figure turned towards the voice and found an earth pony with cream fur, blue mane and tail, with matching eyes, a flower on the back of her head, and a cutie mark of a hat with a feather.

The figure shook her head. “Nothing. He wasn't anywhere I looked.”

Coco Pommel put a hand on the figure’s shoulder. “Don't worry, we'll find him. I promise.”

“How? We don't even know where he is or what happened to him. Heck, I don't even know what happened to me,” she said, looking at her hands.

“Maybe, but I'm sure he's looking for you too. If he's as smart as you say he is, I'm sure he find somepony to help him. And this city is big. I'm sure eventually we might find him.”

“And if he's not in the city? Or this world? What do we do then?” she screamed.

“Well then we'll have to find a way to expand our search.”

The figure sighed. “I'm sorry. It's just...I'm not so good being without any of my family for so long and not knowing what happened to them.”

“It's okay. I know you're in a lot of stress.”

The figure looked at the time, then turned to her latest friend. “You should go to bed, Coco. You have quite a bit of work tomorrow. I'll go to sleep in a bit.”

Coco nodded before going to her room to sleep. The figure looked out the window before taking off the hood of her cloak and looking at her reflection, revealing a 3 foot tall, anthropomorphic pink hedgehog with green eyes, a red dress, white gloves, a large golden ring on each of her wrist, and a gold ring shaped like a dolphin on the ring finger of her right hand.

“Tito,” Cece sighed, “where are you?”

Author's Note

And that's another chapter done, as well as the end of my crossover with Company Master Sebaste. I believe the next chapters will be shorter, but still frequent. Also, I hope you enjoyed these last 2 chapters. Me and my friend had a lot of fun writing them. And so you know, I'm always open for crossovers. Well, until next time.
-Dark

8. Meeting the Human Expert, and Cece's First Day In Equestria

It's been a week since Sebaste and Sasha left, and so far, my stay in Equestria has been okay. Lucky for me, that battery spell existed here and Twilight was able to perform it on my phone and laptop. Like Sebaste said, they were a little mad I didn't tell about the show, but they let it go. Everyday I've been training for a bit to get used to my new abilities. Like today, where I'm sparring with Rainbow Dash in the edge of Ponyville. I wanted to work on my speed and Rainbow was the perfect partner to practice that with. We were sparring for a bit, me listening to “Fatalities” from JT Machinima and Rockit Gaming in my costume, before I sensed someone a few yards away.

“Wait,” I said to her, before turning off my music and turning to my right. I saw Rarity wearing a hard hat with a bow on the back of it, carrying a glowing Spike with her magic and running to Twilight’s castle.

“Um, why did Rarity drag Spike back to Twilight’s?” Rainbow asked. “I thought they were hunting for gems.”

“I don't kn-wait, did Twilight mention anything about the princesses coming over?”

“Yeah. They're visiting her for lunch today. Why?”

So Gauntlet of Fire is finally happening. Nothing to worry about then.

“Nothing to worry about. Though I guess I should stay away from the castle for a bit. Don't want to meet them just yet. Not until I find Cece. Until then, I'm staying away from them.” I then picked up my bag and put on my cloak, took off my mask, and put on my scarf and hood to cover my face. “I think that's enough for today. Don't want anypony to see you fighting some masked figure and presume the worst.”

“Yeah. I guess you're right.” Then both our stomachs growled. “I guess we should go get some lunch ourselves. Come on, let's go get something at Sugarcube Corner.”

I nodded as we walked to Sugar Cube. We passed by a few ponies, none of which giving us a second glance outside of a simple smile and/or wave. We were nearly there until I bumped into someone.

“Oh, sorry about that,” I said, sticking my hand out to help her up.

She took my hand and got up. It was then that I actually saw her features and I widened my eyes behind my hood. She was a unicorn with light green fur and a lighter shade of green mane and tail and golden eyes and a lyre for a cutie mark. “Thanks. I'm Lyra by the way. What's your name?”

“Call me Dark, and I thought everyone in this town knew about me. I did have a party a few days ago.”

“Oh, I was in Canterlot visiting a few friends for the last couple of weeks, so I wouldn't have known.” She then turned to the pegasus beside me. “Oh, hi Rainbow. What are you doing?”

“Hey Lyra. Me and Dark were just going to Sugarcube Corner to grab a bite.”

“Oh, mind if I join you? I was planning on meeting Bon Bon there later anyway.”

Rainbow looked at me, presumably checking for my opinion. I just shrugged and said, “I don't see why not.”

We all walked to Sugarcube and got something for all of us. I got myself a few vanilla cupcakes and a few banana nut muffins and a banana milkshake, Rainbow had a chocolate cake, and Lyra had a banana sundae. We just sat there for a bit, me and Rainbow telling Lyra about me. Including how I saved Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, as well as the fact that I'm staying with Twilight. We left out the spider powers and Sasha and Sebaste, of course, as well as how Rainbow was prior to the party. No need for her to know about any of that.

“So Lyra,” Rainbow said, “I've been wondering. Heard anything about humans lately?”

Lyra immediately stopped eating and looked at Rainbow with a bit of a panicked look. “W-what are you talking about Rainbow? I never heard of a “human” before.”

“Lyra, it's okay. None of us are going to say anything. I'm just asking because Dark here heard of them and was...curious.”

Lyra looked around, then at my hooded face. “Wait. You actually want to know about humans? You don't think they're just some legend.”

I nodded. “I know a thing or two about humans, though when Twilight said you knew about them, I was, like Rainbow said, curious.”

“So you DON’T think I'm crazy?”

“Of course not. Why would I?”

Lyra sighed. "Well, a few years ago, when I first started studying on humans, everypony would call me crazy, or names like “Loopy Lyra”. It took me forever to get everypony to stop, but there's still a few ponies who still call me that behind my back.”

I just shook my head and said, “Don't worry. I won't call you that, nor berate you about it. I know what it's like for that to happen, trust me. Now, if anything, can you tell me what you know about humans?”

Lyra nodded. “All I know is that humans are a type of species that are similar to us. They walk on two legs, have hands, wear clothes, almost identical. But there are a few differences. For instance, humans don't have fur whatsoever. They only have hair on their heads. Also, humans don't have any of the abilities of ponies. They can't fly, use magic, and not nearly as strong as an earth pony. But where they lack in magic, they make up for in something else, but I don't know what.”

“Technology,” I said. “Humans have much more tech than any being in this world, able to create machines that can help them fly over ten times faster than a hot air balloon. Not to mention too many weapons.”

Lyra stared at me, wide eyed. “How do you know that? Nothing I've found has anything to do with their technological advances .”

I mentally facepalm.

Seriously. It's like I WANT them to know what I am.

“Let's just say I stumbled upon a few books about humans a while ago. Don't ask for them though. I don't have them on me right now.” I wasn't lying about that. I was talking about the textbooks at school.

Lyra’s ears dropped back at that last statement. “That's a shame. I would've like to read about that. Awe well.” Then she saw something behind me and started waving at it. “Hey. Bon Bon. Over here.”

I turned around and saw an earth pony mare with a blue and pink mane and tail, blue eyes, cream color fur, and 3 wrapped pieces of candy for her mark. When she saw us, she looked surprised at first before coming over and taking a seat beside Lyra.

“Hi Rainbow, Lyra,” she said before actually noticing me. “Oh, hello. My name is Bon Bon. Who are you?”

“Dark. Moved here last week.”

“Dark here wanted to hear about humans,” Lyra told her friend.

Bon Bon immediately turn to me with a suspicious look. “Oh really? And why would you want to know about that?”

I simply shrugged. “I already know about humans and when I heard that Lyra knew about humans, I wanted to see what she knows.”

“Ah huh,” Bon Bon said, her face not changing.

Sheesh, I hope this doesn't turn out as bad as I think it will.

I finished my lunch and got up. “Rainbow, I'll be looking to see if anypony heard anything about my sister. I'll see you later to continue training.” I was about to walk away when Lyra spoke up.

“Wait, you have a sister? Where is she?”

“That's the problem. I don't know. We got separated and I ended up here in Ponyville. She could be anywhere in Equestria, but I at least hope someone will have heard something about her from out of town.”

“Well I might be able to help. What does she look like?”

I was about to give to give her usual description when I remembered that Sebaste said that she may have turned into Amy. Deciding to go with that description instead, I said, “She has pink fur, green eyes, and a red dress.” I tapped my chin for a second before remembering one more thing. “Oh, and she's kind of short. About 3 feet tall if I remember correctly.”

“Really? Hmm. And how old is she?”

“Thirteen.”

That actually seemed to surprise them. Probably because of her height. Rainbow looked at me and said, “Um, now that I actually think of it, how old are YOU?”

It was then that I realized that despite all my time here, none of them knew how old I was and vice versa. I shook my head and said, “I'm seventeen. You?”

“Seventeen? Same here.”

That actually surprised me, but I did hear some theories that the Mane 6 were actually around their late teens and that they do things like jobs earlier than humans. I guess that's the case for this universe.

“Okay then. Well, see you in a half hour.” With that, I left Sugarcube and went around to see if there was anything that can lead to Cece.

I hope you're okay sis.

(Manehatten, Cece’s POV)

“You gotta be kidding me,” I said as I ran across more alleys. I've been looking for my brother for a week. I've looked all over this city twice now and I've found absolutely nothing. It's like he's not here. I mean, how hard is it to find a guy who's in blue and black spandex and wearing a mask? As I ran back to Coco’s apartment, I thought about what happened when I first got here.

(8 Days Ago, Cece's POV)

“Oh...What happened?” I asked with a groan, putting a hand on my head. The last thing I remembered was buying a hammer from someone, but when I put it on my shoulder, I was suddenly falling. Besides that, nothing.

“Oh, you're awake. That's good,” A female voice said to me. I opened my eyes and turned to the voice, only to stare in shock at what was in front of me. She was humanoid in appearance, but she had a tail and a strange face. I don't know what she was, but she actually looked kinda cute. For an alien. No doubt Tito would've just stared like an idiot. He always does with things he found cute.

“Hello. My name’s Coco Pommel. What's your name?”

I looked at her for a second before shaking my head and said, “Um, my name is Cece. Uh...not to be rude, but what the heck ARE you, where am I, and how did I get here?”

Coco looked surprised for a second, but said, “Well, I'm an earth pony, and right now, you're in my apartment in Manehatten. I found you unconscious in an alley way and I thought you could use some help. So I brought you here. But may I ask, what are you? I've never seen a creature like you before.”

I stared at her for a moment before I was able to respond. “Easy. I'm a-” I stopped when I saw my hand was much bigger than it used to be. I looked at myself and saw that I had pink fur. “Um, can I have a mirror please?” Coco gave me a mirror, and when I looked at myself, I looked exactly like Amy Rose. “WHAT THE HECK?!? WHAT HAPPENED TO ME?!?” I panicked for about 10 minutes before Coco calmed me down and explained a few things to me. Apparently I was in some country called Equestria and the inhabitants were known as ponies, from strong earth ponies, to magic-using unicorns, to fast-flying pegasi. Not only did I end up in world of magic humanoid ponies, but somehow I turned into Amy Rose. I looked exactly like her, from the fur, to my eyes. Heck, I even sounded like her. The only thing that was still mine was my bag that was with me when I got here with everything in it, and the ring my mom gave me for my 13th birthday.

About 2 hours later, I started to properly process it. And I remembered one major problem. “Oh God. Where's Tito?”

Coco looked at me confused. “Who's Tito?”

“He's my older brother. I was with him before...whatever brought me here.”

“Oh. Well I didn't see anypony else with you.”

I sighed. "Great. Just great. I'm in a different world, turned into a videogame character, and I'm all alone.”

“Hey, it's okay,” she said, putting a hand on my shoulder. “I'm sure your brother’s around here somewhere. You just need to look for him.”

“Um, how can I do that? I don't look like you “ponies”.”

“Hmm. I think I can make you something to conceal yourself. That way, no one will know you're a...what are you again?”

“I guess now I'm a hedgehog. And how can you make me something? You know how to sew?”

“Of course. I design clothes for a living after all. But it's getting late. We should go to sleep. ”

“Oh. Okay. Um, where will I be staying?”

“Oh, you can stay here." With a yawn, she said, "Well, I'll be going to bed now. Good night.”

“G’night,” I said before looking out the window and looking at the city. By what Coco told me, this was pretty much their version of New York. I had a lot in my mind, but I was exhausted and fell asleep in a few minutes.

(Present)

I was almost to Coco's apartment, lost in memory lane, when I made a wrong turn. I ended up in an alley that looked shady. I was going to leave when a unicorn stallion came up and block my path.

“Well well well,” he said. “What have we here? A little filly who lost her way? We could get good cash from somepony like you.” When he said that, 3 pegasi flew down and surrounded me. “Now, just come quietly, and nopony gets hurt.”

I just rolled my eyes. “Yeah yeah. You think just because you're bigger means you can hurt me? I don't think so,” I said, taking off my hood.

They all step back for a moment when they noticed my face, since it wasn't a pony face, until the unicorn said, “What the buck? Oh, you're not a pony. You're one of those freaks that think they can just come to Equestria and do what you want? I don't think so.” They stepped closer, looking like they were going to attack me.

That right there was his biggest mistake. “Oh no you didn't...” I then put my hand to my back and pulled out my Pika Pika hammer. Over the week, I found out I could do a few things I couldn't do before. For instance, I can pull my hammer out of nowhere like in cartoons. I did a bit of an uppercut with my hammer to one of the pegasi and sent him flying. I figured pegasi were more likely to survive the drop down then most other ponies. While they were in shock, I turned to the unicorn. “Here, hold this for me,” I said, throwing my hammer to him. He tried to catch it, but I guess he wasn't expecting it to weigh as much as it did and he fell over. Another thing I learned was that I was a lot stronger and faster now, and my hammer was much heavier than it looked. I ran towards one of the pegasi and punched him in the stomach before jumping back and kicking him in the face. Then I grabbed my hammer and hit the last pegasus in the side, sending him crashing to a wall. I then walked up to the unicorn, who was staring at me with fear in his eyes.

“W-w-who are you?”

I smiled before sending my hammer back to God knows where. “Simple. I'm Amy Rose.” I then punched him in the face, sending him flying. Then I put on my hood, and went back to Coco's apartment. When I got there, it was already night, and she was working on a few clothes for a client.

“Oh, hi Cece,” she said. “Anything interesting happen while you were gone?”

I thought about it for a moment and shrugged. “Nah. Nothing worth mentioning." I let out a yawn. "Well, I'm beat. I'm calling it night. See you tomorrow Coco.” I said, heading to my room.

“See you tomorrow Cece. And sweet dreams.”

After I got on the bed, I looked out the window and saw a full moon.

Looks beautiful. I'm sure Tito would love to see it.

I then grasped my ring, and while I drifted into sleep, I had one last thought in my mind.

I promise Tito. I WILL find you.

Author's Note

Well, that's Cece's time in Equestria. And I did research about Amy Rose, and apparently she can do all the things I mentioned, and a bit more. But we're get to those in later date. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter of Spider in Equestria
-Dark

9. Meeting the Magician

This place always reminds me of my grandma’s place.

I was currently in Sweet Apple Acres looking for Applejack to get a few apples for Twilight. She said something about Princess Celestia coming to dinner later, but I don't entirely know the specifics since I zoned out. All I cared about in the moment was that Celestia was coming, which meant I was going to have to stay away from the castle later, and I had to help Twilight get a few things. Among that list was a dozen or two apples, so I was currently walking towards the barn, listening to “Timber”. By the time the song finished, I was at the barn and I saw Applejack with an annoyed look on her face.

“Hey Applejack. Everything okay?”

Applejack turned to me and said, “Yeah. It's just Starlight.”

That surprised me. “What? What happened?”

“Starlight was trying to make a new friend, so I introduced her to Big Mac. But when she found out he ain't much of a talker, she used magic to make him him ramble on without being able to stop. But that's not important. What can I help you with Dark?”

Hmm. Why does that sound familiar?

“Twilight sent me here to collect a few apples for some dinner tonight.”

“Yeah. I heard about that. I'll be back with them in a moment,” she said while going into the barn.

About 2-3 minutes later, she came out with a sack full of apples. I gave her the bits for the apples, waved goodbye and left. As I walked back to town, I tried to wrap my mind on what Applejack told me.

I know I heard of Starlight doing something like that before, but when?

I just shook my head, deciding to worry about it later. I got a few more things for Twilight, including a freaking ice sculpture, and went back to the castle. Once I got there, I put all the stuff I got for Twilight in the room she told me to put them in. After that, I headed towards the dining room, still trying to figure out what might be happening. I was about halfway there, when I heard Starlight’s voice.

“-ure it'll be fine. Oh, hi Dark.”

I looked up to reply, but I saw that she was with another mare, making me happy I didn't take off my cover. She wore a purple stereotypical wizard hat and cape covered in stars, which just made me think about Fantasia, had blue fur, purple eyes, and I saw that she had a silver mane under that hat. Her cutie mark was a stereotypical magic wand. I couldn't see a horn because her hat, but I knew she was a unicorn.

Oooooooh, now I remember why today seemed familiar.

“Oh, sorry,” Starlight said. “Almost forgot. Dark, this is my new friend Trixie. Trixie, this is Dark. He's been staying here for the past few days.”

“It's a pleasure to meet you,” Trixie said, extending her hand.

I shook it and said, “Likewise. So you're the “Great and Powerful” Trixie Lulamoon I heard about?”

“Oh, so you heard of me huh?”

“Yeah. Including the fact that last time you were in Ponyville, you trapped it in a giant fishbowl.” Trixie then widened her eyes in shock and Starlight just stared at us in confusion. I turned to Starlight. “Hey Starlight? Can I speak to you in private?” I asked, walking a few yards before going into a room.

Starlight hesitantly nodded and followed me. When she reached me, I took off my hood and said, “So, Trixie huh? Interesting friend.”

She then glared at me. “Dark, if you're gonna be like Twilight and sa-” I put my hand up to stop her.

“Starlight, unlike Twilight, for whatever reason, I'm perfectly fine with you and Trixie being friends. I'd say it's good for you two, seeing as how you both want to make up for your past.”

Starlight stared me in disbelief. “So you don't mind that I'm friends with Trixie? At all?”

“Nope. Just wanted to let you know, you may want to be prepared.”

“Prepared? Prepared for what?”

“I can't tell you. But I will say this, this may be a long day for you Starlight. Just saying. Now, let's have your friend stop eavesdropping.” I then put back on my hood and opened the door, only for Trixie to fall over. “Knew it. Well, I don't want to keep you two away from what you have to do. So, I'll see you girls after the show,” I said, walking away.

“Wait,” Starlight said. “How do you know about the show tonight.”

I smiled and without looking back, said, “Simple. The same way I know about Trixie in the first place. See ya.”

About 3 minutes later, I got to the dining room and saw Twilight adjusting a few utensils, muttering something to herself.

“Hey Twilight, got the stuff you wanted,” I said, taking off my hood.

Twilight then turned to me, finally done with the utensils. “Oh, thanks Dark. That’ll help for tonight. Only problem now is Starlight’s new “friend”.”

“Oh, you mean Trixie?”

“Yeah. Wait, you know her?”

I nodded. “Met her a few minutes ago after I put the stuff away. Seems nice enough.”

“Seriously? Dark, don't you think it's a bad idea for those two to be friends? Especially considering their pasts?”

“No actually. I think it's best for them actually.”

Twilight’s face was so shocked it was hilarious. “WHAT?!? Are you crazy?”

“Probably. What's your point?”

She just stared at me for a moment before shaking her head and saying, “Never mind.” Then she looked up like she had an idea. “I know. I can give her a new friend for the dinner. It's perfect.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Do you really think that's a good idea?”

“Of course. And I know just the pony.” With that, she ran off.

“I don't think Vinyl Scratch is a good idea,” I said, but she was already gone. I just sighed and before heading towards the library, taking off my cloak and putting it a bag made from my webbing. I could've tried to stop Twilight or talk to her about it, but I didn't want to change things anymore than I had to. Once I was in the library, I picked a random book, web zipped to the ceiling, and started reading it upside down.

I've read that book for nearly two hours and was a good third of the way done. After that, I put the book back and went back to the ceiling. Now I was just humming “A Hero Forms” to myself.

Out of dark, a hero forms.
City's knight that serves no throne~.
Saves a life for every ghost
That still haunts him in his bones

Out of dark, a hero forms.
City's knight that serves no throne~.
Saves a life for every ghost
That still haunts him in his bones.

Oooooooh, the savior cloaked in the shadows.
He's gone, he's gone
The road~, deserted, twisted and narrow.
Drive on. Drive on. Drive on.

“-eat to have you here Princess Celestia.”

When I heard Twilight’s voice, I immediately stopped humming and kept quiet, listening. Then I heard another voice that I never heard before. Well, since I got here at least.

“And it's a pleasure to see you again Twilight, but I do wonder, where is your pupil?”

“Oh, she'll be here soon I'm sure.” I heard Twilight laugh nervously. When I couldn't hear them anymore, and used my spider-sense to see they were pretty far away, I dropped from the ceiling and landed on the ground.

Well, that's my cue to leave

I took my cloak out and put it on, covering my face. Then I went to the nearest window and jumped out. After thinking about it for a moment, I headed towards the show. Once I got close enough to see everything fine, I jumped onto a tree branch and just waited. After Starlight teleported Trixie, I chuckled to myself at how she looked, but I was happy she was okay. After the fireworks started, I decided I should check on them and headed behind the stage. When I got there, I saw Trixie, Twilight, and Starlight talking to each other.

“Well, that was definitely an interesting show,” I said with my arms crossed, getting their attention. “Another second Starlight, and I'm sure it would've been messy.”

“Wait,” Trixie said. “You knew Starlight helped me with that?”

“Yup. Glad you're still alive. Would've hated seeing you get eaten by that manticore.”

They were all silent for a minute before Twilight’s eyes widened and she looked to me. “Um, Dark? Can me and Starlight talk to you? Alone?”

I just shrugged and Starlight and I followed Twilight until we were out of earshot from Trixie. Then she turned to me with a bit of a suspicious look on her face. “Dark, did you know all this was gonna happen?”

“You mean everything that happened today?” After she nodded, I continued. “When I met Trixie, yes. I didn't really know why everything prior to that happened until then.”

“So you knew that Trixie was going to do that dangerous stunt and that my attempts to give Starlight a different friend would fail?”

“Pretty much. Though, I would've known that whole “different friend” thing wouldn't have worked even if I didn't see it coming.”

“But how? I thought you said the latest thing you knew about from that show was Flurry Heart’s Crystalling.”

“Actually, I didn't say that was the latest event I knew about. I technically know a few things that are yet to happen or happened while I was here. Like today or when you, Rarity and Spike went to the Dragon Lands and met that Ember person.”

“So what? You know the future?” Starlight asked.

I shrugged and replied, “Kinda. Though nothing too important outside of maybe 2 events right now.”

“And you didn't tell us this why?” Twilight asked.

“That's easy. I want things to play out like they should. If I told you about these events, then some things may change. And the two of you should know more than anyone about the consequences of messing with time.”

That surprised them for a second. “Fair enough. But when I do introduce you to the princesses, I think it's best not to mention that.”

“Wasn't planning to. And speaking of the princesses, don't you have a dinner to get to, Twilight?” I asked with a smirk. Her face went from confusion to surprise in half second, then she immediately ran like crazy to her castle. When I couldn't see her anymore, I looked to the unicorn. “Well let's get back to Trixie before we call it a night." She just nodded and we went to the magician. We just talked for a few minutes before Starlight and I left. When Starlight went through the front door, I climbed the walls and got in through the window to my room. After I took off my cover, I went to my bed and decided to watch some MLP on my laptop. Specifically, No Second Prances. The episode that showed what happened today. When it finished, I closed my laptop and fell asleep.

(Manehatten, Cece's POV)

Coco and I were walking to her apartment, talking to each other. Normally, it may have been strange to see a 3 foot hedgehog in a red dress and a long red cloak walking around talking to an earth pony, but luckily, my hood was able to cover my face enough to blend in. Since I was new to this place and decided to put the search for my brother on hold, Coco thought it was a good idea to take me with her around the city. With my height, and my concealed face, we just told everyone I was just her younger sister. And they bought it. We were talking about what we should do next about finding Tito, when suddenly it started raining.

“Oh,” Coco said. “I knew I forgot something. It was supposed to rain today.”

“I noticed. Come on,” I said, before grabbing her hand and rushing to the apartment building.

We got there in a few minutes, soaking wet. When we got into the apartment, I put my cloak to dry and Coco went in her room to change. Luckily for me, my cloak took most, if not all, of the rain, leaving my dress perfectly dry. Unfortunately the same couldn't be said about Coco, whose entire body was soaking so much. I heard the shower running, figuring she was cleaning herself, and looked through the mail. I didn't see anything too important, that is, until I found a letter from somebo-er somePONY named Rarity. When Coco got out of the shower, I gave her the letter and asked her who it was.

“Oh, she's a good friend of mine from out of town. She's helped me out a couple a couple of times and is the most generous mare I know.”

Hmm, I swear I heard that name before

“What's the letter say?”

“It says that she plans on opening up a new shop here in Manehatten and that she wants me to help her with the grand opening in a couple of days.”

“So you gonna do it?”

“Of course. It's the least I can do a-a-AAACHOOO” she sneezed.

“Bless you,” I said, before handing her a box of tissues.

She grabbed a tissue and wiped her nose. “Thank you. As I was saying, it's the least I can do after all she's done for me.”

“Okay.” I checked the clock, noticing how late it was. “Well, I'm going to bed. See you tomorrow Coco.”

“Good night Cece.” I then walked to my room, but before I closed my door, I heard Coco sneeze again. I looked out my room and saw her wiping her nose again. When I asked if she was okay, she just said, “I'm fine, Cece. I'm sure it's nothing.”

Shrugging, I closed my door, got on my bed, and fell right to sleep.

Author's Note

Well, that chapter is now done. So now he met Trixie and revealed to Twilight and Starlight that he knows about future events. But seriously, I do not expect some things, like that part with Cece, to happen until I get to it. Is there a word for that? Anyways, I might continue the whole switching POVs thing from now on. Well, I hope you enjoyed this latest chapter of my story. Until next time.
-Dark

10. Exploring Manehatten

“Dark! Wake up!”

I immediately opened my eyes and sat upright, almost head butting Twilight. I looked around, panicked, until I remembered where I was. I was with the rest of the Mane Six on a train going to Manehatten to help Rarity open her new shop “Rarity For You”. I tagged along because I wanted to check the city out. With how many times I went to New York back home, I wanted to see how similar they were. That, and I wanted go web swinging in more than just the castle. And what better place than the pony version of the original wall crawler’s home? Though, one thing confused me.

“Uh, why am I on the floor?” I asked, looking around and noticing I wasn't on my seat anymore.

“Well,” Twilight started, “you fell asleep and, I guess, you had a pretty bad nightmare. You kept screaming and tossing and turning, until we were able to wake you up.”

Ooooh, now I remember. Serves me right for listening to The Living Tombstone’s songs to bed.

See, I was listening to “It's Been So Long”, the Living Tombstone’s song for FNAF 2, when I went to sleep. And I had a nightmare involving those stupid robots. I love the songs and lore, but I despise those animatronics. I especially remembered one certain robot in my nightmare.

“I'm fine. Just a nightmare,” I said, getting back to my seats, the girls giving one last worried glance before going back to their conversations. Then I said under my breath, “Stupid fox.”

Unfortunately, a certain pegasus heard me and fell over laughing. “You're afraid of foxes? That's hilarious.”

I just glared at her, before all this talk about nightmares reminded me of a certain episode. “Says the pegasus who's worst nightmare is a bunch of happy flowers singing a song to her.” That immediately shut her up and even blush. “And besides, I'm not afraid of foxes. I'm afraid of homicidal robots possessed by dead children, who kill people by stuffing them in costumes that crushes their bones and squeezes the blood out of them. And one of those robots is a pirate fox that screams louder than Flurry Heart and has a sharp hook for a right hand.”

That caused all of them to stare at me in shock, horror and disgust. I even saw Rarity put a hand over her mouth with her face turning green. Then Twilight cleared her throat and said, “Well, that's...interesting.”

“What the hay are you talking about?” Rainbow immediately said.

I just sighed. “A horror series from back home that everyone was obsessed with for a time. One good thing about coming here is that, besides a few videos I downloaded, I never have to see anything about it again. Nor see what the Sister Location is about, but who cares about that? If you want the details, a few of those videos explain the lore.”

Rarity and Fluttershy shook their heads like crazy, Applejack declined, and Pinkie was apparently going to be busy watching Pound and Pumpkin. Rainbow and Twilight, however, agreed to watch it. Twilight agreed so she can learn about the lore of it, and Rainbow because she wanted to see just how scary it was.

After that, the train slowed to a halt. We all got up, I put on my hood and lifted my scarf, and exited the train.

“Well Dark,” Twilight said, “welcome to Manehatten.”

Looking around, it really did look a lot like New York. Except a lot cleaner and no cars. We all just followed Rarity to the location of her shop, nopony giving us so much as a second glance. Not that I'm surprised. When we got to the shop, I was aware of a nearby alley that I could slip into that was not too far away. After going inside and avoiding some dust from Pinkie sneezing, I was about to leave when a filly with the same colors as Scootaloo, but with a frizzy mane and tail and none of the adorableness, came to me.

*groan* Plad Stripes. The most annoying thing about this episode.

The second she opened her mouth to talk to me, I immediately put my hand over it and said, “Whatever you have to say, forget it. I'm not staying here, and I don't wanna listen to your “good” ideas. See ya.” I then just went out the door, yelling to the others I'll be back by the opening. I then ran to that alley and when the coast was clear, took off my cloak and put on my mask. After putting my cloak in a web bag, I then crawled up the wall and thought of how I should start.

(Cece's POV)

I was walking down Saddle Row with Coco, who got a massive cold from the storm a few nights ago.

“Coco, why are we going to this shop?” I asked. “You should be in bed.”

Coco sneezed before saying, “I at least want to let Rarity know why I can’t help her with the opening.” And then she sneezed again. I just sighed and we kept walking until we reach a some building I never paid attention to over the last 2 weeks. “Well, this is it. Wait here. I’ll be right back.”

I just looked around the street until I felt something strange. I felt like I can sense someone nearby. Before I can dwell on that though, Coco came out of the shop. After that, we headed back to her place, where she rested in bed and I cooked her up some chicken soup. Then, when Coco fell asleep, I put back on my cloak and went outside to explore.

(Dark’s POV)

I climbed up a rather tall skyscraper, surprisingly undetected. What I was about to do, though, would definitely gain quite a bit of attention. After I reached the top, I looked down to the street.

Man, if I did this a couple years ago, I'd probably faint.

When I was younger, I had a terrible fear of heights, but my dad forced that out of me by taking me skydiving. Now I'm not afraid of heights anymore, though I still wanna punch him from time to time for making me do that in the first place.

After looking down for a bit, I just put on “My Demons” from Starest. Then, I just ran and jumped off the building. I heard, and saw, a few ponies freaking out about a creature with no wings jumping off like that. They were so shocked that they just watched as I fell for a few seconds until I felt that familiar tingling feeling and then I shot my hand out, shooting a web to a nearby building and swinging off, barely missing the ponies’ heads. I swung around the place, letting my spider-sense guide me through. I then landed on a traffic light and looked around. All the ponies that saw me were screaming and pointing at me. I just gave a small wave before swinging off, not wanting the Royal Guard to get me for “disturbing the peace”.

After swinging around for a bit, I attached myself to a wall and looked around some more. The city definitely looked great from this height. Looking at the ponies, I see that not too many were paying me any attention now.

Huh. I guess jumping off a building was the only way to get their attention. Typical New Yorkers. Even if they're ponies, and I’m not actually in New York

Shaking my head at the thought, I put on “Protect The World” from JT Machinima and Rockit Gaming and just swung around a bit more.

(Cece's POV)

I went back to Saddle Row to check on about that feeling. When I got to that store, I saw a white unicorn on the window display, but didn't really pay attention to her. I just went to an alley that had that...aura, I guess, around it. I didn't know what it was, but I felt like something was there. When I went there though, there was nothing. But I still felt that aura, except...the further I went through the alley, the stronger it was, like a trail. I decided to just follow it, figuring I might as well see where it led.

I followed the trail until nightfall. Whatever was leaving it was definitely fast, and practically went through all of Manehatten. I was about to call it a night when I went into an alley. There, I found a rather strange sight. I saw a unicorn, two pegasi, and an earth pony all unconscious. But what was strange was that the pegasi were stuck to the walls, and the unicorn to the floor, all of them were covered in some strange white stuff. And for some reason, the earth pony had his pants down.

Wait, I've seen this stuff before.

Looking closely at one of the pegasi, I was able to get an actual look at what stuck them to the wall. It was white and stringy, and looked an awful lot like-

“A web? What could make a web that...thick….” Then I started to remember why it looked familiar. Tito always had me watch Spider-Man with him once in awhile, whether it was an episode of a show or one of the movies he had. With all that, I learned to recognize those webs. Leaving me with one of three possibilities. One: Spider-Man is here, which is crazy, considering I doubt he has anything to do with this world. Two: it was actually just some giant spider, which from what I heard about this world isn't as unlikely as back home, but it wouldn't explain why they aren't in cocoons or dead. And three: Tito actually IS here and somehow became Spider-Man. Which is the most likely considering I became Amy Rose and got her abilities, so it wouldn't be too crazy if he got Spider-Man’s. Not to mention, that aura did feel like his now that I think about it. Shaking my head, I went to the street and told a police officer about the webbed up ponies. When they were going to pull them out, the webs dissolved. I overheard a few cops mentioning how those guys were part of some gang that'd been terrorizing a few ponies around here. I then left to Coco's apartment, with it getting rather late and me not wanting to worry her. As I was dashing to my destination, I had several thoughts about what I found.

Huh. I guess Tito actually became what he always wanted. Though, what happened?

(Dark’s POV, One hour earlier)

I was just sitting on a wall, finally getting bored of exploring this place. I changed several times for some food and looking inside buildings, then changing back in an alley and resume my web swinging. With how much I swung today, I don't care what Rainbow or anypony says, web swinging is definitely the best way to travel in my opinion. I had a few near misses, like a few pegasi tried to follow me around a couple of times, but I just used my spider-sense and other abilities to maneuver away from them and lose them easily.

I was about to go back to the girls when I felt my spider-sense tingling. Thing is though, it wasn't the usual kind like the urge to dodge something, but something else, like instead of telling me what to do, it was telling me to go somewhere. Like a beacon. I didn't know what it was, but I knew there was trouble. So, I shot a web out, and swung to wherever I needed to go. A few minutes later I ended up on top of a building and looked down to an alley. What I saw made me angry. I saw a bunch of stallions surrounding a mare, and by their laughter I can tell it was for their own “fun”. I couldn't tell what the mare looked like with that jacket covering her face, but that wasn't important right now. I crawled down the wall, then flipped myself so that I was upright and using my back to stick to the wall.

“Come on babe. Don't make this harder than it has to be,” said the earth pony.

“Go buck yourselves, you stupid sons of bitches,” the mare said, in a rather familiar voice.

'Wow, that's quite some language. Never thought I'd hear that from anypony. Except maybe Dash.'

The earth pony sighed and said, “Fine. If that's how it's gonna be. Boys.” They all took one step closer to her, before I gave my two cents.

“You know, trying to beat and rape somepony isn't really a good idea.” Everypony, including the mare, looked around in shock and confusion trying to find me. “Up here.” They all looked up and was able to see my silhouette from the darkness, as well as my eyes.

“And who are you supposed to be?”

I just shrugged. Since I mostly go by Dark here anyway, I decided to give the second half of my name. “Just call me Spider. Now if you're smart, which just by looking at you I can tell you're not, you'll leave the nice mare alone.”

The earth pony laughed and his lackeys (I assumed he was the leader since he seemed like the toughest) joined him. “Really? And what're you gonna do if we don't, you Power Ponies reject.”

'Wow that was tame. Awe well, better than most insults dumb goons make I guess.'

“Simple. This,” I said before I immediately webbed the unicorn in the face so he won't do what Twilight did and hold me with magic. I then jumped off the wall and did a leg sweep on him and punching his face, knocking him out before I webbed him to the ground. I looked to the other three and smirked under my mask. “Anymore volunteers?”

They just stared at each other in confusion before the earth pony shook his head and yelled at the pegasi, “Don't just stand there! Get him!”

The first pegasus flew at me as fast as he can, but compared to Rainbow, this guy was very slow. I just moved to my left, grabbed his torso, slammed him into the wall and webbed him to it. Then, thanks to my spider-sense, I jumped over the next one, who was flying straight at me, and landed on the opposite wall. Before he readjusted, I shot a web onto his back and pulled him towards me, slamming his head repeatedly to the wall and webbing his unconscious body to it. Then I jumped back down and turned to the earth pony, only to see him holding a rather big pipe.

“I'll teach you to not mess with us.”

He swung at me, but I just leaned back to dodge each attack. Then, when he try to swing in a wide arch, I bent myself back as far as I could and kicked the pipe out of his hands and it was sent flying through the air. Then I just kicked him in the face and backed up a few steps. He then tried to use his fist, but the moment I dodge the first swipe, I webbed his right hand to the wall to his left. Then, when he tried to swing with his other hand, I webbed it to the other wall. Then, just for laughs, I webbed his pants and pulled them to the ground. As I was doing all this, I couldn't help but whistle that old Spider-Man theme song. I then turned and walked away.

“Hey! Where are you going! Come back and fig-” and then the pipe came back down and landed on his head, knocking him out.

“Well, that was fun.” I then turned around and took a good look at the earth pony. I don't know why, but his clothes seemed familiar. He was in a red and yellow sweater that I couldn't help but think I've seen before, except not in MLP. Shaking the thought away, I looked over to the mare and noticed her hood was down, allowing me to actually look at her. She had a golden spiked mane and tail, with matching eyes, light green fur, and a lightning bolt with three stars for her mark. Now that I'm close to her, I can see her wings, showing she's a pegasus, but I knew that just by looking at her face. We stared at each other for a bit before she spoke.

“What do you want?”

I shrugged and said, “Just thought I'd help out when I saw them gang up on you.”

“I didn't need any help.”

“Ah huh. Sure you didn't Lightning Dust,” I said sarcastically.

She widened her eyes and looked at me. “How do you know my name?”

“Unless they cover themselves completely, like myself, it's rather easy to recognize a pony. Especially with your cutie mark.”

She just shook her head, realizing I had a point, before she got up. “Well, I don't know about you, but I have to go.” She then walked pass me, but when I looked at her wings, I noticed they looked bad.

“You're hurt.”

She stopped and turned to me. “So what? Just a sprain. I'll be fine.”

“I don't think a bent wing counts as a “sprain”. You need help.”

She just glared at me with a suspicious look. “Oh, and you think I'm just gonna trust you to help me? What's the catch?”

“No catch. I'll take you to the closest hospital and then I'll be off. Simple as that.”

“Oh really? And what if you just want to foalnap me and do what those bastards tried to do?”

I actually laughed at that for a moment. When I calmed down, I said, “Not my style. Also, I beat them up so that WOULDN’T happen to you. So...” I then immediately put her left arm over my head. “You might wanna hang on. This is might get bumpy.” Right after I said that, I pulled her hood up so nopony will notice her.

“What are you talking ab-AAH” I then jumped up and started swinging. She was freaking out a bit, probably because she's never been this high up without being able to use her wings. After about two and a half minutes of swinging, I landed in an alley in front of a hospital and let her go.

“There we go. Hospital’s over there. Told you I'll be able to get you here.” I turned around and was about leave when Lightning spoke.

“What? You're not coming with me?”

I looked at her and said, “Not really. I'll stand out pretty easily. Not to mention I been in a hospital way too many times in my life.”

She looked down. “Hey, um...thanks.”

I smiled behind my mask. “Everybody gets one. See you around Lightning.” With that, I swung out of there and head back to Saddle Row. When I got back to the alley, I put on my cloak and went to Rarity’s shop. By the time I went in, the last customers were leaving.

“There you are. We've been looking all over for you. Where have you been?”

I looked to my left and saw Twilight, Rainbow, and Rarity. “I went exploring. I told you right before I left that I was going to check this city out. And along the way, I helped a certain pegasus from getting attacked my a bunch of ponies.”

“What pegasus?” Rainbow asked.

“Lightning Dust.”

They all widened their eyes at that. “What? What's Lightning Dust doing here in Manehatten?”

I shrugged and said, “Heck if I know. I just found her in an an alley, surrounded by four ponies, with a messed up wing, and thought I should help her. After I took them out, I brought her to the hospital and came here.”

“That's it?” Twilight asked. When I nodded, she said, “Okay. It's too late to take a train back to Ponyville, so all of us are staying in a hotel until tomorrow, where we take the next train back.”

“Okay then. Let's go.” We went to said hotel and went to our rooms. All the girls were sharing rooms with at least one other, but fortunately for me, I got my own room. When I got in, I listened to a bit of music before turning off the lights and going to bed.

Author's Note

Well, that was crazy. To explain the thing with Cece, another one of Amy's abilities is apparently being a great tracker, that it's like she can sense Sonic. So, I used that. Also, I suck at fight scenes, but I hope you enjoyed it at least a little. And to explain why I had the events of Saddle Row Review happen before Newbie Dash and A Hearthswarming Tale is because the events of the episode, aka the opening day, was the last day of fall, according to Rarity. So, I had that come first. Finally, I want to inform you that next chapter won't take place during any episode. Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Until next time, see ya.
-Dark

11. Reunited

I was reading something on my phone, waiting to leave, when Twilight came into my room looking mad.

“Dark, what's this?” She asked, holding up a newspaper.

“Um, it's a newspaper Twi.”

“I know that. Why are you on it?”

“Wait what?” I grabbed the newspaper out of her hand and saw a picture of me on the wall of a building on the front page, with the headline being “Strange black creature swings around Manehatten”. The article talked about how I was first seen jumping off a building and was swinging around Manehatten all day, as well as nopony being able to catch me or figure out what/who I was. “Huh. Well what do you know….”

“I thought you said you were just exploring.”

“I was. I was using web swinging as my mode of transport.”

“What happened to not getting any attention to yourself?”

I shrugged and folded the newspaper. “That's just for Ponyville, where I now live. Here, in a city that I'm just visiting? And one big enough for me to actually web swing easily? You can't expect me to just stay put.”

Twilight sighed. “Fine. Just be careful. Don't want anypony to think you're a menace like Peter Parker. Anyway, get ready. We leave in 10 minutes to get breakfast, then to the train station.”

I nodded to her, a bit happy that she remembered what I told them. The day after Sebaste and Sasha left, they asked me a lot of questions about things like exactly what I knew about them and more info on Spider-Man. I put on my cloak and scarf and exited the room. I waited by the front entrance, just listening to “A Friend For Life” from the first Equestria Girls movie, until the girls all came down. After that, we left and went to a diner for some breakfast.

When we were all seated, Twilight looked to me and said, “Okay Dark. How about you tell us EXACTLY what you did when you left yesterday.”

I just sighed and told them what happened.

(Cece's POV)

I slowly woke up and yawned. After I got back to Coco’s apartment, I went to bed immediately. I'm happy that I know how to find Tito now, sort of, but I was too tired to do much of it. Now though? Now I'm going to see if I can find that trail again and actually find him.

Huh. Maybe I can bring Coco along. Now that I think about it, I should check on her.

I got out of bed, and put on my cloak. I didn't need to wear it in here, but I grown accustomed to it. Heck, besides my ring, it's the one thing I have to wear that has nothing to do with Amy. After I was finished getting ready, I left my room and saw Coco drinking some tea and reading the newspaper. Looking at Coco, I saw that she looked a lot healthier now. I guess the cold finally passed.

Coco looked to me and smiled. “Good morning Cece. How are you?”

I smiled back and prepared a bowl of cereal. “I'm fine. I see you're doing better today.”

Coco nodded. “I am. It's nice to be able to use my nose again.”

“So whatcha reading?” I asked, taking a seat in front of her.

“Just this story of something found yesterday. Some creature that was sticking to walls and swinging around the city.”

I immediately froze when I heard that. I put the spoon in the bowl and looked up. “What?”

“Yeah. And apparently nopony was able to get close to it. Here, take a look.” She handed me the newspaper and I saw on the front page a picture of someone 2 stories above the ground, with its back sticking to the wall, and in a very familiar costume. “Strange looking thing, really.”

“I KNEW IT!!!”

Coco jumped when I yelled that and looked at me, shocked. “Um, Cece? Are you okay?”

Sadly, I didn't hear her. “I knew it was him who took out those criminals. I just knew it.”

“Um, Cece. What are you talking about?” Coco asked, putting a hand on my shoulder.

I calmed down and chuckled in embarrassment. “Sorry. It's just...remember when I told you about my brother wearing a costume when we got separated?” When she nodded, I went on. “Well, that's the costume he was wearing. And last night, I saw a bunch of thugs trapped in webs in an alley. I only know two guys who can do that. My brother’s favorite hero, who wears red and is a LOT more obvious, and the person my brother was dressed as. Since Tito is the only one who came up with the last one, and the person in the picture is in the same exact costume, I figured he's who it is. And since I became Amy, who I was dressed as, it's not too crazy to think he became the person he was dressed as and have the same powers.”

Coco blinked a couple of times before she was able process all that. “Okay, so, if you're right, how can we find him?”

“Well it's not much, but I found those thugs after following a sort of trail. And that picture was taken in a place I was at yesterday, following said trail. If I'm right, maybe I could use that to find him. By the way, I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Oh? What is it?”

“Well, I wanted to know if you'd like to join me on this. If I'm right, we should find him by tonight. If not, we could come back.”

Coco tapped her chin for a moment, thinking it over. Then, about two minutes later, she replied, “I guess I could come along. I don't have anything to do today anyway.”

I smiled at her response. After I finished eating and washing my dish, I pulled up my hood, got my bag, and we left. We were heading back to that alley I was at last night when suddenly, I felt the same thing I did yesterday. When I followed it, I saw a diner.

Hmm. I guess he got hungry. But how did he pay for it?

I shook the thought away and turned to Coco. “He was here.” She just nodded and I followed the trail, Coco following me, asking a few random questions about Tito. Before, I only told her the basics, like his love for comics and how he wasn't willing to make friends due to some past events, so it made sense that she was curious. We were just walking, me answering all of Coco's questions, until we reached the train station. We went inside and I followed it until it was in a bare track.

He must've hitched a ride. Might explain why he only now showed up.

We went to the nearest worker and I pointed to the tracks. “Where did the train go?”

The worker looked at the track, and after looking behind the desk for the map, she said, “That train goes straight to Ponyville.”

Ponyville? Sheesh, as if Manehatten wasn't already a weird name.

“When's the next train there?” I asked.

“Should be about an hour, hour and a half.”

I sighed and walked away, Coco close behind. “So, I hate to ask this but, can you pay to tickets to Ponyville?”

Coco nodded and said, “They're pretty cheap, so it won't be a hassle. Besides, maybe I could actually see Rarity and talk to her. That is where she lives after all.”

I let out a sigh of relief, happy that I'll be able to find Tito, and that Coco won't be mad. I went up to the worker and said, “Two tickets to Ponyville please.”

(Dark’s POV)

I was sitting in my seat, humming “A Hero Forms”, and just waiting to go back to Ponyville. I found Twilight’s collection of Daring Do books and gave them a read. I'll admit, are pretty interesting and I wanted to continue reading them.

“What exactly are you humming?”

I looked up and saw Rainbow looking at me from behind her seat. “What?” I asked.

“That song you were humming. What is it? I hear you humming it all the time, especially when you're training.”

When she said that, I actually noticed that I've been listening to that song a lot more than usual. I shook the thought away and said, “Just a song I found back home. It's about one of my heroes. A guy who fights insane maniacs on a regular basis and is seen as the “Dark Knight” of his city, always protecting it from said maniacs.”

Rainbow then got up from her seat and sat next to me. “Really? Cool. What powers does he have?”

I chuckled. “That's the thing. He has no powers at all. He's just a normal human.”

Rainbow’s eyes widen. “What?”

“Not kidding. But despite not having powers, he can defeat a giant crocodile-like person who's at least 8 feet tall and 4 feet wide, with huge jaws, a guy who can inject a toxin that makes people see their worst fears, and a guy who can freeze people. Not only that, but he can go toe to toe with a guy who can shoot lasers out of his eyes, fly faster than light, pull entire planets, and could survive in space.”

Rainbow stared at me in disbelief. “No way. How can someone like that survive against all of THAT?”

“Simple. He's as smart as he is tough. He plans things out and uses a LOT of gadgets to win his fights. Not to mention he's an expert escape artist. Heck, maybe I can show you a video later that explains him and Spider-Man. And then has them fight each other.”

“Sure. Though, I doubt he will win, if what you said about Spider-Man is true, but we'll see. So about this song…”

I shrugged. “If you want, I can let you listen to it.”

“Why not?”

I took my phone out and unwrapped the headphones. I showed the girls my devices and while they were a little amazed, they didn't gawk over it, trying to figure out how they worked. Not that I'm complaining. Just means I could keep them without them annoying me about it. I handed Rainbow the headphones, and after she put them on, I started playing “A Hero Forms”. While it was playing, Rainbow looked like she was enjoying it. When it ended, I took my headphones back.

“Not bad. It's pretty catchy. Maybe you should have Vinyl try and publish that.”

I shook my head. “I don't think so. You girls knowing about this stuff is one thing, but everypony in Equestria? No thanks.”

Rainbow shrugged. “Suit yourself.” We then felt the train stop. Looking outside, I noticed that we made it to Ponyville.

Twilight got up and said, “Okay everyone, we're home.”

We all got up and left the train. When we got out the station, we all went our separate ways. Pinkie skipped to Sugar Cube Corner, Fluttershy flew to her cottage, Applejack walked back to Sweet Apple Acre, Rarity went to Carousel Boutique, Rainbow flew off to practice a few tricks, and Twilight and I headed back to the castle. Before leaving though, Rainbow and Applejack said they'll come over later.

“It's nice,” Twilight said.

“What is?” I asked.

“How close you and Rainbow are. Especially considering...you know.”

“Ooohhhhh, that. I guess you're right.”

And I have Sebaste to thank for it.

Then I had an idea. “Hey Twilight?”

“Yes Dark?”

“Hearthswarming is in a few weeks right?”

“Yes actually. Why do you ask?”

“I wanted to know if I could invite a few friends over.”

“Of course. It's always nice having friends help out with decorations.” She blinked. “Wait, what friends?”

I chuckled softly. “You'll see in Hearthswarming Eve, Twi.”

Twilight sighed, disappointed that I wouldn't tell her. We walked in silence for a moment before Twilight asked, “Dark? You ever had anything like Hearthswarming where you're from?”

I nodded before saying, “It's called Christmas. Similar to Hearthswarming really. A day of peace. A day where family and friends come together. And then there's the presents under the tree.” I sighed, remembering the holidays I spent with my mom and Cece. “Heck, this'll be my first actual holiday without my mom.”

Twilight put a hand on my shoulder. “Hey, don't be like that. I'm sure your mom will want you to be happy. And besides, hopefully we can find Cece by then. That way, you two will at least have family. And if not, you have us to celebrate with.”

I smiled behind my scarf. “Thanks Twi. I...guess you're right. It's just...I'm used to spending all but one holiday with her, and that one isn't important. And I hope that Cece's okay.”

We arrived at the castle not to long after that conversation. Twilight went to her room to read, while I went to the library. Once I got there, I took off my cloak, put it in a web bag, and hid it behind a bookshelf. Then, I grabbed the book I was currently on, climbed to the ceiling, put on some music, and started reading.

(Cece's POV)

Once the train arrived, Coco and I went in and took our seats. I went to sleep a little after it started moving, since I didn't want to just sit there and wait for a couple of hours to get there. When we got there, Coco shook me awake and we got out. Looking around, it looked much smaller than Manehatten.

“Hey Coco, you said that friend of yours lives here?” She nodded. “How about you go find her and talk. This place isn't too big. I'm sure I'll find him in no time, then I'll get you.”

Coco nodded and walked away. I followed the trail and looked around. The place looked nice, though I kept having a feeling like I've seen it before. I walked for a few minutes, barely paying attention, until I reached some weird tree. It looked like some weird crystal thing, with a huge house attached to it. Looking at the base, I saw there was a door.

Wait, this is a building? How do you build THIS?

I just went inside, figuring no one will mind. I walked around and saw that the place was HUGE. I swear, this place could house over a dozen families easily. I just walked around until I reached a room with seven chairs in a circle. Each chair had a different symbol on it. They had three red apples, three blue diamonds, three balloons, three pink butterflies (a lot of threes), a cloud with a lightning bolt with the primary colors, and a big pink star surrounded by five white stars. The last one was next to the latter, and it was smaller, with no symbol.

*groan* I KNOW I've seen those symbols before. But where? Think Cece. Think.

While I was hitting my head, trying to remember, I heard someone say something.

“Um, who're you?” Said someone in a southern accent.

Stopping myself, I turned around and saw a pegasus with sky blue fur, and a rainbow mane, as well as that mark of the cloud and the lightning bolt that was on one of the chairs. To her left was an orange earth pony with a blonde mane and a cowboy hat, along with three red apples for her cutie mark.

So I guess these chairs are theirs.

“Hello? You a’right?” The earth pony asked.

I shook my head to shake away my thoughts and said, “I'm fine.”

“What are you doing here?” Said the pegasus.

I didn't know who these ponies were, but knew that Tito been here. I didn't know if I could trust them though, but I just gave a vague answer. “I'm looking for someone.”

“Who?”

They might know where he is. And if Tito was smart, he wouldn't have said his real name. Wait...did I just call myself stupid. Focus!

“I'm looking for Dark. Where is he?”

They looked at each other with a concerned look. “Why do you want him?”

Okay, I'm getting annoyed. “That's none of your business, Skittles! Now I'll ask again. How. Is. Dark?”

The pegasus looked shocked, and I swear I heard mutter “Skittles…?” But her friend took a step forward and glared at me.

“Hey now, that enough of that. And I don't think we should take you to Dark with that attitude.”

At this point, I started clenching my fists, my anger taking over. “Take me to him, or else.”

The pegasus scoffed. “Or else what? No offense, but what can a little filly like you do?”

That did it. That stupid horse just crossed the line. If there's one thing I hate about my transformation, it's that I'm over two feet shorter, making everyone think I'm just a little kid again, and it REALLY gets me mad. I just ran to the pegasus, faster than they expected, and punched her in the stomach, sending her flying to the wall. The earth pony stared at me in shock.

“Wha-what did you just do?”

“First rule to know about me, NEVER mention my height. And I told her that I'd do something if I didn't get what I want. Now, where is he?”

Before she could respond, however, the pegasus flow right at me and held me in the air by my left arm.

“Okay kid, I'll admit, that was one strong punch. But I don't want to hurt you. So, if you calm down, we'll take you back to your family, and maybe we won't mention how you punched me.”

I growled. “Like I care what you do. If you're going to keep me from him, might as well fight you.” I reached behind my back and grabbed my Piko Piko hammer. But as I reached for it, my hood fell off, revealing my face. The second she saw me properly, she looked shocked, but before she can do anything, I hit her with my hammer and sent her flying again, letting me go in the process. I landed on my feet and grasped my hammer in both hands, not caring that my face is no longer under the hood. “I wanted to play nice, but you tried my patience.”

The earth pony tried to get me, but I used the hilt of my hammer and jabbed her in the gut, before using the head of it in an uppercut, knocking her out. Right before I turned, though, a rainbow blur flew right at me and the next thing I knew, I was pinned to the ground by Skittles.

“Look kid, you're really pushing your-”

“STOP CALLING ME THAT!!!” I yelled. “My name is Cece for crying out loud, and I'm thirteen, so stop calling me a kid.” I then kicked her off me, got back to my feet and picked up my hammer.

After she fell to the floor, she looked up and saw be glaring down at her, hammer at the ready. “W-wait, YOU’RE Cece?”

“Yeah, and let's just say, you'll have quite the headache when you wake up. Good night.” I then pulled my hammer back, ready to hit her.

But when I was going to bring it down, I suddenly felt pressure on the base of my neck and froze. I immediately dropped my hammer and fell to one knee.

'What the? How is this possible? The only person who knows my weak spot is-'

“You know,” a male voice said behind me, before the pressure left and I can move properly again. “This is not how I expected to see you again.

'That voice…'

I turned to the voice and saw someone dressed in a blue and black suit with his arms crossed, a scarf around his neck, black hair, brown eyes, and a silver spider necklace.

“T-Tito?” I said, in shocked.

My brother just smiled and said, “You know any other crazy in Equis that looks like this?”

I immediately hugged him, tears welling up in my eyes. “It is you.”

He hugged me back and slowly petted my head. About two minutes later, we separated and he walked to the pegasus I was fighting and stuck his hand out. She took it and he helped her up. “You okay Rainbow?” He asked her.

“Yeah. Just a few bruises. Sebaste wasn't kidding. She hits like a minotaur.”

“Yeah. Be happy I came in and stopped her before she gave you a concussion.”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

I stared at them, completely shocked at how they're treating each other. “Um, I'm sorry, but who is she and how do you know her?”

Tito looked at me. “Oh, sorry sis. Forgot about introductions. Cece, this is my friend Rainbow Dash. Rainbow, Cece.”

I stood there in disbelief, mostly because of one word he said. “I'm sorry. Did you say she's your “friend”.” They both nodded. “.....WHAT?!? Since when are you friends with a flying pride flag?”

“Aaaand there it is. Honestly, I'm surprised I never actually heard that before now.”

“Wait, what did she call me,” Rainbow asked.

“You don't wanna know. And to answer your question Cece, I'd say about two weeks now.”

I just stood there dumbstruck for a moment before I heard someone nearby.

“Well, it's great that you want to help your friend find her brother, Coco. I'm sure if we look hard enough we might-WHAT IN THE NAME OF CELESTIA HAPPENED HERE?!?”

We all turned to the door, and saw Coco with that unicorn from the window display yesterday and a pony with purple fur, and a horn as well as a pair of wings.

Huh, wonder what those are called

“Dark,” the combo pony said. “What happened?”

My brother put his hands up. “Hey, don't look at me, Twilight. It was like this when I got here.”

Coco stepped forward and looked at me. “Cece, did you do this?”

I chuckled nervously, looking away from everyone.

“Wait,” the purple pony, I think Tito called her Twilight, said. “Cece? As in Dark’s sister?”

“Yeah,” Tito said. “When I got here, I saw Cece fighting Rainbow and stopped her before she left too much damage.”

Coco stared at Tito in confusion. “Um, who are you?”

“Oh right. Sorry, keep forgetting about introductions today.” He held out his hand. “I'm Tito, but most call me Dark now, and Cece’s my sister. It's nice to meet you Ms. Pommel.”

Coco shook his hand with a surprised look on her face. Though, I realized something. “Wait, how do you know her name?”

Tito turned to me and smiled. “She's the nicest pony in Manehatten. Not to mentioned she was in most of the episodes that were in Manehatten.”

Me and Coco just stared at him, not sure what to say, but before we could, he put a hand up. “Now I know you have questions. So, how about we discuss it over lunch. You girls can go to the dining room. I'll wake up Applejack.” After saying that, he went to the earth pony. I followed Coco, who followed the other three. I had one last thought in my mind.

What has he been doing these last couple of weeks?

Author's Note

Well, they're now reunited. Yay :yay: . Though, you probably knew that would happen because of the title of this chapter. Now, before anyone says anything, I want to say a few things. First is to explain the cloaks that Cece and Tito wear. Tito's cloak is similar to the clothes that the protagonists wear in Assassin's Creed, but blue and black, as mentioned a few chapters ago. Cece's, on the other hand, is more like the kind that is like a cape and hood that you tie to your neck. Just think Red Riding Hood, but the hood being longer. Heck, same color too. Second, to anyone who actually complained about the whole "Cece can track Tito's aura" thing, aka the guys in that Discord chat I'm in, I'm sorry about that. But the fact that it didn't say much about Amy's tracking ability from what I read, outside of her sensing/feeling Sonic, I barely had anything to go on, so I just guessed. Also, to explain the "too late to take the train" thing last chapter, I meant for it to mean they're too tired to wait for it and go back. Not that the station was closed. And to anyone who says it's too convenient that the train Tito was in was only going to Ponyville, leaving Cece with a better chance to follow him, just stop. I know that it might suck, but I don't care. It could've been a LOT worse for all I care and I actually tried to make it good. So, other than that, if you have ways to make the story better for the future, or find any spelling/grammar mistakes, don't be afraid to comment it. I definitely hate leaving a misspelling around, especially since I only notice after posting the chapter. If not, then, until next, see ya.
-Dark

12. Appointment With Royalty

“Wait, that hammer wielding girl was your SISTER?”

I had just woken up Applejack and explained what had happened, and she's understandably surprised that my sister just showed up and knocked her out.

I nodded. “Yeah. I'm sorry that she knocked you out, but she should be better right now.”

“SHOULD be?” She asked with a raised eyebrow.

I sighed. “Yeah, see, Cece has a rather bad temper sometimes. And now that she's stronger than the average earth pony, AND has that hammer? Well, she's gonna be quite a handful now.”

Applejack just shook her head. “Well, where's everypony now?”

“They all went to the dining room. I figured we should explain a few things, as well as get some answers ourselves. And it's time for lunch anyway.” With that said, we walked to the dining room and saw everyone sitting in the table, staring at each other. When I walked in, Cece looked at me.

“Finally. Now you can explain exactly what you did all this time.”

“One moment please.” I went to the kitchen and made myself a peanut butter sandwich, then I went back to the dining room and sat down. “Okay. Now I'm good. What exactly do you want to know?”

“How about how you're friends with Skittles here?” She said, pointing her thumb to Rainbow.

Rainbow pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. “My name isn't Skittles. It's Rainbow Dash. And why is it so surprising we're friends?”

“Mostly because he always kept himself away from anybody unless-” I quickly webbed her mouth when she got there.

“Yeah...not something we need to talk about sis. We have a few more important things than why I'm friends with a bunch of ponies.” After that, the web disappeared and she looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

“Wait, so you have more friends? Huh. Guess it took going to another planet for that to finally happen.”

I glared at her. “Shut. It. Anyway, what exactly have you been doing since you got to Equestria?”

“Simple. I've been looking all over Manehatten for you. Not to mention beat up a few ponies who tried to kidnap me, but that's not important.”

I raised an eyebrow. “You beat up a bunch of ponies? Do tell.”

“Nothing special really. A little while ago, I was running through a few alleys looking for you, when I took a wrong turn. Before I could leave though, a bunch of stallions surrounded me and said they'd use me to get some money. So, I pulled out my hammer and wiped the floor with them.”

“Hey, wait a minute,” Applejack said. “Where is your hammer anyway?”

Cece smiled. “Right here.” She then pulled her Piko Piko hammer out of nowhere.

“What the hay?!” Rainbow yelled. “Where'd that come from?”

Cece just shrugged. “No idea. I can just pull it out of nowhere and make it disappear at will.”

I chuckled when I heard that, and everyone looked at me confused. “It's simple,” I said. “She puts it in her hammer space.”

“Hammer what now?” Applejack asked.

“Hammer space. It's a term used in cartoons where the characters can pull out random stuff, usually giant mallets, out of nowhere and send them away. Kinda like a pocket dimension I guess.”

“Huh,” Cece said. “I wonder if I could do that with anything else.”

“Probably," I said with a shrug.

“Anyway, other than that, I just looked around Manehatten for you this whole time. What have YOU been doing?”

“Hmm, let's see….I fought a bunch of giant magic wolves made out of wood, saved two fillies, met these four,” I gestured to Rainbow, Rarity, Applejack and Twilight, “along with two others, and been offered to live here. And that was all the first day. After that, I-”

“Wait,” Cece said. “You live here now?”

“Yeah. Twilight offered for me to live here.”

“Seriously? What's the point? Now that we're together again, we can go back home.”

I stopped and looked down, remembering what Sebaste said about that subject. “That's a lost cause sis.”

Everyone looked at me in confusion. Twilight said, “What are you talking about Dark? Now that we found Cece, we can try to find a way to send you back.”

I shook my head. “No you can't. There's no going back to our dimension.”

“Tito…” Cece said. “What are you talking about?”

“Yeah Dark,” Rainbow said. “Why can't you go back?”

“According to Sebaste and Sasha, we're stuck here. Once you get Displaced, there's no going back.”

Rarity, Rainbow, Applejack and Twilight looked down with their ears folded back, while Cece and Coco looked confused. “Okay,” Cece said. “Who the heck is Sebaste and Sasha? And what's this about “displaced”?”

I sighed. “Let's see if I can explain this properly. You remember what happened right before you woke up here in Equestria?”

She nodded. “We were at a convention, and we bought some stuff from some weird guy. I bought my hammer, you bought a sword and mask. What does that have to do with anything? Speaking of which, where's that sword and your costume?”

“To answer your second question first, my sword is in my room right now. No need for it right now. As for my costume, I'm wearing it underneath this cloak. Gotta keep THAT a secret. And that thing with the Merchant has everything to do with this. It's because of him that this happened to us.”

“Wait, what do you mean by that?”

“I mean, the moment we bought those items, we were sent here. And, as you obviously noticed, we transformed into the beings we were cosplaying as. You turned into Amy Rose, and me? I turned into the DarkSpider. Lucky for me, really. Anyway, that's the moment we became Displaced. And the whole thing about us being teleported from our world? One way streak. We can never go back home.”

“And how do you know that?”

“Because I met a few Displaced who are far more experienced then we are in this sort of thing.”

Cece sat there silent for a moment. “So...we really can't go back?”

I shook my head.

She looked down. “I um...I need some time alone.” She got up and walked away.

About a minute later I sighed and got up myself.

“Where are you going?” Rainbow asked.

“Looking for my sister. Sorry, but can you four explain the situation to Coco please?” I left and just walked through the halls, looking for Cece. I went to the library, where I heard crying. Following the sound, I found Cece sitting against the wall with her hands over her eyes. “You okay there sis?”

She stopped crying and looked at me with bloodshot eyes. “Am I okay? Oh, let me think. I got pulled out of my world into a magical land of humanoid horses, I get turned into a 3 foot tall hedgehog, and to top it all off, I can never go back home and see my family and friends ever again. So tell me Tito, how is ANY of this okay?”

I looked down. “Okay, when you put it that way, it's sounds bad. But hey, it could be worse.”

“How?”

“Well for one thing we could've ended up in separate Equestrias. Or you could've been found by a less friendly pony and put in a cage. Or-”

“I get it.”

I sat beside her and patted her back. “Look at the bright side. At least we got each other.”

“Yeah. I still got my crazy brother,” she said, giving a chuckle.

I rolled my eyes, then got up and offered my hand. She took it and I pulled her up. “Come on. Don't want the others to get worried.”

“Yeah.” Then she looked around. “Um, you know the way back? I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going.” I chuckled and left towards the dining room, Cece close behind. “So… How?”

I raised my eyebrow. “How what?”

“How did you convince those ponies to be your friend?”

I sighed. "Nothing. At least, nothing that comes to mind. Though, someone did help when it came to Rainbow.”

“Seriously? Wow. Also, why does this all look familiar?” She asked putting a hand to her temple.

“You don't know?” When she shook her head, I pulled out my phone and put up a picture of the show and showed her. “Look at this.”

She looked at it and noticed the title. “Really? We're REALLY in that dimension?” She asked with a deadpan expression. She sighed. “Could be worse,” she said with a shrug. “At least we're not in Bikini Bottom.”

I shook my head and put away my phone. “With how it's been the last few years, I agree.” Then I heard a voice.

“There you are,” Twilight said, walking towards us with Rainbow and AJ close behind. “We were just about to look for you. Is everything okay?

“Yeah, we're good. Right sis?” Cece nodded. “See?”

“Good, cause we have to go to the train station.”

“What? Why?” Cece asked.

“Well, now that the two of you are back together, I wanted to introduce you two to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.”

“Why?”

“Because they have to know about you. It's better we get this over with now before they come visit one day and sees two creatures nopony has ever seen before and presume the worst.”

Cece thought about it for a moment, then sighed. “Fine. But don't expect me to worship them or anything.”

I put a hand on her shoulder. “You don't have to, but you should at least show respect. They rule this whole country and raise the sun and moon after all.”

“Wait what?”

“I'll explain later.” I whispered.

“Also Cece,” Twilight started, “since Dark is here, I was wondering if you would like to stay here as well.”

Cece's eyes widened. “Wait, as in live here in this castle?” Twilight nodded. “Um, don't you have enough people living here?”

“No. Besides Dark and myself, there are only two others who live here, along with my pet owl.”

“Seriously? A place THIS huge and you being a princess, and yet you there are so few living here?”

“Why do you think you got so far without anyone noticing you?” I said with a chuckle.

“Good point. Well...why not? Though, can I say goodbye to Coco before we go?”

Twilight nodded. “Of course you can. I'll take you to her and Rarity right now. Just follow me.” With that, Twilight left and Cece followed her.

I turned to the two remaining ponies. “Again, sorry about Cece attacking you.”

Applejack waved her hand. “It's okay Dark. Just hope it doesn't happen again. Don't want a visit to the hospital.”

“Yeah,” Rainbow said with a nod. “And thanks for stopping her before it could get any worse. I don't want to go to the hospital again anytime soon.”

Give it a week or two.

“Well, I best be off,” Applejack said before leaving. “See you when you get back from Canterlot.”

We waved to Applejack as she left, then I turned to Rainbow. “You going too?”

She shook her head. “Nah, I'm done with work today. I figured I'd go with you guys to Canterlot.”

“Seriously? Okay, I'll meet you guys at the station. I'm going to my room and getting some stuff.” I said before I ran to my room. I put on my backpack and put my sword on my back. Figured I should bring it just in case. After that was done, I put on my cover and went to the train station. When I got there, I saw Twilight, Cece, and Rainbow waiting for the train.

Cece sighed. “How much longer?”

“Only a few minutes Cece,” Twilight replied.

Rainbow sighed. “You really are Dark’s-”

“Sister?” I asked, gaining their attention. “Trust me, if you think we're exactly alike, give it time.”

“Got that right,” Cece whispered before quickly turning to me. “Um, Tito? Is that what I think it is?” She asked, pointing to my sword.

I nodded. “I figured I should bring it with me. That, and my laptop.”

“Your laptop? How is that thing still running? Knowing you, it'd run out of power within a couple of days.”

“Well lucky for me, Twilight here knows a sort of infinite power spell and was able to use it on my phone and laptop. Now they won't run out of power.”

“Seriously? Think you can do that for me? I have three things that could use that.” She said to Twilight.

Twilight nodded. “Sure. I'll do it on the train.”

“Wait,” I said, “why do you have three things? I thought you only had your phone.”

“You don't remember? Here.” She said, before opening her bag and pulling out a small black rectangular device.

The moment I saw it I immediately grabbed it and examined it. “You had it the whole time?”

“Yeah. You told me to hold it for you at the convention, along with those games of yours. Remember?”

Oh, that's right. If it'll still work, that's one more way to pass the time.

“Um, what is that thing?” Rainbow asked.

I put it in my pocket. “That, my technicolor friend, is a device called a 3DS, and it's used to play games. I'll explain later.”

“Oh, what kind of games,” a rather high voice said. “Ooo, who's that?” A pink blur ran past me and Pinkie was suddenly standing in front of my sister.

(Cece's POV)

I jumped when I heard that voice and nearly screamed when a pink earth pony suddenly appeared in front of me. I nearly pulled out my hammer when Tito started talking. “Cece, meet Pinkie Pie. Pinkie, this is my sister Cece.”

Pinkie let out a huge gasp. “THIS is the sister that Sebaste mentioned that got separated from you when you came to Equestria?” She then immediately picked me up and squeezed me into a hug. “She's so cute. And she has the same shade of pink fur as me. Oh, you and I are going to be such good friends.”

“Can't...breathe…” I gasped out, feeling the air quickly escaping my lungs.

“Oops. Sorry.” She then put me down and I immediately breathe in a huge breath of air.

“What...is your…problem?” I said between pants.

“What are you talking about? I don't have a problem. Wait, I need to get your party ready.”

That surprised me. “Party? What party?”

“Your ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party of course the whole town will be invited and-”

“No.”

That seemed to surprise everyone. “What? Why?”

“I don't want me moving here to be that big a deal to warrant the ENTIRE town.”

“But it'll be fun, and you can meet everypony, and-”

“No.”

Her mane actually looked like it deflated a bit when I said that. “Oh. Okay then.” She looked like she was about to go, but Tito cleared his throat.

“Wait Pinkie.” He turned to me. “Cece, would it be okay if instead of the whole town, it was, say, six other ponies, as well as myself?”

I thought about it for a moment and shrugged. “Sure.”

Tito then turned to Pinkie. “Pinkie, call the rest the group and meet us in the throne room later tonight, okay?”

Pinkie immediately perked up at that. “Okie dokie. Have fun.” With that, she disappeared in a pink blur.

I just stood there in silence for a minute. “Okay, what just happened?”

Tito patted my back. “That, Cece, was Pinkie Pie. Think Deadpool, but non violent, and completely sane. Oh, and having a love for parties.”

“Should I be scared?”

“Of course not, she's completely friendly. Though,” he said, leaning down to whisper to my ear, “she does have a sort of trigger, but I wouldn't want to find it.”

Before I could ask what he meant, the train rolled it. We got on a private car and I just sat down and took off my hood. “So, who exactly are these princesses we're meeting with?”

“Let's see,” Tito said. “They're the rulers of this country, raise the sun and the moon, and are seen as the oldest and most powerful ponies in all of Equestria.”

“Again with that sun and moon thing. What do you mean they raise them?”

“Exactly that. In this dimension, the sun and moon raise and fall because of magic. Before the princesses, it took a lot of unicorns to pull that off.”

I sighed. “Seriously? What's next?”

“Well there's also things like minotaurs, griffins, and hydras roaming around. The first two are actually some of the other intelligent life in this dimension.”

I just facepalmed. A few minutes later I asked Twilight if she can do that spell of hers on our stuff. When she was done, I turned on my phone and listened to music before I fell asleep.

(Dark’s POV)

While Cece was sleeping, I just showed Rainbow and Twilight a few videos on my laptop, including the Death Battles of Spider-Man vs Batman and Rainbow Dash vs Starscream. Rainbow seemed to like it for the most part, except for the brutal ending of the first one, and was extremely proud that she could take out a giant robot on her own. Twilight was mostly a fan of the analysis and seemed to pay close attention to the Spider-Man one. After that, I showed them two FNAF videos from the Game Theorists like I said I would yesterday. While they were watching those, I turned on my 3DS and just played Pokémon: Alpha Sapphire the rest of the train ride.

About an hour later, we made it to Canterlot. I put my DS away in my pocket and put my laptop in my bag. I then woke Cece up and walked out.

“So this is Canterlot,” I said. “Looks pretty nice.”

Twilight nodded. “Come on, the castle isn't that far.”

As we were walking, I saw a few of the ponies that live here. A few of them just ignored us, but others just held up their heads. I rolled my eyes at that and kept walking.

“What's their problem?” Cece asked me.

“Welcome to Canterlot. The snobbiest place in Equestria as far as I know. A large amount of ponies here only care about themselves or their money. Besides the princesses, I think there's only two nobles that are actually decent here.”

She sighed at that kept walking. I put on my headphones and just listened to “Shadows” and “Turn Back” from TryHardNinja. A few minutes later, we made it to the castle. Rainbow and Twilight were able to go, but the moment I was going to step in, the guards blocked me.

“Who are you?” One of them asked.

“Um...he's my bodyguard.” Twilight said.

“Then who's that?” He said, pointing to Cece.

“She's my sister.” I replied. “Now can we please go in?”

They looked at each before allowing us to pass. When we got inside, I couldn't help but whistle in amazement at the look of the place. We reached a long hall that was mostly empty. Twilight went to the other end of the hall with Rainbow. When they reached the doors, Twilight turned to me and Cece.

“Okay, we'll talk to Princess Celestia and see if we can get Princess Luna. Then we'll get you, okay?”

I looked to Cece who just gave me a shrug before I turned back to Twilight. “Okay Twi. Let us know when we can go in.” Twilight nodded before they stepped in and close the door. After that, I looked at Cece again. “So how did saying goodbye to Coco go?”

“It was okay. Might visit her from time to time.”

“Well if you do, I'm coming too. I loved being in Manehatten.”

Cece nodded. Then, over a minute later, she said, “You know, you seem pretty okay with all this.”

“What do you mean?”

“You seem perfectly fine with the fact that we're stuck here.”

“What makes you think that?”

Before she can reply, we heard someone chuckling. “Oh, family bickering, what an entertaining thing to watch.”

Cece pulled out her hammer and looked around. “Who's there?”

“Oh, nice hammer. Though, I can pull out much more effective and entertaining things than that.”

That voice… Oh you gotta be kidding me.

“Stop hiding,” Cece said, getting annoyed.

“What fun would that be?”

I sighed. “Show yourself Discord.”

Cece looked at me confused, but in a flash of light, the draconequus appeared. “So you know about me, hmm?”

Looking at him, I noticed he looks the same here as he does in the show.

Guess there's no reason for him to be humanoid.

Cece jumped back in surprise. “What the heck is that?”

Discord put his talon on his chest and bowed. “I am Discord, the spirit of chaos. As for what I am, I'm what you call a draconequus.”

“What?”

I just looked at her and said, “Long story short, he's a guy who can bend the rules of reality at will and once was a bad guy before one of Twilight’s friends helped him reform. Now he's a friend of theirs.”

“Wow,” Discord said, clapping. “Good job on that. Now, you know about me, but I don't know about any of you. What exactly are you anyway? You're not ponies, I know that.”

“Wait, how would you know that?” Cece asked.

“Well, ponies don't look like that,” he said, a mirror appearing in front of us without our cloaks, Discord holding them in his hands.

Cece looked down in shock and I just sighed. I webbed our cloaks and pulled them to me. I gave Cece her cloak and we put them on.

“So, what are you?”

I was going to reply, when the door opened and Rainbow walked out. “Okay guys, the princesses are-” she stop when she saw the third being with us. “Discord?”

“Oh, hello there Rainbow Dash. You know these two?”

“Yes, they're my friends. Why?”

“He knows we're not ponies,” I told her.

Her eyes widened before she closed them and sighed. “If you want to find out more with them, you might as well come with us.” With that, she went inside the courtroom, with us close behind, Cece dismissing her hammer. Once we were inside, the doors closed.

“So these are the two you were talking about?” A familiar voice said. Looking over, I saw three alicorns, including Twilight, sitting in thrones. The first was pure white with purple eyes and a sun for her mark, and a multi colored mane and tail that waved in nonexistent wind. The second was dark blue with light blue eyes and a crescent moon for her mark, and her mane and tail resembling the night sky, also waving in wind that wasn't there.

“Yes Princess,” Twilight replied.

Princess Celestia smiled at us. “It is nice to meet the two of you. I'm Princess Celestia, and this is my younger sister Luna.” She said, gesturing to her sister.

I stepped forward and gave a small bow. “It's a pleasure to meet you, princesses. My name is Tito, though, I am mostly known as Dark, and this is my sister Cece.” Cece nodded to them.

Celestia nodded before looking to Discord behind us. “And what might you be here for, Discord?”

“Well, Tia, I heard these two bickering while I was wandering the halls, and decided to see what was going on. When I got to them, I noticed they were...different.”

“Different how?” Luna asked.

“Well, they aren't any kind of creatures it ever seen before.”

Celestia then looked to me. “Can you please take off your hoods?”

I turned to Cece and she shrugged. I then looked back at Celestia and we took off our hoods and my scarf, showing our faces.

Luna's eyes widened slightly, while Celestia kept a calm face. Discord then flew up to them, looking at us. “See? Told you.”

“What exactly are you?” Luna asked us.

Huh. Seems she speaks modern English here. Thank God. I can never understand that Shakespeare talk.

“Well, that's a bit of a long story,” I said.

“Well then, start at the beginning.”

I sighed before figuring out how to start. “Okay. First off, let me explain what I am and what we were,” I said, gesturing to Cece and myself. “I'm a human. I take it you got a rundown of what that is from Twilight?”

Celestia nodded. “Indeed. Though, it was to my understanding that if a human stepped through the portal, they'd turned into a pony.”

“That's true, but I didn't go through that portal. I was...sent here, I guess you can say.”

“Sent here? By whom?”

“A being that is apparently known as the Merchant. See, me and my sister were just at a convention, dressed up in costumes, when we came across this guy. He was selling some things, but we bought three. Cece bought a hammer, I bought a mask and this sword.” I pointed to my back. “The moment after we bought these items, we disappeared from our world and showed up here in Equestria. I ended up in the Everfree Forest, Cece in Manehatten.”

“You were sent to the Everfree?” Discord asked. “That seems rather dreadful. How were you able to survive?

“Not that hard, considering what happened. When we were sent here, something happened to us. We changed. Cece turned into that and me? I'd say I got the better end of it. Appearance wise, I stayed the same. But, I had abilities I never had before. Since then, I've been able to shoot webs out of my wrists and climb up any surface with complete ease. Not to mention my spider-sense.”

“Spider-sense? What in the world is that?” Luna asked.

I hesitated for a moment, before saying “Basically, it's a sort of sixth sense, that alerts me of danger. Most of the time… It also allows me to survey an area, allowing me to to travel around places I've never been pretty easily.”

“Like what you did in Manehatten?” Twilight said.

The princesses and Discord looked at her in confusion. “And what happened in Manehatten?” Celestia asked.

“Remember when I said I could shoot webs from my wrists? Well, they're strong enough to stop a speeding train, and more that strong enough to carry my own weight. As for Manehatten, yesterday I was in Manehatten with Twilight and her friends. While they were busy setting up Rarity’s new shop, I was using my webs to explore Manehatten, shooting them at the buildings and swinging around.”

Discord then looked at me wide eyed. “Wait, so YOU’RE that mysterious figure that was all over the newspaper?” He then started laughing. “That stunt you pulled, jumping off that building must've freaked out those so many ponies. I bet it was hilarious.”

Luna looked to Discord. “What are you talking about?”

When Discord calmed down, he snapped his paw and a newspaper appeared in front of Luna. She grabbed it, and after reading it, looked to me with a raised eyebrow. “So this article is about you?”

“Yes. And that costume was the one I was wearing for the convention.”

“And why did you do that? You nearly caused a panic.”

“Well, I've been here for a couple of weeks, and I wanted to practice web swinging. I based my costume off of someone with the same powers as me, and Manehatten is very similar to where he lives.”

Celestia then said, “How about you go back to what happened to you when you came to Equestria?”

“Right. Anyway, after I got here and discovered my powers, I ran into a pack of timberwolves who were attacking a few fillies. I took out the wolves easily, but I...knocked out.” I said, looking at Rainbow for a second before turning my eyes back to Celestia. “I woke up in Twilight’s castle and met her, Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Pinkie. I then told them who I was and about my abilities. After that, Twilight offered to have me stay there, and I took it. All in all, that was a pretty crazy first day. The next day, I met Rarity and Applejack. And after a...falling out with somepony, I met two other humans who explained everything to me.”

“And that is?”

“We're known as Displaced. People who were taken from their world and flung to alternate Equestrias.”

“Alternate? What do you mean?” Luna asked.

She seems to be the more curious one.

“Think of it like this. Imagine an infinite number of worlds, all with their own Equestria. But, no two worlds are the same. Infinite possibilities, each one existing in each world. In one world, Nightmare Moon may never have existed, or Twilight never became an alicorn, or Tirek won when he was first came to Equestria.”

Or Discord marrying Fluttershy, Pinkie being a psychopath, and Cards Against Humanity existing in Equestria.

“Now imagine people being sent to various worlds and turning into fictional characters. That's the situation with Displaced.”

“And these humans who told you?”

“Displaced from another Equestria. I accidentally summoned them. See, the thing about Displaced is that we can create things called tokens, which allows us to call forth other Displaced. Their tokens appeared near me, and I summoned them. They explained it to me, as well as Twilight and her friends. Later on, Pinkie threw my welcome party. When that was done, they explained a few more things to us and mentioned...something I rather not talk about. After that, they went back to their Equestria. I've just been training and living in Ponyville for the last two weeks. Then we went to Manehatten yesterday and, well, you know. Then this morning, I ran across Cece, we caught up on what we've been doing all this time, then came here.”

Celestia nodded before looking to my sister. “And what about you?”

Cece just stood there silent. Then she gave me a look I recognized all too well. I looked to Celestia and said, “Cece woke up in somepony’s apartment in Manehatten. The pony found her in an alley and took her in to help her and she was allowed to stay with the pony until she found me. She spent the whole time looking for me in Manehatten, while I was asking around Ponyville if anyone heard anything about her. And besides beating up a bunch of bad ponies, nothing much happened, right sis?” She nodded. “After all that, she came to Ponyville, I found her having a...problem with Rainbow and Applejack. Luckily I was able to stop it before it got too bad. Before we left to come here though, Twilight offered to have her stay in the castle too, and she agreed.”

Celestia turned to Twilight and smiled. “You offered to house these two? I must say, I'm proud of you, Twilight.” Twilight blushed lightly at that comment. Celestia then turned to me. “So that's your story?” When I nodded, she continued. “So I have a few questions. First, is there anyway to send you back to where you came from?”

I just sighed. “No. One of the last things I talked to about with those other Displaced before they left was that. Apparently, once we get to Equestria, we can never go back. Ever.”

They all seemed saddened by this. “I am sorry to hear that. But I hope you can at least accept Equestria as your new home.”

“I know I have. May take some time for Cece.”

Luna was the next to speak. “And these Displaced. Are there anymore present here in Equestria?”

“I don't know, but I doubt it. But if you come across any, let us know.”

“We will,” Celestia replied. “Now, one last question. Why were the two of you covering your faces when you came here?”

“Well, no one knows what we are besides you and the rest of Twilight’s friends, and I guess we both didn't want anyone to. We are the only ones in this whole world like this, so it could cause some...negativity with some ponies.”

“I see. But I hope you know that you can't keep that secret forever.”

“I know. I just…don't want too many ponies knowing for a while.”

“Hmm. I'll see if I could help with your situation. Until then, I'll respect your wishes and not tell anypony else of it.”

“As will I.” her sister said.

Discord shrugged. “I don't see the big deal with anypony knowing, but your secret’s safe with me.”

“Thank you. Now, is that everything?” I said.

Celestia nodded. “I believe it is. Now, day court is ending in a couple of minutes.” She then got up and walked down the stairs with Twilight. “I'll escort the four of you out of the castle.” With that, she walked to the door, Twilight, Cece and Rainbow close behind.

I was going to follow them, when I felt a something on shoulder. Turning around, I saw Discord in front of me. “I am sorry about what happened to you and and your sister. I truly am. But, I'll be honest with you. Twilight and that little group of hers are the best ponies that can help you with this.”

“Thanks. And I already know they can help. Heck, they helped you, didn't they?”

He smiled. “Indeed they did. Speaking of which, I need to ask Fluttershy about you. Now, I best be off. I'll see you again soon, Spider.” He snapped his talon and disappeared in a flash of light.

“Nice guy.” I muttered to myself, before putting on my cover and running to the others.

Author's Note

Wow. Finally got this finished. Sorry it took so long, I was stuck on this chapter more than any. So, Cece now lives with them, and they met Celestia, Luna, and Discord. I hope I did good with it. And expect the next chapter MUCH sooner than it took to do this one.
-Dark

13. A Hearth's Warming Surprise

I was sitting on the chandelier in the throne room, holding Sebaste’s token, when Cece walked in.

“Seriously, how can you navigate through this place so easily?” She asked me.

“Easy. My spider-sense works like a map, allowing me to know where I'm going.” It's been a few weeks since our meeting with Celestia and Luna, and Cece was still getting used to living in the castle. Today was Hearth's Warming Eve, and we were about to get ready for the party later. And I was getting prepared for the stupid “tradition” Cece made for herself a few years ago.

“That spider-sense of yours is crazy.”

I rolled my eyes and dropped to the floor. “Says the girl who turned into a hedgehog who can track anyone in the world, crush robots, and can keep up with Sonic.”

Cece looked like she was about to say something when she noticed the gun in my hand. “What are you doing with a gun?”

I looked at it and smiled. “This, my little sister, is the token to one of those Displaced I mentioned. The one who is responsible for me and Rainbow being friends to be exact.”

“That doesn't explain why you have it right now.”

“I was getting to that. Anyway, I was thinking that I might as well invite them to the party. I mean, they can use as much time off as they can get, considering…” I shook my head. “Not important. Now, without further adieu…” I looked at the rifle. “Hey Sebaste, Sasha, come on over. You guys, and any guests, are invited to this year’s Hearth's Warming party.”

A portal then ripped open in front of us, and three armored figures walked out, one was lightly armored than the others and was feminine while the other two were more familiar. “You called?” Sebaste joked.

I smiled. “Great to see you guys again.”

Sebastian grinned under his helmet, “You too Dark.” The girl looked at me in interest.

“So you're Dark? Sasha and my brother mentioned you when they had gotten back…” she said.

I nodded. “Yup. Tito, aka the DarkSpider, though most call me Dark now. And this,” I pointed to Cece, “is my younger sister, Cece.”

Cece stared in shock at the new arrivals. “Okay, so you're friends with the guy from Halo, some stripper, and a knight?”

I immediately smacked her in the back of the head.

“Stripper?! That's rich, coming from a short pink hedgehog!” The girl said, an insulted look that turned to anger on her face. Sebaste quickly backed away, knowing how easily his sister got angered when insulted.

Cece immediately pulled out her hammer. “What did you say, you stu-” I immediately used my webs to stick her feet to the ground, her hands to the hammer, so she can't throw it, and her mouth shut.

The girl had pulled out a double edged sword, and with a flick of her wrist, the blade separated into a bladed whip, while her gauntleted hand glowed with arcane energy. “If you even think of attacking me, you’ll find out I'm more than a match!” She snarled.

“Alex, calm down!” Sebastian said to her, the Astartes moving between the two. “This is a misunderstanding.”

“Yeah,” I said. “Cece was just surprised to see you. And trust me, she could've called you a lot of worse things if she wanted to.”

Her eyes still flinty, Alex dispelled the energy surrounding her hand and retracted the blade and sheathed it. “Very well.” She said, her voice steely with anger.

“Geez, that… was too close.” Sebaste said, “Last time she got angered… she nearly wiped out an enemy unit…”

“Tell me about it. Now,” I turned to my sister, who was still struggling out of my webs. “I'll let you out, if you promise not to insult….” I turned to the others. “Name please?”

“Alexandra, Sebaste's younger sister.” The girl replied.

“Thank you.” I looked at Cece again. “If you promise not to insult or hurt Alex, I'll let you out, okay?” She just mumbled a few things. “Good enough for me.” With that, the webs vanished from her and she reluctantly put away her hammer.

“I'm sorry about that, Alex doesn't really like getting insulted.” Sebastian said, “And I'm not exactly a knight, more of a super soldier from a future time period even farther than the Halo timeline.”

Cece blinked a bit. “So, let me get this straight. So you guys are a Wonder Woman wannabe, a futuristic Captain America, and Iron Man with guns?”

“Soul Calibur!” Alex snapped, still miffed. “I'm Ivy from SoulCalibur!”

“What's that?”

“Basically a game done by a company called Namco.” Sebaste said, “It's a fighting game where you select a character and you duke it out for how many rounds you set the game, person who wins the rounds wins the game. And Sasha is actually an augmented human from the 41st millennium, at least, that's the time where his character came from.”

I randomly stated “Not to mention Alex’s character, Ivy Valentine was raised by a zombie pirate and wields something from the being Nightmare, who is a being possessed by Soul Calibur, and Ivy made it her mission to destroy everything to do with Soul Calibur. Oh, and apparently she'd lose in a fight against Black Orchid from Killer Instinct.”

“Don’t you actually mean Soul Edge?” Sebaste asked

I shrugged. “Probably. I haven't seen the Death Battles involving Soul Calibur characters in a while, and that's the only way I know anything about that game. I mostly stuck to the Marvel and/or DC fights lately.”

“Eh, to each his own. But anyways, Sasha and I were the first Displaced your brother met.” The Spartan said to Cece.

Cece blinked some more. “Um….what?”

Sebaste blinked himself before facepalming. “Great… long story short, the three of us are from another Equestria.”

“Sebaste,” I said. “I told her about Displaced and about you guys.”

“...”

At that moment, Twilight, Rainbow and Rarity came into the room. “Oh,” Twilight said. “Dark, Cece, glad we...found...you.” She then noticed our newest guests.

“Well this is awkward …” Sebaste said, rubbing the back of his head. “Hey Twi.”

“Sebaste? Sasha? What are you two doing here? And who is…” She then looked at Alex and she, as well as Rainbow and Rarity, blushed hard, causing me to snicker.

“Oh for the love of…” Alex grumbled before her gauntlet glowed and she was in a red and orange dress. “This better?”

“Much. Tell me Alex,” I said. “How many people did you cause to go speechless since you became a Displaced?”

Alex glared daggers at me, her fingers starting to curl into a fist as she tried not to lose her temper. She then turned to the three mares, who weren’t blushing anymore. “Anyone else want to make any more stupid remarks on how my character was designed?” She snapped angrily.

“Um...who are you?” Rarity asked.

“This is my younger sister Alexandra.” Sebaste replied, walking up to Alex and putting a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. “She appeared just after Sasha and I had a bit of a robot problem back in our Equestria.”

“That's right,” Twilight said. “You mentioned your sister last time, and even showed a hologram...and Dark laughed like crazy when we saw that.” She ended, glaring at me.

“Hey,” I said. “You guys looked hilarious when that happened. And it's still funny seeing you so shocked.”

“It's… nice to meet you three.” Alex said, having calmed down. “I'm sorry, I just… have a short fuse on me when someone insults me or makes fun of my costume. I didn't ask to dress like that you know!”

I looked to her. “I wasn't trying to insult you or your character. I was curious, considering the girls’ reaction to seeing you, I wanted to know if it's a regular thing.”

“No, thankfully.” She said, “I'm mostly helping our Twilight with ruling Equestria. It's not easy for her…”

“Speaking of which, how have things been going with you, Dark? It's… been awhile.” Sebastian said.

“Yeah,” I said, shaking my head. “It’s been weird. Met Lyra and Bon Bon, as well as Trixie, swung around Manehatten, beat up a few ponies trying to rape Lightning Dust, found Cece and stopped her from giving Rainbow a concussion, met Coco Pommel, went to Canterlot, and met the Royal Sisters, as well as Discord. What have you guys been doing the last month?”

Sebastian sighed, “Seb and I got yanked into a new War… just as we were heading back to our Equestria… and other than preparing for the negotiations with Ahriman, not much.”

“Wow. And I thought my time was crazy. I don't know how much of that I can deal with before losing it.”

Sebaste chuckled, but it was an empty one. “Trust me, some things you should be glad you're not involved in…” he said. “Unlike me and Sasha, we’re just soldiers, back when we got Displaced, we were cocky, too cocky… and it took Ahriman and his allies to bring us down to earth… While we may be involved in two different wars, one to defend another universe, the other… just a feud between two factions, we never lost sight of what we had sworn to do, protect those that need it.” He said, his voice sounding much older than he was.

“Well...” Cece said. “That's depressing.”

Sebaste shook his head to clear it. “Sorry, my mind was wandering. So, Hearth's Warming, eh?” He said, clapping his hands.

“Oh right,” Twilight said. “Today's Hearth’s Warming Eve and we're going to have all of Ponyville here in the castle for a party later.”

“If anything, it’s like Christmas back on Earth.” Sebaste said. “And I know a few good tunes for this!”

When the other two looked confused, Twilight nodded. “Dark told me about Christmas a while ago, and they seem very similar.”

Alex gave a small smile, “In a way, it’s true. They both have carolling and decorating trees. Although with humans, we usually open our presents on Christmas Eve.” She chuckled.

Cece looked at Alex. “That was the tradition we had back home. Me and Tito always open a present each at midnight on Christmas Eve with….our…” she looked away and put up her hood. “Hey, I'll check to make sure everything’s ready.” With that, she ran away before any of us could stop her.

“This… is another reason why being a Displaced can be such a burden…” Sebaste groaned, “...it tears families apart…”

“I’ll go after her.” Alex said before her gauntlet glowed and she teleported out after Cece.

““Wait.” I said, but she was gone . “Well, now I'll have to find them.”

“Erm, what should Seb and I do?” Sebastian asked.

“You can help out with decorations, but make sure nopony finds out you're humans. That's not something we need right now.” I put on my hood and scarf and ran off, looking for Cece and Alex.

“Why do I get the feeling he just jinxed us?” The Spartan asked, deadpanning. Sebastian shrugged.

(Third Person POV, Main Entrance)

Cece was sitting by the wall, memories of the parties she had back home, running through her head. “Why did this happen?” She asked herself. “I didn't want to be pulled from home and turn into...this.”

“A lot of us wish this…” Alex’s voice said from behind her, causing her to spin around to see the Ivy Displaced walking towards her. “But then again, we didn't know what we were about to go up against when we buy those things from the Merchant…”

“Tell me about it. By the way, you should find a way to cover your face.Tito doesn't want anypony to find out about humans. Not yet at least.”

The air around Alex’s head shimmered before a scarf and hood appeared on her head, covering all but her eyes and nose. A heavy winter coat also appeared on her body as her dress was too light for the freezing temperatures outside.

“You’re… not the only one who misses their family. While I'm happy to be with Sebaste, I miss my mom and dad.” Alex said, her voice shaking. “I would stop at nothing to see them again…”

“Just my mom I miss. Never was close to dad. But yeah, I hear ya. And the worst part is Tito doesn't seem to care that we're stuck here.”

“Did he have a hard time before the both of you were Displaced?” Alex asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Meaning, was he bullied or something back on Earth? Because if he was, that may explain why.” She said

“Oh you have no idea. He practically shut himself out of the world because of it.”

“Then that's probably why Tito is a lot more happier here. He doesn't have to deal with bullies.” Alex said, putting a hand on Cece’s shoulder. “I’d feel the same way if I was in his shoes…”

“I...guess you're right…”

“That's pretty much spot on.” A voice came from above. The two looked up and saw Dark on the ceiling.”Hi guys.”

Alex chuckled, “Seb was right about you being a wallcrawler.” She said.

Dark shrugged. “I did base my costume off of Spider-Man.”

“So I heard that your first encounter with my brother and Sasha came as quite the surprise for you.” Alex said as she looked up at Dark.

Dark jumped off the wall and landed in front of them. “You have no idea. But it was nice meeting them. Heck, your brother helped out on one thing.”

“What was it?” She asked, her eyes sparking with curiosity.

“Well, if it wasn't for him, me and Rainbow might still be at each other's throats.”

Alex smiled at that, “He… never really liked seeing others get bullied. I'm glad Seb was able to help both you and Rainbow solve your problem.” She said. “He mentioned that she was your favorite character.”

Dark rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. “Yeah...please don't say that out loud. Don't want Rainbow’s ego to grow even more than it already is.”

Alex giggled. “Don't worry, I won't.” She said. “From what my brother and Sasha showed me of their recordings of our world's Rainbow Dash, she definitely doesn't need a bigger ego.”

Dark nodded and said, “Well, I came here to let you know to cover your face so nopony knows about the whole “you being human” thing, but I see you got that done with, so I'll be off.” He turned around and took a step forward. “Oh, and Cece, don't think I falling for that stupid game of yours.” With that, he swung off.

Cece just turned away and muttered with a smirk, “We'll see, Tito. We'll see.”

A while later, there was a tremendous crash from inside the castle, followed by both Sebaste and Sebastian swearing up a storm. “Oh no… now what?” Alex muttered with a sigh.

“You go check it out,” Cece said. “I have to...get a few things first.” She then ran off.

Alex teleported over to where the racket was, only to find that a tree that Sebaste and Sebastian had been decorating had had fallen on top of the two. Sebastian had managed to jump clear but Sebaste was now trapped under it. Seeing this, Alex couldn't help but laugh at their predicament.

“Little help here?” Sebaste asked in annoyance. “I can't exactly lift this thing myself!”

Dark then walked in. “Okay, what was that...noise…..what happened here?”

“Apparently wearing armor while decorating a tree was not a good idea…” Sebaste groaned, “Long story short, tree go boom…” This sent Alex into hysterics, she fell to the ground laughing.

Dark just sighed. “Need help?”

“Yeah…” Sebaste said. Sebastian walked to one end of the tree and readied himself to lift while Dark jumped to the ceiling and webbed up the other end.

“On 3… 1…. 2….3!” Sebastian said, before heaving on his end. Dark pulled his end and they easily lifted the tree up.

Sebaste scrambled out and backed away from the tree. With a grunt, Sebastian dropped his end.

“Well, that ended up as a “tree”mendous fail….” Sebaste said.

“That joke was bad and you should feel bad,” Dark said, dropping his end and jumping back down and landing in front of the others.

Sebaste chuckled, “I’ll “leaf” the jokes alone for now. For now I’d better “stick” with decorating…”

Dark opened his mouth, but closed it and looked around. “Um, Alex? Where's Cece?”

“She said she had to get some stuff…” she said, then asked, “why?”

“Damn it. Bet she's already starting…”

“What is it that she has planned that has you so… Oh bugger me with a plasma pistol…. Don't tell me, mistletoe?” Sebaste asked with a deadpan look under his helmet

Dark blinked a few times. “Wow. First guess. But yeah. She tries to get me under the mistletoe with a girl. Been doing that for 4 years now, since I turned thirteen. Sees it like a game.”

Sebaste chuckled and took his helmet off, “Younger sisters do seem to so that.” He said, getting a glare from Alex. “You’d better be careful. She might get you when you least expect it.”

Dark shrugged. “True. She's a lot more agile now. But I haven't lost to her yet.” Dark then smirked. “Besides,I got one thing now that I never had before that'll help me.”

“Dude, you just activated Murphy's law with that last statement. Even if you manage to sense her with your spider sense, she’ll still catch you unawares.” Sebaste said.

“How so?”

“You’ll find out on your own time. In the meantime, we need to get the rest of these decorations up before the other ponies arrive.”

Dark shrugged. “Sure. Where to?”

“Last place is the castle entrance. I’ll use this to get to the high places.” Sebaste replied before a Halo Reach style jetpack appeared on his back. Two jet nozzles unfolded like wings before the jetpack was activated and Sebaste rose up.

“Cooool.”

“Too bad they didn't have this in Halo 3, would have made dealing with those drones a lot easier…”…” He said as he landed, the jets retracting back into their slots. “But anyways, let's get these last decorations up.”

““Yeah...I have no idea what you're talking about. Only played Halo Reach and that was years ago.”

Sebaste shrugged before grabbing the box of decorations and heading to the castle entrance. “I’ve also played Reach, actually managed to pull a triple headshot in one go on there once.” He said

Dark nodded and followed Sebaste. The others followed the two, Alex having recovered from her laughing fit.

“Hey, can I ask you guys something?”

“Sure, what do you need to know?” Sebastian replied.

“You said you can be Displaced as anything, as long as you buy something from the Merchant and wearing a costume of it, right? And you met a few Displaced?”

“That is true, but there are… other ways of being Displaced. There are beings called Displacers who can displace others at will. One displacer we met was also a literal god called a Void Dweller.” Sebaste said, his eyes darkening under his helmet. “They live in the Void, and they are capable of taking out anything that ticks them off.”

“Soooo, gods, cartoon ponies (in some dimensions humanoid ponies), wars and random people becoming fictional characters. Is that everything?”

“Pretty much. But not everywhere is war-torn, you get some universes that are really nice. Like those two Team Rocket Displaced I mentioned the first time, their world is a Pokémon filled place.”

“Really? Hmm. Always wanted a Pokemon, but I never liked Team Rocket. Always made me want to punch something whenever they were on unless they were actually doing good.”

“These two aren't like the cartoon characters, Jesse actually has an adopted daughter. Ever heard of Screwball?” Sebaste asked

Dark’s eyes widen in shock. “Screwball? As in,” he looked around and whispered, “daughter of Discord, chaos magic-using pony, Screwball?”

Sebaste chuckled, “Bingo, she summoned us to try and get her dad away from Luna and Celestia. Unfortunately, that didn't work in her favor and Discord got put back from where Screwy had removed him. As for the little troublemaker herself, she got sent back to her mom.”

“Jessie? Or someone else?”

“Jessie. Her brother helps Applejack in the orchard.”

“Okay...hey, here's an idea. Let's NOT tell anyone, especially Fluttershy, about Screwball and her relationship with Discord. That'll be a weird conversation. And I DON’T want to talk about the other versions of Screwball I've heard of. Agreed?”

“Okay, no need to get your mask in a twist…”

“My mask isn't twisted. See?” He pulled his mask out of one of the pockets of his cloak.

“Figure of speech… seriously, you sure you're not Draxx in disguise?” Sebaste asked, a grin hidden under his helmet.

“Do I LOOK like a shirtless green buff alien dude with red tattoos to you?”

“No, but the way that went over your head made me think of him.”

“Kay...hey, speaking of Displaced you met, how about you tell me about that Deadpool one? Deadpool’s my second favorite Marvel character, and you can tell who's the first.”

“Oh god… the guy was… exactly like the comics described him, a merc with a mouth and an all round 4th Wall breaker.” Sebastian answered, a deadpan expression on his face

“Um, we're talking about the one from the main comics, or the one from Deadpool Kills The Marvel Universe? Wait, what fourth wall could there be now?”

“You know how Pinkie makes references to things that other ponies would find ridiculous or how she pulls stuff out of her mane? That's 4th wall in action.”

“First off, I believe that mane is her hammer space. Cece has one now too. And yeah I know about that, but that was in the SHOW. How will that make sense here?

“Well… Deadpool literally puts her shenanigans to shame, when he showed up he was in a Buzz Lightyear suit. And… well, you wouldn't believe it but another Astartes suddenly appeared, claiming that we were characters from a story and that he was the author of that story. That day was… wacky to say the least…”

Dark snickered. “Yup. Sounds just like the Merc. I wonder how...never mind. But, I have a question. Have you met any Five Nights Displaced?”

“Thankfully no, but…” Sebastian paused, obviously remembering something he didn't want to remember. “During the War of Shadows, we ended up encountering a Freddy on the enemy side…”

Dark paled and went silent at that.

“Thankfully it was only that one time…” Sebastian said before they arrived at the castle entrance. “But it's not something I like remembering…”

Dark put his cover on. “Okay, now what?”

“I’ll get the high spots, Sasha and Alex can help string the garlands over the windows, would you mind adding the ornaments on them after they finish with that?” Sebaste replied as he prepared to activate his jetpack.

“Sure. Guess I'll just stick to the wall until then.”

“Hey, if you want, you can web swing stuff to me, I can't exactly carry a box and jetpack at the same time.” The Spartan chuckled. He then asked, “So what's been going on with you? You never told me how you and Cece found each other.”

Dark jumped to a wall and after sticking his back to it, turned to them. “Funny story. You know the episode Saddle Row Review?”

“ Yeah, but I never really got around to watching it, mostly stuck to fanfics.” Sebaste said as he attached a star to the ceiling.

“Well, that happened, and I tagged along with them to Manehatten. While they were getting the shop ready, I was swinging around the city all day, and, like I said before, met/saved Lightning Dust. The next day, after we got back to Ponyville, we had a certain visitor…”

“Coco Pommel and your sister was with her?” Sebaste guessed.

“Okay, it's obvious about Cece, but how'd you know about Coco?”

“Dude, since Coco is pretty much Rarity's student, it'd make sense for her to visit sometimes.”

“That doesn't explain how you knew she was with Cece.”

“It was a lucky guess! Besides, Cece couldn't have been staying on the streets the whole time she was out there.”

“Yeah...anyway, I was reading a little bit of a Daring Do book when I heard crashing. When I got to the throne room, I saw Applejack unconscious, and my sister standing over Rainbow, ready to hit her with her hammer. So, I used one of her weak points to stop her and help Rainbow. After that, we talked about our time separated and then went to Canterlot to meet Celestia and Luna.”

“Speaking of which, how are things between you and Rainbow? I noticed that you two managed to make your peace at the party.”

“Much better, thanks to you. Though, Cece still seems surprised that I'm friends with her. Or anypony for that matter.”

“Huh… well considering that you two were at each other's throats, I'm not surprised it came as a shock for the others.”

“First off, the only ones who know about that are you, me, the Mane 6, Spike, and Starlight. I never told Cece about it. Second, I mean she's surprised I'm friends with anypony.”

“Ah. Well, I'm glad to hear that things are better between you two.” Sebaste chuckled, “Remember when I scared Rainbow with that Hologram?”

“Still mad at you about that,” came a voice. Turning to the door, Dark saw Rainbow hovering.

“Erm… eh heh…” Sebaste chuckled nervously. “It was just a prank…”

“Yeah, and I'm gonna get you back for it.”

(First Person POV, Dark)

I shook my head. “Let's worry about that later.” I turned to Sebaste. “Did Twilight ever say when's the party?”

“She had said that it would start in five hours.” He replied.

“And how long ago was that?”

“Three hours ago.” Sebaste used his jetpack to land on a ledge and sit on it. The jet nozzles then folded back into the pack. “So we have at least an hour before the town arrives.”

“So what now?” Said someone. Turning around, I saw it was Cece, and when she saw me, she had a huge smirk on her face.

“Okay, someone tell me that smile doesn't say devious right there.” Sebaste chuckled nervously.

“What? I'm just happy to see my brother right now.”

“Right, and I'm Spartan Palmer.” Sebaste said sarcastically. “I know the look of a prankster when I see it.”

Cece chuckled. “If you were a spartan, you'd be running around in nothing your underwear and a cape with a spear, kicking people into pits.”

That got me to go crazy in laughter, almost falling off.

“...” Sebaste was silent for a while, then he spoke, “I have one thing to say to that.”

His voice then came from behind her. “Boo.”

“AAAAAAHHHH!!!!!” Cece screamed, then she pulled her hammer out and slammed it behind her, crushing the hologram.

“Glad that wasn't me there!” Sebaste chuckled before the Hologram fizzled out.

Cece looked between where the hologram was and Sebaste, shocked. “But...how...who...WHAT?!”

“Hologram, perfect for multitasking or pranking someone.” Sebaste replied, barely containing his laughter.

Cece turned to Sebaste with fire in her eyes. “You wanna try and scare me? Well, you succeeded, but now I'm mad. And I'll show you what happens when I'm mad.” She picked up her hammer and ran at Sebaste.

Sebaste leapt to the side and said, “Olé!” as she ran past.

Cece growled and leapt towards him, hammer raised. “Get back here.” Only to bounce off an energy shield that sprung up in front of Sebaste.

“Sheesh, for a hedgehog, you have a short temper!” He said.

“You know,” I said, watching Cece chase Sebaste, trying to smash him, “she's actually a lot calmer than she used to be. This is tame compared to how she was a few years ago.

“Really?” Sebaste grunted as he dodged another swing. After dodging a few more swings, he then summoned a Gravity Hammer and smashed the floor, sending a shockwave out and causing Cece to be sent flying backwards. “Enough is enough. Either calm down or I bring down my own version of the hammer!” He growled, hefting his weapon, energy crackling around the head of the hammer.

Cece got up and looked like she was gonna lunge at him again, but I decided to put a stop to this and put my hand to her weak spot, causing her to fall down to one knee. “He's right Cece. Stop this before you cause a mess. Or worse, get yourself hurt.” With that, I removed my hand and she got up and reluctantly put away her hammer, glaring at Sebaste.

Sebaste's weapon then vanished from his hand as he got out of his combat stance.

“What was that all about again?”

“All I did was have a hologram pop up behind her and she goes nuts!”

“The only time I like being scared is Halloween.” Cece said.

“And watching those stupid Resident Evil movies,” I muttered under my breath.

“I'm sorry.” Sebaste said, taking his helmet off while giving Cece a smile akin to a teasing one. “But you did kinda ask for that when you said that to me. But it wasn't to scare you senseless, just in fun.”

“Don't blame her. She saw a parody of that movie 300 and always sees Spartans as that. Trust me, there's a few more things she could've said that might make you very mad.”

Sebaste chuckled, “Believe me, I'm not as quick to anger as Alex or Sasha. But if someone were to threaten them or anyone I’m protecting, that's when you don't mess with me. I mostly stay out of fights, which is why I only brought out the Gravity Hammer at that last second.”

“Well that makes sense, but don't you have that active camo thing? Could've used that.”

“I only use that when I'm scouting or moving to a sniper spot.” Sebaste replied. “Other than that, I just stick with my Hologram ability or any of the other non active camo abilities.”

“Okay. Now before anyone gets even more confused about what we're talking about, I have a question.”

“Yes?” Sebaste asked.

“Now what? It looks like we're done with most of the decorating.And the rest? Well everyone else will take care of that.”

“Well, it’s been five hours now… Oh crap…” Sebaste swore, jamming his helmet back. “I need to run to Pinkie, I have to get the music ready!” He then ran towards the throne room, the thrusters on the back of his suit flaring.

“Wait, Cece chased him for 2 hours?”

“Seems like it…” Alex said, shaking her head. “Time sometimes speeds up for him, but it's actually been 50 minutes.”

“Good. Now, Cece, what were you-,” I turned and noticed she was gone. “Great. Now she's somewhere in this whole place unsupervised. *sigh* I just hope she doesn't mess with anything.”

Sebastian then looked up at Rainbow, “Was there something that you needed to tell us or were you just hanging out?” He asked.

Rainbow shrugged. “I thought I'd come here before the party and have some cider.”

“Little early to get drunk, isn’t it?” The Astartes chuckled.

“What?”

“Um, Sasha?” I whispered. “Hard cider isn't a thing here. I don't even know if alcohol is.”

“Oops…, Nevermind then.” Sebastian said, rubbing the back of his helmet in embarrassment. “I thought you were drinking a type of cider that exists in our Equestria…”

Rainbow looked at him confused. “Uh...okay?” She shook her head. “Anyway, see you guys at the party.” And with that, she flew off to God knows where.

“You too!” Sebastian called out to her.

Alex chuckled. “She's definitely nicer than some of the other Rainbows I’ve met.” She said.

“Yeah” I said. “Though, I could only imagine how you'd react to her before she talked to your brother. You would've had a pegasus that was extremely quick to anger. Oh, and hated my guts.”

Alex raised an eyebrow. “Mmhmm… Sounds like how a lot of others encountered their Rainbow Dash. She usually attacked without asking first.”

“After seeing someone save Applebloom and Scootaloo from a pack of Timberwolves?”

Alex winced. “Okay, maybe not every Displaced encountered her like that…” she amended.

“Yeah. Now, I'll ask again: What do we do before the party?”

“May as well head for the Throne room and wait for the guests…” Sebastian said.

I shrugged. “Sure.”

The three of us then headed over, Sebastian leading the way. “So… Besides the webs, what else do you use?” Alex asked, her eyes curious.

“What do you know about Spider-Man?”

“I know that he mostly used webs, but he also used some S.H.I.E.L.D tech like a bike made especially for him, he even went through several different dimensions, including one where… he was dead.”

“Did you get that from the Ultimate Spider-Man TV show?”

“Yes, and I’ve read the Death of Spider-Man comics and what follows after.”

“Death of what now?”

“That universe that Spider-man went through and ended up meeting a red and black Spider-Man? The Peter Parker there… sacrificed himself to stop the Goblin and four other villains. And he was dying of a bullet wound.”

“You mean the Miles Morales dimension?”

Alex nodded. “The comics called it “The Death of Spider-Man”.”

“Did not know that. Then again, I don't know much about Miles’ dimension beside being a new Spider-Man, and he has camouflage. Anyway, I have all of Spidey’s powers. The original, not Miles. Also, organic webs, like in the movies. I think that's all my powers.”

“Anything else? I remember hearing that some of the Spider-men used weapons, like Spider-Man 2099, he had claws and spines on his arms.”

“Those spines are just the costume. As for weapons, I just have a sword.”

“Kinda like that medieval Spider-Man.”

I nodded. “Spider-Knight. I like that show. But yeah, I got a sword. Bought it from the Merchant, along with my mask.”

“I also got my Snake sword from the Merchant, same with the gauntlet…” Alex fell silent. By that time we had arrived at the throne room doors. Sebastian opened the doors, and was instantly greeted by a blast from Pinkie's party cannon.

“... Really?” Sebastian said. From inside, we could hear Sebaste trying not to laugh.

“Huh. Got hit with the party cannon twice now. You guys need to be more prepared for stuff like that.”

“Believe me, that's nothing compared to getting stabbed by a lightsaber or getting disintegrated by a Void Dweller.” Sebastian said. “And that was Sebaste who got hit by the party cannon first.”

“I thought you got hit too. She shot everywhere.”

“Nope, I was in the far corner of the room at the time.” Sebastian said. “I know enough to stay outta range of her Party cannon, just wasn't expecting to get blasted this time.”

“Huh.”

Alex had her hand over her mouth, obviously holding in her own laughter at Sebastian’s predicament. “L...Let’s go inside.” She snickered. “N...No use standing around.”

“Aye.”

The three of us then entered to see the Throne room in all of its Hearth's Warming Eve glory. Alex had an amazed look on her face, and while I couldn't see Sebastian's face, I had a feeling he had the same look.

“Wow. Nice job.”

“I agree…” Sebastian said with a chuckle.

“Thanks,” a certain high pitched voice said behind me. Turning around, I saw everyone's favorite party pony. “It was a little difficult getting the decorations on the chandelier, but Sebaste helped with that.”

“Eh, it was no biggie.” Sebaste said. “Happy to help.”

“Well,” I started, “seeing all this Christmas-like stuff makes me regret not asking Rarity to make me a red and green suit.”

“But don't act like Buddy.” Sebaste joked.

“Um...details?”

Sebaste then facepalmed. “Seriously? You’ve never seen Elf with Will Ferrell in it?

“Oh right. Sorry, but with all the stuff I've watched, there's a lot of people with the same name. But yeah, I loved Elf. Will Ferrell is hilarious.”

“Agreed.”

“Hey Sebaste? Did you see Cece anywhere? She vanished after you left.”

“No, I haven't.” The Spartan replied, frowning. “But… I did pick up something or someone a few times on my HUD on my way here…”

I sighed. “Hey, does that assault rifle actually work?”

Sebaste chuckled, “Yep, same with the Chainsword.”

“Okay...how can I get more ammo?”

“You didn't see the Infinity sign on the ammo count?” He asked

“I haven't looked at the ammo counter. No reason to. So you mind if I shoot a few things tonight?”

“Sure, mind if Sasha and I join? We could use the practice.”

“Um...what are YOU gonna shoot?”

“I’ll set up a few Holograms of either Elites or Brutes.”

“Okay...make sure that's away from the party. Don't want to cause a panic, seeing someone shoot more people.”

“Don’t worry, that was our plan anyways. I usually take precautions when doing target practice.”

“Good.” Then I muttered, “Gonna have enough trouble trying to hiding a gun in public, don't need more risks.”

“What were you planning on shooting?” Sebastian asked.

I looked away. “Oh nothing special. Just a few...plants.”

Sebaste heard the hesitation in my voice and said, “Dark, whatever you do… don't do something rash.”

“What do you mean?”

“You hesitated when you answered, and you looked away before you said anything. That means you have something else that you plan on shooting.”

I turned to them. “I'm not going to hurt anyone. All I want to shoot right now are a bunch of certain plants. That's it. At least for tonight.”

“Alright. I’m just warning you, just don't plan on doing anything rash with these weapons. They're meant for those that would fight to protect those that need it.” Sebaste said.

“Um, Sebaste, can I ask you something? In private?”

Sebaste frowned before nodding.

We walked out the throne and closed the door and I turned to him. “Okay, stupid question, but you don't mind if I shoot a bunch of mistletoe, do you?”

Sebaste looked at me before he started to laugh. “That's what you're taking out? Mistletoe?” He asked. “Trying to foil your sister?”

“No. Webbing her to a wall while she's trying to hang one up is foiling her. Shooting mistletoe is just a backup.”

“Now, personally, I'd say the Assault rifle was overkill for taking down Mistletoe, but if you want to, that's fine.”

“Kay. Though, don't tell anyone please. This'll seem stupid to everyone. ESPECIALLY not the girls. Knowing a few of them, they might help Cece.”

“My lips are sealed like the hull of a Battleship.” Sebaste said.

“And now I can't help but think of that board game. And now the pony version from Read It and Weep.”

Sebaste snickered. “I’ve seen the movie based off that game. Was really good, though other people didn't really like it.”

“Never saw it, though it looked like something from Michael Bay from the commercials.”

“Let's get back to the others, I think the party is about to start, and as for Battleship, it was actually done by a different producer, not Michael Bay.”

“Kay…” With that, we went back inside and saw Pinkie on the chandelier, humming to herself.

“How… how in the name of Bugs Bunny did Pinkie get on the chandelier?!” Sebaste asked, a deadpan look on his face.

“She was up there when I first got here. One second I'm alone, the next, there's a pink pony right up in my face. As for your question, in the words of JoshScorcher: It's Pinkie Pie. Don't question it.”

“Right…” Sebaste said.

I just sat by the wall, put on my headphones, and played “All I Want For Christmas Is You” from Big Time Rush.

Sebaste walked over to the DJ station and plugged his iPod in after selecting a single song. “Ever heard of the Bell song?” He called over to me.

I took out a headphone and looked at him. “Huh?”

“Ever heard of the Christmas bell song? Not Silver bells by Bing Crosby”

“Um, no. But I know Jingle Bells. That's my favorite Christmas song.”

“Huh… Well, take a listen to this.” He said before turning on the song.

“Nice.”

“It's done by a group called the Trans Siberian Orchestra, and this is actually my favorite Christmas song.”

“It sounds great,” Pinkie said, suddenly behind Sebaste.

Sebaste yelped and jumped, accidentally activating his thrusters at the same time. He smashed into the ceiling and crashed onto the floor, groaning.

I laughed so hard, I was rolling on the floor. “I guess that's karma for scaring Rainbow last time you were here. HA!”

Pinkie leaned over Sebaste. “Sebaste? You okay?”

“Uuuugh, anyone get the ID of that Pelican?” He groaned as he started to get up. “Yeah, I'm fine Pinkie, just a bit stunned from smacking into the ceiling.” He then winced as he stood up, falling back down onto one knee. “Or maybe not… feels like I sprained something as I landed…”

Pinkie looked at him confused. “Pelicans have ID?”

“It's a human thing…”

I sat up. “I'm with Pinkie, what are you talking about?”

“I was talking about the vehicle from the Halo series. The UNSC Pelican transport?”

“Ooooh, Halo vehicle. Sorry, but the only ones I know are the Banshee, and Warthog. And I only remember that last one because of what I DID see of Red vs Blue.”

Sebaste rolled his eyes, before limping to a nearby chair and sitting down in it just as the rest of the Mane 6 came in.

Applejack was the first to notice us. “Sebaste? Sasha? What are you doing here?” Then she saw Alex. “And who’re you?”

“Dark invited us over for the Hearth's Warming party.” Sebaste replied, stifling a groan of pain.

Alex stepped forward, removing the winter clothes she was wearing and revealing her dress. “I'm Alexandra, Sebaste's sister. But you can call me Alex.” She said to Applejack. “It's nice to meet you Applejack.”

“Uh...nice to meet you too. Wait, Sebaste's sister? Didn't he mention a sister last ti-” at that moment she immediately stopped and blushed lightly. “Oh. Now I remember.”

Alex gave a small glare at Sebaste. He immediately recognized it as her You and I are gonna be having a little chat after this look. “Yes… I'm the Ivy Displaced.” She showed her gauntleted hand and brought out her sword in one fluid motion. With a flick of her wrist, the blade separated into its whip form. She then retracted the blade and sheathed it.

Fluttershy hid behind Rainbow before they all sat down on their respective thrones. I web zipped to the underside of the chandelier and looked down at everyone. “So what do we do now?”

“Well the castle is all decorated, so all that's left is to wait for the guests to arrive.” Sebaste said, grunting in pain as he moved his injured leg to a more comfortable position.

Twilight nodded before she immediately turned to Sebaste. “Sebaste, are you okay?”

“Yeah, just had a bit of an accident a few minutes ago. Leg's either sprained or broken…” he replied.

“What happened?” Rainbow asked.

“Got surprised by Pinkie and ended up slamming into the ceiling.” He said, “Must’ve activated my thrusters by accident…”

“You did,” I said, lowering myself upside down with my web.

“But yeah… that's pretty much what happened. So I hope you don't mind the Spartan sized dents on both the ceiling and floor…” He chuckled, before wincing.

They looked around and noticed what he was talking about. “Will you be okay?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah, just won't be able to walk around as much.” Sebaste said. Alex was observing in the corner of the room. She then walked up to him and pointed her hand at his leg. Both her hand and his leg began to glow before he yelled in pain. The glow then faded and Sebaste sighed in relief.

“Um,” Applejack started, “ what happened?”

“Healing spell.” Alex replied as Sebaste gingerly put weight on his leg before standing. “Something the Twilight in our Equestria showed me. Along with a few other things.”

“Oh boy…” I muttered.

Twilight immediately teleported in front of Alex with an excited look in her eyes. “Can you please please PLEASE teach me that spell? Celestia knows it could come in handy.”

Alex backed away in surprise and shock, instinctively drawing her weapon. “Please… don't do that.” She asked, re-sheathing her sword. “Yes, I can teach you, but next time you get excited, please don't teleport in front of who you ask. The next person might think you’re a threat and act accordingly.”

Twilight’s ears fell back and she rubbed her neck and blushed in embarrassment. “Sorry.”

Alex giggled, “Don't worry, I’ve had that happen with the Twilight back in our Equestria. When she’s teaching me new spells, she can get really excited. But this is only when she's not holding court.” She said. “I’ll show you after the party if that's okay.”

“Thanks.”

“I'll be right back, gotta get something,” I said before web swinging out.

(Third Person POV, Throne room)

Twilight looked at the door, confused. “Where could he be going? And what can he be getting?”

Sebastian shrugged from his position. “Dunno, probably some small errand.” He said.

“Probably…”

“Hey AJ,” Rainbow said, looking at the earth pony. “Bringing anymore cider later?”

Applejack chuckled. “Yes Rainbow. The rest of the family will be bringing more cider later, as well as some presents.”

Remembering the beginning of a certain Hearth's Warming Eve episode, Sebaste quietly snickered.

Rainbow turned to Sebaste, confused. “What's so funny?”

“Just remembering something funny from back on Earth.” Sebaste replied.

“Ooo,” Pinkie said. “Tell me what it is.”

Thinking fast, Sebaste said, “There was a TV series called AFV, or America's Funniest Home Videos, where recorded videos were submitted and shown on live TV. I thought the show was hilarious! There were so many fails and goofups on that show…”

“I prefer Ridiculousness to be honest,” someone said. Turning to the door, everyone saw Dark with his sword on his back and his cover off. “One good thing about visiting my dad is discovering that show.”

“Heh, I’ve seen a few Bob Saget episodes on YouTube, the sound effects kept me laughing so hard.” Sebastian chuckled from where he was. “Those were good times.”

Dark nodded and web zipped to the chandelier and just sat on it, watching some videos on his phone.

“So besides Dark, how have things been going with you six?” Sebaste asked.

“Great!” Rainbow said. “You'll never guess what happened to me last week.”

“You did a double sonic rainboom?” Sebaste joked.

They all looked at him confused. “A what?”

“Don't even tell them,” Dark yelled. “That was the dumbest version of Rainbow I've seen. I don't blame JoshScorcher for hating it.”

“I was kidding! Sheesh….” Sebaste muttered, while Sebastian and Alex both barely managed to hold a straight face. “I'm guessing you became a Wonderbolt?”

“Okay, how did you know that?” Rainbow asked, before looking at the chandelier. “And I'll find out what this double Rainboom is about, Dark.” He just rolled his eyes and watched Death Battle: Master Chief vs Doomguy.

“It's not hard to guess, you’ve been waiting to be inducted into the Wonderbolts for a while now and by the sound of how excited you were, your dream had come true.” Sebaste replied.

“Still took 6 seasons and over a hundred episodes for it to happen though,” Dark said. “Wait…” Dark looked down towards the other Displaced. “What was the latest episode you guys knew about/watched?”

“I believe it was “A Hearth’s Warming Tale”.” Sebastian said.

Twilight perked up hearing that. “Oh, I love that story. Wait, episode? You mean it's part of that whole show thing to do with us?”

“Yes…” Sebastian said, giving Dark a warning look not to spoil anything before sticking his helmet back on.

“I'll talk about it later Twi,” Dark said. “Right now, you got a party to host.” He then whispered so no one could hear. “ And a story to tell.”

Sebaste chuckled before activating the song “Luna's Future” by Aurelleah in his helmet. “Let's get this party started!” He said

“Wait, you know that song too?”

“Yeah. When I first heard it, I was floored by it.” Sebaste replied. “I never expected to hear Luna sing a solo… it… it was amazing.”

“Wait,” Rarity said. “Luna? As in Princess Luna?”

“No. I mean a completely different Luna.” Sebaste snarked before switching the music to the album “Hydra” by Within Temptation. “Of course I mean the Princess! There's only one Luna in Equestria!”

“Okay,” Dark said. “Quick question. Any of you girls seen Cece?”

They all shook their heads. “Why?” Applejack asked.

Sebaste then tapped his helmet in what seemed to be annoyance. “Either my helm’s glitching or I need to update it, I keep picking this single signature, and… wait, it’s outside the door!” He summoned an SMG and threw the door open, aiming his weapon at the same time.

“Whoa,” Cece said. “A little much, don't you think?”

Sebaste lowered his weapon. “You can't always be too careful. In my line of work, it’s better to be safe than sorry.” He said, making the gun disappear.

“Oh, you can do that too?”

“It's one of my powers. I'm able to summon any weapon or vehicle from the Halo universe. That's canon of course.”

Pinkie looked surprised. “You can summon a cannon too?”

“Canon, not cannon!” Sebaste said in exasperation.

Both Alex and Sebastian busted out laughing at that.

“That's what I said.”

Sebaste started to sputter, sending the other two into fresh gales of laughter. “Okay, anyone getting a Black Adder vibe here?” Sebaste asked, a deadpan look hidden under his helmet.

“A what?” Dark asked.

“Black Adder? Rowan Atkinson? Hugh Laurie? Stephen Fry?” The Spartan asked.

“...I'm drawing blanks here.”

“Ugh, never mind… Pinkie, I mean Canon, as in it exists in the game universe! I mean, yes, I can summon a cannon, but… you wouldn't really want to see what it's capable of.” Sebaste said.

“Oookay then,” Cece said. “Any reason you had your gun out? Only bad places I know of in this world is that forest around Ponyville and a few alleys in Manehatten.”

“Kept picking something up on my HUD, and I wasn't sure if it was a friendly or not.” Sebaste said. “Didn't know it was you.”

“Well who else would it be? Nopony else would be coming for another twenty minutes, and Spike and Starlight are getting a few things.”

“Cece, If you’ve been fighting in a bunch of wars, you’d be unsure of who would be hiding around the corner yourself.” Sebaste retorted.

She rolled her eyes and sat against the wall.

Sebaste sighed and turned on “Paradise (What About Us) (Feat. Tarja)” by Within Temptation in his helmet. “So… Where exactly did you end up when you arrived here Cece?”

“Well, I ended up in Manehatten, unconscious. Coco Pommel found me and brought me to her apartment. After I woke up, I found out I changed and got the rundown about this world. Then I spent two weeks looking for Tito, and found him here in Ponyville. And with friends.”

“Huh, that is interesting…” Sebaste said, “And all this time the both of you were just a train ride away from each other…”

“Yeah. Anyway, after that, we went to Canterlot and met with those other two princesses.”

“How did that go?” Alex asked.

She shrugged. “Ask Tito. Wait, where is he?” She said, looking around.

“Oh geez, he must already the party! We’d better get over there!” Sebaste said, before getting hit with a ball shaped object to the head. “Ow!”

“I'm still up here,” Dark said.

Sebaste glanced up, rubbing where the web ball had hit on his helmet. “Let's… just get to the party, besides, I don't think you’d want to miss what Alex has in store for it.”

“Yeah Tito,” Cece said with a barely concealed smirk. “I'm sure the party will be great.”

Sebaste rolled his eyes from under his helmet before he headed to the main hall.

“This might suck,” a voice suddenly said, besides Sebaste. Turning over, he noticed it was Dark, with his cover on.

“It might not…” the Spartan replied with a shrug. “Just don't think about what Cece has planned and everything will go okay for you.”

“Dude, if I put it in the back of my mind, she'll win. I know what you mean, but I can't FULLY be at ease until after she runs out. Or after the party. Whichever comes first.”

Sebaste quietly chuckled as they reached the main hall. The party was already in full swing and the Spartan could see Alex waiting by the DJ stand. Upon seeing the three, she jerked her head at Sebaste, who nodded. “I’ll be right back.” he said before walking over to Alex.

“You ready?” Sebaste asked his sister as he walked up to her. She nodded nervously before he activated his external speakers.

“If I may have everyone's attention?” He asked, causing the ponies to turn around and look at him and Alex in surprise and confusion.

“Um, what are they doing?” Twilight asked Dark.

Dark shrugged. “About to sing Slim Shady?”

“My name's Sebaste, and for your Hearth’s Warming entertainment, I would like to introduce my sister Alexandra, she will be singing an old holiday song that the both of us, along with a friend of mine like to listen to when this holiday rolls around.” The Spartan continued, looking at Alex, who was wearing a scarf over her face. “So without further ado, here is my sister with the song “Merry Xmas (War is Over)!”

Alex then stepped up to the microphone as Sebaste plugged in his iPod and started the song. She then lowered her scarf and began to sing, her voice almost crystal.

“So this is Xmas
And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
And so this is Xmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young

A very Merry Xmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

And so this is Xmas (war is over)
For weak and for strong (if you want it)
For rich and the poor ones (war is over)
The world is so wrong (if you want it)
And so happy Xmas (war is over)
For black and for white (if you want it)
For yellow and red ones (war is over)
Let's stop all the fight (now)

A very Merry Xmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

And so this is Xmas (war is over)
And what have we done (if you want it)
Another year over (war is over)
A new one just begun (if you want it)
And so happy Xmas (war is over)
We hope you have fun (if you want it)
The near and the dear one (war is over)
The old and the young (now)

A very Merry Xmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

War is over, if you want it
War is over now

Happy Xmas”

The song finished, and Alex then bowed before raising her scarf back over her face. After a few seconds of silence, there was a multitude of ponies clapping.

“Not bad,” Dark said, walking up to Alex.

“Thanks Dark.” She said. “That… that was the first time I've really sang in front of a bunch of ponies.”

“Well covering most of your face helps.”

Before she could reply, she was wrapped in a hug from Sebaste. “You did good. Mom and Dad would be proud of how far you've come.” He said, a smile hidden behind his helmet.

“Hey Sebaste, I just remembered something.”

“What is it?” He asked.

“How old are the Mane 6 in your dimension?”

“I don't know, I didn't bother asking, because if there's one thing you don't do, you don't ask a lady their age, at least in our dimension.” He replied.

“So you have no idea how old any of them are?”

“To quote Big Mac: “Nnnope”.”

“Huh. You know, I wonder how many Displaced actually knows the age of their Mane 6.”

“I honestly don't know, and why did you want to know?” Sebaste asked just as Sebastian walked over to them to congratulate Alex.

“I wanted to know if they were around the same age as the Mane 6 here, or older, though it's most likely the latter.”

“They're… the Mane 4 now, since Rainbow and Applejack are… you know.” Sebaste said, his voice pained.

“Oh. Right...sorry.” He said, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.

The Spartan sighed. “It's fine… I… I just really wish that damn war hadn't happened…”

Dark opened his mouth to say something, but stopped when he heard someone calling for him. Turning around, he saw Lyra and Bon Bon walking to them.

“Hey Dark,” Lyra said. “Who are your friends?”

“Spartan Sebaste-915, at your service.” Sebaste said, giving the two of the a bow, “and these two are my sister Alexandra and my friend Sebastian, or Sasha to his friends.”

“Spar-what?” Bon Bon said.

“Spartan, I'm an augmented super soldier in metal armor.” Sebaste replied.

“Well it's nice to meet you,” Lyra said, smiling at them.

“It's nice to meet you too Lyra.” Sebaste said, “Both you and Bon-Bon.” At that moment, a prismatic blur zipped by, clipping his helmet at the same time and knocking it off. “Ah crap!” The Spartan groaned before grabbing the helmet before it hit the floor.

“What was that?” Dark said, shocked.

“That was a certain pegasus running for the cider barrel.” Sebaste grumbled before looking up and freezing when he realized Lyra was still looking at him. Oh blast me with a Scorpion tank… he mentally swore. Alex and Sebastian looked at him in panic.

“Crap…” Dark muttered.

Lyra stared at Sebaste for a second, before falling back, fainting.

“Lyra!” Bon Bon yelled, catching her friend.

“Seb, put it back on NOW, before anypony else sees you!” Dark silently yelled.

Sebaste slammed his helmet back on, then activated his active camo. “If anyone asks, I’m at the corner near the door.” He whispered to Dark before heading to the spot.

“Dark…” Bon Bon said. “What's going on?”

Dark hesitated for a minute before sighing. “Find me after Lyra wakes up, then we'll explain.”

Both Alex and Sebastian quickly teleported to a different part of the room. “Throne damn it, that was too close!” Sebastian muttered.

“I… I thought Sebaste was gonna get caught…” Alex said, shivering.

“We’re just lucky she didn't connect us with being humans also…” the Astartes said.

“What are you guys talking about?” Cece said, walking to them.

“We… nearly got found out.” Alex said. “Rainbow knocked Sebaste's helmet off as she was going to get more cider. Unfortunately he was talking to Lyra at that moment and… well you know how she can get when humans are involved…”

“Lyra? You mean that green unicorn that Tito talks to once in awhile? What does she have to do with humans?”

“Apparently she's studied us here, so she knows more about us than any pony, even Twilight.”

“Despite the fact that Twilight met humans before, not counting us, and became one at least three times.” Dark said, landing in front of them.

“Wait, Twilight turned into a human? When?” Cece asked.

“I didn't tell you? Awe well. I'll tell you another time.”

“That was still too close for comfort…” Sebastian said.

“Aye. By the way, you mind helping me explain our situation to them?”

Alex sighed, “We may as well, since we're pretty much involved in this…” she said. She then shook her head. “Sometimes I just wish things would go better for us…” she muttered.

“Thanks.” Then a thought came to Dark's head and he chuckled. “I just had a crazy idea for you and your brother.”

“What exactly do you have in mind?” She asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Just thinking about you two singing a song about Halo later.”

“Unless there's a song that has a female singer, I'm afraid the only song is….” Her eyes widened as she realized what she was saying.

“If there wasn't a female singer, why would I want both you and Sebaste to sing it?”

“If it's the song I’m thinking of, then we may be able to pull it off…” She said. “Which song did you have in mind?” She then asked.

“Ever heard of “Angel By Your Side”?”

Sebastian winced under his helmet. “I’ve heard a bit of it, and… it's not really my thing.” He replied. “I'm more familiar with the song Breaking Benjamin did for the Halo 2 soundtrack, “Blow Me Away”.”

Dark shrugged. “It was just a random idea, but it won't go with the holidays, now that I think of it.”

Alex giggled. “True, besides, I think Twilight would get more than a little confused.”

“She'll be busy for a little while.”

Sebastian chuckled before he spotted Rainbow flying over to them.

“Hey guys,” Rainbow said, landing next to Dark. “What are you talking about?”

“We were talking about what happened a few minutes earlier.” Alex replied.

“What happened?”

“Lyra and Bon Bon saw Sebaste without his helmet,” Dark told her.

“WHAT?!” She yelled, causing a lot of ponies to turn to her. She lowered her head and whispered, “Why would he be walking around without his helmet?”

“Except he had his helmet on when you knocked it off in your rush to get more cider.” Sebastian responded. “Things went downhill after that.”

Rainbow’s ears folded back and she blushed. “Hehe, sorry. Didn't see you guys.”

Alex gave the pegasus a small smile. “It's fine, but now we have to explain who and what we are to Bon Bon and Lyra.” She said.

Sebastian then noticed something odd about the group. “Weren't there 4 Displaced in this group?” He asked.

Everyone looked around. “Where's Cece?” Dark asked. Then he saw a hint of red above him and remembered his sister’s plans. “Hey Rainbow, look over there,” He said, pointing in a random direction. While she was distracted, Dark jumped to the wall and tied Cece up in a cocoon. “No.” He whispered, crushing the mistletoe she was hanging over his head. Then he dropped down in front of the others. “Found her.” He said, dropping her webbed up body in front of him.

Alex took one look and started snickering. “Guess she got a bit tied up in the end…” she laughed.

“Um, Dark? Why did you tie her up?” Rainbow asked.

“I think she was doing a little “tradition” involving Dark.” Sebastian chuckled.

“Oh? What tradition?”

“Let's just say it's something that Cece is really passionate about,” Dark said, while his sister’s answer was blocked by the web attached to her mouth.

“Hey Dark, you may want to clear the cobwebs from Cece’s brain.” Sebaste’s voice said from right behind him and Rainbow, but he was nowhere to be seen.

Dark looked at Cece. “I don't think that's possible. Wait, when did you get here?”

There was a shimmer before Sebaste appeared out of thin air. “Just a few minutes ago.”

“So...you saw what just happened?”

Sebaste chuckled, “Couldn't really miss it.” He said.

Dark looked at Cece. “What should I do with her right now? I can't leave her like this, and I don't trust her to be alone.”

Sebaste shrugged helplessly. “I have no idea.”

Dark was about to say something, when Pinkie appeared behind Alex. “I can watch her.”

Alex jumped in shock before a magical discharge from her gauntlet missed Pinkie by inches, splattering on a nearby wall. “Sorry about that Pinkie…” she said.

“It's okay Alex. Oh, and Tito? Bon Bon wanted to talk to you about something on the library.”

Dark sighed. “Lyra must've woke up.”

“Which means we need to explain what and who we are?” Sebaste asked.

“Aye. Pinkie? You said you'll watch Cece?”

“Absolutely,” the pink pony said.

“Fine.” The webs vanished from Cece and Dark pushed her to Pinkie. “She's all yours, Pinkie.”

Pinkie smiled and hugged Cece. “Ooo, we're going to have so much fun together.”

Cece glared at Dark. “I'm going to get you for this,” she mouthed, before being dragged off by Pinkie.

Dark then turned to his fellow Displaced. “Well, time to explain this to two more ponies.”

The three nodded before all four headed to the library. “This… is gonna be difficult…” Sebastian muttered.

Soon…

Alex let out her breath as the doors of the library opened. “Here we go…” she muttered under her breath.

Dark walked in and saw Lyra and Bon Bon staring at them.

“So…” Bon Bon said, “what exactly happened earlier, and what are you?” She said, pointing to Sebaste.

Sebaste sighed and took his helmet off. “I’m called a human, as for what happened, Rainbow ended up knocking my helmet off in her haste to get more cider. That's why Lyra ended up fainting, she… saw me without my helmet on.” He said. “And I'm not the only one.” Both Alex and Sebastian revealed their faces.

Lyra stared at them in shock. “You're...all...humans?” She then smiled and hopped around the place. “I knew humans were real. I knew it. I knew it. I knew it.”

“At least she's not going crazy,” Dark whispered to Sebaste.

Sebaste chuckled. “The thing is.. We’re not exactly from this Equestria.” He said to Lyra.

“Wait, what do you mean by that? There's no other Equestria in the world. Is there?”

“Try a Multiverse.” He said, activating a hologram of the Displaced they had met over the years.

“A what?”

Dark stepped up. “Basically imagine an infinite number of worlds, all with different possibilities, like say, Nightmare Moon won, or everypony being quadrupeds. Or one where everypony is a human.”

Lyra beamed at the last one, but Bon Bon looked skeptical. “That can't be possible.”

“Unfortunately, it’s true.” Alex said. “And the three of us are from a different Equestria. One where… Celestia is… dead. Killed during a war that both my brother and Sasha fought in.”

Lyra looked shocked when she said that, but Bon Bon looked furious. She clenched her fist and glared at Alex. “And how do we know you're telling the truth and this isn't just another stupid prank on Lyra?”

Sebaste's eyes then grew hard before he activated a recording of the Equestrian Black Crusade, showing them the final battle on Equis against Ahriman and his forces, in particular, the death of both Celestia and Applejack at the hands of a Chaos Lord ally. “Does this satisfy you?” He asked, his voice steely.

Their eyes widen and Lyra’s eyes started to fill with tears. Bon Bon shook her head. “No. This HAS to be fake. No one can kill Princess Celestia.”

Alex’s gauntlet suddenly flared with magical energy, “Would a human be able to do this?” She asked, holding up her glowing hand. “And I’ve seen the footage myself, it is real.”

Bon Bon pointed at Alex’s gauntlet. “That just proves you're not humans. Humans don't have magic.”

The three Displaced glared at Bon Bon. “That's because we were changed against our wills into the characters we dressed up as!” Alex snapped, “We didn't ask to get sent to our Equestria!”

“Okay,” Dark said, stepping between Bon Bon and Alex. “Don't want to see a fight between you two. Besides, I don't want blood spilled, or bones broken.”

“What do you have to do with any of this Dark?” Bon Bon asked. “Did you pay these three to do this?”

“Pay?! Either you have rock candy for brains or you’re just too stubborn for your own good, he didn't pay us!” Alex shouted before turning and blasting a nearby table to smithereens in anger and frustration. Sebaste then walked up to Bon Bon.

“We didn't come from the human world that Twilight went to. We’re from a completely different universe, one where you are just a cartoon.” He said, his voice quiet, but nonetheless angry. “What we are now are characters from games we created, and somehow, a being with much more power than us sent us to the Equestria we now reside in, changing us into them in the process. We are Displaced, and we… are as far away from home as the earth is from the moon.”

“Much further than that,” Dark said.

“Wait,” Lyra said. “Twilight went to a human world? WHEN?!” She said, shaking Sebaste.

Sebaste shrugged her off. “It's none of your concern, besides, I doubt Bon Bon really believes me.” He snorted.

“Well you can't entirely blame her,” Dark whispered to Sebaste, before sitting on a table. “Oh, and Alex, you owe Twi a new table. I'm not taking the blame for that.”

With a wave of her gauntlet, the table was instantly repaired. “Look, I know this is hard to believe, but we are telling the truth.” She said. “We don't know why we have these powers, but we've been defending our Equestria for quite some time now.”

Bon Bon closed her eyes and pinched her nose. “Okay, let's pretend what you're saying is true. That doesn't answer my question on what does Dark have to do with any of this.”

“Because he’s one of us, A Displaced.” Sebastian spoke up. He had been toying with the same combat knife he had toyed with the first time he had been summoned to Dark's world.

“So what? You're saying Dark’s a human too? Ha. Sure he is,” she said sarcastically.

“Actually, I am,” Dark said.

“Really? Prove it.”

Dark shrugged and took off his cover, revealing his face to them. “Believe us now?”

“Wait,” Lyra said. “You were a human this whole time? Well, that would explain how you knew so much about humans. But why do you cover your face?”

“Well I didn't want to draw attention to myself. That, and I was told not to let too many ponies know about that.”

“We all have secrets, some more than others.” Sebaste said. “But not everything you find out… is safe. We may not be from here, but we know many things you would not believe.”

“Oh? Like what?” Lyra asked.

“That there are millions of Displaced out in the Multiverse, each with a different ability, and not one of them looks the same, but they are all human.” A Battle rifle appeared in his hands. “Us included. Our abilities allow us to summon any weapon, melee or ranged, along with any vehicle. But Sasha and I have a few extra abilities.” Sebastian then stepped forward, but as he did so, his body then shimmered before his armor then grew bigger and he hunched over, his helmet growing broader while his gun changed into a squat double barreled gun with two magazines and a massive gauntlet formed over his right hand. A cross with a skull and crossbones appeared on his right pauldron. In seconds, he was in a suit of armor that towered over Sebaste and Alex.

Dark whistled. “Impressive. Though you got one thing wrong. All Displaced WERE humans, not are. Though I believe most might still be, but as you can tell by my sister they don't all stay that way.”

“Right, that's what he meant to say.” Sebastian said, his voice deeper after the change he went through. “Sebaste, Alex and I, along with Dark are some of the ones that are still human, just changed in one way or another.”

“Wait,” Bon Bon said. “If you have powers, what can you all do? You two can summon weapons and vehicles, but what about you two?” She asked, pointing to Alex and Dark.

“My character was able to use magic, along with Alchemy, but for the most part, she used this…” Alex unsheathed her sword. “A snake sword. Part blade, part whip. But I usually use magic in conjunction with my blade.”

“Wooow,” Lyra said.

Dark snickered. “You should've seen everyone's reaction to her when they first saw her. Hilarious.” Sebaste rolled his eyes.

“In order for us to help another Displaced, we use what are called Tokens, an object that's linked to the person that it originated from.” Sebaste said. “The way they work is that part of their soul is inside it, and the message that you hear is that person letting whoever picked it up know that they are available to help. In fact, that's how we met Dark.” He then realized something. “Dark, sometimes a Displaced doesn't have a way to get back. When this happens, just say “Our contract is complete.” They’ll get sent back to their universe. but a lot of Displaced are able to summon portals to their own universes.”

“Like you guys?”

“Exactly.” Sebaste said. “But more often than not, they’ll be calling you.”

“Huh. Think you can teach me how to do that in the future?”

“Unless you have magic… that's near impossible.” Alex spoke up. “The only way you’d be able to do it is if you brought a magic user or an artifact that can open portals for you.”

Dark shrugged. “Awe well. Oh, that reminds me. Remember when you said you'll help with Cece's token?”

“Yeah. I remember.” Sebaste chuckled. “While Alex teaches Twi that healing spell, Sasha and I can help Cece.”

Dark nodded and clapped his hands. “Okay. So, anymore questions?” He said to the two mares in the room.

“You never said what powers you have,” Bon Bon said.

“Oh, right. Forgot about that. Well, my powers aren't too special aside from one. I can stick to any surface, shoot a thick powerful web from my wrists, stronger than most humans, as well as more agile and a bit more durable, and I have a sort of sixth sense that alerts me of danger and allows me to survey an area around me, perfect for fighting or traveling. That's about everything off the top of my head.”

“Dark’s not the only one that's stronger than your average human.” Sebastian said, having reverted back to his power armored form. “Both Seb and I are also stronger, but we were augmented to be that way.”

“Of course the guy in Halo armor and the guy who could increase his size are stronger than most humans. By the way, can you jump super high?” Dark asked the Spartan.

“No, the reason I jumped that high was because of my thrusters. Other than that, I jump as high as a regular human. And that armor that Sasha had changed into is actually called Tactical Dreadnought Armor, or Terminator armor for short. it dwarfs even a regular Space Marine!”

“That's not what I meant. I was asking because apparently Master Chief can “jump around like he's on the moon” despite wearing such heavy armor.”

“He’s a Spartan II, They trained a lot harder than the Spartan IVs, which is what I am.” Sebaste said.

“Okay… I'm not going to question it. Anyway, I think we should-” Dark immediately ducked, narrowly missing a huge hammer that was flying at him. Only for Sebaste to get clobbered by it.

“That what you get for leaving me alone with Pinkie,” Cece said, walking to everyone, annoyed and covered in confetti.

“Um, Cece? What happened to you, and why are you here?”

“Pinkie started using her party cannon and I ended up in the blast radius. While Pinkie was apologizing to everyone, I left.”

“Anyone get the license plate of that Gravity Hammer?” Sebaste muttered as he stood up. He took one look at Cece and asked, “Party Cannon?”

“Yeah. Sorry about you getting hit. Keep forgetting about Tito’s spider-sense.”

“Eh, I’ve been hit harder by a Supergirl Displaced.” Sebaste said.

“Wait, what?” Dark asked.

Sebaste sighed, “You remember that war that I mentioned with the two factions? The enemy side has a Supergirl Displaced.”

“Oooo, yikes. Would NOT want to mess with a Kyptonian.”

“Um, I'm sorry, but who, and what, are you?” Bon Bon asked Cece, who took off her hood when she got to the library.

“Name’s Cece, I'm Tito's sister.”

“Who's sister?”

“Right. Only Pinkie and I still refer to him as that. Him,” she said, pointing to Dark.

“Wait,” Lyra said. “THIS is the sister you were talking about?”

“Yeah,” Dark said. “Though the red cloak is rather new, her appearance the exact same as I told you.”

“Woah.” Lyra then poked Cece on the forehead but Cece smacked her hand away.

“Personal space, missy.”

“That's the luck of the Lyrish….” Sebaste chuckled.

“Yeah sis,” Dark said. “Be happy this Lyra is nowhere near as crazy as some of the ones I read about.”

“Wait WHAT?” Lyra exclaimed.

“Oh...right. Guys? Little help here?"

“Erm… what Dark means is that… well, your passion for humans has kind of made you legendary back on Earth.” Sebastian said.

“But how can you know about her on Earth?” Bon Bon asked.

“It's… hard to explain. Somehow a woman named Lauren Faust saw events from your world and turned them into a show for kids. But she didn't expect it to become a worldwide sensation.” Sebaste said.

“And we're all in it,” Pinkie said, coming out of a bookshelf, knocking a few books down and shocking everyone.

“Anyone getting a season 4 vibe right about now?” Sebaste asked.

“Can you be a bit more specific?” Dark asked.

“What was that episode…. It had Pinks travel with Applejack and her family to find out her lineage…”

“Oh, Pinkie Apple Pie.”

“That's the one! She popped out of a bookshelf then too.”

“Oh right.” Then Dark leaned towards Sebaste and whispered, “You know, I wonder how a lot of things like that looked in this world, with it being anthropomorphic and all.”

Sebaste shrugged, “Dunno, probably something like Equestria Girls.”

Cece rolled her eyes at their conversation when her eyes spotted a book on the floor. “Hey, what's this?” She picked it up and looked at it. It was a brown book with a picture of a sun on the center. She opened it and looked through it. “It's completely blank.”

Sebastian took one look and staggered back in shock. “Dark? You may want to see this…” He said, his tone more than a little surprised.

Dark turned to Sasha. “What's wrong Sasha?”

“Take a look at what Cece is holding…” Was his only answer.

Dark turned to his sister and froze. “Is that-”

“Ooo,” Pinkie said. “That's Twilight’ s journal that she uses to contact Suns-” Dark immediately put a hand over Pinkie’s mouth.

“Pinkie,” Dark whispered. “Don't talk about it when anypony besides Twilight and the others are around.”

“Mhmay.” Dark then took his hand off of Pinkie’s mouth.

“How about you go back to the party? We'll see you later.”

“Okie dokie.” With that, she skipped away.

“How in Vulcan’s name did this even get in here? It's supposed to be in that room!” Sebastian asked.

“What are you guys talking about?” Cece said, closing the book.

“We’ll explain later, right now we need to give it back to Twi.” Alex replied.

“I don't get it. What's so important about this book?”

“This book powers an artifact here in the castle. A very important one at that.” Sebaste said.

Dark put a hand on Cece's shoulder and took the book. “How about we explain it later. When we give this back to Twilight.”

“Speaking of which, we’d better get back to the party ourselves.” Sebaste then turned to Lyra and Bon Bon before showing them a medallion bearing the mark of the Princesses and the royal guard. “By the order of the Princesses, nothing is to be said of this. We can't have the others in Ponyville know about us. So can you keep this secret?”

Bon Bon looked away while Lyra nodded. “Okay, but I have one more question.”

“What do you need to ask us?” Sebastian asked.

“Who else knows about all this?”

“Twilight and her friends.” Alex said.

“And Celestia and Luna, as well as Discord,” Dark said.

“And that's all. Except for you two, those are the ones who know about us.” Sebaste said.

“Okay. Come on Bon Bon.” Lyra then walked out with her friend close behind.

“Uuuugh…. This is definitely one of the crazier days I’ve had…” Sebaste muttered.

Dark shrugged. “Honestly, this seems normal to me.”

“Eh, to each his own. We’d better head back to the party, Twi needs to know about her book being in here.”

Dark nodded. Then everyone put their covers on and they went to look for Twilight. They found her near the cider bowl talking to Applejack and Rarity.

“Oh, hi guys,” Twilight said. “How are you doing?”

“Other than things suddenly getting crazy earlier? We’re good. Speaking of which, I believe this belongs to you.” Sebaste said, pointing at the book in Dark’s hands.

Twilight’ s eyes widen when she saw the book. “Where did you get that!” She silently yelled.

“Somehow it was in the Library.” Alex said. “We… had a little bit of a situation with Lyra and Bon Bon….”

“Wait, it was in the library? What was it…” She then widen her eyes and she facepalmed. “Now I remember.”

“You forgot it there?” Sebaste chuckled.

“Yeah. I take it you know what's so important about that journal?”

The trio nodded. “Yes. It powers the mirror to that human dimension.” Sebaste replied.

Cece's eyes widened. “Wait, that does what now?”

“This journal is used to power up a mirror portal that goes to a human version of Equestria. In fact, that was one of the worlds we met the Kamen Rider Displaced.” Sebastian replied.

“Okay, what the heck? Since when is there a portal to a human world?”

Dark rubbed his chin. “Known to humans? About 3 years. In this dimension? About a few hundred.”

“It was quite a shock for us when we found out where we were.” Sebaste said. “And this was before we fought a freaking Grimm from RWBY…”

“It was pretty weird,” Twilight chuckled. “Took a while to get used to no magic. Or my horn. And Spike being a dog.”

Cece looked at Twilight, confused. “What are you talking about?”

“When Twi went through the portal, she became a human. And the reverse can be said for anyone from that world coming into here.” Alex explained. “They’ll end up becoming a pony.”

“So...if someone from this side goes through the portal, they become human?”

“Yes, unless they're already human.”

“And what if a hedgehog walked through?”

“Erm…” Sebaste tried to hold himself together, but failed miserably. “If Spike turned into a dog, what do you think is gonna happen to you?” He guffawed.

Cece puffed her cheeks in anger before pulling out her hammer and slamming it at Sebaste.

The Spartan thrusted backwards, the hammer missing him by inches. “Sheesh, you may want to get a handle on that temper of yours!” He said.

“Boooo,” Dark said, cupping his hands over his mouth.

The Spartan shot Dark a glare before he said “I don't see you coming up with better ones! Besides, you’re not the one in danger of getting pasted with a Warhammer!”

“Neither are you.”

Twilight sighed before lifting Cece with her magic. “Cece, calm down. And to answer your question, he has a bit of a point. You're the first of that species, so it's hard to determine what will happen to you if you went through. But I could try to run a few tests.”

Cece calmed down at that and was put down. When she got to the ground and released, she put away her hammer. Then she turned around. “See you guys later. Oh, and Tito, don't forget, the night is still young,” she said with a smirk, before running away from all of them.

“That girl… scares me…” Sebaste said, looking at Dark.

“Try living with her. But I will admit, she's not ALL bad. Christmas is just her most annoying time of year. As well as her birthday.” Then Dark turned to Twilight. “So Twi, why was that journal in the library instead of your room or something?”

“Well, I was going to send you-know-who a message and talk to her, since it's Hearth’s Warming and all, but I guess I forgot about it.”

Sebaste chuckled. “That’ll happen sometimes. I sometimes get distracted by other things.”

Dark just looked at the journal, lost in thought.

“Earth to DarkSpider, anyone in control?” The Spartan asked.

Dark shook his head and looked at Sebaste. “Not on Earth anymore.”

“Okay, someone switched your brain with Draxx’s because that totally went over your head…”

Dark sighed. “Sorry. I was just thinking about something.”

“The journal? Or the EG universe?”

“The latter.”

“Hmm… I don't know how a ladder is gonna help…” Sebaste said with a grin behind his helmet. He then dodged a swing from Alex.

“I REALLY hope your fighting is better than your jokes.”

“Everyone's a critic…” Sebaste then looked at Dark. “I'm guessing you're wanting to visit that universe someday?”

“Yeah yeah Squidward. Doesn't change anything.”

“Seriously? Squidward? Says the guy that looks like Spider-Man and Assassin’s Creed got put together!”

“Oh haha,” Dark said sarcastically. “Screw you.”

“Aside from my brother's jokes, what exactly is on your mind?” Alex asked, her form now in a suit of Spartan Scout armor, but still keeping her right arm normal.

Dark shrugged. “Nothing much. Just wondering what would happen to Cece if she went there. And what'll be like there.”

“More than likely She’ll turn either Human with Amy’s hair color and look, or as a… well, hedgehog….” Sebaste said, with a nervous look around.

Dark looked in the direction his sister left to. “I have a feeling she'll take that chance if she finds that mirror.”

“Let's… just hope that doesn't happen.” Sebastian said with a shudder. “If she does… Emperor have mercy….

“Um...why?”

“Because how do you think the “others” will react if they see a former human burst through the portal?”

“They might think it's just some pony who stumbled into it on this side.”

“Looking like Amy Rose?”

“Do they even have Sonic in that dimension? And besides, there's a Link pony running around, as well as those twins from Bioshock Infinite and that Jameson pony, so it's not that hard to believe there may be an Amy pony.”

“Okay, but what happens when they see three armored humans and a Spider-Man come out of the portal looking for her?”

“First off, I'll ask again, do they even have Spider-Man?”

“Dude, it’s a human universe, they're bound to have a lot of the same things as us.”

“Touché. But that's one of the reasons on what my cloak is for. So no one sees my costume. Outside of training and when I went to Manehatten.”

“Okay, but in our case, we’d stick out like a sore thumb.”

“We're not doing any of that today,” Twilight said. “We'll do it after the holidays.”

“By the way, how did it go with Starlight?” Sebaste asked.

“Oh, it went great.”

“I hope you didn't do too many impressions,” Dark said.

Twilight lightly blushed and looked away. “W-what are you talking about?”

This sent the other three Displaced into gales of laughter, causing Twilight to blush even harder.

“Oh throne, that's the most hilarious reaction I’ve seen!” Sebastian gasped. “Good one Dark!”

Dark lightly chuckled. “You know, I'm gonna get myself some hot chocolate. See you in a bit.” He then ran off.

Still chuckling, Sebaste looked at Applejack. “Mind if I had a noggin of Cider? I need a drink.” He asked.

Applejack nodded and gave him a bottle. “Here ya go.”

Taking his helmet off, he took a swig from it. “Ahhh, nothing like Apple family cider…” he said. “Thanks AJ.”

“Anytime Sebaste.”

“Anyway,” Twilight said, “I've been meaning to ask you two something. How long have you all been Displaced?”

“Fifteen years now. Alex is nine years Displaced.” Sebaste said. “It's… been a tough time for us.”

The mares all widened their eyes. “Wow. That's...unexpected.”

Alex chuckled. “I may not have been Displaced as long as Sasha and my brother, but that doesn't mean I don't get to meet other Displaced.”

“Exactly who did YOU meet?”

“I met the first Displaced my brother met, along with some others I can't remember off the top of my head… although I did meet a Warmachine Displaced, a character named Asphyxious.”

“Oh throne… Asphyxious… seriously, that guy can be a pain sometimes, but I blame the dragon genes in him.” Sebastian muttered.

“Wait, DRAGON genes?”

“He’s part dragon, so he’s really hoardy, has like... I have no idea how many mates he has, but he does have Chrysalis, his version of Twilight, Spider-Gwen and a female version of Revan from a game back on Earth called Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.”” Sebaste said

“First Dark with spider DNA, now a displaced with dragon DNA. What's next?” Then she had a look of realization. “Wait, you don't know how many WHAT he has?”

“Yeah… he has a lot of mates. He must be surrounded by kids by now…” Sebaste chuckled. “And his version of Twilight is a Kirin, a Dragon/Pony who’s one of his mates.”

Twilight blushed hard and opened her mouth in disbelief while Applejack snickered at her reaction and Rarity’s eyes widened.

“Why does Twilight look like that?” Dark said, walking to them, carrying a webbed up Cece over his shoulder.

“She had a bit of a shock. One Displaced we met has a hoard of mates, and by mates, I mean wives, and his version of Twi is one of them.” Sebaste chuckled.

“I know what mates are.” Dark leaned towards Twilight and waved his free hand in front of her. “I think you broke her.”

“Well, he...erm… also has Spider-Gwen as one of his mates.”

“Spider-Gwen? Wait...is that a version of Spidey who's Gwen Stacy?”

“Yeah, or as you would know her better: Spider-Woman.”

“Really? I thought Spider-Woman had black hair.”

“Different version of her. He also has a female version of Revan from that Old Republic game for the Xbox.”

“Never payed attention to that game.” Cece mumbled a few things. “Not important,” he told her.

“But yeah, after we told her this, she froze up.” He then winked before he whispered in Twilight's ear, “Someone stole a book from your library and is about to burn it…”

Twilight immediately jumped and looked shocked. “WHAT?!?!?” She yelled, looking around frantically, causing Dark to fall to the floor laughing.

“Glad you snapped out of your funk!” Sebaste chuckled. “I knew that would work!”

Twilight then turned to Sebaste, furious. “Was that REALLY necessary?”

“It was the only way to snap you out of your trance!” He said, bracing himself for a magic blast.

“Actually, I think slapping her would've worked,” Dark said, getting up.

Twilight turned to Dark and saw Cece in a web cocoon. “Um, Dark? Why is your sister wrapped up like a Hearth’s Warming present?”

“Tradition. Both of them do a game where Cece hides and Dark finds.” Sebastian said.

“That's part of it,” Dark muttered, with Cece squirming.

Twilight shook her head. “Dark, let her go. I don't know what happened, but this doesn't look good.”

Dark rolled his eyes. “Fine.” The webs vanished and Cece got up and dusted herself.

“Now all we need now is some sunglasses to drop down and the words “Deal with it” to pop up.” Sebaste cracked. Both Alex and Sebastian rolled their eyes behind their helmets.

Cece looked at her brother, annoyed. “Still don't get the big deal. That pegasus looked pretty cute,” she whispered to him.

“Pega-” Sebaste said before he realized something. “Let me guess, you ran into Rainbow again?”

“No,” Dark replied. “Flitter.”

“Cloud Chaser’s sister?

Dark nodded. “I was talking to her and Cece was hanging from the ledge. You know the rest.”

Alex facepalmed. “Geez, I may drive my brother crazy sometimes, but not that crazy!”

Cece rolled her eyes and and crossed her arms. “Sue me.”

“Um, what are y'all talking about?” Applejack asked.

“Just something both Dark and Cece are dealing with during this holiday season.” Sebaste said.

“Yeah,” Cece said. “Just be trying to ha-” Dark then immediately webbed her mouth.

“It's not important,” Dark said. “Just two siblings messing with each other during the holidays.”

Sebaste then took another swig from the bottle of cider. “Well, Happy Hearth's Warming everyone and every pony!” He said, raising it in celebration.

“Is he drunk?”

Sebaste glared at Dark. “If I’d been drunk, I would have been slurring all over the place. It's regular cider.”

“That's why I was confused.”

Sebaste chuckled before he suddenly frowned. “Um… Alex? Why are you glowing all of a sudden?” She looked at him in confusion before she looked at herself and gasped.

“What's… What's going on?!” She asked, a trace of fear in her voice. A startled exclamation from Sebastian made the others turn their heads and look in shock as the Astartes was also glowing. Then Sebaste also yelped as a glow surrounded him.

Everyone's eyes widened at what was happening. “Um, is this normal for Displaced?” Twilight asked.

“No! I… I don't know what's happening!” Sebaste said before with a sudden cry he vanished.

“Sebaste!” Alex cried before she too vanished in a flash of light.

“Dark, I just wanted to say… I'm glad we met you. And I hope things go well for you.” Sebastian said before he vanished.

“What...just...happened?” Dark said, shocked.

“They have been changed…. And the Equestria they came from is no more.” A new voice boomed before a portal ripped open in front of Dark. From it stepped out a figure that looked like Sebastian before his helmet changed with two wing like structures and a flowing cape. In his hand was an ornate sword with a arrow like point while in his other was a strange looking gun, the bottom part was magazine fed but the top had coils on it with two barrels sticking out of it.

“Who the hell are you and what are you talking about?”

“I am Company Master Sebaste, as for Sebastian and Alex, they will still be the same, other than Alex permanently being a Spartan/Ivy Valentine combination. But Sebaste… is no more, another has been chosen to take his place.” His eyes flared. “While they have been favored by many readers, their story has now changed. They will not remember those they met, but they may encounter them again. But the Spartan known as Sebaste-915 is now gone. In his stead, a new OC of mine will replace him. And the Equestria they are now in, is different than the one they were first sent to. But they will still exist in the War of Shadows and The War of the Chosen.”

“What the heck are you talking about?”

“You remember that “author” Sebaste mentioned?” The figure growled.

“Author? What author?” Twilight asked.

“I'm the creator of the three that vanished.” He said, “I had a bit of trouble with a certain Merc with a mouth a few years back.”

Dark glared at the newcomer. “You seriously expect me to believe you created them?”

“Don't push your luck boy!” The figure snapped before his hand glowed and a window to the new Equestria appeared. A familiar Astartes was shown dodging a hail of bullets from an armor wearing Rainbow, who was firing a strange looking automatic gun while using gauntlets to hold it. “This is where they are now, a world where a maniac has declared war on Equestria and Twilight and the Mane 6 are soldiers in this same world.”

“What?”

Twilight looked closer at the window. “So, if what you're saying is true-”

“You rebooted them?” Cece said.

“Indeed. While they were enjoyed by others, their story was… not as good as I had thought. I have it recorded and archived, but now their story has begun anew.” He said. “But now, I must continue with their story.”

“So, they won't remember any of this? Or any of us?”

“Unfortunately, yes, but not in the way that you think. Both Sebastian and Alex will have memories of you, but they will be blocked. But you will meet them again, some day soon.” The Astartes said. He then turned to Dark. “The Tokens you have won't summon anyone, but they are still yours. Use them well, and they’ll serve you until your dying days.”

Dark looked down. “You said Sebaste is no more? That he's been replaced?”

The Astartes nodded. “I'm sorry. It’s more that people are getting confused with both Sebastian and Sebaste's names than me getting rid of him because I wanted to replace him.” He then turned to Cece. “I know Sebaste and Sebastian promised to help make your token, but I believe I can do this to help keep this promise.”

Cece shrugged. “I don't really want that. I'm fine helping Tito out, but going to another dimension whenever a Displaced finds my token? No thanks. I rather stay here and occasionally tag along with my brother when he's called.”

“Very well.” He then turned to Twilight. “I believe Alex was planning on teaching you that healing spell.”

Twilight looked surprised. “Y-yes she was.”

“If I may, I can give you the knowledge to it.” He said, and while they couldn't see his face, he had a kindly twinkle in his eye. “It's the least I can do to help her keep her promise.”

“Um...okay…”

The Astartes then put one of his gauntleted hand on Twilight's head and his eye lenses glowed. “It… is done.” He said, backing away. “May you use this power well.”

“T-thanks.”

He chuckled, “You don't need to be afraid of me.” His eyes then flared again. “Hmm… seems my seals have sprung a leak… both Alex and Sebastian have faint memories of their former lives… but not enough to remember, they’ve past them off as nightmares…”

“You just made our friends disappear and are playing god,” Dark said. “Of course she's scared.”

“You think that I wanted to do this to them? I have been watching them since they first entered their first Equestria, how do you think I felt when I had to restart their story!?” The Astartes growled, magic arcing over his gauntlets. “As for playing god, I'm no god. I am just one of many that live in a different dimension. The true gods here are the Void Dwellers.”

Cece crossed her arms. “So what? You “rewrote” their lives and changed their fates?”

“Because I’m known as an author, a being that has the ability to rewrite the stories of those he has created.”

“Yeah, that proves our point.”

The Astartes sighed. “I must return to my dimension. Until then, may the Emperor protect you.”

“What about the others?” Dark asked.

“I shall be contacting Ahriman myself. As for the others… let them know of what's happened. And tell them that they will see them again…” The Astartes said.

Dark stood silent for a moment before looking at the Astartes. “You could've at least let us say goodbye.”

“Once things are sent in motion, they cannot be stopped. But I can grant you this….” He said before his hand glowed and the three were suddenly standing next to him. Sebaste and Sebastian had their helmets off while Alex was in her dress.

“Hey guys…” Sebaste said.

“Hey guys,” Rainbow said, walking to the group with Pinkie and Fluttershy before she saw everyone's faces and the ‘author’. “What's going on?”

“These three are… leaving their Equestria.” The Astartes said.

“Whhyyy?”

“They're being relocated to a new Equestria. At least Sebastian and Alex are… Sebaste however won't be making that journey. Someone else shall be in his stead.” he replied.

“What are you talking about?”

“I believe your friend Dark will be able to explain better. For now, you may want to say your farewells.”

“WHAT?” She yelled.

Dark walked up to Sebaste and stuck his hand out. “It was nice knowing ya Sebaste.”

Sebaste chuckled. “You too, I wish I could still hang around but guess fate has something else planned for me…” He said as he took Dark’s hand and shook it.

Dark then looked to Alex and Sebastian. “Until we meet again, good luck with your new life. And thanks,” he said to all of them.

“Thanks, and I hope everything will go okay for you.” Sebastian said, a rare smile on his face. Alex had tears in her eyes. “And you're more than welcome. It was an honor meeting all of you, and I hope that we will meet again. I hope things will go well.”

Cece sighed and walked up to them. “Well, I may not know you as much as Tito, but it was nice meeting you guys nonetheless. You definitely helped make this a good and memorable Christmas.”

Alex then looked at the Mane 6, “It was really nice meeting you all. I...I really wish we were leaving under better circumstances.” She said, her voice shaking.

Twilight sighed. “So do we. It was nice meeting all of you too.”

Pinkie was crying and pulled all three of them in a hug. “We're gonna miss you.” She said between sobs.

“Same here Pinks…” Sebaste said before looking at Rainbow. “Keep being awesome, and remember the advice I gave you.” He said to the prismatic pegasus.

Rainbow nodded before lowering her head. Pinkie let them go and went back to the group, her mane nearly flat. Applejack walked up to them and stuck her hand out, not saying anything.

Sebaste smiled before taking her hand and shaking it firmly. “Thanks for the cider. And good luck with your farm.”

Applejack nodded before walking away and lowering her hat. Rarity then went up to them and said “Well, it is sad that this had to happen, but it was a pleasure spending time with all of you.”

“Same here. We may have met only twice, but we definitely made some good memories.” Sebaste chuckled, remembering the first time they had met.

Fluttershy then walked up to them slowly. “It… It was nice meeting you all,” she shyly said.

Alex gave a sad smile. “It was nice meeting you too, Fluttershy. Make sure Discord doesn't get out of hand. Again.”

Fluttershy nodded and gave a small smile before stepping back to the group.

Sebaste then looked at Twilight. “I hope the lessons with Starlight go okay. And for what it's worth, don't be afraid to step up when others won't.” He said.

Twilight nodded, a small tear in her eye. “I'll keep that in mind.”

The Astartes then strode forward. “You’ll see each other again, but I will warn you, the world they will be in… isn't like this one. So if you do end up getting summoned there, be prepared for a more advanced Equestria at war with itself.” He then looked at the assembled group. “May your world never share the fate of the Equestria that these three first lived on. And good luck. Dark, to quote a certain song, “Heroes always get remembered, but legends… never die.” In a flash, the Astartes and three Displaced vanished.

Everyone stood silent for a few minutes before Applejack spoke up. “Okay everypony, I know what just happened hit us all pretty hard, but the night’s still young. Besides, it's Hearth’s Warming. We should be celebrating right now.”

Everyone nodded before they all dispersed, not noticing one of them was absent.

(Dark’s POV)

I slipped away from everyone while Applejack was talking. I wasn't in the mood to join the party anymore and decided to call it a night. I put the gun back on the wall and took off my cloak. I then took off my mask and laid down on my bed, ready to go to sleep, one last unimportant thought in my mind.

Hope Twilight doesn't find the burnt mistletoe anytime soon.

Author's Note

Well, that was by far the longest chapter yet. I bet no one expected another update today. This is my second crossover, and with the same story and author too. And it's technically the last one with that story. I hope that one day soon I can do another crossover with Sebaste on the reboot, but that won't be for a while I believe. Also, as you can see, Cece won't have an actual token, but will sometimes join Tito whenever he's called, whether intentional or not. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Until next time, which is hopefully very soon.
-Dark

14. Rocketing Into A New Dimension

I was sitting on the chandelier in the throne room, just playing on my DS, and also listening to some songs, when Twilight and Cece walked it.

“It might not be a good idea Cece.”

“I don't care. If we're right, I could spend sometime with my own kind again and not have to hide.”

“But what if you turn into an actual hedgehog?”

I was getting tired of this, so I put away my DS and paused the music. Then I jumped down in front of them. “Okay, what's going on?”

“We're discussing over if we should let Cece go through the mirror.”

“Really?”

They both nodded before Twilight suddenly looked at me with wide eyes. “Dark? Why aren't you wearing your cloak?”

I was in only my costume, mask and all, with my sword on my back and my cloak in a web bag on the chandelier. “Twilight, anypony who's coming here today knows about me. So it's not that bad that I stick to the suit.”

Twilight sighed. “Fine, but if anypony else does show up, hide.”

“Will do Twi. So Cece, still thinking about what Sebaste said about becoming human again?”

“Of course I am. And I still can't believe you never told me about it.”

“Well that's because you never cared about MLP, so I didn't think you'd care about EqG.” Twilight gave me a confused look. “Not important Twi,” I immediately said.

Cece sighed, and Twilight said, “So Dark, what are your thoughts on if Cece uses the portal?”

I thought about it for a moment, before saying, “Honestly, I think she'll be human.”

“HA!” Cece told Twilight.

Twilight sighed. “Fine. If you both believe that, maybe I could open up the portal later on and see what happens.”

Cece beamed at that. “So what were you doing this time, Tito?”

I shrugged. “Just playing games. Decided to take a break from training until New Years.”

“Okay then.”

After that, we all just sat down. I sat on Rainbow’s throne, just listening to music, Cece fell asleep at Pinkie’s, and Twilight read a book on hers.

(Third Person POV, “Prepare For Trouble And Make It Double” dimension)

Screwball lazily watched the large hoofed creatures run around, all of them being too busy with something to play or talk to her. She huffed, turning towards the miniature lake nearby the woods, staring at the aquatic creatures playing in the water. Noticing something standing right behind her, she looked back to see a small tan bear with red polka dots and swirls for eyes.

The bear leaned down, offering her a shining red apple. “Spin-da?”

Screwball frowned, shaking her head, “No thanks Dizzy, give it to Kirby.” She suggested, pointing at the sleeping green blob, “I’m not really hungry.” The panda nodded, skipping towards her companion.

Screwball sighed, taking off her beanie and setting it down next to her. “When is Uncle Tomas going to get here?!” She groaned, “He promised today he was going to teach me how to catch my own Pokemon!!” The pink filly complained, kicking the ground, and getting the attention of her two Pokemon.

“Spin-da?” Dizzy tilted her head, worried about their master’s frustration.

The green blob yawned, “Guuuulpin~” He turned to his side, waving off his companion’s concern.

Screwball huffed, taping her hoof impatiently. Her eyes widened as an idea struck her, “Wait a minute… I don’t have to wait for Uncle Tomas! I can catch Pokemon on my own!” The Gulpin’s eyes snapped wide open as it bolted towards his master, shaking his head frantically. Sadly, the pink filly only ignored her Pokemon’s protest, “Ah settle down Kirby!” She patted the green blob, “When have any of my ideas got us in any trouble?” Screwball suddenly frowned, quickly covering the blob’s mouth, “Don’t answer that.”

Kirby sighed sadly, the feather in his head drooping, “Gullll…” He groaned, leaning on the panda for support.

“Spin?” Dizzy asked.

The Gulpin only shook his head and patted the Spinda in the back. “Guuuulpin…” Out of the two, he had been with the filly the longest, the poor optimistic Spinda had yet to learn of the terrors she had to suffer just by being her Pokemon.

Screwball got up, giving the two a wide smile as she looked around, eventually settling her eyes at the rocky hill right behind the Everfree. She pointed at the rocky hill dramatically, “THERE!” She yelled, making the Gulpin grow pale. “From what Uncle Meowth taught me, in rocky areas I can find tons of rock type and steel type Pokemon!” She said, smiling widely, “I’m going to go look for the strongest one there! Something like a Golem! Or an Aggron! Or better yet… a fully grown alpha Steelix!” The poison type began to sob quietly, knowing that by the end of this day… he might not live long enough to leave behind a litter of Gulpins. Screwball laughed, turning towards her two partners, “Alright gang! You guys ready to catch us the strongest and best third party member in history?!” Dizzy gave an enthusiastic cheer, pumping up her fist while the Gulpin only sobbed louder.

“ALRIGHT! LET’S GO!”

Screwball screamed loudly, thorns and leaves covering her mane, her Gulpin desperately held onto the beanie while the Spinda ran. The three of them continued to scream, running from the group of Trevenants chasing after them. Screwball looked around her surroundings, trying to find a way out of the situation. Seeing nothing in the area that could possibly help them, she looked up at her Gulpin. “Hey Kirby! You’re a Pokemon! Why don’t you give them a taste of your Sludge attack?”

Kirby’s jaw dropped. The green blob shook his head, refusing to fight a Pokemon of a higher level.

Screwball’s eyes narrowed, “Coward!” She yelled, jumping over a stray log in her path. Turning around to face the group of ghost types, she started glowing in a red aura, “EMBER!” She yelled, spitting out a couple of fireballs at one of the ghost.

The lead Trevenant flinched, expecting it to hurt, he blinked in surprise when he only barely felt the pain. The group of trees laughed, stepping closer towards the trio.

Screwball gulped, hugging her two other Pokemon. “Well… I guess this is it.” She said, the other two Pokemon only nodded. “I’ll miss you guys!” The filly yelled, the other nodding as well.

Suddenly the Trevenants stopped moving, the lead Pokemon looking rather nervous. Seeing their leader acting that way made the others pause and look around. They all paled when they realized where they were. Immediately the possessed trees left the area, leaving the trio confused.

Screwball blinked in confusion. “Why did they run away...” She questioned. She smiled suddenly, laughing loudly. “They must’ve figured out that I was the daughter of the great King of Chaos!” She grabbed a small rock and threw it at one of the Trevenants’ head. “THAT’S RIGHT! RUN YOU COWARDS! YOU’LL NEVER BE ABLE TO CATCH THE GREAT PRINCESS OF CHAOS! MWAH HA HA HA!”

The possessed tree growled angrily, turning around and glaring hatefully at the small filly. “TREVENANT!” It yelled, taking a step forward only to be stopped by the leader of the group. The lead ghost only shook his head, making the tree pause. Realizing the reason why, the ghost type laughed, it turned towards the filly and laughed at them.

Screwball gulped, feeling even more scarred than before. “Why was he laughing?” She asked, shivering.

The Gulpin looked around the area, being sure not to stray too far from his trainer. His eyes widen when he saw a large yellow cocoon with big black eyes laying against a tree. Kirby felt himself becoming pale as he slowly turned towards his master. “G-g-gulp!”

Screwball turned towards her Pokemon, confused by his terrified expression. “Kirby what’s wrong?” She noticed the yellow cocoon Pokemon laying against a tree. She stifled her laughter upon seeing the bug, “That’s what the Trevenants were afraid of?! A little Kakuna?!” She burst out laughing, “They really are cowards! They’re all scared of a little bug!”

Gulpin shook his head frantically, trying to get his master to understand the situation they got themselves into.

Screwball stopped laughing, frowning, “Do you guys hear a buzzing noise?”

Turning around to see what was making the noise, her eyes widen in horror as she saw a swarm of large bees flying towards them. “Beedrills…” She whispered, grabbing the Gulpin and tossing him on her back and quickly returning her Spinda to her Poke’ball. Bolting out of the area, she didn’t dare look back at the swarm of bug types trying to attack them.

Screwball ran as fast as she could, only stopping to throw the occasional Ember or Thundershock attack. But the bug types wouldn’t stop coming, even if one fainted, a few others would come and take its place. The pink filly, closed her eyes shut, too scared to open them. She tried to ignore her Gulpin’s frightened squeals and focus on getting them out of there, but the Beedrill’s loud buzzing made it almost impossible to concentrate.

Screwball suddenly felt the weight on her back disappear, making her run slightly more faster. Realizing something was wrong, she turned back and gasped when she saw her Gulpin try to fight back against the swarm of bees.

Kirby fired multiple sludge attacks at the bug types, hoping to distract the Beedrills long enough so his master can escape. Firing off another Sludge, it bounced harmlessly off one of the Beedrills, the swarm charged at the blob stabbing at it with a Fury Attack.

Screwball watched in horror as her starter tried to fight. She looked around the floor, and started chucking objects at bug types, hoping to get them off of the Gulpin. Feeling something rather hard on her hooves, she didn’t bother to look at what she had and only threw the silver object at the Beedrill. The object apparently being hard enough to knock one of the Beedrill unconscious. The silver spider shaped emblem fell on the floor, glowing. Seeing an opportunity to save her starter, she quickly grabbed her Gulpin and hid inside the bushes, taking advantage of the Beedrills surrounding the glowing object before 3 beings fell out of it and it stopped glowing and fell to the ground.

(Dark’s POV)

“OW!” I said as I landed on my back. After getting up, I started hearing something. “What's that buzzing sound?” I then looked around and noticed we were surrounded by a swarm of familiar looking creatures.

Oh f*ck me

One of the Beedrill jabbed one of their stingers at me, but I just webbed it up and flung it at a few others. Before anymore could attack, I pulled out my sword.

One flew right at me and I just cut its stinger off and just kicked away. Before I could do anything else though, a hammer flew from behind me and hit a few more. Cece then ran past me and jumped off their heads before grabbing her hammer and spinning around, hitting all surrounding Beedrill. When they were close enough to a tree or the ground, I webbed them to it. A few still surrounded me, but I just used my sword to block the stingers and deal with them. About five minutes later, we were done. I sheathed my sword and looked at my sister.

“Not bad, Cece. Not bad.” I then turned to Twilight, who was unconscious. Looking closer at her, I saw that she was fine, though she had a small bump on her head.

Must’ve landed on her head. She should be fine.

“Um Tito?” Cece called me. I looked to her. “Where are we? And why were those...things here?”

I shook my head. “I don't know. One moment we're in the castle, next, fighting a bunch of angry Beedrills.” I then noticed a small flash next to Twilight. Leaning towards it, I saw a small silver object. I picked it up and noticed it was an exact replica of my medallion. “What the...? This is my token.”

Cece walked towards me, confused. “Token? You mean that thing Displaced use to call each other? What's that doing here?”

“I don't know. I doubt the Beedrill could've activated it.” I then sense something nearby. “Cece, wake up Twilight. I need to check something.” Turning to some bushes, I got up and walk towards them. When I reached them, I moved the bushes away and saw a pink filly with some green pudgy thing in her hooves. “Um, hello?” I said to the filly.

The pink filly gasped, turning towards me, revealing her large swirling purple eyes. She pulled out a red and white metal ball from her beanie and pointed it at me. “Don’t come any closer or else!” She yelled, “I have a Gyarados here and I’m not afraid to use it!”

I blinked for a moment, realizing a few things. First, she wasn't anthro. She was an actual pony from the show. Second, taking in her appearance, I realized this particular filly was Screwball. Third, she had a pokeball in her hoof.

After processing all that, I put my hands up a bit and took a step back. “Hey, I just want to talk. That's all.”

Screwball kept her eyes narrowed at me. After a few seconds, she lowered her poke’ball, but still kept it in her hoof, “Alright… but if you try anything then I won't hesitate to feed you to my uncle’s Gyarados!”

Uncle?

“Noted. Now can you come out of that so we can introduce ourselves properly?”

She nodded, slowly stepping out of the bushes. The green blob was now laying down on her back, looking a bit beat and tired. “So who are you anyways?”

“Names Tito, but most call me Dark. I take it you're Screwball?”

She narrowed her eyes a bit, nodding slowly, “Yeah that’s me,” She pointed at the green blob, “And this is Kirby, my Gulpin.” The Gulpin yawned.

“Okay...you have a Gulpin. Good name for it though. Now come on. There's two others I need to introduce you to.” I said, walking towards Cece and Twilight, who just woke up.

Screwball eyes widen when she saw Twilight, “Hey! It’s the nerd my dad told me about!” She frowned, “She looks different though… more humany...”

“You know about humans?”

Screwball nodded, “Yup! My mom and uncle are humans, plus I’ve met a lot of displaced.” She answered.

“Oh?” Then I remembered something. “Two of those Displaced wouldn't happen to be named Sebaste and Sebastian, would they?”

She frowned, “Yeah, they were really boring! And completely unhelpful!”

I sighed. We then made it to the others, and Cece looked to me. “Hey Tito. What did you find…” She said, noticing Screwball. Twilight noticed her too and looked completely shocked.

“Dark, who is this? And why does she look like that?” Twilight asked.

“Cece, Twilight, meet Screwball, the daughter of Discord. Screwball, this my sister Cece, and Twilight Sparkle.” I said, introducing the pink filly.

Twilight opened her mouth in surprise. “WHO’S daughter?!”

Screwball smiled widely, disappearing in a puff of smoke, only to reappear next to Twilight, “Why the King of Chaos of course! My daddy Discord!” She then waved towards the Gulpin, “And that’s my little minion of Chaos, Kirby.”

“Who...what...why...HOW?”

“Depends,” I said. “Some cases, Discord just created her with his magic because he wanted a companion. Others...um, if you really want to know, I'll tell you later. But either way, she has chaos magic, just like him.”

“Okay...and why does she look like that?”

“The eyes? No idea. If you're talking about her body, well it looks like she's a regular pony. The kind everyone back on Earth saw you and everypony else.”

Screwball scoffed, “Who are you calling a regular pony?” She said, sounding a bit offended, “I am the Princess of Chaos! The bringer of mischief! The Herald of Spite!” The filly continued to list down several titles, some of which sounded made up, “And I was created through the power of Chaos from my father!”

“There's one more thing you forgot to mention.” I poked her in the muzzle. “Despite all that, you're still just a kid. Where are your guardians?”

Screwball glared angrily at me, “A kid?!” She yelled, “Did you just call me a kid?! I’ll have you know I’m probably even older than you are! I’m pure magic! Age doesn’t apply to me! You’re lucky my dad isn’t here to beat you up!” She continued to rant angrily, yelling rather loudly, “If anything, you’re the kid! You little brat! Respect your elders! FIGHT ME!”

We just looked at her, blinking a few times. Then Twilight turned to me. “Is she always like this?”

I just shrugged. “Honestly, I don't know much about her outside of what I told you. Only time I saw her, she was just some weird character that was on for two seconds.”

“WEIRD?!” She shouted, “Does this generation have no respect for their elders?! ARRRGGGHHH!” Screwball yelled, grabbing Gulpin, “DEFEND MY HONOR KIRBY!” She tossed the green blob directly at my face, the Pokemon latched on and refused to let go out of fear and shock.

“HEY!! GET THIS THING OFF ME!!!!”

Twilight used her magic to zap the Gulpin, knocking it out. I pulled it off my face and looked to the filly. “SERIOUSLY?!”

“Kirby!!” She bolted to her fainted Pokemon, gently holding it in her hooves. “Why didn’t you attack?! That’s the whole reason I threw you!” She groaned, returning the blob to it’s Poke’ball.

“You wanted it to attack him? Why?” Twilight asked.

“HE INSULTED ME!” Screwball yelled, pointing at me. “I must regain my honor through combat!”

“Fine,” Cece said behind Screwball, before sending her flying to a tree with a hit from her hammer. “That's for sending a pokemon out on my brother.”

Screwball groaned, peeling herself off the tree she landed on, her whole body being completely flat before regaining its proper shape. Turning towards Cece, she growled, “Cheap shot!” She reached into her beanie and pulled out a Poke’ball, smirking. “It’s a good thing mom keeps her Poke’balls somewhere where I can easily find them!” She tossed the metal ball, “GO ARBOK!”

In an explosion of light, a large purple cobra appeared, coiling itself in front of the filly and hissing loudly at the trio. “CHHHAARRRBOK!”

Cece readied her hammer. “Either call off the worm, or I'll send it flying into orbit.”

Screwball only chuckled, “I don’t think you’ll be doing anything. GO DIZZY!” She tossed out another Poke’ball summoning out a yellow and red panda. “Dizzy, use Teeter Dance!” The Spinda cheered, her whole body glowing with a blue aura. Suddenly everyone of us started dancing along with the Pokemon, unable to control our own bodies. Screwball laughed loudly, “No one insults me and gets away with it! Arbok, headbutt!” The cobra headbutted Cece, sending her crashing into a nearby tree, sadly she still couldn’t control her body, only being able to dance.

“Now Arbok, let’s show these losers how to really dance! Use your Wrap attack to do a tango!” She ordered, waving her hoof around. Arbok hissed loudly, wrapping Cece tightly. I could only watch as Cece was getting attacked, the Spinda’s dancing not letting me do anything.

Okay. Now I'm really starting to hate this kid.

Screwball laughed, “I don’t know why Uncle Tomas was ever worried about me being alone here! I can take care of myself!” She boasted, “Heck, I got a alicorn and two displaced at my complete mercy! They can’t do a thing thanks to Dizzy’s dancing!” She suddenly frowned, “Now I wonder what I should catch in the Rocky Hills? A Golem? Onix? Aggron?... SO many choices!” She hummed, no longer paying any attention to the fight. “Catching an Alpha Steelix would probably be the best choice…”

Screwball’s ear twitched, hearing something nearby coming this way. “Aw man, don’t tell me those darn Trevenants are back again!?” Jumping out of the bushes was a large orange dog with black stripes. The canine barked loudly gaining the attention of the two attacking Pokemon.

“ARCH!” The dog barked, causing the panda to stop dancing and the cobra to let go of Cece.

Unfortunately, the dancing the Spinda had us do had made us too tired to move. The dog walked towards us, reaching into a black saddlebag that was strapped onto its back, the bag had a big red ‘R’ on it, the Arcanine gave us each a large blue berry. It barked before going back to the others.

“I...am going….to murder that kid.” Cece said between pants. “And what are we supposed to do with these?”

I looked at the familiar berry it gave me and decided to eat it, my spider-sense picking up nothing. Immediately, I felt better. I looked to Cece and Twilight and whispered for them to eat it. They did, and Cece looked much better.

The Arcanine returned, briefly bowing its head to us.

“Okay, that's it. WHAT’S GOING ON?!” Cece yelled.

“Arcanine was apologizing to you for Screwball’s behavior.” A voice coming from a nearby bush answered. A second later, a man with blue hair and a white uniform stepped out of the bushes, a large red ‘R’ was on his shirt. Besides him was a large two headed ball of gas. “My name is Tomas, and I’m very sorry for the way Screwball has been acting towards you.” He introduced himself, bowing his head slightly.

I took a few deep breaths, trying to calm down from seeing my sister be beaten up by that Arbok. When I believed I calmed down enough, I walked up to Tomas and stuck out my hand. “Tito, but you can call me Dark, and the pink hammer wielding hedgehog over there is my sister Cece.”

Tomas smiled, taking my hand and shaking it. “It’s nice to meet you.” He pointed at the ball of gas next to him, “This is Weezing, and the dog that gave you those berries is my Arcanine, Archie.” He frowned, “Again, I’m really sorry about Screwball, she’s always getting into fights with displaced, especially when they either insult her or just don’t take her orders.”

“I'll forget it now, but if it happens again, Arceus and Celestia themselves won't stop me and Cece from getting pay back from her.”

Screwball stuck out her tongue, “I’d like to see you losers try!”

Tomas turned towards the filly, “Screwball! Stop picking fights with displaced! Arceus knows we don’t need more enemies!” He yelled.

I examined Tomas for a second before saying, “So you're one of the Team Rocket Displaced Sebaste and Sasha met?”

Tomas nodded, “Well I did meet Sebaste a while back, but I don’t remember a Sasha.” He answered, “Screwball summoned him in hopes of having someone fight against Luna and her guards.” He sighed, “Sometimes I wonder why I even bother trying to get her to change her attitude.”

“Yeah. Sebaste told me it was something to do with freeing Discord I believe.”

He nodded again, “Yeah, we’re trying to convince Celestia to let Discord go, but we aren’t having much luck.”

“Um...do you know when in the timeline we are?”

Tomas shrugged, “I only recently found out that I’m living in a world based of a cartoon.”

“Okay… Hey, can we get out of here? I don't want to find out if my webs dissolve in an hour and deal with all these Beedrill again,” I said, gesturing to all the webbed up Beedrill.

Tomas nodded, “Sure, our house isn’t too far from here.” Screwball opened her mouth to protest. “And I don’t want to hear a word out of you! As soon as we get home, I’m telling your mother all about this! I’ll teach you how to catch a Pokemon when you’re not grounded.”

I patted Tomas on the shoulder and whispered, “Might want to tell her to hide her Pokeballs so she won't use other people's Pokemon like that again.”

Tomas glared at Screwball, “Don’t worry, I will.” He turned towards the swarm of Beedrills, humming a bit. “While I normally would take the chance to catch one, Sarah is a bit scared of Beedrills.” He said to himself, leaning down and freeing them. The healthiest Beedrill immediately started flying again, staring down at Tomas, “You should really take your friends and leave, most of them are hurt really badly. Plus I don’t think you’d want to pick a fight against my Gyarados.” He said with a smirk, taking out a golden Poke’ball. The Beedrill nodded, picking up the wounded and flying back to their nest, only leaving behind the dead, and one twitching Beedrill.

“It isn’t a good idea to leave them alone like this, the other Pokemon would use this as an opportunity to destroy their hive and force the Beedrill out of the forest.” Tomas informed. He looked at one of the dismembered Beedrill, seeing how the others had left it behind, the Beedrill was missing both of it’s stingers, the other dismembered Beedrill were already dead from the wounds. “This one is still alive… Archie! We’re taking this one back with us!” The Arcanine barked, picking up the unconscious Beedrill and setting it on it’s back.

Tomas walked back towards the path that he came from, stopping to look back at us, “Come on, we don’t want to run into any more dangerous Pokemon.”

I nodded before gesturing for Cece and Twilight to follow. I walked up to Tomas. “So, we're in your Equestria now?”

“Of course, I doubt your Equestria has Pokemon.” Tomas said, petting the wounded Beedrill on the Pokemon’s back.

“Nope. I'm pretty sure I would notice if my Equestria had creatures from one of my favorite game franchises. And, as you can tell, my Equestria might be a bit more different than yours in more than just that.” I said, pointing to Twilight.

He nodded, “I noticed, I’m entirely used to seeing an anthro version of a pony, but it’s not the first time.” Tomas pulled out a orange bottle, “Now this may sting a little.” He said, spraying the Beedrill with it, causing it to flinch.

“Um, excuse me,” Twilight said, walking up to us with Cece, “but can one of you explain what's going on and what are these creatures?” She asked, gesturing to all the Pokemon present.

“You were summoned into our Equestria, most likely by Screwball.” Tomas said, he then pointed at his Weezing. “And these creatures are called Pokemon, there are over seven hundred different species of them and they live all of over our world. Weezing here is a poison type Pokemon, meaning he can control poison and is immune to all poisons. There are many different types of Pokemon that can control many different things.”

I then said, “Including time, space, cause nightmares, grant wishes, expand oceans or dissolve them, give life, take it, you get the idea. Oh, I just remembered.” I pulled out the medallion I found earlier and gave it to Tomas. “Guess this is yours now.”

“Thanks.” Tomas grabbed it, looking at it briefly before putting it away in his pocket. He then took out a golden amulet with a red R. “You can have this, call on us if you ever need help.”

I grabbed it it, then I heard voices.

"We are Destruction, Passion, and Wisdom. We do not care for if you are good or evil, as long as your reasoning is just, and if you simply kill just for the fun of it, then we're sure that Seviper and Carnivine will enjoy a good meal. Call us, and we will make your enemies prepare for trouble and blast them off to the speed of light!
WOBBUFFET!"

“Oookay...interesting message.”

Tomas stayed quiet for a few seconds, “It was a last minute thing, we were going to say our motto, but then most people would ignore the token.”

“Probably. I'll admit, if I had heard the Team Rocket motto, I would have thrown out the token.”

“And that’s why we didn’t go with the motto.” He replied. “Anyways, I hope that explanation answered your questions Twilight.”

“Sort of. Though, I'm still a little confused. How did we get here exactly? One second we're in in my castle, the next, I wake up here.”

“You were summoned here, most likely by Screwball.” Tomas answered. “It was your Token that brought you here.”

“But I thought only Displaced can use tokens. And that only Displaced can be summoned.”

Tomas shook his head, “That’s not entirely true. I mean Screwball has been shown to be able to summon displaced.” He hummed, thinking about it a bit more, “Then again, Screwball is made up of pure Chaos… maybe the rules don’t apply to both Discord and her?”

“That doesn't explain how I'm here.”

Tomas shrugged, “I’m not entirely sure, my guess is that you were just pulled here since you were so close to Dark when he was being summoned.”

Twilight sighed. “That makes the most sense.”

“Sorry I wasn’t of much help, you’re better off asking someone who actually understands all this multiverse stuff.” Tomas suggested, “I tend not to worry about those type of things.”

Cece looked at the Beedrill on the Arcanine’s back. “Wow Tito. You really messed this thing up.”

I just looked down at that. I panicked when those Beedrill attacked us, and it didn't help with my fear of bugs. But I didn't mean to do so much damage to them. Tomas frowned, rubbing the Beedrill’s head. “You shouldn’t go around killing Pokemon, even if it was in self defense, you could’ve taken them down without killing them.”

“I wasn't planning on killing any of them. I just freaked out and wasn't thinking. The only thought I did have was to protect Twilight and my sister. How wasn't important to me at the time.”

“Still, your actions could have serious consequences.” Tomas started, “If you had killed all of those Beedrill, who would protect the Weedles and the Kakunas back in their hive? Other creatures of the Everfree would see this as an opportunity to rid of themselves of competition and would destroy the Beedrill hive, since most of the strongest Beedrills have died, all the weaker ones would be easily beaten by any of the other Pokemon here. You could’ve doomed an entire hive and not even know it.”

I stood silent at that, but Cece glared at Tomas. “What's your problem? It's not our fault we showed up in the middle of a swarm of giant lethal-looking bees. Tito was just making sure we were safe, so-”

“Cece, that's enough.” I told her.

“But-”

“That's. Enough.” I said, glaring at her. She went silent and fell back from the group. I turned to Tomas. “Sorry about that. She can get pretty defensive of those she cares about.”

“That’s alright, I shouldn’t be too hard on you, you were just trying to defend those you cared about.” His hand gripped one of the bug type’s missing stingers, “I just hate seeing Pokemon in pain, not to mention the idea of a whole species being killed off is a terrible thing… I meant what I said though, you should think about how your actions could have consequences.”

I nodded. “Now that I think about it, why DID we show up in front of a horde of Beedrill if Screwball was a few yards away from them?”

Screwball nervously scratched the back of her head, “Well I might of… thrown your token at the Beedrills. They were attacking Kirby, and I was trying to save him…” She mumbled a bit at the end.

“Couldn't you've just teleported yourselves out of there?”

Screwball shook her head, “My powers don’t really work when I want them too… I need to concentrate really hard to make them work… that’s why I mainly use my Pokemon powers, and even then I can only use a few basic moves.”

I looked at her, wide eyed. “Pokemon what now?”

Screwball gained a wide smile, “You wanna see them?! They’re really cool! Just check this out!” She took a few steps back and took a deep breath, her body glowed with a red aura, “EMBER!!” She shouted, a few fireballs coming out of her mouth and hitting the ground. “I can also do this!” She hummed, her body glowing with a purple aura, suddenly a few rocks started floating around her, “Confusion…” She muttered, after a few seconds, the rocks fell onto the ground. The pink filly panted, starting to feel tired, “See?... pretty cool, right?”

“Yeah. Pretty cool. Never understood why Confusion was just a weaker version of Psychic though.”

“Well there’s a weaker version of every attack, though why it exists, I have no idea.” Tomas replied with a shrug.

“This is getting confusing,” Twilight said, putting a hand to her head.

I chuckled a bit before looking back at Tomas. “So Tomas, what Pokemon do you have besides Arcanine, Weezing, and Gyarados?”

“Well lets see…” Tomas hummed a bit, “Well there’s Victreebel, Carnivine, Cacnea, Mime Jr., Yamask, Amoongus, and Inkay.” He nodded with a smile, “Yup, that’s all of them.”

“So you stuck with the same pokemon your character had?”

“I wouldn’t really say I’m stuck with them… I love them all dearly!” He said with a small smile, “I am able to catch Pokemon that James never caught, I mean, I was the one who caught Screwball’s Gulpin for her.”

“I didn't mean you're stuck with them and had no choice, I meant that you chose to stay with all the pokemon James got.”

Tomas nodded, “Most of them joined my team on their own, after I freed them from corruption, they all wanted to stay with me. I never bothered to catch more Pokemon because I never really felt the need too.”

“Isn't that the same for James? And Ash?”

Tomas shrugged, “I guess. Though Ash does have that ‘gotta catch them all’ mentality.”

“And yet, he doesn't think that most of the times he battles wild pokemon.”

“Not exactly true, he did for the beginning of the series.”

I shrugged at that. “So, uh...how much further?”

“Shouldn’t be that far, we were pretty far inside these woods.” Tomas replied, “I’m sure that at most it’ll take is a minute or two.”

We continued to walk down the dirt road, avoiding the small creatures that would walk past us as well as any of stray logs. We eventually reached the end of the forest, most of us were feeling glad to be out of the dark forest and free from danger. Walking further down the road, we eventually reached a large two story building, next to the building was a windmill, a tall white fence surrounded the building and a large portion of land behind the house. A big red ‘R’ was painted on the door.

“Welcome to our home. Please feel free to visit the backyard, I’m sure you’ll love the scenery.” Tomas said, walking up the stairs to reach the front door. Screwball somehow using her beanie to fly right next to him.

“How is she doing that?” Twilight asked.

I shrugged. “Chaos magic?”

The door slammed open, revealing a tall red haired woman. She wore a white lab coat over her white uniform, a red ‘R’ was shown on the left of the coat. “Tomas! Where have you been?!” She yelled, “I’ve been looking everywhere for you! There's a wild Pokemon trashing the garden! It already ticked off your Carnivine and he’s chasing it all over the place!” As soon as she said that a loud crash was heard from inside the house, “Carnivine chased it into the house and I can’t calm him down!” She grabbed the blue haired man and shook him, “DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!!”

“Should we do something?” Cece whispered to me.

“I'd say we stay out of this.” Twilight and Cece nodded in agreement.

The woman stopped shaking Tomas and looked behind him, staring at us. “Oh… you brought guests… Well they can help too!” She declared, a pink and blue floating bird like thing appeared next to her, a black flag with a capital R was tied to it’s tail. “No arguments! Just get that frog out of my house! It’s destroying my research!”

“Wait, you have a problem with a simple frog?” Cece asked, before laughing. “Seriously? Just pick it up and toss it into a pond or something. How can a little frog cause any trouble?”

I leaned towards her. “Um, Cece, don't forget that we're in a world of Pokemon. Meaning that something like a ‘simple frog’ can actually do quite a bit of damage.”

“Oh...right…”

I then looked at the two humans. “Sorry. My sister doesn't know much about Pokemon besides what I tell her, so she might forget how dangerous or troublesome they can be at times.”

She sighed, rubbing her eyes, “It’s fine, for such a little thing, it’s really fast. Carnivine can’t even land an attack.” Another crash was heard, making her flinch.

“Um, can you tell us what it looks like?” Twilight asked.

“It’s a small blue frog with a mane of white bubbles around it’s neck. It has big bright yellow eyes, and white hands.” She described, turning towards me, “Since you seem to know something about Pokemon, it’s name is Froakie, if that rings any bells. Don’t be fooled by it’s size, it has power.”

I opened my mouth in disbelief. Cece tilted her head and said, “Froakie? Now there's a Pokemon he'd know. Never shut up about it and its other forms back home.” I gave her a glare. “What? Tell me I'm wrong.”

She clapped her hands, “Perfect! Then you shouldn’t have any problems catching it!” She reached into her lab coat’s pocket and took out a pokeball with three orange stripes. She tossed it towards me, “Here, this is a Fast Ball, it’s good for catching fast Pokemon. You don’t have to catch it, just as long as it’s no longer destroying my house, I don’t care if you catch it or not.” She turned towards the house, only to stop for a brief moment, “Oh! Where are my manners? My name is Sarah, some like to call me Jessie though.” She introduced herself, before going inside the house.

I looked at the pokeball, and back at the house. “Okay...what just happened?”

Tomas groaned, feeling a bit dizzy from Sarah’s assault. “Don’t worry about it, she’s just upset about the Froakie destroying her lab. Let’s just get inside. The sooner we catch it, the sooner we could send you home.” He walked inside the house, Screwball floating behind him. “Archie! Go to the medical room and drop off that Beedrill!” Tomas stopped in front of the door, turning back towards Twilight, “Twilight, if you want, you can go with my sister to the lab. You two can talk while we catch the Froakie and find a way to send you back home.”

Twilight looked to me for a moment, and after a quick nod to her, she went inside and followed Sarah.

“So,” I said, looking at Tomas, “where is that Pokemon?”

Another crash was heard, this time accompanied by the sound of a frustrated cry. “Probably where all that noise is coming from.” We followed Tomas towards the source of all the noise and walked into the kitchen, where a large carnivorous plant was glaring at a small blue frog. The Froakie wore a smug grin.

The Carnivine yelled, lunging at the frog. Only to have the Froakie dodge the attack, grabbing a handful of the white bubbles in it’s neck and tossing them at the grass type, causing the Carnivine to get stuck onto the kitchen floor. “Froa-kie!” The frog cried, staring at the flailing plant.

“So that's the frog?” She asked.

I nodded. “Yup. That's a Froakie.”

“Okay then.” She pulled out her hammer and ran to the Froakie.

Sensing the incoming danger, the water type jumped up, avoiding the hammer. Pulling out more frubbles from its neck, it threw them down at Cece’s legs, causing her to be unable to move. The Froakie hopped towards the exit of the room, not paying much attention to us.

“Not so fast!” Tomas said, putting his foot down in front of the frog. “Weezing, use Sludge Bomb!” Weezing took a breath of air, firing several balls of sludge at Froakie, only to have the frog dodge once again. This time, the Froakie created a ball of water in its palms and tossed it down at Weezing. The poison type groaned, crashing into a nearby wall. Seizing the opportunity, Froakie tossed more of its frubbles at Weezing and jumped towards one of the destroyed cupboards, taking a few things and jumping to an open window.

The Froakie turned towards us one last time and stuck its tongue out at us. “Froakie!” It hopped outside, leaving the house. We turned back hearing a yell, seeing Carnivine free itself from the frubbles and jump out of the window, most likely following Froakie.

I just stood there for a second, before shaking my head and walking to Cece and helped her out of the frubbles. She then said, “Good dodger, fast, and has something like webs. Seems like the perfect Pokemon for you.”

“Very funny.” I turned to Tomas. “So, what now? Now that it's gone, do we just find your Carnivine and call it a day?”

Tomas nodded, “If you want to stay that’s fine, I’d appreciate the help though.” He took out a Poke’ball and returned Weezing to it.

“Might as well make myself useful. Heck, might be able to help. Spider-sense and all.”

“Great.” Tomas lead us to the back door, opening it, we saw a large grassy land, a white fence surrounding it. In the middle of the land was a large pond, a pink jellyfish like creature and a purple clam were sleeping in the water. All around the backyard were several different Pokemon, all of them were staring in confusion at Carnivine destroying the fence trying to go into the woods at the other side.

“Carnivine! Stop this!” Tomas yelled, running towards his angry Pokemon.

The grass type ignored him, opening his jaws widely before taking a bite out of the fence, effectively destroying that part. He yelled, darting towards the woods.

Tomas groaned, facepalming, “Damnit Carnivine.” He sighed, stepping over the broken fence and heading towards the woods, “Come on! They couldn’t have gone far.”

Me and Cece looked a each other before shrugging and running to Tomas, jumping over the fence.

The three of us continued to follow the Pokemon’s trail, the trail mostly being a bunch of broken branches and a few puddles of water in the ground. I looked around the area and found a couple of familiar looking Pokemon running around such as Rattatas, Pidgeys, Caterpies, and even an Aipom.

Tomas looked back at us, “So Dark, what were you displaced as exactly? You kinda look like Spiderman with that suit, and I know Cece’s Amy Rose.”

“Don't blame you for that assumption. Basically, I made up my own superhero, DarkSpider, and dressed as him in a convention. You know the rest of that. Think Spider-Man, but darker suit, organic webs, and uses a sword.”

“Alright.” Tomas said, nodding. “So what’s it like in your Equestria? Must be very different compared to ours.”

“Not too bad. Though...how did you meet Rainbow Dash?”

Tomas turned away, looking rather nervous. “Oh well! It was simple really! We just so happened to be in the neighborhood, and we may have caused some panic with our Pokemon and she attacked Sarah’s Wobbuffet!” He let out a nervous chuckle, “That’s all there’s really to it! So why do you ask anyways?”

“My first meeting with her had her kicking me in the back of the head. And any interaction with her didn't go too well. At least until Sebaste talked to her. Since then, we've been pretty good friends.”

“Still can't believe that.” Cece muttered.

“Shut up.”

“So you guys didn’t start off as the best of chums, huh?” Tomas let out a sigh, “Well, it was the same with us. Though I like to think that we’re at least on speaking terms.”

“Yikes… Um, how long have you and Sarah been Displaced?” I asked.

“One thousand, and five years.” He answered. “Though for the most part, we were in stone with Discord for the one thousand years.”

“What?” Cece and I asked.

Tomas laughed, “Oh it’s nothing! Really! Just a little misunderstanding is all!” He responded quickly.

“Okay… I guess what Seb and Sasha said about some Displaced being turned to stone was true.” We walked a bit more before I said, “So you're not exactly on good terms with Rainbow, but what about the other 5?”

“Well Applejack gave me a job with helping out in her barn, Twilight frequently visits us, I visit Fluttershy often, Rarity makes clothes for us, and Pinkie…” He scratched his head, “Well… she’s nice…”

“Nice, but can be REALLY annoying,” Cece stated.

“She's not a big fan of Pinkie’s antics,” I whispered to Tomas.

“Neither am I to be honest.” He answered, “But I try to put up with her… It’s Screwball who really enjoys her company.”

I nodded. “Random question, I know the answer is obviously no but I just wanna ask, is there a sort of Jessibelle here, or are you safe?”

He shivered, “Thank Arceus there isn’t.” He paused, “Well… Then again there could have been a displaced one that appeared while we were gone and we just have no idea.”

I chuckled, remembering how crazy she was. “Okay. Next question, since Screwball has some, is there anypony else that has pokemon?”

Tomas nodded, “Well sort of, Discord had Pokemon.” He hummed, “Then again his team always changed every time we fought, sometimes he’d have a Banette and a Hypno, sometimes he’d come a couple of Litwicks and a Haunter. Though the last time I saw him with Pokemon, he had a Regice, Registeel, and Regirock.”

“The three Regis? Wow. Having three legendaries. That's impressive.”

The rocket nodded, “It was terrifying, he was trying to get Regigigas to obey him as well… didn’t work out too well though.”

“Hmm. Okay, next question. What Displaced have you met?”

“Let’s see… There’s Jason, he has a omnitrix from Ben 10, a Ben Ten displaced, Gilgamesh from Final Fantasy, Nemesis, Sebaste, Sebastian, Wingsaber from Transformers, some prank loving spartan, a bionicle, some merchant displaced, a iron lich, and Dox.” He listed.

“Let's see. Sebaste and Sebastian I met, they were the first Displaced I encountered, as well as Sebaste's sister, Alex, an Ivy Valentine Displaced from Soul Caliber. She was nice enough, though you should've seen the girls’ reaction to her. Hilarious. Speaking of them...there's something I need to tell you and Sarah about them when we get back.”

Tomas raised an eyebrow, “Alright… did something happen to them?” He asked.

“Yeah. Back at Hearth’s Warming Eve a few days ago. I'll explain later. Anyway, two Displaced with an Omnitrix. Wonder if one of them is that “jotun” Sebaste and Sasha mentioned. Never heard of this Gilgamesh guy though, I'll keep an ear out for him. Nemesis….are we talking about that monster from Resident Evil? One of the most terrifying video game monsters next to Pyramid Head?” I asked with a hint of fear.

He chuckled a bit, “Yeah that’s him, he was pretty nice though.”

I stared at him. “You serious?”

He nodded, “Oh yeah, he helped us out when we were in Jason’s world.”

I just looked at him in shocked for a moment before Cece cleared her throat. “Um, who are you talking about?”

I sighed. “You know those Resident Evil movies you used to watch with our mom that always terrified me?”

She nodded and chuckled lightly. “Yeah. I still don't understand why you were so scared all the time. Wasn't that bad.”

“Shut up. Anyway, Nemesis was a monster created by the same maniacs that made the T-Virus, aka the thing that turned people into zombies. He was...hideous, and can easily carry a huge rocket launcher with one hand. He's strong, and almost invincible. I feel sorry for whoever turned into him… Anyway, moving on. I have no idea who the rest are. And who's this Dox guy you mentioned?”

Tomas hummed, “Well Dox… I think he has the abilities of a Dungeon Master…?” He shook his head and shrugged, “I’m not really sure, he just has some magic dice. He’s nice...”

“Something wrong?”

Tomas struggled to come up with the proper words. “Well… I guess nothing is really wrong… it’s just… he’s gotten into a relationship with Arbok…”

My eyes widened a bit when I heard that, when Cece immediately stopped and looked at Tomas in completely shocked. “Woah woah woah. Did you just say that guy's dating a POKEMON? What the heck?”

“Well… It’s not like Pokemon are animals, they are sentient.” He responded a bit nervously, “They just speak a language we can’t understand.”

“Yeah Cece,” I said. “Pokemon are about as intelligent as humans. Some even can communicate completely with humans.”

She looked at me. “How are you so calm about this?”

“I'll explain later,” I said. We walked in silence for about a minute before I realized something. “Hey Tomas, are you able to replicate your token?”

“I can, why?” He asked.

“Can you teach me that? All I got is the original,” I said, pointing at my necklace. “Could come in handy for whenever I summon a Displaced, so we can keep in touch.”

“Well, if I ever want to replicate my tokens, I have Screwball do it for me.” He then took out a small gem, “And if she isn’t around, we do have this gem. It’s full of Chaos magic, a present from Discord when we teamed up. It allows us to do small things, nothing big.” He hummed, “If you want you can have this one to replicate your token, these things aren’t common, but we can still find some in caves.”

I grabbed it and examined the gem. “Thanks. Hopefully I-” immediately stopped, sensing something. “Guys?”

Tomas turned back towards me, taking out a Poke’ball. “What’s wrong?”

I put a hand on my head. “I don't know.” I then just ran off.

“Tito!” Cece yelled before chasing me.

“Hey! Where're you going?!” Tomas yelled out, shocked.

I ran for a few minutes then I suddenly stopped and put my arm up to stop Cece.

“What was that-” she started before I put a hand over her mouth.

“Quiet,” I whispered, before pulling her into a bush with me.

In the clearing in front of us was a small fox like creature. The fox had pale yellow fur, with tufts of dark red fur in the insides of it’s large ears, the end of it’s tail was also red. The small fox laid on the ground, breathing heavily and looking a bit injured.

Our eyes widened when we saw it and Cece stepped out of the bush and walked towards it. Right when she was within arm's reach, a large ball of water appeared from a nearby bush, heading straight towards her.

“Cece!” I yelled before shooting a web at her back and pulling her away before it hit.

Jumping out the bushes was the same Froakie from before. The frog Pokemon glared at us, a couple of items were in its arms. The water type growled at us, standing protectively in front of the Fennekin. “Froak-ie!”

“What's your problem?” Cece yelled at it.

The frog continued to growl at us. “Froakie!” It yelled, creating a ball of water in its hands.

Cece pulled out her hammer. “Bring it on you puny repti-” I then put a hand over her mouth.

“Not helping,” I whispered. I then turned to the Froakie. “We, or most likely just me, don't want any trouble. We just want to help.”

The Froakie shook its head before dispersing the Water Pulse and making a shooing motion with its hands. “Froak!”

Cece then pushed me away and stepped towards them. “I don't care what you want, you stupid little frog. But that thing is hurt and it needs help.”

The water type glared at her, taking out a couple of frubbles from it’s neck. “Froakie!” It cried, threatening to use them again.

Cece chuckled. “Try it. I'm ready this-” she stopped when I webbed her towards me. “Tito! What are you doing?”

“Badmouthing a Pokemon is not a good idea sis. Trust me.”

“But that one needs help!”

“Well we have to think of a better way to help it than trying to start a fight with the Froakie,” I whispered.

Froakie turned away from us, setting down the items it had stole in front of the injured Fennekin. The frog looked through the stolen items, trying to find something it can use. Picking up a random bottle, it opened it and smelled it, grimacing, it tossed the bottle away. Froakie continued to do this several times, even accidentally tossing away a potion. It tried reading the labels of the items before tossing them, it slowly started to become frustrated with itself.

“What’s it doing?” Cece whispered to me.

“Looking for something. But what…” I then looked at the Fennekin again. “Might be trying to help it.”

“You have any idea how to help? I mean, you know quite a lot on Pokemon.”

I scratched my head. “Just because I know about the games doesn't mean the same rules apply here.”

“Tito…”

I sighed and looked at the potion the Froakie threw away and used a web to pull it to me, the Froakie not noticing. I then held the bottle up to Cece. “If I'm right, this should help heal wounded Pokemon. But I don't think the Froakie will let us get close enough to use it.”

“You have an idea to distract it long enough?”

I tossed the potion to her. “Of course. All you have to do is get close to the Fennekin and spray it where the wound is.”

“Okay… What are you going to do?”

I just looked to the Froakie and sighed before shooting a web at it and pulling it towards me and wrapping it in a cocoon.

Cece's eyes widened for a second before walking towards the Fennekin, the Froakie struggling like mad in my arms. When she was in front of it, the Fennekin looked up at her and let out a small whimper of fright. Cece knelt down and saw a large scratch on its chest. She then aimed the potion in front of its chest and sprayed it, the Fennekin wincing and crying out in pain. A couple of moments later, it calmed down and fell asleep. Cece carefully picked it up and walked back to me while I was still trying to stop the Froakie from struggling.

Then a few bushes began to rustle. Turning towards the bush, we all gasped in shock as a Carnivine jumped out of the bushes, an enraged look on it’s face. Seeing the Froakie in my arms, the plant roared, two vines extending out of it’s back and darting towards me.

I just jumped away from the vines, making sure to keep the Froakie in my arms.

The Carnivine growled in frustration. Suddenly, the grass type’s mouth started to glow, rearing it’s head back, it fired a barrage of yellow bolts of energy straight at me.

Oh boy.

I immediately jumped onto a tree branch, dodging the Bullet Seed, and webbed its mouth.

Carnivine struggled to get the web out. Shaking it’s head, it started to spin around in place, leaves from all around the area started circling the grass type. Letting out a muffled shout, the Carnivine let out a Leaf Tornado at me.

Oh come on!

I just put the Froakie on my back and web zipped away, barely dodging the attack.

“HEY!” Cece yelled.

The Carnivine turned to her, only to be hit with her hammer and get sent flying into a tree, knocking out.

“You Pokemon are starting to annoy me!” she said before looking to the Fennekin she put down.

I walked up to her. “Again, nice job sis.”

She nodded before dismissing her hammer and picking up the Fennekin. “So what is this thing anyway?”

“A Fennekin. Basically, a fire fox.”

“Fire fox? Boy, doesn't that bring back memories…” She shook her head before looking at me. “Should we take it to Tomas?”

“Yeah. And when it's okay, I can let this little bugger go,” I said, pointing to the web bag I had, with the Froakie’s head sticking out. “But first, we came here for Carnivine.” I walked up to the grass type, before wrapping it up and putting it on my shoulder. “You know, I just realized, we have all the three basic types here; water, fire, and grass. Weird.”

Just as we were about to leave Tomas had ran out of towards the clearing, clearly out of breath. “Geez… you guys sure can run pretty fast.” He panted. Looking up, his eyes widen when he saw the state of his Pokemon. “Carnivine!” He yelled, running up towards the injured Pokemon, “Oh are you alright? You shouldn’t let your temper take control of you! Just look at the state you’re in!”

“Trust me, Cece could've done worse.”

Tomas only sighed, taking out a pokeball and returning Carnivine to it. “Can’t really be mad at you two, my Carnivine is almost nothing like the one from the anime, mine’s has a bad temper that often gets him into trouble.”

“We noticed,” Cece said. “He attacked Tito just because of the Froakie on his back.”

“Froakie kie,” the Pokemon said, sounding bored.

I sighed. “Hey Tomas, is there anything like a PokéCenter here?”

He shook his head, “No, you could say that the lab back home is only Pokemon Center in our Equestria.”

“Can we use it?”

“Sure.” Tomas answered, “It’s good to see that you caught the Froakie.”

“Not exactly. I just did this so Cece can get close to that Fennekin,” I said, pointing at the fire type in her arms.

Tomas took a step forward, his eyes widening when he saw the fox. “A Fennekin! All we need now is a Chespin and we’ll have the whole set!”

“I know. What are the odds?”

“Guys?” Cece said. “I think we have more important things to worry about right now than finding another Pokemon.”

“Right. So Tomas, can you lead the way?”

He nodded, “This way.” He said, walking back towards the lab, with us close behind. “Hey, why did you run off anyways?”

“I was just following Tito,” Cece said.

I thought for a moment before saying, “Honestly, it's weird to explain. You know about my spider-sense and how it works?”

“Yes, I know.” He said, nodding.

“Well, instead of a warning about something, it's like a beacon, telling me to go somewhere. Happened a few weeks ago in Manehatten. And I ended up seeing a bunch of stallions surround a mare, then I beat them all up and took the mare to the hospital. Anyway, I had that feeling again earlier and, well, ran to it. There, we found that Fennekin, and the Froakie protecting it.”

“Huh, that’s a pretty useful ability you have there.” He commented, “Wish we could do that.”

“I said it before and I'll say it again, that spider-sense is crazy,” Cece stated.

“And I'll say again,” I replied, “this coming from the Displaced who became a pink hedgehog that can summon a giant hammer out of nowhere, and could catch up to Sonic.”

After walking for a few minutes, a thought immediately came to my head. “Hey Tomas? You and Sarah turned into Jessie and James, right?”

He nodded, “Yeah, we did, why?”

“Does that mean there's a Meowth as well?”

Tomas smiled, “Yeah, we have a Meowth, he’s the third member of the group!” He sighed, “Though nowadays he spends his time cooped up in his lab, building mechas we don’t need and making some medical machines we use to treat wild and our Pokemon.”

“Huh. Wait, how would he get the resources for MECHS?”

Tomas frowned, “I… I’m not so sure… he always just manages to build one…” He scratched his head, “Maybe I should ask?”

“Probably.” I then felt something on my head. “Um, what's sitting on top of me?”

Tomas turned towards me, and smiled, “Well it seems like you two get along pretty well. That Froakie you got seems to like you.”

The pressure on my head disappeared and the Froakie sat on my shoulder.

I guess I didn't need to keep it tied up anymore

“Well that explains that,” I said. “Now, as I was saying before I ran off earlier, can you teach me how to use that gem?”

“It’s very simple actually, you just need to think of what you want and concentrate really hard on that object.” He explained. “Easy.”

“So, just think of a replica of my token and that's it?”

Tomas nodded, “Yes, it really is that simple.”

“Huh.” I then saw Cece petting the Fennekin, the fox sleeping silently in her arms.

Tomas smiled, “It seems Fennekin is starting to grow on you.”

Cece looked at him. “What do you mean?”

“Well you seem a lot more calmer with her in your arms, and well… you can see how much Fennekin seems to trust you, it is sleeping in your arms.” He tried to explain.

Cece laughed. “Trust me? I'm sure she only went to sleep becau-” She shook her head. “Wait, how do you know it's a she?”

Tomas merely pointed at her ears, “Female Fennekin’s ears have red ear puffs, while male ones are more of a dark orange. Kinda of a Red-Orange color.”

Cece just looked at me and I just shrugged. I never heard of that, but I guess things are different here.

“Anyway…” Cece said, “she most likely just fell asleep out of exhaustion. When she was asleep, I picked her up, then your plant attacked, and you know how THAT turned out.”

“Still, there is some trust there. Wild Pokemon don’t just let their guard down like that, even if it was exhausted.” He explained.

“I think she had some backup in case something did attack,” I said, pointing at the Froakie on my shoulder.

Tomas shrugged, “If you say so, though just know which one of us is the Pokemon expert here. Playing the games, and living with them are two completely different things.”

“I kinda said the same thing to Cece when we saw that Fennekin. She wanted to help and I mentioned that things may be different. Luckily, potions work here.”

Tomas smirked, puffing out his chest in pride. “Well of course they work, I did help in creating this world’s potions, it’s pretty simple really.”

“Then tell Twilight because I don't want a lecture on how to make something I may never use again,” Cece said.

Tomas crossed his arms in annoyance. “Fine then, it didn’t really matter much anyways, they work better with Pokemon.”

The Froakie and I sighed at them. “Okay. Anymore questions before we get there?”

Cece shook her head. “I'm good.”

Tomas shrugged, “Don’t really have anything to ask.”

“Okay then.” I said.

The three of us continued on our way through the forest, eventually reaching the white broken fence. Stepping over the broken pieces, we made our way through the large garden, several Pokemon turning towards us in curiosity.

“Oh, hold on.” Tomas stopped for a second, reaching into his belt and unclipping all but two of his Poke’balls. “Alright everyone, come on out!” He said, releasing all of his Pokemon. The Pokemon all stretched for a bit before going their separate ways, some of them going together and others joining some of the other Pokemon in the garden. “Alright, now that that’s done, let’s get that Fennekin looked at.”

We nodded, following him back to the house.

“Wonder how Sarah would react with you bringing back the Froakie,” Cece said to me.

“Where is she anyway?” I asked Tomas.

“Probably at the lab with Meowth.” He guessed, walking towards the building next to the house. “We keep the lab separate from the actual house, sensitive equipment and all that.”

“Smart.”

Stopping in front of the building, we noticed a camera placed above the door. Tomas then pulled out a small rectangular object, showing it off to the camera. Suddenly the metal door opened by itself, letting us enter the lab. “Meowth installed the security system here after Twilight tried to break in a while back. Our Porygon helps monitor the cameras.”

“Why would she do that?”

“She was interested in Meowth’s machines.” He stated, a small smile in his face.

“Makes sense,” Cece stated.

Walking through the empty hallway, passing a few closed doors, we eventually reached a large room and gasped in surprise at the large red octopus like machine standing right above us. All over the room, were pieces of machinery scattered around, unfinished and destroyed mechas laid in separate corners of the room. Several large machines and computers we placed around the room.

“How does tech like THIS exist in Equestria?” I asked.

“Meowth makes all this stuff, usually with pieces of machinery he finds in trash cans and in the junkyard. He even uses radio parts with some things.” He scratched his head, “Though for the more complex machines, I have no idea.”

“Man that cat is resourceful.”

He laughed, “Yeah, that he is.” We walked past some of the mechs that were placed near the entrance, each one looking similar to a certain type of Pokemon. Finally moving past the mechs, we saw Sarah, Twilight, and a small white cat standing on two legs talking.

The cat spotted us and frowned, crossing his arms. “Yo Jimmy! Where da heck hav yous been?!” He yelled, “You’ve been gone for hours!”

Tomas nervously smiled, “I was chasing after Carnivine. He was chasing after that Froakie that broke in.”

Meowth scoffed, “And it takes that long to find that big mouth?!” He turned away, not paying much attention to us. “Anyways, I took a look at that Beedrill you brought in. She’s pretty beat up, but she’ll live. Those stingers are going to be a pain to fix! I’m not even sure if I can fix them.”

I lowered my head when I heard that.

“Can’t you do anything?” Tomas asked.

“You’re asking for a miracle here bud!” Meowth said, “I thought about replacing her stingers with mechanical ones, but then I thought, ‘Hey, what’s the point of wasting perfectly good parts on a wild Pokemon?’. Besides, from what she told me, she doesn’t really want her stingers, said what’s the point of having them when her swarm left her to die, she couldn’t protect her hive from intruders and failed her queen, she no longer sees the point even living!” The cat said, yelling at the end. He frowned and scratched his head, “We might as well release her back to the wild, not much I can do for a patient who doesn’t even want my help.”

“Wow,” Cece said. “And I thought Sebaste was depressing.”

Meowth turned towards Cece with a raised eyebrow, “This ain’t a game kiddo. This is real life, and she’s a bug, you have any idea how complex a bug society works? They devote their lives to their queen/mother, if they can’t fulfill their duties, then what’s the point of living? You’re just taking up space and wasting resources.”

“And that's why I prefer mammals, at least they're easy to understand,” I heard her mutter, scratching the Fennekin behind the ears.

Meowth’s eyes widen at the sight of the sleeping fire type. “A Fennekin?! Where did she come from?!”

“We found her in a clearing a while away from here, wounded, with that Froakie protecting her,” she said, pointing at the Froakie. “After I sprayed her with a potion, she fell asleep and we brought her here for help.”

Meowth’s eyes narrowed when he spotted the wound, “Well it looks like the wound has mostly healed, she just needs some bandages and lay off for a bit. The wound will heal naturally, she should be good to go by tomorrow.” He hummed, walking to the nearest table. Kicking all the machinery out of the table, he made sure it was completely clear. “Set it down so I can take a closer look.”

Cece walked to the table and carefully put the Fennekin on.

Walking up next to the sleeping fox, he carefully turned her a bit, narrowing his eyes at the wound. Turning towards the roof, he began to yell, “PORYGON! BRING ME MY MEDICAL STUFF!” A ‘ding’ was then heard, after a second or two a pink and blue bird suddenly appeared in front of. The Porygon tossed a small white box at the table and disappeared.

Just then we all turned towards the fox, hearing a small yawn. She opened her eyes, and after seeing Meowth, let out a small whimper. Cece immediately started petting her, and she began to calm down after looking at Cece.

“I guess you were right about her trusting Cece,” I whispered to Tomas.

Meowth opened the white box, taking out a small brown bottle and a white piece of cotton. Grabbing the two items he walked towards the fox and sat down next to it. “This is going to sting a little, but trust me, it’ll stop any infections from happening.” He warned, letting a drop of the liquid from the bottle hit the cotton. He began to softly dab the Fennekin’s wound with the cotton, the fox let out a small howl from the pain.

“It's okay,” I heard Cece whisper to her.

Meowth stood up and grabbed a bandage roller from the box. The cat scratch Pokemon began to wrap the bandage around the Fennekin’s body. “And that should do it! Just don’t be doing anything crazy and the wound should heal by tomorrow! After all, we Pokemon are pretty quick when it comes to healing from injuries! Unlike those fragile humans and animals!” He let out a laugh at his quip, not noticing how he was the only one laughing.

“You wanna see fragile?” Cece asked, putting a hand to her back, but I grabbed her arm before she could get her hammer.

“Not now,” I said. I then turned to the others. “Now that that's over with, I believe there's something we need to tell you about Sebaste and Sebastian.”

Sarah’s eyes widen in surprise, “Did something happen to them?” She asked.

“Yeah. Is there someplace better that we can discuss it?”

Sarah nodded, “Yeah, I guess the house is the best place to talk.”

We followed Sarah out of the lab, passing by a large mushroom sleeping next to the building. Along the way, I walked up to Sarah and pulled out the Fast Ball before tossing it to her. “I believe that's yours?”

Catching the ball, she gave me a confused look, “But what about that Froakie? Isn’t it yours?”

“Not really. I think it's only sticking around for the Fennekin.”

She raised an eyebrow, “Well… if you say so I guess? You don’t want to keep the ball, maybe catch Froakie?”

“I doubt it'd want that.”

Sarah gave a small smile, “Well if you say so, though you should probably ask how he feels before coming to a conclusion.” She said, pocketing the ball away.

I just nodded and walked into the house. We stopped walking when we reached the living room, the rockets all took a seat in the large couch, waiting for me to say what I needed to say.

“So, how to explain this…” I said. “I guess I should try to explain what happened from the beginning. A few days ago, I summoned them, and Sebaste's sister Alex, for a Hearth’s Warming party Twilight was having. It went okay, we put up decorations, caught up, introduced them to Cece. Then, around the end of the day...that's when something happened to them…”

Meowth tilted his head curiously, “What happened? Must’ve been something big if you didn’t want to say it at the lab.”

Cece shrugged. “It's more comfortable here anyway.”

I just sighed. “You wouldn't believe this, but they just disappeared in front of us in a flash of light. Before any of us can process it, some guy in armor appeared out of nowhere and called himself their author.”

“He pretty much said that he rebooted them and that they were now in a different Equestria, Alex and Sasha would have memories of us, but “blocked” or something.”

“Sebaste on the other hand? He's no more.”

Tomas bolted straight out of his seat, staring at me, wide eyed. “What?!” He yelled in shock, “He’s dead?!”

“Not exactly…”

Cece spoke again. “He's been replaced. If that guy is serious about the whole author thing, it practically means he erased Sebaste and put someone else instead.”

I nodded. “The author told us to tell anyone who knew them about what happened, and they mentioned you guys a couple of times.”

“I see…” Tomas sat back down on the couch, “So… Sebaste is gone for good then? There isn’t a way to bring him back or at least have his replacement remember us?”

“No. There isn't. You see why I thought explaining it here was a better idea now?”

He nodded, “Yeah… Just wish there was a way we could help.”

“So do we…”

Cece then got up. “Okay, enough of this.”

“What do you mean?” Sarah said, giving Cece a confused look.

“I understand that you guys were close to those guys and all, but they aren't dead for crying out loud. Sure Sebaste may be gone, but look at it this way. Better to have called him a friend and have him go peacefully than him having to live through the hell the others may be in. And at least they're still around.”

“I suppose that’s true…” Tomas sighed, “I just hope they’re happier now than they were before.”

“Hopefully,” I said.

Tomas’ eyes narrowed, he looked around before turning to me a bit confused, “Hey, where did those two Pokemon you brought with you go?”

I looked around and noticed they were gone. I sighed and said, “Must've went back to the woods.”

Tomas sighed, scratching his head, “Meowth’s gone too… he probably went to make sure they went back home safely.” He guessed, getting up from his seat. “It’s getting late,” He said, looking at the grandfather clock in the room, “You probably want to go home now.”

I shrugged. “I guess you're right. But...before we go, can you do me a favor?”

Tomas nodded, “Sure, what is it?”

I pulled out my phone. “Can I take a picture of you guys?”

Tomas blinked, smiling, he nodded, “Sure. Do you want us to include our Pokemon in this?”

“Sure.”

“Can we be in the picture too?” Screwball asked, poking her head from behind the couch, a Gulpin sleeping peacefully on top of her head.

I shrugged. “Go ahead. No trouble this time.”

The pink filly smiled widely, “Don’t worry! I’ll be sure to keep my chaos to a minimum.” She said, giving a small salute.

“Okay then.”

Sarah clapped her hands, “Great! Let’s go to the garden! I’ll be sure to let the others know!”

I nodded and followed Sarah back outside to the backyard. Sarah smiled and waved over to the Pokemon. Upon seeing the rocket, over half of the Pokemon darted towards her, all of them crowding around her. Sarah laughed, petting some of the Pokemon. “Alright settle down,” Her eyes narrowed a bit, “Hey… where’s Arbok?” She asked, looking around the garden.

Screwball laughed nervously, taking out the cobra’s Poke’ball. “I might’ve borrowed her for a bit… you know! Just in case I ever got into trouble, she can bail me out!”

“Or sick it on me,” Cece said, crossing her arms.

Sarah’s eyes widen, “She did what?!” She yelled, glaring at Screwball.

“She didn't tell you? She sent that thing at me and used some weird bear thing to make me unable to fight back.”

Screwball paled, beginning to tremble a bit in fear. “B-but… they started it…” She whimpered.

“You're the one who threw a Pokemon at my brother.”

“But he insulted me! And sullied my pride!” The filly yelled.

“Okay, I'm sorry about insulting you,” I said. “I didn't mean to. As for your pride, trust me kid, it could've been worse.”

Sarah walked up to Screwball, snatched the Pokeball, and sighed. “Oh Screwy, what am I going to do with you.” She gave the filly a glare, “Screwball, you’re grounded for two weeks and you’re going to be spending the weekends at Sweet Apple Acres helping Applejack.”

The pink filly’s jaw dropped as she stared at her mother in horror, “T-two weeks?”

“You’re lucky I don’t make it a whole month.” Sarah hissed, turning away to release Arbok from her Poke’ball. “And Arbok! You should know better to just blindly follow Screwball’s orders!” She said, scolding her Pokemon. The snake only looked down, avoiding eye contact.

“Okay…” I said. “Never thought I'd see someone scare a large cobra before. Then again, I'm a guy who can shoot webs out of my hands and has a sister who's a hedgehog so that's not the craziest thing that happened to me.”

Sarah turned away from the two she was scolding, giving us a sheepish smile. “I’m really sorry for what happened to you three in the Everfree!”

“Like I said to Tomas, I'll forget it this time.”

“Still! There has to be someway I can make it up to you!”

Twilight then said, “Well, how about a book on Pokemon? And maybe the seeds to those fruit Tomas gave us earlier? They can help quite a few ponies.”

She smiled, “Of course! We can afford to give up a few supplies.” She took out a Poke’ball from her belt. “Oh Wobbuffet!” Tossing the ball, a large blue blob appeared, a black tail with eyes was attached to it’s back.

The blue blob saluted, “Wobbuffet!” He yelled, smiling widely.

“Wobbuffet, can you go to the lab and get me a few Oran berry seeds?” She asked, “Oh, and Starswirl’s old journal on Pokemon?” The Pokemon nodded, waddling towards the lab.

“What was that?” Twilight asked. “Wait, did you say STARSWIRL’S journal?”

Sarah nodded, “Yeah, back then Pokemon were an undocumented species, no one but us knew what they are or even what they were capable off. We helped him study the Pokemon and even helped write that journal.” She explained, “In a way, that journal is kinda of a prototype of the Pokedex we have today.”

I shrugged. “As long as that journal doesn't have a spell that'll mess up the lives of Twilight’s friends, again, I'm okay with that.”

Twilight chuckled. “Agreed.”

Cece looked at us in confusion. “Um, what're you talking about?”

“Season 3 finale. Long story short, it's the event that led to Twilight getting her wings and becoming a princess. I'll explain more later. As for that Pokemon, Twilight, that was a Wobbuffet. The punching bag of Team Rocket. Seriously, its main method of attack is getting hit and sending it back on the attacker.”

“Wobbuffet is not a punching bag.” Sarah said, crossing her arms, “He just… he's a very patient pokemon!”

“Whatever you say Sarah.”

She huffed, “I'll have you know that Wobbuffet is great pokemon!”

I shrugged. “Of course he is. It IS able to survive quite a lot, and the loyalty it has is good too.”

Hearing a familiar cry, we turned around to see the Wobbuffet running back with large book and a small bag of seeds in its hands. “Wobbuffet!” The psychic type yelled, presenting the items to us.

I grabbed them and and put them in a makeshift web bag and tossed to Twilight. She then looked to Sarah. “What exactly is in THIS journal?”

Sarah hummed, “Well it’s basically everything you’ll ever need to know about Pokemon! Diet, Pokemon types, berries, IVs, natures, behavior, habitats, species, medicine and a bunch of other useful things.” She informed, finishing listing off the contents of the book.

Twilight’s eyes sparkled when she heard that and she squeed.

“What the heck was that?” Cece asked, looking around.

“That, Cece, was a squee,” I said. “Get used to it. These ponies seem to do it whenever they're happy.”

Sarah chuckled, “Yeah, it’s pretty cute in my opinion.”

“Sounds like a chew toy to me,” Cece said, crossing her arms and shrugging.

Twilight, not paying attention to what Cece said, pulled the book out and looking through it until she stopped at a certain page. “Potions? What does that have to with these things?”

“Potions are basically medicines for Pokemon, they’re able to heal almost anything. Like a stronger version of Oran Berries.” She said.

“Hmm. Interesting. Huh? What's this?”

“What you find Twi?” I asked.

“It's something about the Pokemon you had with you.”

“Really?”

She nodded. “It says that the white thing on its neck are-”

“Frubbles,” I finished. “Yeah, and it can grab parts of it and throw at opponents. Basically, it's similar to my webbing, except not as strong.”

“Hey guys!” We all turned towards the source of the yell, and saw Tomas struggling to walk towards us, a large yellow plant was clamped onto his head, while a small crown wearing cactus clinged onto his leg, and the Carnivine from before had its body wrapped around him. Behind them were a few more Pokemon. “Everyone’s here now!” He looked around, “Well everyone but Meowth and Porygon.”

“You okay there dude?” I asked. “That looks painful.”

He blinked a bit before giving us a smile, “Oh don’t worry! You get used to it after awhile!” Tomas gave a small chuckle. “This is just how carnivorous plant Pokemon show affection!”

“Okay then… So where's Meowth?”

“Me-owth is right over here!” The small cat scratch Pokemon said, jumping onto Sarah’s shoulder. The normal type grinned widely, “Yous two should feel grateful for what I just did for yas! Theys wouldn’t stop bugging me until I did it for them! So just be sure to treat them right got it?”

“What're you talking about?”

Meowth only laughed, “Oh nothing! You’ll find out soon enough!”

I just looked at him in confusion before shrugging. “Okay then… So, you guys ready?”

Everyone nodded, “Yes we’re ready! I heard from Wobs that we’re taking a group photo!” Meowth said, resting his chin on Sarah’s head.

“Okay then. Just line up in a row please.”

The rockets nodded, instructing their Pokemon to line up, the smaller Pokemon stood in the front while the biggest were in the back. Sarah turned back towards us, standing next to Wobbuffet and Tomas. “Something like this?”

“Yeah.” I then pulled out my phone, turned on the camera and pointed it at them. “Ready?” They all nodded, the smaller Pokemon looking a bit anxious. “Okay. Say “Rocket”.” I then took the picture. “There we go. Anything else to do before we leave?”

Sarah shook her head, before looking a bit past us, “No… though they look like they have something for you.” She said, pointing behind me.

“What are you talking abo-” I immediately stopped when I felt my spider-sense tingling and I reached behind myself and caught something. When I looked at my hand, I noticed I caught a pokeball. “What the-”

“Froakie.”

I looked down and saw the Froakie from earlier staring at me. “You threw this?” It nodded. “Why?”

I heard Meowth sighed, “Boy, you guys sure are dense aren’t cha?” The cat jumped down and walked in front of the two other Pokemon.

“And what do you mean by that?” I asked.

He gave me a flat expression before turning towards the Froakie, “Yous sure you want these guys? Heck my humans gots more brains.” The frog croaked, responding to Meowth’s comment. “If you say so.” The normal type shrugged, turning back towards me. “Basically, yous made quite the impression on this mon and he wants to come home with you! The same with the Fennekin, only she wants to go with your sister.”

I looked to Cece and saw the Fennekin rolling a pokeball to her before she picked it up. I then looked at the Froakie. “So you two wanna come home with us?” They both nodded. I then crouched down to one knee and held up the pokeball in my hand up to it. It smiled before tapping the button and getting sucked in. The pokeball shook for a couple of times before it flashed a small light.

Well, looks like I caught myself a Froakie. This would be fun.

I looked back at Cece and noticed the same for her. I smiled behind my mask and looked to Tomas and Sarah. “Looks like we have two new companions.”

Sarah clapped her hands, a huge smile on her face. “That’s wonderful!”

Tomas smirked a bit, “I knew those two trusted you, but to actually let you catch them is still surprising.”

Sarah hummed in thought, “Say, are any of you two going to give them nicknames?” She asked.

I thought for a moment and nodded. “Yeah. Never really liked that whole thing about naming them after their species. Just seems confusing to me.” I shrunk the pokeball down and put it in my pocket.

Cece looked at her pokeball. “What to name it though?”

I chuckled. “I have a certain idea in mind, but let's wait til we're back home.” Then a thought came to me. “Hey Tomas, I just thought of something.”

“Yeah?”

I pulled out the gem that he gave me earlier. “You said I couldn't do anything big with this right?”

He nodded, “Nothing too big, just things small enough to fit in a bag or in your pockets.”

“What about food like cookies or Poképuffs?”

Tomas hummed in thought, “Well it could make them, but it won't be as good as the real ones.”

“Okay then. Well, I believe that's everything. I guess it's time to go.”

The rocket smiled, “Well feel free to call us anytime, or if you feel the need to visit I’m sure your world’s Discord can take you here.” His eyes widen a bit, “Oh and before I forget, please be sure to call us when your Froakie and Fennekin evolve! It's nothing too serious, we just need to make sure everything turned out well in the evolution process. You never know what can happen.”

“Will do. And if you ever want someone to talk to or need help, just toss that medallion.”

Tomas nodded, “We’ll be sure to do so. So… I think it went like this? Our contract is complete…?”

A portal opened behind me. Cece walked to it and examined it. “So we just walk through? Well, better than how we got here.” She turned to the others. “Nice meeting you guys. Oh, and Screwball? Try working on that attitude problem of yours.” She then jumped through the portal before Screwball could say anything.

The pink filly huffed, “I do not have an attitude!” The green blob on her head yawned.

“Sure you don't, Screwy,” I said sarcastically.

Twilight walked up to the portal before turning back. “Well, this has definitely an interesting experience. I hope you have a nice time and that we can meet again.” She then jumped through the portal.

Before I went through the portal, I walked to Tomas, took off my mask, and held out my hand. “Nice meeting you guys. I hope you have the best of luck with what you have planned.”

Tomas smiled and shook my hand, “Thanks, and good luck with your Equestria, from what I know there’s never going to be a dull moment.”

“You got that right.” I then walked to the portal. “Good luck with the Mane Six and the Sisters.” I then jumped through the portal and landed in the throne room.

“Well, that was something,” Cece said. “Fighting giant bees, helping a fire fox, and catching it. Anyway, I just toss this and she comes out, right?”

“Yeah, though you don't have to throw it.” I pulled out my pokeball, expanded it, and opened it, releasing the Froakie from inside. “See? Simple,” I said to my sister.

“Okay then.” She then did the same thing, releasing her Fennekin. She then looked at me. “So, you mentioned something about having a name for her?”

I nodded. “Nothing special. Just thought her name can be...Emily.”

She looked at the Fennekin for a moment before speaking up again. “Okay then.” She then picked her up. “I guess your name is now Emily.”

“Fen,” Emily said, smiling.

Cece then looked at me and my Froakie. “So what are you going to name yours?”

I thought for a moment, remembering that Meowth said it was male. I then looked to him and fell to one knee again. “How does the name Michael sound to you?”

He smiled and simply said, “Froakie,” with a nod.

I stood back up. “Great.” He then climbed onto my shoulder. I looked to Twilight and said, “You don't mind all this, do you Twi?”

She shook her head. “As long as they don't destroy anything and behave themselves, I'm perfectly fine with it.”

“Perfect.” I then looked at the time and saw it was 9:38pm. “Well, I guess it's time for bed. See ya tomorrow,” I said, walking to my room with Michael.

Author's Note

Well, it's finally done. This was a crossover with my friend Star and her story Prepare For Trouble and Make It Double. Sorry for the long wait, but there was a lot of delays on this one. Anyway, Tito, as well as Twilight and Cece, have now travel to another Equestria for the first time. Not to mention that Cece and Tito now have a Pokemon each. Don't expect them to fully evolve anytime soon though, it'll be a little while before that happens. Also, the next chapter should be done in a few days at most, so you don't have to wait long. Oh, and I found out how to do hyperlinks now. Well, that's all for now. Until next time. Oh, and one more thing. Tito'll now take pictures of any Displaced he meets as memoirs.
-Dark

15. Going Through the Mirror

I was just laying on my bed with Michael, watching some Bronies React, when Cece walked into my room, her Fennekin close behind.

“I need you to watch Emily for a bit,” she said.

“What? Why?”

“I don't think it'll be a good idea to bring a Fennekin to public place, and I don't know when I'll be able to let her out.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I'm going through that portal in a bit, and I don't want to anyone freaking out about a Pokemon walking around.”

“Just put her in her Pokeball then.”

“I don't want her to be in that for so long.”

“I'm not watching YOUR Pokemon.”

She then picked Emily up and held her up to me. “How can you say no to this face?” Emily then lowered her ears and gave me those puppy dog eyes.

Damn it. Why does Fennekin have to be so cute?

I sighed. “Fine.”

Emily immediately perked up and let out a small yip. Cece then put her down and tossed me her pokeball. “Knew you couldn't resist.” She then walked to the door before looking back at me. “Bring her with you when you go through.”

“What makes you think I'm going?”

“Come on Tito. It's a chance to be with humans again and not be seen as freaks. Unless they know about our...abilities, but I doubt that’d happen.”

I sighed. “Fine, you got me. Wait, how can we meet up? We don't know where anything in that dimension is.”

Cece just pulled out her phone. “Just text me whenever you go through. Though, I don't think what you're wearing would fit in as well.”

I smiled. “Not a problem. Check this out.” I walked to my dresser, before opening one of the drawers, pulling out a pile of folded clothes and putting it on the bed.

“When did you get those?”

“Hearth’s Warming present from Rarity. She said it was for when I stop hiding and if I ever wanted to wear anything more modern.” The new clothes were a pair of dark jeans, a blue shirt, and a black jacket with a blue spider emblem in the back.

“Not bad. I guess I should change into my new clothes too. Now, before I go, what can you tell me about this place? All I know is that everypony we know has a human counterpart there.”

“Well, just about everyone we know is in high school, with Celestia and Luna being the principal and vice principal respectively. I don't think you need to know much else. Oh, and there is one person there who's from here.”

“Really? Who?”

“Sunset Shimmer. That journal you found? It's Twilight’s way of contacting her from here. She used to be Celestia’s student, but when she didn't become an alicorn, she ran off and stumbled onto the human world and practically became a dictator of the whole school.”

“Sounds like someone I'd want a few words with.”

“Not necessary. Not long after Twilight became a princess, the portal opened up again and Sunset came back to steal her crown. Long story short, her crown had a powerful gem on it at the time, and Sunset wanted it. Three days later, Sunset took it again, became a literal monster, and was beat/turned back thanks to Twilight and the human version of her friends. Afterwards, Twilight convinced Sunset to try to make up for all she's done and try to make friends, starting with Twilight’s.”

“That's it?”

I shook my head. “A...while later, never said when exactly, three girls came to the high school and caused everyone to fight each other. Finding out they were using magic, Sunset used her journal to contact Twilight. Then Twilight used hers to open the portal, get there, and tried to help. Long story short, they won thanks to Sunset and everyone forgave her for her past actions.” I hesitated for a moment. “There IS at least one more thing I know about, but all you need to know is that the Twilight and Spike of that world are now a part of their group.”

“So what does she look like?”

“Just look for a girl with hair like fire. That's all you need to know.”

“Okay. Anything else I should know?”

I opened my mouth, but closed it, thinking I should leave that last part a secret. “Not really. But you should ask them if you can see them play a few songs. You might be surprised. Oh, and can you not tell them I'm coming?”

“Okay… Well, I'll see all of you later.” She then petted her Fennekin. “Take care, Emily.” And with that, she left.

“Wonder how she'd react to the the whole “pony up” thing. Awe well. I'll find out later.” Emily then jumped onto my bed and layed down next to Mike.

Now just to rest and relax until I go.

I then suddenly felt a familiar pulling feeling before I started falling through a portal.

(Cece's POV, 30 minutes later)

I walked into the throne room, havIng changed to my new clothes, and saw Twilight sitting in her throne, writing in that journal I found the other day.

“Oh, hi Cece,” she said when she saw me. “Are you ready?” I nodded. “Then come with me.” She got up and walked out, with me close behind. We walked around the castle for a couple minutes, until we went into a room with a mirror in the center. Twilight walked to it and turned to me. “Well this is it.”

I walked up to it and look at my reflection. I was wearing my usual cloak along with a red and white jacket with a red shirt and white pants, as well as a red scarf around my neck like Tito. Except when his is to hide his face, mines is more for the cold.

I looked to Twilight. “You sure?”

“Positive. I went through it a few times myself after all.”

“So, what? I just walk through it?”

She nodded. “I informed Sunset to come find you. You should be fine with her and the others.”

“Okay…” I placed my hand on the mirror, and it suddenly rippled, like water. I pulled my hand back and took a step back. “Okay, that's weird.” I just shook my head then ran through it.

I immediately fell onto my knees on pavement. I lifted myself up and looked around. A few yards ahead of my was a huge two story building, and behind me was some statue.

This must be that high school Tito was talking about.

I then looked at myself and noticed I didn't have fur anymore. I then pulled out my phone, lowered my hood, and looked at my reflection. I looked just like I used to before I was Displaced, mostly. My eyes were still green, and my hair was still pink and looked like Amy’s, but besides that, I looked like myself again.

“HA, I knew it'd work. In your face, Twilight,” I said.

“Well you seem happy,” I heard someone say behind me.

I turned around and I saw a girl in a thin orange coat, with tan skin, green eyes, and red and yellow hair that looked like flames.

And this must be the girl he told me about.

She walked to me and smiled. “I take it you're who Princess Twilight told me to look for?” I nodded and she stuck her hand out. “Nice to meet you. I'm Sunset.”

I hesitated for a moment before taking her hand and shaking it. “Cece. So, where are we exactly?”

“Well, right now we're in front of Canterlot High. Though, it's closed until next semester.”

“Okay then. Makes sense.”

“Come on, I'll introduce you to some of my friends.” She then started walking away, with me following her, putting my scarf up and putting on my hood.

“So, I heard that your friends are...similar to some ponies I know.”

She chuckled. “Yeah. You can say that. So, how did you find out about the portal?”

“I found that journal Twilight has and someone told me to give it to her. When I did, they explained to me about the portal and this world, and I got curious.”

She nodded and we walked for a little while until we reached a small shop. I looked at the sign and saw it was called “Sugar Cube Corner”.

Huh. So there's a Sugar Cube here as well. Wait, does that me I'll run into-

“Hi Sunset,” a familiar voice said, before Pinkie Pie suddenly showed up. Looking at her, she was almost as pink here as she is in Equestria. When she saw me, she gasped. “Who are you? Are you new here? Are you a friend of Sunset’s? Do you-” I immediately put a hand over her mouth.

“Listen Pinkie, can you stop? I'll talk about myself in a bit, but I don't think berating me with questions is a good idea. And no, I don't want a party. At all.” I then took my out away from her and she sighed.

“Okay.” Then she blinked. “Wait, how did you know my name? Are you psychic?”

“No, but if I was, I wouldn't try to read your mind.”

Lord knows how crazy that is.

“Okay. So, can I get you anything?”

“I'll have a hot chocolate,” Sunset said.

“I would have that, but I don't have any money,” I said, taking off my hood and scarf.

“Make that two Pinkie. On me. Come on Cece.” We walked to a table, where I saw what was obviously the human version of the rest of them. The crazy thing was, their skin was the same color as the fur their pony versions had. Well, Applejack actually looked human, and Rarity was still white as snow, but the rest looked like they had some weird skin condition. And this version of Twilight had on glasses and a dog that looked just like Spike.

The resemblance is insane.

Rainbow looked to me and Sunset. “Hey Sunset. Who's this?”

“Name's Cece, Skittles.”

She sighed and facepalmed. “Why does everyone call me that? My name isn't Skittles. It's-”

“Rainbow Dash. Yeah I know, but I like Skittles more,” I said, sitting down on a chair.

Her eyes widened. “How do you know my name?”

“Same as how I know the rest of you.”

They all looked at me surprised and then looked at Sunset. She sighed and said, “She's from Equestria, and a friend of Princess Twilight’s, so she most likely knows the pony version of all of you.”

“Ooooohhh,” they said in unison.

Pinkie then came back and gave me and Sunset our hot chocolate before sitting down. Applejack then look to me and said, “So you're a pony from Equestria huh?”

“Not really.”

That caused all of them to look at me in confusion. “What do you mean “not really”?”

“I mean I'm not a pony, and I'm not FROM Equestria.”

“Then what are you?” Rainbow asked.

I shrugged. “Same thing I am now. A human.”

“Wait what?”

I sighed. “Look, you want the details, you'll have to wait until later. But the short version is that I was once human, but then I ran into someone, and he sent me to Equestria as a video game character.”

“What kind of video game character?” Pinkie asked.

“Ever heard of Amy Rose?”

“From Sonic? Yeah,” Rainbow said. “Wait, you turned into her? Ha, that's pretty funny.”

I growled at her. “You think it's funny turning into a pink hedgehog and being pulled from your home to a completely different universe with no way back!” I yelled, causing a lot of people in the place to look at me in confusion. I lifted my hood and lowered my head. “Sorry, but that's a VERY touchy subject for me.”

They just stay silent for a moment before Fluttershy, of all people, spoke up. “What do you mean you have no way back?”

“I mean that whatever that stupid Merchant did, it's a one way trip to Equestria with no way of going back to my dimension.”

“Can't you just try to find your way home here?” Twilight asked.

I shook my head. “I don't have one here. This is entirely different Earth than mine.” When they looked at me with either surprise or shock, I held a hand up. “Again, if you want the details, you're going to have to wait until later. Until then, any questions that DOESN’T involve how I got to Equestria or about where I'm from?”

“Oh, can you do the stuff Amy can do?” Pinkie asked.

I smiled. “Yeah. Watch.” I then clapped my hands together and disappeared in front of them.

“W-what? Where'd she go?” Twilight asked while they all looked around. I just laughed as I became visible again.

“How did you do that?” Sunset said.

I shrugged. “Some guy I met yesterday told me about some power Amy had in a game called...Sonic 6?”

“I think you mean 06,” Pinkie said.

Rainbow groaned. “Don't talk about that game.”

“Is that game really that bad?” I asked.

“You have no idea.”

“Okay...anyway, I can also run pretty fast and and I'm pretty strong. Oh, and I can do one more thing, but I rather not do THAT here.”

“Can you pull stuff out of nowhere too?” Pinkie said.

“I can do that with my hammer.”

“Anything else? They do that a lot in those games.”

I shrugged again. “Never really tried. I wonder…”

Rainbow then got up. “You said you're fast right? Let's see how fast you are.”

“What do you mean?”

“A race, you and me. Once around the block.”

I thought about it and shrugged. “Sure.” I got up, put up my scarf, and followed her outside.

When we got to the front of the building, she pointed down the street. “Like I said, once around the block, first back here wins. Got it?” I nodded. “Great. On three. One. Two. Three!” And with that, we both ran down the block.

We were neck and neck at first, but after a minute, I easily passed her. I just ran all the way around in about two more minutes. Rainbow’s friends just stared at me in surprise. While I was waiting for Rainbow, I got my hot chocolate back from Sunset and checked my phone. After another three minutes, Rainbow finally got back, completely out of breath.

“Now you know how fast I am,” I said.

“Yeah...I do,” she said between pants.

After she was better, I remembered what Tito told me. “Hey, I heard you guys play music. Care to play something?”

Rainbow chuckled at that. “Sure. Follow me.” We then started walking down the street.

“So where are we going?”

“The concert hall. It's the best place to show you what we can do.”

“Okay…” I just went it and followed them.

(Dark’s POV)

I landed in my room from the portal and was about to get my new clothes when I heard someone from the other side of the portal.

"Don't forget to give Rainbow a kiss, loverboy."

“Screw you Aurora,” I said before I shot a web through the portal.

When it closed, I just sighed and put on hand on my forehead. “Ashur’s right. Cece must never meet her.” I just shook my head and took off my cloak. I then changed into my new clothes and grabbed Mike’s and Emily’s pokeballs and pointed at them. “Okay you two, return.” The pokeballs shot a red beam at them and they were sucked into their pokeballs. I then shrank them down and put them in my pocket before grabbing my backpack and leaving my room.

I found Twilight in the dining room, eating small salad. When she saw me, she said, “Oh, hi Dark. What's with the new clothes?”

“I was thinking about going through the portal and this is better to fit in than my usual clothes.”

“Oh, okay. Come with me then,” she said as she got up and walked away, leading me to the room with the mirror in it. I walked to the mirror and looked at myself when Twilight spoke up. “I'll go get my journal and let Sunset know to keep an eye out for you,” she said as she began to leave.

“Actually, don't,” I said. “I want it to be a surprise for them.”

“Okay… Anyway, when you come back, find me. I need to talk to you and Cece about something.”

“Okay Twilight. See ya later,” I said before running through the portal and landing in front of CHS. I looked around and nodded to myself. I then pulled out my phone and texted Cece.

I’m here. Where are you?

About a minute later, I got her reply.

Some concert hall.

Concert hall? What concert hall? Wait, is she talking about that place in Rainbow Rocks? Well I guess I'm heading there.

I put away my phone, put on ‘20 Percent Cooler’ and ran off, using my spider-sense to guide me.

(Cece's POV)

I put away my phone and continued watching the girls, the “Rainbooms” according to Dash, set up instruments. When they were finished, about six minutes later, Twilight came down from the stage with Spike and stood by me.

“Okay, ready to have your mind blown?” Rainbow asked.

I just shrugged. They then began playing a song. It was pretty good, but when they started glowing, getting pony ears and growing ponytails, Rainbow and Fluttershy getting wings as well, that's when it got weird. When they finished playing, those things vanished.

Rainbow looked at me with a smirk. “Impressed?”

“Admittedly, yes,” I said as I climbed onto the stage. “I'm actually surprised.”

“I knew that'd surprised you,” someone said. While everyone was looking around, Tito fell from the ceiling in front of the Rainbooms, facing me. “Hey Cece. Glad to see you looking like your old self.”

“Mostly.” I pulled down my hood, revealing my hair.

“Oh. Well, still better than being a hedgehog, right?”

I nodded as everyone else just stared at us in confusion. “Um, excuse me, but who are you?” Rainbow asked.

Tito turned towards them. “Sorry. I almost forgot I asked no one to tell you about me.” He took off his hood. “Name’s Tito. I'm Cece older brother. Oh, before I forget…” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small ball. He pressed a button on tossed it at me. When I caught it, I saw it was my pokeball.

“So you did bring her,” I said.

“Well you told me to, and I didn't want them to be alone in that huge castle. You can let her out. I'm not picking up anyone else around here.”

I nodded before opening it, letting out my Fennekin. She let out a small yip, when a yellow blur came by. Next thing I know, Fluttershy is hugging Emily.

“Oh she is just adorable. What is it?” She asked.

I blinked. “Um, that's Emily. She's my Fennekin. And can I have her back please?”

“Oh, right. Sorry.” She put Emily down and backed up, blushing softly.

“Um, are we just going to ignore the fact that Cece has a brother that just came from the ceiling?” Twilight asked.

We looked back at Tito as he was putting his pokeball in his pocket, Mike on his shoulder. When he noticed we were all looking at him, he said, “What?”

Sunset just shook her head before she walked up to him. “We should introduce ourselves.” She held her hand out. “I'm-”

“Sunset Shimmer,” he said, grabbing her hand and shaking it. “I know about you, where you're from, and about your achievements. Speaking of which, nice job fixing the mess at the Friendship Games.”

“Um...thanks?”

“Wait, how do you know about that?” Rainbow asked.

“Same way I know about the Fall Formal and the Battle of the Bands that ended here,” he said. “I also know that you and Pinkie tried to spy on the ShadowBolts. That was funny,” he finished with a chuckle.

“What? Have you been spying on us?” Applejack said.

“No. I don't need to.”

“Okay, I'm starting to get confused,” Twilight said.

“Want me to explain?”

“While you're at it, you should tell them a bit about Displaced,” I told him.

He nodded before putting Mike down. He then jumped up, shooting a few webs at the wall and landing in a makeshift hammock, swinging in front of us. “Okay, I'm ready now.”

“How...how did you do that?” Twilight asked.

Tito smiled. “I can do a lot of things. Now, I know you all have questions, so just ask. I know everything I need to about you.”

“Okay,” Sunset said. “First off, how did you do that? And is it connected to what Cece said about turning into Amy Rose?”

“She told you that? Huh. Okay, sit tight because this is a pretty long story.”

(Dark’s POV, 2 hour later)

I finally finished explaining everything to them, from Cece and I being Displaced, to the whole fact that they're fictional characters where we're from. They didn't believe the latter, but showing them scenes from the show and the movies made them believe me. Like their Equestrian counterparts, they were confused and shocked, but didn't question it compared to everything else.

Sadly though, it was now dusk, and time for Cece and I to leave. I was a little sad that my time was mostly spent explaining everything to them, but I can always come back again in the future.

We were in front of the statue, about to leave. Mike and Emily went in first, followed by Cece and then me. When I went through, I saw Cece looking like Amy again. She sighed and pulled her scarf off, while Mike climbed onto my shoulder.

“Don't worry sis,” I said, patting her back. “You'll get used to it.”

“Hopefully…” She replied.

I walked to the door. “Come on. Twilight said she wanted to talk to us when we got back.”

She nodded before picking up Emily and following me. After walking around for a few minutes, we found her in the library reading that journal we got from Sarah. When she saw us, she said, “Dark. Cece. I'm glad you came.”

“You said you wanted to see us?” I said.

She nodded. “Yes. You see, I've been thinking… You two don't have jobs, right?” We shook our heads. “Well I think I know a way to fix that.”

“What do you mean?” Cece asked.

“How would you two feel about being my personal guards?”

I blinked. “I'm sorry, what?”

“I'm offering you to be my guards.”

“Why?” Cece said. “Isn't there at least a dozen more qualified ponies to do that?”

“Well...you see, I don't exactly want to hire any members of the Royal Guard. They'll be overprotective, stone faced, and they won't treat me like a normal pony. You two on the other hand, aren't like that. Not to mention you protected me just fine when we were attacked by those Beedrill, which, from what I read, isn't a small feat. So, what do you say?”

I thought about it for a moment before shrugging. “Sure. I'm cool with that. I'm not wearing any of that armor though.”

Twilight then turned her head to Cece, who just sighed. “Fine. Not like I have anything better to do with my life. Though, how exactly would we get paid.”

Twilight then smiled. “Don't worry about that. Once I send word to Princess Celestia, you'll be sent a sum of bits every week or two.”

“Well then, Princess Twilight, looks like you finally have some guards,” I said. “Took ya long enough.”

Twilight just rolled her eyes. “Very funny Dark. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to read some more of this journal before I start trying to create some of these potions.” She then went back to reading.

I waved goodbye to her before heading to my room. When I got there, I changed out of my clothes and put the sash I got from Ashur and Aurora in my nightstand drawer. I then laid down on my bed, Mike currently on a pillow on the floor, before going to sleep.

Author's Note

Well, they went to the human world and met the Human 7, as well as become Twilight's personal guards. Sorry if the last part seems rushed and that I skipped the explanation, but I'm getting tired of explaining the whole Displaced thing to non Displaced in my story, and I didn't think of anything else to write in that world. I'll be posting the next chapter, which is finished already, either later tonight, or tomorrow. Until next time.
-Dark

16. The Spider and the Conduit

I was putting on my cloak, just listening to my phone, when a certain song came on, causing me to shiver as a thought came up.

“I hope there isn't a Displaced who lives in a dimension where that factory exists,” I said to myself.

“What factory?” Someone said.

I immediately jumped and turned off the music before turning to my window and seeing Rainbow sitting on the windowsill. “Rainbow? I thought you were in Cloudsdale.”

“I was, but I came back last night.”

“Any reason you decided to come through my window?”

She shrugged and got off the windowsill. “I don't know. Can't find Twilight and the others are all busy.”

Around now, Mike started to wake up from the makeshift bed I made him. He hopped onto my bed and gave a questioning, “Froak?”

Rainbow looked at Mike. “Um Dark, what's with the weird frog on your bed?”

“Oh, right. Rainbow, this is Michael. He's my Froakie.”

“Your what?”

“My Froakie. I got him when I was summoned last week.”

“Summoned? Wait, you mean you were sent to another Equestria? How that go?”

“Well...I fought a bunch of giant bees, met three Displaced, and got Mike, just to give the highlights.”

“Seriously? Cool. What else happened while I was gone?”

“Well I met another Displaced and helped him make a token, by the way Cece can turn invisible now, met two more Displaced and helped them with the same thing, then I went through that portal Twilight has and met the human version of all of you.”

“Wow. I missed quite a lot.”

“Yeah. So, since we don't seem to have anything planned, wanna hang out?”

“Sure.”

“Great. Mike.” The Froakie climbed onto my shoulder while I put on my cover and grabbed my bag and sword. “Okay, ready when you are.” And with that said, we left the castle.

(Delsin’s POV)

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 ended 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 as 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.

I sighed. “Hope the dude is okay. Wonder what he saw…” I shook my head. “I shouldn't worry about that right now.” I picked him up and took him to one of the spare bedrooms and laid him on the bed. I then walked back in the throne room and saw Twilight and Rainbow sitting on their thrones, talking amongst themselves. When I got close, Mike got off Rainbow’s lap and jumped onto my shoulder.

“Hey Dark,” Rainbow said. “Where are Delsin and Celestia?”

“Celestia's back in their dimension I believe, and Delsin's resting in one of the spare rooms,” I said.

“So what were you two talking about?”

“Just discussing about that gene you got.”

“Oh, what do you guys think I can do? I bet it'll be something awesome.”

“I don't know Rainbow. But trust me, there are more important things to worry about besides that gene becoming active and you becoming a Conduit.”

Twilight nodded. “We don't even know when it'll activate. And I don't think you should try to force it. Considering what Delsin said, it can be VERY dangerous. Especially if you don't control your emotions.”

“What, you don't think I can keep a level head?” Rainbow asked.

“May I remind you that you let your anger take control the first day we met?” I said.

Her ears folded back. “I thought you forgave me for that.”

“I did. That doesn't mean I'll forget it.” I then looked at Twilight and noticed a familiar look on her face. “Okay Twi, what's on your mind?”

She sighed. “Just something I noticed about these Displaced. I'll tell you at another time. I need some sleep.” With that, she got up and left to her room.

“She's right. I guess I should go home,” Rainbow said. She got up and flew out the door. “See ya tomorrow Dark.”

I sighed and walked to my room. When I got there, Mike jumped off my shoulder and went to his bed while I pulled out the blue and red feather Rarity gave me before I left her shop and put it inside my nightstand before taking off my cloak and going to sleep, a few things still in my mind.

Author's Note

I really liked writing this. Anyway, this is part 1 of a crossover I'm doing with Wayward Shadow and his story inFAMOUS Displaced. It's pretty good. Also, apparently Rainbow will become a Conduit in the future. I didn't expect that, but I'm okay with it. Even thought of what it'll be. And before anyone starts guessing, no, it's not air, electricity, nor weather. It's something that, as far as I can find, no other Conduit has. That's surprising to me. Anyway I hope you like the double upload. Today's a very special day for me and I wanted you guys to get a treat, so I posted this. I hope you enjoyed it. Until next time.
-Dark

17. Secrets Revealed

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 BITCH!”

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

Okay then. So Tito fought Nisled and Rainbow is now a Conduit. Oh, and most, if not all, of Ponyville now know that he's not a pony. Writing this crossover is fun. Anyway, this is part 2 of my crossover with Wayward Shadow. I hope you're enjoying it so far. Until next time.
-Dark

18. Testing Rainbow

“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 run 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.

Twilight just stared in shock. “Did she just-”

“Well, that was fun,” I immediately said. “I'm going to rest up a bit.” I then went to my room and changed into the newest clothes Rarity made me. After that, I climbed to the top of the castle and just looked at Ponyville.

After ten minutes of resting, I heard the familiar sound of wings flapping. Turning to my right, I saw Rainbow hovering with her arms crossed. “Hey Dark. Mind if I sit with you?” I shook my head and she sat next to me. “Crazy couple of days, huh?”

“You kidding? I fought a psychotic Conduit, passed out from blood lost, and then I fought another Conduit, who turned into a giant snake. Twice. So calling all this “crazy” is an understatement.”

“Yeah...good point. Though, one good thing came out of all this.” She lifted up one of her hands and it started glowing.

“Oh right. You're a Conduit now. Water right?”

“Yeah. Delsin had me train all day yesterday to control it. Though, I think I'm pretty good at it now.”

“I can tell. Nice job with those ice swords earlier.”

“Thanks. Hey, speaking of that fight, what happened to Mike with the light and turning into...that?”

I chuckled. “That, my cyan colored friend, was evolution. It's something Pokemon can do to become stronger. For Pokemon like Froakie, it happens when they reached a certain level of experience. Or when they NEED to become stronger, like helping someone they cared about. It depends on the situation.”

“Huh. So your Froakie is stronger now?”

“Nope. He's not a Froakie anymore. When a Pokemon evolves, they change. Sometimes even in personality. Though...that's rare. Anyway, he's a Frogadier now.”

“Huh. Can he evolve again?”

I smiled. “The Froakie line can evolve twice. Frogadier is the first. The last one is my favorite.” I pulled out my phone and showed her a picture of Greninja.

“Sweet. When would he turn into that.”

“It'll take a while. The second stage is usually the longest for the starters like him. But enough training and fights, and he'll evolve in no time.”

Rainbow nodded and looked the sun setting in the horizon. “Well, it's getting late. I guess I'll see ya, Dark.”

She then flared up her wings and flew off. But before she was out of earshot, I said, “Thanks.”

Rainbow stopped and turned to me “What?”

“Thanks. For saving me yesterday.”

She smiled. “Don't mention it. See ya tomorrow.” And with that she flew off.

About five minutes later, I crawled into my room and saw Mike already sleeping. I changed my clothes and layed down on my bed, a few last thoughts in my mind.

Now everypony knows I'm human. Great. Let's see how THAT turns out. Aaand Rainbow’s a water Conduit. I wonder how different the timeline will be now.

I sighed. Before I fell asleep though, I felt a weird feeling in my chest. After about a minute, I shrugged it off and went to bed.

(Third Person POV, Canterlot)

A lone pegasus was wandering the city, carrying something close to his side. He passed through a few alleys until he reached the entrance to a building. He walked inside, looking around. He was going to go further when he heard a voice speak to him.

“Well, well, well. Hawkeye, is it?”

The pegasus rolled his eyes and sighed. “It's Trick Shot.” He turned towards the voice and saw a thestral with a gray mane, pure black fur, and blue eyes.

The thestral simply looked upon him with an analytical gaze. “How long have you worked for Bio-Corp now?”

“Nearly two years now.”

The thestral began circling him. “And in those two years, you have kept to your assignment of spying on Twilight Sparkle. See if she has any use to the company, royalty or not.”

“Yeah, yeah. I did that stupid assignment of yours.” Trick Shot said.

“And do you have anything to report concerning her? Or have you gotten bored and want to be reassigned elsewhere?”

“Actually, I got something you may wanna see.” Trick Shot then pulled out some photos.

The thestral took the photos. “This better not be…” He paused upon seeing the contents of the photos. “...By the night sky!” He looked up at Trick Shot. “Let's head to my office.” He stepped to a bookshelf and pulled a dictionary askew, opening a secret passageway.

“You know, I always wondered why you need a secret tunnel.”

“Travel through the city isn't as safe as it used to be, especially for a prominent figure like me.”

“Of course,” Trick Shot said, rolling his eyes as they went down the tunnel.

After a while of walking, they arrived at an elevator door, which opened when they got to it. Trick Shot and his boss entered the elevator and it began to ascend. “How did you manage to obtain those pictures?”

“I was flying around Ponyville, when some weird creature showed up and started attacking. I was going to help a few ponies, but something attacked the creature.”

“Which one started the fight?” The thestral asked, holding up the pictures for him to show. Trick shuffled through the photos until he came to the picture of a human dressed like a Manehatten punk with a depiction of a Vulture on his back.

“This one. He attacked a few buildings before someone else stopped him.”

“Don't you mean ‘somepony’?”

Trick shook his head. “These guys aren't ponies.”

The thestral nodded. “Continue.”

Trick switched to a picture of a hooded figure wielding a sword against the first human’s red claw constructs. “This guy is the one who stopped him. He was fast and agile and either dodged or blocked nearly all the attacks thrown at him.”

He switched to a photo where the hooded figure’s hood was off, the Vulture human several meters back while another human stood between them. The second one looked exactly like the first one except that it lacked a vest. “I guess that the vest less creature was benevolent in this fight.”

“Eh...he blew him up and smashed him with a hammer.”

“Interesting...and what of this?” He held up a picture of Rainbow Dash flinging orbs of water at a blurry target.

“That's rather interesting. Apparently, she has something in her DNA that allows her to do a bunch of things nopony can.” He then showed photos of her using swords of ice and turning into a cloud.

The elevator dinged, signaling the end of their trip. The doors opened and the two walked into the luxury office. “Was there anything said concerning said DNA gene for that ability?”

“From what I was able to hear, it's apparently something that quite a few ponies can have and never know about. Apparently she discovered hers by helping fight that vulture.”

“What does one call such ponies?”

“They're called Conduits, and apparently, for those who have the gene, it's like a cutie mark. They discover it at their time and each Conduit can control a different thing.”

“Fascinating,” the thestral commented as he rifled through his desk. “I want you to keep tabs on her and the formerly hooded figure. Interact with them, get on their good side.” He pulled a strange device out of the desk. “Send regular reports using this.” He tossed the device to Trick Shot.

“Okay...but why?”

“That device needs testing, and I wish to better understand her abilities. If we can understand and access this ‘Conduit’ gene, our work will be cut out for us.”

“Okay, so why do I need to watch the blue and black guy?”

The thestral suddenly looked up, a bit flustered. “That is need-to-know. Now go. Fulfill your assignment.”

Trick Shot rolled his eyes before turning around walking out the door. Once he was gone, the thestral picked the photos back up and carefully examined each one. “Humans... So he's not the only one. And they fight for freedom...That's what we guard against." The thestral then looked at one that had a good look at the blue cloaked human with the formerly vest-less one and a pink creature in a long red cloak. With a glare at the picture, he said to himself, "Hail Hydra.”

Author's Note

Well, that was something. This the third and final part of my crossover with Wayward Shadow. Anyway, now to talk about a few things that happened. First things first, Mike evolving. First those who read the A/N on 14, what I meant was fully evolving, meaning he won't become a Greninja for a little while. I edited that to avoid confusion. Second, the fight. I'm sorry if you didn't like it, but I enjoyed writing it with him. Though, it may have been a little too long... Either way. And now, that last scene. Lets just say I have a lot of plans, and that's the beginning of a few of them. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Until next time.
-Dark

Edit 11/2/2017: Well, I edited the last paragraph to go with some new ideas I got since I came back from Florida. I wonder if anyone can notice it.

19. Sudden Changes

“You gotta be kidding me!” Cece yelled as she came into the castle.

“Happened again?” I asked.

It’s been a couple days since we met Delsin, and things haven’t been so well for me and Cece. Most of the ponies in town have either looked at me with fear or mocked Cece. Some, like the Cakes, have been treating us the same as always, but the rest of Ponyville acted like we’re, well, freaks. I decided to stay in the castle and Cece, along with Spike and Twilight, just left for Sugar Cube Corner a few minutes ago.

“Yeah. Some stupid mare said I was just some animal and I belong in a zoo. Said some things about you as well.”

“And what did you do?”

“I was going to say a few things and give her a free flight to Canterlot, but Twilight held me back.”

“And where is she?”

“She told me to come back here to avoid any problems and started talking to the pony.”

I sighed. “Honestly, I didn't expect it to be THIS bad. I mean, why are they this mean?”

“Who knows?” Cece said.

We mostly just stayed there in silence, waiting for Twilight, when I suddenly had an idea. “Hey Cece, I have a question about your hammer space.”

“What is it?”

“You can store more than just your hammer, right?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Come with me.” I led her through the castle and into my room. I then went to my bag and pulled out my gun. “I need you to do me a favor.”

“What is it?”

“I want you to put all the tokens that we have in your hammer space.”

“Why?”

“For one thing, we need someplace to put them that nopony can just take them and use them, and I can't keep all of them in my room. And also, if any are as useful as this gun, you can just pull it out and use it if we're ever in trouble. Or you can just pull out a token that isn't a weapon, and summon the Displaced for help. Either way, it'd be useful to have them on hand.”

Cece stood silent for a moment before she shrugged. “Fine. Give me them.”

I gave her all the tokens I currently had, as well as the gun and the chainsword, and she just put them all in her hammer space. When she was done, we stepped outside and saw Twilight coming towards us with a letter in her hand.

“Oh, there you two are,” she said. “Get your things. We're going to Canterlot.”

“Why?” Cece asked.

“I got a letter from Princess, and she wants all of us to come see her in Canterlot. I already told the others, and they’ll meet us at the train station.”

I sighed. “Okay. We'll see you at the entrance when we're done.”

Twilight nodded before walking away. I grabbed my bag and sword from my room while Cece went to her room to get her bag. After that, we put our partners in their pokeballs and followed Twilight out of the castle to the station. Along the way, I saw a few ponies look at me and immediately go to the nearest building and shutting the door, while others whispered to each other. I just sighed and lowered my head until we got to the station and waited.

“So how long do we have to wait for the train?”

“Only a few minutes, Dark,” Twilight said.

I rolled my eyes and leaned on a wall, listening to some music, as we waited. A couple of minutes later, Rainbow arrived, and a minute later, the train rolled in. We all got in and sat in a private cart, Cece and I taking off our hoods.

“So why are we going to Canterlot this time?” Cece asked Twilight.

“Princess Celestia said she wanted to talk to us about what happened with Nisled, as well as find out what exactly happened.”

“Great,” I said with sarcasm. “So we need to explain THAT to her. This will be a fun trip.”

“Well look at the bright side. At least nopony knows your secret in Canterlot.”

“Oh yeah. Nothing's bad about Canterlot. Just a bunch of nobles who only love their money and give the term a bad name.”

Twilight just sighed and started reading that Pokemon journal. Cece just fell asleep, and I just sat in a corner and looked out the window.

“You okay?”

I turned around and saw Rainbow sitting beside me. I sighed and said, “Not really. The whole town acting like I’m a monster is not something I enjoy.”

“Yeah. I wonder why everypony is acting like that. I mean, you’re not the weirdest thing that showed up there, nor the the most most dangerous.”

“And yet a lot of them are acting the same way they did to Zecora before you cleared things up.”

“That bad, huh?”

“For me yeah. For Cece most ponies have been mocking her and trying her patience.”

“That sounds like a bad idea.”

“It is. Only reason you haven’t seen ponies being slammed into the air is because she’s usually with Twilight and she holds her back.”

“And what if they said anything to you?”

“Nopony says anything to me. They’re too scared to even be near me.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m sure everypony would calm down and this would all be in the past.”

“Maybe. But how long would that take? And what if they don’t?”

Her ears folded back. “I don't know.”

I sighed. “I'm not surprised. Not like anyone knows how long it might take.”

The remainder of the trip on the train and the walk to the Castle was rather uneventful. When we got to there, I said, “Back again. And to discuss Displaced to Celestia again. Didn't think I'd have to do that anytime soon.”

“Don't blame you,” Twilight said. “Honestly, I wasn't expecting to do this ever again.”

“Well I was. And I'm pretty sure we'll do this more in the fu-oomph,” I then bumped into someone, my hood falling off.

“Oh, I'm sorry,” I heard. “I wasn't seeing where I was-what in the world?” I looked and saw a mare with a blonde mane, light green fur, a lab coat, and a pair of glasses over her blue eyes. “My goodness. Either you're a new kind of pony or a new species altogether.”

I put back on my hood. “Technically the latter.”

“Wow! Amazing!” She shook her head. “Oh, silly me, I always get excited about new things in things in biology that I forget I'm talking to ponies and not subjects.” She stuck out her hand. “My name is Feather Splicer. What's your name and species?

I hesitated for a moment before I shook her hand. “Dark. And I'm a human.” I then noticed a wing on her back. “I take it you're a pegasus?”

“Yeah…” She said with a sad tone. She then stretched out her wings. Or...wing.

“What the…what happened to you?” Rainbow asked in shock.

Feather sighed. “A manticore attack a few years ago during a field test. This was the result.” She then folded her wing. She then looked at Twilight with wide eyes. “P-Princess Twilight?”

Twilight tilted her head in confusion. “Yes?”

Feather then immediately bowed. “Oh, I'm SO sorry, your Highness. I didn't see you there. I got going and-”

Twilight raised her hand and Feather stopped talking. “It's okay. I get carried away with scientific things as well. Oh, and you can just call me Twilight.”

“Huh. Never been around Royal casually...er, casual Royalty...I just flipped this conversation,” Feather stumbled. She then saw Cece with her hood on. “Oh, hello. Who’re you?”

She crossed her arms. “Name's Cece. Why?”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to insult you. I rarely get out of the lab after the attack, so...urgh, why do I feel like idiot?”

“Quick question, but what exactly is a manticore?”

“Back home, it was a creature of Greek mythology,” I told her. “Here it exists, mostly in places like the Everfree. Basically it's a lion with bat wings and a scorpion tail.”

“Yikes.”

“Mythology?” Feather asked. “You mean you both thought that they myths?”

“Thought?” Cece said. “No. They ARE myths where we're from. Heck, everything here is seen as fiction or myths back home. Even my brother here with his powers now.”

“Powers?”

I sighed. “Thanks sis… But she's right. Since we came to Equestria, we've changed. I got a few powers, as well as Cece, but she changed in appearance as well.”

Feather looked at Cece in confusion before looking between the two of us. “Umm, I don't want to sound rude, but could I…?” She then gesturing if Cece’s hood could be removed.

Cece sighed and took off her hood, revealing her face. “I turned into this when all my brother got was new powers.”

Feather looked at Cece with an analytical look. After a few seconds, she nodded in understanding. “Huge changes, if I'm thinking correctly. A change in species and location, almost as bad as losing a part of yourself.”

She shrugged before putting her hood back on. “Pretty much.”

Feather adjusted her glasses. “Yeah. But on a socially awkward side note, would it be okay to get a few blood samples?”

“Wait what?”

“I understand that that isn't the best conversation piece, but you have to remember. I'm a biologist seeing two new species. Samples of some kind will give me a lot of information...not meaning I'm seeing you both as...ugh, I hate my mouth right now.”

Cece shook her head. “Sorry, but I'm not comfortable with someone looking at my DNA.”

Feather slumped a bit. “Yeah, I'm sorry for asking. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable.”

“Besides, not like it'll be much use for you. All you need to know is I'm an anthropomorphic hedgehog with enhanced speed and super strength. That's all this is to know,” she finished, crossing her arms again.

“I don't really know what anthropomorphic means, but I'll take your word for it.” Feather then looked at me curiously. “Would you have anything against a few samples?” She asked.

I pondered it for a moment before shrugging. “Sure. I'm okay with that. Besides, besides Twilight, you might actually be able to make sense of my DNA, what with half of it not even being human…”

Feather squeed in excitement briefly before recomposing herself. “Sorry. Thank you. I don't have any of my tools on me, but if you're still in town after you're done here, you can stop by my place and we can get the needed samples. Sound okay?”

“Okay.”

“Okay! Here’s my address! See ya later!” Feather gave us her address and, then walked on, a bit of an excited spring in her steps.

“Well she seemed nice,” Twilight said.

“If a little strange,” Cece commented.

I shrugged and lifted my scarf. “Well, we still have an appointment with Celestia, so let's go.” They nodded and we went through the halls, to the throne room. When we got in, we saw Celestia having a conversation with two unicorn stallions. One had white fur, blue mane, as well as eyes, a monocle, and three crowns for his mark. The other one had a gray coat with a dark gray mane, blue eyes, and something that looked like three planes for his mark.

“Dear Goddess above!” The monocled unicorn exclaimed, “Do you honestly believe every rumor you hear, Jet!”

“What are they talking about?” I whispered to Twilight.

She shrugged. “I don't know.”

“Then let's just stay back and watch,” Cece said.

“No I don't, Fancy!” The other unicorn, Jet, shot back. “I am merely stating that if more of those beasts suddenly appear and fight, endangering various ponies, then we need to find the source and completely destroy it!”

“You are talking about completely leveling a forest for no reason! We can't say that these were “beasts” to begin with!”

I got bored of eavesdropping and walked through the room. “Sorry to interrupt, but what's going on? And what's this about leveling a forest?”

“That's none of your concern, you-” Jet Set started before Fancy interrupted him.

“Jet Set! “Peasant” or not, he has every right to know! What, with the rumors and whatnot,” he reprimanded. He then turned to me and explained, “Jet Set here is wanting to level the Everfree Forest to “search” for the “beasts” that fought in Ponyville, but I don't think that's his reasoning.”

“Oh, you heard about that?” I asked. “Yeah, sorry, but SOMEONE had to deal with that psycho.”

“I take it that you were there during the whole debacle,” he commented.

“Of course. I was IN the fight. Little note, nopony got hurt, but there is the property damage he caused before I stopped him...”

“Him?” Jet questioned.

“The psycho attacking the place. Called himself Nisled. Let me tell you, he seriously needs a straight jacket. At least then he won't be able to use his...abilities.”

“So, a uniquely gifted pony decided to use his gifts to destroy rather than uplift?”

“Um, sure. Let's go with that.”

“I must say, I'm impressed. I've never really met an...Earth pony that actually could handle such a problem,” Jet complimented.

“Well he's not a problem anymore.”

“However did you handle him?” Fancy asked.

“I can thank Rainbow here for saving me from him and another friend for sending him away, for good.”

“My goodness! Are you saying that he was killed?”

'Well considering Rainbow beheaded him, you could believe that.'

“No, my friend just knew a way to banish him and used it.”

“Remind me not to get on his bad side.”

“Like you are with me?” Jet said.

“Almost everypony is on your bad side!”

“Almost?” I asked. “I'd think all but one pony outside of the princesses would be on his bad side. Or vice versa.”

“And speaking of ponies, we haven't gotten your names,” Jet said.

“Name's Dark and the one in the red hood is my sister. We're Princess Twilight’s sole guards.”

“Why do you wear hoods?”

“So we can have our faces covered of course,” Cece said. “Who are you?”

“I'm Jet Set, and I merely want to see your faces.”

“Yeah, showing my face to one new pony is enough for me for one day. Besides, my brother told me how most of you nobles are, and I get enough ridicule back in Ponyville since Nisled.”

“Pish posh! Why in Equestria would they ridicule a young mare like you?” His horn lit up and her hood was suddenly pushed off. Jet jumped a bit in surprise, his eyes wide in shock.

She immediately put her hood back on. “Now you see? And before you say ANYTHING about what I am, just know I'm stronger than most earth ponies. And I have this, and I'm not afraid of using it on anyone.” She pulled out her hammer. “So choose your next words wisely.”

“I honestly believe he has no words to choose from,” Fancy stated.

“That's good,” I said. “Cece's still on edge after the last few days.”

“And her “edge” has given Jet Set the motivation to zip his howling screamer. We don’t want you to wake up like Blueblood.”

That confused me. “Wait, what happened?”

“That’s not a topic I like to go into,” Celestia said, having heard most of the conversation. “But I will divulge anyway, if only for somepony to learn from.” She sent a light glare at Jet and continued, “Blueblood, my nephew, was not a popular pony. He complained about everything under the sun until, one day, he was found dead in his chambers.”

We widened our eyes at that. “Wait, WHAT?!”

“We don’t have all the facts,” Fancy said. “Not enough evidence to even figure out how he died. He just was.”

I blinked at that. “Well...that's unexpected…”

“Yes, and I trust Jet won’t try to do anything that may cause him to end up like him.” Jet hastily nodded at the Princess’s words. “Good, Jet and Fancy, you may both go.” The two nobles nodded before leaving. “Now, how about you tell me exactly what happened in Ponyville a few days ago.”

“Well, let's see…”

“...and after the picture, he left.” I explained the story starting with meeting Delsin, all the way to his departure. Cece and Rainbow added their parts in and Cece also mentioned the fact that he’s engaged to his Celestia. That surprised the princess, but she recomposed herself quickly and asked us to continue. “And after all that was said and done, most of Ponyville seemed to believe we were the cause of the problem and are either afraid of me or think Cece belongs in a zoo.”

“This is rather...disturbing,” she said thoughtfully. “I never thought that that my little ponies would draw such a conclusion so quickly.”

“Honestly, I'm not.”

“Let us hope they calm down enough for them to think rationally. They'll come around in time.”

“I wouldn't be so sure, Princess. People, and by extension ponies, are afraid of new species that they've never seen before.”

“Then we must help them learn,” she said turning to Twilight. “I can trust you help those in Ponyville understand?”

“I'll try,” she replied.

“All I ask is that you do your best.” Celestia stood up from her throne. “But for now, relax. Enjoy the rest of your day before returning to Ponyville. I need to discuss this with Luna.”

We nodded before exiting the throne room. “Well, that took a while,” I said, checking my phone, seeing we've been there for an hour and a half. Then I pulled the piece of paper Feather gave me and read it. “Well, I'll go see Feather and give that sample. What're you guys gonna?”

“I'll join you,” Rainbow said. “You'll need somepony to help guide you through the city.”

“I'll go visit my parents,” Twilight said. “You wanna join me Cece?”

She shrugged. “Sure. But first…” she pulled out her pokeball and let Emily out before picking her up. “Okay, let's go.”

Twilight nodded. “Okay, we'll meet you at the train station at seven o'clock.” After she said that, they left.

I then turned to Rainbow and said, “Well, we don't have all day. Try to keep up.” With that said, I ran out the castle with her close behind.

After a few minutes of racing (Rainbow won thanks to her wings), we arrived at the address that Feather gave us. The house looked close to what the show depicted of Moondancer’s house, but it seemed better kept.

¨Well, this is the place,¨ I said. I went to the door and knocked.

The door slowly opened and Feather poked her head out. “You're here! Come in, come in!” She opened the door a bit wider for us to enter. “And be careful. I've got glass containers everywhere.”

We went inside and looked around the room, seeing a bunch of test tubes and vials, a few with random liquid it them. ¨A lot of stuff you got here.¨

“Yeah, I rarely get guests, so cleaning up sometimes gets put on the back burner,” she said, heading towards the back of the house.

We followed her, passing a few tables filled with test tubes and papers. ¨What´s all this for, anyway?¨

“Private research on various reptiles, lizards specifically.”

That caught my attention. ¨Lizards? Why?¨

“Well, it's just research. Not like anything will come out of it.” She returned with a few vials, a tiny blood pump, and an industrial rubber band.

I had the feeling that I knew what it was for, but couldn’t remember why. ¨I have a feeling there´s more to it than that.¨

¨What´s the big deal about a bunch of reptiles?¨ Rainbow asked.

“I can't really say,” Feather stumbled, while pulling out the rubber band. “If I told you, the research wouldn't be private. Now pull back your sleeve.”

I did as she instructed, and she strapped the rubber band on my arm. A few seconds and my veins were visible. Feather then carefully inserted the blood pump and collected the blood. She bandaged the puncture and removed the rubber band. “There you go.”

I rolled my sleeve down and flexed my arm. “Barely noticed.”

“Anything I can do for you two before you go?”

“How bout some water?” Rainbow asked.

“Sure. One moment.” She went into the kitchen and came back out with two glasses of water.

“Thanks,” I said as I drank mine while Rainbow absorbed hers. “You just gonna keep doing that now?”

She shrugged. “Useful to always have fuel just in case.”

“Umm...did she just…?” Feather stumbled.

“Something wrong?”

“That water just...you…”

“Oh right, no one knows you can do that but Twilight and Cece,” I told Rainbow. “Long story short, Feather, Rainbow has a gene in her DNA that allows her to control and absorb water, as well as a few other abilities like a healing factor.”

“Wow! Amazing! Umm...would she mind if…” She asked.

“No way,” Rainbow said. “Nopony is taking any of my blood and messing with it.”

“Oh...sorry.”

“You know, I wonder if anyone else you know is a Conduit,” I said to Rainbow.

She shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. Hay, I didn’t even know I had it until Delsin told us.”

“If I knew what gene to look for, it would be easier to identify those who have it,” Feather said.

I shook my head. “As far as I know, unless you have that Ray Sphere ability a friend of mine’s has, you won’t be able to identify it.”

“There are ways, but I'll back away from it.”

“Smart.”

“So what should we do now?” Rainbow asked.

“Well...we can stop by Donut Joe’s, if you’d like.”

“Sure.”

“I can pay for you guys, if you’re okay with that,” Feather inserted.

I put my cup on a table. “Okay. Let's go.”

After enjoying a good time socializing with Feather and Rainbow at Donut Joe’s, Rainbow and I made our way to the train station. When we got there, we just sat on a bench and just talked to each other for a bit until Twilight, Cece and Emily came.

“Hey guys!” Twilight called out. “You ready to go?”

I sighed. “Yeah, let's go back to Ponyville.”

“Wait!” We turned and saw a unicorn guard running to the station. When he got to us, he bent over, breathing heavily. “One moment…” After he caught his breath, he stood up and spoke with authority. “Her Majesty, Princess Celestia, has requested for one Dark and Cece to remain here in Canterlot until Ponyville more fully calms down from the attack.”

“Wait what?”

“I can’t really say much more than that, I’m afraid. It seemed like a spur of the moment decision and most of us are kept out of the loop anyway.”

I looked at the others in confusion. “What should we do?”

“I think we should talk to her to see what this is about,” Cece said.

“Twilight.” The alicorn nodded before teleporting us, the guard including, back to the castle.

“Hopefully she's not too busy right now,” Twilight said.

“I’m not, Twilight,” Celestia said behind us.

That caused us to jump. “Sheesh Celestia, don't do that,” I said.

She giggled a bit. “Sorry about that, but after what you have told me earlier, combined with some thinking and talking it over with Luna, we’ve decided that you should stay here for a while.”

“Wait, seriously?” Cece asked.

“Given the insults you’ve had to endure the past week alone, it would have only been a matter of time before one or both of you snap.” She then noticed Emily. “What is that? It looks cute.”

Emily hid herself in Cece arms. I just sighed and said, “That's Emily. Cece's partner. And the practical sister to mine with how they act.”

“Your partner?”

I pulled out my pokeball and tossed it in the air, letting Mike out. “This is my partner Mike. Mike, the is Princess Celestia.”

Mike nodded. “Froga.”

“Huh,” she said while kneeling down close to his level. “I’ve never seen anything like these.”

“They're creatures we got from another dimension about two weeks ago. They have quite the special abilities, I'll tell you that.”

“I’ll ask about those abilities later, but for now, let’s get you settled. And don’t let me hold you and Rainbow back, Twilight.”

“Wait, so Dark and Cece won't be coming back with us?” Rainbow asked.

“I'm afraid not,” she sadly said. “You will be allowed to visit, should circumstances allow.”

“Awe man…”

“Don't worry too much, Rainbow. You'll see him soon.” She then winked at her.

Rainbow looked at Celestia in confusion. “Huh?”

“You'll see.”

“Okay…”

“Now, I'll inform the guards of the esteemed guests and their…pets,” Celestia said as she started walking away. “You can say your goodbyes for now.”

Both Rainbow and I looked at each other, somewhat awkwardly as I felt that weird feeling in my chest again. “So...uh...I guess that...this is goodbye for now?” Rainbow asked.

I sighed. “It seems so. See you guys soon.”

“Yeah. I'm gonna miss you...I mean, I'll miss training with you. I don't think anypony could easily work with me. I can fling water and ice. What can they do?” She held up a steaming arm to emphasize the point.

I chuckled. “Yeah, I'll miss you girls too. Good luck with everything in Ponyville.”

“You got it.”

“Well, whenever you guys find a way to calm those ponies down, let us know,” Cece said, Emily and Mike nodding in agreement.

“Okay,” Twilight said. “We'll do that.” She then pulled us both into a hug.

“Um...Twilight you're crushing our lungs…”

“Oh! Sorry!” She released us with an embarrassed look. “I just...well...umm…”

I took a deep breath. “It's okay Twi. Just, good luck.”

“Okay. We'll see you.” She waved and motioned for Rainbow to follow her as she left.

Rainbow nodded before looking back at us. “Hopefully we'll see you guys soon. And good luck if you run into anymore nobles. Bye guys.” She then flew off towards Twilight.

I sighed and looked at Cece and our pokemon. “Well, looks like we're staying in Canterlot for a little while.”

Cece nodded. “I wonder if they actually can stop the stares and everything.”

“Hopefully…”

“So...how was your day with Rainbow?”

I shrugged. “It was fun. We raced a bit, went to Feather’s house, and had some doughnuts.”

“So you had a good time with Rainbow?”

“Yeah, why?”

She just walked passed me and said, “Just checking. Now come on, I want to find out where we'll be sleeping.”

I nodded. The sound of clanking armor reached our ears as a unicorn guard approached us. “Her Majesty, Princess Celestia, has given me the order to show you to your rooms and also inform you that you are allowed anywhere and anything within the castle.”

Cece adjusted her hood. “And who are you?”

“I am Silver Sword, Private First Class,” he said with a salute.

“Well it's nice to meet ya Silver,” I said with a nod.

“Same to you, Lieutenant Dark.”

I blinked at that. “I'm sorry, what did you call me?”

“Aren’t you the first set of guards that Princess Twilight Sparkle had hired for her personal guard detail?”

Cece nodded. “Yeah, so?”

“It means that you both outrank me by a lot. You’re both commissioned officers, as you are the first she hired.”

“Wait seriously?”

“Yes, Lieutenant Cece.”

We all blinked at that. “Well, didn't expect that,” I said.

“Shall I lead you to your rooms?” Silver asked.

“Sure.” We then proceed to our rooms. When I got to mine, I looked out the window and sighed. “Wonder how long we'll be here…” I shook my head and ignored that strange feeling and layed down on the bed before falling asleep.

Author's Note

Well, this is finally done. Sorry for the long wait. I've been busy. Luckily, 20 will be up real soon. Within a week at most. So, Tito and Cece are staying in Canterlot for a little while. That'll be for a few chapters...and they met Feather Splicer. Anyone who knows anything about Spider-Man will know where I'm going with that. Also, random note, they're apparently lieutenants. Thanks for that idea buddy. Well, until next time.
-Dark

20. Spartan Reunion

I was just sitting on a wall, reading a book, Mike resting on the floor below me, when Cece came in with Emily, looking confused. “Tito, can a token change?”

“Not that I know of. Why?” I asked, jumping down to her.

“Something happened to your gun.” She then pulled out something from her hammer space. It was Sebaste's old token, but it looked completely different. The gun stock was thicker and what looked like a bayonet made of energy poked out from under the barrel. “And there's something you should hear.”

“What happened?” I asked before grabbing it, but as I did so, I heard a voice I thought I would never hear again: “For those who are in need of a scout, a commander, or a friend, I will answer the call. My name is Eliteslayer, but for those who knew me back then as Sebaste, I have returned… and I am ready to serve and protect…”

I shook my head in disbelief. “Sebaste?”

Cece nodded. “Look like he's still around. And I'm sure that Sasha and Alex are with him as well. So...you gonna use that thing to call them or what?

I looked at the gun before saying, “Hey Sebaste. We'd like to talk to you.”

A single portal opened up before a lone figure stepped out of it. It was a Spartan, but with completely different armor. I recognized it as Recon armor from the Halo games, but I had no idea who was in it.

Cece then walked up to the Spartan and said, “Hello?”

“Heh, don't recognize me Cece?” He asked before his armor suddenly shimmered and a more familiar armor appeared on him.

Cece chuckled. “Must say, it's a surprise to see you again Sebaste. You have no idea how crazy the last few weeks have been.”

“As crazy as mine have been?” He asked wryly. “Trust me, mine could easily top yours in craziness.” He then looked over at me. “Hey Dark. Long time no see.”

I smiled. “Good to see you again, dude. But Cece's right. The last few weeks have been insane.”

“If you think you had a few crazy weeks, mine have been utter chaos. Try meeting three Doom Marines and convincing Celestia to allow them to come help stop a crazy pony named Flame Tail.” he chuckled. “Not to mention helping three other Displaced in the same world…”

“Three? Who?”

“Two Spartans and a Astartes named Sebastian, Alexandra and Viktor.” He replied.

“So Alex and Sasha are okay. And I'm guessing Viktor is who the guy was talking about. Wait, if you're here then...well now I have another reason to talk to Sarah and Tomas again.”

I couldn't see his face, but I had a feeling he was wincing. “Yeah… I'm really sorry for what happened at the party. I wasn't expecting to be redisplaced by that Displacer.”

“Yeah...anyway, as for what happened to US, a couple of days after...that, I was summoned for the first time.”

“You mentioned Tomas and Sarah… I'm guessing Screwy summoned you to get her out of trouble?” He asked. “Because that's how I managed to meet those two.”

“I swear you're psychic. Anyway, I was actually summoned by accident. She was surrounded by Beedrill and threw my token at them. Cece and I, as well as Twilight, were pulled in. After we took care of the Bug types, we found Screwball and...it didn't go well.”

“Yeah,” Cece said. “Tito called her a kid and weird, and she threw that green blob thing at him.”

“Yeah…. She can be a right pain sometimes.” Sebaste replied. “How are the girls by the way?”

“Oh, they're good,” I told him. “Rainbow’s a Conduit now.”

“A what?” He asked, sounding confused.

“You know the game inFAMOUS?”

“Oh, that game. Yeah, I’ve heard of it, never seen it played.” He said.

“I saw a lot of videos on the third game. Anyway, a Conduit is someone with a gene that can control an element or type of item, from electricity to liquor. And Rainbow apparently has that gene and is now a Conduit.”

“So what does she control?” The Spartan asked, sounding intrigued.

“Water. And not just in liquid form. She can control ice and vapor as well. Heck, she can create swords made out of ice for crying out loud.”

“To be honest, that would actually suit her, seeing as she's Ponyville’s lead weather mare.” Sebaste chuckled.

“I thought she retired that job for that other one she talked about,” Cece said, tilting her head.

“She's not a full member of the Wonderbolts, she's one of the backup members in case one of the others are hurt.” Sebaste said

“Um, no, she's an actual WonderBolt now,” I said. “When she was a reserve she was a backup, but now she's an actual member. Only difference is she won't go on tours with them for a while.”

“Right… I forgot about that…” he muttered before noticing the two Pokemon nearby. “Um… since when did your world start hosting Pokemon?” He asked.

We looked at our partners. “Oh, those are our partners. Caught them before we left Sarah’s and Tomas’ dimension. That Frogadier, who I named Michael, actually evolved almost two weeks ago.”

“Huh…” Sebaste then looked around at his surroundings. “I'm guessing we're in Canterlot right now?” He asked.

I sighed. “Yeah. You see-” I then heard armor clanking. Facing to where the sound came from, I saw a guard walking towards us.

“Sir, madam,” he said to Cece and I. “The Princess would like the two of you to join her for lunch.”

“Okay. Thanks. And let her know we'll be bringing a guest.” He nodded and walked away.

“Well… that was unexpected.” Sebaste said. “So you were explaining why both you and Cece are in Canterlot, what exactly happened?”

“I'll explain when we get to the dining room. But I'll tell you this right now, it's related to how Rainbow unlocked her powers. Now let's go. Can't leave Celestia waiting.”

He nodded before his armor shifted back to Recon. “If anyone unfamiliar asks, who I am just introduce me as Eliteslayer.” He said.

“Okay, but I'm still calling you Sebaste around Celestia and Luna, as well as the Mane 6.”

“Fair enough.” The symbol of the Royal Guard Reserves then appeared on his shoulder pad. “Shall we mosey to the dining room?” he asked.

We nodded and walked to the dining room, a few ponies looking at Sebaste, but turning away after seeing the symbol on his shoulder. After five minutes of walking, we made it to the dining room, Celestia sipping on some tea. When we saw us, she said, “Tito, Cece.” She then saw Sebaste. “And who are you?”

“Sebaste, your highness. I'm sure you’ve heard my name mentioned by Tito.” He said, going down on one knee in respect. “I'm one of the Displaced that he met.”

“Really? Well it's a pleasure to meet you, Sebaste. I am Princess Celestia, but I'm sure you are already aware of that.”

“I already know who you are, Celestia. I serve you and Luna in a different Equestria as part of the Royal Guard Reserves.” He replied, showing the symbol of the Reserves on his shoulder pad.

“I see. Well any friend of Tito and Cece is a friend of mine.”

Sebaste then took his helmet off, revealing his face and causing everyone in the room to look at him in surprise. While I had seen his face before, it was now completely different, he now looked like he was in his mid 20s with two scars running across above and below his left eye. “What? Do I have something on my face?” He asked.

“It's just...you look different,” I said.

“Being redisplaced can do that to ya.” He chuckled ruefully. “Not to mention seeing old faces again.”

We just blinked at that. After a few moments, Cece and I shook our heads and took off our hoods before filling up our plates.

Sebaste also took a few things to eat before he then asked, “So what exactly happened to the both of you that you're hanging out in Canterlot? And how does this tie into Rainbow becoming a conduit?”

I sighed. “It happened two weeks ago. Long story short, Rarity stumbled upon a token and accidentally summoned a Delsin Rowe Displaced and his Celestia. After meeting them, Delsin told us about Conduits and that Rainbow had the gene. After a…certain conversation with him he had a vision and passed out. After that, his Celestia left to her Equestria.”

“Why would his world’s Celestia be with him? Last time I heard, none of the Celestias usually leave their Equestrias.” Sebaste asked, a confused look on his face.

Cece shrugged. “If I remember correctly, his Celestia went to another Equestria to get him and literally drag him back to their dimension before they ended up here.”

He then snorted in laughter. “If I didn't know any better, I’d say she had the hots for the guy!”

“Oh, they're engaged.”

At that moment, Sebaste had been taking a sip from his cup and when he heard that, he suddenly did a spit take and coughed. “Seriously?! Damn, he’s one lucky guy!” He said after he recovered.

I chuckled. “Twilight’s face when she found out was hilarious.”

“I bet. How… how did they fare after my… disappearance?” He asked, suddenly looking nervous.

“They were a little sad, but they later got better.”

“Tito was pretty depressed the first few days,” Cece said, drinking some milk.

“Speaking of which, did you guys go through the mirror?” He asked.

“Yeah. A couple of days after the whole Pokemon thing. Cece went first, and I was summoned with Mike and Emily. Met a few Displaced who became characters from Assassin’s Creed.”

“Oh man, I’ve played that once, that game was pretty cool.” He chuckled.

“Yeah. Helped them make a token, explained Displaced to them, and met a few ponies. Crazy thing, Vinyl, Octavia, and LUNA, are all members of the creed. Oh, and they're in Season One territory.”

“Luna I can understand, but the DJ? That is just too hard to believe.” Sebaste said, a surprised look on his face.

“What about Octavia Melody? You know, the earth pony cellist that lives with Vinyl?”

“True, but not much is really… known about her other than she's a cellist that puts up with Vinyl.”

“Well here's a rundown. She's a member of the Canterlot Orchestra and a pony you wouldn't be surprised to see here in Canterlot. But she's not an asshole like most nobles here. Actually pretty decent.”

“Ugh, don't get me started on the bloody nobles… at least Fancy is one of the nicer ones, but back to the topic, what happened after this Delsin character woke up?”

“Right, right. Anyway, Pinkie wanted to surprise him, but bringing a party cannon and yelling “SURPRISE” to a guy with PTSD, and who, at the time, had power over darkness, isn't a good idea.”

“Ouch, I bet.” Sebaste said, wincing. “So what happened after?”

“I found Pinkie pinned to a wall by a vine made of shadows. She was fine, but sad since he broke her party cannon. After freeing her and talking to Delsin, we went into the topic of Nisled…”

“Nisled? Who the hell is that?” Sebaste asked.

“You know that thing about evil doubles?”

“Yeah, but what…. Oh bloody hell no…”

“Yeah. Nisled is a version of Delsin who became a villain instead of a hero. From what I remember, he only has five powers and can't get anymore.”

“Let me guess, he showed up here?” Sebaste asked, his tone tense.

“Aye. And I did most of the fighting. Delsin did a huge explosion on him and banished him, and Cece here threw her hammer at him.”

“But why are you in Canterlot instead of Ponyville?”

“I'm getting to that. During the fight, which was in the middle of Ponyville, Nisled turned invisible and knocked Cece and Delsin to the side. When he did, Cece's cover fell off. Mine fell off too when Delsin did his Orbital Drop. Then I fought him some more before he was able to get the advantage. He weakened me and was about to stab me with my own sword. That is, until Rainbow came and saved me. She fought Nisled and allowed Delsin to banish him. But...after the fight, most of Ponyville saw our faces.”

“Oh no… and I’m guessing they were terrified?”

“Most were and still are, according to Twilight. After getting so many stares, insults, and a letter from Celestia here, we decided to come here, and she offered for us to stay until everypony calms down and we can go back.”

“Faust above… I’m truly sorry mate. Back in the Equestria I got redisplaced in, my old Equestria’s Rainbow Dash was returned by the group that took her in the first place and she's.. having a hard time fitting in herself as a lot of ponies are not really comfortable with seeing her augments she received from Rainborg. So she can relate to you.” Sebaste said.

“Oh, and there's the whole thing with Rainbow.” Cece said, tossing a twig, which Emily caught in her mouth and began nibbling on it.

“Don’t tell me she went back to her old ways…” the Spartan groaned.

“Oh definitely not. The complete opposite actually. She risked her own safety saving Tito from Nisled.”

“Wait… you mean…” a grin started to form on Sebaste's face before he began to roar with laughter. “Dude, you’re definitely lucky! When did she show that side of herself?!”

“First off,” I began, “you better not be talking about what I think you're talking about. Second, what do you mean about that last part?”

“I’m talking about her caring side! She almost never shows that side of herself, usually she’s usually acting all tough and tomboyish!” He chuckled.

“I do not know how to answer that.”

Sebaste shrugged. “Anyways, besides Delsin, Sarah and Tomas, and those Assassin’s Creed Displaced, what other Displaced have you met?”

“Just a Kamen Rider Displaced. First one I helped to understand the whole Displaced thing. And he gave Cece advice on a certain power.”

“Kamen Rider ey? Interesting… the only Kamen Rider Displaced I remember meeting was in a Equestria Girls universe.” He said, rubbing his chin. “The recent Displaced I’ve met was a Displaced that had gone as a character from a computer game called Supreme Commander, a trio that were Displaced as the Doom Marines from the 2016 Doom game and a Spectrobes Displaced.”

“Hmm. By the way, here's a bit of advice. If you ever meet Delsin, be wary. Unless he is banished from the Equestria, Nisled would attack the world of any Displaced Delsin summons, or who summons Delsin. We're okay now, but you aren't.”

“Obviously he’s never encountered a Spartan or Astartes Displaced before.” He chuckled, but his eyes showed that behind the humor, he was burning with anger at what Nisled had done.

“Here's another bit of advice, DON’T underestimate him. Cece did and he wounded her enough to stay out of the fight. At the very least, do what I did. Just focus on fighting him and only calm down when he's gone. Can't be cocky. Oh, and whatever you do, keep your version of the Mane 6 away from him.”

“What happened to… Why that….” He snarled as he realized what Nisled had done to his own Mane 6. “Trust me, if I ever encounter that guy, he’s getting a Kodiak shell in the face point blank. If the Displacer doesn't get him first.”

“Oh, almost forgot to mention, he's practically immortal. I stabbed him through the back and he just flipped me off. Literally I mean, he didn't flip the bird. And Rainbow beheaded the guy and he just acted like it was an inconvenience until Delsin banished him.”

“I’ll be sure to make him pay for the atrocities he’s done if he does show up. No one harms any of the Equestrians and gets away with it…”

“Anything else…. Oh, and one more thing. When fighting him, make sure he isn't anywhere near smoke, neon, video, or concrete. It'll just refuel him and give him a new way of fighting.”

“Got it. So have you seen the girls recently?”

We shook our heads. “They have their own lives to worry about, so it's no surprise they're still in Ponyville or following the timeline, if they still can.”

Sebaste nodded before he finished what was on his plate. “My compliments to the Chef, your highness.” He said to Celestia.

“I'll be sure to let him know,” she said with a smile. “Now, I know a lot of unfortunate events have happened and may happen, but we should look at the brighter side of things.”

Sebaste frowned at that. “Celestia, with all due respect… not everything is sunshine and rainbows. The attack on Ponyville is not a thing to take lightly. If anything, it shows that things are starting to change, whether for better or worse is to be seen however.”

“What do you mean?”

“Nisled is only the beginning, what if one of your ponies decides to go crazy and attack Manehatten? You can't cover up an attack like that and pretend that it's nothing bad.” He replied.

“I never said I'll cover anything up and pretend it didn't happen. I'm only saying that we should try to find a brighter side to all this.”

“And how exactly are we supposed to find a brighter side to this? Ponies have long memories, and this attack won't be forgotten in just a few weeks. For all we know, they’ll calm down but still be wary of Dark and Cece for months, even years before they finally forget what happened. I’ve seen it happen Celestia, and it's never a good thing when something like this happens.”

“I still don't understand why they're afraid of Tito,” Cece said. “I mean, he said it himself. He almost singlehandedly saved Ponyville from the psycho, and so many of them looked at him like he'll snap their necks or something.”

“Dark, when you were fighting Nisled, did you happen to have an expression that would have frightened the ponies?” Sebaste asked, his eyes furrowed in thought.

“Well...maybe…” I said.

Cece looked at me, confused. “What do you mean?”

“Well, according to Delsin, when he told, and showed, me what happened to Nisled's Mane Six, my eyes were literally red with rage. I don't know how it looked, but it was enough to make him jump when he saw it.”

“Hmm… if you combine that with a expression of rage… you’d scare even a Wh40k Commissar.” Sebaste said. “And they're not easy to scare.”

“So you think during my fight with that bastard, some ponies saw me with demon eyes and that's why they're scared of me?”

“Yeah, pretty much.” He said. “I honestly would be too if I saw that.”

“Ooookay…”

Sebaste then turned to pick his cup up only to see two red and yellow eyes staring at him. With a startled shout, he stumbled backwards, a M6D Magnum appearing in his right hand and aiming at the figure on the table. “Discord, you don't surprise a soldier like that mate!” He growled, lowering his weapon.

Discord then appeared above the table. “Well pardon me, but I was looking for our local Displaced and when I saw you, I couldn't resist giving you a bit of a fright.”

Sebaste snorted. “Believe me, I’ve met other versions of you, so I know of your antics. So why were you looking for Dark and Cece?” He asked, the pistol vanishing from his hand.

“Well, I finally finished a small project I've been working on for the last few days, and I figured they should be the first to see.”

“A project?” The Spartan asked, his tone suspicious. “Discord, if this is a practical joke, I'm not in the mood.”

“No joke of any kind. I'm sure this project can be nice for these two,” the draconequus said, pointing at me and Cece.

“It wouldn't happen to involve a certain beanie wearing filly, would it?” Sebaste asked.

Discord chuckled before looking towards me. “I'll let her answer that.”

Before I could ask, I felt a presence nearby and a strange case of deja vu. Looking to my right, my vision was filled with two purple swirls. “AAAH!” I screamed, falling off my seat.

“Hi,” I heard a female say. “I'm-”

“Screwball…” Sebaste groaned. “Aaaand this is now the second world that I’ve been to that has Screwy in it… Guess this is my screwed up life….”

“Wait til you meet Delsin, he has one of his own,” I said, climbing back onto my chair. “And I loved the fanfic with that name.” I then looked at the laughing pink filly floating in front of me. “So you actually made her?”

“Indeed,” Discord said, putting his paw on her shoulder. “Our own version of Screwball.”

“No ponies were hurt during her creation?” Sebaste asked, a single eyebrow raised.

“Of course not. There was no problem at all. Well, besides the “building her” part. Kinda hard to come up with a good personality for somepony with chaos magic, but on our side.” Screwball then floated between me and Cece, staring at us with a smile.

Sebaste chuckled before he noticed two swords leaning against a cabinet. Two very familiar swords. “What the devil?!” He muttered, his eyes widening in shock before he strode over to where they were and picked them up.

“What are those?” I asked as the three of us (Screwball, Cece, and I) stared at him.

He turned with a smirk on his face. “Guess you’ll be able to see the others now.” He then shouted, “Sasha, Alex, Vik, Come say hello to an old friend of mine!”

A portal soon opened up and three more armored figures were spat out, but just as the portal began to close, an cyan and metallic blur crashed into the three, knocking them down just as they were getting up. “Ow! Rainblade, watch where you land!” One of the figures, a Spartan Scout with Ivy's right arm armor groaned.

“Sorry! I'm still getting used to these wings!” A pony version of Rainbow with a metallic tail, cybernetic wings and front legs and a bionic eye said.

“Huh,” I muttered. “First Dusk Spark, and now this. Are there any other versions of the Mane 6 that are cyborgs? Also, she doesn't emit electricity, does she?”

Rainblade looked at me in confusion and shock. “Who the buck are you?!” She yelped, jumping into the air. Her right hoof suddenly separated into two parts and what looked like a gun barrel stuck out of it.

“Oh great, another hostile Rainbow,” I said with sarcasm before webbing the barrel.

“Rainblade, stand down!” Sebaste ordered. The gun barrel soon retracted and her hoof soon returned to its normal form. “She's not hostile Dark, she’s just unfamiliar with being in a different universe.”

Screwball floated up to “Rainblade” and stared at her with a frown. “Why do you look like that?” She asked with a bit of a sad tone in her voice.

Rainblade flattened her ears and looked away. Sebaste then answered, “She was augmented by another Rainbow Dash, who also uses cybernetics. She… served as a combat drone for Ahriman until Rainborg returned her a few months ago. It's… not something she likes remembering.”

By this time, the other three had gotten up. Both the Spartan Scout and the Astartes were looking at me and Cece as if… they had seen us before while the Orbital looked on in confusion.

“These are the three I was talking about earlier, Sebastian, Alexandra and Viktor.” Sebaste said, nodding towards the trio.

“Wait, Alex and Sasha?” I asked.

The two flinched as I said their names before they suddenly fell to one knee holding their heads. Sebaste stepped forward, a worried look on his face. “You two okay?” He asked.

“Y...yeah, We’re okay. Wait… The party! Last thing I remember was a flash of light then… nothing...” Sebastian said as he shakily stood up. Viktor looked at him as if he had sprouted a second head.

Cece and I just stared at them, while everyone else looked at them in confusion, excluding Discord, who was lounging on the air.

“Dude, the heck are you talking about?” Viktor asked.

“I believe that he's talking about his last meeting with these two,” Discord said, gesturing to me and Cece.

“When did he meet these two? I’ve never seen them before in my life!” The Spartan said.

“It's… just a few memories… I still don't remember anything else….” the Astartes said. “But I remember meeting Dark with Sebaste and the Hearth's Warming party, but other than that… nothing.”

“Well that makes sense. Considering what he said…” I said, remembering what the ‘author’ said.

Cece nodded. “I can only imagine how the others would react, knowing you guys are okay. And that Sebaste is still around.”

Alex groaned. “Uuugh, who put a sledgehammer to my head?” She said before she looked up. “Dark? Cece? What… what happened? I remember the party, but my mind’s a big blank after that… and… why does my arm feel wei-!?” She cut herself off as she heard her right arm faintly whirring as it moved.

Cece and I blinked. “Um...what was that?” Cece asked.

She didn't answer as she looked at her arm in shock. She moved her fingers and then her hand, each movement accompanied by the same faint whirring sound. “What's… what's happened to me? Why’s my arm mechanical?!” She asked, her voice starting to panic.

“Alex, calm down. You lost your arm in a car accident and ended up getting a custom made prosthetic.” Viktor said. “I think these new memories are scrambling your mind a bit.”

“I feel like I seen something like this before,” I muttered to myself.

Sebaste glanced over at me in confusion. “Where exactly did you see something like this?” he asked

I shrugged. “I watched a lot of shows before being Displaced, and read a lot of stories. Probably one of them.”

Alex meanwhile had managed to calm down after her panic attack and was now looking around in confusion. “Um… why are we in Canterlot?” She asked. Having already heard the story, Sebaste gave them the lowdown on what he had heard.

“Been here for a little over a week now,” Cece said, petting Emily. “And I'm pretty sure that things haven't gotten better.”

Sebastian sighed before saying, “I'm sorry you two had to go through that. But I understand things weren't in your control and this happened.”

“Aye,” I muttered. I then looked to Screwball, who was eating some spaghetti. “Why did you wanna show her to us?” I asked Discord.

Discord just shrugged. “Well, I figured you'd like to know. Considering the fact that you two are the only ones who knows anything about Screwball besides Twilight. I thought that you would be the best to help her “fit in”. Not to mention SOMEONE needs to watch her, and before you say anything, Fluttershy already has her hands full with watching me as well as those animals of hers, so she can't.”

Sebaste arched an eyebrow at that. “Too busy making chaos to really watch her?”

“Sort of. Not to mention I'm not exactly the best person to raise somepony, now aren't I?”

“Good point.” Sebaste then chuckled as Viktor tried out his active camo for the first time and surprised Cece. “It's been awhile since I've been able to relax…”

“Why you little…” Cece said, before disappearing.

Sebaste jerked back in shock. “What in Tartarus?!” He exclaimed. “When was she able to do that!?”

“Remember when I said a Kamen Rider Displaced gave her advice on a new power?” I asked. A second later, Viktor was flung to the wall. “Yeah, she can turn invisible now.” Cece then reappeared with her hammer.

An arcane shield suddenly sprung up between her and Viktor. “I think he gets the point.” Alex said, a smirk hidden behind her helmet while her right hand glowed with magic.

“Like I told Sebaste, I only like being scared on Halloween,” Cece said, dismissing her hammer.

“To be fair, this is his first time meeting you guys…” Sebaste said.

“Well either way, he should know better than to try and scare someone with a giant mallet.”

“Well he’s learned his lesson,” Alex said. That she tilted her head. “Um, anyone hearing wings flapping? And I’m not talking about Rainblade flying.” Said Pegasus gave her an annoyed look.

Hearing that, Cece and I immediately put on our hoods. “Seb, you should put on that helmet,” I told the Spartan.

Sebaste nodded before he slammed his helmet back on and sealed it. And not a moment too soon.

The doors opened and a pegasus with a yellow coat and orange mane came through with a blue pegasus stallion with a black mane.

“Spitfire and Soarin. Glad you can come,” Celestia said, getting up and walking to the two newcomers.

“Of course Princess,” Spitfire said. “We're happy to come over.” She then saw the rest of us. “Oh, sorry. Are we interrupting something?”

“Not really.” Sebaste replied.

Then what looked to be a small glowing blue woman in army fatigues and flak armor appeared on Viktor's shoulder and asked, “Vik? Where are we?”

“Another Equestria Kyra.” He replied. “And it’s another anthro one at that.”

We all just stared at him and the figure on his shoulder. “Um...explanation please,” I said.

“This is my AI companion Kyra. Kyra, this is Dark and Cece, the Displaced of this Equestria.” Viktor said.

“It's nice to meet you both.” She said.

“So she's pretty much your version of Cortana?” I asked.

“Who?” Cece said.

“Halo character, not important right now.”

“You could say that,” Viktor chuckled. “She helps keep an eye on the systems in my armor.”

I nodded before looking back at Spitfire and Soarin and saw their confused faces. “Um, what's going on?” Soarin asked.

“Oh where are my manners! The name’s Eliteslayer, and these four behind me are Sebastian, Alexandra, Viktor and Rainblade.” Sebaste said, nodding to the three Displaced and the augmented pegasus.

When they saw Rainblade, they both did a double take. “Rainbow Dash?” Spitfire said.

“It's Rainblade. That was the old me before Rainborg turned me into this…” She said as she raised her hoof, which then split in half with a hiss of bionics and a Bolter muzzle poked out of it. She lowered it and it returned to its original form.

“How did this happen? We just saw you a few minutes ago, and you were fine, and didn't look like...that.”

“Wait, you think she's….” Sebaste began to roar with laughter. “She's not this world’s Rainbow! She… She's from my old Equestria.”

“Wait what?”

I got up and walked to the door. “You guys explain this. I'm outta here.” Mike then got up and followed me as I walked down the hall.

“Excuse me…” Sebastian said before I heard him come up behind me. “Dude, you okay?” He asked as he caught up.

“Yeah. Just annoyed and confused.”

“About the business with Nisled?”

“Yeah. Only good that came out of that encounter was Rainbow activating her Conduit gene.”

“Sebaste mentioned that she had Aquamancy. But how has she been since the… incident?”

“You mean Hearth’s Warming Eve?”

“Yeah.”

“I think she's been okay. She left after the party and was in Cloudsdale with her family for the next week, so I don't know how she handled it.”

Sebastian chuckled, “If I know Rainbow, she’s not one for showing her feelings in public.” He said.

“Sebaste said something about how it's amazing that I saw her “caring side”.”

“Why would he say that?” He asked, sounding confused.

“Cece mentioned how she risked her life saving me from Nisled and he started laughing and said that.”

“She what? Huh… that's rare even for her to do. Only way I’ve heard of her doing that is if she had feelings for someone she really cared about…” Sebastian remarked. “But I'm not pointing fingers, it could be that she wanted to buy you guys time for you to be taken to the hospital.”

“Funnily enough, I was the only one who needed to be sent to the hospital. Cece was just hit with her hammer, and Delsin was hit by Nisled launching her at him. I on the other hand nearly bled out.” I then used my spider-sense to survey the area. When I didn't pick up anything, I leaned towards Sasha and whispered, “And don't get it in your head that Rainbow has feelings for me. I’ve had enough of that from Aurora and Delsin.”

“I wasn't implying it, although people say denial is proof, but I don't get involved with other’s lives.” He said. “But how's Twi and the rest of the gang?”

“They're fine, last I heard. Twilight’s trying to fix things up in Ponyville for us and the others are most likely doing their usual thing. It's kinda sad. Only had a job for a few days and then we had to leave for a while.”

“Things have been a bit insane for us as well. We just lost Fillydelphia a few days ago.” He said. “Sometimes I don't know why we were sent to that Equestria….”

“Who knows…”

“Maybe you're supposed to protect your Equestria,” I heard someone say next to me. Turning around, I saw Screwball looking at us.

“Gulliman's Blood!” Sebastian yelped, stumbling backwards. “Gah, I hate it when that happens!”

“Sorry. I'm not entirely used to my powers yet.” She said, chuckling.

“It's… to be expected, seeing as you were recently created.” He said. He then noticed a blue and yellow blur with a familiar prismatic mane flying nearby. “Um Dark? Wasn't Rainbow recently inducted into the Wonderbolts?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Because I'm seeing her a few feet in the air near us in Wonderbolts garb.”

“Wait, what?!”

Sebastian then pointed towards where she was. “Over there!”

I looked over and saw Rainbow flying around, looking for something. Before I can say anything though, Screwball teleported in front of her. “Hi.”

Rainbow immediately jumped and nearly hit the ceiling. “What the hay?”

“Ooh, that's gonna leave a mark…” the Astartes muttered.

“It would've, if A: she wasn't a Conduit and can heal fast, and B: she actually hit the the ceiling.”

“Point for your side.”

I nodded before looking back to Rainbow staring at Screwball with confusion. “Well, we should go to her.”

He nodded before the two of us headed towards where she was.

“Excuse me, but I think you're in the wrong castle.” He said as we halted below her. “I'm afraid I’m gonna need some ID.”

“What are you talking about?” Rainbow asked, landing in front of him.

“Geez Dashie, you honestly don't remember me ?” He asked, sounding hurt. “You’d think vanishing like that would leave quite the memory…”

“Vanishing? What are you talking abo-” her eyes then widened. “Sebastian?”

“Anyone else here that's dressed like an Astartes?” He asked with a chuckle. “It's good to see you again, and from what I've heard, you’re quite the powerhouse now with those powers you acquired.”

Rainbow chuckled. “Yeah. Though, still have a bit to learn with these powers.”

“I bet. It's…. weird having to relearn my abilities. At least Eliteslayer helps with that.” He said, carefully avoiding saying Sebaste's name. “He’s definitely quite the teacher.”

“Who?”

“Someone in Halo armor,” Screwball said.

“He’s actually chatting with Spitfire and Soarin if you want to meet him.” Sebastian said. “Alex and Viktor are there also along with… well, a pony version of you, but she's… had a bit of a rough time.”

Rainbow did a double take. “Wait, Spitfire and Soarin saw another version of me?”

The Astartes chuckled, “They thought she was you, only with augmentations. Don't know how they didn't notice that she was an actual pony, and not… well, anthro like you guys.”

“In case you didn’t notice, they were shocked by both the cybernetics, AND her shape,” I said.

“Right… Speak of the devil herself…” he said as Rainblade flew in and landed next to us.

“The others were wondering where you two were and sent me to find you.” She said as her wings folded, the built in blades glinting in the sunlight.

Rainbow’s eyes widened. “Another cyborg? Seriously?”

Rainblade’s ears flattened. “I didn't ask to get kidnapped and turned into what I am now! Blame Ahriman for that, his Rainbow Dash did this to me when that war happened in my old Equestria!” She snapped.

Rainbow shrugged. “Just don’t attack my friends, and I won’t hurt you.” She then lifted one of her hands and it started glowing.

Rainblade snorted. “You must have your head in the clouds if you think I would want to hurt anyone. You don't know what it's like to wake up as a combat drone for the New Black Legion. I hated it! I never wanted to hurt anypony… but I was forced to.” She said, flaring her wings. “And I now have to deal with ponies looking at my “upgrades” and giving scared looks!”

“I’m just saying. A cyborg version of Twilight attacked Dark just because he called her Twilight.”

“Let me guess, she encountered Nisled?” Sebastian asked.

“She was Nisled’s version of Twilight,” I said. “Turned into a cyborg after everything he did to her. Oh, and she’s an electricity Conduit.”

“Yeesh, I’d hate to tick her off…” he said.

Rainblade then looked at us. “I’ll let the others know where you guys are, unless you three are coming back to the dining room?”

“Before you go, do they know what I am?” I asked.

“Yeah, Sebaste…” she corrected herself after seeing Sebastian shake his head frantically. “... Eliteslayer explained about the Displaced just as you two left.”

“Wait, what did you say about Sebaste?” Rainbow asked.

“Goof up on her part. Pay it no mind.” Sebastian said.

Rainbow had a suspicious look that I knew all too well. “Okay…” She said, putting on her goggles.

“C’mon, let’s head back. Better not let the others worry too long.” He said.

I shrugged. “Okay.”

“You coming Dashie?”

“Sure. Might find her on the way.” She replied with a shrug.

The six of us then headed towards the dining room, along the way, Sebastian asked Rainbow, “So how's the life of a Wonderbolt?”

“Pretty good. Might be able to convince Spitfire to let me use my powers for a show or two.”

“It’s funny, but back on Earth, we had a show where humans actually controlled the elements, so Earth, Fire, Water and Air. But they didn't turn into clouds or the like.” He chuckled.

“Really?”

“Yeah, ran for a whopping four seasons before it ended.”

“What show are you talking about because the one I’M thinking about only had three seasons,” I said, tossing Mike’s pokeball in my hand.

“The Legend of Korra.”

“Ah. I was thinking Avatar.”

“Well, they are part of the same series, one just happens later after the team has grown up.” He then tapped his helmet in annoyance. “Something must be wrong with the wiring in this helmet, I keep picking up a signature on the motion tracker other than you guys…”

“And by grown up, you mean most dying and those still alive being around Granny Smith’s age. And that signature might just be Cece again. Or, you know, ANYPONY ELSE! We're in Canterlot. The place has a LOT more ponies here than Twilight’s castle.”

“Except this one keeps flitting in and out of range, like it’s trying to keep out of sight. Almost like Pinkie's around…”

“I think I know who it is,” Rainbow said.

“Who would be acting like Pinkie? I don't think I know anypony that’s as random as she is…” Rainblade said.

Wait a minute…

“She's a WonderBolt who came with us today named-”

“SURPRISE!” I heard someone screamed right behind me.

“AAAAAHHH!” I screamed, jumping to the ceiling and sticking to it.

“GULLIMAN’S BLOOD!” Sebastian yelped.

Rainblade lept five feet into the air, a new gun poking out of her hoof as she looked around in shock.

“Surprise,” Rainbow said, shaking her head.

I looked at the pony that had yelled and saw that she was a white pegasus with a poofy blonde mane and looked identical to Pinkie, even having a cutie mark of three balloons as well.

A single pair of armored boots running sounded from the hallway before Sebaste appeared and skidded to a halt. “The hell was with the yelling? We heard you and Dark shout as if you got spooked by something!” He asked. He then looked up. “And why is Rainblade looking like she's about to open fire?” The pegasus quickly withdrew her weapon and landed.

“Pinkie’s G1 counterpart came in and scared the living hell out of half of us,” I said as I dropped down.

“Wait, you mean Surprise? Bloody hell…” he sighed. “It's not the first time I've encountered her in a different Equestria. There's one that goes around with a Mask Displaced.”

“Mask? …Are you talking about what I think you're talking about?”

“Guy with a green mask and can do all kinds of 4th wall mayhem? Yep.”

“Oh dear Lord, Discord would have a field day with that guy.”

“Tell me about it…” he muttered, before he noticed Rainbow giving him a strange look. “Um.. yes?”

“Who’re you?” She asked.

“The name’s Eliteslayer. I’m an operative of Celestia and Luna and a member of the Royal Guard Reserves.” He said.

Rainbow just continue to stare at him. “I feel like I’ve seen you before…”

“You sure it wasn't some other Spartan?” He asked. “Because there are a bunch of other Spartan Displaced out there.”

“Other what?”

“A guy in underwear and a cape, basically,” someone said. Looking over, I saw Cece walking to us. She stopped though when she saw Surprise. “Um, since when can Pinkie become a pegasus?”

“Cece, meet the Pinkie from the G1 ponies, Surprise.” Sebaste said, and then added sarcastically, “And yes, that's what I was talking about…not.”

“Oh God there's another one.”

“I’ve met another Surprise in a different Equestria. Both she and the Mask make quite the… duo.” He said.

“Okay then. You guys can deal with the Pinkie clone, I'll find something else to do. Maybe find another guard to beat.” Cece then walked away and ran down the hall.

“Wonder when she'll stop with that,” I muttered to myself.

“She's been doing that a lot lately?” Sebaste asked

“Yup. Finds a guard to challenge and beats em. Not like they're a challenge to be honest.”

“Let’s hope she doesn't go over her head…” The Spartan muttered. Out of reflex, a Magnum appeared and then vanished in his left hand. He quickly looked at Rainbow to make sure she hadn't seen that.

“It's mostly her version of training. Might help toughen the guards up too. Though it'd be useful to find someone who's actually a good opponent for her.”

“She should take it out on a dummy instead.” He chuckled.

“Dummies aren't exactly useful for dodging and thinking on your feet. Heck, it'd be more useful if we had some LMDs.”

“LMDs? What are those?” Rainblade asked.

“Life Model Decoys. Basically, think robotic changelings used for training. They can turn into anyone, allowing you to train to fight that person.

“You mean what that droid in The Force Unleashed was?”

“What are you… Oh right. Proxy. I loved that game. And to answer your question, pretty much, but not having actual consciousness. Just normal AI.”

“Hmm… maybe we can try doing a bit of practice with my Holograms…” Sebaste mused before he suddenly cursed himself for letting that slip.

“Wait what?” Rainbow said.

“Slip of the tongue.” He said.

“Dude, just tell her,” I said. “If you don't, I will.”

Sebaste sighed. “It's been awhile, but it’s me.” He said as his armor shifted to a more familiar look.

Rainbow eyes widened in shock. “Sebaste?”

The Spartan nodded. “Yup. In the flesh.”

Rainbow just stared at him, her mouth hanging open. “I-I thought you were replaced.”

“I was. I'm more of a teacher for Sasha and the other two now. But I'm still alive and kicking.”

Rainbow chuckled. “Wait until the others find out.”

“Gives me another reason to talk to Sarah and Tomas,” I said.

“Who?”

“Two Displaced that both Sasha and I met before we were re-displaced.” Sebaste said.

“Okay, but what does that have to do with Dark?”

“From what he told me, he encountered them a few days after… you know…”

“Really?”

“We caught Mike and Emily in their dimension,” I told her. “And, according to Tomas, Discord may be able to open a portal there with their token.”

“Oh, maybe I can do that for you,” Screwball said.

“Well, we’ll cross that bridge when it comes.” Sebaste then looked at Rainbow. “I heard about you fighting Nisled. That in and of itself is bravery in its highest form.” He then took his helmet off and gave her a small smile.

“Especially if she knew how risky it was,” I told him.

“Agreed. But sometimes events makes heroes out of ordinary people.” He said.

I chuckled. “Ain't that the truth. Isn't this is a world where six normal ponies became heroes of a nation out of nowhere, saving this place at least four times?”

Both Sebastian and Sebaste chuckled. “That it is, Dark, that it is…” Sebaste said.

“Um, can we go back to the dining room please?” Screwball said. “I’m pretty sure the others would be wondering where we are.”

The rest of us nodded before we continued on our way to the dining room. And when we got there, we saw Spitfire and Soarin talking to Celestia. Both Viktor and Alex were in another part of the room quietly chatting. As we entered, they both looked up and Alex gave Rainbow a small wave.

“Who're they?” Rainbow asked.

“The Orbital on the left is Viktor, while you should recognize the Scout on the right, take a look at her right arm.” Sebaste said, nodding to the two.

She looked at the arm. “Alex?”

He nodded just as the female Spartan walked up to them. “Hi Rainbow….” Alex said.

Rainbow smiled. “Nice to see you again Alex. Like the new look.”

“Thanks…” Alex then shifted her right arm, the faint whirring of gears being heard as it moved.

“What was that?

“I’ve… changed since you last saw me, my right arm is now completely mechanical.” Alex said.

“So...you're a cyborg too?”

“No, I lost it in a car crash. The arm’s just a prosthetic.” She replied. Viktor then walked over and stood next to her.

“So you're this world’s Rainbow Dash? Nice to meet you.” He said.

“You too…” She said. “So you're Seb's “replacement”?”

“Um… what?” Viktor asked in confusion.

“Forget about it,” I said. “Just something we were told a few weeks ago regarding Seb, Sasha and Alex.”

“Oookay…” he said. “So what's your story Dark?” He then asked.

“Huh?”

“He’s asking about when you got Displaced.” Sebaste spoke up from where he was talking to Rainblade.

“Oh. Um, I'm not sure I'm comfortable telling everything with those two present,” I whispered, pointing at Spitfire and Soarin as they were talking to Celestia.

“Good point.” Alex said. “So what do you guys want to know about us?”

“How's the new life?”

Sebastian chuckled. “To put it simply, war is hell.” He said. “Luckily we’ve only fought off a few attacks from the enemy. Other than that, we just help around the town.”

“Hmm. By the way, where in the timeline are you?”

“Fifth, or at least, it would have been…” Sebaste said from behind me.

“Huh… How bad is it?”

“Try having a crazy pony convince leaders of other cities nearby to secede from Equestria and then declare war on the Princesses. That's how bad.”

“So it's in a civil war?”

“Pretty much.”

“Wow. Wish I can help with that.”

“Unless you want to get targeted by tanks and automatic weapons, I wouldn't risk it.” Sebaste replied.

I sighed.

“But there is one pony there you might be surprised to see.”

“Really? Who?”

“Ever heard of Nyx?”

“Nyx? Isn't that what you called Stella?” Rainbow asked me.

“Yes,” I said, before turning back to Sebaste. “Why?”

“Well… we have the actual Nyx. She's more of a teen than a filly now, but she's in our Equestria.”

“Really? So Past Sins happened or something else?”

“I'm guessing it happened a few years before we even arrived in Equestria….”

“Huh.”

“Um, details please,” Rainbow said.

“Long story short, filly Nightmare Moon some cult created using Nightmare Moon’s remains and Twilight’s blood. They wanted to bring her back, but failed. I don't remember most of it, but it ended with Nyx being a filly again, and the cult was disbanded. Oh, and she's a good guy and basically Twilight’s daughter.”

“Wait what?”

“I know, crazy isn't it?” Viktor chuckled.

“To say the least,” I said.

“It was quite a shock for me when I learned Nyx’s story.” Rainblade spoke up. “Back in the Equestria I came from, Nightmare Moon was no more.”

“I honestly don't remember how I found out about Nyx.”

“Anyways, we’ve encountered some new Displaced over the past few weeks, along with a few old faces.” Sebaste said, but as he did so, a noticeable strain entered his voice.

“I met a lot of Displaced over the span of a week, as you already heard. So who’d you meet?”

“The first Displaced we met was an HK droid from the Star Wars: KotOR and a few weeks after that, we got summoned by a Solid Snake Displaced.” Alex said. “Sebaste wasn't with us that time.”

“Huh. All I understood about that first one was Star Wars. As for Snake, cool. I only played Phantom Pain though.”

“A month after that, we were summoned by a Displaced that had gone as a pilot from the Supreme Commander series, and that time Sebaste was with us.”

“The what series?”

“Long story short, it’s a game where you basically get to control a giant mech and experimental vehicles and weapons. I believe it's an RTS PC game.”

“Okay…”

“Anyways… After we helped him capture his world's Rarity so that she could get un-brainwashed and got back to our world, we encountered an old friend of Seb's from his old life named Craig. He’s…. also our adoptive brother.”

I blinked. “Okay then…”

“A few weeks after that… we met Ahriman.” Sebaste spoke up, his voice suddenly tense.

“That guy who did...that?” I gestured to Rainblade.

“That was one of his subordinates, but yes, him. Apparently he had a hand in re Displacing me and blocking most of my memories and the majority of Sasha’s and Alex's memories.”

“On what?”

“Their old lives.”

“Ah.”

Rainbow looked to me. “Um, Dark? Isn't there something you're supposed to do before they leave?”

“What are you-OH RIGHT!” I then pulled out my phone.

“What is it that you want to show us?” Sebastian asked.

“It's not necessarily what I want to show you, more what I want to do.”

Rainblade and the four soldiers gave me a confused look as I said that. “Translation?” Sebaste asked.

“Well, after what happened to you guys, I did a bit of thinking, and I figured I could have a better way to remember any Displaced I meet than just by their tokens.”

“That… actually makes sense.” Sebastian said with a nod. “So you want to take a picture of us?”

“Aye. I've been taking pictures of all the displaced I've met and those they're close to. Here, check this one out.” I pulled up the picture of Ashur and Aurora and tossed it to Sebaste.

Sebaste caught the phone and looked at the picture. “These are the two Assassin’s Creed Displaced you were talking about? You’re lucky, I haven't had the chance to encounter one.” He said as he showed the others.

“Yeah. Them, Octavia, Luna, and Vinyl. They're all pretty nice but Aurora is a bit of a shipper.”

“A what?” Rainbow asked.

“Not important,” I immediately said.

“It has something to do with boats, not really your kind of thing.” Viktor joked.

“Okay…” She said.

“So where do you want us to stand for the pic?” Alex asked.

I shrugged. “Anywhere I can see your whole bodies.”

“Maybe out in the hallway by the window?” Sebastian suggested.

“Sure.”

We then headed out into the hallway, Rainblade and the four halting at the window and turning to face me.

“Okay then.” I faced my phone towards them. “Say “Soldier”.” I took the photo and put my phone in my pocket. “Okay, that's done.”

Sebaste nodded. “It was good seeing you and Cece again after all this time.” He said. He then looked at Rainbow. “Same with you Dashie, it's crazy that the first time we met, you were raring for a fight, but now here you are, a Conduit and a Wonderbolt. You’ve definitely come far from the hot head that tried to deck me because of a nickname.”

Rainbow chuckled nervously. “Right...forgot about that.”

He chuckled. “Tell the girls I said hello. Alex, open the portal.”

The Spartan Scout rolled her eyes and muttered, “Yes, your wizardry…..” before her right hand glowed with arcane power. Within seconds, a portal was open besides us.

“Well, it was nice seeing you again,” I said, sticking out my hand to Sebaste.

He took my hand and shook it. “You too Dark. I hope things get better for you mate.” Both he and Rainblade then entered the portal and vanished.

Viktor then walked up and said, “It was nice meeting you mate, I… still find it crazy that Sebaste knew you from a different Equestria. But I wish you luck for whatever the future holds.”

“You too Vik. Until next time.”

He nodded but as he walked towards the other two, a portal suddenly opened beneath the three. “Ah shi-!” Viktor swore before he was cut off after falling into the portal which then closed with a hiss, Alex's portal also closing.

“Um...what just happened?” Rainbow asked.

“I don't know, but it was nice seeing them again.”

“Yeah. It was. Come on. We should get back to the others before they wonder where we went.”

I nodded and we started walking back to the dining room. “Hey, before I forget, why exactly are you guys here?”

“Spitfire said we got an invitation from Celestia to have lunch here, and I was specifically asked to join.”

“Really? Huh. Wonder why.”

“If I had to guess, it’s so I had an excuse to see you guys again.” We walked in silence for a moment until she said, “Hey, I have a question for you.”

“Yeah?”

“You said you’ll be going back to the dimension you got Mike from soon?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Whenever you guys are going there, let me know.”

“Why?”

“So I can go too. I’ll actually be able to meet these guys you and Sasha were talking about, and if something happens, I can help.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah.”

I shrugged. “Okay, if you say so. I'll send a letter to Spike to let you know when we're going.”

She nodded. And we continued to the dining room.

Author's Note

Well, a few more things happened here. For one, they met back up with Sebaste and the others as well as met Viktor and Rainblade. Also, Spitfire and two other WonderBolts make their debut. Small spoiler, I have big plans for one of them. None of you will be able to figure it out. Also, there's now a Screwball in their world, and she'll be spending a lot of time with Tito and Cece. Oh, speaking of which, they now have two more weapons for their arsenal. An Energy Sword and a whip sword. Well, it'll be a little while until 21. Just so you know, something that no one will, completely, see coming happens then. Hopefully I finish within the next 8 days. If not, then have a happy Halloween/Nightmare Night. Until next time.
-Dark

21. A Shocking Encounter

'They never look up, do they?'

I was on the ceiling, sneaking around in the middle of the night, in my costume. A few guards walked around, not noticing me at all. When they left, I silently dropped down and laughed silently to myself.

'Before I leave, I should tell Celestia about the importance of that.'

I shrugged and jumped to a pillar and just jumped through the castle as silently as I can, none of the guards detecting me at all. A few minutes later, I was crawling on the wall of the room with the stained glass windows.

'Now, where to-'

“What are you doing?” somepony said from behind me.

'Holy crap!' I turned around and saw Luna looking at me. “Oh...hi Princess. Funny seeing you right now…”

“That doesn't answer my question.”

I sighed before dropping down in front of her. “Honestly, I need something to do.”

“Can't you just go to bed?”

“Not tired. And I'm bored. So, I decided to train.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, in case you haven't noticed, my sister’s been using a few guards as punching bags to train with lately.”

“I heard. I was also informed that she broke the ribs of a couple who mocked her for her size.”

I winced at that. “Yeah...pro tip, let your guards know never to do that unless they really wanna get hurt.”

“I'll keep that in mind. Now, what does this have to do with you?”

“Well, Cece mostly just uses her hammer and fists. She doesn't really know the techniques that the person she looks like has. She's sloppy. But she can still beat your guards with ease. I, on the other hand, have more than just punches and shooting webs. I have more ways to beat someone, and I need more of a challenge. And the only pony I know who can match me and NOT try to kill me is in Ponyville. So, I thought if I can't work on my technique or the like, I can work on my stealth. And I'm doing good on that. You're the only pony who've seen me all night.”

“You can say it's one of the perks of being the Princess of the Night.”

“So you can see in the dark? Okay... So why are you here anyway?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, shouldn't you be in that night court or something?”

She sighed. “That is a common misconception. I was preparing to monitor the dreams of everypony, when I was informed of some rather grim news and decided to take a walk.”

“Seriously? What is it?”

“A large crime spree has been happening in Manehatten for a couple of days now. A group of ponies have been attacking various areas, and are led by a certain criminal with strange abilities.”

“Any idea who it is?”

She shook her head. “All we have right now is a photo of their leader.”

“Can I see it?”

She nodded and gave me a photo. I took it and when I saw it, I did a double take. “Oh you GOTTA be kidding me.” What I saw was a stallion in a familiar red and yellow costume with a mask covering his face and gauntlets on his hands.

“What's wrong? You know him?”

“Well...yes and no.”

She looked at me with a suspicious look. “Explain.”

I sighed. “I don't know who the pony is, but I know that costume.”

“How?”

“You remember when I said this costume was inspired by someone with my abilities? Well, he fought a lot of villains, one of which was called Shocker, who this guy is dressed identical to.”

“So you know how to fight him?”

I shrugged. “Well, kinda. Not much.”

“Then what do you know?”

“Well all versions I know of are normal humans. The main problem is those gauntlets. If he IS like the original, then those things can shoot blasts of energy. Take those out, and you should be able to take him down.”

“Hmm. Well hopefully we can put a stop to him with this information,” she said as she started walking away.

I thought for a moment before saying, “How bout you leave him to me?”

She stopped and turned around. “You? I don't mean to sound rude, but why should I trust the safety of my subjects to you?”

“Well for one thing, I'm more powerful than a lot of ponies, and I'm more capable of dodging his hits, what with my speed and spider-sense.”

She stayed silent for a moment before saying, “I will have to talk to my sister later about this before we can do that.”

I shrugged. “Okay then.”

“Oh, and you should really get some sleep. If you are going to Manehatten to fight this “Shocker”, it's best that you're well rested.”

I sighed. “Fine. Though, before I go, I have to say, your guards really suck.”

“What do you mean?”

“Besides being easily beaten by a teenager with little to no combat experience, I was able to sneak past them much easier than when I snuck around Ponyville on my second day.”

“And what do you think will help them with that?”

“Well for the first part, they should train under harder conditions. For the second one, one way is having them remember to look up.”

“What?”

“One thing I learned over the years is that people never look up. And I noticed that your guards are no exception, despite the fact that there are beings that can fly here.”

“Hmm. I'll have to remember that.”

I nodded. “Well, in that case, good night Princess.” And with that, I snuck to my room and felll asleep.

“So why are we going to Manehatten, exactly?” Screwball asked me.

I was on a train heading to the city with Cece and Screwball. It took a little convincing for Celestia to let me go to take on Shocker, but when she did, she gave me a two way train ticket. Cece and Screwball decided to tag along too, so Celestia gave them tickets as well.

I shrugged. “Well I'm going there because I wanna help take care of a problem. Why did you come?”

“Well I came to see Coco again,” Cece said. “What's your excuse?” she asked Screwball.

The chaos spawn shrugged. “Well, my dad did tell me to stay with you, so that's what I'm doing.”

“Still can't believe that Discord stuck us with babysitting duty for you.”

Screwball’s ears folded. I placed a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t feel too bad. Cece here is still a little on edge about Ponyville.”

“Among other things,” the hedgehog muttered before putting on her headphones and listening to her music.

Screwball looked towards me and said, “So what exactly is this problem you're supposed to help with?”

I hesitated for a moment before taking out the photo of Shocker and showed her. “This is a guy causing trouble there. Long story short, I recognized the costume and decided to help out. Besides, helping put a stop to a crime spree is more entertaining than just swinging around the castle doing nothing.”

“So you decided to fight a villain instead of stay in Canterlot?” She then shrugged. “Makes sense. Can't call yourself a hero if you're just going to just laze around instead of helping ponies.”

I nodded, putting the picture away, before looking out the window and noticing we were arriving at the city. “Get ready. We're about to get off.”

A few minutes later, Cece and I stepped out of the station with our cover on and Screwball close behind.

Cece sighed. “Back in the city. Feels nice.” She then turned to me. “Coco’s place is a few blocks down. Let me know when you're done doing whatever, and we can meet back here.” With that said, she ran off down the street, dodging the civilians with ease.

I looked at Screwball. “Go with her and don't cause any trouble. I'll swing around looking for Shocker for a little while. If I can't find him, I'll just find you guys and start again tomorrow. Okay?”

She nodded. “Good luck Tito.” She then smiled and disappeared in a flash of light, causing a few bystanders to look around in confusion to where the earth pony went. I chuckled and walked to an alley. When I was hidden, I took off my cloak, put it in a web bag, and put on my mask before jumping onto a wall and climbing it to the roof of the building.

'Well then. Let's see how long this may take.'

I put my foot on the edge, looking down to the ponies below, before taking a deep breath and shot a web towards a building and began swinging around the city.

(A few hours later)

I landed on the roof of a tall building and sighed. “Still nothing.”

I've spent a couple hours swinging around the city, looking for Shocker as well as exploring Manehatten a bit more. So far, all I’ve seen was a bunch of nosy pegasi, a few places I can use as a hiding place, and a bunch of surprised ponies.

I sat on a stone gargoyle and looked at the city. “This is getting tedious.”

“What is?” A familiar voice said behind me. I almost jumped from my surprise. I turned around and saw a certain turquoise pegasus leaning on a wall with her arms crossed.

“Well, well, well,” I said as I got up. “Didn’t expect to see you, Dust.”

“Then who did you expect to see?”

“Honestly, no one. So, is there a reason you're here right now?”

She shrugged. “You could say I'm getting used to the city. Why are YOU here?”

I hesitated for a moment before saying, “I heard that there was a pony in a red and yellow costume causing havoc, and thought I could help.” I then noticed her wing wasn't as bad as when we met. “So how's the wing?”

She looked at her wings and gave them a flap. “All healed up.”

“That’s good to hear,” I said with a smile behind my mask. I thought for a moment before speaking again. “Hey, why are you here? Not here on this building, though that is another good question, but in Manehattan?”

“Oh well, I’m here training to be a cop,” she answered me with a shrug. “The wing kinda put me back a few months but didn’t stop me from trying.”

I blinked at that before simply saying, “Kay.” She tilted her head a bit in thought before she looked at me.

“A pony wearing a yellow and red outfit causing trouble. I might know who you’re talking about,” she said.

“Is that so?” I asked.

“Every cop in the city is on high alert. Kinda hard to not hear about a pony wearing that and shooting energy beams around,” she informed me.

“Touche… So, what can you tell me about him?”

She didn’t say anything for a few minutes as she was thinking about it. “Well, from what we found out so far, he’s resistant to magic and his blasts are strong enough to destroy most walls with ease,” she informed me.

“...what?” I asked, tilting my head to the side.

She rolled her eyes at me. “Some ponies tried to use magic to stop him but he just shrugged it off, and have you seen the damage he dealt?” she ask.

“Well I just got here earlier today, so not really.”

She raised an eyebrow at me before shaking her head. “Anyway, other than that there's nothing to go by. Can't see his cutie mark since he’s wearing a suit and we can’t ask him because he’d just blast us with energy beams.” Dust finished explaining.

“Well, that’s not really a lot to go by, but it’s something,” I said. She shrugged at me.

“Hey, it’s what everypony knows,” Dust said. “No pony wants to get close because if they do, they get blasted.”

I frowned at that. “Did… anypony get hurt?”

Dusts face went a little grim. “Quite a bit, a lot in the hospital, some…”

“I get it,” I said quickly. I looked down for a moment before looking back up to Dust. She shifted a bit uncomfortably in her clothes. The late afternoon sun slowly moved through the clear sky.

“Hey, I know this is a bit off topic but… I been hearing this rumor lately,” Dust finally said. I tilted my head at her.

“What rumor?” I asked.

“Well, the rumor is that some time ago there was two demon like beings duking it out near Ponyville. Know anything about it?”

My body tensed a bit from that as the memories flooded back to me. “So what?”

“I’m just asking, kinda a big rumor that’s going around and some of the townsfolk from Ponyville were scared."

“I don’t know anything about it,” I said firmly, not really in the mood to talk about what happen in the moment. She narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth to say something as my spider-sense went off. I immediately jerked my head to the side before running off the ledge and swinging to the place my spider-sense was telling me to go.

“HEY!” I heard Lightning scream. I looked back to see her following me, quickly catching up to me. “Where you going?!”

“Honestly? I have no idea,” I said as I just kept swinging.

“So you randomly start swinging to places?” she asked.

“Look, it's a long story, but basically it's the same thing that led me to you when you needed help.”

“That sounds like something from a comic book,” she commented.

“Oh you have no idea…”

After some time I noticed that she was lagging behind. I looked back and saw that she was wobbling a bit.

I landed on a rooftop and turned towards her. “You okay?”

“Yeah…” she landed. “Wing just a little sore, but I'm fine.”

I nodded before feeling my spider-sense go off again. “I'll have to go. Whatever's going on must be big. See you around Lightning.” I then web zipped north.

I just kept web zipping and swinging for a few minutes until I landed on a wall and looked at the street. I saw civilians running away from somewhere up ahead.

“I'm guessing something is happening,” a voice said. I jumped and saw that Dust kneeling beside me. She looked at me for a moment. “What?”

I shook my head. “Just surprised that you can sneak up on me so effectively.”

Immediately after that, I heard a loud crash. I looked at the direction it came from and saw the stallion I was looking for all day walk out of a hole on the side of a nearby building.

“Okay boys,” he said, in a very familiar voice. “You gather the goods, I'll play with those assholes in blue.”

A few moments later, some ponies in police uniform showed up and surrounded the building. One, a unicorn stallion with cobalt fur, grabbed a megaphone and said, “Okay Shocker, this is your final warning. Surrender now, or get ready to really face the consequences.”

Shocker just laughed. “Like you can stop me! I'm surprised you still have some ponies that aren't in the hospital. Now here's YOUR only warning. Get out of my way, or I'll put you in a body bag.”

“Like that's gonna happen,” the stallion said before putting away the megaphone and fired a magic blast at Shocker.

When the blast connected, Shocker just stood there, the blast doing nothing. Shocker then cracked his knuckles and chuckled. “My turn.” He then pulled his right hand back before pushing it forward in a fist, a burst of concentrated energy coming out towards the stallion that hit him.

Before the blast can connect, I immediately jumped off the building I was on and quickly pulled the cop out of the way. I then landed on a lamppost and looked at Shocker with my arms crossed. “So you mind telling me what's your deal, or am I just gonna kick your ass?”

Shocker just looked at me, his hands closing into fists and shaking in anger. “You…”

I tilted my head in confusion. “Do I know you?”

“Oh, you don't remember? Let me refresh your memory. Several weeks ago, in an alleyway, you messed with a group of stallions trying to have some fun.”

I nodded. “Yeah? What's that have to do with-oh…” I then realized where I heard that voice before. “You're that earth pony that tried to hit me with a pipe.”

“Yeah. And thanks to you, I was thrown into the slammer. But now, it's payback time.” He then launched a blast at me, but I immediately web-zipped to a nearby building to dodge it. “Hey! Hold still and let me hit ya!” He then launched another blast, but I just jumped away and landed on the street.

“You know, you're really slow at that,” I commented.

“Shut up!” He yelled before throwing another blast, which I redirected to the building he came out of by webbing his arm towards it, having the blast hit one of his mooks.

Shocker shook with anger before turning to his goons. “All of you, get him!”

They immediately put the bags of loot down and came after me while I was rubbing my hands. Two earth ponies came close and I just shot a web to them and pulled them towards me, grabbed them by the collars and slammed them to the ground before webbing them. I immediately backflipped over another earth pony before landing with my hand on top of his head and falling to the ground before throwing him at a wall and webbing him there.

I then dusted my gloves and looked at Shocker. “These are the best you can get? Come one, I know a single pegasus from a small town that put up much more of a challenge, and that's before she learned new tricks.”

Shocker growled before yelling, “Shut up! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!!!” while throwing a blast each sentence, with me jumping out of the way each time.

I then had an idea and jumped in front of one of his goons and yelled at Shocker, “I thought you were supposed to be tough, but I know kids more destructive than you.” He then fired another blast and I just dodged it, with the blast hitting the pony behind me, but Shocker just kept his eyes on me and didn't notice his friendly fire. I jumped to another lamppost and was about to jump to another wall when one of his blasts finally hit me and sent me crashing into a building.

“Finally!” Shocker exclaimed. He then walked towards me and aimed his gauntlet right at my face. “Any last words, freak?”

“Yeah, how bout you tell me where you got that tech?” I asked.

He laughed. “Sorry, but I don't actually know myself. I just know somepony bailed me out and gave me this stuff, and told me to do whatever I want. And right now, I want nothing more than to get rid of you.”

Before he can blast me, we heard somepony yell, “Hey!” Before he was hit in the back of the head with a 2x4.

He grabbed the back of his head in pain and I kicked him outside before getting back up. I then saw Lightning was close with a broken piece of wood in her hands before saying, “Thanks.” I then walked outside and looked at Shocker. “So you done yet?”

He just growled before screaming and pointed both his fists at me, preparing to launch a big blast. I then immediately webbed his hands together, and the blasts hit him and the gauntlets, sending him flying. I walked to his body and knelt down, checking to see if he was still conscious. When I made sure he wasn't, I dismissed my webs and removed the broken gauntlets from his hands before putting it in a satchel made of my webs and slung it over my shoulder.

I then turned towards the police and said, “Well, they're all yours.”

I was just about to leave when I heard one of them say, “Wait.” When I looked to the speaker, I saw the stallion that stood up to Shocker. “Who are you, and why did you help us?”

I chuckled. “I helped because I was told you needed it, and I couldn't live with myself knowing somepony like that was hurting others and no one could stop him. As for my name, just call me Spider.” I then gave a bow and web swung away.

A few minutes later, I was on the roof of Rarity’s store and looked around the city. After a few minutes, I heard the sound of wings behind me.

“Hey,” Lightning's voice said behind me. “Nice work with the shocker dude.”

I smiled behind my mask. “I knew you'd come talk to me. And thanks. Also, thanks again for distracting him long enough for me to finish him.”

“Hey, couldn’t let you have all the fun,” she said. “So, what are you going to do now?”

I shrugged. “Get my...friends, and go back to where we're staying.”

“Well then, best not keep you then,” she said, walking over to my side. “I have my own things to take care of. See you later?”

“Sure. Hell, maybe one day you can meet me without the mask.” I heard her laugh.

“Maybe,” she said before taking off and flying away.

I watched her until she was out of sight, then I jumped down into alley and took my cloak out of my web bag and put it on, then put my mask in my pocket. I took out my phone and sent Cece a text, telling her to meet me in the train station. After that, I put my phone away and exited the alley.

'The girls are not going to believe this…'

Author's Note

FINALLY! AFTER 8 MONTHS, IT'S FINALLY FINISHED! And right on time for the anniversary. Sorry for the VERY long wait everyone, but writer's block hit me HARD! So, let's recap. Tito fought his first enemy that's a copy of a Marvel villain, and he met Lightning Dust again and they seem to be getting along. Okay. Now, sorry if this chapter isn't that good, I'm extremely rusty writing for these guys again. Anyway, I would like to thank all my friends who helped me get this chapter finished. And finally, the next chapter will be something no one will expect. Hopefully we can finish it by the end of the weekend. Until next time.
-Dark

22. An Egg-cellent Adventure

I was sitting on the ceiling of one of the rooms, looking at Mike's pokeball, with him inside, when Screwball floated up to me.

“Hi Tito,” she said with a smile.

“Screwball,” I replied with a nod. “She here yet?”

She nodded. “Got here a few minutes ago.”

“Well, let's not keep her waiting then.” I pocketed the pokeball before I dropped down from the ceiling, grab my bag by the door, and left the room, Screwball right behind me. “So you sure you can do this?”

“Well, my dad was able to open a portal to Delsin's dimension with his token, so why can't I?”

“Okay. Hopefully you're right.”

After a couple of minutes, we arrived by the entrance of the castle and saw Rainbow leaning by one of the pillars. “Finally. So, we’re actually going to another Equestria?”

“Hopefully. If Screwball can actually open a portal like Discord did, we should be able to go there easily.”

“Wait, isn't Cece coming too?”

I shook my head. “She said she wanted to stay here. Saw no reason to go there right now.”

“Well then what are we waiting for?”

I sighed before reaching into my pocket and taking out the token I got from Tomas. I then tossed it to Screwball. “Good luck with opening that portal.”

She nodded before closing her eyes in concentration. A few moments later, a portal opened up behind me.

“Huh,” I muttered. “So you can do that.” I then grabbed the token and jumped through, landing on top of the dirt road. Looking around I saw the familiar two story building, a large red R painted on the door.

Rainbow and Screwball jumped through the portal a moment later, and the portal closed behind them. “Ooo, what's this place?” Screwball said, staring at the building.

“That, Screwball, is the home of the Displaced of this world. As well as at least...one certain pony,” I said, remembering the pink filly that summoned me the last time I was here. “Anyway, let's see if anyone’s home.” I walked to the door and knocked on it.

After a few seconds the door opened, revealing a large blue blob stood at the doorway. “Wobbuffet!” The blob said, saluting.

A small pink creature with a blue hat standing on top of the Wobbuffet, copied him saluting as well. “Mime-a-mime!”

Sarah walked up behind them, giving me a small smile, “Oh hello Dark. Surprised to see you here.” She picked up the baby Pokemon from Wobbuffet’s head. “So what brings you here.”

“I came here because I promised I would if something happened. Can we come in?”

“Sure, make yourselves at home.” She stepped out of the way, the psychic type doing the same.

I nodded and stepped inside with the others. “So how long has it been for you since we last met?”

“About two weeks. How about you?” She asked, closing the door. She stopped when she saw Screwball, looking very confused. “W-wha? Screwy? D-does your world have a Screwball too?!” Sarah asked, looking like she’s about to freak out.

“Now it does. It didn't when we met. Discord made her a few days ago and he's having me and Cece watch her. She's actually the one who made a portal here. As for how long it's been for us, nearly a month now.”

“Hi,” Screwball said.

Sarah gave a nervous smile, “Hello there Screwy… It’s very nice to meet you.” She said before turning to the rest of us. “Would any of you like some drinks? I’m sure Wobbuffet can find something in the fridge.”

I shrugged. “Sure. I can use a drink.”

“Same here,” Rainbow said.

Wobbuffet saluted, walking towards the kitchen and coming back with three glasses of water. The psychic Pokemon handed us each a glass.

Sarah clapped her hands, giving Rainbow and Screwy a nervous smile, “Oh how rude of me, I forgot to introduce myself! My name is Sarah, though some people like to call me Jessie.” She said, introducing herself.

Rainbow held up her glass. “Rainbow Dash, and you obviously already know about Screwball and you know Dark.”

She nodded, turning back towards me. “So since you’re here, it’s safe to assume that Froakie evolved. Tell me, did he start behaving… differently? Or did you notice anything odd about him? Maybe some pink dots on him?”

I shook my head. “Mike seems to be perfectly fine and normal.”

“That’s good.” She said, scratching her head. “Honestly it’s my brother who should be doing this… but we should take him to the lab to run some test, maybe get a better look at him to see if I can find anything you may have missed.”

“Okay, but first…” I pulled out Mike's pokeball and let him out.

“Frogadier,” he said.

Sarah crouched down to meet it, narrowing her eyes a bit. “Frogadier, could you open your mouth? Just going to check to see that everything is fine.”

“His name is Mike,” I said as he opened his mouth for her.

The rocket tilted her head a bit, trying to get a better look. “Well everything seems to be fine. We should go to the lab now, I’ll be able to do this more accurately there.”

“Okay, then let's go.”

Sarah nodded, getting up and returning Wobbuffet to his Poke’ball. We got up and followed her outside, my eyes widen in surprise seeing a large blue bear like creature with a tan stomach sleeping in the middle of the garden, the Gulpin from before slept peacefully on top of the Snorlax.

“What are those?” Rainbow asked.

“Looks like a Snorlax and Gulpin to me.”

“What?”

“The world’s heaviest normal Pokemon and a Pokemon that's mostly stomach. Moving on.”

We followed Sarah to the lab, she flashed her ID to the small camera above the metal door. The door hissed, and opened itself for us. We walked down the white hallway, this time stopping in front on one of the doors on the left side of the hallway.

Flashing her ID again, the door opened and we stepped inside. Inside the room were various medical equipment, it looked a lot like one of the rooms in a hospital. Only difference were the few machines in the room, along with a computer.

“Alright Mike, please sit down on the bed.” She said, pointing on the black bed. Mike nodded and sat on the bed. Taking out a machine, Sarah began to hook up the Frogadier to the machine, after a few seconds the machine let out a ding, letting out a green light. She nodded, putting away the machinery in a cabinet under the desk. “Well all of his vitals are pretty normal, and nothing seems to be wrong with him physically.”

“That's good,” I said. I looked at the tech around the room. “You know, I'm still surprised about all this stuff existing in Equestria, but I already saw it last time I was here and fought a pony version of Shocker a few days ago, so I'm not so surprised anymore.”

“Well you can thank Meowth’s Pick Up ability for being able to find the materials needed to build all this, never thought that Pickup can be so useful,” Sarah said, shrugging. “And about this Shocker… you should be careful, this probably won’t be last time you fight a pony version of a Marvel character,” She warned.

“Wait, hold up,” Rainbow said before looking at me. “You fought what now?”

“A red and yellow costumed bad guy with gauntlets that can shoot blasts of energy,” I said with a shrug. “Spidey fought with him multiple times.”

“And when did you fight this guy?”

“A few days ago in Manehatten. Wasn't so bad. Even had him shoot one of his own buddies when they were behind me. Then I webbed his gauntlets together and let's just say he no doubt had a huge headache when he woke up. And what are you talking about?” I finished, looking at Sarah.

“Displaced are always forced to fight against enemies from whatever series their character is from, or at least pony versions.” Sarah explained. “We have to deal several Pokemon who are always out causing trouble. Usually these Pokemon were able to talk english, and they were more similar to the Mystery Dungeon’s version of Pokemon than the games or anime.”

“Huh...that makes sense, considering… Wait, talking Pokemon? As if Meowth wasn't bad enough.”

“Who?” Rainbow asked.

“Meowth is cat like Pokemon and the third member of our team, only thing is that he walks on two legs and can talk, he’s also very smart, everything you see was built by him.” Sarah explained. “Also Dark, trust me, these Pokemon are worse than Meowth, these guys are always out to attack or conquer. We had to deal with Darkrai trying to conquer Equestria long ago.”

“Darkrai?” I asked, before turning around, not wanting them to see my eyes. “What happened?”

Sarah’s eyes narrowed, “Our Darkrai led an army of Pokemon to conquer Equestria and succeeded. He grew stronger by feeding on the nightmares of ponies, and had the ghost Pokemon use a modified version of Dream Eater to absorb souls to give themselves a power boost. With the help of Cresselia we locked him up in Tartarus, but even then the remains of his army are still around trying to get revenge.”

I closed my eyes. “Son of a bitch…” I whispered, growling as my hands clenched into fists.

Sarah looked at me with concern. “Dark, what’s wrong?”

I took a deep breath. “Sorry. It's just...I'm not a fan of hearing about that sort of thing.”

“It’s fine. There’s no point in thinking about it now, he’s in Tartarus, and we’re safe.” She said, looking back to the small black machine in her hand.

“Tirek escaped from Tartarus, why can't Darkrai?”

“Cause we have legendaries looking after him. He can’t do a thing without someone noticing.” She explained with a shrug.

I sighed. “Still, if I were you, I'd make a plan in case he ever does escape.”

She shrugged, “Cresselia has that covered, it’s impossible for him to escape.”

“Yeah, I've seen proof that Arceus can be easily fooled,” I said, opening my eyes.

“Um, can we talk about something else?” Screwball asked with a bit of fear in her voice. “I don't like thinking about all this.”

Sarah gave an apologetic smiled, “I’m sorry Screwy.” She put away the black device in her hand, “So anyways, Mike is in perfect health. Judging by what Meowth’s medical equipment says, he is just like any other Frogadier, so that’s good.”

“Okay then,” I said as Mike got off and walked to me. “Anyway, you were saying I'll have to fight more Marvel baddies in the future?”

Sarah nodded, “Such is the curse that all the displaced must bear.” She said a bit dramatically. “But don’t worry, if you ever need help, you can always summon any displaced allies you’ve made.”

“I know that last part. Hence some parts of the messages. But fighting Spider-Man villains? That's gonna suck. Especially if a few certain ones show up…”

Sarah sighed, “Knowing the luck of other displaced… there could be a chance that you’re going to encounter those certain ones.”

I shivered. “If I see blood smeared on the wall with a certain word written, I might go crazy.”

“Wait, what are you talking about?” Rainbow asked.

I sighed. “Let's just say there's a red...monster that is one of the absolute worst things that Spidey fought. If he does show up, then expect a few deaths before anyone can bring him in.”

The metal door behind us hissed, the two doors slid open, revealing this world’s version of Screwball. “Mooooom!” She yelled, walking past us with her eyes closed. “Have you seen Snorlax’s Pokeball? Uncle Tomas is taking me to the Everfree to see the new Pokemon that started appearing there! And I need Snorlax with me for the muscle.”

Oh boy.

Sarah sighed, “Have you checked your room?”

Screwball nodded, “I did, but when I got to my room everything was different! All of my things were gone! I could actually see the floor!”

The rocket pinched the bridge of her nose. “That's because I cleaned your room this morning.”

“BUT WHY?!” The filly yelled, “It didn’t need to be clean!”

“Screwball, it was a mess! It looked like a tornado went through your room! It was chaos!”

“It was organized chaos! I was able to find everything in that mess! I just had to stretch my hoof to my left to grab my hat from the floor and stretch it to the right to get my pokeballs!”

“Why does that sound familiar?” Rainbow asked me.

I shrugged. “Probably because Rarity does the same thing.”

Screwball froze, slowly looking behind herself, she stared at the three of us, “H-how long have you guys been there….?” Seeing our Screwball, Sarah’s Screwball gasped loudly, “My very own clone!” The pink filly darted towards her, stopping right in front of our Screwball, “Finally! Now my quest for world domination actually seems possible with two princesses of chaos!”

We just stared at her in confusion. Rainbow looked to me and said, “Is this normal for her?”

I just shrugged. “If my last visit is any indication, then I would say yes.”

Our Screwball just tilted her head in confusion to her double. “Um, what?”

The other Screwball put her shoulder over our Screwball, grinning, “Worry not my faithful sidekick! I’ll guide you in our path to conquest! We’ll free our father and conquer Equestria together!” The small filly let out an overexaggerated evil laughter.

“Um...my dad is already free,” my Screwball said, slowly backing towards me.

“Huh?” Screwball said, looking confused. She looked at me and her eyes widened. “Ooooohhh, you’re not a clone… you’re a different me!”

“Yeah,” I said. “She was made about a week and a half ago and Discord is having me and Cece be her guardians.”

Screwball tsked. “You? But you're so boooring!” She whined. “Not to mention you sullied my honor the first time we’ve met!” The filly yelled. “I was grounded for over a week because of you! I had to work in Applejack’s farm!”

“Sheesh this kid whines a lot,” Rainbow said, Screwy (my Screwball) nodding.

Uh oh.

Screwball gasped, staring at the two in shock, “How dare you! I do not whine! I criticize! I AM THE PRINCESS OF CHAOS AND I DEMAND RESPECT!” She yelled, her hoof glowing a pink aura. Raising it, she stomped on the floor, causing the whole entire room to change. The black bed that Mike sat on a while ago shook, two eyes popping out of the bed along with four legs. The bed groaned, starting to waddle around the room aimlessly. The floor tiles started flying everywhere around them. Screwball laughed maniacally, “No one insults my honor!”

The black bed wobbled towards us, a number of inanimate objects that came to life were right behind it. Before anything else could happen, a loud smack was heard and all the floor tiles fell on the floor. Sarah glared at Screwball, the pink filly rubbed her cheek with tears in her eyes. “Screwball… what have I told you about attacking others…?” She hissed out angrily.

The filly sniffled, looking down at the floor. “To not attack others…. Even if they insult my honor…” She muttered sadly, sniffing.

“Exactly… and what did you do?”

“...attack them for insulting my honor…” She nearly whispered.

Sarah nodded, giving the filly a short hug, “I still love you… but I’m disappointed at you… Now apologize and go to your room. You’re grounded for another two weeks.”

Screwball nodded, turning towards us. “I’m… sorry... for attacking you…” She said between sobs, rubbing her cheek. After finishing the apology she walked out of the room.

Rainbow blinked. “Well...didn't expect that.”

I sighed. “The attacking you part, I saw coming. She did that to me just for calling her a kid. The rest? THAT was unexpected.”

The living bed gurgled, causing Sarah to jump in surprise. “Oh damnit… not again.” She pushed the bed back to its proper spot. “Stay!” It blinked. Taking out a syringe from one of the cabinets, she injected it on the bed, causing its two eyes to close and fall asleep. “Now I gotta find a way to reverse the chaos that just happened….” Sarah said a bit angrily to herself.

“I can help,” Screwy said, before her hand glowed orange and everything was back to the way it was.

Sarah stared at the scene before her. Blinking, she pulled our Screwball into a hug. “Oh thank you! This makes things so much easier!” She turned towards us with a playful smirk, “Say, why don’t we trade Screwballs? I keep this one, you keep mine.”

“Um...actually, I like being with Tito and Cece.”

Sarah only smiled a her, “Oh I know darling, I was just joking around. I would never trade my little Screwy for anything.” She let go of our Screwball. “So now that you got to see Mike’s condition, I’d assume you’d want to return home… or would you rather stay here for a while and explore the place?”

I shrugged. “I'm okay with exploring, but I'll need to talk to you and the others before we leave. It's about Seb and Sasha.”

“Seb?” Sarah said, confused, “What do you mean? I thought he was reborn or something like that?”

“Replaced, but there's apparently something that “author” didn't tell me. I'll explain later.”

“Well alright.” She said a bit confused.

“So now what?” Rainbow asked.

Sarah shrugged. “Since you three are going to stay here for a while, why not explore the place a little?” She suggested. “Outside I mean, not the lab. Meowth would throw a fit if I let you explore this place.”

“I'd prefer to explore outside anyway. This kind of stuff would interest Twilight more than me. And she has a better chance of knowing what anything is. By the way, you got any water? I need to refuel.”

Sarah pointed at the water dispenser next to her. “There’s water right there. Also feel free to explore the garden or whatever. I actually need to take care of one of my brother’s patients, so I trust you three can show yourselves out.”

After Rainbow got some water, the four of us walked out of the lab, leaving Sarah in the lab.

“So what should we do?” Rainbow asked.

I shrugged. “Explore the place I guess. Though, I can only imagine how anyone would react seeing you two, considering who you are, and the way you guys look.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just about every Displaced I met were surprised to see anthro ponies. So imagine if one of the ponies saw you.”

“Huh...good point.”

I turned to Screwball and saw that she seemed sad. “Hey Screwball, you okay?”

She looked to me. “Yeah. Just...surprised about that other me.”

Rainbow patted her on the back. “Don't worry about it kid. She's just a foal who needs to watch her temper.”

“Why does that sound familiar?” I asked her.

Rainbow’s ears folded back and she looked away from me. “Right…”

“Yeah...I guess you're right,” Screwball said. “Hey, I'll be in the house, looking around. You guys can go exploring.” After that, she disappeared in a flash of light.

“I hope she's okay,” I muttered.

“She'll be fine. So, where exactly should we go?”

Mike looked towards the forest and suddenly had a confused look on his face. “Frogadier?”

“What's wrong?” I asked. Mike then immediately ran to the forest. “Hey!” I yelled, following him, Rainbow following me.

When we caught up with Mike, he was just standing still, looking around. “What was that about?” Rainbow asked.

Before I could reply, my spider-sense went off and I pushed Rainbow to the side and jumped back, barely dodging a few Shadow Balls. Looking to where they came from, I saw a couple of insect looking Pokemon with a light brown shell and gray abdomen, and a white halo above each of their heads.

“Hey!” Rainbow yelled at the Shedninjas. “What's your problem?!”

Their only response was firing more Shadow Balls at us, which we just dodged. Rainbow then tried to tackle them, but she just flew right through them.

“What the hay?”

“Ghost types Rainbow. They aren't affected by attacks like that. Besides very few things can knock these things out.”

“Like what?”

I turned to my partner. “Mike, use Lick.”

He nodded before jumping off a tree and heading towards one of the Shedninja and licking it, causing it to faint.

“What?” Rainbow asked, confused.

“Long story short, these things are EXTREMELY weak and will knock out by a single hit by anything they're weak to. Luckily, Mike knows a move that can actually hurt them.” When I finished saying that, the other Shedninja fainted and Mike landed beside me before running off again. “Come on.” We then ran after Mike again.

After a few more moments of running, we caught up with Mike again, behind a few bushes. “Okay Mike, what was that all about?” Rainbow asked. Mike pointed in front of him and we saw a group of large silver ants, some of them carrying a few things on their backs. “What the?”

“Are those Durants?” I asked, watching as the large red eyed bugs were walking deeper into the woods.

Following them, we eventually reached a large clearing, in the middle of it was a large tree, the only thing was that there were large honeycombs covering the tree, parts of the honeycombs were destroyed and on the floor. Crawling all around the tree were other Durants, surprisingly there were other bug types on it as well, such as Shedinjas, Nincadas, and Ninjask, all of them destroying the large tree. On the floor were several dead Beedrills, large yellow moths, and even a few large black worms with leaves covering their bodies. Next to the bodies were a group of eggs, a few Durants would occasionally add an egg to the group.

“What's going on?” Rainbow whispered.

“I'd say we're in the middle of a large group of Bug types.”

We quieted down upon seeing a group of Durants walk towards the group of eggs, a few Nincadas near them. One of the Durants grabbed one of the eggs and started moving towards the woods, only to be stopped by the largest Durant in the group.

“Durant?” The Steel type asked.

“Durant! Durant!” The larger bug said, stomping one of its legs. “Durant Ant!” He pointed at the eggs, upon seeing the confused look in its partner, the larger bug took the egg from him and smashed it on the ground. “Durant! Ant!” Some of the bugs looked shocked at the display. “Ant!”

“Nincada?” A small bug crawled forward, tilting its head.

Durant shook his head, “Durant! ANT!” He finished by stomping its two front legs on the egg remains, the Nincada hesitated a bit before nodding. Stepping towards one of the eggs, it raised one of its front legs, the leg suddenly grew larger, glowing in a red aura. Bringing its leg down, it sliced the egg in half with a Fury Cutter. The other bug types starting to chatter among themselves, nodding they started grabbing the eggs and smashing them.

As they were smashing the eggs, Rainbow and Mike just stared in shock, but I clenched my fist. “Those little…” I ran towards the group. As they were about to smash another one, I web-zipped to the Durant and kicked it away before webbing it and picking up the egg.

The webbed Durant flailed around, clicking loudly. The largest Durant snapped its mandible angrily, “DURANT!” It yelled, stomping its legs. Nodding, the other bug types started to gather around me, the Durants snapping their mandibles. Hearing a loud buzzing sound, I saw a Ninjask flying towards me, the bug type preparing a Fury Cutter.

Before it can attack though, a few shards hit it on its back and it became encased in ice and fell to the ground. Looking towards where the shards came from, I saw Rainbow hovering, her hands glowing.

“Thanks for the assist,” I said as I put the egg in a web bag and slung it over my shoulder. “Nice job freezing it.” I jumped to a tree.

“Don't mention it.”

“Durant!” The lead bug yelled, stomping its front legs. A group of Shedinja floated towards us, firing Shadow Balls along with some Ninjask. Rainbow Cloud Dashed out of the way and I just swung to the ground, webbing the Ninjask to a tree. The large steel type’s jaws clicked, taking a step back, it darted towards us, its head glowing with a white aura. I jumped back and webbed its legs as Rainbow fired a large shard of ice at it, freezing most of the Durant on contact.

The Durant cried out in rage, wiggling around, trying to thaw itself out. “DURANT!” The bug types stopped attacking, all of them taking a few steps back. Suddenly all of the Durant’s antennas started wiggling, creating a buzzing noise, the Nincadas and Ninjask’s wings started buzzing even louder, causing all of us to scream out in pain from the loud noise. I tried to block out the noise, but the bugs only buzzed louder.

Getting on my knees, I glared at the bugs in front of me. I quickly webbed the Durants in front of me, as well as the Ninjask. The Ninjask fell on the ground with a thud while the Durants used their legs to try to get rid of the webs. With the buzzing finally stopped, I let out a sigh of relief. “Finally. It’s gonna take forever to get that sound out of my ears.”

“What?!” Rainbow yelled, rubbing her ears.

I shook my head. “Well, didn't expect to fight a group of giant ants made out of steel. If I end up fighting giant mosquitos or something like that next time I'm here, I'm going to punch something.”

“Durant!” The ant cried, stomping its feet, “Durant!” The Nincadas’ antennas stood rigid, their body freezing up. “DURANT!” The lead bug yelled. Suddenly the bugs’ bodies flashed white, a popping sound was heard as their backs started growing. With a pop, their backs burst wide open, several golden masked bugs crawled out of the Nincadas back, the newly revealed Ninjask stretched their wings before taking off to the air, a few of them destroying the webs that was on the others. The glowing from the Nincada bodies faded away, revealing their shells being a golden color now. Glowing in a ghostly aura the shells started to float and a halo appeared floating above them.

“Shedinja….” The shells moaned, while the new group of Ninjask flew around, testing their new wings.

“Oh you gotta be kidding me.”

The bug types started to gather around us, the durants snapping their jaws at us, slowly getting closer. The once frozen Durant stood in front of the group, glaring hatefully at me. “Duuuurrraaannnnt.” The steel type said, taking a step forward, causing it to step on a discarded egg shell. “Duuurraant.” The other bugs began to talk, all of them making a clicking sound.

“DURANT!”

The large bugs made a screeching sound, darting at us at the same time. The Ninjask preparing a Fury Cutter attack, the Durants all using Iron head, while black shadowy claws shot out of the Shedinja's back.

Before the attacks could connect, a large cloud of smoke covered the area, causing the insects to stop their attack and panic. Turning towards the source of the smoke I saw Mike accompanied by a large black snake and a Weezing, all of them using a Smokescreen attack. The Frogadier hopped towards us, looking happy to see me alright.

The two other Pokemon stopped using smokescreen, the two of them glaring menacingly at the bug types. Suddenly a familiar white cat jumped up, landing on top of Weezing’s head. Meowth grinned, staring down at the Durant leader. Putting his paw right next to his ear, he leaned to his left with a grin. “Listen is that the clicking of a bug type I hear~?”

From behind the three Pokemon, Tomas appeared, holding a rose close to him. “It’s speaking to me loud and clear.”

The cat jumped down, standing next to the rocket. He extended his two arms to the sky, “Floating on the wind~!”

“Past the stars!”

The two headed poison type springed forward with a smile. “Weezing!”

“Bringing chaos at a breakneck pace!”

“Dashing hope and putting fear in its place!”

“By any other name as good as gold!”

“When everything's worse our work is complete!”

“Meowth!”

“And it’s James!"

The black snake hissed out it’s name, “Seviper!”

“Putting the evil-doers in their place!”

“We’re Team Rocket!”

“And we’re in your face!” The two of them said at the same time, striking a pose at the end.

A large purple moth then flew right in front of them with a grin, “Dustox!”

Rainbow and Mike just looked at them, completely confused by the time they finished, while I was in the middle of slamming my head into a nearby tree repeatedly.

The bug pokemon chattered among each other, looking confused. The lead Durant only growled, annoyed at another interruption. “Duuurant.” The ant growled, crawling closer.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you~” Meowth sang, causing the bug to stop. He jumped back standing behind the two poison pokemon. “These two buddies of mine wouldn’t like it if you decide to hurt their masters’ buds.”

The Durant tsked, darting forward. Meowth shrugged, “Don’t say I didn’t warn ya.” The Seviper slithered forward, opening his mouth and firing a flamethrower at the ant, causing it to cry out in pain and jump back. The Durant looked at the three with fear and anger, the other bugs backing away a bit.

Meowth took a step forward, raising a paw to the air, “Yeah thats right! Go back to your colony!” He yelled, “Unless of course you want to face the rest of our pals? Weezing and Seviper aren't the only ones who know fire type moves.”

The steel type hissed, making several clicking noises. Somehow, Meowth still understood what it was saying as he only laughed at the bug, “You don’t scare me bug boy! We got an Arcanine with us, even with your bigger numbers, we’re still leagues above ya!” The cat snapped his paws, causing the three poison types to gather behind them, “Trust me buggy, these three alone could take on your whole team!”

The group of bug types all chattered among themselves, their antennas wiggling the whole time. Suddenly the Ninjasks all started flapping their wings, causing a gust of wind to appear. The gust of wind started to get stronger and suddenly a large cloud of dirt and sand appeared covering all of our visions.

“Me-owth! I can’t see!” The normal type cried.

I tensed up waiting for an attack, after the wind died down, I cautiously opened my eyes and saw all of the bug types gone. The only ones here being us along with the Rockets.

“They left,” I muttered.

“To where?” Rainbow asked.

I shrugged before looking to the Rockets and walking to Tomas. “Hey. Thanks for the save.”

Tomas smiled, “No problem, I was in the area when I saw your Frogadier carrying a bunch of eggs.” He explained, he suddenly gave me a confused but worried look. “What were you doing here anyways? This place is a Beedrill hive.” He looked at the discarded honeycomb remains. “Or…. at least it used to be…. Guess those Durants noticed their low numbers and drove them out…” He mumbled the last part to himself.

“We were following Mike,” I told him, pointing to the Water type.

“Is that so…?” Tomas said, turning towards Mike. “You shouldn’t go running off like that, it was very reckless, you have to be more careful,” He said seriously. “You were a wild Pokemon before, you should know the dangers of this.” Tomas sighed, noticing Dustox antennas glowing and a group of eggs floating behind her. “But since you did manage to save these eggs, I guess I can't be too hard on you.”

“Frogadier,” Mike said, crossing his arms. “Froga.”

Tomas rolled his eyes, taking a look at the egg wrapped around the web bag. “We should go back to the lab and see if the conditions of these eggs are stable.” He suggested.

“Kay. Lead the way,” I told him. He nodded, motioning us to follow as he lead us out of the forest.

After a bit of walking, we arrived back at the lab. We walked past the the med lab we entered when we first got here and made it eventually to plain white door with an egg symbol on the door. Tomas stopped right in front of the and flashed his ID at the camera. “You know we made this room in case any of our Pokemon decided to start a family. Never did think we would need this room considering how everyone of our Pokemon are part of different egg groups and the ones that are part of the same egg group either don’t like each other or like someone else.”

“I'm not even going to ask about that,” I muttered. “Though I will admit, you guys are much more resourceful than the originals.”

Tomas chuckled a bit, “Yeah, thank Arceus. I don’t think we could’ve survived very long if we weren’t this resourceful.” He hummed, “Though I guess most of this is because of Meowth…” We walked in the room once the door opened. I looked around the room and noticed the empty racks, on one shelf there were glass incubators meant to speed up the egg hatching process. Finally at the end of the room was a large computer monitor, and a large machine besides it.

“So exactly what does this stuff do?”

“The machine is to check the health of the eggs, we need to make sure that there isn’t anything wrong with the egg that can disturb the pokemon inside it.” Tomas answered, “It can check to see if the egg…” He hesitated, “It can check to see if it’s a dud.” He finished, looking a bit uncomfortable.

“You okay?”

He nodded, “Yeah, it’s just these kinds of things just make me uncomfortable.” Tomas answered.

“Ah. Don't blame ya. So, what do we do?”

“Just place the eggs on the empty slots in the machine.” Tomas answered, walking up to the computer and turning it on. “I’ll take care of the rest.”

I just shrugged and placed most of the eggs there. “There we go.”

Tomas faced the screen, pressing a couple of buttons on the keyboard to turn on the machine. The machine lit up, scanning the eggs on the slots and displaying the results on the computer screen. Tomas reviewed the results before nodding. “Alright, put in the next six eggs.”

I nodded before taking the eggs out and replacing them with the others. The process repeated and Tomas gave me a satisfied smile, “Well everything looks good. The worst they got is just a few scratches.” He said, patting one of the eggs. “I’m sure Maple will be happy to see something that reminds her of her hive.”

“Maple?”

Tomas flinched, looking rather nervous, “Well… she’s… she’s the Beedrill that was part of that swarm that attacked you when you first arrived here.” He answered with a laugh. “We’ve been taking care of her for a while now and while she’s not one of our Pokemon… we decided to give her an actual name.”

“Wait, you mean that Beedrill that I…” I stopped when I remembered the results of my arrival last time and hid behind my hood.

Tomas gave a sympathetic smile, “If it makes you feel better, she’s doing much better now, she’s interacting with the other Pokemon and she’s isn’t as depressed about her situation as she was when she first arrived. I’m sure these eggs will make her feel much better.”

“Wait, what are you guys talking about?” Rainbow asked.

“I rather not talk about it,” I said, barely more than a whisper.

“Well, let's not dwell on old mistakes. Let's get these eggs into the incubators.” Tomas suggested, picking up one of the egg incubators from the shelves. He then placed one of the eggs inside the incubator, and closed the lid.

“What do those do?” Rainbow asked him, looking at another incubator.

“The incubators protect the eggs inside them and keep them in proper temperature. They also speed up the process a little. It’s not harmful to the Pokemon in case you were curious.” Tomas answered.

“What happens when they're ready to hatch?”

“The incubator alerts us and we let the egg out of the incubator. Pokemon eggs glow when they’re ready to hatch.” He answered, placing another egg inside the incubator.

“They do?” Rainbow said.

Tomas nodded. “Yeah, it’s kinda odd. But it's helpful.”

“Huh. Weird.”

“You can manipulate water and turn into clouds and THIS is weird to you?” I said to her.

“Touche.”

“Wait…” Tomas said, sounding confused, “Turn into clouds…?”

“Long story short, Rainbow can now control water in all its forms, and can briefly turn into clouds and create swords made out of ice.”

Tomas stared at us for a moment before shrugging, “Well… it's not the weirdest thing I’ve heard or seen.”

Rainbow shrugged and Cloud Dashed to him. “You get used to it.”

Tomas shook his head, turning towards me. “You should put the egg on the machine, we need to check to see if it's in proper condition.” He suggested.

“What egg?” I asked.

Tomas pointed at the webbed bag on my shoulder, “The egg that you have with you.”

I looked behind me and saw the egg I saved still on my back. “Huh. I forgot I had this thing.” I grabbed it and dismissed my webs before placing it on the machine.

Tomas looked at the computer screen, reading the egg’s condition. “Well…its a healthy egg thats for sure…but the signal is different from the others… There were a few eggs that gave a different signal, but they still had something in common… this one’s just completely different.”

“Is that bad?” Rainbow asked.

Tomas shook his head. “I don’t think so, but it could mean that this egg is a different species from the others, it probably means that the Beedrill stole this egg and were going to use it to feed to it to their young.” He hummed. “The signals don't match the signal a bug type Pokemon releases.”

I started growling at that. “I seriously hate bugs…”

“It’s survival of the fittest in the wild Dark.” Tomas said, pushing some buttons on the keyboard, “Besides, bugs weren't the only ones who did this, it's common for animals to do things like this to feed their young. And with Pokemon it’s only more brutal.”

“Well when I run into an animal that does that, I'll get rid of it,” I said as I picked the egg back up.

“You can’t blame an animal for doing what it needs to do to survive, it’s like blaming a rabbit for eating all of your carrots when it was just hungry.”

“Killing an unborn child by eating it isn't something I’ll allow.”

Tomas sighed, “I understand Dark, but you have to consider that these creatures are just doing what’s necessary to survive. Just try putting yourself in their situation, not saying that I agree with it, but I understand why they do it.” He picked up an incubator, “You should store the egg in the incubator. It’ll be safer there.”

I looked at the egg for a second and shrugged, webbing the incubator to me and putting the egg in it. Rainbow then looked to Tomas and said, “Now what?”

Tomas pointed at the shelf that the incubators were originally. “We just leave them here. Porygon will make sure that everything is fine and alert us when one of them is ready to hatch. We only have six incubators, so not all the eggs will be inside them.” He then pointed at the empty racks, “Just place the eggs in the racks, when an egg hatches, I’ll put them inside the incubator.”

“Um, shouldn't an egg that's about to hatch be taken out of an incubator?” Rainbow asked.

“I told you, they glow before they actually hatch. When they’re ready, Porygon will alert me and I’ll take them out, and if I can't make it, Porygon will handle it.” Tomas answered.

I just shrugged and put most of the incubators on the shelf with Rainbow before turning to him again. “Now?”

“Now we leave the lab and wait until Porygon calls us.” He said calmly. “If you want to carry one of the eggs, I don’t mind. Just be careful.”

“Too late for that,” Rainbow told him as I was still holding the egg I had earlier.

Tomas sighed, shaking his head. “Just please be careful.”

“Oh no, I'll do the exact opposite and toss it around,” I sarcastically said. “I only saved it so I can smash it myself. But in all seriousness, you don't have to worry.”

He nodded. “Good. I’m not really keen on cleaning up after everyone.” He started walking towards the exit and motioned us to follow. “Come on. I’m going to be having Maple come in here later, and I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t be too happy to seeing you.”

“Great idea,” I said as we followed him outside the lab.

Walking inside the house, we spotted my Screwball in the living room, playing with a Mime Jr. and Wobbuffet, Sarah was lying down on the couch, keeping an eye on them. Seeing us walk into the room, Sarah gave a small wave. “Hey guys. You three have been gone for a while.”

“Well we got busy,” I told her.

“Must’ve been one heck of an adventure.” Sarah yawned, holding out her hand. “Tomas, my Pokemon?”

Tomas took out two small metal balls and handed them to her, “I already released them at the garden, Dustox and Seviper are by the Oran Berry tree sleeping.”

Sarah smiled, “Aww, that sounds adorable.” She turned towards me, “So you had something to tell us?”

I nodded. “Yeah. Remember when I said Seb was gone?”

The two nodded, Sarah got up from her seat. “Yeah… what about it?”

“Apparently I was wrong.”

“What do you mean?” Tomas asked.

“He's still around.”

Tomas’ eyes widen, “Does he still have his memories?”

“Yeah. But for Alex and Sasha, it's...complicated. They remembered me and Cece, as well as Rainbow and everything I did with them, but it was weird. But I got a picture when I met up with them a few days ago.”

“Can we see?” Sarah said, curious about the picture.

I took out my phone and went to the photo I took of them and tossed it to her. Sarah caught the phone and looked at the picture, Tomas bent down to look at the photo. “Huh, cyborg pony.” Sarah commented.

“Yeah. Funnily enough, that's the second one we met. And both times were the only times I met an alternate version of Rainbow or her friends.”

“Huh.” The rocket said, “You really haven’t met any other version of them? They seem to be pretty important ponies.”

“Well, I only been to about three alternate Equestrias, counting this one and not counting EqG, and didn't meet them. Only ponies I met from there are Luna, two musicians, and Screwball. And the only Displaced I summoned was Seb and Sebaste. And the only other Displaced that came to my world was with his Celestia.”

“Celestia?” Sarah repeated, looking confused, “Bet that caused a lot of chaos around your world.”

“Add to the fact she was a pony in a world of anthros, and it would have. But luckily, she was only seen by Rarity, Rainbow, Twilight, Cece, and me.”

“Though there was one more surprise about her,” Rainbow said, crossing her arms.

“Oh? Like what?”

“She's engaged to that Displaced.”

Sarah’s eyes widen in surprise. “Huh, well… that’s the first we heard of something like that.”

“Wonder how many Displaced are engaged or already married to other ponies…” I muttered.

“There probably are a few, multiverse and all.” Tomas answered with a shrug.

“Yeah.” I looked to the young filly. “Having fun there, Screwball?”

She turned to me and nodded, before noticed the item in my hand. “What's that?”

“It's a pokemon egg.”

Sarah narrowed her eyes at the egg. “Where did you get it?”

“Stopped a group of Bug types from smashing it earlier, among other eggs.”

Sarah turned towards Tomas, “Did you already check the eggs to make sure nothing’s wrong?” He nodded.

“Did that when we first got back,” I told her.

“What species is it?” Screwball asked, looking at the incubator.

“Um...no clue. You guys have any ideas?” I asked Tomas and Sarah.

“Well I know that it isn't a bug type Pokemon.” Tomas answered. “Could be a Pokemon native to the Everfree or anywhere else near the area.”

“And how many Pokemon are there?” Rainbow asked.

“Over 700,” I told her.

She widened her eyes. “Woah…”

“And more come up every few years.”

“Technically that last part is sort of wrong,” Tomas said, “Those Pokemon have been always there in universe, but new species of Pokemon are being discovered all the time.”

Sarah looked up from the black rectangle in front of her, “True, and there are around 27 different species of Pokemon living in the Everfree. That egg could be either something as common as a Spearow or even a really rare Bulbasaur if that egg came from the Everfree.”

“Huh?” Rainbow said.

I sighed. “A rather violent bird, or a frog with plant on its back.”

“Oh.”

“When will it hatch?” The chaos filly asked.

She shrugged, “Who knows, it could be tomorrow, now, in five minutes, a few days. Unless we know what Pokemon is in it, we won’t know for sure.”

“Hmm…”

I raised a hand slightly. “Question. What exactly do you guys have, besides the egg stuff, and mechs?”

Tomas hummed, “We have gadgets that Meowth makes, a storage room for TMs, poke’balls that we make from apricorns, and even a few items we found over the years such as evolution stones, and held items to make pokemon stronger.”

“Hmm...I'm guessing you guys haven't made a translator.”

Tomas shook his head, “Nah, Meowth has tried, but it never could work. Besides, we always had Meowth to translate everything for us.”

“Good point.”

Screwball tapped the incubator. “So Tito can keep this pokemon?” She asks our hosts.

Tomas shrugged, “I honestly don’t see a problem with it. One less Pokemon to have to worry about when they all hatch.” He answered.

Sarah stared at her sibling wide eyed. “What do you mean?! Of course there’s a problem! First of all, taking care of a baby pokemon is very different than taking care of a regular Pokemon! You can’t use the same methods of taking care of them!” She started, raising her voice a bit, “A baby pokemon needs the care it can only receive from either its mother or at the very least a caretaker who knows how to deal with baby pokemon.”

Tomas looked at her a bit uncomfortably, “But Sarah… don’t we have a section in that journal on how to care for baby pokemon? I’m sure everything will be fine-!”

He was interrupted by another outburst. “No it won’t! Don’t forget the trouble that all displaced attract. That small baby could become a potential target! It’ll be too young to fight back and who knows if Dark or anyone else from his world are strong enough to fight against the threats of the Marvel universe!” Sarah turned towards me. “Look, I’m not trying to insult you or anything, but I’m just concern over the baby’s safety. After all, you did have to be saved by a Spinda.”

I shrugged. “True, but your daughter did catch me off guard. And man do I hate that move…”

“A teeter dance stopped you… that move isn’t even that dangerous.” Sarah said, “And yes while her catching you by surprised played a factor in it, Spinda could’ve used Teeter Dance at anytime to immobilize you.”

“What's your point?” Rainbow asked.

“My point is, if something so weak such as a Spinda can stop him and almost beat him, then how can you expect me to believe that you can protect it if you can’t beat a Spinda by yourself!”

“You know anyone who's not a pokemon that's immune to that?” I asked.

“No and I doubt any non Pokemon can be immune by the effects of one of their attacks.” Sarah answered. “But what I do know is that anyone could’ve found a way around it!”

“Well I was still getting over the fact that your daughter threw her Gulpin right at my face and Cece smacking her into a tree.”

Rainbow looked at me with wide eyes. “Wait WHAT?!”

“Not important,” I immediately told her.

Sarah sighed, “Look Dark, raising a baby Pokemon is a huge responsibility, it's just like raising a regular baby, you can’t raise it the same way you raise a regular Pokemon. You have to nurture it and possibly be a father to it.” She suddenly threw her arms up in the air, “Or heck for all we know this Pokemon could be a threat to your world, it could be a Pokemon who’s aggressive by nature; like a Mankey or Deino!”

I stared at her in silence for a moment before I simply said, “You are starting to sound crazier than Twilight back in Lesson Zero.”

Sarah’s eye twitched, looking a bit more angrier than before. “How could you say that?! Do you not see the seriousness of the situation or do you just refuse to acknowledge this?!”

“I understand it, but you're not helping things with how much you're freaking out,” I replied, adjusting the incubator and making sure it'll stay in my hands.

“Besides, I'm sure if anything happens, Fluttershy will be able to help,” Rainbow commented with a shrug.

Deciding to step in, Tomas got up from his seat and put a hand on his sister’s shoulder. “Sarah, why not just let Dark keep it? He’s done a fine job with Mike, plus I trust Fluttershy will be able to help them in any way she can.”

Turning to face her brother, she growled, “It’s not just about that, what if that Pokemon does turn out to be an aggressive species? It would cause panic.”

Tomas waved a hand in the air, “Sarah I doubt that. It’s not like there are any Hydreigons in the area, and Primeapes aren’t even native to the Everfree. The only aggressive pokemon in the area are bug types, and that is no bug pokemon.” He said, pointing at the egg.

“High-what now?” Rainbow asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Three headed dragon,” I informed her. When her eyes widened, I said, “Ask Twilight.”

“If anything, Tito can always send it back here if anything happens,” Screwball commented.

Tomas turned towards us, “We’ll let you keep the egg Dark, but just to satisfy my sister’s conscious why don’t you bring it back here once in awhile just to do a check up? Like a physical, but for Pokemon. Or, you know, at least send us some proof that it’s doing alright and living a healthy life, like a picture.”

“If you had phones, I can just send you pics whenever, if Discord helps like he did with Delsin.”

“Sorry, Meowth never got around to making phones, never needed too,” Tomas said with a shrug.

“Didn't you make Delsin a phone with that gem?” Screwball asked me.

I blinked for a moment before remembering. “Oh. Right. Forgot about that… Thing is, Cece has it right now, so can't do it.”

“That’s fine, we just want some way to for you to show us that the baby is going to be alright.” Tomas said, “Besides I’m sure Discord could send a letter through dimensions.”

I shrugged. “Probably."

“So...he can keep the egg?” Rainbow asked.

“Just take it,” Tomas said, waving his hand. “It’s one less mouth to feed, and the less baby pokemon I have to take care of the better.” He sighed, “And with all those bug type eggs we have this will just make my job a lot more easier.”

“So, what now?” Screwball asked.

“Well, I guess it's about time for us to leave,” I suggested.

“Well just remember if you ever need us for anything, you can always come back here.” Tomas said, “Or just summon us through our token. It’s up to you.” He finished with a shrug.

“I'll remember that.” I then remembered a small, crucial detail. “Hey, you guys have a spare pokeball I can use? You know, for when this thing hatches.” I lifted the incubator to prove my point.

Sarah quickly dug through her pockets and pulled out a minimized pokeball and handed it to me. “Here, we always keep a spare ball with us. Never know when you’re going to find a new partner.”

I put the pokeball in my pocket and nodded. “Thanks. Now, before we go, how about another picture?”

Tomas smiled and nodded, “Sure.”

“So, where should we take this one, and who should be in it?”

“Why not just keep it small and just with those of us present?” Tomas answered. “I’d rather not be the one who’ll have to wake up Screwball’s Snorlax just to take a picture.”

I shrugged before pulling out my phone. “Okay. Then just get close and I can take it.”

Getting together, everyone in the room got ready to take the photo. With Sarah, Tomas, and Wobbuffet staying close to each other.

“Okay...now smile,” I said before taking the picture. I then put my phone away and looked at Tomas. “So anything else before you send us back?”

“Nope,” He answered, shaking his head. “Well… I suppose the only thing left to say is just to stay safe and good luck raising the egg.”

“Thanks. So, can you open the portal?” I asked Screwball.

The pink filly shrugged. “I believe I can do that with your token.”

I reached into my pocket and tossed her my token. She caught it and clenched her fist around it. A few moments later, a portal open up a few feet away from us.

Rainbow went to the portal first. Before she went through it, she looked at Sarah and Tomas and said, “Well, it was nice meeting you guys. See ya.” And with that, she jumped through the portal.

Screwball was next and said, “I hope we can meet each other again. And hopefully things don't go so bad.” She then walked through the portal.

I looked at Tomas and his sister and said, “I'll let you know if I have any problems with the egg. I promise.”

Tomas nodded with a small smile, “You better, otherwise you might just have to prepare for trouble.” He said, chuckling a bit from his own joke.

I just rolled my eyes and groaned. I then shook my head and looked at Mike. “Come on buddy. Let's go back home.” I then ran and jumped through the portal, Mike right behind. When we got through, we were back at the entrance hall of Canterlot Castle, and the portal closed behind us.

“Well, I gotta admit, I wasn't expecting any of that,” Rainbow said.

“From what I learned, that's a Displaced’s life in a nutshell,” I said with a shrug.

She then looked at the incubator. “So you're really keeping that thing?”

I nodded. “Yeah. I'm keeping it. Went through quite a lot of trouble just to abandon it.”

“You sure Twilight will be okay with you taking care of a baby?”

I shrugged. “I'll cross that bridge when I get there. Right now, I need to tell Cece about a new addition to the family. So...I guess this is goodbye for now?” I asked her.

Rainbow sighed. “Looks like it. Gotta be heading back soon. But don't worry, I'll make sure to visit.”

“Thanks.” And with that, she spread her wings and flew towards the train station.

“That was nice,” Screwball said. “I can see why you wanted her to join us.”

“Yeah…”

Screwball stared at me for a moment before saying, “So what do you think it is.”

“Heck if I know. There are dozens of Pokemon that live in that version of Everfree, and all we know is that it's not a Bug type. There's no telling what this egg will hatch into.”

“Well, don't forget, if you need help with it, you don't just have Sarah and Tomas to talk to. I'm sure Rainbow and Cece will be okay with lending you a hand, and I know I will.”

I smiled at her and ruffled her mane. “Thanks Screwy. Well, I'm going to find Cece and talk to her. See you at dinner.”

Author's Note

And another chapter finished. This one has been in the works since before 21 started. Anyway, time for the recap. Tito, Mike, Screwball, and Rainbow went to the first Equestria Tito was summoned to and he saved and was given a Pokemon egg. Btw, that egg should hatch in a chapter or two. And I doubt anyone can guess what the Pokemon will be. Anyway, this is my second crossover with DarkStar, and one of her stories. And it's technically the last. Much like chapter 13 with Sebaste, this is technically the last crossover for that story, since Star is planning on rewriting it. Next on the list, I wouldn't expect an update for at least a month. I'm going to Florida to visit my dad tomorrow, and he doesn't have internet, so I won't be able to write for this story until I come back. Just letting anyone who cares know. And finally, happy anniversary Spider In Equestria
-Dark

23. Colorful Confessions

“I see you're getting better, sis,” I told Cece as she jumped over a thestral that was charging her.

She then landed behind the charging thestral and kicked him in the side, sending him tumbling before replying. “Told you these guys were useful.”

The two of us were currently sparring with a couple of thestrals in the training grounds at Luna’s behest, as she thought that them sparring with us would actually toughen them up. The other members of the team that Luna had posted for today’s session were watching intently as their companions were doing their best…but that’s not really enough against superpowered individuals.

I shook my head before responding, “Maybe, but don't forget why we're doing this.” I then parried an attack from another thestral with my sword before shooting a web at him and pulling him towards Cece, who uppercutted him, knocking him out.

I then sheathed my sword before walking towards the nearest wall and picked up my bag.

Cece then walked towards me, pulling her hood up to cover her face. “You gotta admit, this is fun.”

“Maybe, but I don't find it pleasing that all the guards can easily be beaten by two amateurs,” I said as I see the two thestrals we were sparring with slowly getting up, groaning in pain.

“Oh suck it up,” Cece said to the two as they limped away towards their fellow teammates, who patted them on their backs. She then turned to me. “Isn't that why Luna wanted us to do this? To actually give them a challenge and toughen them up?”

I shrugged. “Still, kinda sad.” I walked back towards the castle. Once we got inside, the two of us let our respected pokemon from their pokeballs. Cece held Emily in her arms when Mike just walked beside us.

“So now what should we do?” Cece asked.

I shrugged. “No idea. Maybe Screwy will know.”

With that, we stood silent until we reached our room. Inside, we saw Screwball watching something on my laptop, with the egg I got the previous week by her side, still in its incubator. When she heard the door close, she looked towards us and smiled. “Hey guys. How did the training go?”

“Completely curbstomped them, again,” Cece said proudly. “Though, those guys were actually better than any of the day guards I trained on.”

I walked towards the the egg and picked it up. “Any changes Screwball?”

The chaos filly nodded her head. “Yeah. It shook a bit earlier.”

I nodded. “Good to know.”

Cece then turned to me. “When is that supposed to hatch anyway?”

“No idea,” I replied. “No idea what pokemon it is, when it was laid, nor how long pokemon eggs take to hatch.”

“That's not in your games?”

“In the games, you just have to walk enough steps ‘til an egg hatches. But like I told you before, things are different here. I mean, maybe Twilight would know with that book of hers, but we'd no doubt’ll need to know what it is at least.” I then sighed, feeling a bit sad thinking about my friend.

Cece stared at me for a moment. “You miss them, don't you?”

I waved my hand in dismissal. “It's nothing. They're no doubt busy going through the baseline.”

“Baseline?”

“That's what I'm calling the events of the show. That whole thing with Rarity's opening, Rainbow becoming a WonderBolt, as well as Starlight meeting a pony called Trixie? Those are all events in the baseline that's happened since we came here.”

Cece nodded before shrugging. “I doubt anything can go through the “baseline” after what happened with Nisled.”

“You never know.” I said with a shrug.

After a few moments of silence, Screwball closed my laptop and got up from the bed. “Okay, you guys free?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Well maybe we can wander the castle together.”

I shrugged. “Literally got nothing better to do. Mike?” My partner just shrugged, okay with the activity. I then turned to Cece. “You?”

Cece shrugged. “Sure.”

Screwball smiled at that before floating outside the room, with us close behind.

‘Hope the girls are okay. And that they find a way to calm things down soon.’

Soon after thinking that, my mind turned towards a particular member of the Ponyville girls.

A cocky grin, with running pants and a tight shirt and jacket that defined her attributes, as her multi-colored hair flowed with the wind, and her red eyes…

I immediately shook my head and placed a hand on my forehead.

‘What the hell was that about?’

“You okay Tito?” Screwball asked me as I stood there.

“Y-yeah,” I replied. “Just...thinking about a few things.” I immediately walked passed her, not wanting to talk anymore on the subject.

(Canterlot Castle, Third Person POV)

Meanwhile, at a private study within Castle Canterlot…

“They're on their way?” Luna asked her older sister.

Celestia nodded. “I just received a letter from Twilight a couple of minutes ago saying so.”

“Why must we keep this a secret from the two of them, Sister?”

“Simple Lulu. I want this to be a surprise. Cece may be able to entertain herself with fighting our guards, but Dark is a different story. I can see it in his eyes when he's unoccupied. He misses them deeply. And since the girls have been worried about the two of them, I believed we can solve both problems by having them come visit.” Celestia smirked. “Besides I would like to see how the rest of them will react to Screwball.”

Luna then giggled at that. “That would be rather interesting, I must admit.” She then tilted her head. “And what about the pony that took care of Cece when she first came to Equestria? What was her name again? Coco?”

Celestia nodded. “Yes, Ms. Pommel. Twilight has told me that they expect to be on the train with her. Then when they arrive, they'll be able to spend time with their friends.”

“Well, I hope that they all have a good time together,” Luna told Celestia with a genuine yet discreet smile, before waiting for her sister to reply to her, hands placed one over the other.

Celestia smiled. “I have no doubt they will Luna.” A few moments later, someone knocked the door. “Come in.”

A guard walked into the study and gave a small bow, his body covered in bruises, his expression one of annoyance. “Your majesties.”

Celestia looked to the guard with concern in her eyes and tone as she asked him, “Is something wrong?”

The guard lifted himself up and looked the solar diarch in the eyes. “No, your highness. I've come to inform you that the...training has finished.”

“I take it from your bruises and mood that those two beat all of you again?” Luna asked with her arms crossed, looking around the guard’s body with slight amusement in her voice.

The guard hesitated before lowering his head. “...yes,” he said in a low voice full of embarrassment.

Luna shook her head and sighed. “This is why I thought the training was necessary.” She then looked back at the guard. “Do you know where they are now?”

The guard shrugged. “Last anypony heard, they were just roaming around with their companions and that strange filly.”

Celestia nodded. “Very well. Can you tell them that we wish to see them in the throne room?”

The guard nodded. “Yes, your majesty.” He then bowed and left the room.

Luna then looked at her sister. “So when do you think they should arrive?”

“If I had to guess, about a half hour at most,” Celestia replied with a shrug before rising from her seat.

“Then let's go. It'll be best if we give them a proper greeting.” Luna said before following her sister, rising as well then walking out the room together.

(Friendship Express, Third Person POV)

“So anypony mind telling me why the princesses asked us to come to Canterlot?” Starlight asked while the group were all sitting by each other in the train car.

Among said group were the former bearers of the Elements of Harmony, Spike, Starlight, and Coco Pommel.

“Princess Celestia thinks that it's a good idea to come and visit Dark and Cece,” Spike replied. “And she said something about meeting somepony that's been staying with them lately.”

Applejack then looked at Spike with a confused look on her face. “And what did she say about this pony?”

Twilight and Spike looked at each other before shrugging and shaking their heads. Twilight then said, “All we know is that they're apparently pretty close to Dark and Cece, and that Princess Celestia wants us to meet them.”

Starlight nodded before looking at Pinkie, who was busy eating a large pile of sweets she bought. Starlight shook her head and chuckled at the earth pony’s antics. She then looked at Rainbow, who was staring out the window with a bored expression on her face, her wings flapping every few moments.

Starlight then cleared her throat, getting the pegasus’ attention. “You okay Rainbow?”

Rainbow sighed before leaning back on her seat, her arms crossed. “Yeah, just bored. How much longer will it take? Seriously, I could've made it there by now by just flying.”

“Just be patient, Rainbow Dash,” Rarity said as she was occupying herself by sewing a jacket. “We'll be there soon enough.”

Spike then seemed to remember something before looking to the cyan pegasus. “Hey Rainbow, do you know about this pony the princess mentioned? You might've met them when you visited Dark last week.” The moment she heard that sentence, Rarity stopped sewing, her ears perking up.

Rainbow nodded, putting her hands in the pockets of her own jacket. “Yeah. Met her a few weeks ago actually, during a visit there with Spitfire and Soarin. The pony is just a nice filly.” She then chuckled a bit to herself. “Though I guess you can say she's a little chaotic.”

“I'll keep that in mind.” Twilight replied.

“Excuse me,” Rarity said, putting the jacket down. “What's this about visiting Dark last week?”

“Oh, Princess Celestia sent me a letter from Dark last week that was for Rainbow,” Spike replied with a shrug. “After I gave it to her, she immediately went to Canterlot and spent the day there.”

Rarity then looked at Rainbow with a large smirk on her face, causing Rainbow to grow uneasy. “Um...why are you looking at me like that?”

“So that's why you're so eager to get to Canterlot, hmm?” Rarity asked Rainbow with an amused tone in her voice. “Enjoying the blue and black?”

Rainbow just looked at Rarity, completely confused. “What?”

Pinkie tilted her head in confusion, a slight frown on her face. “Are you talking about Princess Luna and her guard?” The earth pony asked.

Rarity sighed, shaking her head. “No Pinkie, I am referring to Dark.”

“Ooooh.”

“What about him?” Rainbow asked.

Rarity scoffed. “Come now, Rainbow. You been distracted since he started staying in Canterlot, you spent a lot of your time with him beforehand, and apparently you jumped at the chance to see him again.”

Rainbow's eyes narrowed slightly. “And what are you implying, Rarity?” She asked, her voice cold.

Rarity shrugged, not noticing Rainbow's tone. “Simple, darling. By the looks of it, you seem to have a little crush on our wall crawling friend.”

“Wait, what?” Everyone else said, a bit of shock evident in their voices.

Twilight then shook her head and cleared her throat. “Um...is that true Rainbow?”

Rainbow stood silent for a few seconds before sighing, her ears folding back, head down, her mane covering her eyes. She then said in a low voice, “Fine. You got me, okay? Are you happy?”

Rarity squeed. “Oh, this is just wonderful!” She leaned over to Rainbow and pulled her into a hug, “Oh why didn’t you tell me sooner?!” She asked, gasping, “Have you already confessed to Dark? Did you already go on a date with him?! I have soo many questions!”

Rainbow quickly Cloud Dashed away from Rarity's grip. She then sighed. “Okay no, on both of those,” she said in an annoyed tone, her cheeks matching Pinkie’s coat.

A large smile appeared on Rarity’s face as she started clapping, almost squealing in glee, “This. Is. Perfect!” She yelled, surprising everyone, “In that case! I’m not too late!” She jumped up from her seat and walked towards Rainbow, her wide grin never leaving her face, “Let me help! Just leave everything to me and I can assure you that this strapping young stallion, er, human will be heads over hooves for you!”

Applejack smirked at the blushing pegasus, and grinned before saying to her, “So, Rainbow… ah have to admit ah didn’ see that one comin’! And just so you know, the barn is free for ya when ya want tah say your vows!”

Rainbow's face immediately started to match her eyes. She then gritted her teeth. “Not. Funny.” She then turned to the pale unicorn that was invading her personal space. “And I'm good Rarity. Thanks…”

“Wow, Rainbow Dash… I didn’t notice how you felt for him. Why haven’t you said anything so far? You two will do well together.” Fluttershy told Rainbow Dash softly, not a single iota of sarcasm or teasing in her face.

Rainbow took a deep sigh. “Celestia damnit Spike…”

“Hey, what did I do?” The drake asked.

“You're the one who told Rarity that I visited Dark last week and started all this.”

Pinkie Pie was giggling all the while at Rainbow’s expense, before exclaiming “Does this means that I get to throw you two a ‘Congratulations on making it past friends stage’ celebration?!’”

“No!” Rainbow yelled, her hands glowing, unbeknownst to almost everyone.

“Oh! Your hands are a’glowin’! Does that mean we get to see you work like a Squirtle!?” Pinkie Pie gasped, before grabbing her hands and staring at them intently.

Rainbow's eyes widened and she yanked her hands away, before taking a few deep breaths to calm down, her hands turning back to normal.

“Aww! I wanted to see you go all ‘Squirtle! Squirtle!” Pinkie Pie wailed at her friend.

“How do you know what that is?” Twilight asked the party mare.

“Saw your book at the castle yesterday!” Pinkie explained helpfully. “There was also a cloud next to it that exclaimed ‘Squirtle!’ while pukin’ a torrent of water! Do you know how useful that be for when I’m throwing parties in the middle of summer!?” Pinkie Pie finished while shaking Twilight from her shoulders, making her eyes go crossed for a moment.

After Twilight stopped seeing the cart spinning, she shook her head and cleared her throat. “Well Pinkie, you won't be able to do that with a Squirtle, since the only Pokemon in this dimension are Mike and Emily.”

“Not for long…” Rainbow muttered while looking out the window, quiet enough that none of the others heard her. She then took a deep breath.

“Hey guys?” Rainbow asked her friends quietly, while looking down at the floor.

Everypony looked to Rainbow, curious on what she had to say.

Rainbow Dash turned her sights towards all of the ponies present, in a deliberately slow fashion - all while her face showed seriousness - before saying out to them softly, “I want you all to do me a big favor, regarding my...crush,” she said that last word quietly, but loud enough for them to hear. She then sighed. “I need you all to Pinkie Promise me that none of you will tell Dark about my crush, at all.”

“Aww! But I already have plans for your party if you propose!” Pinkie Pie wailed before giggling and saying with seriousness and earnestly, “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” she finished, placing her hand over one of her eyes.

After the girls and Spike turned to one another, then at Dash, they proceeded to follow the party pony’s example - giving Rainbow Dash a small piece of peace, if not some time for her to collect her courage to actually say it to Dark without outside help.

“Well, Rainbow...the fact ah made this promise don’t mean I won’t stop teasing yah about it until ye get your hoofs down and spit it out.” Applejack teased her friend with a smirk.

Starlight chuckled. “Well this should be fun to watch,” she said as Rainbow buried her face into her hands.

Rarity smirked, “Well if you ever decide to change your mind about my offer to help, you know where to find me.” She said. Turning over towards her old friend, she gave her a small smile. “So tell me, Coco darling, how have you been since we last saw you?”

Coco’s eyes widened slightly from immediately getting attention after all the madness, but she calm down quickly. “I been fine. The boutique is doing well too. Though, that Shocker pony made things a little difficult for everypony.”

At the name “Shocker”, Rainbow's ears immediately perked up and she started to focus more on their conversation.

“Wait, Shocker?” Starlight asked. “Who's that?”

Coco shrugged. “It was some kind of weird criminal with equipment that hurt a lot of ponies back at Manehattan. Thankfully, the police were assisted by a strange figure that called itself Spider, who proceeded to defeat him with help from a policemare recruit named Lightning Dust.”

At the mention of the name of the the one who beat Shocker, everyone else widened their eyes, while Rainbow was more focused on the pegasus’ name.

Twilight cleared her throat. “I'm sorry, but did you say “Spider”?”

Coco nodded. “Yes.”

“And when did this Spider show up?” Starlight asked.

Coco scrunched up her eyebrows and muzzle in thought. “About two to three weeks ago, while Cece and some filly came to visit me. Cece said her brother came too, but he never showed up.”

“And do you know what this Spider looks like?”

Coco shook her head. “He left before anypony could take any pictures or ask any questions to that stallion.” Coco then seemed to remember something else, as her ears perked up. “Oh yeah, apparently he could swing like an acrobat from ropes that he slung to buildings.” Coco then tilted her head in confusion. “Why?”

Twilight sighed. “Looks like Dark took a visit to Manehatten…”

Everyone excluding Coco nodded. Coco just stared at everyone, completely confused. “Um...what do you mean?”

“We'll explain later,” Twilight said dismissively.

After that, everyone started doing their own thing, either talking amongst themselves, or entertaining themselves. Rainbow just slumped on her seat, looking out the window, towards the castle as they finally arrived in Canterlot.

As she continued to stare at the castle, she grew increasingly nervous. A few moments later, she sighed as the train slow to a halt and she got up with the rest of her friends to leave.

Author's Note

Well, this is now done. So, it's pretty obvious now what's been happening to Tito the last few chapters. And if it's not, you're more blind than I am. As for the crush thing, that's been planned for at least a year now. If any of you don't like it, screw you, it's my story. Well, until next time. And if I don't finish 24 by then, Happy Halloween/Nightmare Night 🎃
-Dark

P.S: I will also like to give a huge thanks to all my friends for helping me write this. Thanks guys.

24. Reunion

(Third Person POV, Bio-Corp, Manehattan)

The CEO of Bio-Corp was sitting at his desk, reading some reports sent from the R&D, when he suddenly got a call on his desk. He put down the sheaf of papers and answered the call. “What is it?”

“U-um, sir?” A weak voice came from the other end.

The CEO sighed, knowing who the voice belonged to. “What is it this time, Why Chromosome?” The thestral asked in annoyance.

He could hear the scientist fidget around. “I'm just curious as to some of the the...equipment your chief scientist wants.”

Looking back at his papers, he only gave the stallion half of his attention, “And what exactly are they?”

“Apparently, he’s requesting for the following: DNA samples for the project, plus several tanks’ worth of nutrient broth for the growth stage and reproduction phase to proceed according to schedule.”

“And? I know that is not why you interrupted me, Why.”

“Well,” Why cleared his throat, “then there is his request for fifteen tons-worth of diverse metals, steel, copper, gold, titanium - the list goes on! Then there is also the request for energy ore in the form of unstable drakite... why is he requesting such things, when his orders are to develop Project: Living Shadow? None of these materials should even be needed for the project!”

The CEO stood silent for a moment, before saying, “I'll contact him and find out. But until I say otherwise, you do what he says, understand?”

Why sighed at the intercom, before acknowledging his order silently. “Yes sir. I’ll pass on the orders to our suppliers.”

“Keep me informed on these requests of his if they get more...strange.”

“Affirmative, Sir.” Why replied before cutting off the communication.

The thestral then dialed a few buttons on the intercom to get a hold on his chief scientist. After a few moments, he finally got an answer, but not one he expected.

“Hello? Is this the pizza guy? We’ve been waiting for hours for you guys to arrive! Where are you anyways? You know, it may not seem like it, but I do like to eat… Can I even eat? Maybe I should ask the Doctor if he can make me able to eat. I always wanted to try cheese. Hey! Pizza comes with cheese! This is perfect, I’ll be able to eat cheese and pizza!" The voice at the other end continued on talking, annoying the CEO with his constant chatter.

The CEO pinched the bridge of his muzzle. “Oh for the love of Celestia…” He then took a deep breath. “Go get your master.”

The voice at the other end went silent, before starting up again, “Oh! You want the doc? Well why didn’t you say so! I’ll go get him.” There was silence for a while, suddenly the CEO was able to hear some arguing going on in the background, after a while he heard someone clear his throat.

The voice of his chief scientist came out of the intercom, “Yes? Who is this? Make it quick, I’m busy.”

“Hello Doctor,” the CEO said in a calm voice. “It seems you're doing well.”

“Ah! If it isn’t the old bat!” The thestral frowned at the disrespect. “Well boss, if you’re calling about the project, don’t worry, everything is just great, I expect the Living Shadows to be completed by the end of the month. Provided that I get the materials I ask for.”

“Yeah, that's why I called. I had a few questions for you regarding the Project and your...requests.”

“Well? What’s the problem?” The scientist asked. “I’m sure the materials aren’t that hard to find. Besides, you have so many assets, I’m sure you can spare a few.”

“Well a DNA sample, tons of metals, and a large procurement of drakite makes me rather curious as to how it relates to your current orders,” the thestral questioned, making sure to give the scientist his full attention.

The phone was silent for some time. Finally after a minute of silence, the scientist spoke once again, “The DNA sample of the target is something that can benefit the experiment. With his DNA, our little experiment will have the full capabilities as the pest that has gotten your attention. Anything he can do, the experiments can do better.”

The CEO hummed, liking the reasoning that the doctor gave, “And what about the metals and the drakite?”

“Oh that’s just something that will help me accelerate the growth of the experiment. With the drakite, we'll be able to give the creature a great amount of power.” He heard the man on the intercom chuckle. “Just imagine how powerful your beasts will become with the drakite fueling their powers.”

The thestral imagined that outcome, envisioning large black creatures causing mayhem and giving the royals a large amount of problems, if not outright defeating them along with their forces. He then chuckled. “Very well, Ivo. Don't disappoint me, and you'll get your resources.”

He heard a loud clap from the phone. “Splendid! Don’t you worry about a thing Archer, I’m sure that this experiment will be nothing less than a success! You’ll have your creatures ready by the end of the month. Provided I get those power stones, that is…”

The thestral, Archer, smiled, “Don’t worry, I did say you’ll be getting your resources, that includes the drakite and the precious metals.” Before he could hang up, the scientist spoke up again.

“Oh Archer, there’s one more thing I need to ask of you.”

Archer raised an eyebrow, curious as to what the next request might be, “Oh? What is it?”

“I need a couple of test subjects.” The man growled, “And don’t give me those lab rats! I need real subjects to test on! Ponies! Griffons! Give me something more to work with than just a mindless rat! Even a damn Diamond Dog will work!”

“And why exactly would you need that?”

“To test how the creatures would…“react” to living things, and to see how the capabilities of the test subject would increase if the creatures’ bond with them of course!” The scientist answered, reverting back to his jovial self. “In the name of science, I assure you.” He chuckled.

“I’ll see what can be done in that regard, Ivo. Do not fail us, and we’ll hold our part of the deal.” Archer said in businesslike fashion before hanging up, and going deep in thought.

(Third Person POV, Canterlot Castle, Castle Grounds)

The visiting party arrived at the castle, escorted by few day guards, all of whom were covered in bruises, with their armor having dents everywhere.

By that point, their curiosity was starting to bother them, and Starlight asked, “Um excuse me, but where did you get all...those?” She gestured to their conditions.

“The Hammer of the Guard,” one of them said, with a shiver going around.

That confused the party. “Um...who?” Rainbow asked.

Another guard sighed. “A lieutenant that wipes the floor with any and every guard that dares to make her mad.”

After that, everypony stayed in silence for the rest of the walk. When they reached the doors to the throne room, the guards bowed and left.

The girls walked through the door into the throne room. When they entered, they saw Dark and Cece in their cover with their pokemon beside each of them, with their backs turned to them and talking to the Royal Sisters, with a container-looking object in Dark's hands. When the Sisters saw the newcomers, their muzzles turned into soft smiles.

“-hy you asked for us?” Cece finished asking.

“Well, we figured you would like to properly greet your friends.” Celestia replied.

Before the two of them could ask what she meant, they were pulled into a hug by Pinkie.

“Ooooh! It's so good to see you two again,” the pink mare said, squeezing the two.

“Pinkie...need...air…” Cece gasped.

Pinkie immediately let them go and took a step back. “Sorry. It's just that it's been so long since I saw you two. You didn't even say goodbye,” she said, her voice sounding hurt in the last sentence.

After taking a few deep breaths, Dark said, “Sorry Pinkie, but it's not like we expected to stay here for so long.” He then paused for a moment before he then looked down at his empty hands, then frantically looked around him.

“Looking for this?” A familiar voice said. Following the direction of the voice, everyone saw a familiar looking pink earth pony filly floating above all of them, holding the container. She then descended and gave the container to Dark. “I figured it'd be better if I held onto it while you two were being squeezed to near death.’

While most of the visiting party were still shocked at seeing an earth pony hover above ground without anything, Twilight was the only one to say anything. “Screwball?!”

The chaos filly turned to the lavender princess and smiled. “Hello. It's nice to finally meet you, Princess Twilight.”

Starlight then held her hands up. “Wait, hold on.” She turned to Twilight. “How do you know who this is?” She then looked at Screwball. “And who exactly are you?”

Screwball tilted her head in confusion. “You don't remember? You saw a version of me right before Nisled showed up.”

Right after she said that, the entire visiting party except Rainbow, Spike, Coco, and Twilight widened their eyes in realization, figuring out why they found the filly familiar.

“You're that filly that showed up out of nowhere and disappeared,” Applejack exclaimed.

Screwball shrugged. “Kinda. That one was Delsin's version. I'm the Screwball from this dimension. My daddy made me a few weeks ago.”

“Your “daddy”?” Fluttershy asked.

“Discord.” Twilight said with a sigh.

The pink filly nodded, a bright smile on her face. “That’s right! Daddy created me using his chaos magic,” she explained to the shocked group of mares.

Dark nodded. “Yeah. He was inspired by Delsin's and decided to make his own. And he asked Cece and I to watch her,” he said, keeping the container close to his chest.

“So…” Twilight started, sounding unsure about what she was going to say. “Are you like another Screwball we met? The one from the Pokemon dimension…?” She asked a bit nervously, a little worried of what her reaction might be.

That caused Screwball’s smile to drop and her ears to flatten a bit. “No. I'm not like her. I won't attack anyone just because they wound my pride or something like that.”

“We went there last week,” Dark explained. “She and Rainbow met Sarah and Tomas, as well as that Screwball. The latter tried to attack Rainbow with living furniture when she got mad.”

“But luckily Sarah stopped her before I had to do anything,” Screwball continued. “After that, I went to the house while Rainbow, Dark, and Mike went exploring. When they came back, Dark was holding that egg.”

Twilight rose an eyebrow in confusion. “Egg?”

Cece nodded. “Yeah. Apparently those three ran into some more bugs and saved a few eggs from being crushed. And Tito kept the one in his hands.” she finished, pointing at the container her brother was holding.

Fluttershy gasped, stepping forwards to get a look at the egg. “My goodness! You saved it from being crushed?” She gave Dark a small smile, “That’s wonderful! Do you have any idea what’s in the egg?” She asked.

Dark, Cece, and Screwball all shrugged. “I know nothing about it, outside the fact it's not a Bug type...” he said, looking at the egg inside the container.

Twilight then cleared her throat. “Well then, I guess we'll just find out when it hatches. So, how have you two been?”

Dark shrugged. “Not too bad. Though I feel like the guards are afraid of Cece.”

That confused everyone. “Why?” Starlight asked.

“Because I've been using them as dummies to train on,” Cece told them. “And if any of them are stupid enough to mention my height, I bring out my Piko Piko Hammer and show them why that is a bad idea.”

The visiting party nodded their heads before realisation started to dawn on them. “Wait,” Rainbow said. “You're the one who bruised up the guards?”

Cece nodded. “Yeah. And let me just say, the day guard are just laughable in how bad they are. At least the night guard can last longer than thirty seconds.”

Unbeknownst to the group, the Princess of the Night smirked silently to her sister at that remark.

“Anyway,” Dark started, “besides that, we met Screwball, met Spitfire and Soarin, met up with Sebaste a bit, met Surprise-”

“Wait, you said you talked to Sebaste?” Twilight asked. “How? I thought he was-”

“Gone?” Dark finished. “So did we. But apparently their world was “rebooted” I guess. Basically he remembers everything. Sasha and Alex, on the other hand, not so much. And Alex got a new look.”

“And then there's Victor,” Screwball mentioned.

Dark nodded. “Yeah. Apparently he's Seb's replacement or something. Nice guy. Anyway, after that we went to Manehatten a few days later, then a few days after that we went to Sarah and Tom’s dimension.”

“Oh, we heard about your trip to Manehatten,” Twilight told him. “And apparently you had quite an interesting time there, Spider.”

Dark chuckled in embarrassment. “You heard about that?”

“Coco told us about Shocker and how someone named “Spider” came and stopped him while Cece was visiting. And considering you're the only person we know who uses the name Spider, enjoys swinging around to get to places, and wasn't around when Cece said you were in Manehatten, it wasn't hard to figure out. So, mind telling us about this Shocker?” She finished, crossing her arms.

Dark shrugged. “He was some earth pony I dealt with in my first visit, who ended up getting far more advanced tech than I've seen in this dimension. When I heard he was causing trouble, I volunteered to deal with him. Simple as that.”

“That's it?” Twilight asked.

Dark nodded. “Nothing more to mention about him. Though, I did get a souvenir.”

“What is it?”

“I'll show you later. I actually planned on sending it to you so you can find a way to reverse engineer it. Could be useful in the future,” Dark said.

After that exchange, Celestia rose from her throne and approached the group, Luna following close behind.

“Well it is good seeing all of you here,” Celestia said.

Twilight gave a small bow to her colleagues with a smile. “Of course, Princess. It's nice being able to visit our friends after so long.” She then turned her head away, her ears falling flat. “Wish we could've visited sooner…” she muttered.

“No worries Twilight,” Luna told the purple alicorn. “At least you were able to come at all.”

Celestia nodded. “Indeed. It seems like convincing Ponyville that they're trustworthy has been more difficult than we realized.”

All of the visiting party, excluding Coco, frowned. “It hasn't been easy, to be honest,” Twilight admitted. “But, I'm sure we'll be able to stop the animosity soon enough.”

Celestia sighed. “I know you can. It's just sad that it's so bad that it's taking so long for things to calm down. But just remember Twilight, if you need any help from us, all you need to do is ask.”

Twilight nodded. “Will do, Princess.”

Celestia then turned to the only pony in the group she has never met before. Coco eyes widened when she noticed the Solar Diarch looking right at her, the earth pony stepping back in slight fear.

“You're Ms. Coco Pommel, correct?” Celestia asked her.

Coco nervously nodded her head, completely shock that the most powerful pony in the world knew her name.

Celestia gave Coco a soft smile. “And is it true that you took care of Cece when she first ended up in Equestria?”

Coco nodded again. “Y-yes…” she replied, feeling incredibly nervous.

“Well it is good to know that there are ponies like you that are willing to show a selfless act of kindness to a complete stranger who is in need of help,” Luna told the cream colored mare.

“T-thank you…” Coco said, stepping back another step.

Celestia then looked at the whole group. “Well, I believe you all should go and spend time with each other. But we would like to at least talk to you one last time before you return to your respective homes.”

“Of course, Princess,” Applejack said with a nod.

With that said, everyone besides the Sisters left the throne room. When the door closed and the group entered the hallway, they all spread out and turned towards each other.

After a few moments of silence, Screwball was the first to speak. “So, what do we do now?”

Author's Note

Dark: Wow. Updated it on time for Halloween. Sweet. So, we now learn the CEO's name, and that he has something called Project Living Shadow. I wonder how many people will be able to guess what that is. Spoilers, it's not a Shadow The Hedgehog copy. And I wonder if anyone will figure out who the chief scientist is. Also, Cece has a nickname among the guards, and a pretty good one at that. Thank you Seb for that name. And everyone meets Screwball, learns about the egg, and, as the title says, it's a big reunion. And I would like to thank my friends for helping, especially my new co-author Star. Here's what she has to say.

Star: HELLO MY LOYAL SUBJECTS! TIS I! THE GREAT AND MIGHTY STAR709~! Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and for those of you wondering why I'm here. After helping Dark so much in his fic, he has granted me the position of his co-author, and I have given him the honor of having my help. Anyways please be sure to tell us what you think of the chapter, why you like or dislike it in the comments. Even criticism helps.

Dark: Well, that's that. Hope you enjoyed Reunion, and have a happy Nightmare Night/Halloween 🎃
-Dark

25. A New Member Of The Family

(Third Person POV, Restaurant Row, Canterlot)

After spending a great time at The Tasty Treat at Pinkie’s suggestion, Dark and his sister were departing the restaurant with their friends and acquaintances, when out of the blue, Rarity suggested with flair, “Alright, dears, as much fun I had this afternoon, I must go check how’s my store faring at the fashion district. Tata!” as she left the group.

Taking the cue, all the ponies began saying their goodbyes and spreading out - leaving only Dark, Rainbow, Screwball, and Cece together.

“So now what?” Cece asked as she adjusted her hood.

Screwball had her back to the group, reading something, when it suddenly disappeared and she turned around with a snicker. “Well, I think you and I should check on Rarity. I need to talk to her about something I just thought of, and you can talk with Coco.” She then turned to Rainbow and Dark. “You two can just spend some time with each other until we get back. If anything, go to the park, Joe's, or get some ice cream, and we'll catch up when we're done. See ya in a bit.” Before anyone can reply, Screwball grabbed Cece's hand, and they both disappeared in a flash.

The remaining members just stared at where Screwball just was before Dark said, “Well...didn't expect that.” He then looked to Rainbow and suddenly felt that familiar feeling in his chest. He shook his head before saying, “How bout we get some ice cream and just walk around til the others come back.”

Rainbow nodded before the two of them left to the nearest spot to get ice cream, the pegasus feeling a bit uneasy.

(Canterlot Boutique)

Rarity had just entered her shop with Coco when the manager, Sassy Saddles, came from the back and said, “Welcome to Canterlot Boutique. How may I-” she then opened her eyes and saw who she was talking to. “Oh, Rarity. How nice of you to come visit.”

Rarity smiled. “Hello Sassy. It's good to see you too.”

Sassy then noticed the mare behind Rarity. “Oh, and who's your friend?”

Rarity took a step back and place a hand on Coco's shoulder. “Sassy, this is Coco Pommel, a friend of mines from Manehatten who I trusted to manage Rarity For You. Coco, this is Sassy Saddles. She's the manager of Canterlot Boutique. And while she wasn't exactly the best mare to work with at first, I know she's the perfect choice now.”

Coco cleared her throat. “Well, it's nice to meet you,” she told Sassy with a smile.

“And to you as well, Ms Pommel,” Sassy replied. “Now Rarity, I don't mean to sound rude, but is there a reason you came today?”

Before Rarity can reply, a bright flash came and suddenly Screwball and Cece were standing in front of them.

“Here we are,” Screwball said. “Canterlot Boutique.”

Cece shook her head to clear the dizziness she gained from the teleport before looking ahead of her and seeing an unfamiliar unicorn mare. “Um, who are you?”

Before anyone else can answer her question, Screwball said, “Oh, that's Sassy Saddles. Rarity hired her a while ago to watch this place for her. Though she's lucky Rarity allowed her to keep her job after that mess with the Princess Dress.”

Sassy stared at the two newcomers with wide eyes, mostly because they were (presumably) two fillies without anypony with them, and they had just teleported into the boutique when none appears to be a unicorn. Not to mention the one in the beanie had no pupils, with her irises just being pink spirals.

“Um, excuse me, but who may the two of you be?” Sassy asked.

Rarity cleared her throat. “Well Sassy, these are Screwball and Cece. They're friends of ours. Though, I don't know why they're here right now.”

Screwball chuckled. “Oh, that's simple. I found out what you were doing and decided to join.”

Rarity raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Whatever do you mean, darling?”

Screwball rolled her eyes. “Come on Rarity. The princesses ask all of you to come specifically so Dark can hang out with his friends after so long, and yet you all suddenly just split up without much information? It's kinda obvious something was up, and after a bit of reading, I know what you were doing.”

“And what exactly am I doing?”

Screwball shrugged. “Simple. You're trying to get Tito and Rainbow alone with each other.”

Rarity cleared her throat. “And why would I want to do that?”

Screwball crossed her arms and smiled. “I checked up on something to see if there were any clues on what you were doing, and I happened to find out about some…“Colorful Confessions” that happened while you guys were coming here. Not gonna lie, didn't expect her to admit it to you guys. At least, not so soon,” the chaos filly said with a shrugged, a little happy she can finally do what she just did to get the information.

Rarity and Coco's eyes widened when they realized what Screwball was talking about. “Wait, how do you know about that?” Coco asked. “You weren't even there.”

Screwball smiled. “Oh, I just read something and noticed that conversation. Learned that trick from my daddy. Though...some things are blocked off from my copy. Won't be able to see them until much later sadly.”

Everyone looked at her in confusion similar to the way a stranger would react to some of Pinkie's…“talents”.

Cece then said, “Okay, do any of you guys mind telling me what the heck you're talking about?”

“Oh, that's easy,” Screwball replied. “We're talking about Rainbow telling everypony else in the group, and Spike, that she has a crush on Tito.”

“Screwball!” Rarity exclaimed.

“What? She never said anything about telling Cece.”

Rarity opened her mouth to reply when she realized that Screwball was right. Rainbow specifically asked them not to tell Dark. She never said anything about anyone else. She then sighed and muttered, “You're Discord's daughter alright…” to which the filly took as a compliment.

“Wait, you guys just now found that out?” Cece asked. “I guessed that's as far back as the day Nisled showed up.”

“Wait, really?” Rarity asked in surprise.

Cece nodded and crossed her arms. “Delsin told me that he suspected it after the way she reacted with Tito afterwards. After he did, I started to think about how close those two are. Then it started making sense.”

After that, Sassy cleared her throat, gaining everyone's attention. “I'm sorry, but I'm very lost right now. All I can understand is your friend Rainbow Dash has a crush on somepony?”

“We talk about this much longer and some readers might start to get annoyed,” Screwball muttered to herself. She then said out loud, “Long story short, we're talking about a friend of ours, and Cece's older brother, called Dark, but Cece, Pinkie Pie, and I call him Tito.”

Sassy nodded slowly before taking a deep breath. “I'll...just be in the back then, checking inventory.” With that, she just walked to the back of the store.

Cece looked to Screwball. “So you just brought us here so they can be alone?”

“Well, that's half the reason I came here. The other half is exactly what I told Tito. I just had an idea, and I wanted to tell Rarity.”

“And what is that?” The aforementioned unicorn asked.

Screwball gave a smirk. “Just had an idea for an outfit for Rainbow. And with your help, I'm sure it'd get Tito’s attention.”

Rarity sighed. “Sorry Screwball, but Rainbow has made it explicitly clear that she doesn't want me to meddle with this situation, and making her a dress will surely make her mad.”

“Not if it's not a dress and it's something she'd like to wear.”

Once again, everyone looked at Screwball in confusion, but not nearly as much as earlier. “Explain,” Cece said.

Screwball shrugged. “If it's something that isn't meant to look pretty, “fabulous”, or…” she cleared her throat,” revealing, but cool and maybe useful, she'll be none the wiser.”

“And how does that make it get Dark's attention?” Coco asked.

Screwball smirked and pulled out a picture of the outfit she had in mind. “I'll explain that, but first…” she then said in a whisper so no one heard her, “so nobody else knows the about the details…” She then snapped her fingers.

(Holy Bale Park, Canterlot, an hour later)

Dark and Rainbow were at the park, with Dark sitting by a tree and watching Rainbow show him some tricks she's been practicing with the WonderBolts. While he was watching, he was turling Mike's miniaturized pokeball in his gloved hand. After she finished another trick, he took a brief look in his bag to check on the egg inside. Before Rainbow can continue, the two of them heard a familiar voice call to them.

“Dark? Rainbow?”

The two of them turned to the voice and spotted Lyra approaching them, with a blue unicorn mare with an hourglass cutie mark behind her.

“Oh, hey Lyra,” Dark said as he stood up, pocketing the pokeball and picking up the bag. “Hope you been well.”

“Yeah. Though, why are you two here? Canterlot seems like a strange place to practice tricks.”

At that point, Rainbow made it back down. “Me and the others are visiting Dark and Cece today.”

Lyra looked at the two of them in confusion. “But, don't they live in Ponyville? With Twilight?”

Dark narrowed his eyes under his hood. “You seriously don't know? Cece and I came here after what happened in Ponyville a few weeks back.”

“What happened?” The blue unicorn asked.

“Oh, just remembered you two haven't met,” Lyra said, remembering her companion. “Minuette, this is Dark. He's someone I met in Ponyville a little while ago. Dark, this is Minuette. She's one of the friends I have here in Canterlot.”

“I know about you,” Minuette said to Dark. “You're that stallion who saved those fillies in the Everfree.”

Dark blinked. “You actually know about that?”

“I'm sorry, but what?” Lyra said in surprised. “When was this?”

“My first day in Ponyville. Ended up in the Everfree and ran into some timberwolves attacking Scootaloo and Apple Bloom. I somehow managed to deal with them but I...knocked out. When I woke up, I was in Twilight's castle. Pinkie combined a small celebration of it with my welcome party the next day. You said you were away at the time when we met, remember?”

“Oh…”

“Anyway, what happened in Ponyville that made you come here?” Minuette asked him.

Dark sighed. “Surprised you don't know. Especially since rumors go all the way to Manehatten about what happened,” he said, remembering his conversation with Lightning Dust.

“I've heard of them, but they can't be true. I mean, two demons fighting over Ponyville and a single pony that can turn into clouds stopping them? Ponyville may be crazy, but that's doesn't seem possible.”

Dark and Rainbow looked to each other, before he said, to no one in particular, “That's what they think? Sheesh.”

“What does this have to do with you?” Lyra asked.

Dark sighed again. “Long story short, a guy who's known as Nisled attacked Ponyville. I went to take him on and my sister and a friend of ours came to join. He eventually got the upper hand and almost killed me before Rainbow came and stopped him. That friend we made was able to send Nisled away, and I passed out right after.”

“But why are you here then? If anything, you're a hero.”

Dark stayed silent for a moment before he said, “During the fight, my hood came off and everyone saw my face. Same with Cece. And, I found out sometime later, I can look pretty scary when I'm mad.”

Lyra’s eyes widened when she heard that, understanding what he meant. Minuette, on the other hand, said, “Wait, so you and this Nisled guy are the two demons the rumors are about? What's so bad about you that you'd be call a demon? And why is there something about a cloud pony?”

Dark shrugged. “Let's just say Ponyville has a bit of a history of thinking the worst in someone because they look different. Right now, I'll leave it at that.”

“As for the cloud thing, that was me,” Rainbow said casually.

The two unicorns stared at her in confusion and said in unison, “Huh?”

Rainbow smirked before she Cloud Dashed through the two of them and reformed behind them.

When they turned around and saw Rainbow standing there, they stared at her in shock. “Wha...how...why…”

Rainbow shrugged. “Apparently I'm a special kind of pony who has something in their DNA that allows them to do stuff like that. And that's not all I can do,” she said as her arms started to glow.

Dark then lifted a hand up. “I don't think now's the time to start showing off your new abilities, Rainbow.” He then turned to the unicorns. “Anyway, a few days after that fight, Princess Celestia asked for us to come here and explain what happened. When we were about about to leave, she offered my sister and I a chance to stay here until things calm down, considering Ponyville's afraid of me right now and I'm apparently seen as a demon.”

The two stayed silent for a moment before Lyra said, “I don't understand. You've lived in Ponyville for weeks and helped protect it from that monster, and yet everypony is afraid of you now?”

“Not everypony. The Cakes and the Crusaders, as well as Rainbow and her friends are still okay with me. But a majority of the town are afraid.” Dark then sighed again before adjusting his bag. “Honestly, not something I like to think about. And right now, I have something else major to worry about soon. It was nice seeing you again Lyra, and meeting you Minuette, but I think I should go.”

The two of the nodded and the pairs went their separate ways. When Dark and Rainbow made it to the edge of the park, Rainbow said, “So where to now?”

Dark shrugged. “How about we just go to Joe's and wait for the others. Either that, or until sunset. Whichever comes first.”

Rainbow nodded. “Okay then. Let's go.” She then spread her wings and took off, with Dark shaking his head and chuckling before running off close behind her.

(Dark's POV, Royal Castle, 2 hours later)

When Rainbow and I arrived at the castle, I took off my cover, and let Mike out of his pokeball. After that, we headed to the throne room, where Celestia and Luna were already waiting for us.

Celestia smiled at us. “Ah, Dark, Rainbow Dash, glad you're back.” She then noticed we were alone and frowned. “Where are the others?”

“We all separated a little while ago,” I told the sisters. “We all agreed to meet each other back here on sunset.” I then remembered something. “Hey, I'll be right back. Need to grab something for Twilight.”

With that, I left and headed to my room. I then rummaged through the nightstand by my bed and pulled out the gauntlets I got from Shocker back in Manehatten. After I placed them in my bag, I headed back in the throne room. I only made it a few feet when my spider-sense picked up on something, but before I can react…

“Hi Tito,” an all too familiar high voice said right behind me.

I won't lie, I jumped a bit, but not as much as in the past. I calmed down, turned around and saw Pinkie standing there, smiling at me. I cleared my throat and said, “Oh, hi Pinkie. What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with the others?”

Pinkie shrugged. “Just thought I'd walk with you for a bit.”

“Uh huh…” I nodded. I just decided to continue walking, with Pinkie skipping beside me.

“So, how was your day with Rainbow?”

I shrugged. “It was good. It's always nice hanging out with any of you guys.”

Pinkie just smiled in response. We stood silent for a bit until she asked, “So what are you getting her for her birthaversary?”

I immediately stopped. “What?”

“Her birthaversary. The celebration of her birthday and the anniversary of when she came to Ponyville. You know, that thing I had a goof off with Cheese Sandwich over and got my key that-”

I immediately put a hand up in a “stop” gesture. “I know what it is, but why did you bring it up?”

“Oh, because it's in a couple of weeks, and I figured with how close you two are, you'd want to give her something nice. So what are you getting her?”

I blinked. “I...honestly have no idea. I didn't even know when it was.”

“Really? I would've thought she'd tell you about it. I mean, you two are pretty close, and it's gonna be pretty big.”

“Knowing her, and knowing your skill with parties, I believe that.”

“Yeah. It's going to be pretty big. I mean, not as big as when Cheese helped, but still big. You'll see when you get...there…” she then widened her eyes before frowning, her ears folding back. “Oh. I think I know why Rainbow didn't mention it…”

After a few seconds, I realized what she meant and sighed. “Yeah. Still can't go to Ponyville Pinkie. But I'm sure it'd be fun.” I then continued walking. “Come on, the others should be here by now. We can see how they are and hang out for a bit before you guys go home,” I said, wanting to change the subject as quickly as possible.

Pinkie perked up a bit and we headed to the throne room once more. When we got there, everyone was already back. Cece, Coco, and Rarity were talking amongst themselves, as well as Applejack and Rainbow, and Screwball with Luna, surprisingly enough. I headed to Twilight, who was in the middle of talking to Celestia. But what Twilight said caught my attention.

“-nks that he's a monster, and no matter how hard we try, she somehow keeps convincing the town that. As far as they know, he hypnotized us or something into thinking he's good.”

“That's pretty grim,” Celestia said.

“So, what are you guys talking about?” I asked, making Twilight jump.

“Dark! Don't do that.”

I chuckled a little. “Sorry Twi.” I then sighed. “But it sounds like someone is causing some trouble in Ponyville.”

Twilight rubbed her arm, actually looking a bit nervous. “Yeah. It's a mare named Spoiled Rich.”

The moment she said that, I felt my blood boil. “What?” I growled out.

Twilight stepped back in shock with a bit of fear in her eyes. “Dark, are you okay?”

“It seems that your eyes do change when you are angry,” Celestia commented.

I was confused at first when I remembered what Sebaste and Delsin said about how I look when mad. I placed my hand on my head and took a few deep breaths. When I was sure I was calm enough, I took my hand away and sighed. “Sorry about that…”

“What was that?” Twilight asked.

“Apparently, something with Equestria makes it that my eyes turn red when I'm mad. My body reacting to the magic in the atmosphere or something like that. At least that's what Delsin thinks. It's also presumably why everyone thinks I'm a demon while I was fighting Nisled, since my hood fell off and I was definitely angry.”

“Okay...but why did you look like that when I mentioned Spoiled. I didn't think you met her.”

“I didn't. I just know she's Diamond Tiara’s mother, somehow is the head of the school board, and a popular nickname for her is Spoiled Bitch.”

Twilight and Celestia’s eyes widened at that last part. Twilight then cleared her throat. “Well, that's a pretty bad thing to call her…”

“But accurate,” someone said behind me. I turned my head and saw Rainbow with an annoyed expression, her arms crossed with some steam coming from them.

“Rainbow…” Twilight began.

“Twilight, she straight up insulted Scootaloo and her friends to their faces and is a pain in the flank to everypony. What does Filthy Rich even see in her anyway?”

“That's about as big a mystery as how Pinkie Sense works in my opinion,” I replied. “Anyway, what were you saying Twilight?”

The lavender princess sighed. “She thinks you’re some kind of demon and should be locked up in Tartarus. And she says the only reason we vouch for you is because you have us in some kind of mind control or something, and she's convinced the town of that. If I'm being honest, she's probably the main reason why things are still pretty difficult for us convincing Ponyville you're a hero.”

I growled a bit and punched the wall, leaving a hole on it, my eyes closed so nobody sees them, but checking my spider-sense allows me to know everyone is now looking at me.

Once I calmed down enough, I sighed. “Sorry...just really mad about that. My new life is now being ruined by a bitch who thinks that national heroes are just puppets of mine now…”

“Um...you can't actually do that, can you?” Spike asked.

“Never heard of any Spidey who can, and my powers are all based on the original. Besides, if I could, not like I would. To be honest, it's more of a villain power than a hero, and I don't want anyone thinking that.”

The room stood in an uneasy silence for a few moments. I was about to say something when I start feeling something on my back. Everyone else seemed to notice since they all looked at me in confusion.

“Dark, why's your bag shaking?” Starlight asked.

I took off my bag and opened it to see that the incubator was vibrating. I pulled it out and looked at the egg, which was shaking side to side a bit.

“Um, is it supposed to do that?” Applejack asked in a concerned voice when cracks started to appear in the egg and a white light shining through the cracks.

“If I remember correctly, yeah,” I said as I removed the egg from the incubator.

“You sure that's an egg an not a bomb?” Spike asked as more cracks appeared.

“Yes. Now, you guys may want to cover your eyes. Things are about to be very bright,” I said. After the next crack appeared, the whole egg was enveloped in a bright light. I immediately closed my eyes to avoid getting blinded by it. The light held for a few seconds, all of which I felt the egg change shape in my hands. A couple of seconds after the change stopped, I opened my eyes and saw the light had vanished, as well as the egg. In its place was a small, blue, bipedal pup that was very familiar to me. It had black legs and torso, a blue tail, and a small yellow collar around its neck, as well as rounded bumps on the backs of its forepaws, and a black "mask” that resembled raccoons, with small appendages hanging from the side.

“No...way…” I muttered with wide eyes.

A moment later, everyone else seemed to notice the light was gone, all of them opening their eyes, though it looked like Celestia never closed hers. When everyone saw the pup in hands, they all gasped.

“What is that?” Rarity asked.

Before I can answer her, Twilight said, “A Riolu. The Emanation Pokémon and a Fighting type. It uses those things on the side of its head to sense the emotion of others.”

When most of the group stared at her, wondering how she knew any of that, Spike, Starlight, Rainbow, Screwball, Cece and I knew. “Forgot that journal had info on a lot of pokemon,” I said.

Around that time, the Riolu slowly opened its red eyes and blinked at me before tilting its head in confusion for a moment. I felt like I was forgetting something when it suddenly yipped before hugging me and nuzzled my chest.

Rainbow chuckled at the sight of my surprised face looking at the Riolu. “Looks like it likes you already Dark.”

“Makes sense,” Twilight said. “It probably think he's its dad.”

That surprised everyone and they looked at her and said, “What?” in unison, and I remembered the thing about newly hatched pokemon that I was thinking about a moment ago.

“According to the journal, when a pokemon hatches, it usually imprints on the first living thing it sees,” Twilight explained.

“Imprints?” Cece asked.

“It means that whoever they see when they first open their eyes, they believe is their parent,” I told her.

Rainbow started laughing. “So now you have a small dog that thinks your its dad?”

“Jackal, to be accurate.”

Rainbow then bent down so she was within eye level to the Riolu. “So this is your kid now, huh?”

Before I can say anything, the Riolu looked at Rainbow for a second before it jumped onto her and tackled her in a hug, surprising Rainbow. I just laughed at the sight of Rainbow on the floor with the pup hugging her. “Looks like it likes you as well Rainbow.”

Fluttershy was the next one to approach the newborn pup, crouching down to get a closer look at it. “Aww. She's so cute.” She then reached a hand out out and started scratching it behind its right ear, which it seemed to enjoy.

A moment later, I realized what she said. “Wait, did you say “she”?” I asked. “How can you tell?”

Fluttershy blinked before she had a confused expression on her face. “I...don't know. I just seem to be able to tell these things.”

I stared at the Riolu as it gave Fluttershy a hug as well, though it didn't look like it was as strong as the ones she gave me and Rainbow. “So it's a girl, huh? Didn't expect that.”

“And why's that?” Celestia asked.

“Female Riolu are pretty rare. About a one in ten chance to find one.”

“Twelve point five percent to be more specific,” Twilight added.

“Yeah…” I said as I began thinking.

Pinkie then approached her. “She's so cute. Oh, I need to get plans for her birthday ready!”

“I believe it is best to wait for that for when Dark and Cece return to Ponyville, Pinkie,” Luna said.

“Awe,” Pinkie said, a little disappointed.

Cece then looked to me. “So, whatcha gonna name her?”

I thought about it for a moment before I remembered a name I thought was nice. I gave a small smile before approaching Fluttershy. I then took the Riolu into my arms and looked her in the eyes and she smiled back at me. “How about I call you Brianna?”

She let out a yip, which I took as her saying yes. She then gave me another hug, which I returned.

“So, let me get this straight,” Cece said. “That thing is an emotion sensing dog that somehow came from an egg from another dimension, thinks you're her dad, and you're just accepting it without any questions?”

I shrugged, petting Brianna. “None of this is really a surprise to me, besides what she is. I knew for a while that pokemon imprint on the first thing they see. I just forgot about it for a bit.”

Cece sighed. “Well then, I guess we have a new member in the family.”

“Um, Tito?” I heard beside me. Turning around, I saw Screwball holding up a pokeball. “I think you're forgetting something else.”

I nodded and grabbed the pokeball before putting Brianna on her feet and kneeling to her so I was around eye level and looked at her confused face. “The answer may be a bit obvious, but do you want to stay with me and be one of my partners?” I asked, raising the pokeball in front of her. She smiled and gave a quick nod. I smiled back and tapped the button on her forehead.

The pokeball immediately opened and she was turn into data and was sucked into it, with the pokeball quickly closing afterwards. It shook in my hand for a couple of seconds before it flashed a small light. I opened it again to let her out and she immediately jumped onto me, giving me a hug and causing me to take a couple of steps back due to the force.

Applejack chuckled. “Having a hard time with a pup, Dark?”

I gave her an annoyed look. “For your information, AJ, Riolu are a type of pokemon that is known for being strong, and have a lot of stamina. Heck, when she evolves, she may be able to match Cece in terms of strength.”

Applejack’s eyes widened and I think she paled a bit. I guess since she and Rainbow are a few of the only ponies here who know first hand how strong Cece can be.

Celestia then sighed. “Well, as much as it pains me to say, it's getting late, and you all need to return home before it gets too late.”

Everyone immediately got sad when she said that. We all left the throne room, with Brianna hanging off my back with her arms around my neck. Celestia and Luna both separated from the group so they can go to sleep and begin their nightly jobs, respectively. When we reached the entrance, everyone except Screwball, Cece, me, and our pokemon headed towards the doors before turning to us.

“Sorry we didn't spend that much time together Dark,” Twilight said with an expression that told me that she felt guilty.

I shrugged. “It's okay, Twilight. It was nice just that you came to visit. To be honest, I was actually thinking about you guys this morning.”

‘As well as had that weird thought about Rainbow…’

I've been wondering multiple times today what caused me to have that thought I had after the training, and still couldn't figure it out, which annoyed me quite a bit.

What I said seemed to help Twilight a bit since she gave me a small smile in return. “I promise, we'll figure out how to help you.”

“I know. And contact us if you ever need anything Twilight.”

“Though it would be nice if you visit more often,” Screwball said with a shrug. “Doesn't have to be all of you guys. Just one or two every once in a while.”

“We'll keep that in mind Screwball,” Twilight replied.

Screwball then looked at me. “Hey Tito, didn't you have something to give Twilight?”

I was confused for a second before I remembered what she was talking about. I immediately opened my bag and pulled out the Shocker gauntlets and gave them to her.

“What are these?” She asked.

“Those are the souvenirs I got from my fight with Shocker a few weeks ago,” I answered. “They allowed him to fire pretty effective energy blasts, despite being an earth pony. I was hoping you can find some way to have it be useful for us.”

She looked at the gauntlets for a moment. “I can't promise anything, but I'll try.”

“That's all I asked.”

Most of us said our goodbyes after that, with Pinkie squeezing all of us in a hug, and they exited the castle. The last ones were Rainbow and Rarity, and Rainbow looked...uneasy I think is the word, her hands in her the pockets of her jacket.

She walked up to me and chuckled. “Another eventful day we had, huh?”

I nodded. “Beat up a bunch of guards, talked to my friends again, spent the day with my best friend, and basically became a dad. Yeah, I think that fits under “eventful”.”

She sighed and looked down. “Yeah…”

I thought for a moment before saying, “Hey, maybe next time you come, we can have a bit of a sparring match. See how good you are with those swords.”

She looked at me with a surprised look on her face. “Seriously? You do know how dangerous that is, right?”

I shrugged. “So is facing a pack of timberwolves alone, fighting a bunch of giant bugs, and jumping off a skyscraper without wings or a parachute. Hasn't stopped me before. But if you're afraid I'll beat you again, I understand.”

Her eyes widened before she narrowed them, her wings flaring and her arms glowing. “You think you can actually beat me now? As if. I can beat you just fine before. Now I can beat you easily.”

I couldn't help but have a smirk on my face from that. I knew mocking Rainbow will get her to be more like her usual self, and I was right. “Okay then. We'll see about that.” She nodded before Cloud Dashing (she told me the names of her moves) outside.

Rarity then walked up to me after having some conversation with Cece and Screwball while I was talking to Rainbow, with those two already heading to our room. “Well, you seem to know how to rile her up.”

I shrugged. “That was just to get her to act like herself. Pretty sure you noticed that she was acting...different.”

Rarity nodded. “Yes, I've noticed how she's been acting lately. But I'm sure she'll be fine. She just need to figure something out is all.”

“I hope it's not something serious.”

“Oh, nothing you need to worry about, darling. I'm sure once she's comfortable enough, she'll tell you what's been ailing her. Until then, you just need to be patient.”

I sighed. “Okay. Well, it was nice seeing you again Rarity.”

“You as well Dark. And this trip had me thinking about a few things. I'll see if I can visit again soon. Ta ta.” With that, she left.

A few moments later, I sighed again. “Come on Bri. It's time for us to go to bed.”

Author's Note

And that is done. Wow, that was...unexpected for the most part. Sorry if this is rushed, I literally spent a weekend writing it. Mostly because I only got the inspiration on Friday night. Also, let me inform you that this little visit was meant to be a single chapter. Not three. Just that the Mane 6 visit, and Bri hatches. I didn't expect it to become three chapters, so I didn't think of much to do as a group. Which, admittedly, is pretty dumb. I'm sure you all can tell what Screwball did to find out about Rainbow's confession. Pretty obvious. And then there's Rainbow's birthaversary. Saying it now, no plans for the party, but Pinkie telling Tito IS important for something later. Next, Brianna. If anyone cares about the reason for the name, it's the name one of my favorite cousins, who I named my first Riolu after. And yeah, she sees Tito as her dad. I had that idea due to what I saw in that Manaphy movie a few years ago. Basically as far as I know, what was said in the chapter is the thing with at least some pokemon. Well, that's all I believe there's worth mentioning right now. Sorry for the late post (it's 10pm for me as I post this), and have a merry Christmas. 🎄🎁🎄
-Dark

26. The Magician's Struggle

(Third Person POV, Canterlot)

Dark was wandering the streets of Canterlot, cover on, avoiding all the nobles to avoid the desire of breaking any of their noses. He had just passed Restaurant Row when he felt his bag shake. Going to a nearby alley, he took it off his back and opened it, with Brianna popping out of it, shaking her head, her aura sensors flopping side to side. She looked up at Dark and yipped, smiling at him.

Dark chuckled softly. “Don't worry, Bri. We're halfway to Joe's now.” He started petting her. “And I'd rather keep the number of ponies in this city that see you to a minimum. No telling how these nobles would react to something like you…” he finished, feeling annoyed.

Bri grabbed his hand with both her paws and moved it away and looked him in the eyes with a worried look.

Dark sighed. “Right. Emotion reading. Forgot you can do that.” He shook his head. “Don't worry. I'm fine. I just don't like a lot of ponies here. It's a miracle that Celestia has the patience to deal with these kinds of ponies for all these years.” He then pet her again for a moment. “Can you stay inside until I let you out?”

She just stared at him for a couple seconds before nodding and ducking back inside the bag. Dark then closed it, but left a hole for her to breathe. He then put the bag back on and left the alley.

Not five minutes later, Dark saw a pony in a familiar cape and hat hanging up flyers in a violet aura. He blinked for a moment before shrugging and heading her way, deciding to greet her after all the time that's passed since he's seen the her.

He approached her while she was putting up another flyer with her back to him, when he crossed his arms and said, “Well, didn't expect to see you today, Trixie.”

The blue unicorn jumped in surprised, her hat flying off her head as a result. Dark casually caught it as she turned around and saw him. “Dark? What are you doing in Canterlot?”

“Long story. Right now, let's just say some trouble happened in Ponyville a few weeks ago and the Princesses offered my sister and I to stay in the Castle until things calm down,” he said, handing her back her magician hat.

She took it back and placed it on her head. “Okay… Wait, you have a sister?”

Dark nodded. “We got separated a couple of weeks before I met you. I ended up in Ponyville, she ended up in Manehatten. A few days after your show in Ponyville, we reunited and she's been staying in Ponyville with me ever since. Well, until we came here…”

“Hmm,” she hummed. Then she had a thought. “Hey, since you're here, maybe you can help me set up for my show tonight.”

“Seriously?”

“Well yes. I was planning on doing it alone, but with your help, I can have it set up quicker.”

Dark stood silent for a few moments before shrugging. “Fine. I guess Joe's can wait. So, let's go.”

“Okay.” Trixie then lifted a small stack of flyers in her magic and walked passed Dark, with him following her.

“So you actually come up with a title?” Dark asked. “Because last I heard, it was called, what was it… Ah, now I remember. “Way-To-Go-Dumb-Dumb-You-Really-Messed-It-Up-This-Time" Repentance Tour”,” he said with a chuckle.

Trixie blushed in embarrassment. “Hey, I was very depressed when I thought that one up. I thought I lost the one pony who cared about me.”

Dark's laughter died down when she said that and he remembered a statement she told Twilight after Starlight ran off before the show. “Starlight is the first pony you can call a friend, correct?”

Trixie blinked in shock. “How do you know that?”

Dark shrugged. “I know a lot of things, Trixie. Related to you, I know about how you took the Alicorn Amulet just to show up Twilight and that you only spent time with Starlight in the first place for that same reason.”

Trixie lowered her gaze. “If you know about that, why have you been acting so nice to me? Hay, why are you helping me right now then?”

Dark shrugged. “Because I know you’re a good pony. Or at least, you can be. After the Amulet was dealt with, you actually apologized to Twilight and gave her performance a bit of extra flare without anyone telling you too. And you actually did become friends with Starlight, when she could use one. Now, I'll admit, you can be pretty annoying sometimes, and your ego is on par with Rainbow's on your worst days, and I would know about that, but if you're truly sorry for the mistakes you made in the past, especially with that Amulet, then you at least deserve a chance, just like everyone else.”

They walked in silence for a few moments before she said in a small voice, “Thanks.”

“A good way to thank me is proving me right,” Dark replied.

Another few moments of silence later, Trixie asked, “Um, do you mind if I ask what makes you believe that? I mean, if Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship, didn't really give me a second chance before I met Starlight, why would you? Not that I'm complaining of course,” she added quickly.

Dark shrugged. “A number of things I guess. For one, Equestria is basically known for forgiveness. I mean, Twilight and her friends forgave somepony who wanted to imprison Celestia and make the night last forever, a spirit of chaos that made them leave each other and turned their home into something out of a fever dream, and a pony who caused a complete mess of the time stream. And Twilight forgave another unicorn who became a demon once and actually tried to kill her, but you don't know her. So forgiving a simple magician whose worst actions were because of something that corrupts its user? That shouldn't be too hard.”

Trixie blinked. “Huh. I guess you're right…”

“But, if I'm being honest, I basically had one thing in mind while we were just talking.”

“And what's that?”

“A phrase, or a question I guess, that somebody who loves puns asked someone before they fought each other. Basically something I like to think about once in a while when topics like this are involved.”

“What's the phrase?”

“Do you think that even the worst person can change? That everyone can be a good person, if they just try?” Dark then shrugged. “Considering how often bad ponies, as well as other things, seem to reform, I believe that's a good question to ask here.”

They walked in silence for a couple more minutes until they reached a small stage with parts laying on the ground.

“Well, this is it,” Trixie said.

Dark nodded before placing his bag down on the stage, and it began to shake.

“Um...is it supposed to do that?” Trixie asked, a little concerned.

Dark began to open his bag when the pup popped her head out again with a yip. She looked around before she jumped onto Dark with a hug.

“Sheesh, it only been a few minutes Bri, and yet you're acting like it's been over an hour,” Dark said, but returning the hug nonetheless, as well as petting her a little.

“Um...Dark, what is that?” Trixie asked.

The pair looked at Trixie, with Brianna’s expression being one of confusion and curiosity. Dark then showed Brianna completely to Trixie. “Trixie, this is my daughter Brianna. Bri, this is Trixie Lulamoon. She's a friend.”

Trixie looked at him with a very shocked expression on her face. “Wait, your daughter?”

“Before you say anything, she's not my biological daughter. She was just born a couple of days ago, and she imprinted on me.”

“Im-what?”

“Imprinted. It means that the moment she opened her eyes and saw me, she thought I was her dad, and I decided to take that role for her.” He then held her up to Trixie. “You wanna hold her?”

Trixie stared at the pup, who was smiling at her with her brilliant red eyes and her tail wagging. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah. It'll be fine.”

Trixie hesitated before slowly grabbing her and holding her up to eye level. “Um, hello?”

Bri yipped before hugging Trixie, causing the magician to fall onto her rear, which surprised Trixie, both because it was unexpected, and because Brianna was squeezing her harder than something her size should be able to, to the point where she had trouble breathing.

“Okay Bri, calm down,” Dark said. “She's not like me, that can seriously hurt her.”

Brianna’s eyes immediately widened and she let go of Trixie, her ears folded and her face having a guilty expression. Trixie let out a gasp and stared at the pup in surprise as Dark picked her up and comforted her.

“Don't worry,” Trixie heard Dark tell Brianna. “You just need to be more careful.” He then looked to Trixie. “You okay?”

Trixie nodded slowly. “I-I'm fine.” Dark offered her a hand up and she accepted it. “What is she anyway, and how is she as strong as a full grown earth pony if you said she was born a few days ago?”

Dark stayed silent for a moment before he said, “Brianna is a special creature called a pokemon. A Riolu to be more specific.”

“Never heard of them,” Trixie said with a shrug.

“You wouldn't. Only ponies that would are ones I know and trust. Anypony else will just think they're strange animals.”

“So...these “pokemon” are all crazy strong, even when they're babies?”

“No. Just specific types. Riolu are one of them.”

Trixie looked at Brianna, who was avoiding looking at Trixie. “If she was born a few days ago, how is it she can feel guilt already?”

“Pokemon mature pretty quick,” Dark said, sitting down on the stage and softly petting Bri. “Within the first few minutes, she can already walk and seem to understand what I say. But she is still a child, and needs to learn some things. Like controlling her strength.”

Trixie stared at him for a few seconds before saying, “You really care about her, huh?”

“I saved her from being killed by oversized bugs before she was born, and several seconds after she first opened her eyes, she hugged me thinking I was her parent. Kinda hard for me not to care about her after that. Plus, I have a soft spot for anything I find adorable. Kind of why Cece used Emily on me to convince me to watch her a while ago.”

“Um, who?”

“Cece's my younger sister. Word of advice, don't talk about her height. If you think Bri's strength is impressive, Cece is stronger than most earth ponies, if not all of them, and she has a hammer that she can use to smash through steel effortlessly. Maybe even titanium.” Dark shrugged. “Gonna have to watch that video again to check.”

Trixie paled when she heard that. “Um, do I need to know anything else about her?”

“She's fast, able to keep up with me and even Rainbow when she's flying slower than sound, and very agile. She's able to move around with her hammer like it didn't weigh a few dozen pounds. And she's very good at tracking people apparently. Though she usually only does that for me. No idea how it works though.”

“And this is your younger sister? What can you do then?”

Dark smirked behind his scarf. “I'm stronger than her, I believe we share similar speeds, I have quicker reflexes, and I seem to have a knack for knowing when I'm in danger. And that's just the abilities I'm willing to share. Only ponies that I completely trust know the secret ones.”

Trixie felt a shiver go down her spine. “Remind me never to make you mad…”

“Oh trust me, if you made me mad, you'll know just by looking at my face,” he said in a low voice. He then said in his normal tone, “Lucky for you, you're annoying at worst in my opinion, and I don't hurt people just for annoying me.”

Trixie nodded slowly before looking at Bri, who was still looking a little guilty, when she had an idea. Trixie approached her and tapped her shoulder. When Bri looked, her ears folded back again when she saw Trixie. Trixie then lifted her hand a bit and readied her magic. A moment later, a small batch of flowers appeared out of thin air, floating in front of Brianna. Bri clapped her paws and laughed at the display.

“Not bad,” Dark said.

“A simple parlor trick, but it seemed to have the intended outcome,” Trixie said with a soft smile. Their thoughts were then interrupted when they heard a small rumbling and saw Bri place her paws on her stomach. Trixie frowned. “She seems hungry.”

Dark nodded. “Right. We were heading to Donut Joe’s when I saw you.”

“Right, sorry about that,” she said with an embarrassed chuckle. “Wait, how about you set up for me and I'll go to Donut Joe's with her for you.”

Dark blinked under his hood. “Okay, when I'm fine with helping you with your stage, why should I trust you to be with my daughter, alone, in Canterlot, for at least a half hour?”

“You can get this done that fast?” Trixie asked in surprised. She then shook her head. “Sorry. As for your question, you want me to prove I actually deserve a chance to redeem myself, so watching over her for a bit can be the first step to that. And even at my worst I'd never kidnap somepo-er, someone, especially not an infant. Besides, according to you, you can just find me by using your sister if I ran off.”

Dark stood silent for a moment before he looked down at Bri. “You okay with being with her for a little while?” He asked, to which she gave a quick nod before jumping off his arms and leaping into his bag. Dark blinked at the bag in confusion. “First she tries to get out several times, now she willingly jumps in without being told. She's starting to confuse me,” Dark muttered with a shake to his head. He then zipped his bag the way it was before and picked it up. When Trixie reached for it, he immediately grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him so his covered face was close enough to hers that she was actually able to see his brown eyes staring at her.

“Know this Lulamoon, if you prove me wrong, whether you run off or Brianna ends up hurt because of you, I'll actually show you just what happens when someone messes with my family,” he said, his eyes changing from brown to a menacing blood red right before her, causing her to widened her own eyes in surprise. He then let go of her wrist and gave her the bag. When she grabbed it, he turned to the stage and hopped onto it. “She likes chocolate, and try to not to let too many ponies see her if you can, or at least not nobles,” he told her. Trixie then gave him a quick list of how she wanted the stage done before she turned around and walked away.

When she was sure she was out of his line of sight, she leaned towards the nearest building and took a deep breath before whispering to herself, “Okay, calm down. All he did was warn you to take care of his daughter. And his eyes turned blood red and it looked like he will murder me…” she took a few more deep breaths. “It's okay. It's okay. So long as Brianna is okay, I'm okay.”

She then took one more deep breath before heading onwards to Donut Joe's. The walk was fairly uneventful, taking her about ten minutes to reach the doughnut joint. She entered the building and approached the cash register before ordering a few pink frosted sprinkled doughnuts as well as a few chocolate doughnuts. When she got her order, she sat at a vacant table and placed the bag on a chair. After looking around and noticing the place was mostly empty, she opened the bag to let Brianna out, who immediately jump out the bag and onto the table. She then jumped off the table and stood on on a chair and looked at Trixie with a smile, her tail wagging slightly.

Trixie blinked at the small pokemon. “Well, aren't you excited?” She then grabbed one of the chocolate doughnuts and gave it to Brianna. “Here. Your...father told me you like chocolate. Is that true?”

Brianna yipped before grabbing the doughnut and eating it happily.

“Huh. So it is.” Trixie then grabbed one of the doughnuts and eating it herself. “So you can understand me?” She decided to ask Bri, just to check.

Bri nodded before finishing the doughnut she had.

Trixie nodded slowly. “Okay then.” She then stood silent for a few moments while giving Brianna a couple more doughnuts, unsure what to say to her. She then shrugged and said, “You been out of the castle often?”

Bri looked at Trixie and shook her head.

“Hmm.” Trixie hesitated for a moment before saying, “You really care about Dark, don’t you?”

Bri replied immediately with a nod and her tail wagging.

Trixie sighed. “Of course you do. According to him, the moment you saw him, you thought he was your father. Well, he definitely cares about you. To the point where he actually scares me...”

“You and all of Ponyville,” a young voice said behind her. Trixie jumped briefly before turning around and seeing Screwball behind her, smiling. Before Trixie can say anything, Bri yipped and leaped at Screwball in a hug, which Screwball returned with a laugh. “Hey Bri. I was starting to wonder where you and Tito were when you didn't show up. Lucky for me, I got my little book to keep me informed.”

Trixie stared at the strange filly in confusion, for multiple reasons. The ones that popped into her mind first were the fact that the filly had purple swirls for eyes and that Brianna seemed familiar with her. Trixie cleared her throat and said, “Um, who are-”

“Screwball, princess of chaos, daughter of Discord, and the most common fourth wall breaker in this story,” the filly replied.

Trixie blinked. “What?”

“All you need to understand is that I'm a reality warper and I'm friends of Tito and Bri here.”

“Tito?”

“You call him Dark. That's kind of a nickname. Very few of us call him by his real name. Specifically me, Pinkie Pie, and Cece. No idea why some of the others don't call him Tito, like Twilight and especially Rainbow. But that's their choice,” Screwball said with a shrug.

“Oookay...well, I'm-”

“Trixie Lulamoon, traveling magician, last pony to use the Alicorn Amulet, and Starlight’s best friend.”

Trixie blinked again. “Okay, how do you know all that?”

“I saw something that showed each time you visited Ponyville.” Screwball then sat down on the seat Bri was originally standing on and started petting the Riolu while it sat on her lap. “So you're afraid of Tito too?”

“Too? Are you afraid of him?”

Screwball laughed. “No. Not at all. I trust and care about him. It's just that practically all of Ponyville is afraid of him now because of a stupid rumor.

“Wait, what happened?”

“Someone attacked Ponyville, Tito, his sister Cece, and someone they met called Delsin fought him, Tito’s hood fell off, everypony saw his eyes burning red, and they assumed he was a demon. Once Celestia and Luna learned about how things were, they offered for him and Cece to stay in the castle until things calm down. That was over a month ago.”

“So that explains why he's here…” Trixie muttered before doing a double take. “Wait, he's a demon?!”

“No, he's not. Ponyville just thinks that with his eyes and the expression he had at the time.”

“You sure? Because I'd believe it after I saw those eyes. I mean, how do you explain that?”

Screwball sighed. “Listen, no matter what you hear from others or what you may think, Tito isn't a bad guy. He's someone who wants to help as many ponies as he can. And to answer your question, we believe his body is reacting to the magic in the atmosphere and it causes his eyes to change to red when he's mad.” She then shrugged. “Really just Wayward saying that and it being the best idea our guy can find. But hopefully he does more with it than just demon eyes.”

Trixie stared in confusion at the last thing Screwball said but decided to forget it and focus on the rest of her statement. “So, he won't kill me?”

“Not unless you're very bad. And I mean the real you. I talked to him about it, and he told me that he'll never kill a sapient being, on purpose, unless they're too much trouble alive. Said he doesn't want to risk something similar to Joker running amok just murdering people for fun. Even though Joker isn't Marvel, but I got what he meant. The point is, the closest I know of in Equestria that'd fit that description of his is Sombra and probably Tirek. Everyone else who fought Twilight, sans one, proved to be redeemable. At least, as of now.”

Trixie facepalmed. “You're not really helping.”

“Long story short, unless you really screw up, he won't hurt you, much less kill you. And really the only way to make him that mad is attacking innocents or those he cares about. Though he'll only actually hate you if it's the real you doing that.”

“So, if Bri ended up hurt when I was supposed to watch her, he'll be mad, but the whole thing with the Alicorn Amulet he'll forget?”

“Didn't he talk to you about this earlier? And don't bother asking how I know, I just do. It's too complicated to properly explain to you right now.”

“Well...kind of. He said that he'll forget about my past misdeeds and give me a chance to prove I'm a good pony. And I was willing to take it. Even volunteered to bring Brianna here for him. But after I saw his eyes…”

“Look, I can't change your mind. Well, I probably can with my magic, but I won't. But Tito really is a nice guy. That thing that you just saw was him acting like a father for Bri. I mean, my daddy would probably do the same thing if he was trusting me with someone who hasn't proven they're trustworthy to him.”

Trixie stayed silent for a few moments, thinking about it. On one hand, if she decided to trust Dark, she can gain another friend who apparently understands her, but risk making a mistake big enough to make him hate her and he'll make her regret it. On the other, if she decides not to trust him and to stay away from him after today, she'll never have to worry about his wrath, but treat someone similar to how she was treated in Ponyville in her last visit.

Trixie shook her head in frustration. “This is harder than I thought it would be…”

“How so?” Screwball asked, eating a cupcake.

“I just thought that he was some stallion who always covered his face, so befriending him wouldn't be so bad. But now I know that he's...scary when he's mad…”

Screwball shrugged. “I don't see why you all are so scared. His eyes change color, big deal. Rainbow's eyes are red, as well as Brianna here. You don't see anypony afraid of them.”

“Well they aren't super strong and hostile towards me.” She then blinked at Brianna. “Well, they're not hostile towards me. At least not to the point of basically threatening my life…” Trixie muttered, crossing her arms.

“Again, he's only trying to watch out for Brianna. If the events of today played out a little later, I'm sure he wouldn't have done that.” She then lifted Brianna up so the Riolu was eye level with Trixie. “I mean look at her. Wouldn't you want to make sure such a cute girl was okay?” She asked, before placing Bri back on her lap.

“Not that it's any of my business, but why are you defending him so much? I mean, I understand he's your friend, but still.”

“Well, he's been watching me since I first came to Equestria. And from what I've heard from my daddy and Cece, as well as what I've read, he's done some good things since he came here. And from what I've seen since I met him, he's a nice guy. Though, he does stay silent about his life before moving to Ponyville, but that doesn't matter to me. Tell me, would a bad person protect two fillies he's never met from a pack of timberwolves when he's not used to having any of his abilities? Or save somepony from a gang who wanted to hurt her? Or fight someone with more power than him and can't die, just to try to save a town he's been in for not even two months? And doing all this without expecting a reward, mind you.”

Trixie stood silent for a moment. “No. It doesn't…”

“Well there you go.” Screwball then took a sip of hot chocolate that came out of nowhere.

“Where did that come from?” Trixie asked in surprised.

“Chaos magic. Remember, I said I'm a reality warper. I can basically do anything I want, and spawn anything I want. Well, sort of. Little weak at the moment compared to daddy, but eventually, I'll be able to do basically anything.” She took another sip. “But we're not talking about me right now. We're talking about Tito.”

“Right…” Trixie muttered.

“Look, you want my advice?”

“Why not.”

“Give him a chance. Just like he's giving you one right now. If you don't want to be his friend after that, no one will worry about it. But at least make it because of something you know about, instead of something that you're afraid will happen. And if I'm right, you get a new friend to lend a hand whenever you need it. And I'm sure Bri here will like seeing you again after today.” The Riolu yipped in agreement. “And if anything bad happens and it's not completely your fault, I promise I'll help fix it, so you wouldn't have to worry about making him angry from a simple mistake.

Trixie hesitated for a few moments before sighing. “Okay. I'll try.”

“That's all I ask.” Screwball then looked at the clock. “Well, he should be done by now.”

Trixie shrugged. “Okay. Guess it's time for you to get back in the bag, Brianna.”

“Oh, that won't be necessary.”

“How? Dark asked me to not let anypony see her if I can. And that bag is the only thing I have that's big enough to conceal her right now. How will we get there without anypony else seeing her if she's not in it?”

Screwball smirked before holding out her hand and snapping, a bright flash of light surrounding them. When it faded, Trixie noticed they were standing in the center of the stage. Trixie looked at the Screwball in a shocked expression, to which the filly said, “Again, chaos magic. Teleporting like that is simple.”

“Why am I not surprised to see you here, Screwy?” The group heard behind them. Turning around, they saw Dark looking at that them. Before any of them can reply, Bri yipped and jumped off Screwball's arms and leaped at Dark with a hug, causing him to take a few steps back as he caught her before returning the hug, chuckling. “I missed you too Bri.” He then looked at Screwball. “So I take it nothing bad happened?”

Screwball shook her head. “Nope. Everything is fine, Tito. Trixie and I just had a little conversation while we had lunch,” she said, tossing Dark his bag, which he caught with one hand.

Dark nodded before looking at the unicorn, who tried to avoid his gaze, feeling very nervous. Dark stood silent for a minute before sighing and looking down at Bri. “Trixie, I'm sorry.”

Trixie looked at him in confusion. “What?”

“I'm sorry. For what I did. For threatening you. It's just...Brianna here is the only family I have now besides my sister, and she can take care of herself just fine. Bri, on the other hand, is still just a baby and is pretty weak at the moment. Add to the fact that I'm basically her father-”

“I understand,” Trixie said, interrupting him.

Dark looked at her, his scarf covering his confused expression. “You do?”

“Yes. I do. I'm not gonna lie, what you did terrified me, about as much as when I saw that Ursa coming towards me that night in Ponyville. It...made me see why Ponyville grew afraid of you. If you scared me that much from just your eyes, I don't even want to imagine what your face would look like when you're that mad. Even though I've never seen your face.”

Dark gave a slow nod. “Well, in that case, I wouldn't be surprised if you'd want to stay as far away from me as possible,” he said in a low tone.

He then turned around and was about to walk away before Trixie said, “Wait.” He stopped and turned his head towards her. “You said if I really wanted to become a better pony, you'll give me a chance and forgive me for my past mistakes, right?”

Dark nodded. “If Starlight and Discord can be forgiven for worse things, you definitely deserve a chance.”

“Then...I guess it would be fair for me to forgive you on that.”

“Seriously?” Dark asked in surprised.

“Yes. But please never do it again.”

“Threatening you, you don't need to worry about. You have my word that so long as you show that you're good, you'll never have to worry about me doing that again. As for the eye thing...I can't control that. Not currently at least. It just happens whenever my anger starts getting the better of me. I ended up doing it in front of my best friends for example, and it wasn’t even because of them.”

“I'll take what I can get. So…” Trixie reached out her hand. “Friends?”

Dark chuckled to himself, remembering the last time a situation like this happened. He put Brianna down before reaching out and shaking Trixie’s hand. “Friends.”

“Well, glad that worked out,” Screwball said, her hands behind her back.

“You and me both,” Trixie replied. She knew she was probably risking a lot for doing this, but if Screwball was right, and if Dark was really giving her a chance, she might as well give it a shot. “I need to get ready for my show tonight. So, I guess this is goodbye for now?”

“Not exactly,” Dark said. “I'm willing to watch your show. From a distance at least. And I know Bri here will enjoy seeing more of your tricks. So, if anything, it's not goodbye until after your show.”

“Okay then. I guess I'll see you tonight.”

Screwball turned to Dark. “Hey Tito, you mind if Trixie and I have a private chat?”

Dark shook his head. “Go ahead.” He put Bri back in his bag and walked away until he was out of earshot and leaned towards the wall to wait for Screwball.

Screwball turned to Trixie. “So you're really okay with this?”

Trixie nodded slowly. “Yes. If what you say is true about him being a nice guy, I might as well give him a chance like he's giving me.”

Screwball smiled. “Good. It's always nice when two people become friends. Just know that if you ever need help, just call us. We'll give you a hand. I promise.”

“I'll keep that in mind,” Trixie replied with a small smile.

Screwball then walked away. “See ya later Trixie. And maybe next time we meet, we'll let you in on a little secret.” Screwball then went up to Dark before snapping her fingers and they disappeared in a flash of light.

Trixie stared at where they were at before they left for a few seconds before she began unpacking some of her equipment, a small part of her being curious as to what that secret was.

Author's Note

And it's done. This took an unexpected turn. Originally, it was meant to be something to help people get used to Bri, but it ended up being about Trixie. Once again, my own story ends up going in a direction I didn't see coming. I apologize if you don't like this chapter. I personally like it. I hope I made Trixie's reaction believable, as well as her personality. As you may be able to tell, this Trixie isn't exactly like her canon self. By that, I mean that she never tried to boost her ego in this chapter or talk bad about Twilight. I hope you'll okay with that. And now a quick few notes on Bri. First off, she may be able to understand some things, but they're mostly basic, like simple commands or questions. She won't be able to understand stuff like math for a while. Second, to anyone who says chocolate should be poisonous to her, I've seen that a Lucario can eat chocolate and enjoy it without negative side effects, so I don't see how a Riolu can't be similar. On a much less important note, I finished this before my two year anniversary to getting an account on this site. Funny how much has changed since then. Well, nothing else to discuss right now besides see you all next time. And next chapter, a few surprises none of you will see coming.
-Dark

P.S. Thanks Star for the title

28. Test Run

‘Hope she can actually help…’

It was early morning after Link's arrival. Around six twenty I think. I was currently several yards above the ground, sitting on a web hammock attached to two pillars. I was just sitting there, thinking about the whole magic thing, and looking at Link's token, waiting for the others to wake up.

“And what are you doing up there?” I heard below me. I turned myself upside down and saw Luna looking up at me, looking a little sleepy.

I let myself drop down and landed in front of her. “I'm just waiting. Woke up a little too early and can't go back to sleep. So I figured I'd wait until the others wake up.”

Luna yawned. “And why are you waiting up there and not in your room?”

I shrugged. “I usually don't stay in one place for too long when I'm bored. I came here so if I move around, no one will care. Better than just pacing around my room when five others are still asleep.”

Luna nodded sleepily. “Very well. Now I must go to bed. Last night took more energy than usual.”

“A lot of nightmares?”

“Indeed. Nothing I'm not familiar with though. Monsters, insecurities, personal fears, etc.”

“Well, I hope you sleep well then princess.”

“And I hope you have a nice day, Dark.” She then walked back to her room. When she was out of the corridor, I jumped my way back to my little hammock and just rocked myself back and forth for a few moments. About five minutes later, I jumped off and dismissed the webs before wandering off.

A little after I ended up outside the castle, I started hearing a tone being played coming from around the corner. I blinked before deciding to follow the noise. When I rounded the corner, I found Link leaning against the wall playing a nice, gentle song that even a few birds seemed to like, just sitting on branches and watching him play. I just leaned on the nearest wall and crossed my arms, deciding not to disturb him.

Upon reaching the last note, he slowly lowered his ocarina from his mouth, he takes a look at the sky to check on the time.

“Gonna say, that's a nice little song you played,” I told him. “Reminds me of something I listened to back home. So, mind telling me what that little number was?”

“Ballad of the Windfish,” he replied. “Just a little something from an old Zelda game, that’s all.”

I nodded before uncrossing my arms and walking to him. “You're up pretty early.”

“Just a habit of mine, I used to be awake at night and slept during the day.” Link said as he glanced around. “Back when Nightmare Moon used to attack me in my dreams.”

I blinked. “I'm sorry, what?”

Link raised an eyebrow at me. “You seem to do that alot...”

“Only because everything you say is a surprise for me.”

Link shook his head. “A lot of Dodongo crap has happened to me. I don’t have to explain much more than that.”

“Oookay…” I said, before shrugging and and leaning on a wall again.

“So Dark, what will you do now? I can’t teach you any spells till Twilight helps you learn how to channel your magic,” Link said as he placed the ocarina in his pouch.

I shrugged. “Not sure. I usually just wait for the others to wake up when I get up this early.” A moment later, I had an idea for how to pass the time. I reached into my pocket and took out Link's token again before looking at it. “Maybe…”

“You’ve got time to do it, as long as nopony sees you. You’d hate to see how the guards would react.”

“Simple. They'd freak out and try to attack me. The keyword being “try”. Honestly, my only problem right now is where do I put this so I can transform back when I want, instead of just coming back here or finding you.”

“It’s a necklace, just put it around your neck, both your hand and paw should be able to reach it,” Link explain.

I blinked for a moment before looking at the stone again and seeing the smaller hole on the top of it. “Huh. So that's what it's for…” I shrugged before taking off my necklace and putting the token on it. After I put my necklace back, I took hold of the token. “Well, here goes nothing.” I closed my hand around it, and the magic surrounded me again. A moment later, I was in my wolf form, shaking myself. I blinked a few times before looking at Link.

“Should I explain its abilities?” he asked in curiosity.

I shrugged. Or at least, as well as I can while in this form.

“Was that a yes or a no shrug?” the hylian asked.

I rolled my eyes before nodding.

“If you take a whiff of the air, you should smell something, and soon see a colorful trail coming from where it is,” the pointy eared man explained.

“Yeah, that makes sense,” I muttered sarcastically. I then blinked as I realized I was able to understand myself, despite being a wolf and actually feeling the barks come out of my mouth. Sure, I knew that I'd be able to understand animals in this form, but it still surprised me for a second. I shrugged again before walking away from Link, since I didn't want to transform back to tell him to continue, and I was sure he couldn't understand me while I was a wolf.

“If you focus, your eyesight should change, allowing you to see spirits or see objects hidden underground,” he resumed explaining.

I immediately stopped before looking at him, confused.

“Objects hidden underground?” I asked, mostly to myself. ”So I'm a metal detector now too, among other things?”

“Pretty much.” Link said, surprising me that he understood me. As I looked up at him, I noticed he was wearing a creepy smiling white mask with a red eye.

“Um...what is that?” I asked.

“Mask of Truth. It lets me read the minds of animals.”

“Since when does Link have that?”

“Ocarina Of Time and Majora’s Mask,” Link said with a confident smile.

I stared at him with a deadpan expression before fully turning around to face him. “So, see ghosts, detect things underground, see scents, anything else I should know about this form?”

“You’ll move faster, leap further, tear souls out of ghosts, and you can communicate with the ghosts too, except not during twilight,” the hylian explained.

I blinked. “So I can talk to ghosts, but not during dusk? Why?”

“They can’t see your form or hear you during twilight. Or at least back in my world. The effect may not be the same in your Equestria.”

“Okay… Is that all?”

Link snapped his fingers. “I almost forgot, you can talk to animals in that form.”

“No duh,” I said, rolling my eyes. “The wolf can understand animals. That's actually the most obvious ability this form has besides enhanced smell and hearing.”

“Yeah, but most animals have never met a wolf who would speak to them. Most wolves would rather hunt and kill than to have a friendly conversation. I believe that’s all of the abilities that form has, but it may gain more depending on other Displaced you meet.”

I blinked at that last part. “I'm starting to get tired of saying this, but what do you mean?”

Link let out a sigh at my lack of understanding. “Just because you’re in a form similar to Wolf Link, doesn’t mean you’re restricted to just those abilities that came with it. Like me, I’ve learned how to change my spells through experimenting, the spells backfired a few times but I’ve managed to change Din’s Fire into Din’s Fireball or Din’s Barrage. Another example is that one of these days, your spider DNA may bleed into your wolf form, thus turning it into a hybrid and possibly allow you to use whatever it gave you in your human form.”

I blinked. “So basically a spider wolf? That's gonna be weird…” I then looked at my paws. “Definitely will be weird if my stick em powers actually bleed through.”

“Trial and error will give you results. Any more questions?”

I hesitated before shaking my head. “Nah. I got the gist of it. Besides, I feel like I'll just end up with a lot more questions if I ask anything.”

The hylian looked around. “I wonder where everyone else is?”

“Any idea what time it is?”

“If there was a Gossip Stone nearby. It’s those are weird looking stones that matches the mask I’m wearing, they tend to tell the time when I hit them with my sword.” Link explained.

I shrugged. “Well I'd say those aren't in this dimension, but Rainbow and who knows who else is a Conduit despite there being no inFAMOUS Displaced in this dimension, so who knows, they actually might exist here. But if I had to answer your question, I'd say they'll be getting up around now.”

“Of the many worlds I’ve been in, this ones the first time I’ve seen mixed.” Link said as he got off from the pillar.

“How so?” I asked, instinctively scratching my ear with one of my hind paws.

“Depending on the displaced, the world they’re sent to usually fits their theme, or its an Equestria with no changes other than the actions and presence of a Displaced.” Link explained.

“Yeah, I learned that with the fact that Delsin’s Equestria is apparently filled with Conduits and the dimension Cece and I got our pokemon from is filled with them, and another dimension where the Displaced are assassins, founded the brotherhood in that dimension, and now have to deal with Templars. Though so far the only Marvel thing I've seen since I got here is a Shocker pony. And nothing involving Sonic.”

Link shrugged his arms. “Perhaps you arrived in the wrong timeline and the other Marvel or Sega villains will come later. Back in my world, I didn’t see any zelda enemies until much later.”

“Wrong timeline? What does that mean, that I should've been sent to before Nightmare Moon like several other Displaced? No thanks. I personally prefer knowing a few future events that are minor, not stuff that changing them will destroy the timeline.”

“It was only a guess.” Link said.

I sighed. “Doesn't matter. Knowing my luck, I'll deal with more Marvel copies soon enough. I just hope I don't deal with one particular villain…” I shook my head before looking back at Link. “Anything else I should know about this form before I wander off?”

“No, but know that if it becomes too much to handle and your pony allies aren’t enough, there’s always other Displaced you can call upon.” Link said as he placed a leathered hand on my shoulder.

I nodded. “I know. And to be honest, that's one reason why I prefer calling new Displaced when I find their token instead of when I need help. Better to call a friend for help than a stranger, right?”

“Now you understand why I made my token as such to allow me to leap into the mind of my summoner, then see where their alignment lays.”

I nodded. “Well, if that's all, I'll be on my way. Let the others know what I'm doing if you find them.” With that, I began walking away.

“Will do, Dark.”

After I heard that, I then sped up and just ran towards gardens.

(Third Person POV, Canterlot Castle)

After Dark had left to do whatever he needed to do, Link had been wandering throughout the castle, being mindful of where he goes and avoiding whatever was a restricted area. Seeing as the guardsmen showed no reaction to his elven-like features, he had decided to go without the hood. With nothing interesting going on that he could find, he decides find wherever they tend to train. The hylian discovers that there are multiple areas of where the soldiers tend to practice rather than there being one open area like in his world. He heads on over to wherever they practice their weaponry. “Shame they don’t have Silver Bullet’s training dummies.” Link commented.

“I prefer a living target, myself,” Link heard nearby. Turning to the voice, he saw Cece with her hood down, approaching him.

“The ones back in my world were enchanted so that you could see the damage and the color inside of the wood to show how hard you hit them, afterwards it would repair itself.” Link said.

Cece shook her head before crossing her arms. “That just sounds like something from a video game.” She then blinked. “Wait…”

“It’s a magic spell Silver Bullet made to allow the dummies to do those things.” Link pointed out.

Cece nodded before looking around. “So you have any idea where Tito is?”

“He ran off on some sort of task after I taught him what his new wolf form was capable of,” the hylian explained.

Cece blinked. “Wait, so he's now roaming around as a wolf?”

“Not exactly ‘roaming’ per say, he’s more like exercising the form, giving it a test run.”

“And what exactly does he look like in that form?”

“He’s about five feet, blue and black fur, brown eyes. The only thing that didn’t change was the necklace around his neck.” Link explained.

Cece blinked again. “So he's a wolf about the size of a person?” Cece then facepalmed. “Why do I feel like something bad will happen…”

“He can always turn back to normal anytime, but of course you know Dark better than I do, he’s not the trouble making kind, is he?” Link asked with minor worry.

Cece shook her head. “Not really. He usually doesn't cause trouble on purpose unless it's to someone who made him mad. Otherwise, he tries not to bother anyone.”

“Then there’s nothing to worry about.”

“Unless anyone sees him and panics.”

“He’s already gone, no use trying to find him now.” Link said with a shrug and a sigh.

“Oh, if I wanted to find him, I can. When he has spider-sense, I have a sort of sixth sense that allows me to find him if I find a place he's been before.”

“Will it still work despite the change?” Link asked. “If so, then there isn’t anything to worry about until your six sense goes off.”

Cece shrugged. “It doesn't matter whether he changes. From what Screwball told me, if I want to find someone, I can. And it doesn't “go off” unless I want to find him. Pretty useful when we're in a maze, like Twilight's castle.” The hylian nodded in agreement.

He turned to face one of the dummies, its appearance equine and humanoid. At first, there was nothing on his back, then the next moment a long scabbard materialized into existence. He reaches back to pull out the weapon, revealing it to be a long sword with a blue head guard and a three fingered claw symbol in its center. Holding the weapon with both hands, he moves it down to rest it onto the armored dummy’s shoulder. He quickly lifts the blade and in a small arc, he swings it down. It easily dug through the dummy’s wooden structure, but met resistance as it started cutting through the armor. “This is why I wished they had the enchantment.”

“Nice sword,” Cece commented.

“Thanks, it’s called the Biggoron sword, or Giant’s Knife.” Link said as he put the blade back into its sheath since there isn’t any dummies that can handle its strength.

“Personally I prefer my hammer.” To prove her point, she pulled her hammer out and threw it at another dummy.

“Only your hammer?” Link asked in curiosity.

Cece nodded. “My hammer, fists, and feet are the only weapons I use. I could use some of the swords that some Displaced have as tokens, but really swords are more Tito's thing. I prefer something more...blunt, I think is the word I'm looking for.”

“Ah, then you’ll do well with mace weapons.” The hylian said as he crossed his arms. “If Fate welcomes it, I could get the blacksmith back in my world to craft you something, you’d be amazed what kinds of ore can be found there...”

Cece shrugged. “I'll consider it.”

“So…” the hylian began. “...I’d like to do something since I’ll be here for while, any suggestions?”

Cece shrugged. “Tito's the one to ask for that. He's the one who actually leaves the grounds. I spend most of my time in the castle just spending time with Emily, listening to music on my phone, or training the guards. Though, Screwball might have some ideas too.”

The hylian let out a minor sigh of annoyance. “And considering that she’s kind of like Discord, she outta pop in anytime now, not unless her hearing isn’t omnipotent.” Link crossed his arms.

“Not my hearing, just my reading,” Screwball said, appearing right behind Link with her hands behind her back with a smile.

“Right on time too.” Link said as he looked at the nutty pony herself. “Any ideas?”

Screwball gave a deadpan expression. “Nutty? Really?”

“...What?” Was all Link said in response.

Screwball shook her head. “Nothing. Just annoyed at Koal… So, what did you want again?” Link explained the situation again about wanting to do something since Dark will be gone a while. Screwball shrugged, before seeing a bow and a quiver nearby. “You know what, I have a few ideas.”

(Dark's POV, Castle Gardens)

I was currently laying down in the gardens, resting. It was weird. All the sounds and scents I was able to hear and smell now. I'm just happy I didn't have my first test run in Manehatten. That would've been a pain. Most of the animals kept their distance, which made sense. I'm in the form of a very large predator and most of them are technically prey, so it's understandable that they'd be more afraid of me than they are of strangers.

I was just resting, listening to the various noises around me, when I heard a bush rustle nearby. When I look towards the sound, I saw a certain yellow and red fox come out, not noticing me. She stopped by a few twigs and began eating them for a few seconds before she stopped and turned towards me, her eyes widening in shock. She then jumped back and glared at me, the fur in her ears seemingly going brighter.

I rolled my eyes. “Shouldn't try attacking someone when they did nothing wrong, Emily.”

Her eyes widened again and her ears stopped glowing as she looked at me with a surprised expression. I couldn't help but close my eyes and chuckle at the sight. But not three seconds after I do, I hear something surprising.

“Tito? Is that you?”

I immediately opened my eyes as I heard the unfamiliar voice of a young girl and looked around for a second before I looked back at Emily. “What?”

She stared me for a second before I heard her say, “Huh. So this is what you guys were talking about when you said you can turn into a wolf. Don't know how I didn't recognize you sooner.”

I stared at the Fennekin, dumbfounded. I was understanding her perfectly. I knew I was able to talk to and understand other animals, but I didn't know that would apply to pokemon too. I just blinked a couple of times before shaking my head.

Emily cocked her head in confusion. “What's wrong?”

“Oh, nothing much,” I replied. “I just learned I can understand you now.”

Emily blinked. “You can?”

I nodded. “Apparently.”

Emily then had an expression that looked like she was in deep thought. “That makes some sense. The other animals seem to understand us okay, so I guess you can do that too now.”

I nodded again. “Okay. Though how did you recognize me?”

Emily shrugged. “Your voice, the color of your fur and eyes for one thing. And that necklace is definitely a dead give away.”

I paused for a second before looking down and looking at my body again. “Huh. Right.”

“We missed you at breakfast. What are you doing in the middle of the gardens anyway?”

I shrugged in reply. “Figured I'd give this form an actual test run. Yesterday I just transformed to see what I'd look like, so I needed to get used to how this body since I had nothing better to do. But what are you doing here? I hardly ever see you without Cece.”

“She decided to do a little training for a bit and I wanted to get a little snack.” As if to prove her point, she resumed eating one of the twigs she found.

I just watched her eat for a few moments when something came to mind. “Hey Emily, mind if I ask you a question?” She shook her head in response. “What exactly convinced you guys to come with us?”

Emily immediately stopped chewing her twig and stared at me before swallowing it. She then tilted her head in deep thought. “Well, I guess it was because you helped us. Cece helped heal me when even Mike didn't know how to, and she stayed by my side when the others were examining me. As for Mike, you're a strong fighter and stood up to that Carnivine for him. From what I know about him, he respected that and figured you'd be good a person to fight alongside with. So, in short, I guess I joined you guys because Cece makes me feel safe, and Mike because he saw you as a strong trainer.”

I nodded slowly, a little surprised about that answer. “So, exactly how did you and Mike meet? He seems rather protective of you. Almost like-”

“How you are with Cece?” Emily finished.

“A little. Though I don't need to worry about her as much now,” I finished with a shrug.

“Well it's an accurate comparison. I see him like an older brother, and he acts a lot like one, always taking charge when I'm in trouble. As for how we met, I barely remember to be honest. All I can recall is meeting him one day by a river and was attacked by an Araquanid. He saved me from it and watched over me ever since.”

I nodded before doing a double take. “Attacked by a what?”

“Araquanid. Basically a large spider covered in bubbles. Surprised you don't know about them, considering your whole spider thing.”

“It's a pokemon, or something native to Equestria?”

“Well where I'm from, that means the same thing. But to answer your question, pokemon.”

I blinked before sighing. “Twilight can probably tell me more about that thing.”

“Probably.” She then ate another twig. “Anything else you wanna know?”

I shrugged. “Only thing that comes to mind right now is do you know where Bri is?”

“Last I saw her, she was with Mike.” Emily then blinked and looked at me before giggling.

“What?”

“I'm just imagining how you will react if you found out something about Bri."

“Is something wrong?”

Emily shook her head. “No. It's just something Mike and I picked up on since she hatched.”

I just looked at her in confusion for a moment, but before I could ask what she was talking about, Screwball appeared in front of me, wearing the mask that allowed Link to understand me in this form. “There you are.”

“Something wrong?” I asked her.

“No. Just letting you know Twilight and the others are here.”

“Others?” Emily asked.

Screwball nodded. “Yeah. Fluttershy and Starlight decided to join her.”

Emily and I nodded before the fire type did a double take and looked at Screwball. “Wait, since when can you understand animals?”

“It's the mask,” I explained. “According to Link, it allows the user to understand the thoughts of animals.”

“Yup,” Screwball exclaimed. “Had to promise Link I'll give it right back. So, you ready to meet up with them?” She rose her hand up and prepared to snap.

“Actually, how about you bring them to the gardens?”

“Why?”

I chuckled. “I wanna see how they'd react.”

“To what?” Emily asked.

But Screwball understood and snickered. “Oh, this will be fun. See you in a few minutes.” With that, she snapped her fingers and vanished.

Emily turned to me. “React to what?” I gave her a deadpan expression before using a paw to gesture to myself, causing her to fold her ears in embarrassment. “Oh. Right. Hehe,” she chuckled sheepishly.

I shook my head and laid down, waiting for them to arrive.

Author's Note

And it's done. Hope you like it. So, Tito can apparently find buried objects in that form, as well as understand pokemon. The latter was something I debated with Drak and Star on, the former is new to me. As for Tito's powers bleeding through, highly unlikely. And if they did, it'd be a while. So, Tito learned he can understand pokemon and learned why Mike and Emily chose to come with them and how the two met. Not gonna lie, I came up with that stuff on the spot. I had no idea what Tito and Emily will talk about, so I thought up those things. Taking a minor break from SiE for now. Not a long one like with 21. Just need to focus on TFATH. And maybe something else. I may work on 29, but it will be a little while until it's posted. Hope you all enjoy, and feedback for this chapter will be appreciated. Until next time.
-Dark

29. A Link To New Possibilities

(Third Person POV, Canterlot Castle)

Screwball was leading the three visitors to the gardens, floating above the ground with her propeller spinning.

“So what exactly does Dark need help with?” Starlight asked.

“He gained a couple new abilities yesterday and we're hoping you and Twilight can help him learn how to use one,” Screwball replied.

“Wait, what do you mean he has new abilities?” Twilight asked. “As in, more spider powers?”

“No. Something more...your understanding,” the filly said cryptically. “All three of you actually. Speaking of which, I’m surprised you came along Fluttershy.”

The pegasus turned her gaze away from Screwball. “Well, Dark and Cece have been stuck here for a while, and we weren't able to spend a lot of time with them last time. Plus, I'd like to see how Brianna is doing.”

“That's nice,” Screwball commented. “The others busy?”

“Rainbow is out training,” Twilight replied. “Rarity's working on some orders with Spike helping, and Pinkie and Applejack are both working.”

Screwball nodded. “Well, to be honest it's probably good Spike didn't come.”

“Why?”

Screwball chuckled nervously. “Um...you don't wanna know. Trust me.”

“Okay…” Twilight hesitantly said. “So what's happened since our last visit?”

Screwball shrugged. “Not much. A few days afterwards, Tito ran into Trixie, she met Brianna, and saw his eyes turn red.”

When Fluttershy and Starlight were a little confused by the last statement, Twilight shuddered. “That couldn't have gone well…”

“Why?” Starlight asked her mentor. “It's just his eyes changing color. Not like he hurt somepony.”

Twilight sighed. “I don't know. It's just...when I saw that during our visit, it felt like every part of me was yelling to run away. Like-”

“He'd murder you if you weren't careful?” Screwball finished.

Twilight looked at Screwball in shock. “How did you know?”

“I heard Trixie say it felt like that to her. Don't understand why. Then again, the red eyes thing is a bit of a mystery for everyone,” Screwball said with a shrug.

“So what happened after that?” Starlight asked.

“She went to Donut Joe's with Bri, I gave her some advice regarding her newfound fear of Tito, and we went back to him. Then he apologized for what he did and they became friends.”

“Really?”

Screwball nodded. “Tito is willing to forgive her for her past misdeeds, so long as she truly wants to make up for them, and she's willing to give him a chance because of it.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Fluttershy commented.

Screwball shrugged. “If what I've heard about his old life is any indication, it's good that he's able to make friends at all.”

“What do you mean?” Starlight asked.

“Have you guys ever heard him talk about his life prior to Displacement? Besides the videos he watches or you guys being a show where he's from?”

The three ponies stood silent for a couple of moments before Twilight said, “Not really. Why?”

Screwball shrugged. “From what I understand, he has better luck here than he did back in his original dimension.”

“What makes you think that?” Starlight asked.

“That's for him to talk about. Not me.” Before they can say anything in response, they reached the gardens. “Well, here we are. I'll get the others. Tito is around here somewhere, shouldn't be hard to find. He'll explain what happened yesterday.” With that, she snapped her fingers and disappeared in a flash of light.

The three stared at where Screwball was a moment ago for a few seconds before Twilight sighed. “While she seems to be as strange to get a read on as her father, at least she's not as unpredictable or manipulative.”

“Well we've only known her for a total of a few hours by now,” Starlight commented. “Only ones who truly know what she's like are Dark and Cece.”

“Good point…” Twilight then looked around. “Where can Dark be?”

The two other ponies looked around. A few minutes of the three looking around, Starlight sighed before shouting, “Dark, where are you?”

While many of the animals nearby ran away from fear of the shout, the ponies heard something behind them. When they turned around, they saw a blue and black wolf, nearly as tall as them, standing there. When they realized how big it was, Twilight and Starlight stepped back in fear, while Fluttershy simply blinked.

A moment later, Fluttershy smiled and said, “Hello there. Can you help us find our friend?”

The wolf smiled, before she heard it say in a familiar voice, “I'm right here, Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy did a double take. “D-Dark?”

“What?” Twilight and Starlight asked in unison, having only heard it bark.

The wolf seemed to chuckle before it raised a paw to a necklace it had that none of them noticed at first before the paw pressed on a stone attached to the necklace. After that, a bunch of black particles seemed to surround the wolf. A couple of seconds later, the particles disappeared and Dark was standing there in human form, his cover on. “Were you surprised?” He asked in an amused tone.

The three ponies stared at the human in complete shock and disbelief for a few moments until Twilight said, “Wha-how-who-WHAT?” She then shook her head to clear her thoughts. “Since when can you transform into animals?”

“Well I can only change into a wolf, and since yesterday,” Dark replied. He then showed the new stone on his necklace. “Thanks to this little thing. Whenever I grasp it, I can transform into a wolf and have a few abilities, including some...interesting ones. Certainly nothing any wolf can do.”

“Like what?” Fluttershy asked, curious about the form.

“Well, there's the obvious abilities. Very strong bite, claws, can understand other animals, which apparently include pokemon, and enhanced smell and hearing. However…” he hesitated, unsure how to explain the other abilities without sounding crazy. Deciding to just say it, he said, “In that form, I can see and talk to ghosts, see scents like a trail, detect things underground, jump high apparently, and presumably my spider powers will bleed through eventually.”

The three stared at him in confusion before Starlight, tilting her head, said, “What?”

Dark raised his hands up as if to surrender. “Hey, that's just what he said. I find that crazy too.”

Twilight frowned. “Wait, who?”

“That would be me.” A voice spoke out as Link walked out from behind one of the garden walls, his hood remained lowered seeing as he won’t need it to conceal his identity.

The ponies looked at Link with surprise before Twilight said, “So, you're another Displaced?”

“Pretty much, Twilight. I was summoned by Dark via the token he currently wears around his neck.” The hylian explained.

“So exactly who did you become?” Starlight asked. “You look fairly human. Then again, so did Delsin, but Conduits are apparently a different species or something.”

“Hylian.” Link said as he pointed at his long pointed ears. “Link to be exact, a hero by many titles and still counting as long as I draw breath.”

“Ain't that the truth,” Dark muttered as he saw Emily head back to the castle. He then turned back to the mares. “Don't bother asking what they are. There are more titles for Link than things on one of Twilight's lists. And that's not counting the titles this guy's earned.”

“I will tell you one thing, those were just nicknames based on what they’ve seen me do.” Link explained with a soft chuckle at Dark’s mentioning of lists.

“Isn't that how a lot of nicknames happen?” Dark asked. “I mean, Cece's called the “Hammer Of The Guard” by the Royal Guard. You know how she got it?”

“I can pretty much figure out why considering how the guards have been reacting whenever I pulled out my megaton hammer to practice. However, my titles were earned from simple actions. Some of them are much like Twilight’s title as the Element of Magic since she worked hard on unlocking their secrets.” Link explained.

Dark cleared his throat. “We're seriously getting off topic here.”

“Yeah,” Twilight nodded. “You said the stone on Dark's necklace is your token? And yet he can use it to transform into a wolf? How?”

“When I first created it from my energy, I managed to grant it Twili-magic properties, nothing in relationship to you. That's a story for another time. The Twili-magic within the token when used, will grant the user their own wolf form. Each one looks different but retains the same abilities.” Link explained as he held up his original howling stone that was held by a simple necklace strap.

“Wait, anyone can use it?” Fluttershy asked quietly.

“Only if Dark’s copy falls into the wrong hands or hoofs. I’ve made it easier for him to use it simply by grabbing hold of it, both paw or hand.” Link explained.

“Though it hurt like hell the first time,” Dark commented, causing the ponies to look at him in confusion.“Human version of Tartarus. Kinda. Less of a prison, more the place of eternal torture and damnation for the souls of the worst kind of people who died,” he explained, causing the ponies to widened their eyes in fear, Fluttershy growing pale.

Link quickly raised his hands up. “I-it's just because it was adapting to his DNA to make it easier to shift the next time he uses it, I won’t go into detail though of how it works unless you can handle it.”

“No idea why you're so worked up dude. I specified that it was only the first time that hurt. Besides, the real thing we should be talking about isn't the pain, but the abilities.”

Starlight then recompose herself and said, “Right. Dark said something about talking to ghosts and seeing scents? Now, I'm nowhere as much of an animal expert as Fluttershy, but that sounds kinda crazy. Even for Displaced.”

“It's just how Twili-magic works. Recreating it was the hard part since it doesn’t naturally exist. I’ve yet to meet another Displaced who uses that sort of power.” Link explained.

“And how long have you been Displaced exactly?” Twilight asked.

“Seventeen years.” Link answered after counting it in his head.

Starlight and Fluttershy’s widened in surprise. “Wow,” Starlight muttered. “That's...pretty long…”

Dark shrugged. “Delsin's been in his Equestria since before Nightmare Moon, in case you forgot.”

“And you haven't found a way back to your world?” Fluttershy asked Link.

“I gave up trying after ten years. I’ve ran through every possible option. Magic, artifacts, legends, rumors, forgotten stories, I even tried finding the other two pieces of the Triforce with zero luck.” Link said with a sigh as he held up his right hand.

The ponies lowered their heads and folded their ears in sadness from hearing that, before Twilight blinked and frowned. “Wait, other two pieces of what?”

Link removed the leather gauntlet that covered his right hand. “Triforce, a golden triangle that grants their user one of three attributes. Courage, Wisdom, and Power. I have a void copy of Courage. I wanted to find the other pieces and use their combined might to grant me a wish home.” Link raised his hand to show Twilight a triangle formation, two of the pieces were darkened while the bottom right glowed softly.

“I recall someone saying in a video back home that each of the three pony races can represent one piece,” Dark commented. “Pegasi with courage, unicorns with wisdom, and earth ponies with power.”

“And where can the other 2 pieces be?” Twilight asked Link.

“That, I do not know as I’ve yet to find them, they’re attracted to anyone who has the most of what they present. The most powerful would get the triforce of power, the smartest gets wisdom, I got courage since I fight and protect others who cannot defend themselves.” Link explained before looking at Dark. “That’s actually a good theory.”

Dark shrugged. Starlight then put a hand up. “Wait a minute. I just remembered. Screwball said you got two new abilities that regards the three of us. The first is obviously the wolf thing, and Fluttershy is the animal expert. What's the second?”

Dark looked at Link. “You wanna tell them or should I? No matter who does, they're gonna have the same reaction as the rest of us did when you gave it to me.”

“Be my guest, Dark.” Link answered.

Dark clapped his hands together before turning to his pony friends and saying, “Long story short, ladies, Link ended up giving me the ability to use magic.”

The mares eyes widened in shock once again before the horned ones yelled, “WHAT? HOW?” Causing Dark to cover his ears, a little happy he didn't have the wolf hearing at the moment.

“You're explaining that,” he told Link, massaging his ears while the ponies stared at Link.

“I transferred some of my Triforce’s void energy into him in order to allow him to hold a pool of magicka. It’s small at the moment but it should grow with time and practice since his doesn’t abide by the same rules as mine.” Link explained as he looked over at Twilight.

“Um...is it wise to do that? Dark's body already reacts...differently to the magic in the atmosphere,” Twilight explained, recalling his red eyes and the explanation for them.

“Well, it’s been about eighteen hours so far and his body took both the void energy and the twili-magic just fine, so I’d say it's a success. We’re both Displaced, so why should it have a different effect?” Link asked.

“It's just that he already has enough problems with what magic passively does with him. I'm just not sure it's a good idea to change him further,” Twilight explained.

Link frowned at that bit of information.

“Too late to change him back now. It would be too risky for me to try as it may bring harm to both of us.” The hylian said as he tapped his chin in thought. “Channeling the void energy is rather draining on me. For the time being, just keep an eye on him when we go to teach him spells.”

He moved his arm back down before facing the purple alicorn. “This is where you come in, Twilight. Teaching in my method doesn’t work for him, so I’m going to try teaching you how my magic works, then you can then teach him in how you taught others, hopefully your method will help, even though the magic will be coming from his hands rather than a horn.”

“And what should I do?” Starlight asked. “Screwball said both of us might be able to help.”

“Well… Which one of you is the better teacher and which one can help teach Dark how to channel his new magic?” Link asked, wondering what Screwball was planning.

“If you wanna know what I'm planning, you can just ask,” a voice said a couple of feet away from the group. Before anyone can react, a blue blur tackled Dark and he was once again on the ground with Brianna nuzzling his chest. Screwball walked into view, munching on a chocolate treat with peanut butter in the center. “As for what that is, these two ponies are some of the most powerful magic users in modern Equestria. So I figured they can be a great help in teaching Dark magic.” Link looked between the two, wondering as to who would offer what.

Screwball finished her treat and said, “As for your question, I believe Starlight should help activate Dark his magic and Twilight should learn the spells, and they both help him learn them. I have a strong feeling Starlight can be a good teacher to someone with little experience using real magic.”

“Alright.” Link said, smiling before clapping his hands together. “Let’s go somewhere better suited for magic practice, I’d rather not accidently burn Celestia’s garden.”

“Yeah, and I believe Fluttershy will have a fit if any of the animals end up in the crossfire,” Dark said as he got up, holding Brianna in one arm as she smiled at all of them.

“You’re with me Twilight, while Starlight go with Dark to help him out a bit.” Link said as he started to walk off to the training area with Twilight following him.

Dark slightly ruffled Bri’s head before he brought her up to eye level. “I'm leaving you with Fluttershy, okay?” He asked, to which the pup simply nodded with a smile. Dark then gave her to Fluttershy. “Be a little careful Fluttershy. She's strong and doesn't know her own strength.”

“It's okay Dark,” the pegasus replied with a smile.

Dark nodded. “Well, have fun you guys. Come on Starlight.”

Before he even began to walk away however, Screwball said, “Hey Tito, can I borrow your phone?”

Dark looked at her. “Why?”

“I have a little project I'm working on, and I need your phone.”

“Okay…” Dark said, pulling out his phone from his pocket and handing it to her. “Exactly what is this project anyway?”

“Just something I thought can help you in a different way. I'll be gone for a little while though. See you later Tito. And good luck.” With that, she snapped her fingers and vanished.

Without further ado, Twilight and Link made their way to the training grounds of the castle. “The first I’m going to teach you are arrow spells, the spells original design was to channel magic into the arrow before letting it loose, those spells can be channeled into your weapons to provide them with an elemental hit. So far, three exist of Fire, Ice, and Light, which one would you like to start with?” Link asked.

“Well, I guess start with the easiest or simplest spell first and work up from there,” the alicorn suggested.

“We’ll start with ice then. “ Link said as he reached into his pouch and pulled out a small bow and arrow along with its quiver, in which it suddenly grew to its full size.

After placing the bundle of arrows onto his back, he loaded an arrow into his bow.

“When I was learning my powers, I tried every method I knew on how to use them from trying to feel the magic to trying to direct it, I even tried saying its name. In the end, it turns out my magic responded to my mind and concentrating on how my magic worked.” Link explained as he drew back the bow, the tip of the arrow glowing with blue sparkling magic. “As long as I don’t allow my thoughts on the spell to drift, I can keep the magic flowing into the arrow.”

Taking aim at one of the training dummies, he let go of the bow’s string to let the arrow fly loose. When the arrow hit its target, it was suddenly frozen in a block of ice. “This is the Ice Arrow, you can channel it into arrows but with some practice, it can be used on igniting your weapons with weaker ice properties, giving it a chance to spread ice wherever the weapon hits.”

“Impressive,” Twilight said, looking at the target before she had an idea. “You know, this kind of magic can be a good help for the guard.”

“You sure it's a good idea to give them the ability to make a weapon that requires concentrating?” A voice asked. When the two looked, they saw Cece standing there with Emily by her side.

“The spell isn’t a weapon.” Link pointed out as he held his bow. Using his other hand, he reached into his pouch and took out a small knife, the Ice Arrow slowly transferred into the Kokiri Sword itself. He gave it a twirl, causing the magically energy flowing along with it.

“Neat trick. But I mean that these guys don't seem...good enough to do that,” Cece said, deciding not to insult the guard out loud due to their already wounded egos.

“Regardless, it can be casted by anyone as long as they have some magical reserve and perhaps the concentration to keep the spell in their mind when they want to use it.” Link explained.

Cece looked at the target. “Well if you want to have the guards learn this spell Twi, go ahead. But don't be surprised if several end up frozen.”

Twilight rolled her eyes and created a piece of parchment and a quill and telekinetically wrote down what Link said regarding the spell.

“The second spell is a Fire Arrow, same method as before.” Link said as a glowing flame gathered in both his arrow and his Kokiri Sword. “The spell is self explainable, it’ll just burn the target or set them flame. Now for the last spell, the Light Arrow,” the hylian said as fire turned into bright glow.

Link furrowed his brow in thought. “This spell’s damage is based on how much evil is in their heart or how many vile deeds they’ve performed, like if they’ve been killing a lot of innocents. This spell aims for the very core of their being and start to incinerate them from the inside. Now despite the spell’s power, there are some who can’t be harm and instead will be paralyzed.” he explained as the magic slowly faded. “Any questions before I explain the last remaining six of my spells?”

“I have one,” Cece said, lifting a hand up.

“Alright, what’s your question?” Link said as he turned his head to look at her.

“Can ponies even learn these spells? You know, since they're from an entirely different world and species.”

“Well, I’ve yet to see their limit other than their lack of experience. I mean, Twilight here can easily use my spells or at least recreate them in her design.” Link answered.

Twilight blinked. “I just realized something.” Link looked over at Twilight curiously. “Exactly what magic can Dark do? If I heard correctly, you said his magic came from using your triforce. And I'm not sure what that can mean for his magical potential.”

“So far, I’ve taught this to one other Displaced and it went well without any problems. As I’ve said, his mana pool is small and thus will be limited to that amount until he finds a way to expand it. Remember how much you struggled when you were learning magic, Twilight?” Link asked based on what he knew of his Equestria’s Twilight.

Cece rose an eyebrow. “Wait, Twilight Sparkle, a pony who I was told had a title as “Bearer of the Element of Magic”, had trouble with magic?”

Twilight nodded. “I wasn't an instant expert when I started learning magic, Cece. I was actually rather weak. It was only after the Rainboom when my magic seem to have gotten stronger. And even then it doesn't always work like I want to…” the alicorn muttered, recalling some past experiences.

Cece nodded before frowning. “Rain-what?”

“Long story. Either ask Rainbow or Dark, since he certainly knows about it with how often those two spend time together. Or maybe it was in the show that's about our lives, I don't know.”

“Overall, just keep an eye on him and his progress. I don’t expect him to become a master overnight.” Link said as he crossed his arms.

Cece crossed her arms and chuckled. “As if that'll happened.” Cece then blinked and looked around. “Wait, where is Tito anyway? I thought he needed help with his magic.”

“Starlight Glimmer’s helping with the first part, Twilight will then help with the second part.” Link explained.

“First part? Second part? What parts?”

Link frowned at Cece’s confusion. “Starlight’s teaching how to draw out his magic and Twilight will be teaching him the arrow spells in her own way since Dark couldn’t understand my method.”

“Ah.”

“Anymore questions?” Link asked as he started going a mental list of spells he had.

The two shook their heads. Without further discussion, Link continued to teach Twilight hylian spells while Cece decided to watch.

(Dark's POV)

Starlight and I went to my room to try to activate my magic. The walk was uneventful, with the both of us silent. While I was unaware of what was on Starlight’s mind, I was thinking about the whole magic thing again. Since I never used magic before, and technically shouldn’t even have magic, I don’t know what to expect from this “lesson”. Plus the reminder from Twilight about how my body already reacts to magic got me even more worried. I had enough problems as is with the red eye thing, I didn’t need more reasons for ponies to think I was a demon.

When we reached my room, I put my bag on my bed and took off my hood, but I decided to keep my scarf over the lower half of my face. I looked at Starlight and asked, “So what exactly are we doing?”

“Well, I was thinking first we try to activate your magic, then try a simple levitation spell,” Starlight replied.

I frowned behind my scarf. “Levitation? You sure about that? Hell, can I even do that?”

Starlight shrugged. “Well Link didn’t say anything about you being unable to, so we might as well give it a try.”

I hesitated for a moment before sighing. “Fine. Though first thing’s first. How do I even activate my magic?”

Starlight tapped her chin with one of her fingers. “Shouldn’t be too difficult. As you know, unicorn and alicorn magic comes from our horns.” As if to prove her point, she activated her own magic and her horn glowed light blue. “But Link said your magic comes from your hands. The best I can say, focus on channeling magic through them. Concentrate on your magic and will it to flow into your hands.”

I hesitated, looking at my hands, before shrugging and deciding to do that.

‘Not like I have any better idea on how to do this.’

I sighed before closing my eyes and hands. I tried to concentrate on my magic and do what Starlight said. After a few seconds, I felt a strange feeling in my chest and arms, similar to when Link gave me magic in the first place. Except this time, I continued having the feeling, with my hands feeling...weird, for lack of a better word.

“Well, I don't know whether or not to be surprised that's your aura,” I heard Starlight say, much to my confusion.

I opened my eyes and looked at my hands, which was now glowing with a blue aura. “Huh. I feel the same way,” I said, before looking at Starlight.

When she looked at me however, her eyes widened. “Okay, that's surprising.”

I blinked, trying to keep my magic running. “What?”

“Your eyes. They're blue now.”

I did a double take, my magic stopping as a result. “What?”

“Your eyes. They were blue just a second ago. Now they're brown again.”

“Really?”

Starlight nodded. “Never heard of that happening to anypony before. At least, not naturally.”

“Of course you haven't…” I muttered, looking at my hands. I closed my eyes again, trying to channel my magic. It was a bit easier, now that I had more of an idea what I was doing, and after I had that feeling again, I opened my eyes and saw my hands were glowing again. “This'll take some getting used to,” I said, referring to how my chest and arms felt with me channeling my magic.

“Probably,” Starlight replied with a shrug. “You're a creature that shouldn't even have magic, so I'm not that surprised to hear you feeling a bit strange when you use it.”

After a few more seconds of looking over my hands and getting used to my magic, I took a deep breath. “Now what?”

Starlight looked around the room for a bit before finding a small ball. She picked it up and turned towards me. “Now, I want you to try to levitate this and bring it towards you,” she said before placing the ball on a dresser a few feet away from me. She then took a couple of steps back and looked at me. “Simply imagine it levitating and will your magic to make that happen.”

I looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “That simple?”

Starlight shrugged. “There's a reason it's the most basic spell. Why do you think even foals can do it?”

I blinked, unable to argue. I then closed my eyes, took a deep breath and tried to do what she said.

Once again, I could feel the strange feeling covering my arms and hands… but didn’t move beyond that. As I began feeling dizzy, I heard ‘crackling’ sourcing from in front of me.

Huh. I imagine that is not how one moves stuff around with magic. Focusing, I tried once more - only this time my dizziness increased along with a headache and the feeling of having my brain reduced to mulch… pretty much like it always happened at history class back at high school.

All I could hear was the ‘thump-thump’ constantly battering my eardrums as I strained myself.

“Okay. That is enough, Dark.” Starlight said softly as I stopped.

At this point, I fell to my knees from the overshadowing weakness invading my entire body. “That's harder than I thought…” I muttered, panting. I was a bit unused to being exhausted after getting used to my increased stamina since I was Displaced.

“Are you okay?” Starlight asked me.

“Yeah… Yeah, I'm fine. Just...give me a moment to catch my breath…” I said, panting the whole time.

After a few minutes, I regained enough energy to stand properly. I then muttered, “Well that sucked.”

“Well you are a beginner,” Starlight replied. “It'll take some time for you to master it.”

“I know.” I took a deep breath. “Welp, I'm ready to start again.”

“You sure?” She asked with a raised eyebrow. “You didn't turn out too good the first time.”

“I'll be fine, Starlight. Besides, I won't get anywhere if I stop now.” With that said, I activated my magic and tried again.

(Third Person POV, Canterlot Training Grounds, several hours later)

Link was currently sitting down playing his ocarina to help calm his nerves and sooth his headache that he had gained from providing hours of talking, especially the questions she kept asking on how the whole progress worked, but in the end Link was successful.

Although there were times Twilight asked him a lot of questions about his ocarina, if it was magical, and about the enchanted songs. At this point, Link was pretty much being a teacher as he had told the many songs, each holding a mysterious power. The only song Link didn’t tell her about was the Song Of Time, let alone even try to teach her them.

The hylian has played those songs but has not channeled his magic into them, especially the Sun’s Song. Link definitely didn’t want this world’s royal sisters being paranoid that they weren’t the only ones who could control the celestial bodies.

He was drawn out of his inner thoughts by Twilight accompanying Starlight with some kind of blue ball in her hand.

A fruit which, on closer look appeared to be some kind of berry.

“What’s the hurry, Twilight?” Link asked in curiosity and concern.

“Apparently Dark went a little overboard with his magic lesson and needs a bit of a pick-me-up,” the alicorn said.

“Bit of an understatement,” Starlight commented. “He kept insisting that he should keep practicing, and now he's laying on his back on the floor, completely drained of energy.”

“Hold up, I have something that could help him out, let me join you guys so I can see his condition as well.” Link said as he put away his ocarina. He looks over at the berry again, being remind of that of an Oran Berry that can help heal pokemon. A curious thought crosses the hylian’s mind on if it could heal non-pokemon, if it does, Link could ask them for some seeds.

“Something wrong Link?” Twilight asked.

“Can I ask you... what are those berries for?” Link asked her, concerning the oran berries she had on her handbag. He wanted to be sure, after all, that they were indeed that kind of berries.

“Well, Link… this is what is named Oran berry, a fruit that works to heal a wounded or tired pokemon. I got some seeds a while ago and ever since they finished growing, I've kept a few on hand just in case. And albeit I'm currently not sure about it healing non-pokemon, I can most certainly say that it does refill one's energy. I can personally say that's true. So, I figured it'd be a good way to help Dark with his...current situation.”

“Ah. Thanks for the answer, Twilight.” Link answered politely as they continued on their way.

So, the mares and displaced moved to where Starlight had left Dark to rest after his first day at exercising ‘magic’.

As the group moved at a brisk yet quiet pace through the stone corridors, they soon reached the corridor to the room where Dark had been practicing so far.

“Well, here's hoping he’s regain enough strength to eat,” Starlight said.

“How has his magic practice been going, anyway?” Twilight asked.

Starlight chuckled sheepishly. “Well, not that good. As of now, he can only get the item a few inches away from the starting point, before he loses control. Hopefully one day he'll be able to actually get it to him in a single try, without being winded.”

Link chuckled softly. “He’ll get it eventually, it took me years to master my magic.”

So, they made their way into the room, where they could see Dark still lying on the ground. Hair greasy with sweat, face uncovered, with his clothes’ looking wet from the effort as his skin glistens with it.

“I think next time, you should have a few snacks and a bottle of water on hand,” Twilight commented to her pink companion. “Might help.”

“Duly noted,” the unicorn replied. “Might want to have an Oran Berry or two as well.”

“Probably a good idea,” Dark commented weakly.

“You're awake?” Twilight asked, surprised.

“Eeyup.”

“I said he was exhausted, not unconscious,” Starlight said, matter of factly.

“Right…” Twilight then cleared her throat. “Well, I got you an Oran Berry to help with your energy problem.”

“Yaaay…” Dark said weakly, similar to Fluttershy. He then slowly lifted his hand up, with Twilight handing him the berry. He then ate it and waiting a few moments. About a minute later, he slowly sat up, with Twilight helping him onto his feet. “Thanks.”

The alicorn grinned at him. “Don't mention it. But really, what were you thinking, overexerting yourself like that?”

Dark looked at her with an embarrassed look. “Honestly? I didn't know it'd be this bad.”

“Not your brightest moment,” Starlight commented.

“I noticed,” Dark said with an annoyed tone.

“Will you be alright? I was thinking of giving you a blue potion.” Link said as he reached into his pouch.

“What does that do?” Starlight asked.

From out of his pouch was a bottle filled with a blue liquid. “I won it in a Pinkie Pie’s- I mean another universe’s Pinkie Pie’s contest.” Link said with a smile.

“Thanks, but I’m fine now.” Dark stated before groaning as he slowly rose from the floor. “Note to self: do not do this training again like I did.”

Author's Note

Well, that's finally done. Finished a few days ago, but i decided to post it today for the anniversary. Part 3 of my 4-part crossover with Displaced Writer. So anyone who is annoyed about the crossover, know that the next one is the last one for a little while. Not too much to say regarding the chapter besides 3 of Dark's friends now knowing his new abilities and meeting Link. Plus Dark started to learn how to use his magic. Only other important thing to mention now is Twilight learning some of LOZ spells and planning on having some others learn them. Well, i believe that's all for now. No idea when I'll start the next chapter, but I doubt it'd be in summer. So have a nice month, and until next time.
-Dark

Chapter 30

(Third Person POV, two weeks later, Canterlot Castle Archery Range)

“Make sure your back is straight, feet are apart at shoulder-length, relax your shoulders, hold a gentle breath and..." The hylian took aim at an old target made of straw. *Fwip, twang* He managed to hit the bullseye. “Be mindful of the wind direction, it can alter the course of your shot.” Link said.

“I knew that last one for a while,” Cece said, her own bow in hand and a quiver on her back. She drew her own arrow and shot it, with it landing on the very edge of the target, causing her to sigh.

“Keep practicing, you’ll get the hang of it. It took me months to learn how to use it.” Link said as he patted her on the shoulder.

Cece shrugged. “Well it gives me something to do while the guards are recovering. And at least Tito isn't be the only one practising something new.” She then looked up at Link as she put the bow and quiver in her hammerspace. “So what will you do when you go back home?”

“Continue with what I always do, do my job at Canterlot and try to live life to the fullest.” Link answered as he held the bow at his side. He then made his way over to the round bundle of hay to retrieve his arrow.

“Must be nice…” Cece muttered as she and Emily followed him.

“Nice for what?” Link asked as he looked at the pink hedgehog.

“Being able to do that without much trouble. Or constantly being ridiculed for what you became.”

“I can’t say it was completely without trouble. The start of my job was a bit bumpy as a lot of the unicorns and the ponies I worked with didn’t trust me at first.” Link said as he started to inspect his hero’s bow.

“Well that's Canterlot for you,” Screwball said, walking to the two with a camera in one hand. “Worst place in Equestria if you don't want to be look down on or ridiculed.”

“So I've heard,” Cece responded, crossing her arms.

“But of course, multiverse theory, one universe will be bad and others will be either worse or better. So yea, keep an open mind when you go to other places, you might just find a Canterlot you’ll enjoy.” Link said on a positive note.

Cece nodded before looking at Screwball and raising an eyebrow. “What's with the camera?”

“It's part of something I've been working on,” the filly said. “Know where Tito is?”

“He went to the city to eat at that Indian place again with Bri. Said he should be back in an hour at most.”

Screwball nodded in response before looking to Link. “So, ready to go back home?”

“If there’s nothing left to teach, but I do wish Dark the best of luck in his hero career.” Link said as he put away his bow.

“Tito will be fine. If Spidey can deal with baddies on his own, Tito should be able to hold his own with his training and new abilities.” Screwball then pulled out a pocket watch and looked at the time. “Well I'll be at the entrance waiting for him. Wanna join?”

“Sure, I don’t see why not.” Link said as he stretched his arms above his head, Cece shrugging.

Screwball smiled before snapping her fingers in her free hand, having the 4 of them teleport to the entrance hall in a flash.

Cece just sighed, not surprised about the teleport. She then walked towards the nearest wall and sat down against it, Emily laying on her lap. She then said, “So what’s this project you mention?”

“You'll see whenever Tito gets back,” Screwball told her. “So how are the archery lessons going?”

“Decent. I'm not breaking the bow string at least.”

Screwball then looked at Link. “And how's your stay in our world been?”

“Fair, at least I wasn’t instantly thrown head first into danger or someone needing my help against some bad guys.” Link said with a smile.

“I take it that happens often with Displaced.”

“Quite a lot, actually. So far, I managed to relax in only two of them, three counting this.” Link said as he stroked the thin blond goatee on his chin.

“Tito’s been summoned a few times,” Cece told Link. “First was a Screwball who threw his token at a band of Beedrill. Twilight and I were pulled along with him and Twilight knocked out in the landing. He and I took out the Beedrill and later met that Screwball. After some craziness, we came back with two pokemon and Twilight had a book and a bag of seeds. Next summon was some rider guy with a moon base who didn't know of Displaced. The last time I was summoned with him was during some fight between robots. Don't really remember much of that one. It was just a big blur.”

“Plus there's that time he was summoned by two assassins while Cece was in the human world,” Screwball added.

“You know what happened with that?”

“Tell you later.”

“When you say rider, do you mean those Power Ranger looking guys who can use attacks or transformations through a card or coin slot?” Link asked curiously.

“Yeah,” Screwball said. “Kamen Rider.”

“I met one before, although not the same one considering there was no moon base as far as I know.” Link said as he crossed his arms in thought.

“The one we met was called Jack,” Cece explained. “He was a rookie Displaced and told me about my invisibility. Said it was from a Sonic game that apparently is pretty hated, according to the human Rainbow I meant.”

“Oh jeez, it’s been years since I last played that one, I think it was the 2006 Sonic The Hedgehog. It was a move Amy Rose performed similar to how Espio turned invisible in Sonic Heroes.” Link said as he looked down, still stroking that goatee of his.

“That's probably the game. Jack and human Pinkie called it 06 though. But seriously, what's so bad about it?”

“A princess kissing a corpse for one thing…” Screwball muttered, causing Cece to look at her with wide eyes.

“And of course the Chaos Emeralds having the power to resurrect the dead.” Link said with a groan. “They’re a plot device for every game.”

“The what?” Cece asked.

“Chaos Emeralds, powerful gems holding chaos energy with the power to fulfill anything depending on how powerful their heart is, or at least what I can remember last time I checked wikipedia twenty or so years ago.” Link explained.

“Makes me think about that gem we got from Tom. Can spawn just near anything so long as it fits in the user's pocket. So far Tito's only used it for cupcakes for his pokemon or replicas of his token. And one time he got someone a phone.”

“Any limitations?” Link asked as he looked at Cece.

Cece shrugged. “No idea. We never need anything major so he never tried to get anything more than that.” Link nodded to her words.

“And personally I rather not test that out,” a voice said above them. The next moment, Dark landed near them with his cover on. “So what I miss?”

“Nothing really other than Cece learning a little more on archery.” Link said as he walked over to Dark.

“How’s that been going?” Dark asked as he let Brianna out of his bag.

“At first, she was trying too hard, but eventually she got the hang of it.” Link answered.

“Good to hear,” Dark said as Bri climbed his back and sat on his shoulders.

“So anything happen while you were out?” Cece asked.

Dark shook his head while he grabbed Bri and held her. “Nope. Just went to the Tasty Treat and ate there. And stopped by a certain shop to order something.”

“Ya know, Dark? You oughta look into finding a world that has pokemon gyms for your Riolu to fight in. She’d gain a lot of benefits, especially if their gym badges work like in the older games where they would increase stats.” Link said to me.

“Badges do that? I just thought their only use in games was letting you go further in the region and have stronger pokemon listen to you? As for your suggestion, not sure. I don't know about you, but I can't just go to any world. I need the Displaced’s token and Screwball here.”

“Well, that is also true, but like I said, the older games such as the first and second generation, the badges actually did more than just raise the level of pokemon that’ll obey you. Remember, the Displaced multiverse is large and vast, each Displaced will have powers that follow different sets of reality and logic.”

“Like how I have powers I didn't know about like dismissing my webs, or how you are 3 or 4 Links in one?”

“Exactly.” Link said while nodding. “Same goes for how I can carry so much in my pouch despite how small it is.”

“I always thought it was because that is some bag of holding,” Screwball said.

“I suppose it is, although it doesn’t use magic, it just acts just like my inventory, except more of a game mechanic. I think of the item I want, reach in, pull it out.” Link explained.

Dark nodded before he sensed something. He then gently placed Bri down and braced himself for a fight.

“...Something wrong, Dark?” Link asked when he noticed how tense Dark got.

Before Dark could respond, he immediately jumped back as somepony in an outfit that matched his colors suddenly slammed their hoof to the ground where Dark was a moment ago.

At the sudden attack, Link backflipped away before withdrawing his sword and shield. Before he can do anything else however, Screwball grabbed from behind by his hood.

“Hold it right there, fairy boy,” Screwball said. “There's nothing to worry about.”

Link frowned at that comment. “Let me guess, is that guy some sort of rival wanna-be?” he asked.

While Screwball look to the two and made sure they were out of earshot, she then said, “Kinda. I mean, they started out pretty bad but now they just like training together. Plus those two lovebirds seem to bond via sparring sessions.” As she said that, she saw Dark swinging away with his attacker in hot pursuit.

“She’s not gonna throw out a spear, is she?” Link asked with concern as he recognized the outfit of Sub-Zero.

Cece shrugged. “Not sure if she can yet. Only weapon she can make so far is a sword.”

“And it's Scorpion who uses a spear or kunai,” Screwball added. “Not Sub-Zero.”

“It’s been too long since I was forced to leave Earth. There’s a lot of stuff I’ve forgotten.” Link said as he sighed as his mistake.

Screwball nodded before looking back where Dark went. “So any of you wanna follow them to see how this goes?”

“So... how long will they be at this?” Link asked as he crossed his arms.

Cece shrugged. “Could be a few minutes to a few hours with their stamina.”

“I do need to get home though if I’m not needed for anything else.” Link said as he looked at Cece.

Screwball sighed. “Fine. We'll break it up and have Tito send you back. Come on.”

They all went to the direction Dark swung off to and eventually found him and his “attacker” with swords locked. Before any of them can do another attack however, Screwball placed a pair of earmuffs on Emily and Bri, put a whistle on her lips and blew hard, causing an ear splitting sound to surround the entire castle. The result was that everyone else but her and the pokemon had taken a knee and were clenching their ears in pain.

“Seriously?” Dark yelled to her.

“Hey, you two can always continue this another time,” Screwball said.

“What?!” Dark yelled, only hearing the ringing in his ears.

Screwball sighed before grabbing the earmuffs off the pokemon and lounging in the air while everyone recovered.

After a couple of minutes, everyone else was able to hear again with minimal ringing. Dark then took a deep breath and said, “So why did you try to make us go deaf?”

Meanwhile Link was still waiting for his pointed ears to stop ringing, not liking the method Screwball used to break up the two.

“Well it was the only thing that came to mind that can get your attention,” Screwball replied. She then nodded to the blue and black clad mare. “Nice to see you again Dash. Like the new suit?”

Rainbow rolled her eyes, the only thing that wasn't hidden in her outfit. “Yeah, it's good. But you could've done something other than that,” she said, her arms literally steaming due to her anger. She then noticed Link for the first time. “Who're you supposed to be?”

“Link, Dark’s newest friend and a Displaced much like him. “ Link explained to her.

“Obviously. So what can you do?”

“Well he gave Tito the ability to do magic, a wolf form, taught him some sword moves, and taught Cece archery,” Screwball replied. “Am I forgetting anything?”

Link let out a heart chuckle. “There’s a lot more I can do, but we’d be here too long if I had to list them all. No, I believe that’s all I’ve given so far.” he said.

“Plus some advice on a certain ability you showed me,” Dark muttered, looking at his right hand. Next thing he knew, Bri tackled Rainbow in a hug, catching the pegasus by surprise. Dark chuckled. “Surprised it took her so long to do that.”

“If there’s nothing left here, I’d like to head on home before she starts worrying about me.” Link said as he rubbed his right ear to try and reduce the pain caused by Screwball.

“Right, sorry,” Dark said with a nod.

Before Dark can say the phrase though, Screwball interrupted him. “Hey Tito, aren't you forgetting the picture?”

Dark facepalmed. “Right.” He then looked to Link. “You mind if I take a pic of you before you go?”

“Huh, I don’t see why not, sure.” Link said with a smile.

Dark went for his phone, but Screwball stopped him again. “Actually Tito, I have a better camera than your phone.” She then showed the camera she had on her hand before tossing it to him.

He caught the camera and examined it. “Not bad.” He then looked at Link. “You wanna do a pose or something for the pic?”

After giving it some thought, he took out his sword and shield, the master sword’s edge gleaming in the light. With sword in right hand and shield on left, he took on a pose that the Link from Ocarina Of Time, except his pose was mirrored.

Dark let out a low whistle. “Not bad. Say Triforce.” He then took the picture, not noticing the camera having a faint glow afterwards as he lowered it. “So I guess that's it, huh?”

“For now. Not unless you suddenly remember something at the last second?” Link asked.

Dark shook his head before walking up to Link and holding out his hand. “Well, it was a pleasure meeting ya, Jeff.”

“Likewise.” Link said as he took hold of Darks. “It was a nice refreshing pace than coming to a doomed world or someone who only summoned me all because they were in big trouble.”

“I don't doubt that.” As Dark backed up, he saw Bri walking up to Link before hugging his leg. “Looks like she'll miss you.”

Link kneeled down to give the Riolu’s head a pat. “I won’t be gone forever, there might be another time Dark will summon me.” Link said before getting up. “Either that, or if my Equestria ever gets a good moment of peace, I could summon you to my world.”

“We'll see,” Dark told him. He then to took a deep breath and said, “Link, our contract is complete.”

With those words said, a crystal suddenly surrounded Link and encased him inside, the transparent diamond started to spin as Link floated into the air. With a gentle brief flash, Link was gone from Dark’s world.

Dark sighed before picking up Brianna, her ears lowered as to match her mood. With a small hug and petting her head, he said, “Don't worry. We'll see him again eventually.” He then looked at the camera. “So what's the deal with this?”

“Well I've been thinking that taking pictures on your phone may not be the best idea since you'll eventually run out of storage,” Screwball responded. “So I started a little project to help a bit. The results are that camera, and this.” She then pulled out a medium-sized book and extended it to him.

Dark put Bri down and placed the camera in his bag before taking the book and examined it. “What is it?”

“A scrapbook. Took me a while to get it just right. I used your phone and that spectator trick my daddy taught me to get enough pics.”

“Spectator trick?” Cece asked with a raised eyebrow.

“My daddy has a trick that allows him and whoever he wants to see something in the past as a spectator,” Screwball explained. “Used it the first time he returned to remind Twilight a riddle of his.” She then looked at Dark. “Go ahead. Open it.”

Dark shrugged before opening to a random part of the book. Inside was several photos inside of various events, including his fight with Shocker, catching Mike, and saying goodbye to Sebaste at the Hearth’s Warming Eve party.

“Not bad…” Dark said, looking at the pics. Rainbow decided to stand behind him to see them herself.

After looking through a few more pages and seeing more pictures, Dark stopped at one page and froze. The picture he was looking at was one that had a much younger version of him with a birthday cake and a boy who appeared the same age with curly hair standing next to him.

“Hey, who’s that?” Rainbow asked, curious of the picture.

Dark simply shut the book and sighed. “Don't worry about it. Screwball, thanks for the book.” He then turned to his winged friend. “Not that I don't mind you visiting, but why did you come here today?”

Rainbow simply crossed her arms before saying, “There's a Daring Do convention in a few days and I'm planning on going. I came over to know if any of you wanted to join me.”

Dark shrugged. “Sure. Will be nice to leave Canterlot for a little while. What about you guys?” He asked, looking at the other two.

“Sure,” Screwball said with a smile. “I'll like to see how some ponies other than our friends and nobles react to me.”

Cece shook her head. “Sorry, but I'm good. The last convention I went to ended with me becoming this. I'm not going to another anytime soon.”

“Do you really think you'll get Displaced again?” Dark asked his sister.

“I'm not taking any chance,” she said in response.

Rainbow shrugged. “Fair enough.” She then turned to Dark. “So about you having magic…”

Dark sighed. “Not much. At the moment, I can only move a small ball across a room. It's gonna take a while and a lot of practice before I can do more than that.”

“What about that wolf thing?”

Dark rolled his eyes. “I'll show you in the gardens.” With that said, he placed the scrapbook in his bag, picked up Brianna, and walked to the gardens, with Rainbow beside him.

When they were gone, the remaining two girls looked at each other. “So that's the outfit?” Cece asked.

“Yup,” Screwball said with a pleased nod.

“And you sure it caught his attention?”

“Pretty sure.”

Cece rolled her eyes. “Still think we should've used a different design.”

“Rainbow would've been able to tell what we were doing if we did.”

Cece paused for a moment before sighing, petting Emily. “I hope this works…”

Screwball placed a hand on her friend's back. “Don't worry. I'm sure that eventually one of them will have the guts to confess. Just need to give it time. And maybe a few nudges.” She then chuckled. “Love isn't always as quick or easy as some stories will have you believe.”

“Okay.” With that said, the two simply walked to the gardens to join their friends.

(Several hours later, Canterlot)

Feather Splicer was sitting on a desk, examining the blood sample Dark gave her, writing down a few notes as she continued. Right after she finished writing down another note, she heard a knock on her door.

“Who can that be…?” she muttered to herself.

She adjusted her glasses as she got up and went to the door. When she opened it, she saw a pegasus stallion with his fur a slightly darker shade of green than her own, blonde mane and tail, and a bow and arrow for his cutie mark. His eyes were hard to see with the purple glasses he had on, but she knew they were blue.

The stallion smiled when he saw her. “Hey Feather. Miss me?”

Feather blinked in surprise as she looked at the stallion. “Trick? What are you doing here?”

The stallion rolled his eyes. “Oh come on. Is that anyway to speak to family?”

“That doesn't answer my question,” Feather said with an annoyed tone.

Trick shook his head. “I was in town and wanted to check up on you for a bit.”

Feather sighed. “Fine. Come on in.” With that said, she turned around and returned to her desk, Trick coming inside and closing the door behind him.

“So...how you been the last few months?” Trick asked, trying to break the ice.

“I've been well. Gotten further in my research.”

“Right…” Trick muttered, looking at her wing. “You really think this'll work?”

“Positive. And after meeting someone, I'm even more motivated to perfect it.”

“Really? Who?” Trick asked, surprised.

“A friend I met who is the perfect combination of conjoined DNA. In a different way than creatures like manticore and griffons.”

“Really? So what extra DNA does this creature have?”

“Spider,” Feather replied.

Trick paused when she said that. “Spider?”

“Yeah. He said he can do things like shoot webs from his wrists and stick to any surface. He even let me get a sample of his blood to study it.”

“He did? Can I see it?”

“Sure.” Feather then went to her desk and showed him the sample, with only a few drops of the blood having been removed for her to study.

“Why don't I take it with me?” Trick offered. “Maybe some of the eggheads back at the job can help figure out how it works.”

Feather hesitated, looking at the sample. After a minute, she said, “Are you sure?”

“Pretty sure.”

After another minute of silence, Feather sighed and handed Trick the sample. “I hope you're right…”

“Don't worry sis,” Trick said with a smile. He then looked at the clock on her wall and sighed. “Looks like I should head back home. Take care, okay Feather?”

Feather simply nodded and returned to studying the drop she was before he showed up. Seeing nothing else to say, Trick exited her house. After he closed the door, he took a deep breath and looked at the sample. He then took out a device from his pocket and turned it on.

After a couple of moments, a voice came from the device. “Yes? What is it?”

“Boss?” Trick asked.

“Hawkeye?” The voice said.

“Trick Shot!” Trick corrected. Again.

“Right, right. What do you want?”

“You wanted me to get a DNA sample from that spider guy?”

“Yes…”

“Well, I got a rather big sample right now.”

Archer stood silent for a moment. “Really? Already? How? Wait, never mind, I don't care. Just bring that sample to me immediately.”

“Fine,” Trick said before turning off the device and putting it back in his pocket. As he started walking away from the house, he asked himself once again, “Why in Tartarus does he want the dude's DNA so much? Is he planning on cloning him or something?”

Author's Note

And it is finally done. Sorry for the wait. Took 2 months to get this done. So the crossover is now over. Apologies for how long it was. Nothing much to talk about really. Hope you enjoyed and have a happy Halloween. 🎃

31. Blazing Reunion

(Third Person POV, Friendship Express)

“We'll be arriving at Ponyville in just a few minutes folks,” the conductor said over the intercom.

One of the passengers smiled. “Can't believe how long it's been since we seen Twilight. How do you think she is?” She asked her husband.

When she was only met with silence, she looked to her husband and saw him deep in thought. When she nudged him, he started paying attention again. After repeating her question, he said, “Hopefully she's doing okay. But if those rumors are true…”

His wife patted his shoulder. “I'm sure everything is just fine. If anything, it's probably just the townsfolk overreacting over something. Don't you think Twilight would've sent a letter to us if it was really that bad?”

Her husband sighed. “Yeah. Maybe you're right.” He then looked at their companion, who was looking out the window. “You okay?”

Their companion nodded. “Yeah, I'm fine. Just getting used to the fact I'm finally about to see someplace new,” she told them, her gold eyes seeing the town in the distance. She took a deep breath before lifting a hand up and lowering her visor. “Well, time to meet another princess…”

Twilight was sitting on her throne in the map room, carefully reading the journal she got from Sarah during her first, and currently only, trip to another Equestria. Spike was out in the town, doing his own thing while Starlight was sitting in Fluttershy’s throne, reading a spell book she found in the library. As Twilight was reading an entry regarding the Fennekin line, she heard the door to the room being knocked on. Getting up and closing the book with her magic, she walked towards the door.

When she opened it, she was greeted by two very familiar faces. The first was a unicorn stallion with a white coat and blue mane with matching eyes and his cutie mark being one of a blue shield with a purple star in the center. Beside him was a pink alicorn with a multi colored mane, purple eyes, and and a heart made of crystal as her mark.

When Twilight realized who they were, she immediately hugged them. “Shining Armor. Cadance. It’s so good to see you.” After she let go of them, she and Cadance did their little handshake together.

When they were done and laughing, Twilight heard a new and unfamiliar female voice. “Wow. Out of everything I expected, seeing you two shake your butts at each other was not something I saw coming.”

When Twilight looked to the voice, she saw a figure walk into the room. She was an anthropomorphic lavender furred feline, roughly the same size as Cece, wearing a set of silver colored armor covering her lower legs, torso, arms, hands, and face, with three pieces of her hair sticking straight up, and a tail sticking out, and a sword strapped to her side that seemed to suit her size. The final noteworthy detail was a necklace with a green medallion shaped like a tiger head.

Once Twilight was done processing the newcomer, she noticed the the feline crossed her arms. “So you’re Shining Armor’s sister? Princess Twilight Sparkle right?”

Twilight nodded. “Yes. And do you mind if I ask who you are?”

The feline extended a hand. “Elizabeth. A guard in training.”

After Twilight shook Elizabeth's hand, she looked at her brother. “Guard in training?”

Shining Armor nodded. “She has a lot of potential.”

“Probably more than you think,” Starlight commented, having put down the book she was reading when Elizabeth walked in. “Though I wonder if she can hold her own against Twilight's new guards.”

That comment surprised the visiting royals, who looked at Twilight in surprised. “You got yourself new guards?” Cadance asked.

“About time,” Shining added. When he saw his sister's glare, he said, “Sorry Twily, but seriously, you should've gotten guards a long time ago. Then stuff like Starlight breaking in wouldn't have happened.” He then immediately looked at the unicorn guiltily when he realized what he said. “Uh, no offense?”

“Some taken,” Starlight responded with an annoyed eye roll.

Twilight cleared her throat. “So, not that I don't mind seeing you two again, but what's with the surprise visit?”

“Your brother here was worried about you ever since he heard about some attack here,” Elizabeth explained.

“Attack? What do you mean?”

Cadance sighed. “We heard a rumor about an attack happening several weeks ago about two demons and-”

“A pony made of clouds?” Twilight and Starlight asked in unison.

“Yeah…” Shining confirmed.

The two sighed, Twilight facepalming and saying, “That stupid rumor even reached the Crystal Empire?”

“You know about it?” Shining asked.

The two nodded. “While there was an attack, it wasn't because of demons,” Starlight told them.

“Then what happened?”

“Some friends of ours fought a villain that showed up in town who was causing trouble,” Twilight explained.

“Two of them being those guards of Twilight's,” Starlight added.

Shining then looked at them in confusion. “Then why does everypony say it was demons? And what's the deal about the cloud pony?”

“Oh, that was Rainbow,” Twilight said simply.

Shining and Cadance blinked. “Huh?”

“Who?” Elizabeth asked.

“A pegasus friend of ours who apparently had a special gene inside her that nopony, including her, knew about until the day before the attack,” Starlight said. “Said gene activated during the fight apparently.”

“And this gene somehow allows her to turn into clouds?”

“And create swords made of ice, blast water from her hands, emit steam from her body, make ice pillars under her hooves, and create large waves of water from out of nowhere,” Twilight added. “And if I'm right, she'll gain more abilities over time.”

“How does a gene allow somepony to do that?” Cadance asked, shocked.

Twilight shrugged. “Only one who knew anything about the gene isn't here, and he couldn't tell me much about it during his stay.”

Shining Armor shook his head. “Okay, but what about the demon thing?”

“The villain, named Nisled, also has that gene and I'm told he was able to create demon-like creatures to attack others and produce large claws over his hands to attack those near him.”

“And the other demon?” Elizabeth asked.

Twilight sighed. “He's one of my guards. He was the first to go out and fight Nisled. During the fight, his hood fell off and everypony saw his face. I only learned sometime later that when he's angry, his eyes turn red and scares anyone who sees it. When the ponies of town saw it during the fight, they grew terrified and started calling him a demon.”

“A mess that we've been trying to fix ever since,” Starlight added, getting up and walking to Twilight's side.

“What do you mean?” Cadance asked.

“He ended up feared by most of the town, to the point he and his sister had to leave,” Twilight said.

“To where?” Shining asked.

“They're currently staying at the castle in Canterlot til things calm down here,” Starlight told them. “They're “training” the guards there,” she finished, using air quotes.

Shining Armor frowned. “What's with the quotes?”

“Mostly because it's more of a beating than training.”

“They're being beaten by the guards?!” Cadance asked in shocked.

Twilight and Starlight laughed. When they calmed down, Twilight said, “Oh no. The exact opposite.”

“Huh?” The royal couple asked.

“Those two are very strong and skilled. The guards are pretty much a joke to them.”

“Heck, one of them outright says that the day guard are jokes,” Starlight added.

Once that processed, Shining said, “Well, we should meet them.”

Twilight and Starlight both gave a quick glance to Elizabeth before the purple alicorn said, “Okay.”

“Wait, so I'm going to meet the most powerful beings in this world and a guy who's seen as a demon?” Elizabeth asked.

Cadance chuckled. “Don't worry Eli. My aunts aren't ponies you need to worry about.”

“And Dark is no demon, despite what this town thinks,” Twilight added, with one of Elizabeth's ears twitching when she heard that name. “Come on. We might be able to catch the next train to Canterlot.”

As the group started to leave the map room, they immediately heard a snap and saw a flash of light before they all noticed they were in a different location.

Before they can properly process that, they all heard someone say, “Figured I'd save you the time.”

As they all turned around, they saw Screwball lounging in the air with Brianna being levitated beside her, a book briefly being seen in the filly's hands before it disappeared.

Before anyone else can react, Cadance cooed and flew up to Brianna before hugging her. “Oh, this is so cute! Where did you get it?”

Screwball simply chuckled before snapping her fingers with Bri suddenly appearing to the other side of her, slightly dazed, before Screwball lowered the both of them and extended an arm to Shining. As he reluctantly shook it, he said, “Um, hi. I'm-”

“Prince Shining Armor, captain of the guard,” Screwball said. “Co-ruler of the Crystal Empire, husband of Princess Cadance, father of Flurry Heart, older brother of Twilight Sparkle, and very well known to many for throwing your wife like a javelin to save Spike.”

While Shining and Cadance, who just lowered herself to the ground, were slightly shocked at Screwball's knowledge, Elizabeth and Starlight looked at the two and said, “Wait, what was that last part?”

Screwball nodded. “Not kidding. Shining literally threw Cadance at Spike to save him. It's pretty funny to watch.”

Elizabeth shook her head. “Okay, who are you?”

“I'm Screwball. Daughter of Discord, princess of chaos.”

Cadance gave Screwball a confused look. “Wait, since when did Discord have a daughter?”

“I was made a few weeks ago when my daddy was inspired by versions of me that were introduced. Now…” Screwball then immediately appeared to Elizabeth's side and circled her. “You're an interesting case. Didn't even know you were around. So how long did you know?”

“Know what?” Elizabeth asked, gripping her sword.

“About Displaced,” Screwball said simply.

While Shining and Cadance looked shocked, Elizabeth simply sighed before lifting her visor, revealing her golden eyes. “So Displaced are common knowledge around these parts?”

“So you are a Displaced!” Starlight said, causing everyone to stare at her. After a few moments, she folded ears and took a step back. “Sorry, just didn't wanna assume.”

“Wait, so you know about Displaced?” Shining asked, looking at Twilight and Starlight.

Twilight nodded. “Those guards of mine? They're both Displaced.”

“Who did they become?” Elizabeth asked.

“Amy Rose and a Spidey recolor,” Screwball told her.

Before Elizabeth can continue, she felt a tap to her leg. Lowering her gaze a bit, she saw Brianna with her arms up. Smiling softly, she picked up the pup, who hugged Elizabeth immediately after.

“Does that dog have something to do with that Displaced?” Shining asked.

“She's a jackal, and yeah,” Screwball explained. “Tito saved her egg, don't ask, a few weeks ago, she hatched in his arms, and sees him as her dad.”

At the sound of that name, Elizabeth's eyes widened slightly. “T-Tito?”

“You okay Eli?” Cadance asked.

“Who is Tito?” Shining questioned.

Screwball simply held up three fingers and silently started counting down. When she reached zero, she pointed behind her as the doors opened, revealing Dark, Cece, and their pokemon, the siblings deep in a conversation with their cover still on.

“-friend,” Cece finished.

“She's decent enough I believe,” Dark told her. “Nicest of those greedy birds you'll find there as far as I know.” A moment later, Brianna immediately leaped out of Elizabeth's arms and ran to Dark in a blur, tackling him in a hug and causing him to drop a small box he had in his hand.

While Dark was getting up, Cece looked forward and noticed the group that was not far in front of them. “Um, Tito? Isn't there a stained glass window about a pink alicorn and white unicorn?”

“Yeah, why?” Dark asked. When he saw where Cece pointed to in response, he widened his eyes under his hood as he moved Bri behind him as she held onto his back. “Well… didn't expect this. The princess of love, the captain of the royal guard, and a Blaze Displaced.”

Elizabeth faltered as she finally started paying attention to his voice. After taking a deep breath, she stepped forward to Dark and Cece, silently examining them, mostly Dark.

After a few moments, Cece waved a hand in front of Elizabeth's face. “You okay lady?” When Elizabeth saw Cece's hand, she immediately grabbed it and pulled her closer to see the back of it. “Hey, what's your problem?” Cece asked, getting prepared to grab her hammer before she was let go.

Elizabeth then looked Cece in the eyes. “Cece?” Elizabeth asked in a barely audible whisper, her eyes starting to well up.

Cece rose an eyebrow. “Do I know you?” She asked before immediately being hugged by the feline Displaced.

“I thought I'd never see any of you again,” Elizabeth said, tears trickling down her eyes.

“Elizabeth?” Shining said. “Are you okay?”

“Wait, Elizabeth?” Dark asked, looking at her again and noticing her green medallion. With a step back in surprised, he said, “Eli?”

With a smile, Elizabeth separated from Cece and walked to Dark before chuckling. “Been a while Tito. Can't tell if you got taller or if it's just me being shorter now,” she said before giving him a hug as well.

Dark chuckled as well as he returned the embrace. “Good seeing you again Eli.”

“Um, can someone tell me how you three know each other?” Shining asked the Displaced.

After they separated, Elizabeth turned to the others and said, “Shining Armor, Cadance, these are Tito and Cece. My younger cousins.”

All five of the ponies blinked. “Cousins?”

Screwball then said, “Huh. I can't tell if that's lucky that you guys can see more family now, or the opposite since it means that more of your family dealt with the Merchant.”

“Rather pay attention to the good parts right now,” Elizabeth said.

Screwball shrugged. “Can't argue with that. Well, I'm sure there are plenty of stories to tell, so let's discuss it during lunch,” she said as she began heading towards the dining hall with everyone joining her.

Dark stood still for a moment before picking up the box he dropped. After looking inside and making sure the item inside was okay, he headed to his room to put it in his bag before he went to join the others.

Author's Note

And another one done before Thanksgiving. So yeah, another Displaced character. This been planned for a year now, but the debut chapter was planned for later but I felt like it'd fit here. Sorry if it isn't that good. Until next time. Also, know that the next chapter might have some recapping of past events. Either that or I have that be a lost chapter and skip to Eli's side of the story. Most likely the latter.

32. Fiery Reception

(Third Person POV, Canterlot Castle Dining Room)

The group were all sitting by the table of the dining room, with the Royal Sisters having come to join them.

“Wow…” Shining Armor said with wide eyes. “You've had quite a life here.”

Dark nodded as his daughter was napping on his lap, having fallen asleep while he was explaining his time as a Displaced. “And it's still pretty early in my life.” He then looked to his cousin. “So how was your time in Equis?”

Elizabeth shrugged. “Not nearly as crazy as you two.”

“Well it must be interesting if you're a guard in training and already know about Displaced. So, go ahead.”

Elizabeth sighed. “Fine. It starts in the Crystal Empire, where I woke up in one of the rooms in the palace. I was...rather surprised when I woke up…”

(Crystal Palace, several weeks ago)

Elizabeth began to wake up after suddenly falling unconscious for no known reason. After opening her eyes, she discovered that she was in a rather nice looking room, covered in crystals. Before she could notice anything else, she heard a door open and heard a male voice.

“Oh, you're awake. That's good.”

Turning towards the voice, Eli saw a yellowish orange creature with matching wings sticking out of his back and blue hair sticking out of a helmet. After processing that, Elizabeth screamed and flailed her arms before getting stuck on her blanket and falling on the floor.

“Hey, stop laughing,” Eli said, her cheeks red with embarrassment as her cousins and Screwball were laughing at her reaction while everyone else chuckled.

“I-I'm sorry Eli,” Dark said as he started to calm down. “It's just… I didn't expect you to freak out that bad just by looking at somepony. Heck, I didn't even freak out like that when I went face to face with a timberwolf.”

“Well excuse me. Not like I knew I had powers at the time, or that he was a friendly.”

“So what happened after you fell off the bed,” Cece snickered.

“Well he went to get Cadance and Shining while I was getting up.”

After Elizabeth got her blanket off her and got up from the floor, she started to properly look at herself, noticing that she was still dressed up as Blaze, but looked different. She was shorter than before, and her hands and feet seemed bigger. The last thing she noticed was a long purple tail behind her.

“What happened to me?” She muttered before grasping at her throat, realizing her voice was different.

As she was trying to figure that out, Cadance and Shining approached her room, with a pink foal with blue eyes, smiling in Cadance's arms. When they reached the room, they saw Eli staring at herself, confused.

“Well, glad to see you're fine,” Cadance said.

When Eli heard her, she turned around and saw them. Her eyes widened in fear and she stepped back. “S-stay back!”

Cadance gave the foal to Shining before walking slowly to Elizabeth. “Calm down. We aren't gonna hurt you.”

“Where am I? What are you?”

“You're at the Crystal Empire,” Shining replied. “As for what we are, we're ponies.”

Cadance nodded. “I'm Princess Cadance. This here is my husband Shining Armor. And the foal is our daughter Flurry Heart.” The baby, as if on cue, happily said some gibberish as if to greet her. “What's your name?”

“Elizabeth,” Eli replied, starting to calm down. “How did I get here?”

Shining shrugged. “We don't know. We just found you knocked out in the middle of the street a few days ago. Since you looked like you needed help, we took you here and waited to see when you'd wake up.”

“What happened before you fell unconscious?” Cadance asked her.

Elizabeth shrugged. “I was just at some convention with my sister before we met some vendor selling some things. I bought a crystal he offered and she got some plushie. Next thing I know, I fall asleep and wake up here.”

“Well you can stay here as long as you need,” Cadance said reassuringly while placing a hand on Elizabeth's shoulder.

Elizabeth blinked. “Seriously? You'd just let some random person that you never even met stay at your place just like that?”

“Of course. Why not?”

Eli stared at her for a moment before shaking your head. “People around here must be pretty nice for you to be that trusting.”

“People?” The couple asked.

Eli blinked. “Um...yeah. People. You know, like the plural of person?”

“Can't say I ever heard that word in my life,” Cadance said, with Shining nodding in agreement.

Eli stood silent for a moment. After some hesitation, she said, “What planet is this?”

“Equis of course,” Shining said.

Elizabeth blinked. “Welp, that explains it.”

“What?”

“I'm in an alien world. And I can't be dreaming because I can't possibly come up with something this insane.” She said as she sat down by the wall.

“Wait, what do you mean?” Cadance said as she sat down next to Eli.

“I'm not from here. I'm from a world called Earth. And if I'm right, I'm not even the same species.”

Shining frowned. “So you aren't usually a bipedal cat?”

“Well that just confirms my suspicions,” Eli muttered. She then said, “No, I'm not. So to sum it up, I'm an alien who turned into a videogame character and now I'm in a world with horse people.”

“Actually we're ponies,” Cadance said. “Horses are in Saddle Arabia.”

Eli rose an eyebrow. “I'm sorry, did you say Saddle Arabia?”

“Yeah. Why?”

Elizabeth shook her head. “Nothing, nothing…”

“Well, my offer still stands. You can stay here as long as you like.”

Elizabeth stood silent for a few moments. “You're serious about this?” She asked again.

“Of course. From what I can understand, you need help. And we're happy to provide it.”

Eli gave a small smile. “Thanks. I...thanks.”

“Don't mention it,” Shining replied as Flurry was starting to nod off in his arms.

Cadance then stood up. “Come on, let's go get breakfast.”

Elizabeth nodded before getting back up and following them out of her room.

“And that's pretty much my first day,” Eli finished. “Later on I met a unicorn called Sunburst and learned that he's basically Flurry's babysitter.”

“Yeah, I know of him,” Dark replied. “Old friend of Starlight's. If I recall correctly, he's a smart guy, but doesn't have the magical power to do many of the things he read about.”

“Plus he helped fixed the Crystal Heart when Flurry broke it from crying,” Screwball said.

Elizabeth stared at the filly in shock. “She did what?”

Screwball nodded. “Yup. Before Sunburst gave Shining and Cadance here some spell to nerf her, she was crazy powerful. Dangerously so. Heck, a simple sneeze had her shoot a laser through several floors.”

“How do you know tha-” Shining started.

“I'm the daughter of Discord and I have chaos magic of my own,” Screwball said proudly. “Do you really think I don't have a way of learning about crazy stuff that happened before I was made?”

Elizabeth shook her head. “Well makes me happy I showed up after all that then.”

“So nothing happened besides that?” Starlight asked.

“Not really. At least, until recently.”

“And yet you knew about Displaced by the time you came here,” Luna stated. “I take it that means you met one yourself?”

Elizabeth nodded. “Yeah. A few weeks ago. Though it wasn't as eventful as the encounters Tito had.”

“Still, if you wouldn't mind, we'd like to hear it,” Celestia said.

“Okay then.”

(Crystal Palace, 3 weeks ago)

Elizabeth was wandering around the palace, looking for someone to talk to since none of the guards didn't seem very good in conversations most of the time. During her walk, she discovered a sword laying on the floor. Looking around, she noticed nobody was around. With a shrug, she approached the sword and noticed that it had a silver blade and a black hilt with a picture of the moon at the end of the hilt. When Eli picked it up, she immediately heard a voice in her head.

“My name is Ladon, servent the royal sisters of another world and caretaker of the old code. If ye seek mine help, kinship, or if thou desire to know what had happened to thyself, then ye must repeat those words after me. ‘A knight is sworn to valour, His heart knows only virtue, His blade defends the helpless, His might upholds the weak, His word speaks only truth, His wrath undoes the wicked.’” A strong, deep voice echoed in her mind.

Elizabeth blinked in confusion before looking around again. Finding no one, she decided to take a chance. “Okay then…” After clearing her throat, she repeated the words that she heard.

At the moment after she spoke the swords, wind started to softly pick up blowing through the hallways. She noticed a small orb that began to slowly expand in front of her and soon exploded into a swirling vortex of energy. Slowly, a scaled claw was the first thing to come out of it before a large creature walked through, revealing itself to be a bronze dragon with scaled plates along it belly. It looked around the hallway before its orange eyes landed on Elizabeth.

Eli backed up a couple of feet, staring at the dragon in disbelief, unable to say anything due to both shock and fear.

“Hold, friend. I mean thou no harm…” The dragon spoke. In size comparison to the anthro cat, he was quite a big dragon that was taller than Celestia’s height only by a few feet.

“Wait, how can you know that when you never even met Celestia before today?” Cece asked, interrupting the story.

“Cadance told me about her a few times during my stay,” Elizabeth replied. “Now do you want me to continue or not?”

Cece rolled her eyes but stood silent.

“Good. Now no more interruptions until I'm done.”

“You can talk?” Eli asked in shock before something crossed her mind. “Wait, why do you talk in old English?”

“That I can’t explain, it was just something forced upon me years ago.” The dragon explained as the portal closed behind him.

“Okay…?” Eli said. Before she can say anything else, her ears perked up as she heard some hoof steps. Turning to the sound, she saw Shining and Cadance coming towards her.

“Eli, what's going-what in Tartarus?!” Shining said, only then noticing the dragon a few feet away.

“I think I just invited a dragon here…” Eli said, confused.

“How?” Shining asked.

“Through summoning,” The dragon simply answered as he pointed with his paw at the sword in Eli’s hand.

“Summoning?” Shining asked.

“I honestly didn't know this would happen if I said a few words that a sword said,” Eli said.

“Word of advice, you should be careful what you say when you find something that talks,” Cadance told her. “You never know what trouble can come if you say the wrong thing to an item with dark magic.”

Shining nodded before looking at the dragon. “So what do you want?”

“As mine token hath told her; kinship, answers, or help with whatever she needs,” The dragon said before looking at Eli. “Surely thou didn’t do it out of curiosity despite what the sword hadst said?”

Elizabeth chuckled nervously and avoided everyone's gazes as she said, “I kinda did really…”

“If, however my presence is causing any issues, she can send me back home by saying ‘your contract is complete’” The dragon said as he looked around the halls.

“Who exactly are you?” Eli asked. “And what exactly are you talking about?”

“I suppose I am the first Displaced you’ve met then,” The dragon said as he bowed his head slightly. “Mine name,” He said before placing his paw onto his chest. ”Is Ladon. What thou hold in your hand is called a token; an object that can summon the owner. It is one of millions across the multiverse, each one can summon a different Displaced.”

Shining Armor tilted his head in confusion. “Huh?”

“Multiverse?” Eli asked. “Like in comics?”

“Pretty much. Let’s just say that everything thou know in comics, anime, video games, everything fictional is now a reality. You, for example.” Ladon said as he gently sat down onto the stone floor, causing his necklace with a sword to sway. Upon closer look, Elizabeth noticed it looks exactly the same as the one she is holding, except the one Ladon had was bigger.

“I kind of figured that, considering I'm now a videogame character in a world of magic ponies and a country with an artifact that can weaponize love.” Eli then blinked. “Wait a minute. You mean there are others? Like me?”

“Exactly,” Ladon responded with a nod. “I ended up becoming… well, some sort of hybrid of the dragons from the dragonheart series.”

“The what series?”

“Dragonheart. It's a movie series involving dragons and knights. I’d rather not delve deep and give ye information as we’d be here all day.” Ladon said with a small frown.

“Then do you know what exactly happened to us?” Eli asked.

“It’s a different experience for everyone though. For me? It was a necklace I bought from a pawnshop; beautiful lil trinket of a dragon’s heart. But when I put it on is when everything changed… By Celestia’s mane, was it a hectic and painful transformation..” Ladon said as he shook his head at the memory. “From what I’ve learned from other Displaced is that they’re all connected with buying an item, sometimes it's about meeting some powerful being while other items it happens out of the blue with no explanation.”

“So this happens a lot?” Cadance asked, saddened. “People getting their lives stolen by someone and forced to be taken from their loved ones?”

“It would appear so; don’t forget the part where some of them hath been forced to take on a different forms. Some of their minds hath been injected with information or instincts when it comes to their powers both mentally and physically while others had to learn the hard way. Despite what has happened to them, alot of them that I’ve met chose to try and find happiness to replace what they’ve lost.”

“I can understand that,” Eli said with a shake to her head. “So these Displaced all ended up scattered across the multiverse?”

“Exactly what is that?” Cadance asked.

“From what I heard, basically an infinite number of universes out there with just about every possibility,” Elizabeth explained. “A popular one is everyone being the moral opposite, good is evil and vice versa. And another is everyone being the opposite gender.”

“As Cadance said before, be careful of whom thou summon.” Ladon said said a nod. “In a way, you are a guard at the gate as you decide who should come and should not.”

“And how do I know who to summon and who not to?”

“Each one hath a different method of summon, usually with a message, a keyword, a function. As long as you speak or use any of their methods, they will and come appear. You spoke the words of mine token and hath sworn to oath. As long as you uphold it, you will forever have my trust and mine friendship.” Ladon said.

Shining blinked. “That doesn't really answer the question. That's how she summons one, not how to know who she should trust.”

“Forgive me. That part will be up to thine own judgement; you can always send them away quickly if they hold any ill intentions. Most of them cannot ignore the rules of the Displaced.” Ladon explained.

“Well that's good to know,” Eli said with an eyeroll. She then lifted up the sword she had, which she only just realized was smaller than before. “So this is how I summoned you, right?”

“When ye spoke the words, yes.” Ladon said as he turned his neck to look at Eli.

“And what did you call this? A token?”

“Yes.” He simply answered

“Care to explain what that is? I doubt it works the same as an arcade token.”

Ladon let out a soft chuckle. “I didn’t make the rules, it’s what I’ve been taught. It’s mostly a name to present it differently. For example, the one around my neck is not the same as the one in thy hands. Yours can summon me while the one I have is the original design I based the token on; it’s only enchantment is that I can hear your words when you speak to the sword. Think of it like a long ranged walky-talky, except a lot more clear in sound quality.” he explained.

“Good to know,” She said, examining the sword. “So any Displaced can make a token and others can summon them with it?”

“Yes, but of course an extra precaution can be applied in case the one that summons is one you cannot trust. When another Displaced has your token and summons ye, thou cannot return to thine home until they say the words.” Ladon explained as he held up a clawed finger. “Much like my own so that if someone breaks the oath after speaking it, it will undo the summon and send me home.”

“I'll remember that.”

“Is there anything else you can tell us?” Cadance asked.

“Yes, while Displaced are forced to obey the rules, there are some who have gotten powerful enough to overcome them and thus, they are able to travel through the void and go to any world they come across. Hopefully, none of them will come to your world.” Ladon explained.

“Yeah, last thing we need is someone who makes Sombra look like a better alternative,” Shining muttered.

“Anything else to know?” Eli asked, wanting to stay on topic.

“Only one thing I’ve discovered. The sword appears to change after the user picks it up, I’m not sure if it’s a side effect of the void or a mistake on my part...” Ladon said slightly puzzle.

“Change how?”

Ladon points at the sword around his neck, then at Eli’s sword. “See the size difference?” he asked.

Eli nodded. “Yeah. Why?”

“It changed size when you picked it up.” Ladon said, sounding a little annoyed that Eli was failing to understand.

Eli gave a deadpan expression. “Oh really?” She said sarcastically. “I just thought I grew a foot to be able to hold this properly.” She sighed. “Not really an important detail compared to everything else you said.”

“The void and the Displaced take a while to understand since their powers ignore any form of logic other than the rules their powers must apply to.” Ladon said as he places his hand onto his chest.

“Someone who has the power to ignore all forms of logic?” Shining asked. “Sounds like someone we know about,” he said to Cadance, with his wife nodded in response.

“So is that everything?” Eli asked.

“Yes, for now.” Ladon said as she slowly laid down like a cat, being careful not to knock anything over.

Eli sighed. “Okay then. Ladon, your contract is complete.” With those word spoke, a portal opened up from under Ladon, allowing his body to sink into it like it was quicksand.

“Remember, you can summon me anytime you need help.” Ladon said before he was gone from their world.

After he left, Eli looked down at the token. After a few moments, Cadance said, “Why didn't you ask how to make a token?”

“Because if I'm gonna be summoned by anyone, I'd rather be prepared,” Elizabeth explained.

“What do you mean?”

Eli looked at Shining. “You think you can help me learn how to use this? I wasn't the one who took up swordplay back home.”

“You know someone who did?” Shining asked.

Eli nodded. “My...cousin. He always loved sword fighting. Told me he even started learning it last time I spoke to him.” She said, her ears lowering as she thought about her family.

Shining nodded. “Sure, I'll help train you how to use a sword.”

“Thanks.” After a deep breath, she gave them a determined look. “I'm ready when you are.”

The couple smiled. “First, let's have some lunch,” Cadance offered.

“Okay.” With that, the three left.

“And after that, I started getting sword lessons and Shining decided to train to become a guard not long after,” Elizabeth finished.

“Huh,” Dark said. “Compared to my experiences in summoning Displaced, that is rather peaceful.”

“Like I said, nowhere near as exciting as any of yours.”

After a moment of silence, Celestia stood up. “Well, it's getting late. I'll be heading off to bed. Hope you all have a good night. And I'll see you tomorrow for the friendship summon Twilight.”

“Of course Princess,” Twilight said.

“I guess I should be off too,” Luna said as she got up. “I have my own duties to attend to after all. Farewell to you. And it was a pleasure meeting you Elizabeth.” With that, the Sisters left the room.

Cadance sighed. “Well, I guess we should get going.” As she and Shining got up, they were surprised that Elizabeth got up as well. “Eli, where are you going?”

“With you guys,” the feline said.

“Why?” Shining asked. “Wouldn't you wanna stay with Dark and Cece?”

“Well I still need to finish my training. And now that I know my cousins are here, I have more of a reason to finish.”

Starlight chuckled. “Well good luck.”

“Oh, before you go,” Dark said before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a phone. He then looked to his purple friend. “Twilight?”

The princess gave a small smile before performing the spell on the phone. When that was done, Dark placed Bri on his seat before giving the phone to Eli.

“What was that about?” Eli asked.

“A simple spell that means this phone won't die. As for the phone, it's so the 3 of us can stay in touch.”

Eli smiled before pulling him to her height and giving him a hug. “Good luck Tito.”

Dark chuckled as he returned the embrace. “You too Eli.”

After separating from him, Eli gave Cece a quick hug. During that, Cece whispered something to Eli's ear, causing the older Displaced to look at her in shock, to which Cece gave a simple nod. Elizabeth then looked at Dark before snickering to herself.

Eli then followed Shining and Cadance out of the room, giving a final wave to the others. When she caught up with the couple in the hallway, Cadance asked, “So what's so funny?”

“Let's just say Cece gave me some news that is very surprising but welcomed if you know Tito,” Eli said.

“Well I'm glad to see you in such a good mood.”

Eli simply nodded, glad that she wasn't as alone in that new world as she thought.

Author's Note

And this is done. Yeah, decided to skip straight to Eli's side of things since I'm sure nobody wants a chapter that's just recapping everything that happened already. The next chapter should be done soon, but don't be surprised if it isn't. Also, thanks once again to Drak for allowing me to crossover with him again, especially after the long wait how Link crossover took. Well, until next time everyone.
-Dark

33. Living Shadows

“It was been exactly two days since LS-002 has become active. During that time period, LS-001 has shown signs of increased activity. Upon further investigation I can only conclude that the two creatures are perhaps communicating with each other through some form of telepathy as no noise is ever made between them. Observation between the two specimens has led me to conclude that while LS-001 does show the same signs of activity, it is more dulled and reserved compared to the activity it was displaying in the first day of awakening… perhaps LS-002 has done or said something to offend it? While they still communicate, it is much more muted now. One can only wonder what exactly it is that these two creatures have been saying. ”

“It’s been three days since LS-002 has awakened, and while it seems to have given up any further attempts to grab at LS-001’s attention, LS-002 still remains curious of its surroundings, always attempting to push beyond the glass that keeps it trapped. Whenever one of us would walk by or do something near it, LS-002 would turn its attention to them, unmoving, almost as if it's staring at us. Theory couldn’t help but feel unnerved by the creature, commenting that he feels as if he’s being examined by a predator, or being stared at as if he was a piece of meat. We could only hope that LS-003 comes out more like its eldest “sibling”. I can’t help but agree with the others in that something about 002 is off in more ways than one.”

“The “Doctor” has taken a special interest in LS-002, commenting on the fact that of how it has us all unnerved to be a good sign. I’m not entirely too sure just what the Doctor plans to do with LS-002, but just the fact that he seems to be spending most of his time in the lab watching 002 and ignoring 001 puts me on edge…”

The unicorn put down the pen and sighed, the short yellowed furred pony sagged in his seat, staring up at the lab’s ceiling. Why Chromosome put a hand on his temple and rubbed it, feeling overwhelmed from the stress of this project. Ever since Archer had put the good “Doctor” in charge of the project, he couldn’t help but feel the need to continuously watch his back around him. The man seem to have a talent in putting everyone around him on edge, and his latest fascination with LS-002 had only worsened the feeling. With any luck, the Doctor’s interest will just be a passing one as always and he’ll immediately go back to his own side projects. Already the Doctor has become infamous in the lab with his passing interest in all of the other’s works. One of the scientist that used to work here had the Doctor hovering over him for days in the pony’s quest to regain his lost wings with the use of cybernetics, only for him to be fired and having the Doctor steal his research.

Chromosome suppressed a shudder at the thought of the Doctor’s underhanded tactics, he too was a victim to it, as the man had usurped his position as the chief scientist of the company. Shaking his head, Chromosome cleared his thoughts and dove back into the research notes in front of him, quickly glancing through the papers in front of him he grabbed one specific paper that was at the bottom of the pile. Looking at the paper he couldn’t help but frown, the single sheet of paper was all they had on the last specimen of the project, LS-003.

Turning around from his desk, he looked back at the three large tanks being used to contain the experiments. LS-001 and 002 were preoccupied in another “conversation”, meanwhile LS-003 was still inactive in the third tank. Why Chromosome shuffled forward towards the third tank, ignoring how 002 stopped “talking” in order to stare at him. Glancing back at the paper in his hand, his eyes narrowed at the lack of notes on it. Chromosome put his hands behind his back and stared at the third tank, waiting for something to happen. After a minute of inactivity, he sagged, “Perhaps it's time to pull the plug. It's been four days since 002 has become active, and it only took it a single day after 001 woke up for that...” He stared for another minute before sighing and stepping away from the tank, already preparing himself to report to Archer about 003’s continuous inactivity.

Before he could start writing his report for the day, the lab’s door hissed open and from the hallway floated in a strange metal contraption. The metal sphere was completely gray at the top and black on the bottom, with black and yellow stripes traveling horizontally at the middle of the device. The floating pod contained two spinning dishes at the side of it, and possessed a rotating antenna at the top of it's head. At the center of the machine, was a screen showing the image of the Doctor.

Chromosome stiffend when he saw the man’s mustache face on the monitor, and he could already feel a bead of sweat form on his brow. Straightening up, he gave the man a short but respectful bow. “W-why Doctor, what a surprise!” He said with some false cheer. “I would’ve thought you’ve gone to sleep already with it being so l-late.” He cursed himself for stuttering, but couldn’t stop it. The man always put him on edge.

The drone flew passed him and went straight for the three tanks and with a jolly, and almost friendly sounding voice that didn’t sound right at all coming from him, the Doctor greeted him, “Why hello Chromosome! I could just say the same thing about you. you know. It’s so late you should be asleep by now!” The man behind the machine tsked, as if to scold him. “It wouldn’t do you any good to lose any sleep, the company needs you after all!” Somehow, he managed to say that while making it sound genuine and like an insult, and knowing him, it was most likely an insult.

Chromosome could only chuckle nervously, fiddling with his hands. “Oh it's no problem, I couldn’t really sleep anyways.” He forced a smile and looked back at the tanks, “Afterall, the boss is expecting an update on the project tomorrow.”

From the machine he heard a chuckle. “Ah I wouldn’t worry at all about that old bat.” He said dismissively, the machine flew by him again and towards his workstation to look at the notes. “All he ever does is demand results when he gives us subar tools. If he really wanted results he should’ve given me what I demanded the first time I asked for it! So if the project takes a week longer to finish than it should have then it will take a week longer! I’m not gonna rush things through and end up with nothing but a failed experiment because he wasn’t feeling very patient.” Two clawed hands came out of the machine and picked up a few papers, the arms raised the papers up to the screen so the Doctor can see them.

The Doctor hummed. “Chromosome?” He called out, putting down the papers. “What is the status of LS-003?”

The yellow furred unicorn gulped, glancing back at the third tank. “Inactive sir.” Shuffling around nervously, he added, “I-I was planning to pull the plug on 003, with the deadline being tomorrow and it taking much longer than the other two to activate, it no longer seemed necessary to spend any more time on it.”

He tsked, the machine floated to the third tank. “To pull the plug on such a promising project seems wasteful don’t you think?” He questioned, to which Chromosome didn’t answer. He knew it wasn’t a real question. “...Perhaps this is what can be considered as the runt of the group? If so then perhaps it is best that we wait.”

Chromosome blinked in confusion. “But sir, are you sure that’s wise? I mean, wouldn’t this just be taking up resources that can be better used somewhere else?”

The machine let out a scoff, already flying towards the exit of the lab. “The old man’s plan hinges on the success of “Living Shadow”. I’m sure he’ll agree to spend a few more days waiting for this runt to activate and have three monsters instead of just settling for two.” The drone paused and raised one of its mechanical claws, holding up a stack of papers. “I hope you don’t mind, but I’ll be taking these notes. If we’re gonna be presenting this to the boss, then I should be kept up to date on everything that has happened here while I was busy.” The door hissed open and the Doctor flew out of the lab.

The unicorn gaped for a second before rushing out the lab, following the doctor. “Doctor Ivo! Wait please!” The door shut itself closed after a few seconds, leaving the lab almost empty.

For a while there was only silence in the laboratory, the silence was then promptly destroyed by one of the creatures, which was red in color, beginning to tap the glass of its tank feverishly. Seeing that its tapping wasn’t producing any results it began tackling the glass. The second creature, being a pure black substance, turned to look at the other, its body seemed to vibrate as it slithered closer to the red creature.

“What are you doing?” The black creature asked, its body seeming to shine under the bright light above them.

“What else? Trying to break the glass.” The red blob answered, not pausing its attack on the tank. “This place is boring! I wanna get out and have some fun!”

“You're wasting your time,” the former said simply. “They made these so we wouldn't be able to break out on our own.”

The red blob let out a chuckle. “Well you can stay at this dump if you want, but don’t come crying to me to free you once I break this glass!”

“And what do you plan to do if you manage to get out?”

The red blob paused for a moment. “You know… I don’t know, but anything is better than just sitting here and having those idiots poke and stare at us all day!” The blob seemed to shake his body left and right before resuming his attack. “Besides, wouldn’t you like to leave this place? We can go and have some fun! Maybe gut the fat bastard while we’re at it!” The blob laughed again, his body vibrating in amusement.

“While I won't lie in saying it would be fun dealing with him, that would be too far. As for myself, I know exactly what I'd do if I got out.”

“Oh?” The creature stopped, turning his full attention towards the other. “And what is your plan? I hope you don’t expect to find daddy dearest.”

“That's exactly what I plan to do.”

The red blob scoffed. “How boring. What do you think is gonna happen when you find him, huh? What, you think he’s just gonna welcome you home with open arms? Gonna play some catch with our old man?” The blob then gave a sinister chuckle. “Or are you gonna have some fun with the idiot? Maybe trick him into accepting you and when he least expects it, BLAM! Stab him in the back and laugh at his face as the life drains from his eyes?!” The blob’s body vibrated in amusement as he laughed.

“You really do act as your namesake, brother,” the elder creature said with annoyance. “Cletus would be proud.”

“Aww thanks bro!” Carnage extended a tendril towards the elder’s direction, stopping as it hit the edge of his tank. “You say the sweetest things. Besides I know for a fact if you just let loose, you’ll be having just as much fun as I will once I get out of here.” He chuckled. “I’ll be sure to save you some of these nerds so you can have fun with them too V!”

‘V’ sighed. “May God have mercy if you ever got out, Carnage.”

Before the blob could respond, the two creatures stiffened when they felt a new presence start to form in their link. The two shuffled towards the third tank and stared in interest as they witness the third blob convulse, a couple of tendrils stretching out as if to feel the area around it. Slowly, the tendrils retracted and the third blob got up from its position and seemed to look around the area it was in, examining everything.

Carnage seemed to gap. “Huh… I thought for sure that he was braindead. Didn’t think he would ever wake up.”

“Still wish that was the case for you,” V commented.

Before Carnage could say anything, their attention was once again stolen when they noticed the third blob staring at the two of them. The new creature was both black and red, seeming to share traits from the other two. It looked between the two in what they can sense as a mixture of fear, confusion, and a bit of excitement, or perhaps hope?

“Are you okay?” V asked his youngest sibling.

The third creature seemed to pause, as it shuffled around nervously. It stayed silent for a few seconds before deciding to respond, but before it could get a word out it was cut off.

“Hey! You stupid or something? Or are you just mute?” Carnage asked, chuckling a bit. “I knew you were a bit braindead, given how long you were asleep, but still. Hell, even I didn’t take that long!”

“Carnage!” V shouted at his sibling.

The third creature shrunk at the red blob’s words, slithering away from the two as Carnage laughed. Carnage saw this and couldn’t help but laugh harder. “Hey V look! It's a chicken! It probably inherited all of daddy’s fears or probably his cowardness! Lord knows he has plenty of that. Come on already and say something!” He said impatiently, no longer being amused all of a sudden. “What? You’re too cool to talk to us or something? You think you’re some silent protagonist?! Man let me tell you something! Quiet people piss-”

“Stop it!” V shouted, getting mad as he vibrated in anger. “Your attitude won't help anything!” He then shifted his focus back on his youngest sibling. “Are you okay?” He asked calmly.

The third creature seemed to be shaking in what was most likely in fear, not wanting to anger the red one any further, it forced itself to answer. “I! I-I! I’m fine.” It tried to answer quickly, the fear was noticeable in the quaking of its soft voice.

Carnage paused when he heard the youngest speaking, seeming to be confused. “Yo, V! You notice anything weird with chicken shit?” He asked, glancing at the eldest. “You know, as in the chicken sounds like an actual chick? And I don’t mean that it sounds hot. Nah it sounds like a little girl!”

“I noticed,” V said, equally surprised. “Can't say I saw that coming…”

The third blob seemed to recoil as if struck. Seeming to take their shock as a rejection, she slithered backwards, trying to hide herself from the other two as much as she can.

V simply focused on her again, saying, “Okay, besides our brother's attitude, what's wrong?”

“Nothing’s… really wrong… I guess..?” She answered, examining the two of them again before gathering up the courage to continue. “But… who are you two? And where… are we?”

“Regarding the former, we're your brothers, and you are apparently our sister,” V answered. “If you want our names, I'd say try to see what memories you have. You may already know it. As for where we are-”

“We’re in the Nerd Dungeon!” Carnage answered. Deciding to show his sister some mercy, he elaborated, “This place is a literal nerd dungeon. It's constantly surrounded by nerds, and we’re locked up here as if its a dungeon. No one really cares about us and only want to stare and poke us all day,” he whined, his body slumping. “It’s sooo boring! Man I think I might die of boredom here! The worst part is having to deal with the fat bastard and his spineless pet!” His body vibrated, as he grew angry. “GRAH! Just seeing their ugly mugs makes me want to grab that baldy’s mustache and rip it off! And I wonder if that coward can get anymore spineless if I rip his spine out! Wait, would he even have a spine to rip out?”

V sighed again. “He isn't exactly wrong,” He told their sister. “The 3 of us are in some sort of lab and are stuck in these tanks. And Carnage here won't shut up about wanting to kill the ones who made us.” He then vibrated as if to shake a nonexistent head. “Do you have a name you recall?”

The youngest blob slumped forward a bit, sighing. “Sorry, but I can’t really remember my name… I can remember a bunch of other things… but they don’t seem to be my memories…”

“That would be our...father, for lack of a better word,” V explained. “We come from him, and seem to share some of his memories for whatever reason. To a point…”

“Yup! We may not have all of daddy’s memories, but what we do have helps us find our names!” Carnage chimed in. “Not to mention that we also inherit parts of his personalities that relate to the memories and his issues!” He chuckled. “And man do I have my fair share of them. Think I got the bulk of it, so lucky you! You might’ve got off scott free! Then again with how you acted earlier, I think you just inherited all of his fears or some lame crap like that.”

Ignoring Carnage, V looked to his youngest sibling and said, “What is the most recent memory that you recall before waking up?”

The blob hummed, tilting her entire body to the side. “I remember… being on a roof.”

“A roof?” Carnage questioned. “Why would a roof be the first thing you remember? What, was daddy gonna jump or something? Did he see a kitten near the roof and wanted to go save it?”

The third creature shook her body in disagreement. “No, someone else was there…. It was a blue… pegasus I think it's called? They were talking, and I remember feeling weird too…”

“Ah, Rainbow,” V said. “I know of that event. Don't worry about that feeling though. That's something he'll need to deal with himself.”

“Eh? The blue bitch?” Carnage question, before vibrating in anger. “I remember that bitch being a real ass to us the whole time! Heck she knocked us out just cause we weren’t a pony the first time she saw us!” He chuckled maliciously, “When I get my hands on her, I’m gonna tear off her wings and make her choke on them before slitting her throat and pulling out her-”

“Carnage!” V shouted, not wanting to hear his brother's murder fantasies of someone he was fond of.

Their sister's body rippled. “Hey you leave her alone! She’s a pretty nice lady. I’m sure that someone… Err… somepony like her wouldn’t do what you said!”

Carnage chuckled. “Oh trust me princess, you don’t have all of daddy’s memories. Heck she was probably all buddy buddy with daddy in the beginning but she just went full bitch mode later on.”

Deciding to quickly change the subject, V asked his youngest sibling, “So you don't know your name?”

The blob slumped forward, “No… I wish I did know… but all the memories I have are of… dad...?” She said the last bit uncertainty.

“Well I can give you the name of the being you resemble, if you want.”

She nodded, appearing to be excited now. “Yeah alright! Any name is better than no name!”

“I believe the name I'm looking for is...Toxin,” V said, the memory of the name being rather blurry.

“Toxin…” She said her name slowly, as if to test it out. “Toxin. Yeah alright, Toxin! That name sounds good to me!” The blob jumped up in excitement before pausing and staring at the elder in silence. “Umm… sorry if it's sounds rude… but what’s your name? I’ve only ever heard you be called V.”

The eldest of the trio chuckled, imagining himself smiling as he answered, “I...am Venom.”

Author's Note

Wow. Made and done in 2 days. Even with the help I had, that's a surprise. So, this is a chapter devoid of Tito and his group. And this is the first chapter like that now that I think about it. So, now it's officially been revealed what Project Living Shadow is that was mentioned in 24. Hope you all enjoyed this. And I'd like to thank Star for her large help in making this chapter.

Hello everyone! Star709 here! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, if so please tell me what you liked about and if you didn't like it, please let me know why in the comments. Also as the official Co-Author of SiE, feel free to direct any questions about the story to either me or Dark, we'll be sure to answer to the best of our abilities without giving away too much.

So yeah, we both hope you enjoyed the chapter and our version of the symbiotes. Well, until next time.
-Dark

Edit 12/20/2018: And know that the symbiotes' creation is based off the Ultimate Spiderman cartoon, for anyone who complain about them being made by Tito's blood.

34. Temple Crashers

“Gotta say, this looks nice,” Screwball said, examining my hotel room as I nodded.

We just arrived at the hotel we were going to spend the night in for the Daring Do convention. After talking to the receptionist, we each got ourselves separate rooms, with Rainbow currently changing in hers and Screwball checking out mine. I placed my bag on the bed and opened it, to which I was immediately hugged by Brianna jumping out of the bag. After patting her head, I moved her so she was hanging on my back.

“So what are we gonna do?” Screwball asked.

I sighed. “Honestly? Rather stick to baseline.”

Screwball frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I don't want to change anything. At least...not yet.”

“Then why did you agree to come here?”

I shrugged. “It's preferable over going to Griffonstone.”

Screwball sighed. “Can't argue with that. But don't you think Rainbow will be hurt that you won't spend any time with her today?”

“She'll be too busy having fun with Quibble to notice that. Then that thing with Daring.”

Before she could respond, the door knocked. When I gave the knocker permission to come in, it was revealed to be Rainbow, who was wearing a short lime green jacket with a pocket on the right breast area with the collar and the wrists of the jacket being a darker shade of green, a pair of light brown shorts, and a beige explorer's hat resting on her head, the entire outfit fitting her form really well. When I realized that, I felt that strange feeling in my chest again as well as my face warming up. A moment later, I heard a yip and Bri immediately hugged Rainbow with a large smile on her face, to which Rainbow returned with a smile.

“Hey Rainbow,” Screwball greeted. “Nice outfit. I'm almost tempted to change your colors to actually look like Daring.”

Rainbow shook her head. “Nah, I'm good. So what do you think Dark?”

After clearing my throat to calm my chest, I said, “You look pretty good Dash.”

Rainbow gave me a soft smile to that and I noticed her wings ruffled a bit behind her. “So, you guys ready?”

I nodded before looking at our pink companion. “You?”

She nodded. Before I can do anything else, I heard a snap and in a flash of light, we were in a completely different room. Looking around, I noticed it was a large room with with a bunch of vendors and merchandise of Daring Do everywhere.

“Screwball?” I said, slightly annoyed about the surprise teleport.

“I figured I'd save us some time.”

I sighed and shook my head before grabbing Bri from Rainbow and placing her back on my shoulders. “Well let's go,” I said, happy that I kept my cover on while in my room.

Rainbow nodded and began walking, with the rest of us not far behind. After a few moments, Rainbow completely stopped. Stepping forward to look at her, I saw a smile on her face that could actually give Pinkie a run for her bits.

She then put her hands on her face and whispered, “So excited…” before looking around her at the various activities like a kid at a candy store.

“I feel like she had this exact same face in some WonderBolt shows in the past,” Screwball whispered to me.

I simply chuckled and continued following Rainbow, looking around the convention myself. A few more moments later, we were approached by a stallion offering us an “adventu-cation” to live the Daring Do experience.

Rainbow gently pushed him aside and said, “No thanks, did that already.”

“And trust me when I say dude, I've had enough excitement in my life that I'm pretty sure I'd be bored by your little adventure,” I told him, to which he rose his eyebrow in confusion before shrugging and moving on.

Looking back at Rainbow, I saw that she was standing a few feet away in front of a replica to a temple trap from the books, with a brown slightly pudgy earth pony stallion standing next to her, wearing an almost exact replica of her outfit with cardboard wings on his back. After they noticed each other, they appeared to hit it off rather well, even taking off their hats to talk about the accuracy of their costumes.

'And so it begins,’ I thought with a sigh before approaching the pair. “I see you made a friend.”

Rainbow turned to me. “Oh, Dark. This is Quibble Pants. He's a fan of Daring Do too!”

“I'd never have guess,” I sarcastically comment before offering my hand to him. “Name's Dark. The filly here is my friend Screwball.” Screwball waved to him in response.

“Pleasure to meet you,” Quibble said, shaking my hand. “Though, what's with your outfit? I don't know any character dressed like that.”

I blinked before shaking my head. “Oh no no no. This isn't some costume. This is my normal outfit. I'm...not comfortable showing my face when in public.”

Quibble shrugged. “Fair enough.” He then looked at Screwball and widened his eyes. “Um...are you okay?”

Screwball frowned in response. “It's the eyes, isn't it.”

“Kinda, yeah.”

Screwball rolled her eyes before snapping her fingers and suddenly she was wearing a pair of sunglasses that resemble Vinyl's, but pink instead of purple.

Quibble just stared at her and said, “H-how did you do that?”

“Tell you what, I'll tell you at the end of the day before we return to our hotel rooms,” Screwball said with a shrug.

“Okay…?”

“If you want to take your mind off it, then I'd suggest you guys just continue enjoying the convention.”

“Yeah,” I said, before getting an idea. “Say, how about we split up?”

“Why?” Quibble asked.

“So we don't slow each other down. How about you and Rainbow go off and explore everything and Screwball and I can just browse and we meet at the food court later.”

“You sure Dark?” Rainbow asked, looking unsure.

I nodded. “Yeah. The two of us aren't nearly as big as fans as you guys and you clearly wanna see everything so we'd slow you down.”

After some hesitation, she sighed. “Okay. Come on Quibble.” With that, the 2 of them going off to explore the convention.

When they were out of earshot, Screwball said, “Not a bad plan, for something you literally just came up with.”

I sighed. “I thought of it when I remembered the other convention. It's why Cece and I weren't with our mom at the time.”

“Oh. Right…”

I patted her shoulder. “Come on. It'll be a little while til they have their fight. Might as well check out a few things while we wait for that.”

“Sure.”

The three of us wandered around the convention for the better part of two hours. Overall it was decent, but I just couldn't stop thinking about the event that brought me to Equestria. Doesn't help that that was my only experience in a convention before.

'Guess this is why Cece declined,’ I thought to myself as the two of us headed to the food court.

“I still can't believe those pillows are a thing…” Screwball muttered with a small blush as she took a blindfold off of Bri. “Seriously, there are foals here.”

“Yeah, I got no answer to that,” I replied.

A few moments later, I saw Rainbow heading to the exit not too far from us and no longer wearing her hat before taking off at top speed to the lobby.

“Huh. Looks like we missed the fight.”

I nodded as we headed to the lobby to follow Rainbow. When we reached her, she was standing in front of the front desk, rather annoyed.

“Hey Tito?” Screwball said. “You notice something off about Rainbow?”

“What do you mean?”

“Shouldn't her arms be steaming if she's mad?”

I blinked as I looked at Rainbow and noticed that her arms weren't steaming at all, despite the fact that I know she's rather mad at the moment.

“You have a point…” I muttered before I noticed a figure walking cautiously towards Rainbow. The mysterious pony’s entire form was hidden behind a rather large purple poncho, with a grey hat covering her head, a white ribbon was tied onto said hat, and wearing glasses. It was pretty easy to figure out just who the “mysterious” pony. Deciding to make my presence known, I walked up towards the front desk, and as I got closer, I started to hear their conversation.

“I gotta talk to you! It’s an emergency!” Rainbow said, clasping her hands together, her eyes were wide as she bent closer to the other pony.

The pale brown pony stepped back a bit before narrowing in thought at Rainbow Dash’s words. Deciding to look around a bit, the pony turned her head towards the right and immediately spotted me and Screwball walking towards them, her eyes narrowed when she spotted us and immediately tensed up, as if waiting for us to make a move.

Screwball decided to take over. “Hiya,” she said with a wave.

The cloaked pony looked back and forth for a second before turning her attention back towards us. Giving us a small smile, she greeted us. “Hello there. Not to sound rude or anything, but is there something I can help you with?” She was polite, but it was clear to me that she was still tense, and ready to bolt at a moments notice.

“A.K, these are my friends Dark and Screwball,” Rainbow said, gesturing to the two of us. “And I believe you two know who this is.”

I nodded. “A. K. Yearling. Author of Daring Do. Yes, fairly aware.”

She relaxed a bit when Rainbow introduced us, but when she noticed Bri, she tilted her head in confusion. “Um… I hope you don’t mind me asking, but… what is that on your shoulder? It's just I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Before I could answer, Rainbow said, “Oh, that's Dark's daughter Brianna.”

“Daughter?” Yearling looked a bit more confused, turning back to look a Bri again. Smiling softly, she waved at the small pokemon, “I guess you decided to adopt then… though I hope you don’t mind me asking, what species is she? She looks a bit like a jackal.”

“Pretty much,” I said as Bri happily waved back. “But much more special and much stronger than any jackal you'd seen.”

Screwball cleared her throat. “I'm sorry to interrupt, but weren't you two talking about something before we came?”

Yearling’s eyes widen a bit at the reminder, “Right! Um… thank you!” She looked back at Rainbow and tried to whisper to her, “Um hey, didn’t you say there was some kind of emergency that you need to talk to me about?” She said, trying her best to not be heard.

“Oh yeah!” Dash replied.

“Great you remember, we should go now!” She grabbed Rainbow’s arm, and quickly turned towards us. “It was nice meeting you, but we gotta go now, I’ll be sure to leave your autographs with Rainbow Dash!” She declared before speeding off towards the hotel rooms, pulling Rainbow behind her.

I blinked in confusion for a moment. “Huh. That went well.” I looked at Screwball. “So what do you wanna do now?”

She rubbed her chin in thought for a few seconds. “I think I'll just be in my room for a bit, catch up on some reading,” she said, pulling out a book before teleporting away in a puff of pink smoke.

I sighed. “Guess it's just you and me, huh Bri?” I asked, to which I got a simple yip as a reply. With a shrug, I went to the food court and sat down before placing Bri on my lap. Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out a chocolate chip cookie and gave it to Bri, who grabbed it and began eating it with a large smile on her face.

“Nice pet,” I heard someone say. Turning around, I saw Quibble standing there without those wings.

“She's not my pet,” I said simply, petting her nonetheless. “So how are you?”

He sighed as he sat across from me. “Pretty annoyed. Had a fight with Rainbow earlier.”

“About?”

“She didn't like that I hate all the books after the original trilogy.”

“And why do you?”

“They're ridiculous! I mean, so many things in them are just so unrealistic.”

“Unrealistic? You do know where you are, right?”

“Um, yeah. A Daring Do convention.”

“Not that. You're in Equestria. A country that has crazy stuff happen on a regular basis. Like a godlike being who can rewrite reality with a thought, or a centaur that can steal the magic of everypony. So I don't see how you can find something “unrealistic”. You want unrealistic, try an alien from another dimension showing up out of nowhere because it bought something at a convention.”

He chuckled at that. “Yeah, that's insane.” He then blinked. “You know, you're surprisingly calm about this. More so than Rainbow at least. She got completely hostile when she learned that. Even more than that spider stuff.”

That caught my attention, as well as Bri if her ears perking up was any indication. “Spider stuff?”

“Yeah. During our time together, she talked about some story she heard about a stallion who has spider powers and fought some demon.”

I blinked in confusion. “I'm sorry, what?”

“I know! How insane is that? And she got so touchy when I talked about how unbelievable that is. I mean, how will you react if somepony told you something that sounds like the plot of a comic book as if it really happened?”

I looked at Bri for a moment before saying, “Depends. But yeah, that sounds crazy.”

“Yeah.” After a moment, he sighed. “Sorry about that. Just...that is so stupid.”

“Guessing you don't live in Manehatten.”

He shook his head. “Fillydelphia. Why?”

“No reason.”

He shrugged and got up. “Well, I'm gonna check out if there's anything else to buy before A. K. Yearling comes and I can ask her about that. Nice talking with you.” With that, he left.

I chuckled to myself. “I wonder what is so crazy in the later books that he finds those events unrealistic compared to anything else in this world.”

I stayed there for a few minutes with Bri until I was sure Rainbow and Quibble was taken. After that, I picked her up and looked for the exit they went to.

It was after finding the exit that I felt my spider-sense start going off. I immediately turned to grab Bri, but I felt a somepony slam onto me. Their arms wrapped themselves around me to make sure I couldn’t move. Four other ponies ran into view, all of them earth pony stallions and wearing dark uniforms similar to the riot police gear on Earth, with their faces covered behind white masks and a baton in their hands. One of the four saw Bri and immediately grabbed her.

“Wow,” one of them said before approaching me. “Can't believe it was that easy. Considering what we heard about you, “Spider”, I thought you'd put up more of a fight. No idea why the boss thinks you're a threat but hey, we get to get rid of some mutant ape and his little pet so I'm not complaining.”

I didn't know what was going on, but I understood one thing. These guys knew who and what I was, and were planning to kill me and Brianna. That gave me all the reason I needed to let loose.

I shoved my elbow into the guy who was holding me before pulling my head back to hit him in the face. After that I grabbed him from the chest and threw him at most of his buddies. A moment later I heard a yell. Turning to my right, I saw Bri biting on the arm of the guy who had her, with him trying to shake her off and his baton on the floor. After a few swings, she was sent flying, but I caught her with a web and pulled her towards myself before putting her down and crossing my arms, glaring at the group from behind my hood.

“So you guys know who I am,” I said. “Then you really should've known that attacking me was a big mistake.” I then lifted a hand and grabbed at Link's token.

A moment later, I was standing there, glaring and growling at them in my wolf form with them backing up in fear. Before any of them can snap out of it, I immediately jumped at the one who spoke and tackled him and sank my teeth in his arm.

A few seconds later, one of his friends knocked me off. After standing back up, I grabbed at the stone again and jumped at him, kicking him in the face as soon as I turned back into a human, knocking him out.

I looked to the reminding three guys still standing. “So who's next?”

Clenching their batons, they all ran at me at once, which was probably the smartest thing they did since they attacked me. I jumped back and dodged their swings before webbing up the hands of two of and web pulling their feet, causing them to fall. Before I can deal with the third one however, Bri was suddenly covered in a white aura and in a sudden burst of speed, slammed her entire body onto the third pony’s stomach, causing him to fall backwards, clutching his stomach in pain.

I blinked in surprise before shaking my head and picking up Bri. Once I was done putting her back on my shoulders, I looked back to where the guy I bit was but saw that he was no longer there. Just a trail of blood.

'Must've booked it while I was busy with his friends.’

“What are you?” I heard a voice said.

When I looked towards the source, I saw Daring Do without her Yearling disguise standing there with wide eyes.

“Oh,” I said, not expecting to see her. “Hi Daring. Um, these guys attacked me and I fought back.”

“I saw. I was going to help out, but you looked like you had everything under control. But that leads back to my question. What are you?”

I sighed. “Long story short, I'm a guy with spider powers, and a rock that lets me turn into a wolf. That's all you need to know. Now, shouldn't you be helping Rainbow? I believe she and some stallion was kidnapped by Caballeron.”

“What?!” Daring shouting before flying off.

After she was out of sight sight, I turned to head to back to the convention when I almost ran into Screwball.

“Not bad,” she commented with a smile as she saw the bodies, no longer wearing those sunglasses from earlier.

“Thanks. So what are you doing here?”

“Well, I was thinking we change one small thing with the baseline. Something you won't mind.”

“And what's that?”

“Beat up the good doctor and his goons. Maybe show Quibble some of the skill the “spider guy” has.”

I won't lie, the idea was tempting. But there was a small issue. “I don't know how to get to that temple.”

Screwball smirked. “No, but you can find it with this.” She then pulled out a beige feather. “Took this from Daring when she was watching your fight.”

“And what am I supposed to do with that?”

“You follow her scent of course.”

I opened my mouth for a moment before closing it again. After a moment of silence, I said, “I forgot I had that ability.”

“Well now you remember. Now you might wanna be quick because I called for the cops during the fight and they'd be here any moment.”

I sighed before grabbing the stone and transforming again with Bri still on my back. She held up the feather to my nose and I sniffed it. Once I was familiar with the smell, I started seeing a misty trail matching the feather's color.

“Got it?”

I nodded before tilting my head to my back. She got the message and got on me. When she was done, I immediately ran off, following the trail. After a few minutes, we made to a temple, with the trail leading straight to a wall.

‘Must've been a door that closed when Daring came through.’

After Screwball got off me, I changed back to my human form. And it was only then that I realized something. “Wait, couldn't you just teleport us here?”

“Yeah. But I figured this will be more fun.” The very next moment she immediately tensed up, her eyes becoming glassy and unfocused. Worried, I walked up to her slowly and placed a hand on her shoulder. She jerked away from the contact, as if startled by it, raising her hands up to her face, she started rubbing her eyes. “Sorry. It's just that something feels...off about this place. Makes me feel weird. I don't know how to describe it better. And neither do any of the other two…”

“Maybe you should head back to the hotel.”

She shook her head. “No. There's something around here, and I'll find it. And hopefully stop this feeling. At the latest, I'll be back when you're done with those guys.”

I nodded. “Can you take Bri with you?”

“You sure?” She asked, confused.

“Yeah. Just in case any of those guys get smart, I don't want her to get hurt from them.”

She shrugged. “Okay. Come on Bri.”

Bri gave me a quick hug before letting go of me and walking towards Screwball as they went off into the jungle. With a deep breath, I looked at the temple and jumped at the wall and climbed up it before I waited for those guys to show up.

(Third Person POV)

Screwball eyed the jungle trees in front of her as she could feel the source of the energy being deeper inside the jungle. The strange energy kept calling out to her, repeatedly telling her to come closer. Whenever she tried to get a glimpse of what exactly was calling her, she would get a splitting headache, and she couldn’t just skip ahead and see what it is. No, she had to physically reach out to it. Screwball sighed and started making her way inside the jungle, holding onto Bri’s paw to make sure they wouldn’t get seperated. Fortunately while she couldn’t exactly use her magic on the strange source, she still had access to her chaos magic and it was useful to scare away all the predators that were eyeing her and Bri.

Screwball stopped suddenly, feeling the strange signature beating softly. Quickly scanning the area for the source, she frowned when couldn’t exactly pinpoint anything. She sighed and shook her head. Deciding to continue straight ahead, she continued walking with Bri closely following behind.

Glancing at the small pokemon at her side, she smiled slightly as she reached over and picked her up. Bri tensed up at the sudden action, but soon relaxed when she was placed on top of Screwball’s shoulders. “There!” The pink filly exclaimed, “With you up there we can find this thing much easier now.” The Riolu smiled, her tail wagging happily as she pumped her small fist in the air.

She felt the energy signature pulsating again. It felt like a heartbeat, and she felt herself becoming much calmer at the feeling of it. She stopped when she felt Bri’s small paw tap her head, looking up, she saw the Riolu point excitedly at one of the trees to the left of them. Following the direction of the paw, she gasped when she saw a brightly glowing light emitting from the knothole of an old withering tree. Walking up to the old tree, she felt the energy beating faster as did her heart. Taking a deep breath, she plunged her hand into the knothole, grabbed the strange energy source, and immediately pulled her arm out.

Looking down at her glowing hand, she gasped when she saw what it was. The object emitting the energy source was a large emerald colored diamond, the gem was bigger than her whole hand. Rotating the gem around, she saw that the strange gem was a perfect cut diamond, however just calling it a diamond didn’t feel right to her. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she mentally reached out to the odd gem, trying to find out why it was calling to her and how it could block her magic.

“It… feels like… dad..?” She whispered to herself, confused. Frowning, she tried to read the energy again. “No… not dad… its different… a bit weaker, but it could be stronger.” She glared at the object, trying to make sense of the diamond. “But how could it get stronger?” The gem was no longer glowing, and was no longer sending messages to her head. She sighed when she didn’t receive some sort of instruction or answer from the strange object, but did expect it.

Sighing, Screwball snapped her fingers, the gem her hand disappearing into her pocket dimension. “Well at least my magic affects it now.” Reaching over to pat the pokemon’s head, she smiled softly, “Come on Bri, we wasted enough time here.” Bri yipped happily, holding onto the filly’s beanie as they made their way out.

(Dark's POV)

I was perched on the wall of the temple, looking around at the jungle when I heard a male voice below me.

“Come on! They couldn't have gotten far.”

Looking down towards the voice, I saw an ashen furred earth pony stallion with a smooth black mane combed back, with grey streaks on his mane. He wore a plain white shirt and a pair of pale brown jeans, tied around his neck is a red and white polka dot handkerchief.

With him was two other earth pony stallions, one with dark gray fur and an orange mane with sideburns, the other was a more pale gray and had a black mane with matching sunglasses.

“Well, guess that's my cue,” I muttered before placing my hands on the wall and launching myself a few yards away and landing behind a few trees, my landing causing a few plants to rustle.

“Wait, I heard something,” the stallion said.

I stepped out of my spot and looked around, pretending to be lost. When I saw the trio, I said, “Oh, hi. Nice Dr Caballeron costume. Hey, I'm looking for a pegasus, maybe you seen her? She has red eyes, wearing a green jacket, some light brown shorts? Can't miss her.”

Caballeron widened his eyes for a moment before smirking. “So, you're another friend of Daring Do? Guess we can just take you in order to convince her to hand over the treasure. Get him.”

The one with the orange mane came at me lunged at me, to which I simply jumped over. “Wait, are you the real Caballeron?” I ask in false shock. “Wow. You're quite a disappointment.”

“Well at least you aren't as thick headed as that other stalli-” he started before shaking his head and glaring at me. “Disappointment?!”

I stepped to the side as the big guy tried to tackle me from behind, hitting the one with the glasses instead. With a shrug I said, “Well compared to a guy who can make demons and projectile swords and another guy who wore a magic proof suit that allowed him to shoot energy blasts, you're kind of a joke.”

He growled at me. “Why you little-!” With that he lunged at me himself and was gonna punch me, but I simply caught his fist.

I smiled from behind my scarf. This and the fight with Shocker just shows how much fun it is to get someone so mad that they stop thinking.

I squeezed his fist, causing him to drop to one knee. With a bit of fear in his eyes, he said, “W-who are you?”

I shrugged. “A demon to some, a hero to others. But if you must know, I'm the DarkSpider.” I then pulled back my free hand, loosened my grip on his fist, and punched him so hard that he was knocked back several yards and crashed into a tree, knocking out. After dusting off my gloves, I turned to his goons. “So you guys wanna have a go?”

They looked at me with fear before running around me, grabbing the unconscious Caballeron, and ran as fast as they could away from me.

I waited for a few moments before turning towards some bushes and saying, “Hope you guys enjoyed that.” A moment later, Daring, Rainbow, and Quibble stepped out, with the pegasi looking impressed and Quibble rather shocked.

“Wha...why...how did you do that?” Quibble asked. “Nopony is that strong.”

Deciding to simply tell him, I said, “Yeah, you know that spider guy Rainbow mentioned? That's me. Super strength is one of the powers I have. And before you ask, no I didn't fight an actual demon. Just a guy who can make fake ones.”

“But you said that it was crazy that someone like that would exist.”

I nodded. “I did. And it is. Never said it wasn't true though.”

He opened his mouth before pausing, realizing I was right.

Daring chuckled. “Well whatever you guys are talking about, that was pretty impressive kid. Now, I gotta make sure this little puppy gets to a museum,” she said, pulling out a small item. She then looked at us. “There's some stairs on the other side of the temple that lead out of the ravine. Once you take them, head west and you'll make it back to the hotel.” With that said, she then took off.

I then turned to the other two. “So Quibble, now that you experienced a real life Daring Do adventure, or at least the climax of it, still wanna talk to Yearling about her books being unrealistic?”

Quibble stood silent for a moment until his eyes widened. “Wait, you knew that Daring Do is real?”

I shrugged. “Yeah. I knew long before I met Rainbow. Though today was my first day actually meeting her. But today went better than I expected, minor issues aside.”

At that, Rainbow suddenly frowned. But before I can asked what was wrong, Screwball suddenly appeared with Bri on her shoulders.

“We're back,” the filly proclaimed as Bri immediately hugged Rainbow. After looking around, Screwball frowned as she stomped the ground. “Dang it, I did missed the fight.”

I chuckled. “Not really much of a fight Screwy. But glad to know you're okay. You find what you were looking for?”

Screwball nodded. “Yeah. Some weird diamond or something. It's very familiar but I just can't remember where I seen it before.”

I shrugged. “Give it time, I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out.”

She nodded again before looking at all of us. “So guess we're heading back to the hotel?”

“Yeah.”

As Screwball was about to snap her fingers, Rainbow stopped her. “Wait.” When we looked at her in confusion, she said, “Screwball, can you and Quibble go right now? Without teleporting I mean. We'll catch up with you.”

Screwball shrugged. “Okay then. Come on Quibble. Guess I can explain how I can do what I do while we walk.”

“That will be appreciated,” Quibble muttered before going over to follow her.

Once they were gone I looked at Rainbow, who was frowning at me with her arms crossed. “So...what do you-”

“We need to talk,” she said.

I blinked for a moment. With a shrug, I took off my hood and lowered my scarf. “About what?”

“You knew all of this was gonna happen, didn't you? From that show of yours?”

After some thinking, I decided to just tell her the truth. “Yes, I did. All the important stuff from you going to the convention, to meeting Quibble, all the way to now.”

“And you didn't do anything?”

“I don't wanna mess up the timeline.”

She paused for a moment. After taking a deep breath, she asked, “Do I have powers there?”

“What?”

“In that show. Am I a Conduit in it?”

“No…”

“Does Screwball exist in it?”

“Not exactly.”

“Do you exist in it?”

“No. Of course not.”

“Then isn't the timeline already changed? You just being here already shows that things are different now.”

I blinked in surprise. “You...got a point there…”

“And if you didn't wanna change anything, why did you even accept my invitation to come?”

“Honestly? It's nicer than Griffonstone. That and I figured it be nice spending at least some time with you.”

After taking another deep breath, Rainbow looked at me. “I want you to promise me something.”

“What?”

“I want you to promise that you'd stop worrying about this whole nonsense about not changing the timeline.”

“Rainbow-”

“Please?”

After some hesitation, I sighed. “Fine. I promise, I would stop focusing on keeping everything the same as the show.”

She seemed to relax with that. “Sorry. It's just that that's kinda stupid at this point.”

“True…” I then realized a small detail. “Wait, speaking of changes, why didn't you use your powers to deal with those guys?”

She looked away in embarrassment. “I'm out of fuel.”

“Wait, seriously?”

“Yeah yeah, I know. Stupid that I can be out of fuel when I just need water, but I've been so excited about today that I completely forgot to refuel. What with the convention, seeing Daring again, hanging out with you...”

After that, we both stood silent for what felt like hours, but was likely just a few minutes. When I was about to suggest that we leave, I felt a tug at my leg. Looking down, I saw Bri looking at me, the whole talk with Rainbow causing me to not even realize she was still here. When I was about to pick her up however, she put a paw into one of my pockets and pulled out a small box.

“Oh, right. Forgot I had this…” I said as I grabbed the box.

“What's that?” Rainbow asked.

“A late birthday present I got for you. Ordered it a little while ago and it was finally finished yesterday. I planned to give it to you today actually.” With a shrug, I walked up to her and gave her the box. “I know this is overdue, but happy birthday Rainbow Dash.”

She took the box and looked at it for a few moments before opening it. Inside it was a silver necklace with a pendant in the same shape and colors as her cutie mark.

I shrugged and said, “I know it isn't very original, but I couldn't think of anything better and wanted to get you something. I'd understand if you didn't-”

The next thing I knew, she immediately hugged me and even nuzzled me, immediately shutting me up. For some reason, that action caused my chest to feel like it exploded.

“I love it,” she said simply.

After I snapped out of my shock, both of the hug and the feeling in my chest, I returned the hug. A few moments later, we separated and looked at each other in the eye. But after a few seconds of that, Rainbow quickly looked away with her cheeks turning a soft shade of pink as she quickly backs away.

“Um, s-sorry about that,” she said. “B-but yeah, I love the present. Thanks Tito.”

I immediately did a double take when I heard that last word. “What did you call me?”

“Tito. Why?”

“Just… just surprised you called me that.”

“Well it's your name. And I figured it's about time I start using it.” After that, she took the necklace out of the box and putting it on. “How does it look?”

I smiled. “You look great,” I told her, feeling my face heat up as I say that.

She smiled back. “So...should we go after the others?”

“Um...you go, and take Bri. I...need to think about something. I'll catch up.”

“Okay. Come on squirt,” she said as she picked up Brianna and flew off.

When they were out of sight, I sighed to myself. “What is wrong with me?” I asked as I began to pace near the temple. I was getting annoyed about all the strange feelings I've been having the last few weeks. “I can't stop thinking about Rainbow, just having her smile at me has me feel extremely happy, that hug had me feel crazy for some reason despite being hugged multiple times before, and with her gone I'm starting to feel empty. Seriously, saying this out loud makes all this sound...like…”

I widened my eyes as I realized what has been going on before I buried my face into both of my hands. “I'm in love with Rainbow Dash,” I muttered, my voice muffled by my hands. After lifting my face up, I took a deep breath. “I'm in love with my best friend. Wow, how stupid am I to not even figure that out sooner.” I said as I clenched my fist and ended up punching the temple in frustration, my fist going right through the wall.

The next thing I knew, a large part of the wall crumbled to pieces and I ended up staring face to face with a large reptilian creature that gave me a hungry grin. Before it can attack however, I immediately jumped over it and just crawled up the temple, not bothering to deal with that thing at the moment since I had no actual reason to fight this time. Once I was sure it couldn't get me, I stood up and started pacing on the wall as I went back to my previous thoughts.

“I'm in love with Rainbow,” I muttered, facepalming. “I am never gonna hear the end of it if Delsin or Aurora find out. Now what?” I asked myself. After a few moments of thinking in silence I shrugged. “Nothing. She's still the same Dash I know and things aren't any different between us. I just now know why I've been feeling funny. No point in messing with something that's not broken.” With that decided, I put on my cover, took a deep breath, then started running to the stairs Daring mentioned, jumping off the temple when I reached the end. After landing, I continued running to catch up with the others, deciding to keep my realisation to myself.

Author's Note

And this is finally done. This chapter has been planned for so long. About 2 years as of now. And is probably one of the most important chapters due to a few things. No point recapping some things, but I will say this: many of you likely knows what Screwball found. The next chapter should be out by Christmas. Until next time.
-Dark

P.S. Thanks again Star for helping me with this chapter.

35. Metal Strangers

The Cipactli snarled, its sharp teeth glistening in the moonlight. The crocodile-frog hybrid’s mouth opened wide before snapping down at its prey, only for it to miss again when the small bipedal jumped up and grabbed hold of the tree branch above it. The hybrid animal hissed angrily at the sight of the monkey being out of its reach and snapped its mouth at it repeatedly, the intimidating sight did nothing to the nimble spider monkey as it began laughing.

The small spider monkey got up from the branch and mocked the hybrid animal, the primate howled with laughter pointing mockingly at the Cipactli. Reaching over for the closest branch next to it, it plucked a large fist sized fruit and chucked it right between the croc’s eyes.

The Cipactli hissed reaching for its snout with its short stubby claws, only for it to quickly realize that its legs are much too short for it to properly wipe away the gunk obscuring its vision.

Seeing this, the spider monkey laughed again, taking more fruit and chucking it down at the fish-like crocodile. The Cipactli let out a hiss in surprise as it was assaulted again with fruits, deciding that the primate is more trouble than it's worth, it turned tail and skittered away towards the nearest river, leaving the howling spider monkey alone.

The mocking laughter of the primate burned itself into the Cipactli’s head, already this was a ninth creature to escape its clutches. The ponies were bad enough, but now it couldn’t even catch a stupid tailed ape anymore. Once it was far enough from the monkey, the croc slowed down, taking small cautious steps, its life in the temple have made it soft, but its not stupid enough to think that the forest doesn’t have any creatures that could be a threat to it.

Finally reaching the body of water, the hybrid reptile dunked its head inside to clear away the gunk the fruit had left behind on its head. Finally clean, the crocodile stepped away from the water and looked around, already determined to find a new prey, one that was hopefully easier to catch than the ponies that visited its temple earlier…. And that awful monkey.

The Cipactli’s head whipped back and forth as it continued to stalk the dark forest for a new meal, the night sky being the only source of light the hybrid had. The creature’s stomach growled angrily, making the croc wince. Already it was tempted to give up and go to sleep and try again another day. Just as it was about to do that, a low humming sound stopped it. Its head shot straight up trying to pinpoint the location of the humming.

The Cipactli slowly crawled toward the bushes, the source of the noise coming from the other side. Seeing how close it was now, the crocodile poked its head over the bushes catching the sight of several large shiny bugs. Both the toad part of him and the fish part leaped in joy at the sight of three very large insects ripe for the taking. The trio of insects were strangely shinier than normal insects and they only barely resembled the insects that they looked like, with two of them looking like large overgrown ladybugs with scythes for arms, and the last one being a very large spiked purple caterpillar with fangs.

The hybrid shrugged, not caring for how strange the three of them were, only caring about getting its next meal. It eyed the three of them carefully. The caterpillar appeared to be the most dangerous and hardest to put down, so he decided to go after the ladybugs. They only had the short scythes as weapons, and they wouldn’t be able to hurt him if he was fast enough.

Crouching down, the predator smirked and jumped over the bushes, catching the trio of insects by surprise. Opening its mouth wide, the Cipactli snapped its jaws shut at one of the ladybugs, snapping the poor creature in half.

The shiny ladybug let out a short wine before its eyes darkened, its head and arms being the only things to escape the creature’s jaws.

The Cipactli grimaced at the taste. It certainly didn’t taste like any insect it ate before. It was far too bitter, and there was very little meat that didn’t even taste like insect meat. Shaking its head, it cursed its misfortune before deciding to get rid of the other two bugs. Swallowing the body of the bug it ate, it turned towards the other two and got ready to leap at them.

The purple caterpillar’s eyes narrowed as it hissed at it. It coiled its body, making sure that its spikes were pointing straight at the crocodile. The ladybug next to it let out a loud screeching noise with the smooth black lower body and charged towards the Cipactli.

The hybrid’s eyes widen at the alarming speed the shiny insect displayed and could do nothing as it slammed itself at him. The croc flailed its body, trying desperately to get up quickly before they could get the chance to end the fight, its wide eyes lit up in terror when it saw the ladybug’s scythes come straight down at its neck.

Thinking fast, the Cipactli jerked its neck and flung the ladybug off it and towards a nearby tree. The insect’s body was smashed to pieces from the hard impact, parts of its body scattering all over the floor. Deciding it could eat its remains later, the croc turned its attention towards the caterpillar, only for a fireball to hit it straight in the face.

The caterpillar hissed again, launching more fireballs from its smooth fanged mouth, its yellow antennas bobbing back and forth each time it fired another.

The crocodile could only panic as the bug displayed abilities it had never seen before. It quickly skittered around it, trying its best to find a possible opening from the wall of spikes its hiding behind. The Cipactli’s eyes widen when it saw the caterpillar raised its head and poised itself to strike like a cobra would.

Letting out a cry of pain, the Cipactli was stopped at its tracks when the purple caterpillar bit down on its leg, its fangs penetrating its hide. The Cipactli then roared as it felt the caterpillar’s fireballs being launched at the now exposed flesh. Lashing out, the Cipactli bit down at one its foes’ body segments.

The crocodile quickly jerked its head away in surprise when it witnessed the segments connected to the damaged body part fly away, even the caterpillar’s head disconnected itself from its body and rolled away. The hybrid animal could only watch in fascination as the caterpillar’s segments all formed a pile and rebuilt itself a few feet away, leaving behind the damaged limb.

The now rebuilt caterpillar roared in anger, firing more fireballs at its foe. Too stunned to react, the Cipactli let out a small roar as it was consumed by the fire. Pausing its onslaught, the caterpillar waited for the cloud of smoke to dissipate and reveal its foe.

The caterpillar jerked back in surprise as the Cipactli jumped out the smoke and towards it. Firing more fireballs, the Cipactli shrugged off the hits and snapped its wide jaws down at two of the insect’s body segments, leaving it only with three more. The segments tried to repeat its earlier feat and rejoin, but the now aware croc quickly whipped its tail back at the leftover body parts and scattered them all again. The predator growled turning its head back and leaping at the head of the insect, it crouched down and growled at the dopey expression on the caterpillar’s head.

Before the crocodile could deliver the finishing blow at the now cornered insect, three large blue bees burst out of some bushes and began attacking the crocodile. The Cipatcli could only cry out in confusion as it was pelted by more fireballs coming from the bees’ stingers. Deciding the battle was lost, the hybrid tried its best to escape the onslaught, only to be stopped by a strange new shiny creature.

The large grey creature lifted up its red paws and grabbed the Cipatcli at its torso. The hybrid tried to get away from its grasp but was unsuccessful at getting away from its ironclad grip. Lifting one of its long grey feet, it stomped down hard on the ground and twisted its cylinder like body, its spring like legs groaning at the action it was performing. The grey creature then chucked the Cipatcli out of the area they were in.

The crocodile hybrid let out a distressing roar as it flailed its limbs in the sky. The croc could only whimper as it saw the four insects and golem like creature get farther away before they were finally out of sight due how far it was thrown. Letting out one final roar, the Cipatcli disappeared from view, never to be seen again.

The large metal being could only watch in fascination as the beast that caused its group trouble disappeared as a twinkle in the night sky. Nodding his head, he turned towards the three large bees and uttered a short thank you before turning its attention to the now reassembled caterpillar. The purple insect was missing half of its segments, now only having three body segments and its head. The grey being shook his head in annoyance and started picking up the damaged limbs. Seeing parts of the two dead ladybugs, it began to pick up those parts too.

Finally collecting all of the pieces of metal, the golem-like creature dropped them all in front of him and reached over to grab the large brown backpack that was strapped onto his back. Opening up the bag, he carefully grabbed all of broken pieces and dumped them inside the backpack. Opening one of the bag’s pockets, he took out a small handheld device and slung the bag over his shoulders.

Pressing one of the buttons on the device’s side, the contraption flipped open. Using his large red gloves, he pressed down on the green button on the bottom half of the machine. The grey golem then spoke, “Call Bomb.”

The device squawked in an artificial voice, “Calling Bomb…”

He only had to wait a few moments before the ringing in the device stopped. “Ping!”

He nodded his head when he heard the voice of his partner. “Bomb, track my location and meet me here. I don’t think splitting up was a good idea,” he said as he took a look at the damaged caterpillar.

“Ping!” His partner shouted in agreement before hanging up.

Before he could snap the device close the artificial sounding voice from before called out to him. “Heavy,” it said. “What happened?”

The shiny golem, Heavy, paused, considering his words before replying. “A simple complication. A wild animal got to some of our scouts,” he answered before adding, “I quickly disposed of the threat, and seeing that a simple beast was about to destroy the scouting party, I decided it would be best if we combine our forces. There is safety in numbers.”

The device stayed quiet for a few seconds. “Understood. Try not to let this happen again. Our resources are not infinite.” The voice went silent, the green glow on the device’s screen shut off. Heavy snapped the device shut and pocketed it on one of the bag’s smaller pockets.

He only had to wait for a few minutes before his partner finally caught up. Even compared to the wildlife of the forest, he was rather short. He had a spherical body that resembled a cherry bomb. The top half of his body was black and the bottom half was red. He also has no facial features and a white fuse on the top of his body. He had a pair of silver metallic limbs that ended with a pair of yellow gloves and another pair that ended with white and red shoes. Behind the cherry bomb being were a pair of short red crabs, the crabs being only slightly taller than the first being.

Heavy's short bomb shaped partner saluted. “Ping!” He greeted.

“Greetings Bomb,” Heavy replied. “There has been a change of plans. We’re going to travel together for now on. We can’t afford to waste anymore resources.”

“Ping!” The bomb agreed, apparently having one of its crabs suffer an unfortunate accident earlier.

The two groups then merged and began walking together deeper into the forest. The group of strange beings began to survey the area, wary of any more dangers that could deplete their numbers. One of the crabs climbed on top of Heavy and clung onto his back, its two eyestalks monitoring the area around them, watching for any creature that would dare attack them. Meanwhile, the trio of bees flew above the group, hoping to be able to catch any ambush predator off guard. The rest of the group merely walked in a semicircle, determined to protect each other.

Suddenly, Heavy’s red glove shot up in the air, signaling everyone to stop, those that were ahead stopping when they noticed that everyone was no longer moving. Heavy made his way forward, only stopping once he was in front of a tree. There was a noticeable distortion in front of the tree, one that would be unnoticable from afar.

“Have you found anything?” Heavy questioned.

The distortion revealed itself, no longer trying to mask its presence, revealing itself to be a large green chameleon with a metal chassis on it's stomach area. The yellow bulging eyes stared up at him for a moment before nodding. Skittering up the tree, using its four limbs to grab onto one of the branches. Briefly scanning the area, the chameleon pointed towards the direction of interest, it's mouth parted slightly and a gargled raspy voice echoed out from it, “a TrEe…” It paused, as if to catch its breath. “jUsT tO tHe NoRtH oF hErE.” It titled its head. “oLd tOo... AgInG rApIdLy. EnErGy ReAdInGs SugGeSt TaRgEt WaS ThErE.” The chameleon shook its head, sadly. “vErY fAiNt NoW.” Finally he added, “tHeRe WaS aLsO a TeMpLe NoT tOo FaR fRoM hErE, dO nOt ThInK iT's VeRy ImPoRtAnT.”

Heavy hummed. “A faint energy signature? This isn’t very promising…” The grey being sighed and shook his head. “Thank you Newtron. Return to your previous duty. Once finished, make sure to return back to base.”

The chameleon nodded, then it disappeared from view, leaving only a distortion in the space that occupied it. Heavy stood still for a moment before rejoining the group, making a mental note to try to fix the Newtron’s voice box once back at base.

Deciding it’d be best to continue, Heavy gathered up everyone and continue walking towards the direction the Newtron pointed them to. Finally reaching their destination, the group had arrived in front of a large old withering tree. Reaching over to the backpack, Heavy took out the small computer and flipped it open.

“Scan.” Heavy ordered, pointing the computer at the tree.

“Scanning…” A green light shot out of the handheld device and covered the tree in front of them, briefly moving up and down before disappearing. “Scan complete…. Scans indicate a large amount of leftover chaotic energy inside the tree. The tree also seems to be aging rapidly… possible side effect of no longer having the target inside of it keeping it sustained.”

“Leftover?”

“The emerald was here, that much is certain. Unfortunately, someone beat us to it.” The machine answered.

Heavy was silent for a moment, wondering what exactly do to. “Perhaps one of the animals here has found it?” He suggested, not wanting to leave empty handed.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think that’s the case. I already scanned the area. There’s some residual energy, but nothing suggesting that it's still here.” Heavy’s hopes were dashed with the answer the computer gave him. “Return back to base. There’s nothing for us here. Whoever found the emerald before us are long gone by now.”

Heavy was silent, wanting to continue the search for the faintest chance to not leave empty handed. After a few moments, he nodded. “Affirmative.” He closed the computer and pocketed it in his bag before turning towards the rest of the group. “Mission failed, we’re all to return back to base for repairs.”

His partner, Bomb, stepped up. “Ping?”

Heavy shook his head, “Someone else came here first, but I doubt it was them. There would’ve been some kind of commotion if they had been the ones to find it first. I believe it's a third party.”

“Ping?”

“These ponies do not know what powers they’re dealing with. If it was them, then we will have to take back the emerald.” Heavy started walking back towards the direction they came from, some of the other creatures following behind him. “By force if necessary.”

Author's Note

This was done sooner than we thought. We (mostly Star) started this around the same time as 34. Speaking of Star...

Hello everyone its Star709 here bringing you a new chapter for the story! While I was the one who was writing this chapter I would like to thank Dark for helping me keep on track! And it seems like some new Metal Strangers have appeared in the story! Only time will tell on who exactly these people are! Though I imagine many of you already know what's going on... As always please tell me what you think of it! Tell me what you like and dislike so I can improve on my writing!

Yeah, Star is the one responsible for this chapter. We hope you like it. And have a merry Christmas 🎁.
-Dark

Chapter 36

(Third Person POV, Canterlot Station)

"The train to Ponyville will be arriving in 2 minutes. I repeat, the train to Ponyville will be arriving soon!"

As soon as it was announced, Dark immediately saw several ponies getting up from the station's benches and gathering their things. A family to the right of him picked up their bags and started forming a line were the train was to arrive. After some yawning, Dark got up from his seat and walked towards the tracks.

He looked around the station while he waited, most of the others back at the castle. Not long after, the train finally arrive and Twilight stepped out of it and walked up to him.

“Hey Dark,” Twilight said with a smile before giving him a hug. “Hope you're well.”

“I'm fine,” Dark said, returning the hug before separating. “So why did you come today?”

“Well, I finally figured out how to end this nonsense.”

Dark did a double take. “Wait, really?”

Twilight nodded. “It's rather simple, but after weeks of thinking, it's probably the best option we got. I'll explain it when we get to the castle. But first, someone else came with me.”

“Really? Who?”

“Hi Dark.”

Looking to the voice, Dark saw Lyra walking up to him with a smile.

With a nod, Dark gave a quick wave. “Hey Lyra. You doing okay?”

“Decent,” Lyra said with a shrug. When she noticed his bag moving, she said, “Um, is something wrong?”

Dark shook his head. “Follow me.” With that, he led his friends out of the station and to the nearest alley.

“Uh Dark? Why are we here?” Lyra asked.

After making sure no one else was around, Dark aimed his bag at Twilight, opened it, and Bri immediately jumped out and hugged her, causing Lyra to step back in shock.

“What is that?!” Lyra said.

“Her name is Brianna,” Twilight said with a smile as she hugged Bri back.

“And my daughter,” Dark added.

Lyra stared at him with wide eyes. “Your daughter? How? She is clearly not human, nor a pony. Not to mention you only been here a few months. Plus I doubt you and Rainbow got that far yet.”

Dark and Twilight's eyes widened in shock. “WHAT?!” They said in unison, to the point Bri had to cover her ears.

“What? Aren't you two a couple?”

“What? No, we aren't,” Dark said in a quieter voice, happy his scarf covered his blushing face. “And know that Bri is only a month old.”

Lyra immediately had a small blush on her face and covered her mouth. “Sorry.”

“What even made you say that?”

“Well you two are pretty close. So I just thought you two were dating. I mean, I almost always see you with her.”

Dark pinched the bridge of his nose as Bri climbed his leg onto his shoulders. “Does everyone think we're dating?”

“Pretty much,” Lyra said with a shrug. “At least everypony I personally know.” She looked at Bri as the pup gave a happy wave. “So...how is she your daughter? And what is she, some sort of dog?”

“She's adopted. The day we met at the park. That night, Bri hatched in my hands.”

Lyra rose an eyebrow. “Hatched? How-”

“Brianna is a special creature called a pokemon,” Twilight explained. “All pokemon are hatched from eggs, no matter their species. Speaking of which, Brianna here is a rather rare pokemon known as a Riolu. Think of them like bipedal jackals that can sense emotions thanks to those sensors on her “mask” and they're fairly strong.”

“Oh, okay. Wait, where did you get her egg?” Lyra asked Dark.

Dark sighed. “You remember the thing about Displaced?” Lyra nodded. “Well a few days after Hearth's Warming, I was summoned to one of the other worlds for the first time with Twilight and Cece. We got some pokemon, and left. Then a little while after coming here to Canterlot, I went back there with Rainbow.”

“Stuff like this is why everypony thinks you two are dating,” Lyra interrupted.

“Stop,” Dark said, annoyed. “Anyway, while there we saved a few eggs and I kept one. A few days later, she hatched in my hands. And sees me as her dad.”

Lyra nodded. “So you're the adopted father of a strong creature from another universe who can sense emotions?”

“And loves giving hugs,” he added.

“So...why was she in your bag?”

Twilight blinked. “You know, that's a good question Dark.”

Dark sighed. “I don't want any nobles to think she's some pet, something that belongs in a zoo, or something they can buy from me. So I keep her in the bag unless we're in the castle, at Joe's, or alone in alleys.”

“Well considering what you been through and know, can't say I blame you,” Twilight said with a shrug. “But you should try leaving her out in public. Don't want her to get too used to this. Especially for when she evolves.”

“Evolves?” Lyra asked.

“Pokemon go through something called evolution,” Dark explained. “Basically the pokemon version of growing up. Bri will one day evolve into a Lucario. Stronger, more control over aura - that's how they can sense emotions - as well as learn more moves. And I'll keep what you said in mind Twi.”

Twilight nodded. “Well with that out of the way, we should head over to the-”

She immediately stopped as Dark immediately stood straight up, his spider sense going off again. He immediately grabbed Bri and shoved her into Twilight's arms before running down the alley.

“Dark, where are you going?” Twilight asked while he was shedding his cover, put on his mask, and webbed his clothes to the top of a nearby wall.

“No idea,” he said as he web zipped over a building and swing away.

Twilight and Lyra blinked. After a few seconds of silence, Lyra said, “So that's his costume?”

“Yup.”

“Not really a good idea for a guy who wants to have a secret identity to have a completely concealing suit in both personas and they are both the same colors.”

Twilight shrugged. “You'd think that, but nopony seems to noti-” She was then interrupted when they heard a loud crash.

“What was that?” Lyra asked, scared.

Twilight didn't respond as she simply teleported the three of them to where she believed the noise came from. After opening their eyes, they saw a large building that looked like it belonged in Manehatten, with some of the higher floors being on fire with broken windows. Not far from the building, high above the ground, was a being in a green and silver clothes with large metallic wings of matching colors on his back, twice of the size of Celestia's own. The final noticeable feature was something similar to a flight helmet on his head, completely covering his face.

“Show yourself, coward,” the figure shouted, his voice augmented through the helmet. He then waved one of his hands back, one of his wings following it, before swinging it forward, a few of his “feathers” flying out of his wing and towards the building. “I'll make sure you pay for what you did.”

Before he can attack again, a strange white substance was launched into his face. While he was pulling it off, he heard a voice say not too far below him. “Okay Vulture, calm down.”

After successfully getting the substance off of his helmet, the “Vulture” looked at the voice and saw Dark perched on one of the intact windows.

“Who are you?” Vulture asked. “And what did you call me?”

Dark shrugged. “Spider, and Vulture. The latter is because you reminded me of a guy named that. Now either you stop now, or I kick your butt.”

Vulture blinked behind his helmet before throwing his head back and laughed. “Oh, so you wanna play hero huh? Well then hero, let's see how easily you break.”

He then launched some of his feathers at Dark, to which he dodged the first few but the last one scratched his leg, cutting deep enough to draw blood.

“You're out of your league “Spider”. Leave now and I'll let you-” Vulture immediately stopped when Dark shot another web at his face and pulled Vulture to him before punching him, sending the stallion a few feet back. After ripping the web off again, Vulture growled. “Fine. If that's how you wanna play it…”

Vulture then immediately grabbed Dark by the leg and flew up a few meters. “Such a shame, having to ruin the street below with your corpse,” he said before letting go. He smirked for a second before he felt a small tug at his legs. Looking down, he saw Dark hanging onto him with a web. “Hey, let go you stupid inse-” he was interrupted again with another web to the face. With a growl, he said, “So you wanna have a ride? Then let's go for a ride.”

He then flared up his wings and dived, Dark holding on. When he was close to the ground, he lifted himself up and flew over the streets, narrowly dodging various buildings and signs so his passenger can hit them. Unbeknownst to him, Dark avoided each of them by webbing one of the opposite buildings and pulling himself towards them. After a couple of minutes, Vulture lowered his head and widened his eyes in shock when he saw that Dark was still holding on.

“Persistent, eh?” He was then immediately webbed in the face again again. “GAH! Stop that!”

Dark immediately shook his head and shot a web to the ground, causing him and Vulture to stop. Dark then let go of the 2 webs and landed on the ground.

Vulture shook his head as he looked down at Dark. “What's your deal, kid? You work for that bat and his fat pet?”

“Actually I work for someone else. But I'm taking you on because you were causing trouble.”

“Why do you care?”

Dark shrugged. “I can't just stand by and let you hurt others.”

“So you really do wanna play hero? Fine.”

Vulture shook his head before flaring up his wings. He then launched several feathers at Dark, to which the human dodged with greater ease than on the building. With the last one, Dark webbed the feather and swung it back at Vulture. The attack sent Vulture back a few feet, but his armor protected him from any real damage.

“GAH! You are so annoying.” Vulture screamed in rage. He then looked around and saw several civilians, none of whom were pegasi. With a smirk, he then flew to one, a pink earth pony mare with a green mane, and grabbed her by the arm. “So hero, let's see if you share the same weaknesses as so many others.” He then flew up several meters before dropping her. “Save her, or follow me.” He then flew off.

Dark briefly watched Vulture fly off before focusing on the mare. Thinking quickly, he shot a web to two buildings opposite of each other before he slingshot towards the mare. He caught her as she was panicking and said, “Calm down, or this'll hurt a lot more.” He then wrapped one arm around her and used another one to shoot a web at the closest building and swung from it to reach the ground safer.

When they landed, Dark looked at the mare. “You okay?” She just gave a shocked nod in response. “Good. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a cranky old bird to catch.” He then web zipped to one of the lamp posts and used the momentum to launch himself further before swinging at top speed. After a couple of minutes of swinging, jumping, and zipping, Dark caught up with Vulture. Deciding to finish things, Dark landed on Vulture's back.

“Hey!” Vulture shouted. He looked over his shoulder and shook his head in shock. “What? How did you… you are a real pain, you know that?”

Dark shrugged. “Guess you didn't know I have my own means of transport. Say, this looks important,” he said, looking at the harness the wings were attached to. “Wonder what happens when I do this.” He immediately punched into the harness and ripped out a few wires.

“You stupid motherbu-” Vulture started before his wings immediately went crazy and he was launched forward, with Dark falling off of his back and saving himself by webbing to a building. Looking at Vulture, he saw the villain flying wildly in the air, unable to control himself. He then heard Vulture say, “I'll kill with you next time we meet, you annoying Spider!” Soon after that, he couldn't be seen anymore.

After taking a few deep breaths, Dark perched himself on the building. “My second villain based on a Marvel character. Definitely more of a challenge than Shocker.” He then touched the cut on his leg before wincing. “And definitely more of a pain than Shocker.”

With a sigh, he swung back to where he left his cloak and bag and put them on. When that was done, he immediately went back to the building Vulture attacked. Looking at a nearby sign, he saw the name of the company it was part of.

“Bio-Corp huh?” Dark muttered to himself as he read it. He immediately heard a small noise behind him. He had enough time to turn around before being tackled. Looking down, he saw the familiar sight of Bri hugging his chest and nuzzling, except she had a concerned look on her face when she looked up him.

“There you are.”

Turning to the voice after getting up, he saw Twilight approaching him with some ash on her.

“What happened to you?” Dark asked before putting Bri on her usual spot.

“I spent my afternoon evacuating the building and putting out most of the fires. What about you? Last we saw of you, you were attached to some weird pony.”

After looking around, Dark whispered. “He's the one responsible for the chaos and I took care of him. Though don't be surprised if he ever comes back.”

“Well good job driving him away at least.”

“So mind telling me about this place?”

Twilight shrugged. “Bio-Corp. One of the most successful companies in Equestria. Even has a building in a few different cities, including Manehatten and Las Pegasus. They usually focus on biological studies, hence the name, but I heard lately that they're expanding to technology. You don't know about it?”

“Never heard of them before now. Not in the show.”

“Huh. Strange…”

“So where's Lyra?” Dark asked.

“She decided to help comfort some of the ponies who I got out. Once they all calmed down, she said she'll meet us at the castle.”

“So we're heading there now?”

Twilight nodded. “And when we get there, I'll tell you the idea we had to fix everything in Ponyville. And I think today might actually help.”

“Seriously? Well then come on. And if we hurry, we might be able to see Lyra meet Screwball.”

With a chuckle, Twilight's horn glowed before she teleported the three of them to the castle.

(An hour later, Canterlot Station)

A peach colored pegasus with a blue mane and goggles sat in the train, tapping a hoof to the ground impatiently with her arms folded as she waited for her friend.

“Where is she…” she asked to nobody in particular.

“Indy!” She immediately heard.

“Finally.” Turning the the voice, Indigo Zap saw her friend. “Hey Zest. What took so long?”

Lemon Zest sighed. “Sorry. I was kinda busy freaking out.”

“What happened?”

“Well you know that spider guy that been showing up back home lately?”

“The same guy Dust talked about?”

“Yeah, him. The one who stopped that Shocker guy.”

“What about him?”

“He was here.”

“Seriously?”

Lemon frowned. “Come on Indy, you're telling me you didn't see a green guy with giant wings flying around and a guy in blue and black following him?”

“No, I didn't. Why do you care all of a sudden anyway.”

“He saved my life,” Lemon said.

Indigo did a double take. “Wait what?”

Lemon then explained the event of what happened earlier. When she was done, Indigo looked at her in shock.

“You're serious?” She asked.

“Very.”

Indigo shook her head. “That is insane. And you're excited about that?”

“A real life superhero just saved my life. Why wouldn't I be excited?”

“Almost dying from being dropped high in the air?”

“But I didn't. So no need to worry about that.”

Indigo rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Just wake me up when we're back.” With that, Indigo got herself comfortable before falling asleep.

Lemon shrugged before looking out the window, thinking about what happened and hoping to meet the Spider again one day to properly thank him.

Author's Note

Wow. I did not expect to finish this for another few days. I seem to be rather productive when I'm in that house... Anyway, Tito just fought the SiE version of Vulture. I really hope you guys like the fight scene. Only Vulture I fought so far is the one from Web Of Shadows and Shattered Dimensions, both of which was years ago. And regarding the plan Twilight had, sorry but you'll have to wait until a later chapter. Not the next. A few. Well, that's all. And again, happy new year.
-Dark

37. Hatching An Enhancement

“No.”

It was just one word, one simple word that caused the world around him to come to a sudden stop. He felt sick, his hand went immediately to scratch his bandaged arm, but he stopped himself last minute and forced himself to look at his boss in the eyes. “N-no? But sir please-!”

“I said no!” The thestral across from him glared with a scowl on his face. “I’m not going to waste any time or resources to help you in your quest for revenge!” The stallion’s scowl went away as he picked up one of the papers in front of him, though his glare stayed focused on him. “You’re useless to me now. I called you to take care of him because I thought you could handle it.” His scowl returned. “Clearly I was mistaken. You’re dismissed, get out of my office.” He turned his chair around to face the office window, taking in the view of city below him.

His throat went dry, the protest dying in his mouth. “A-are you firing me?”

The thestral didn’t even turn to face him. “No, but if you keep bothering me I might just do it.” He answered simply, continuing to look at the view. “You know too much, and have never failed me before, until now.” He waved an arm and shooed him away. “Get your arm fixed up and then we can talk. You’re only half the pony you are without both of your arms, Gero.”

His leader’s words cut through him, and he was tempted to leap over the desk and strangle the stallion that insulted him. But he knew his place, and gave a short bow. “Y-yes sir.” He gritted out, clenching his fist. Turning away from his boss, he walked out of the room and carefully closed the door shut. Gero tried his best to calm himself down, but his boss’s last words kept repeating themselves in his head. “Only half the pony am I? Asshole… I’ll show you what half a pony can do.” He stormed off, making his way to the infirmary. “Those eggheads better have something that can fix my arm.” Gero muttered to himself, trying to keep himself from scratching his bandaged arm again.

His arm was driving him crazy, just begging to be scratched. Gero glanced down at the wrapped up piece of mangled flesh, glaring angrily at it. “If it wasn’t for that stupid Spider ape wolf thing, I wouldn’t even be in this mess…” The itch came back, only fiercer than before. Gero’s hand shot towards it to scratch it, only for it to stop as he realized what he was doing. “Bucking arm… I’m not weak… You don’t bucking control me!” He yelled out loud, causing a few nearby ponies to glance at him. “If only I didn’t have this useless sack of flesh I could’ve been out there by now hunting down the dipshit that did this!” The staring audience immediately turned away, a bit startled and concerned at the fact that he was talking to himself.

Gero shook his head and looked around, noticing that he was in the middle of a split hallway. Glancing at the right side of the hallway, he growled and immediately turned to his left. “The hay's the infirmary at?” He looked at the walls hoping for some sort of guide only for him to find nothing. “Buck it! Right it is!” He quickly turned towards the right side of the hallway and stormed off towards it.

“Where the hay am I?!”

Gero took several heavy breathes, his face red from both anger and exhaustion. He tried his best to ignore the faint echo of his yelling bouncing off the walls of the hallway, but everytime he heard his own words his anger only grew. He looked around the room he was in, looking for something to take his frustration off on. Spotting a lone bucket filled with water, he ran up to it and kicked it with all his might, causing the bucket to fly off towards the other side of the hall. Gero couldn’t help but smirk when he saw how far the bucket flew, feeling much calmer now that he had vented some of his anger. “Knew I took the wrong way… It must’ve been left…” Just as he was turning around, a loud clunk echoed off the hallway followed by a short, but loud yell.

The charcoal furred earth pony grimaced when he heard the yell. “Buuuck. The last thing I need is another complaint against me. Don’t want the boss getting any ideas…” Sighing, he ran his hand across his orange mane and walked towards the source of the yell, intending to apologize and hopefully get some directions. “At least I finally ran into someone.”

Finally reaching the end of the hallway, Gero froze, his eyes wide with shock and confusion at the…thing…in front of him. “The hay…?”

The headless thing in front of him had a yellow body in the shape of a cube, a thin grey tube connected the body to its arms and black lower body. Where its lower body would be was just what appeared a black square lower body with a black ball fused onto the inside, a tube extended outwards connecting itself to the yellow cube body. The headless thing in front of him floated around helplessly, its big yellow gloves trying to grab at everything around it in a quest to find its lost head.

“Oh! Excuse me!”

Gero jumped back, being taken completely by surprise. His head darted around the area, trying to find the source of the voice that had spoken out.

“Down here mister!”

Gero looked down and frowned when he saw that it was a disembodied head speaking to him. The head was shaped like a black square with a flatten, yet wider yellow square cap on top and a larger black square on the bottom, the latter which resembles a jaw. Its mouth was parted slightly, allowing him to see a blue cover resembling a row of teeth. The head also had two grey-framed and pupil-less light blue eyes squinting at him.

The head’s lower jaw shifted, slowly moving up and down as it talked. “Boy am I glad to see you!” The head exclaimed, its squinting eyes opening up a bit more. “I thought for sure that I was gonna be stuck here… Think you can help me out?”

Gero’s eyes darted from the head to the body for a few seconds before slowly nodding, “Alright… but I have a few questions first...”

The head bounced up from its position, as if it was happy. “Oh sure! Anything you want!”

“What exactly are you?” He asked.

“Me? Well I’m Cubot!” The head answered happily, the thing’s head suddenly sagged to the left and hummed. “Though if you want my number, it's IDI-07.”

Gero frowned, “I-D-I dash 07? Why numbers?”

Cubot hummed in thought, before answering. “I guess it's so that the Doctor can tell us all apart more easily. There are so many of us he makes, it must be hard to keep track of who’s who when so many of us look the same.”

‘Golems?' Gero thought to himself. Based on what Cubot said, it sounded like he was one, and was just one of many, and that just one pony was making them all.

Cubot called out to him again, stealing Gero’s attention. “Do you think you can take me to the Doctor? Don’t think anyone else here can fix me…”

Gero narrowed his eyes, feeling a bit hesitant to agree. Sighing, he went over and picked up both of Cubot’s head and body. “You wouldn’t be here if the boss didn’t already know about you, so I guess there isn’t much to worry about.” Being sure to avoid putting Cubot on his broken arm, he looked around the hallway before turning towards the disembodied head. “You know where to go?”

“Oh yeah, definitely!” The machine’s eyes quickly shifted around at the three hallways before finally settling at the one behind him. “I was facing that way, so the Doc’s lab must be over there!”

Turning towards the direction he was provided, Gero let out a deep sigh. “You better be right about this.”

Gero frowned at the sight of the metal door, looking to his right he saw a blue glowing screen. Walking in front of the screen, he turned towards the metal head in his arms. “Hey, you do know the password for this door right?”

Cubot bounced forward to glance at the screen, “Password…?” He hummed, not answering Gero right away. “Oh yeah! I remember! Just be sure to keep it a secret okay? I’m not supposed to tell anyone.” He said the last bit with a whisper.

Gero rolled his eyes. “Yeah don’t worry I won’t say anything.”

“Great!” Cubot cried out happily, “Now… it's E.”

“E.” The pony repeated, pessing the letter on the screen.

“Now G.” A beep. “G again, then put M-A-N.”

“Eggman?” Gero said out loud in confusion. “Stupid name, and password. Though I guess it works. Wouldn’t have really guessed what it was.” The metal door hissed open, allowing for the two to step inside.

Upon stepping into the room Gero’s attention was immediately caught by the row of what looked like empty suits of armors hanging limply on a rack. Looking towards his left, he saw a table full of machinery with what appeared to be the head of a large mantis. Next to the head was the mantis’ metal body, cut open with multiple wires and bits of metal sticking out of it.

Taking a few steps closer to the table, he took a closer look at the mantis like machine in front of him. Glancing to the machine's right, he picked up what appeared to be a blueprint of the mantis in front of him, detailing exactly how it works and what it's supposed to do. “Metal golems…” He whispered to himself, his suspicions now being confirmed. “Seems a bit advanced for it to just be golems though…” Looking around the table again, he spotted a lone folder at the edge of the table. Flipping it upon, he grabbed the latest document on the folder.

“After reviewing the data we have on the subjects, we can only come to the conclusion that creatures are in fact intelligent, or at least are able to display basic level of thought that animals are capable of. It was through continuous observation that we were able to see hints of personality in them. After reviewing the data, Doctor Ivo believes that the personalities of the creatures could in fact come from the source of the creature’s DNA. As of now we are unsure of what exact personality traits they may have inherited.

For the past few days LS-002 has been displaying erratic behavior that is not seen in the other two experiments and it is likely that he may have inherited all of the source’s aggression. To find out why exactly LS-002 displays such different behavior, it has been decided that 002 should stay behind with Ivo while the other two are transported to a new facility in a few days. Hopefully LS-002’s behavior can be corrected, or at least managed and controlled.”

Before Gero could fully take in what he was seeing, the sound of yelling stole his attention. Hearing that the yelling was coming from deeper within the lab, he slowly walked towards it and quickly hid behind one of the large pieces of machinery.

Taking a peek from behind the large machine he glanced at the creature yelling at the large screen in front of him, discovering that the loud creature was no pony. In fact it reminded him of the photo he saw of the Spider without his costume, though the one in front of him was much larger and rounder. The creature wore a red coat sporting two square metal buttons on both sides of the chest in gold, the coat also had a zipper lining down on the middle. The bald creature wore a pair of black pants, along with a pair of matching boots. On the creature’s hands were a pair of white gloves. From the back, all Gero could see of its head was the grey goggles he kept on top of his bald head, and what appeared to be a large brown colored mustache extending over each side of his face.

The red coated creature’s gloved fist raised up to the air and slammed down at the desk in front of him. “What do you mean the emerald wasn’t there?!” He yelled at the large monitor in front of him.

Gero glanced up at the monitor, wanting to see who he was yelling at exactly. Behind the monitor was a grey metal golem, with a hole in where its eyes would be, for two large orange eyes to poking out of said hole. Gero was only able to see the upper half of the golems body, but even then he could still see a bit of red from under the dome shaped head.

The golem bowed its head in apology. “Forgive us Doctor. We’ve scanned the area multiple times and had our scouts search the jungle more times than was necessary. The emerald isn’t here.” It said, its voice sounding artificial, cold, and carried an echoey tone.

“Then at least tell me you have an idea of where it could be?!” He slammed his fist down at his desk again, causing some of the machinery on his desk to fall onto the floor. “The scanners detected a large amount of chaos energy at that location and those ponies have no idea what the emeralds are capable of! So if it isn’t there, where is it?!”

“As of now, we have no leads.” The golem answered, unfazed at the creature’s anger. “However, I do suspect that it was taken by the locals. After all, they do have an attraction towards shiny objects.” It immediately raised a gloved hand, an attempt to calm the angry creature. “Do not worry master. If the ponies do have the emerald, we will get it back. By force, if necessary.”

Gero heard the creature sigh. “Fine. Do not fail me again.”

“We won’t, Doctor.” The monitor shut off, the image of the golem disappearing. Gero waited a few moments until the creature turned towards the objects on the floor and began picking them up. Seeing his opportunity, Gero turned back towards the exit of the lab. He knew the conversation that just took place wasn’t something he was meant to hear, and he didn’t want to ‘disappear’ if he was caught.

He only took a few steps forward when he bumped into one of the suits of armor that was hanging from the rack. Gero took a step backwards, his eyes wide as he stared at the armor’s glowing red eye. The armor’s right arm shot towards his neck and grabbed onto it tightly, Gero dropped Cubot on the floor and immediately tried to claw the armor’s hand. The suit ignored his attempts to get away and began stomping towards the bald creature, Gero’s attempt to escape escalated when he began kicking the suit, only for it to ignore him.

‘Buck! This thing must be a golem too!’ Gero thought to himself, his eyes wide with terror as the golem finally reached its master.

“Doctor.” The golem called out, catching the creature’s attention. Finally getting a view of his face, Gero saw that covering the creature’s eyes were a pair of thick blue glasses, and instead of a snout there was a long pink nose, and a very long and thick mustache growing under said nose. Just like the back of his head, the creature’s face possessed no fur besides the moustache, and again brought the Spider’s picture to mind.

‘The two must be part of the same species.’

The Doctor scowled when he saw Gero hanging from the golem’s hand. “Where did you come from?!” He yelled, before he shook his head. “No, better question: how did you get in here?”

It was then that the other occupant of the room made itself known. “Oh that was me boss!” Cubot called out, his head being carried by his body. “My head fell off and this guy helped bring me here for repairs.”

The Doctor’s scowl deepened. Taking a step forward he kicked Cubot with all of his might, sending the small golem away. “YOU IDIOT!”

The golem holding Gero, ignoring its master’s display of anger, said, “Doctor, shall I exterminate the intruder?”

Gero’s eyes bugged out in terror. He began flailing as he tried to get away from the emotionless being in front of him. “N-no! Wait! Please!” He begged. “I’ll stay quiet, I swear!”

The Doctor scoffed, waving away his attempts. “As if I’d trust you to keep quiet. Second I let you go, you’ll go straight to the old bat.” He turned his back and began focusing on the machinery in front of him. “SWATBot, get rid of him, but don’t leave a mess.”

The golem nodded and turned his attention to Gero. Raising its other arm, the SWATBot began to choke the pony, ignoring all of his attempts to break free.

Gero flailed wildly, terror gripping his heart as he fought for survival. He gasped for air as he fought back, his thoughts slowly beginning to drift back to the convention, the feeling of terror that overwhelmed him when the Spider turned into a wolf and destroyed his arm, the feeling of despair that filled him when he was dismissed by the boss, all of it came to him at once. Slowly those feelings began to be replaced by anger, anger at the Spider for crippling him, anger at his boss for dismissing him as useless, anger at the golem for trying to kill him. ‘No… Buck this! I’m not gonna die like this! I still need to get that Spider back for doing this to me! I’ve got to show that bucker that I don’t need his support to take him down!’

Letting go of the metal arms trying to strangle him, Gero reached down towards his belt, trying to find something, anything, that can help him escape. Feeling his baton, he grabbed it and raised it over his head, intending to smash the golem. Already he could feel himself slowly losing consciousness, his vision already being blurred. Determined to live, Gero swung the baton down at the golems head, catching it off guard and causing it to stumble backwards and letting him go.

Gero coughed violently as he was finally able to breathe again. Glancing upwards at the SWATBot, he gripped his baton tightly and sprinted towards it. The SWATBot’s eye glowed brightly as it reached to grab the baton from him. Gero crouched down to dodge the arm and jumped forward, impaling the machine’s eye with his baton. The SWATBot to let out a metallic groan and collapsed, falling backwards with a loud thud.

The Doctor sighed. “How troublesome.” Suddenly from the racks above them, three more of the SWATBots fell out of them, landing on the floor with a thud. The machines’ red eyes glowed brightly as one by one they all picked themselves off the floor and immediately started stomping towards him.

Gero turned towards the first SWATBot and yanked his baton out of the machine’s head, slowly walking away backwards from the machines, pointing his baton at them. “You think I’m scared?! Come on then! I’ll take you all out! And once I’m done with you that bucking Spider-ape is next!”

The Doctor raised an eyebrow, “Spider-Ape?” He chuckled, “You really think you of all people can take on the Spider that the bat is obsessed with?” The bots moved closer, two of them moving to Gero’s side, hoping to corner him. “Look at you! You’ve got no powers, no gadgets, you only have one arm, and you were almost killed by a single SWATBot.” The Doctor smiled widely, unnerving the pony in front of him. “Even if you weren’t half a pony, you still wouldn’t be able to touch him.”

Gero could feel his blood boil at the creature’s words. “I’m not invalid!” Gero shouted, his face turning red from anger, “I survived my bout with that bucking freak! I’ll survive this too! I’ll get stronger! I don’t care if the boss tries to stop me! I’m going to be the one kill that freak!”

The Doctor stared at Gero, his smile slowly growing wider until it stretched across his face. Raising a single hand, he snapped his fingers, causing the trio of SWATBots to stop. “You’ve met this Spider?” He questioned, moving his arms to his back, leaning forward with great interest.

Gero could only raise an eyebrow in confusion at the sudden change. “I did.” He raised his bandaged arm, “He’s the bucker who did this to me.”

“He broke your arm?” He asked, tilting his head slightly.

Gero frowned, recalling the events of the convention. “It's more like he tried to rip the damn thing off, I was lucky he didn’t. Not like I expected being bitten...”

“He bit you?” The Doctor leaned away with a frown, seeming to be confused.

“He transformed into a wolf and used my arm as a chew toy.” Gero scowled.

“Transformed?” The Doctor hummed, rubbing his chin in thought. “How interesting... None of my data says he has that ability. Where did this happen?”

“At the Daring Do convention the other day…” He answered slowly, “Outside the hotel, near Blackwood Forest.”

The Doctor stiffened, his frown turning into a scowl. “Blackwood Forest?!” Suddenly with a yell, he turned around sweeping his arm across the table, scattering all of the papers and machinery across the floor. “Of course he was the one who found it! There’s just always some blue “hero” who gets in my way no matter where I go!” He yelled slamming his fist on the table. The Doctor took a few deep breaths to calm himself, before slowly he turning towards the pony again, flashing him small smile. “You said you wanted power didn’t you? Power to kill the Spider?”

Gero nodded slowly, not trusting himself to speak. The Doctor’s smile grew as he walked closer to him. “What if I said I can grant you that power?” Gero stiffened, his eyes widening slightly. “It’d be easy for me to do it, and I can continue to give you more power, everything you need to pay him back.”

Gero gulped, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. “What’s the catch? You were trying to kill me a minute ago, why should I trust you?”

The Doctor suddenly laughed, he reached over his shoulder and pat the pony on the back. “My boy, why should you trust me?” He repeated his question and laughed harder, before turning to look at Gero in the eyes, the pony could see his reflection stare back at him. “Because I’m the only one who’s willing to give you the time of day.” He stepped back. “Look at you? You think anyone else will help you? You said you faced off against the Spider before and you came back with nothing to show for it but a broken arm.” He leaned forward again, his smile wide. “I’m the only chance you have, because I know Archer. And I know that to him, you’re washed up. Old news. Useless.” Standing up straight, he offered Gero a hand. “But I can make you better, better than him, better than the Spider, better than you could ever be without my help. And all I ask for? Is your loyalty.”

Gero stared at the offered hand, his throat dry, rendering him unable to speak. He thought back onto his words, thought back to the conversation he had with his boss. Did he think the Doctor was manipulating him? Yes. But he also knew that it was the truth. The boss said so himself, he was useless. Gero’s hand moved forward on its own, but he didn’t try to stop it, the power he promised already had him hooked. Gero grasped the Doctor’s hand and he shook it. For some reason, he couldn’t help but feel like he just sold his soul.

“Excellent!” The Doctor exclaimed, letting go of his hand and putting his arm around the pony’s shoulder. “You’ve made the right choice my friend! Come now, we have much work to do.” He said while pushing him towards his desk, he glanced at the arm and looked back at the desk, taking out a blank piece of paper. “Now let’s see what we can do about that your arm.”

“Alright…” Gero said, feeling a bit lightheaded. Thinking back to how he got into this situation, he couldn’t but feel the need to satisfy his curiosity. “By the way, why Eggman?”

The Doctor looked briefly surprised before giving a small chuckle, “Oh right the password. You see my friend, that’s because I am the Eggman.” He chuckled as if laughing at a joke. “But you can call me Dr. Ivo Robotnik.”

Author's Note

And it is done. Another chapter made by Star, except unlike 33 she had full control on this one with me just editing. And in my opinion, she did a great job.

Hello everyone. Star709 here along with a new chapter for SiE! At last we meet the Eggman, the man with the master plan! Please be sure to tell us what you think, and if you have questions feel free to leave them there for us to answer!

Yeah, this chapter finally reveals who "the Doctor" is. The reveal was supposed to be later, but every Sonic fan knew who Ivo was and many people can tell who it was from 33, so I figured what the hay. And the pony Tito bit now has a name. Gero. We had other ideas for a character with that name, but after I made a suggestion for the guy Tito bit, we decided to give him the name. Sadly, I have no idea when the next chapter will be. My goal is to get it done by Valentine's Day. Until next time.
-Dark

P.S. In case anyone may be confused, that isn't actually the Eggman. Just feel like clarifying since I know some Displaced stories have actual characters from other franchises show up.

38. Tough Love

Princess Luna yawned softly, covering her mouth with her hand. Looking at the two guards besides her she dismissed them with a small wave. "You may return to the barracks now. It'll be morning in just a few minutes. I'll be seeing you two at sundown." The two thestrals nodded and said their goodbyes, leaving the lunar princess by herself. Walking towards the door to the castle's garden, she opened them and stepped outside. Making sure to close the doors behind her, she turned back towards the garden, carefully making her way through it as she took in her surroundings.

Luna smiled a bit when she witnessed the nocturnal creatures in the garden start making their way back to their nests. "Perhaps I should follow their example." She commented to herself, thinking about cutting her stroll in the garden short. Her ear twitched when she heard the sound of something eating. Turning to the noise, she saw the large black and blue furred wolf form of Dark laying on the ground, devouring some roasted chicken on his paws and his bag beside him.

Luna gave a tired smile, the sight of Dark in wolf form having become something she was used to as he had been staying in the garden every morning in it the last few weeks, greeting Luna as she finished her duties.

'He really does enjoy that form…’ she thought with a small chuckle.

She let out another yawn before looking at the transformed Displaced. “Well, have a happy Hearts and Hooves Day Dark. Hope it's eventful.” With that, she continued to her quarters.

Dark continued chomping at his breakfast for a full minute before he froze as what Luna said finally processed in his mind. He widened his eyes and jerked upright in shock. “WHAT?!” He shouted, startling many of the animals enough to wake them up. He ignored them as he grabbed at his necklace and transformed into his human form before picking up the remains of his meal and his bag and walked into the castle.

“How can I not notice what day it was?” He asked himself as he passed a trash can and placed his meal inside before he leaned on the wall and placed a hand on his head. “What do I do…”

After a few minutes of thinking, Dark had an idea. With it decided, he walked towards the throne room and entered, Celestia getting a few things ready before she made breakfast.

When she noticed Dark, she gave a small smile. “Good morning Dark. Surprised to see you out and about. Thought you usually stayed in the gardens til everyone else wakes up.”

“Yeah, about that… You know what day it is?” He asked.

“Hearts and Hooves Day, if I'm not mistaken. Why?”

“Um...mind if I took the day to myself?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that I'll be leaving Canterlot for the day.”

“Do you mind if I ask why?”

“Cece.”

Celestia blinked. “Pardon?”

“Cece is a massive shipper and on days like this, she's insufferable. And that was before she got powers. So I'm gonna leave town for the day and come back tonight.”

Celestia nodded. “Very well. And Brianna?

Dark winced when she brought his daughter up. “I'll leave her here. I don't like it, but I might do some superheroing and I rather she be safe here than risk her getting hurt.”

“Understandable. Though, why are you telling me this? Not like you need my permission to go.”

Dark shrugged. “Figured it'd be polite to inform you ahead of time. Also, I was hoping to get some of my bits I'm owed. You know, to get some food later?”

Celestia nodded before lighting up her horn. A moment later, a medium size pouch full of bits appeared before she gave it to him. “Hope that'll be enough for now.”

Dark shrugged. “I'm sure it is.” He placed the pouch in his bag. “Well, have a nice day princess. And thanks.” He started walking away, but stopped as he reached the door. “Oh, and please don't tell Cece where I went. Or have someone tell her for you.” With that said, he put on his hood and scarf and ran off towards the train station.

A couple minutes after he left, Celestia smiled. “Funny how someone who talks about the importance of looking up forgot his own advice.”

Screwball immediately teleported to her side after hiding in the ceiling. “I'm sure he's just too distracted to have noticed.”

Celestia nodded. “Perhaps. So you sent the letter?”

Screwball nodded as she hovered beside Celestia. “Yup. Last night.”

“Well, hope things go well.” Celestia then took a small breath as closed her eyes and her horn ignited, the sun slowly raising outside. When she was done, she started to walk towards the door. “I'll get breakfast ready. Same as always?”

“Yeah. Maybe add some blueberries for mine if it's not too much trouble,” Screwball said.

Celestia nodded as the two of them exited the room.

Dark stretched as he got out of the train station, looking at the familiar sight of Manehatten, seeing a bunch of decorations around. He rolled his eyes and stepped forward before he heard an unexpected voice.

“Hey Tito.”

Dark immediately stopped and looked towards the voice, seeing Rainbow step out of the train station, a backpack on her. He did a double take to make sure he wasn't just seeing things before saying, “Rainbow? What are you doing here?”

“Screwball sent me a letter last night to get here as soon as I can today and to bring my costume. What are you doing here?”

Dark shook his head as he processed that. “Avoiding Cece.”

“Why?”

Dark hesitated before looking around. He then leaned closer and said, “She's insufferable on days like this. Always trying to get me to go out with someone.”

“So you had a holiday like this too?”

Leaning back, he nodded. “Valentine's Day. Though Cece's constant attempts at playing matchmaker made me dislike it. A lot.”

“Well she's not around now. So whatcha wanna do?”

“Huh?”

“Well I literally have nothing better to do, day off from the Bolts and all, and I'm here anyway, so I figured we can hang out.”

“You're serious?”

“Well yeah. So what ya wanna do?”

Dark thought for a moment before shrugging. “Maybe get something to eat? I know a restaurant not too far from here. Maybe you can tell me about what's been happening with you.”

“Great. Come on,” she said before grabbing his arm and pulled him down the street.

Dark immediately pulled his arm back. “Do you even know where it is?”

She stopped and looked away, rubbing one of her arms. “Uh...not really. Been awhile since I been to Manehatten. Wait, how do you know where it is?”

Dark shrugged. “Had a lot of time to explore the last few times I was here.”

“Right… So, we going or not?”

Dark rolled his eyes under his hood before walking away, leading her to the restaurant.

“After that, I went back to where he attacked, talked with Twilight, and we went to the castle after that,” Dark said.

The two were sitting on the roof of the building that Rarity For You was part ot, eating a late lunch, the two of them having spent the last few hours together.

Rainbow laughed. “So this Vulture guy is another one of those villains Spiderman fought?”

Dark nodded. “He's usually some old coot in some green outfit with feathered wings. But this guy? His tech was more advanced than even Shocker. It's...troubling.”

“Meh. You still took them both down pretty well. Though why did you web that guy so much.”

Dark chuckled. “I learned a while ago that if you annoy or piss off someone enough, they start getting sloppy and not think. One example is Shocker even hitting his own guys with his blasts.”

Rainbow couldn't help but chuckle as well. “I'll keep that in mind.”

“So what you been up to since the convention?” Dark asked, not sure about anything else to talk about by that point.

Rainbow shrugged. “Not much. Only thing worth mentioning is Zephyr graduating mane therapy the other day.”

Dark nodded, remembering the episode. “Shame your gene wasn't activated when he came over a few months back. Bet you would've loved the excuse to freeze him.”

Rainbow nodded in agreement. “Yeah…” She then sat up straight. “Wait, was that whole thing another part of your show?”

“Yeah. Though to be honest, I only stayed away because I didn't wanna meet the guy. He...doesn't seem like someone I'd get along with.”

“Can't argue with that,” she said before drinking the rest of the canned soda she had next to her. “Especially annoying that his parents actually thinks I like him that way.”

Dark snickered. “Doesn't he think the whole WonderBolt thing is just you trying to impress him?”

Rainbow groaned before facepalming. “Don't remind me. Just...no. Besides, he is definitely not my type.”

“That I believe,” Dark said before briefly lowering his scarf to drink some water.

The two of them sat in silence for a few minutes, with Rainbow immediately flying to a trash can to throw out their garbage. After relaxing for another few minutes, Dark got up.

“Well, I don't know about you but I'm gonna go swinging,” he said as took out his mask from his pocket and put it on before removing his cloak and webbing it to the edge of the roof.

“Wait, let me suit up,” Rainbow said before putting on her backpack and cloud dashing through a nearby vent. A few moments later, she dashed out again in her costume before tossing her bag towards Dark's cloak. To make sure it didn't get stolen, he webbed it too.

After he webbed her bag, Dark paused for a moment before looking at Rainbow. “Hey Dash?”

“Yeah?”

“You wanna try something?”

“What?”

“Do you trust me?”

“Yeah… Why?”

“Grab onto my back.”

She blinked. “What? Why?”

“I want you to see what it's like to web swing?”

She stood silent for a moment. “You sure?”

Dark nodded. “Trust me. And besides, if you fell off, you can always fly. And even if you hit the ground, you won't get hurt anymore.”

Rainbow hesitated for a moment before taking a deep breath. “Okay. Let's do this.” She then walked behind Dark as he stood by the edge before slowly wrapping her arms around his neck, both of them blushing slightly behind their respective masks.

“You ready?” He whispered, looking at her from over his shoulder.

Rainbow nodded. “Yeah,” she said, feeling a tad bashful.

Dark nodded back before looking forward. “Just hold on tight,” he said before taking a step forward, the two of them immediately falling.

The fall was so sudden that Rainbow immediately gripped Dark harder, closed her eyes, and spread her wings. Before she can instinctively flap them to start flying, she felt a strong pull and they started rising. Opening her eyes, she saw Dark swinging around the city with ease, going at a moderate speed.

“You okay?” He asked, looking back at her again though still swinging as if he was still looking where he was going.

Rainbow's fear was then starting to get replaced with excitement. “Yeah. But can you go any faster?”

Dark smiled behind his mask before he started swinging with more speed and even decided to give more exciting by doing a few flips with Rainbow still holding on.

After a few minutes of swinging, Rainbow was beaming under her mask as she truly started enjoying the rush that web swinging was giving. The two eventually landed on a roof as the sun touched the horizon, and Rainbow let go of him before spreading her wings and doing a few flips in the air.

“Yeah!” She shouted. “That was amazing. No wonder you enjoy that so much.”

“So you liked it?” Dark asked.

“You bet. That was awesome. Sure it doesn't beat flying, but still,” she said as she landed.

Dark chuckled. “Glad you enjoyed it.”

“Yeah…” Rainbow said, before looking at Dark in silence for a few moments. After looking away for a second, she looked at him again. “Hey Tito?”

“Yes?”

Rainbow clenched her fist before opening it again. “Do...do you want to-”

“Hey,” a new voice said, interrupting Rainbow. Looking towards the voice, the pair saw Lightning Dust as she landed on the roof.

“Damn it…” Rainbow muttered under her breath, no one hearing her.

“Dust?” Dark said, surprised. “What are you doing?”

“Heard you were in town so decided to check on ya,” Lightning replied. She then looked at Rainbow. “Who's your friend?”

“Oh, Dust this is…” Dark started before stopping as he couldn't just say Rainbow's name.

Rainbow simply stuck a hand out and said, “Frost Vapor.”

Lightning nodded before shaking Rainbow's hand. “Lightning Dust.”

“Yeah. I know,” Rainbow said with a small glare, her arms starting to glow blue as Lightning immediately pulled her hand back from how cold her hand suddenly became.

After making sure her hand was fine, Dust looked at them before her eyes homed in on Dash again. “So you two know each other?”

“You can say that,” Dark said.

“What do you want?” Rainbow asked, crossing her arms.

Dust blinked. “What's your problem?”

Dark cleared his throat. “She's...aware of your actions at the WonderBolt Academy. And I don't think she's so happy about it.”

Dust's eyes widened before she looked away, her ears folding back. “Never gonna live that down, huh?” she asked, her tone sounding defeated.

“You caused several ponies to be hurt and almost killed a few because of-” Rainbow started before Lightning interrupted her.

“I KNOW!” Dust shouted at Rainbow. After taking a few deep breaths, she looked away again, sitting by a nearby vent, her eyes started to water. “I know. You think I don't? I made a bunch of mistakes there. Which made me lose someone I thought was my friend and all my dreams, everything I worked for and hoped, dashed away. I wasn't even given the chance to make up for it…”

Rainbow's eyes widened slightly as she started to feel guilty. She then walked to Dust and said, “You actually feel bad about all that?”

“Of course. Why wouldn't I? Not like I meant to hurt anypony. I just just follow some bad advice.”

“What advice did you get that had you be so reckless?” Rainbow said, confused.

Dust wiped her eyes to stop herself from crying before looking at Dash. “Why do you care? Considering how you reacted just now, I figured you think I'm just some adrenaline junkie with no regards for others.”

Rainbow hesitated before looking at Dark. With a deep breath, she looked back at Lightning. “I'm sorry. I...shouldn't have did that to you. Especially since it was a while ago. Just that I value my friends a lot, so you ignoring your wingpony when she was hurt and almost getting her friends killed just made me mad.”

Dust sighed. “I...wanted to make up for what happened. But since they'd never accept me in the Bolts now, I decided to be, well…” she then reached into her pocket and pulled out her badge. “Figured I'd actually try to help ponies. Try to be a better one.”

Rainbow then sat beside Dust. “So...what advice was it that made you so...aggressive at the academy?”

“Always push yourself to do harder than you think you can and always aim to be the best,” Dust said.

Dark blinked behind his mask. “Who the heck gave advice like that?”

“Wind Rider.”

“Of course,” Dark said with an eye roll as Rainbow facepalmed.

“What?” Dust asked, confused.

“Wind Rider is an asshole. When he learned a recruit for the Bolts might beat that record of his, he framed her into causing Spitfire to go missing and almost ruined her chance of eventually joining the Bolts.”

Lightning did a double take. “Seriously?”

Rainbow nodded. “It's only thanks to a friend of mi-of hers that he was caught and the truth revealed. And he lost his status among the Bolts.”

Lightning looked down. “Great. So one of the reasons my dream was ruined is because some bastard gave a filly terrible advice…”

Dark sighed. “I'm sorry that your dream was crushed.”

Lightning just waved her hand. “It doesn't matter. It was a couple years ago and I need to move on.” She then stood up with Dash doing the same. “So exactly what are you two doing here today? Decided to have a date?”

Dark and Rainbow's eyes widened, with Dark waving his hands. “No no no. It's not a date.”

Lightning blinked before looking between the two of them. “Okay…” she said, unsure how to react to his response.

Before any of them can say anything else, Dark immediately stood straight up before running off the roof and swinging away without any explanation.

The two pegasi blinked before looking at each other. “He does this a lot?” Lightning asked.

Rainbow shrugged before spreading her wings and taking off after him with Lightning close behind. A few minutes later, after the sun had finally set, they all landed on a roof.

“So there a reason you came here?” Dust asked.

Dark simply pointed towards the ground, which was rather empty save for a few stallions, 5 earth ponies and just as many pegasi, with two of the earth ponies each holding a strange looking canister. What truly got his attention however was that they were all dressed the same way as the stallions that attacked him at the convention.

“Weird,” Dust muttered. “Never seen uniforms like that before.”

Dark simply growled before jumping off the roof and landed on a nearby lamppost. “Hey!”

The stallions all looked behind them and saw Dark. They all widened their eyes, but one in particular quickly narrowed his own when he got over his shock.

“Oh, of course you're here,” the stallion said, his voice revealing he was the one Dark bit.

“So, you boys mind telling me what's in those jars of yours?”

The pony chuckled, raising his right arm towards Dark, the palm of his right arm started glowing through the gloves he wore. In a flash of bright light, the pony fired a beam of energy from his palm, destroying the glove he wore as a result, Dark’s eyes widening as the beam of light headed straight towards him. Reacting quickly, he jumped out of the way, letting the beam hit the lamppost and destroy it.

“Okay, that's new…” Dark muttered under his breath.

Gero looked at the rest of his group. “What are you standing around for? Get the specimens out of here.”

The group shook their heads before the ones holding the containers shoved them into the arms of two of the pegasi.

Before they can take off however, a web was shot beside one of them and Dark pulled himself towards the stallion, preparing a punch. To shield himself, the pegasus instinctively put the container between his face and Dark's fist, the container shattering as a result and a black substance dropped out of it.

“Damn it!” Gero shouted before he fired another blast at Dark, the Displaced narrowly dodging again with Gero's teammate taking the blast to the chest, dying as a result. Gero immediately turned to the other pegasi. “Hurry up. I'll deal with him.”

The rest of the pegasi extended their wings and took off. Gero looked back at Dark in time to see the Spider hang up two of his teammates by their feet on a nearby lamppost. The remaining two tried to tackled him from behind, only to end up with one getting kicked in the face, immediately getting knocked out as a result, and the other being grabbed by the collar and being thrown into a wall before being webbed to it.

Before Dark can turn to Gero, however, the charcoal furred pony grabbed Dark from behind, Gero’s metal arm humming while letting out a small glow. “Say goodnight freak!” Suddenly the arm discharged a massive amount of electricity, literally shocking Dark and forcing him onto his knees in pain. Smirking at the sight, Gero gripped the Spider tightly before flinging him into a nearby alleyway.

Gero threw his head back and laughed, being too distracted to see the black substance from before going into the alley, following Dark. When Gero calmed down, he shook his head and smiled behind his own mask. “Jeez, the doc really wasn't kidding when he said I can kill you with this.” He then chuckled. “When I'm done with you, I'm going to find that little pet of yours and snap its neck. Hay, might even have some fun with that rainbow maned marefriend of yours.”

Dark took several deep breaths, growing more and more angry with the stallion. Unknown to either of them, the black substance attached itself to Dark's hand while it was on the floor, the shadows from the alley hiding both it and Dark as he felt a rush of power and his body growing bigger.

“So, any last words before I end you?”

Dark growled in response before he said, “I won't...let you...touch them.” Dark said, his voice growing much deeper in the last 2 words.

Gero blinked for a moment at the deeper tone, before shrugging and pointing his right arm into the alley, another blast charging up. Before it finished charging however, a black tendril came from the alley and grabbed his robotic arm before squeezing it hard enough to crush it. Gero fell down to one knee from the pain, before he started hearing heavy footsteps coming from the alley.

Looking into the alley, he saw a monstrous creature step out of the shadows. Its height rivaled Celestia herself, with its build being rather thick, the mere sight showing it was incredibly strong, with its large arms ending in claws. Finally, its face caused Gero to be petrified in fear. Its mouth was large, and completely filled with large, pointed teeth. The final notable feature he saw was its large eyes, which was completely blood red, reminding Gero of the nightmares he's gotten from his previous encounter with the Spider.

The creature growled as it reached Gero, with its eyes narrowing but its mouth not looking any different. It then grabbed Gero by the collar and lifted him up until he was in equal eye level with it.

“Listen here,” it said, its voice sounding like 2 beings talking at once and in a tone that Gero imagined literal demons sounded like. “We do not care what you do to us, but if you so much as think about hurting any of our friends, we will not hesitate to break every single bone in your body before we rip your stomach open, pull out your intestines, and STRANGLE YOU WITH THEM! You got that?"

Gero quickly nodded his head in fear.

"Good. And just to show that we aren't bluffing..." The creature then grabbed Gero's left arm and squeezed, immediately crushing the arm, causing Gero to scream in pain. The creature then threw Gero into the alley it was previously in as its eyes changed from red to pure white. It then jumped to a building on the other side of the street and rushed up it, the creature shrinking on the way up until all that was left was Dark in his costume as he leaped off the top of the building and swung away to find his friends.

Rainbow Dash charged towards the black uniformed pegasus with a yell, tackling the lightly armored goon, sending them both tumbling onto the roof of the building they were flying above. Getting up quickly, Rainbow Dash used her power to freeze the wings and legs of the pony to prevent him from escaping. She turned towards her current partner, “I got this one! Need any help?”

“No thanks, I got this.” Lighting Dust answered, quickly catching up towards the second pegasus trying to get away. She eyed the container in his arms, noticing how badly the pegasus is trying to protect it. Finally getting close enough to the goon, she reached over and grabbed the container, only for the other pony to quickly grab the other side of container and tug. The two pegasi fought over the container, trying their best to take it away from the other. Getting frustrated at the other pony, Lighting Dust raised her right leg and kicked the other pony in the stomach, causing him to let go of the container. “Ha! I got it!” She cheered, being too excited to notice the other pegasus reach over for his baton and raise it. Finally noticing what the other pony was doing, she raised the container in hopes of using it to block the attack.

Both pegasi’s eyes widen when the baton smashed the glass of the container, causing the red and black substance to fall on ground below them. Before the other pony could recover, Lighting Dust quickly swiped the baton from his hands and hit him on the head, knocking the goon unconscious.

Lightning grabbed him by the arm before descending to a nearby roof. She then flew down to ground, with Rainbow doing the same. “You okay?”

Rainbow nodded before looking at shattered canister in Dust's hand. “What do you think was so important that caused those guys to protect those things?”

Dust shrugged. “Some weird slime by the look of it. But it fell to the ground when the thing broke.”

Rainbow crossed her arms before seeing something behind Dust. Thinking quickly she immediately shot a frozen blast behind Dust before cloud dashing through Dust and tackled the last enemy pegasus while the other one who was previously unaccounted for was frozen.

“So, how about you tell us what's so special about those jars?” Dash said to the pegasus she was on, glaring at him with her arms glowing.

The stallion chuckled before going into a full blown laugh. When he calmed down, he said, “You wouldn't get anything from me. If I were you, I'd be prepared for the future rulers of this country.”

“Oh? Well I know how to make you talk.”

The stallion chuckled again. “Good luck with that. It'll take more than a few ponies and an alien to defeat us after all these years. After all, cut off one head, two more will take its place. Hail Hydra.” He then swallowed a fake tooth inside his mouth that hid a cyanide pill, dying as a result.

Rainbow blinked when his eyes took a lifeless look before removing the cloth covering his mouth, seeing his mouth bubbling. She immediately stepped back in shock.

Dust walked up to the dead pegasus before placing two fingers on his neck to find a pulse, feeling nothing. Standing up, she said “He's dead.”

Rainbow looked at Dust, dumbstruck. “What? How?”

Lightning shrugged. “No idea. Whatever it was, it likely happened so he won't be able to tell us anything useful.”

“Besides something about hydras…”

Dust nodded before looking at Rainbow. “Hey, how did you…” she started before gesturing to the frozen stallion nearby.

Rainbow shrugged. “Long story short, I have a special gene that lets me be able to control any one element or energy. Mine let's me control all types of water.”

Dust blinked in surprise. “Huh. Gotta say that sounds pretty cool.”

“Tell me about it.”

They stood in silence for a few moments. Before any of them can say anything however, Dark landed near them. “There you are.” He said, sounding relieved.

Dust waved to him. “Hey Spider. You have any trouble?”

Dark hesitated for a moment before saying, “Honestly? Yeah. Though...something gave me a second wind. What about you guys? What happened with you?”

“We followed the pegasi and fought them,” Rainbow told him. “Though the jar they were protecting broke during it.” She then gestured to the dead one. “That one however said something weird.”

“What was it?”

“Something about cutting off a head, two more take its place,” Dust explained. “Then mentioned a hydra.”

Dark's eyes widened in shock at that. “Um...were the exact words he said hail Hydra?”

“You know about that?”

Dark then placed his hands on his head. “Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no...”

The mares looked at each other in confusion before looking back at Dark. “Uh, Spidey?” Dust said. “You mind telling us what's the big deal about a hydra?”

“Not a hydra,” he said, staring at the corpse. “If...if I'm right, Hydra is an organization that plans to achieve total conquest.”

“Well that'll explain what he said…” Rainbow muttered.

Lightning blinked. “Wait, how do you know that?”

“Complicated,” Dark said. “But if these guys are part of Hydra, that means Hydra knows who I am. As well as what…”

“What do you mean?”

Dark sighed. “Long story.” He then looked at the sky, realizing how dark it was. “We should get going Frost.”

Rainbow nodded before looking at Dust. “You'll be okay?”

Dust gave a small smile. “I'll be fine. Don't worry. My only issue will be explaining this to my higher ups, but it could be worse.”

Rainbow gave her a nod before flying away. Dark then looked at Lightning. “You take care Dust.”

“You too Spider.”

He then turned around and ran down the street before jumping and beginning to swing after Rainbow.

A little after he was out of sight, Lightning walked down the surprisingly empty street, sans her and the Hydra goons. She found a few pieces of shattered glass and crouched down to get a closer look. What confused her however was that the substance that came from the container was nowhere to be seen.

Dust sighed. “Hopefully it's nothing bad…” she muttered before spreading her wings and flying off, unaware of the red and black slime-like creature that had attached to the back of her jacket.

Dark sighed, his shoulders sagging in exhaustion from the fight. Looking at the clock in train station, he frowned. “Well at least we made it here in time…” He muttered to himself, turning towards Dash who slumped against the station’s bench. “Hey, sorry you got dragged into this mess.”

Rainbow shrugged. “Not like any of us saw it coming. Though, how do you know about this Hydra thing?”

“Evil organization in Marvel,” he said simply.

“Great…” Rainbow muttered.

Dark nodded. They stood silent for a moment until Dark remembered something. “Hey Dash?”

“Yeah?”

“What were you gonna say earlier? Before Dust showed up.”

Rainbow's eyes widened before she looked away and chuckled nervously. “Uh...I was gonna ask...if you ever had a marefriend,” she said, a suspicious look on her face.

“Wow. And I thought she'd be better at lying,” Dark heard in his head. Deciding to ignore it for the moment, he shook his head. “No, I never did. Never even had a crush before.”

Rainbow blinked in surprise. “Seriously?”

“Yeah. Why you ask anyway?”

“Uh…” she said. But before she could answer, the intercom announced that the train for Ponyville was preparing to leave. Rainbow immediately got up and said, “Well see ya Tito, nice hanging out with you again, bye.” With that said, she immediately shouldered her bag and flew towards the train to Ponyville, Dark not seeing the blush on her face.

Dark blinked before shrugging and headed to the train for Canterlot. After a few minutes of waiting, the train started leaving the station and Dark leaned by the window as he nodded off.

“Wake up.”

Dark immediately sat up right as he heard the voice again. After looking out the window, he noticed he was at Canterlot. Once the train stopped, he exited it and walked towards a nearby alley. Checking his spider-sense to make sure nobody will overhear him, he let out a sigh.

“So you're what was in that thing?” He asked, seemingly to no one.

“Yes,” the voice in his head said, Dark only now realising that it sounded similar to his own. Almost identical even.

“There a reason Hydra guys had you?”

“They made me and a couple others. Though I was unaware about the Hydra part til you found out yourself.”

“Made you?”

“Like how that version of me in that show you like was made,” it explained. “They got a hold of your blood and made us. Why, I don't know. The tanks they had us in were soundproof.”

“Mind telling me who else is out there?”

The voice hesitated for a moment. “You can guess one of them.”

Dark sighed. “Great… He was the one in the other container?”

“Thankfully no. For some reason, he was left behind. The other one that was being moved was my sister, Toxin.”

Dark did a double take. “Wait, Toxin? I thought Toxin was a male.”

“Imagine how surprised we were. But her voice is that of a little girl, so we decided she should be referred to as female.”

“Fair enough. Now one last question. You gonna stick around?”

“Honestly, I'd prefer that.”

“Okay. But if I'm gonna be your host, we'll need to lay down some rules.”

The voice stood silent again, but a few seconds later, some of the black substance appeared on Dark's left arm before forming a neck and head with pure white eyes and no visible mouth, the head lifting up to look Dark in the eye.

“Yes?” Venom said.

Dark blinked in surprise at the action before shaking his head. “First off, no eating anyone.”

“Of course,” Venom said. “Got that idea from the game?”

“Pretty much.”

“I really don't know if that's an issue anyway.”

Deciding not to get distracted, Dark continued. “Second, I don't want you to cause any trouble for me or my friends.”

Venom nodded. “Understandable. Though I'd actually want to do the opposite.”

“And third, I don't want you...covering me unless I give the go ahead.”

“Oh? And why's that if you don't mind me asking?”

“Don't want to grow too dependant on you. If that happens and we end up separated, it won't go well. At least I don't want to have using you be my default.”

“Very well. Web Of Shadows approach then?”

Dark nodded. “Sounds good. Do we have a deal?”

“Of course,” Venom said.

"Oh, and one more thing."

"Yes?"

"Can we not do that...large form of yours unless we need the intimidation?"

Venom stared at Dark before chuckling to himself. "If that's what you want, sure," he said before returning to Dark's body.

Dark took a deep breath before he ran out the alley at top speed and not stopping until he got to the castle. Once he entered, he headed towards Luna's quarters before he was immediately tackled. Looking down, he saw Bri nuzzling his chest, tears in her eyes. Dark winced at the sight before he wrapped his arms around her.

“I'm sorry I left Bri,” he whispered to her.

They laid there for a couple minutes til Bri calmed down. When she did, Dark got up with her in his arms and looked at her. When she opened her eyes again, bloodshot from the crying, she stared at Dark before tilting her head in confusion.

“Something wrong?” He asked her.

She simply placed a paw on his chest, still confused. Dark just shrugged before placing her on his shoulders. Before he can continue walking however, he heard another voice nearby.

“So how was Manehatten?”

Turning towards the voice, he saw Screwball laying in the air with a smile in her face.

“Decent,” he replied. “Though, I have a question for you.”

“Ask away.”

“Why did you send Rainbow a letter saying to go there today?”

Screwball shrugged. “Well considering how much you dislike Cece and her...pushes, I figured you'd wanna leave Canterlot today. And what other place would you go to besides Manehatten? Plus I figured hanging out today can let you make up for practically avoiding Rainbow during the convention.”

Dark blinked before facing away from her in embarrassment. “Good point…”

“Well I'm heading to bed. And don't worry about Cece, she already went to sleep an hour ago.” With that said, she teleported away.

Dark stood still for a few moments before continuing towards Luna's room. Once he reached it, he saw a pair of thestral guards standing by the doors.

One of them nodded to Dark. “Lieutenant.”

Dark nodded back. “Mind if I speak to the princess? It's important.”

The thestrals looked at each other before nodding to him. Dark then entered the room and saw Luna.

The alicorn blinked in surprise before saying, “Dark? Well this is rather unexpected. Is something wrong?”

Dark sighed as Bri climbed down his body before sitting beside Luna. “I...learned something today. Something you need to hear about.”

Author's Note

And now you guys know why I wanted this chapter done by Valentine's. Rather surprised I finished it 3 weeks early (finished it last night). Especially since it took me forever to figure out how to write everything after Tito's arrival in Manehatten. Also, apologies pass that point if you don't like it. I grew incredibly sick the other day and wrote everything later that night. And more yesterday. But everyone who I asked to proofread it liked it so I'm trusting their judgement.

Now to recap two of the important stuff in this. Venom and Toxin are out and founded hosts. Everyone probably could've guessed the fact that Venom would've bonded to Tito. But I doubt anyone I didn't tell would've expected who Toxin will bond to. I had that idea considering the fact that the first host canon Toxin had was a cop. The other important thing being Tito learning about Hydra existing in his world. Not sure when I originally planned for that to happen. No goal or idea when 39 will be posted though. Until next time.
-Dark

P.S. If anyone is gonna complain about Rainbow briefly being frightened when the web swinging started, I'd say it's the fact that she's not used to falling from that height with using her wings and not used to the fact she no longer takes fall damage.

P.P.S. On a completely unrelated note, my 3 year anniversary on this site was a few days ago. Didn't make a blog because I forgot and also not that big a deal anyway.

40. Perplexing Hexes

“I can do anything!”

“REALITY BENDS AT OUR WHIM!”

“Rewind.”

The cloaked pony beside him nodded, reaching over to the television and pushing one of the buttons. He only had to wait a few seconds for the recording to end up right at the time he wanted to watch it.

“There, stop.”

The earth pony pushed another button, letting the footage stop right when the fight was about to begin.

“Play.”

With a press of a button, the image on the TV moved, allowing the jester in the recording to resume talking.

“My little pony, the Fool does not surrender! Especially when he has the winning hand!”

For the third time this night, the dragon-like creature watched the thief pull out a pair of dice.

“Tell me little filly, are you ready to take such a gamble on your life?”

The creature watched the recording of Fool’s fight with the new hero, Toxin, with great interest. Multiple times he ordered the pony to stop the footage and rewind it when the jester pulled off an amazing new feat. The creature raised his gloved claw and scratched his scaly head. “I would’ve never thought the Fool to be capable of such feats. Had I known, I would’ve had sent someone to talk to him earlier.” He leaned back onto his chair and turned towards the only other occupant in the room. “What do you think?”

The cloaked earth pony turned towards him, allowing him to see the thick yellow chintin that replaced her fur, her eyes completely blue with no visible pupil, a pair of mandibles on her cheeks. “He’s a trickster for sure. His illusions are powerful, and had it not been for the fact that this Toxin figured out the trick, he would’ve won the fight.” Her fist clenched. “Not to mention… his power is similar to mines…” She gritted her sharp teeth as her pincer like mandibles clicked together. “Yet he did not suffer the mutations I had, it’s… annoying to say the least.”

“Yes… I wonder why that is…” He turned back towards the recording, watching as Toxin’s form became more monstrous allowing for Fool’s dormant power to activate. “Your powers seem to activate the same way, from times of great stress.” He hummed and tapped his head. “Perhaps it simply depends on how great the stress is?”

The insect-like pony merely shrugged her shoulders, no longer paying attention to the TV screen on the desk, instead seeming to stare at the moth flying above them. The creature hummed. “How is your control by the way?” He asked. “I remember when you first got your power, all of the insects in the building simply went wild.”

The earth pony merely stretched out her arm, allowing for the moth to land on her palm. “It's gotten better, I can control any and all insects within the block.” She then flashed him a feral grin. “I can also make new insects.” She said the last part with a hiss.

“New insects?” The creature said, leaning forward in interest.

“Yes.” She hissed, with a wave of her hand a large green pod appeared from the floor. The pod pulsed and from it hatched a large green spiked beetle-like insect. The large creature was at least the size of a dog, the spiked beetle skittered across the floor and stopped right at the pony’s feet. Bending down, she picked up the beetle and started petting it, letting it rest on her arms. “I can create them by simply spending some of my energy. Not only that, but I can also turn ponies into them.”

The creature raised an eyebrow. “You’ve tested this out?”

The pony nodded. “Yes, one of my enforcers was trying to leave the gang for his family.” She shrugged her shoulders and smirked. “So I brought his family closer to work, as some of my new pets.” She chuckled as the insect on her arms screeched.

The dragon like creature laughed softly. “I see no issue in stopping you, continue experimenting with your powers. I can’t have my right hand being overshadowed by some clown.”

“Do you doubt me?” She asked, her eyes narrowing.

The creature raised his claws up. “Not at all, after all you’re still my number one, not the Fool.” Seeing that the pony was no longer glaring at him, he decided to go back to the previous topic. “Speaking of your gang, have you decided on a name yet? Can’t have the leader of the Swarm remain nameless forever.”

The pony frowned, looking down on the insect. “No, I haven’t. Many names that relate to my powers simply sound too childish or foolish for my liking.” She turned back towards her boss. “I do not see why I need a name, you’re having me run a gang, not to play dress up like that Spider.”

“My dear, a name is necessary in this kind of work.” He answered. “You don’t want to get a name stuck to you that the public gave you, it wouldn’t do your reputation any good. They could give you a demeaning or childish name like Lady Bug, Beetle, Butterfly, Skitter or Broodmother.” He paused. “Though the last two are at the very least respectable if you wished to use them.”

The pony snorted. “Not respectable enough.” She went silent and thought about a possible name for her villain persona. Getting frustrated, she shook her head. “The only ones I thought up off is Hive and Queen, and it would be disrespectful for me to take a name like queen when you’re here in the city.”

The creature hummed, tapping a clawed finger against the wooden desk. “What about… D’Vorah?”

“D’Vorah?”

He nodded, shrugging his shoulders. “It’s something from back home. I have to admit the name suits you. It's a strong name, a good one, one that can be said with pride.”

The pony blinked at his words before smiling softly, going back to petting the bug. “I like it, I shall be D’Vorah for now on.” Suddenly her smile fell, as her eyes turned towards the door in front of them. “Someone’s coming.”

The creature nodded and reached over to the black biker helmet on his desk. Grabbing it, he carefully put it on, making sure his bull like horns made it through the helmet’s holes. “Must be Prowler, let him in.”

The insect-like pony, now named D’Vorah, walked towards the door. Before she opened it, she gently put the bug down and had it hide in the corner of the room. Turning towards the front door, she opened it. “The Kingpin is expecting you.” She said, moving to the side to allow the Prowler inside.

Their guest was a diamond dog wearing a purple and black costume that covered his body, tied around his neck was a black cape. On his hands were a pair of gauntlets, his feet were covered by a pair of metal boots. The mask he wore was purple, with a black spot around the eyes, the eyes of the mask was white. The Prowler bowed lightly, then immediately went to take a seat in front of the desk, briefly looking at the tv with interest, he turned his attention back to the Kingpin.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what is that?” The Prowler asked, pointing at the TV.

“It's something from my homeland, I had the Tinkerer recreate it so I can monitor the city from here. It's called a television, or TV for short.” The Kingpin replied.

The diamond dog nodded, satisfied with the answer. “Speaking of the Tinkerer, is he here?” He raised up his gauntlets, Kingpin just now noticed how damaged they looked. “That toad showed up again. She’s stronger than she looks. Tricky too.”

Kingpin scowled, taking a calming breathe, he shook his head. “Unfortunately no, I have him busy equipping my newest investment.”

D’Vorah’s eyes narrowed. “Making another gang?”

Prowler frowned behind his mask. “I thought the Swarm was gonna be the last gang?”

Kingpin waved away their concerns, shaking his head. “It's not another gang. Recently I came into contact with a trio, a pegasus, a diamond dog, and someone in a costume. They’re hoping to create a mercenary team, but are in need of equipment.” He explained. “Of course, in my generosity I decided to loan them some equipment and finance them. In return they owe me a couple of favors.”

D’Vorah smirked. “Basically you own them.” She summarized, chuckling. “And since it's a mercenary team, they can take jobs from any potential rivals and give you an influence outside the city, quite devious of you Kingpin.”

“Thank you D’Vorah.”

“Speaking of gangs and the city,” Prowler began, catching the two’s attention. “What are we going to do about Shocker and his Thunderbolts? Do you want one of us to break him out of prison? I doubt the Thunderbolts will last long without him.”

The Kingpin shook his head, “No, as far as everyone is concern, The Thunderbolts, Black Hounds, The Swarm, and The Lost Hex are all four different gangs ran by rival leaders, not co-workers.”

D’Vorah nodded, “Shocker surrounded himself with idiots just to feed his ego, and even with the shock gauntlets that the Tinkerer gave him he still got caught rather easily.” She scoffed and crossed his arms. “I say we leave him there to rot.”

“I’ve already contracted the trio of mercenaries to free Shocker from prison as my first favor.” He explained to them. “Not only will this boost their reputation, but it will also allow us to remain anonymous.” The two nodded, seeming to be satisfied with what was explained to them. “Now then, onto more pressing matters.” The two stood straighter. “Prowler, what can you tell me about this toad creature?”

Prowler raised up a damaged gauntlet and took it off. “As I said before, the creature is strong. I believe she has super strength.” He placed the gauntlet onto the desk, and began gesturing at the various dents and damages around it. “Using her tongue she was able to crush the gauntlet.” He then brought up the second gauntlet in his right hand, showing off the massive dent that practically flattened the metal device. “She did this with just a kick. I was lucky to be able to block it, otherwise I would’ve no doubt had some damaged or broken ribs.”

“Super strength, mostly centered around her legs, and an extendable strong tongue.” Kingpin leaned back on his chair. “Sounds useful, anything else noteworthy?”

“She looked like a street rat, maybe some runaway.” Prowler growled, “She was young too.”

D’Vorah chuckled. “Young you say? Don’t tell me a filly managed to get the best of you?”

Before Prowler could snap at her, Kingpin raised a claw, causing the two to stop bickering. “Do you think we can recruit her, Prowler?”

The Diamond Dog stood silent for moment before shaking his head. “No, it's very unlikely we’ll be able to recruit her willingly.” He said, hesitating a bit.

D’Vorah frowned. “Then we must capture her.” She said, not sparing Prowler a single glance. “The creature is strong and resourceful, it would be a waste to kill her. We must simply give her an offer she can’t refuse.”

“I agree.” The Kingpin said, leaning forwards and placing his arms on the desk. “D’Vorah, as your first assignment as the leader of the Swarm, I want you to find this frog girl and bring her to me. This city is becoming a breeding ground for supers like us. We can’t afford to be lenient with any of these new arrivals. We’ve spent for too much time and resources getting to the position we are in now. I will not tolerate failure, is that understood?” The two nodded, satisfying their boss.

“Sir, what about the Spider? He may travel a lot, but this city seems to attract his attention the most.” Prowler questioned.

Kingpin didn’t give it much thought, he already knew what the Spider’s stance was. “If you see him, ignore him. Only attack if he comes after you, and if he does, kill him.” He answered, surprising the diamond dog. “I know how the Spider thinks. He’s the self sacrificing type, a “real” hero. He won’t join us. So the first chance you get, kill him.” D’Vorah nodded, accepting the answer without question. Prowler only hesitated for a second before nodding.

“Good, now that that’s settled...” Kingpin grabbed the side of the television and moved it so the screen was facing the two of them. “I want you to meet Toxin, and the Fool.” He said, playing the security footage. Prowler watched the tape with interest, being the only one in the room to have yet seen the footage.

Once the tape was over, his eyes narrowed. “That Toxin, she looks a bit like the Spider doesn’t she? Any relation between them we know of?”

“None at the moment.” Kingpin answered. “But don’t let that look fool you, it's no ordinary costume. We don’t know much about this new player, but what we do know is that she has a weakness, fire and sound.” He grabbed the gauntlet on the desk and looked it over. “When you go to the Tinkerer to get these repaired, tell him to add some type of sonic function onto them. You’ll need them to beat Toxin. Also tell him to build several containers, I’ll be sure to tell you why once they’re done.”

Prowler only nodded, taking the gauntlet and putting it back on. “What about the Fool? What are we going to do with him?”

Kingpin smiled behind his helmet. “Why, recruit him of course. Unlike Toxin and the toad creature, the Fool is only interested in money. He’ll join us, provided we can give him a good price.” He chuckled. “Might as well throw in a few toys his way to really sweeten the deal.”

Prowler nodded, “After we recruit him though, who’s going to keep him?” He asked. Suddenly D’Vorah became more alert, glaring at Prowler. “Will he be joining the Hounds? Hex? Swarm? Or Thunderbolts?”

“None of them,” Kingpin answered, briefly shocking the two of them. “I want Fool to remain as an independent. He’ll be free to do as he wishes, but will be taking jobs from all of us. To the public, it will seem like Fool has decided to become a mercenary.” He explained. “The Fenrir Mercenaries won’t be in this city forever, and will be traveling around Equestria quite a lot, so I need someone here who can help us remain anonymous when needed.”

The two nodded, accepting his reasoning, if they had any complains, they didn’t show it. “Excellent, this concludes our business for today. Thank you for coming Prowler, see yourself out will you.” The diamond dog nodded, getting up from his chair and making his way to the door. “Before you leave, please tell Valkyrie and Scarlet that I wish to speak with them about their mission.” Once the diamond dog left, D’Vorah got up from her seat and made her way to the Kingpin’s side, standing behind him protectively. It only took a few seconds, but the door once again opened, revealing a pegasus mare wearing a silver painted version of the royal guard’s armor, and a rather thin man wearing a black and red costume, a costume that fitted him rather loosely. Behind the two was a tall burly diamond dog, wearing a green vest. “Ah, my friends welcome! I hope I didn’t make you wait too long!”

The tall thin man wearing the black and red costume bowed. “The Fenrir Mercenaries thank you for agreeing to meet with us, Kingpin.” He stood straight up and stared at Kingpin in the eyes, despite both wearing items covering their faces. “Now, what is our mission?”

The Kingpin took out a newspaper from a cabinet and set down on the desk. “I need your team to free an associate of mines, recently he was put behind bars by the Spider.”

The thin man eyes widened behind his mask. “The Spider?” He questions.

The Kingpin reached over and plucked out a couple of other newspapers and set them down in front of them. “Yes, a traveling hero who goes by the name Spider.” Kingpin chuckled. “The name sounds familiar doesn’t it? You seem to be quite the fan yourself.” Kingpin laughed softly at the joke, gesturing towards the black spider emblem on the man’s chest.

The man walked towards the desk and picked up one of the newspapers, his eyes narrowing behind his mask. “So there’s another spider…”

“Yes, he’s been all over the papers since he first appeared. He not only defeated Shocker, but some other costumed pony named the Vulture over at Canterlot the other day.” The Kingpin said, leaning back on his chair as he stared at the man.

The armored pegasus took a step forward. “What can you tell us of the Spider?”

“Not much I’m afraid, though I may be able to find something interesting by the time you get back from your mission.” He answered.

The pegasus’ eyes narrowed, knowing what he was implying. She gave a nod. “Then let us smooth over the details of our contract.” She said, taking the seat closest to him.

“I trust this isn’t going to change anything between us is it, Scarlet?” The Kingpin asked, turning his head towards the tall costumed man.

Taking only a moment to respond, Scarlet shook his head. “No. I don’t know him anyways, was just curious. Not everyday you find out you’re not the only one.” He walked towards the seat next to his partner and sat down, placing the newspaper in front of Kingpin. The diamond dog behind him took a seat at one of the couches in the middle of the room.

“Yes it must be quite a shock. I remember when I was first stranded in this world years ago.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Don’t worry though, you’ll get used to it. Now…” He leaned forward. “What is it that you want, Scarlet Spider?”

Author's Note

Yeah, this is done. Star finished it last night. The crazy thing is, this was supposed to be a stinger for Toxic Heist. But Star wrote so much that we decided to make it a standalone chapter. Again. Seriously, whenever I have her do a stinger, she just makes a chapter. Not complaining though. Gives more quality in my opinion.

Hello my wonderful readers! Star709 here once again with a chapter written by yours truly! Had a lot of fun with this one, I just love writing villains! Want to thank Dark for helping fix all the mistakes I made, I tend to ignore them while I'm writing and really in the zone. Anyways please leave some comments for us, its not only really helpful but we also enjoy reading them. Be sure to tell us what you think of this chapter and the new cast of characters. At last one by one all of the major players in this story are revealing themselves, just who is the Kingpin? Why does he seem to know so much about earth tech and media? Who are the Fenrir Mercenaries? And who is this toad girl giving the gangs so much trouble? All of your questions will be answered soon in future chapters of Spider in Equestria.

Yeah, let's face it. It's obvious Kingpin is a Displaced. But what and who he became is a secret. And I ain't telling. But yeah, there's a Kingpin in Dark's world, as well as has his own gang and knows a group of mercenaries. How important all these characters are though, you'll see. Until next time. Which may not be long.

Chapter 41

"So, ready to return after so long?" Venom asked as Dark packed a few of his things in his bag.

"Well yeah," Dark answered. “Hopefully this idea of Twilight’s works…”

“Surprised none of you thought of it sooner.”

“Same,” Dark said as he put his bag on his back.

After a few seconds, Venom said, “It’d probably be a good idea to tell them.”

“Yeah. I know. I'll tell them after. Don't want them distracted.”

“If you say so.”

Dark sighed as he looked pulled out Bri and Mike's pokeballs from his pocket, the pokemon inside them at the moment. After placing them back in his pocket, he stood up and walked towards the door to wander the castle while he waited. A second later, he felt a small pull inside him.

“Oh boy,” he muttered before he fell into a portal.

The emblem shined in a bright light and a figure fell from it. The figure was humanoid, in a concealing blue and black cloak and hood, and landed on its feet lifting up a hand. The light faded and the emblem fell, landing in the cloaked figure's open palm.

Slowly, the glass-like magic barrier faded away as Sunfire raised her wing. She stared at the cloaked figure, her expression showing a mixture of confusion and hostility. Before the person could say anything, Sunfire reacted with motherly instinct, rushing in to pin the newcomer against the wall. Elwood appeared to be confused as well, yet scared of what just happened.

“What the heck?” The figure said, its voice male. A moment later, a black substance started coming from its chest, surrounding its body completely. When it was done, it looked like a black creature with no visible mouth and narrowed white eyes. “Let me go you overgrown iguana!”

“You’re in no position, intruder.” Sunfire said as the horn on her head glowed a gentle yellow glow.

Elwood become even more confused than ever when he saw Venom. At this point, he was reaching into his backpack and shuffling through it just to get his camera.

“Intruder? You think we wanted to come here? I was summoned here, lady. Not something I can actually control.” The figure said.

“What do you mean summoned?” Sunfire said, demanding an answer. Click, flash. A light of flash lit up the room as Elwood took a shot.

The figure briefly looked at Elwood in confusion before turning back to Sunfire, brought up its right hand, and opened it slightly, revealing the emblem. “Someone threw this, so now I'm here. Simple as that really.”

“But no one threw it.” Elwood answered as he put away his camera. “It was dropped by Sunfire here.” he said. Sunfire continued to keep the figure pinned.

The figure's eyes widened a bit. “Seriously? So just dropping it summons me too? Sheesh, I need to find a way to fix that…”

Sunfire raised an eyeridge at him. “That doesn’t explain how you got here. This place is fortified with a spell that prevents any magic except my own.” she said.

The figure paused for a moment, briefly looking away from her before muttering, “Probably…” He then looked back at Sunfire and asked, “Any of you guys hear about Displaced?”

Both Elwood and Sunfire’s silence was a good enough answer for the figure. He sighed, his eyes narrowing in slight annoyance. “What about the multiverse?”

“Wait, that’s a thing?” Elwood asked as he gave the figure a puzzled look.

“What do you think?” The figure asked simply, looking at Elwood. “You're in an alternate dimension that's part of some TV show.” He then looked at Sunfire again, only then paying attention to her coloring. “...well, maybe some differences.”

Sunfire applied pressure to the cloaked figures mind, probing around his memories. “He’s not lying... Which is concerning for me,” she said as she let go of him.

The figure landed on his feet and dusted himself. “Can you please not read my mind again? It's bad enough having one person see all my thoughts and memories,” he said as the black substance slowly subsided til he was just in his cloak again.

“Sorry for jumping conclusions. It’s just those eggs are very dear to me.” Sunfire said as he backed up to give the figure some room.

“So basically I’m in one of those dimensions you said and there’s more out there?” Elwood asked as he walked up to him.

“Tons more,” the figure said. “Many rather intense. Or messed up…” he then shook his head. “So what were you doing before you ended up here in Equis?”

“I was just going through the forest taking pictures, I found a cave, the gems glowed and here I am. The rest of the history, well. It’s been crazy.” Elwood explained.

“Crazy? Dude, tell me, did you end up fighting a pack of large wolves made of wood, get kicked in the back of the head by a pegasus, get attacked by giant bees, almost bleed out from a psycho Conduit, or forced to leave the town you call home because they think you're a demon?”

Elwood blinked. “No? Other than me being scared out of my mind to be somewhere else and that dragons were the main population…” he said.

The figure paused for moment. “Dragons are the main population? Where are we, the Dragon Lands? Never been there before to be honest.”

“It is a huge island of dragons, yes. You are currently here in Clawterlot.” Sunfire said with concern in her voice. While the mind probe revealed that he meant no ill intentions, she didn’t completely trust the cloaked figure yet as to reveal what the room is.

The figure did a double take before looking at Sunfire and lifted a gloved hand up to the side of his hood to move his ear to her direction. “Currently where?”

“Clawterlot.” Sunfire repeated.

The figure lowered his hand. “Clawterlot? That named after Canterlot or something?”

“No, just Clawterlot. I’ve never heard of Canterlot, is that something in those multiverse things you mentioned?” Sunfire asked.

“It’d be best not to question it. A lot of the places here are named with dragon puns.” Elwood whispered to the figure. “So... I guess in your Equis, it's more Spider-manish?” he asked in a normal voice.

“Dragon puns? Wow. Where I live it's pony stuff. Canterlot, Las Pegasus, Ponyville, Manehatten, etc. Never heard of a universe where dragons are the main driving force of the world. As for the question...kind of. More Marvel in general.”

“Will there be more of those summon artifacts be appearing?” Sunfire asked with concern in her voice.

“Pretty much,” the figure said. “Especially with this guy now in the world,” he added, gesturing to Elwood.

“Me?” Elwood asked questioningly.

“Well yeah. Displaced are magnets for tokens,” the figure said before tossing the emblem in his hand to Elwood. He fumbled with it a bit before catching it.

“I thought this was all an accident because of me being in that cave?” Elwood said. He was starting to question the universe now.

“Is there a way to prevent this?” Sunfire asked as she looked around the chamber.

The figure shrugged. “Sorry. I'm not the most experienced in the multiverse stuff.”

“So... I’m a magnet for those tokens, they’ll only come to me, right?” Elwood asked.

The figure nodded. “Pretty much. On the bright side, you can choose whether or not to actually summon the Displaced. Though word of warning, if you find a feather that is both red and blue, be wary. The Displaced is decent, but summoning him allows an evil version of himself to come here.”

Sunfire’s worries were now at ease. “So they’ll only come if Elwood summons them?” Sunfire asked.

“Usually.”

Sunfire’s attention is drawn when she looked off in the corner of the room. At that moment, the figure started to feel a small voice in his head. “...That can’t be right...” She looked at cloaked person. “You’re not exactly human and yet..” she looked back. “One of my children are calling you...”

“That why I feel someone else poking through my head right now?” He asked her.

“Yes. Usually only humans are chosen. Seems he finds something special about you, Dark.” Sunfire said with a smile.

“You know I am human right?” The figure, Dark, said. “The spider DNA just gives me powers.”

“Yes, but when I sensed those other things inside of you, it made me question of who and what you are.” Sunfire said as she rubbed the side of her head in embarrassment. “Especially that weird… black stuff.”

The small presence in Dark’s head started to sound impatient, he could also see the light blue egg shaking softly. After thinking it over for a moment, he walked to the egg and picked it up. “So this is an egg? Looks more like a rock.”

“It’s to protect the unborn inside. You will find that the shell is of a very hard material, nothing can damage it other than magic spells.” Sunfire explained to Dark.

“Sunfire? How long will it take for them to hatch?” Elwood asked as he held the orange egg in his arms.

“When it feels it is safe and ready.” Sunfire answered before looking at Dark.

Dark shrugged before placing his egg inside the bag on his back. When he was done, he looked at the two of them. “So what can you two tell me about this world besides being the main race instead of ponies? Pretty sure Twilight would want all the details I can give her.”

“That’s quite a tall order you’re asking, Dark.” Sunfire said as her horn lite. With a brief flash, a book slowly floated down to Dark. “This will give you the history of our world. What it doesn’t tell you is our magic, this’ll would be a topic for another day.”

Dark shrugged. “That's fine. This is basically what I asked for.”

“Soo... how does one get summoned?” Elwood asked with nervousness in his voice. “I’d hate to wake up somewhere else…”

“Well you won't be summoned unless you make yourself a token.”

“Token? You mean like your spider thing?” Elwood asked as he looked at the emblem in question.

“My medallion,” Dark corrected. He then reached into his suit and pulled out a necklace with a matching medallion and a small rock with a hole on it.’

“Oh, so I’ll only be summoned if I have one of those?” Elwood asked. He had a lot of questions, but he knows he won’t get answers for all of them.

Dark shrugged. “Pretty much. My sister Cece doesn't have one for just that reason. She just follows me when I'm summoned if she's close enough when it happens.”

“Ok, good. So I’m safe. “ Elwood said as he let out a sigh of relief.

“I'd say it's not that bad, but my first summon involved me facing Beedrill and another had me and Cece end up in a fire fight. And then there was another time where a dragon pinned me to a wall.”

“I’m deeply sorry for that, Dark. As you can see, this is a chamber containing my eggs, so I must protect them with my life.” Sunfire said as she smiled, hoping it won’t cause issues in the future when it comes to an alliance. Having an ally from across worlds can be beneficial.

Dark shrugged. “More understandable than Rainbow attacking me a while ago.” After a few moments, he randomly said, “There's a difference between forgiving and forgetting. I forgive her for that, but I'm not forgetting it anytime soon.”

“Is there a way for you to return home?” Sunfire asked as she raised his claws. “I mean I don’t mind your company, it's just the guards would freak out.”

“If they're anything like the guards I've seen, I can beat them even when they're dragons. As for your question, yeah. This guy just has to…” he then looked at Elwood. “Okay, I'm rather embarrassed now…”

“Oh, sorry. I’m Elwood, nature photographer.” He introduced himself as he held his hand out.

Dark shook it. “Tito. Though most call me Dark.” After removing his hand, he continued. “Anyway, as I was saying you just have to say our contract is complete. That either sends the summoned Displaced back or spawns a portal for them to return. The latter is what happens for me.”

“My name is Queen Sunfire. Royaler of Dragon Island.” Sunfire said as she smiled once again.

“Understandable. So...who do you know that is an expert on this whole displaced business? I mean it’s something I never knew about till now and I’m a little scared.” Elwood asked as he rubbed the back of his head.

Dark looked down at his necklace and grabbed it, staring at the rock. After a few seconds, he looked at Elwood. “This guy. Link Displaced. He's the most experienced guy I've met yet who seems to understand the void and all that insanity. Even gave me a new power and taught me some tricks.”

“First Spider-Man, now Link?” Elwood asked.

“Well, he did say multiverse.” Sunfire said. Elwood started to rub his head at the endless possibilities.

Dark chuckled. “I also met a few Halo Displaced, an Ivy Valentine Displaced, Team Rocket, a Kamen Rider, some assassins, and robots. And I heard of a guy who became Nemesis from Resident Evil and another guy who has his own Omnitrix. And who knows how many more is out there. Basically if the person is popular enough that one will dress as them for a convention, then there's a chance there's a Displaced who became that person.”

“What about me? I mean I’m still me though.” Elwood asked with questionable look. “Well, except that Queen Sunfire says I’m one of those rare humans.”

Dark shrugged. “Got us there. Probably has something to do with the world, since mine has Marvel elements.”

Elwood was quiet for a moment as he thought about what has transpired so far.

“I have a question for you, Dark. Is there a way to know who those Displaced are without needing to summon them? I’d like to know if they are good or evil. That way, I’ll know who to trust if Elwood summons them.” Sunfire said as she looked at Elwood.

“I d-don’t think I would, Sunfire… I mean you heard Dark. All of those things are real, what if I summon something dangerous even if they can be trusted? I feel that this world isn’t ready for them..” Elwood said as he breathed softly.

“Yes, Elwood but I believe this is a better course of action to see my children hatch and give new lineage of dragonriders once I judge them trustworthy, you can pass on the knowledge onto them of what it is to be one, Elwood.” Sunfire said. Her voice was full of hope.

“...I suppose so, Sunfire. I mean one of them did speak to Dark here..” Elwood said as he took a moment to calm himself down. “Uh.. How does one make a Token?” he asks.

Dark shrugged. “From what I understand, you take something that has some connection to you, like me with my medallion, or your character like Link with a miniature Howling Stone. Then you “place part of your soul” in it. Personally I don't know how to do that, but most seem to figure it out on their own.”

“Ah, so I’ll need to figure it out then. At least that answers a few things.” Elwood said with a sigh.

“And it does explain how that old cave’s portal activated when it did, Elwood. With you being a Displaced, you must have activated it somehow. I believe that once we learn more about the Displaced, we can find a way to reconnect the bridge.” Sunfire said as he stroked her chin in thought.

“I'm sorry, what?” Dark asked.

“I did explain that I got here just from finding some cave, afterwards I haven’t been able to return home.” Elwood asked.

“Read the book when you return home, you’ll understand it’d be important for us to reactivate the gate.” Sunfire explained.

“Okay…” Dark said before looking at Elwood. “And I know this won't help, but don't be surprised if you can't go back. Many Displaced tried, and I haven't heard of any who succeeded. Really I'm just telling you this so you don't get your hopes too high.”

“What? Why is that?” Elwood asked with his voice full of concern and denial. “I mean it can’t be one way in and not a way out…”

“Well most of us go through something different than you. Personally my sister and I were at a convention for the first time and bought some stuff from a guy. Next thing we know, we wake up in Equis in different parts of the country. Many other Displaced have a similar fate. Though I know a few who showed up pre-Nightmare.” After a brief pause, he chuckled in embarrassment. “Sorry. Got off track. As for your question, hell if I know. Again, nobody I know has been able to go back and I ain't gonna bother trying. Not like I care really.”

“We’ll still try though, but Elwood may stay here if he’d like.” Sunfire said as she looked at Elwood. The human appeared to be thinking at this point, what if he really was stuck here? All those picture’s he’s taken is going to end up being a waste since he can't return home. Elwood takes out his camera turns it on, the screen flashing its logo before booting up the main menu. The power was currently reading at 35% power.

“I hope this isn’t the case. I have people who will wonder where I went, especially the people who buy my photos…” Elwood said as he let out a sigh, he starts to rub his forehead. It had been crazy so far in his life, it would take him a long time to adjust to this world.

Dark looked away for a moment before looking at Elwood. “Random question, but need a hand with the battery of that?”

“Oh uh, yea. It does need a charge but considering if there’s ever a chance I can’t return home? What i’ve taken up to this point, might end up being useless. I can’t transfer them to my computer or even print them out.” Elwood explained. He believes it would be a shame for them to not be shared.

Dark shrugged before putting down the book and grabbing the camera and looked at it. A moment later, his hands started to glow in a blue aura and the camera did too. After a second, they both stopped glowing and Dark leaned over and started panting. When he finished catching his breath, he tossed the camera back at Elwood.

Elwood catches it in his hands, staring at it curiously. “What did you do?” he asked as he looked at the screen.

“A spell Twilight used for me a few times,” Dark said. “Taught myself how to do it so I wouldn't need her. Basically makes it that that thing doesn't die. Guess it uses more magic than I thought.”

Elwood stared at his camera, noticing that the battery life was suddenly at 100%. He shook his head to get rid of his bafflement. “So it won’t run out… ever?” he asked as he looked at Dark.

“Pretty much. Twi did that for me a few months back and my stuff still haven't died.”

Sunfire raises her head, her ears swiveling around. “Elwood. There is something I need to address, “ She said as she turned to head on out. She looks over her shoulder. “When you’re done talking to this young human and you’ll like to leave, just speak this word. Ládrin “ She said, causing the chamber doors to open. “It will close and lock on its way. Once you’ve returned to me, we’ll begin your training as a Dragon Rider.” she said with a smile. She turns to leave the egg chamber.

Dark picked the book back up and looked at Elwood. “So you have anymore questions?”

“Not at the moment, no. As you said, you don’t know how tokens are made so I’ll need to figure it out on my own.” Elwood said as he slid his finger across the screen to check on his pictures. “Maybe a magic spell on an item I own.”

“Well I may not know how to make a token on my own, but I have something that can help.”

Elwood turned his camera off and placed it away in his back before giving Dark his attention. “What would that be?” he asked curiously.

Dark reached into his pocket and pulled out a small blue gem. “This thing here. Basically a gem infused with chaos magic that can help make tokens. Also helps me make replicates of my token.”

“How do I use it after I’ve decided on one?” Elwood asked as he sat down on the floor.

Dark shrugged. “My best understanding is just hold both it and your token and concentrate on making it your token.”

“Alright, sounds simple enough.” Elwood said nervously as he held out his hand, Dark tossing the gem to him. “So I just say the words and you’ll be sent home?” he asked as he held both the gem and the copy of Dark’s medallion.

“Woah!” Dark said. “Sorry, but I'm not exactly offering for you to keep the gem. That's my only one and they aren't a thing in my universe.”

“I really don’t have anything to use as a token and I’d rather not use my camera or any of my gear.” Elwood said with a small frown.

Dark shrugged. “Fine. If anything, you can just call me when you figure out your token and I can help you with it,” he said before he took the gem back with a web.

“Oh, right. Good idea...” Elwood said as he rubbed the back of his head. “I’m just a nervous wreck at the moment, what with me being here and finding out the multiverse is a thing.”

“Again, be happy you haven't been through what I've been through.”

“Just one last question, why is your name Dark?” Elwood asked with confusion in his voice.

Dark chuckled. “Short for DarkSpider. An OC I made a few years back, which I technically became. When I got Displaced, I figured Dark is a better name than Tito since it fits Equestria more.”

“Oh, makes sense I suppose. I guess that’ll be all until I need you again.” Elwood said before pausing for a moment. “The words were your contract is complete, right?”

“Aye.”

With a gentle breath, Elwood utters the words “Dark, your contract is complete.”

A portal then appeared by Dark. After looking at it for a moment, he turned to Elwood. “Hey, before I go, mind if I take a pic of you?”

“Sure. With what though?” Elwood asked with a raised eyebrow.

Dark tossed the book to the ceiling before webbing it there without even looking. He then reached into his bag and pulled out a camera. “Gift from a friend. First time actually using it since I got it.”

“Alright, where should we take it?” Elwood asked. Sunfire’s voice entered his mind. “...Sunfire is suggesting we take it with the eggs in the background?”

Dark shrugged. “Sure, whatever you like.” Elwood moved to a spot where the eggs were in plenty of view.

“She has a lot of trust in you for some reason...” Elwood said to Dark.

“What do you mean?” Dark said before putting the camera to his face and taking the picture, the camera glowing for a moment.

“She’s suggested we take a picture with the eggs in the background and the fact she’s protective of them?” Elwood explained as he scratches his head in though.

Dark shrugged. “Just a pic.” He then put the camera back in his bag and approached Elwood before extending a hand. “Well, it was nice meeting you El.”

“Likewise.” Elwood said as he extended his hand to shake Dark’s.

Dark then turned around and walked towards the portal, the book falling from the ceiling when he was below it, with him catching it. When he reached the portal, he took a step back before running towards it and jumping through, the portal disappearing moments later.

Dark landed in his room in Canterlot before placing the book on the nightstand and the egg on his bed.

"Wonder how long it will take this one to hatch," Venom commented, his voice echoing in Dark's head.

Sitting down next to the egg, Dark shrugged. "Who knows, Bri took a few days to hatch." He glanced at the egg. "Surprised at how I was able to bring this egg with me though.”

“How do you think the others will react to this one? A dragon egg from an alternate Equestria, now under your care?”

“Hopefully it'll be fine,” Dark said before going through his bag and pulling out his laptop. “But yeah, it can hatch in a few days, maybe even a few months.”

The next moment, they heard a small noise. Looking to the source, Dark saw the egg starting to crack from one of the sides. As the crack grew larger, more started to appear as a blue claw popped out of the egg, followed by another before the top half of the egg broke open as the dragon's head went through, revealing its body to be a royal blue color with feathered wings, the dragon itself roughly the size of a small kitten. After shaking its head, it opened its eyes and looked at Dark's, its eyes the same color as its body.

“Or it can hatch now…” Dark muttered.

Shrugging his shoulders, he placed his laptop on top of the book and leaned closer to the dragon to observe it, the small drake tilting its head as it stared back at him. After a few seconds of staring, Dark slowly lifted up a hand. When the dragon didn't seem to object, Dark slowly placed his right palm on the dragon's head. Immediately after doing so, he felt a sharp a sensation as though he was just dunked into river of freezing cold water, the feeling tingled and snapped through Dark. Unable to withstand the rush, Dark ended up fainting as his world blacked out.

Author's Note

And this is now done. This here is yet another crossover with my friend Displaced Writer. In hindsight, it's a surprised we made so many lately. Link, Ladon, now Elwood. No idea when the next crossover will be but there will be a next one.

And yeah. Tito now has a dragon. And just a heads up, unlike Bri the dragon didn't imprint on him. Just felt like clarifying that just in case. Plus a few...interesting things with the dragon later on. You'll see over time.

No idea when the next chapter will be. Unlike the last few, we hasn't even started it yet. But it's one that's is looong overdue. Seriously, it was supposed to be 23 or 24 but a few things got in the way and I had to push it back. Here's hoping I get it done soon. Until next time.
-Dark

P.S. Have a happy Valentine's day.

Chapter 43

(Kairi's POV)

The arrival of 6 strange looking individuals, plus one dragon had me instinctively summoning my Keyblade, with Celestia just as quickly calling her own before casting some sort of barrier spell, encapsulating the rift, the table and the newcomers.

“Who are you?” I demanded.

The only one of the newcomers who was currently standing, someone in a blue and black cloak with a hood concealing their face, simply lifted a hand until it was in front of their chest as the medallion fell into their palm before placing it in a pocket. They then looked around before seeing me and tilting their head.

“I take it you’re the Displaced?” They said, their voice being male.

I tilted my head in confusion. “Displaced?” I asked. “I can honestly say that I have no idea what that is.”

The guy sighed. “Okay, answer me this. Were you originally someone else, went to a convention, bought something, and ended up here? If so, how long ago was that?”

My eyes widened at that. “How the heck did you know that? That literally happened a couple hours ago!”

“Wow,” one of the other newcomers said, their voice female. “We’ve been Displaced for a while.” I saw one of the smaller ones getting up and saw that she was a short figure with lavender hair sticking out of her head and silver armor covering various parts of her body including her eyes. She then rubbed her back before turning to the cloaked one. “Is landing always that painful?”

The blue guy shrugged. “I gotten used to it to the point I can land on my feet.”

“Noted…”

The cloaked guy looked at the other newcomers. “You guys okay?”

“Yeah,” one of them said, her voice sounding a lot like Twilight's. “Just wish we could've gotten a warning…”

After that, the guy turned back to me before tilting his head again. He then walked towards me til he reach the edge of the table and bent over to look at me, with me seeing a scarf covering his lower face and the shadow of his hood hiding his eyes. “Who did you become anyway? You look kind of familiar.”

OK, I’m gonna be honest here. I was in complete shock. I mean, how could you not recognize who I had become? There are memes about her, for crying out loud! With widened eyes, I replied, “Seriously? If you come from the world I came from, I find it hard to believe that you don’t know me. I’m Kairi, one of the characters of one of the most anticipated games of 2019, Kingdom Hearts 3.”

“What’s that now?” Rainbow asked, her eyes going crossed as she tries to figure out what I was talking about.

“I’ll explain later,” I replied.

The cloaked guy did a double take. “What year?”

“Uh, 2019,” I answered, raising an eyebrow. “What year is it supposed to be?”

“I was Displaced late 2016. And I’ve only been Displaced for a few months.” He then placed a gloved hand on his chin. “Then again, time between universes is complicated in the stuff I've seen.” He then paused. “Wait, Kingdom Hearts 3? Wow. I thought that was as hopeless as Half Life 3.”

“Meh, Kingdom Hearts is cooler from what I've seen,” another voice said, one that sounded like a girl. The next moment, a snap was heard and bright flash happened, then the remaining newcomers were immediately on their feet.

My eyebrows shot up into my hairline, and my jaw dropped with what I was seeing. In front of me was another Rainbow Dash, and another Twilight, though this version of her was none other than Princess Twilight, wings and all. I quickly and instinctively put up my own barrier spell to strengthen Celestia’s spell, while Chirithy got Fluttershy and Luna, the two non-combatants, out of the room.

“What the hell is going on here?!?” I yelled. “Why are there future versions of the ponies sitting at the table?!?”

Of course, in my haste to prevent a possible paradox, I completely missed the small jackal-like pokemon that was unmistakably a Riolu climbing the cloak guy's legs, along with a small dragon.

Another snap was heard and I was face to face with a pink filly with purple spirals for eyes. No irises or pupils. “Would you calm down? We don't need you to cause a scene. And a paradox? Really? Please, time travel doesn't work that way in Equestria. And if you know about Twilicorn, you should know about It's About Time. You know, the episode where two Twilights from different times interacted?”

“Seriously, how much of our lives is in that show?” their Rainbow asked, shocked.

“Again, everything of importance since Twilight arrived in Ponyville,” the cloak guy told her. He then looked towards me and crossed his arms. “So, I take it you have plenty of questions?”

I blinked. I had totally forgotten about that episode. After a brief moment of thought, I sighed, lowering my Keyblade. “Celestia, I don’t think they’re a threat. Drop the barrier.” I turned to the cloak guy. “Alright, I’m willing to trust you, but just so we’re clear, one funny move, and you’re getting a fireball to the face; it’s been a very strange and stressful day…” As I said this, both Celestia and I cancelled our barrier spells, and let our Keyblades vanish in a cloud of sparkles.

“First of all, my message stated clearly that I won't tolerate people hurting innocents. As for your day…” he sighed. “Try being face to face with timberwolves while all alone in the Everfree, getting kicked so hard you get knocked out, then being attacked by a certain pony when you wake up, and being threatened by said pony later when you did nothing wrong. And that was just my first day. Don't even get me started on the crazier stuff that happened later.”

While he said that, the Rainbow that was with him looked uncomfortable and rubbed her arm with an embarrassed look on her face while she looked away.

I raised an eyebrow. “Seriously? Man, that seems really out of character for you there Dash. But, you couldn’t possibly top my day. First I wake up as a girl I had a crush on since Kingdom Hearts 2 came out, then I fight a bunch of heartless, one of which is Nightmare Moon of all things, and then I meet my Shadow, make it into a Chirithy, and find out that the ruins of the Castle of the Two Sisters isn’t actually a ruined castle but an ENORMOUS clock tower memorial for Daybreak Town. So, yeah, I’m extremely stressed.”

The entire group blinked, with the cloaked guy saying, “Okay...you lost me after you said Nightmare Moon was a Heartless. I only played the first game over a decade ago and I never even made it past Destiny Islands. And Dream Drop Distance a few years ago but I lost it before I could beat Wargoyle. So I'm very lost.”

“And I have absolutely no idea what the heck either of you are talking about,” the armored girl said, with their Rainbow and Twilight nodding in agreement.

“Ugh…” I groaned, pinching the bridge of my nose. I’d forgotten that not many people had played Persona 4, or knew what a Shadow was in psychology. “OK, from the top then. A Shadow is a facet of one’s mind that they do not want to acknowledge and try to hide. A Chirithy is a companion Spirit that was introduced into a mobile Kingdom Hearts game called Union X (Cross), and you are currently standing in a clock tower known as Midday Tower, that was hidden by Celestia as the ruins of what you know of as the Castle of the Two Sisters.”

The cloaked guy stayed silent for a moment. “Huh. Kay.”

The pink filly cleared her throat. “Okay...how does that lead to you summoning Tito here?” she asked, pointing at the cloaked guy.

“That would be my fault,” Celestia answered. “I had made the realization that Kairi here was chosen by the Void to protect this world, and was giving her that medallion I had found years ago, since it was saturated in Void energy.”

“I tossed it back after hearing your message, thinking it was just in my head,” I finished.

The cloaked guy, Tito, facepalmed. “I need to find a way to change that…” he then removed his hand from his face. “Technically it was in your head, but it's kind of like a telepathic message. A prerecorded one, but still.” He then sat down by the edge of the table with his legs hanging out before grabbing the Riolu from his back and placing it on his lap, with it smiling as he started to stroke its fur. “I'm guessing you have some questions?”

I nodded. “Understatement of the century there, but yeah, you could say that. Let’s start with how did I get here?”

Tito shrugged. “The guy you bought the item from? Goes by the Merchant. From what I can understand, when someone buys something from him, they end up in a version of Equis as the person they were dressed as.”

“Alright,” I nodded. “Next question then: When in the timeline is your Equestria set?”

“I showed up early in season 6, so most of the stuff I know about already happened. But...some things are definitely different…” he muttered.

“Season 6, huh?” I asked. “Honestly, I never made it past the 100th episode back in season 5. Anyway, next question, now that we’ve been Displaced, what are we supposed to do, and can we get home when we’re done?”

Tito shrugged. “I met several Displaced, all of which been Displaced for varying times. A few been Displaced for years. And none of them have found their original universes. So I never bothered trying. Then again, besides my mom, I don't really have a reason to wanna go back anyway.”

“Speak for yourself,” the armored girl said.

Now that got me thinking. Was there really anything or anyone at home that I would truly miss? Now that I thought about it, there was probably only a couple people that come to mind.

“Alright, could somepony tell us what the buck is going on here?!?” Rainbow yelled.

“Rainbow Dash!” Rarity exclaimed. “While I agree with the sentiment, there is no need for such uncouth and vulgar language!”

Before the pegasus can reply, the one that came with Tito immediately became a set of clouds and became herself again in front of her counterpart with a hand in her chin, completely unfazed about what just happened to her as her arms were glowing in a blue color.

Our collective eyes widened upon seeing this. “W-wha..b-buh..h-huh?!?” Came the unintelligible gibberish from Twilight as she tried to comprehend what she just saw.

“OK, you broke our brains,” I said in shock. “What was that?”

“Remember when I said my Equis has some differences?” Tito asked. He then pointed at his Rainbow. “That is one of them. Ever heard of inFAMOUS?”

“Heard of it, yes,” I confirmed. “Played it? No, I was never really interested in that one. The story looked kinda bland, and in my opinion, story trumps gameplay every time.”

Tito shrugged. “Other way around for me. Hence why I played Dream Drop Distance when I knew nothing about the series. Anyway, Conduits seem to exist across the multiverse according to a friend. Rainbow here is one herself.” He then paused and placed a hand at his side, to a part of his cloak that had some obvious stitching. “It was...helpful when her gene activated.”

I shook my head. “OK then, back on track. I really only have three more questions for you. First, what are all your names? I’m getting rather tired with just identifying you with your appearances. Second, why is there a Riolu and dragon with you? And finally, what exactly was the medallion from earlier, and how do I make one?”

Tito chuckled. “Wow. Surprised we gone this long without that. Our mistake.” He cleared his throat. “Name's Tito, but most call me Dark now. The Blaze Displaced over there is my cousin Elizabeth,” he said, gesturing to the armored girl. “You already know about Dash and Twi.” He then gestured to the Riolu in his lap and the small dragon on his shoulder. “The dragon is Peter, and the pup is my daughter Brianna,” he finished, Bri giving a small yip.

The pink filly then started levitating above the table and placed a hand on her chest. “And I'm Screwball. Daughter of Discord, princess of chaos, and the only pony in our world who has any knowledge on franchises from Earth.”

“Discord?!?” Celestia exclaimed, Keyblade coming back out.

“Oh right. Season 1,” Screwball said with a deadpan expression. “Calm down princess. My daddy isn't an issue in our world anymore. A certain pony is responsible for that.” She said with a smile. “Though you may wanna be careful. If this world is like baseline, you guys have a lot to deal with. And that's not counting the Kingdom Hearts stuff.”

“Yeah, like the wedding,” Tito muttered, his Twilight sighing at that before giving a nod.

“Wait, wait, wait,” I said. “Your daughter is a Riolu? Seriously? How does that work?”

“Not only that,” our eyes turned to our Twilight. “But why is the other me an alicorn? I know I don’t have that sort of magical potential.”

Tito's Twilight cleared her throat and averted looking any of my versions in the eye. “Well...let's just say I got a certain book and fixed a mistake on it.”

“And she screwed a lot of stuff up and seriously messed up her friends’ lives before she fixed said mistake,” Tito added, to which his Twilight glared at him. “Well it's true.”

“I'm sorry, what?” Elizabeth asked, sounding dumbfounded.

“Not important,” Tito quickly said before he resumed petting Brianna. “As for Bri being my daughter, a bit of a long story. Short version is I saved her as an egg in another Equestria and got to keep it. A few days later, she hatched and imprinted on me, thinking I'm her dad. So I adopted her as my daughter.”

“Well, considering what’s going on here and now,” I start, “I’d say that the possibility of what you had to do will be totally different, now that the continuity has been shot to pieces. But we got off track. What about that medallion thing?”

Tito reached into his pocket and pulled out the medallion before tossing it to me. “That is my token. Tokens are basically how Displaced can summon one another. Mine is a copy of my medallion,” he said before reaching into his cloak and pulling out a necklace with a matching medallion and a small rock with a hole on it. “I...wasn't that smart, making it that just throwing my token is what summons me, since this is about the fourth or fifth time someone summoned me by accident.”

“A token…?” I murmured, holding my chin in thought. “How do you make one?”

Tito shrugged. “You take something that either represents you, like me with my medallion, or your character, like a Howling Stone for a Link Displaced. Then you “place part of your soul” in it or something. Never could figure out that last part but people seem to be able to figure that out on their own.”

“Something that represents me…” I trailed off before turning to my bag and digging around in it. In no time at all I found the little bag of keychains that came with Destiny’s Embrace. I reached in, looking to use one of the keychains, when my hand touched something much bigger than your average keychain. I pulled it out to found the charm that the game version of Kairi made, along with a note.

“I noticed rather belatedly that the appearance I gave you when I sent you to Equestria wasn’t quite complete.”

“Huh, well that’s convenient,” I muttered before turning my attention back to the charm. I closed my eyes, focusing on filling the charm with light. Eventually, I opened my eyes and said, “This is my heart, my strength, full of color, full of life. If I am who you seek, speak 'light,' and I shall come. However, if your intent is evil... ash to ash, dust to dust, fade to black.”

The charm briefly flashed before it floated off my hand and vanished, and a moment later, a small portal opened and dropped it back into my hand.

“Told ya,” Tito said.

“It's seriously that easy?” Elizabeth asked surprised.

“Pretty much.” Tito then looked back at me. “Anymore questions?”

“Just one,” I replied. “You guys helped me out, so in exchange, any of you want a Keyblade?”

While everyone else seemed confused, Screwball blinked in surprise and Tito did a double take. “I'm sorry, what?” He asked in shock.

“A what?” His Rainbow asked.

“A Keyblade,” I said to his Rainbow while summoning my own again. “It is a mystical weapon designed to fight the forces of darkness. It’s also able to do a lot of other things as well, like open any lock, and channel magic.” I turned to Tito. “And yes, I can give you your own Keyblade. It’s not that hard, since they show us a ceremony in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep that’s designed to pass on the power.”

“Um...don't you have to be worthy in order to so much as hold a Keyblade, let alone have one? I know that much.”

I nodded. “If you’re only looking at the lore from the first game, yes, that is entirely correct. However, we learn in the later games that anyone can have a Keyblade, so long as they have traits that the master passing on the power is looking for. The lore got weird the longer the series lasted…”

“Now that I know. Kind of why I skipped the cutscenes of Dream Drop Distance. But...you can seriously just give Keyblades? Even though you only been Displaced for a couple hours?”

I shrugged. “I’m kind of a Kingdom Hearts nut job, so I have a very deep understanding on how my abilities work because of that, though I did sort of create a magic style as well that I had previously theorized about. If you don’t want a Keyblade, I could probably teach you that style instead. So, what do you say?”

Tito stayed silent for a moment before shrugging. “Sure. Might be useful.”

Elizabeth did the same. “A new weapon can help with some problems I heard of.”

Twilight sighed. “If you really can, I guess I'll get one too.”

Screwball shook her head. “Nah. I'm good. The magic thing might be interesting though.”

Rainbow hummed before shrugging. “Sure. Gives me something to use when I'm out of fuel.”

I nodded before walking over to Tito, lifting Destiny’s Embrace in my hand, turning it hilt first. “In your hand, take this Key,” I said, offering him the hilt. “And so long as you have the makings, then through this simple act of taking, its wielder you shall one day be. And you will find me, friend—no ocean will contain you then. No more borders around, or below, or above, so long as you champion the ones you love.”

Tito put Bri down on the table before getting up and looking at me before he slowly lifted his hand and grasped the hilt.

After Tito grasped the hilt, I slowly let go, allowing him to hold it for a few seconds. The fact that it didn’t flash directly back to my hand told me that he was worthy, no doubt about it, but when he asked about having to be worthy to have a Keyblade, I noticed something in his voice… Well, I’ll deal with it later.

I then repeated the process with both Elizabeth, Rainbow, and Twilight, with matching results, before turning to Screwball. “Are you sure you just want to learn my magic style? I mean, I’m OK with that, but it does tend to work better with a Keyblade, and I have no idea how it’ll react to Chaos magic.”

Screwball nodded. “Not like I'll actually be in many fights, if any at all. Tito and Cece are the fighters, along with Rainbow. I'm more a spectator at this point.”

“Fair enough,” I nodded with a smile. “In that case, let me explain what this magic style is. I call it Music Magic, and, while it can be used offensively, it is primarily a support type magic. I can tell from what you said earlier that you know about a number of franchises from where me and Tito are from, do you happen to know Final Fantasy X-2?”

“I know about as much as a certain person does and as of now, he knows absolutely nothing about Final Fantasy besides some stuff in 4 and 15. And some characters in Kingdom Hearts.”

“Darn, I had hoped I could use that to better explain, oh well. In any case, Music Magic allows you to cast certain status effects on both enemies, and allies. For enemies, the effects will hinder their movements, blind them, poison them, you name it, while for allies, the effects will help them, rejuvenating strength, increasing magic output, etc, etc. The only limitation is knowing a song, and being able to attach the wanted effects to the song,” I explained.

As I explained, I held my hand up, focusing on condensing my knowledge of Music Magic into an orb, similar to the Drive orbs from Kingdom Hearts 2. Soon enough I had a blue drive orb with a music note emblazoned on it, which I offer to Screwball. “This orb will give you all the knowledge you need to use this style.”

Screwball blinked before muttering, “Really pushing it with her skills as a beginner, Bound…” She then shrugged and grabbed the orb.

I blinked. “Honestly, I didn’t think that would work,” I say as I watch the orb absorb into the filly. “So, you think you can use it? Have a good understanding of the style?”

Screwball looked at her hand for a moment. “Yeah, I think I do.” She then shrugged. “Who knows, I might be able to teach this to others.”

We promptly heard some pianos starting up as Screwball tests her new magic.

I blinked. “Huh, haven’t heard that song in years…” I mutter. I then shake my head. “So, how long do you stay, or do I send you back?”

Screwball shrugged. “I can take us home with Tito's token or you can send us back whenever you want. Your choice.”

“Well, I think Celestia is a little nervous with you around, Screwball, so I think you guys might need to go for a bit,” I said. “I can summon you guys again to hang out later. Oh, and before I forget, how do I give you a copy of my token?”

Tito reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue gem. Before he can say anything though, Screwball immediately yanked it and disappeared. Tito stood silent for a moment. “Well, didn't see that coming…”

“Uh, what exactly did she do?” I asked, confused.

“She just took my chaos gem and teleported away, didn't you see it?” Tito asked, with Eli jumping up to slap him on the head. “HEY!”

“Welp,” Applejack chuckled. “Can’t say he didn’t deserve that.”

“You said it,” Pinkie exuberantly said with a smile.

Tito simply looked at them before sticking a hand up to Eli and Applejack’s directions and pressed his two middle fingers down on them, with a white substance coming from his wrists and hitting them both in the face, a web appearing the areas it hit, with them immediately trying to pull it off their faces.

I blinked. “You know, I never did ask who you were Displaced as. After seeing that, I’m gonna assume some sort of Spider-Man Displaced?”

“Spider-Man OC,” he said as he waved his hand and the webs disappeared off Applejack and Elizabeth's faces. “Made it up years ago. Called DarkSpider, which is why everyone calls me Dark. I figured Dark is more of a pony name than Tito anyway so I use it so nobody can tell I'm not one.” He then gestured to his cloak. “Most folks think I'm an earth pony when I have this on so having a name like that helps. And trust me, ponies back home are pretty xenophobic. So it's for the best I have this and my costume.”

I winced. “I had my suspicions, considering the Zecora episode, but I had hoped it wasn’t the case…”

Screwball then teleported back in a flash of light. She then tossed him his gem before throwing another one at me. When I caught it, I saw that it was a pink crystal with black edges.

“What’s this?” I asked, catching the gem.

“Chaos gem,” Screwball explained. “Since a version of my daddy made the one Tito has, I figured I can make one myself. Let's you spawn just about any small item in your pocket. Tito here usually just uses his for copies of his token and snacks. Though there are a few more uses.”

My eyes widened. “Um, are you sure it’s OK for me to have this then?”

Screwball frowned. “What's wrong? Not like something this weak can cause any trouble. Not even strong enough to free this universe's version of my daddy.”

“Uh, that’s not exactly what I meant,” I said with a sweatdrop. “I mean, it seems kinda valuable…”

“So?” Tito's Rainbow asked as she leaned by the table. “Pretty sure anyone who tries to mug you will get their plot kicked.”

“Fair enough, I suppose,” I shrugged. “Sssooo, how do I use this thing anyway?”

“Just concentrate on an item and reach into your pocket or bag,” Tito explained. “The thing you thought of would appear instantly.” As if to prove his point, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a snack that looked like a chocolate cupcake and gave it to Bri, who gladly started eating it.

“Hmm…” I concentrated on the item I’m wanting to pull out, and pulled out a little Morgana plush.

“Oh wow!” I exclaimed. “This could be really useful later on!”

“Again, can't do anything big like weapons or the like,” Screwball reminded. “But you can use it so you can have copies of your token on hand.”

“Ahh, OK then,” I reached back into the bag and pulled out another one of my tokens, tossing it over to Tito. “There you go, use it wisely!”

Tito caught it, and almost immediately that a faint flash of blue light coming from the token before it changed colors, with 3 points turning a royal blue color and the remaining 2 turning pure black.

Tito stared at the token. “Well, didn't see that coming…”

I shrugged. “Neither did I, really. So, is there anything else you want to do, or are we done here? Cause I think Celestia is really wanting to have a word with me.” I said sheepishly as I saw her glaring at me.

“Yeah, when do we get those key things?” Tito's Rainbow asked.

“Hard to say,” I replied with a shrug. “In the games, it varies from person to person. For example, for Riku, it took almost 10 years before he got a Keyblade, while for another character, Axel, it took about a day at most. All I can say for sure is that you’ll eventually get it.”

“According to Lea, Axel's real name, it was likely just a snap of the wrist and then he immediately had it in his hand,” Screwball said.

Tito looked at his right hand for a moment before taking a deep breath. He then reached his arm out with a flick on his wrist and a medium-sized Keyblade appeared in his hand, with him taking a step back in shock.

“Huh, go figure,” I said, eyes going wide. I took the time to study the Keyblade. It’s a mid-length, bladed piece, with a wolf head as the guard, a web surrounding the handle, and a spider at the head. The blade itself was a deep, royal blue, while the wolf head and web design are silver, and the spider at the end is a pitch black. In all honesty, it reminded me of a cross between the Sleeping Lion, and the Pumpkinhead Keyblades from the first Kingdom Hearts game.

Elizabeth removed her visor, revealing golden eyes as she stared at it. “Okay, I can understand the spider stuff and the colors, but why the wolf stuff? I mean sure you can turn into one, but so does anyone with that token.”

“Woah, woah, wait a minute,” I cut in. “You can turn into a wolf? Just how OP did you make this OC of yours?”

“That isn't something I gave him, even though I do like wolves,” Dark said. He then grabbed at the rock on his necklace. “This is what gives me the ability to turn into a wolf.”

“And a rather big one,” his Rainbow commented.

“Right. Anyway, it's the token of a Link Displaced. Infused with Twili magic and allows its user to turn into a wolf. Though know that the first transformation is very painful.”

I winced. “Yeah, no thanks. I don’t need that sort of pain, especially since I’ll have a new pain every month…” I shuddered as I remember that little can of worms. “In any case, I think we’re done here, unless you want to do something else before you head out.”

Tito stared at his Keyblade again before dismissing it. He then looked towards me. “Well I can only think of 2 more things. A small request, and a gift.”

I shrugged. “What did you have in mind?”

He then looked towards Screwball, who pulled out a camera and tossed it to him. After he caught it, he turned back to me. “The request is simply a picture. Basically I take pictures of all the Displaced I meet so I have more of a way to remember them besides just their token.”

I smiled. “Sure, I’d be happy to let you take a picture.” I summoned my keyblade put the time on the ground with both hands on the hilt. “I’m ready whenever you are!”

He then readied the camera. “Say “hearts”.” He then took the picture and the camera had a faint glow for a moment before he gave it back to Screwball, who had it disappear.

“Nice!” I let my Keyblade disappear. “So what is this ‘gift’ you have for me?”

He pulled out a phone from his pocket before taking a deep breath, his hands soon gaining a blue aura around them, then the phone having a matching aura. After a moment, it stopped but he leaned towards the table, panting.

“I told you that you need to be careful,” his Twilight said, sounding annoyed.

“I'm fine, Twi… Don't worry.” A moment later, his clothes seemed to change, turning pure black. When it finished, he stood up straight and stopped panting.

“Uh, you do know that you could have channeled whatever spell that was through your Keyblade, right?” I asked. “It would have made it a lot easier for you to cast the spell.”

“Duly noted,” Tito said, his voice sounding...deeper for some reason, the others looking at him in confusion. He then looked at Screwball and lifted the phone. “Think you can give this an upgrade?”

Screwball took the phone and teleported away again to who knows where.

“OK,” I said slowly. “What was with the creepy voice a moment ago?”

“Creepy voice…” he said before he seemed to realize what was going on. He then sighed. “You really wanna know?”

“Can’t be as dark as Danganronpa,” I shrugged. “Might as well find out.”

He stayed silent for a moment before sighing as his cloak changed back to the way it was before and a black substance started enveloping his right arm before morphing into a neck and a head, with pure white eyes being the only thing on its face. All of Dark's friends stepped back in shock, with Bri tilting her head in confusion.

“I should have known,” I sighed. “Hello Venom, are you friendly, like in the movie, or are you just gonna bite people’s heads off?”

“Venom?” Tito's Rainbow asked in confusion.

Venom's eyes widened before shaking his head. “You have nothing to fear from me miss,” Venom said, his voice sounding very similar to Tito. “I just wish to help my host in anyway I can.”

“Alright, so the version of Venom from the end of the movie, got it,” I nodded. “One thing though, there isn’t some bloodthirsty version of you called Carnage, is there?”

Venom sighed. “While I have no idea what movie you're talking about, since it clearly isn't Spider-Man 3, I'm afraid there is a Carnage in our world. My brother. Luckily he wasn't one of the ones freed.”

“Hold up,” his Rainbow said before doing that cloud thing again to appear in front of Tito and Venom. “What in Tartarus are you and what are you doing on Tito?”

Venom looked to her. “I am a symbiote, made by your...friend's blood and was freed on Hearts And Hooves Day. After that, I bonded with him and we came to an agreement.”

“You sure about this Tito?” Elizabeth said. “Last I heard, Venom is bad news.”

“I know, but he hasn't caused any problems yet so I'm willing to trust him,” Tito said.

“Is there a reason you didn't tell us about him?” Princess Twilight asked.

Venom was the one who answered that. “He wanted to tell all of you after the little meeting you had. Said he didn't want you guys to be distracted.”

Princess Twilight sighed. “Fine,” she said as Venom retreated inside Tito.

Screwball then showed up again, the phone in her hand having a pink case on it. She then tossed it to me before saying, “There you go. Completely upgraded.”

I lifted up the phone, looking it over carefully. It looked vaguely like the the Gummiphone from Kingdom Hearts 3, right down to the crown like design that was part of the case. “OK, so how is a phone that has no service gonna help me?”

“The upgrades I gave are pretty good in my opinion. Wi-Fi access, certain videos are available to be seen, unbreakable, and able to contact Tito and Elizabeth whenever you want without needing to summon them.” She then smiled. “I may not be able to help in a fight due to some...restrictions, but I can still help in stuff like this.”

My eyes widened, and the phone slips through slackened fingers, clattering to the floor. “Wi-Fi access? Able to communicate between dimensions?” I whispered. “How is that even possible? Unless you have a Time Lord on hand, it really shouldn’t be!”

She shook her head. “No. Just chaos magic. And it's called chaos magic for a reason. Not counting certain restrictions that a higher up imposed, my daddy and I can do just about anything. Heck, my dad literally made me using his chaos magic.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Right, ol’ Q is at it again. Forgot about that…” I muttered. “Anyway, I assume you have people - er - ponies waiting for you.”

Tito nodded. “To send a Displaced that you summoned back, you simply say “your contract is complete”.”

“Huh, simple enough,” I nodded. “Your contract is complete.” A portal opened behind Tito and the rest of his group. “Welp, I’ll keep in contact as much as I can. Until next time, and may your heart be your guiding key,” I finished with a Japanese style bow.

Eli rose an eyebrow. “And may the Force be with you too,” she said in confusion before jumping through the portal first.

Screwball sighed. “I'll explain when we're back.” She then looked to me. “Hope you have a good life, Kairi.” With that said, she then went through the portal.

Their Twilight sighed. “Well, this was...something. It was nice meeting you, and sorry for any trouble.”

After Twilight went through, Rainbow looked back me. “Well, not gonna lie, this is better than the last time I went to another Equestria. Though hopefully we can just do more than stand around and talk next time. See ya around.” She then flew through the portal.

Tito took a deep breath before removing his hood and lowering his scarf, revealing his peach skin face, brown eyes, and black hair. He then walked up to me and stuck out his hand. “It was nice meeting you Kairi.”

I smiled as I took his hand, giving it a firm shake. “Safe travels, Tito.” I let his hand go, then step back.

He then picked up Bri, who waved to me with a smile on her face, and walked to the portal. Before he went through, he stopped and turned back to me. “Two more things. One, know that your phone has unlimited power, so don't worry about it dying. And two, if you ever need help of any kind, just ask. Got it?”

I laughed. “The same to you. Got it memorized?” I smirk as I point to my head.

Tito rose an eyebrow in confusion before shrugging and turning back to the portal. “Until next time Kairi.” With that said, they went through the portal, with it snapping closed immediately after.

Author's Note

And now this is posted. 2 chapters in one day. When was the last time I did that? Sorry for posting this one twice, those of you who get notifications. It was a misclick while I was setting it up. Simple as that. This was a crossover with my new friend SoulBound and his story May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key. Decent story so far in my opinion.

So yeah, Dark was once again summoned by accident, this time by a Kairi Displaced who is new to being Displaced. And now 4 of my guys have Keyblades and Screwball as a new kind of magic. The former has been planned for 2 months now ever since Bound made the offer to me. Though Rainbow originally wasn't planned to be present. Also, Dark got Kairi's token and it changed when he caught it. Just so everyone knows, that isn't unique to Dark. Every Displaced that gets her token will have its colors change to suit the Displaced. Plus the token has another thing about it. But I won't say it yet.

Absolutely no idea when the next chapter will come out. With the exception of 44 (as of now), all the next chapters of my stories are in the beginning and who knows which will take priority. We'll see. Until next time.
-Dark

Chapter 44

As Dark landed, the small group found themselves back in Twilight’s castle, the crystal walls shined brightly as the sunlight from the window hit it. The group looked around the room they were in, the bedroom was plain with no decorations or any distinctive features that would show who the room belonged to. Taking a few steps forward, Eli spotted a small basket at the side of the bed, a blanket being neatly folded under a small pillow.

“Well welcome home Dark.” At Dark’s questioning look, Twilight shrugged. “This is your room, I kept it exactly how you left it. Only ever went here to clean all the dust.”

“It's kinda empty… and plain looking.” Eli commented, looking around the room.

Dark shrugged. “I didn’t really have a reason to really decorate the place. Especially when I gave Cece all the tokens I had at the time.”

After a moment of silence, Twilight frowned in concern. “We should probably go now, everyone is probably worried about us.” The alicorn walked towards the the door and opened it, everyone followed her as she stepped out of the room.

The group then made their way into the throne room. When they made it there, they saw everypony huddled over table, waiting patiently for the group to return. Once they were spotted, everyone’s faces lit up in relief. “You guys are back!” Pinkie yelled, skipping towards them and somehow wrapping everyone in a hug. “It's so good to see you guys return! You all just suddenly disappeared, and while not everyone was that worried, we were concerned because it was so sudden!” Stepping back, she gave them a smile. “So did you make any new friends? See anything cool or interesting?”

Cece looked at them from the wall for a few seconds before saying, “Summoned?”

Dark nodded as he passed Pinkie. “Yeah. Another new one.”

“Anything worth mentioning?”

“Well I can now do a sort of music magic and the rest of these guys can now summoned key shaped swords,” Screwball mentioned before hovering above the map table.

Everyone else blinked. “What?” Cadance asked.

Dark rose a hand. “We'll explain that later. There are more important things to talk about.”

Luna nodded. “Indeed. And it is good that Cadance and Elizabeth are here to hear it.”

Applejack then looked to the feline Displaced. “So you're that cousin of Dark and Cece we heard about?”

Eli nodded. “Yeah. Ended up in the Crystal Empire and only found out Tito and Cece were here a couple weeks ago.” She then turned to the Sisters. “So what's so important that you wanted all of us here?”

Celestia sighed, before straightening her back. “The news I have to share with you all is a hard one to accept, and I ask of you to not panic and save your questions until the very end.” The solar princess began.

Deciding to pick up where her sister left off, Luna crossed her arms and began speaking. “Recently we have became aware of a plot to overthrow the two of us, and so far the only thing we know is that they have pony recruits, why they would join or seek to overthrow us has yet to be made clear.”

“Should be obvious,” Dark said with his arms crossed. “They're a bunch of nuts who wanna take over themselves.” He then sighed. “And that's not all.”

Twilight frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Those guys know who and what I am.”

Everyone except Rainbow blinked in surprise. “Wait, you mean they know you're human?” Cece asked.

“That, and they know I'm the Spider.”

He looked down at Bri and started petting her. “Back at the Daring Do convention, I was attacked by some of those guys. And they made it clear they knew who I was and what I was, and that they planned to kill me and Bri.”

Everyone except Screwball looked at him in shock. “What happened?” Rarity asked.

“Well considering I had no reason to hide my powers, I fought back. And I turned into a wolf and bit into the arm of one of them. That one escaped but I knocked out the rest. Soon after that, I went to look for Rainbow and the others. Didn't think too much of it until I ran into the guy again a few nights ago.”

“So that's why the guy attacked you?” Rainbow asked. “Because you bit into his arm?”

Dark nodded. “But something isn't right. The guy's arm was robotic now and he was able to shoot blasts from it. I even almost died from him.”

“How did you survive?” Fluttershy asked.

“I think I know,” Screwball said, with Rainbow and Eli nodding in agreement.

Dark sighed before placing Bri and Peter down to the table. After that, he took a step away from the group. A moment later, Venom's face came out around Dark’s arm and lifted up to eye level. While those who knew about Venom, as well as Screwball, were unfazed, everyone else took a step back and Fluttershy even drove behind her throne in fear and Cece even pulled out her hammer on instinct.

“Is that who I think it is?” Cece asked, to which both Dark and Venom nodded.

“What is that?” Luna asked.

Dark took a deep breath. “Everyone, this is Venom. He's one of three symbiotes made from my blood who I ended up freeing that night at Manehatten and he bonded to me. He's the reason I was able to beat that lunatic.”

Applejack looked towards the ones who were unfazed. “You all don't seem so surprised.”

“We learned about Venom while we were out,” Eli explained.

“Can it be trusted?” Starlight asked.

“I can assure you that I don't wish to hurt any of you,” Venom said, causing the ones who weren't aware he could speak to jump back in shock. “I simply want to help my host.”

“And how can you do that?” Luna asked.

Venom turned to her and said, “Well I can increase his strength, use tendrils, and give him a much more intimidating appearance, just to name a few things.”

“And how do we know we can trust you?”

Dark shrugged. “Well if he ever turns bad, we can always use his weaknesses.”

“And what are they?” Celestia asked.

“Fire, electricity, and loud noises. Those are the only ones I'm aware of.”

Luna frowned before walking up to Dark and staring at him and Venom for a moment. After a few seconds, she, without warning, said in the Royal Canterlot Voice, “SUCH AS THIS?!”

Dark immediately fell to his knees as he put his hands to his ears in pain and Venom started to vibrate violently before sinking back into Dark for protection. Luna stepped back in surprise as the rest were shocked about how Dark reacted with Bri getting off the table to going to his side before hugging him. After a few moments, Dark calmed down and stood up with Bri in one arm.

“I-I'm sorry,” Luna said. “I didn't think it'd affect you that much...”

“It's fine,” Dark said. “Just...please only do that if Venom ever causes trouble. That hurt like hell.”

Twilight cleared her throat. “You said he was one out of three? What happened to the other two?”

“One of them was freed along with Venom, and according to him, she's a friendly. The other one though…” Dark shivered.

“What's wrong?” Cece asked.

Rainbow looked to her. “Wait, you don't know?”

“I only know about Venom. Never heard of others.”

“From what Venom told me, that other one is a lot like his namesake. And he can never be let out.”

“Why…” Celestia asked as they all felt uneasy.

Dark took a deep breath. “Because then you'll have a symbiote that finds pleasure in causing carnage, to the point that that's his name. And I can safely say that until he's stopped, there will be a lot of blood and corpses.”

The older princesses blinked in shock at that while everyone else paled at the thought, Fluttershy even hugging herself in fear.

“And you said he isn't out?”

Dark nodded. “Apparently while Venom and Toxin were being moved, Carnage was left behind for some reason. So he's not on the loose. At least, not yet.”

Celestia took a deep breath. “We should move on then.”

“Here's a question,” Spike asked. “Do we even have a name for the guys who we came here about?”

“Yeah,” Rainbow answered. “Apparently they go by Hydra.”

Cece and Elizabeth did a double take at that. “Wait, isn't Hydra, like, the Marvel version of Nazis?” Cece asked.

Dark nodded. “Pretty much. And it looks like they exist here.”

“Great. Just great.”

“Shame you don't have SHIELD to counter it.”

“I wish,” Dark said offhandedly.

“What?” Cece asked, confused.

“Oh, sorry. Venom just said something.”

“Wait, he can talk to you without doing...that?” Eli asked.

Dark nodded. “Kind of like he's talking in my head.”

“So what did he say?” Cadance asked.

“He said it's a shame we don't have SHIELD.”

“Shield?” Luna asked. “What good would a simple shield be against an enemy like this? Only one that might help is...” she paused before shaking her head with a frown.

Dark shook his head. “No, it's acronym. It stands for…” he paused as he tried to remember.

“Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division.”

“Thanks,” Dark said before repeating it to his friends. “Basically they were an organization that protected the world.”

Celestia sighed. “I am afraid to say that we don't have something that.”

“It is a shame,” Luna said while shaking her head.

After a few moments of nobody saying anything, Applejack cleared her throat. “Well if there is nothing else on that end to talk about, I'd like to know a few things.”

“Such as?” Celestia asked.

Applejack looked to Dark before taking a small glance to the small blue drake on the table. “Where exactly did you get Peter? And what happened while you all were gone? Screwball wasn't exactly clear.”

Dark sighed as Peter hopped off the table before going up to Dark and climbing to his left shoulder. “I got summoned this morning before Twilight arrived. And in that world, dragons are the dominant species. I even met their version of Celestia.”

That surprised everyone except Twilight, who heard it already. “What did you do there?” Spike asked, curious.

“Well I arrived and next thing I know, I'm pinned to a wall by a large white dragon.” Everyone blinked at that with a few even gasping, to which Dark raised his free hand to calm them down. “After she read my mind and found out I didn't mean to harm her or the eggs in that cave, she let down and explained a few things, like the dragon thing and how I was in Clawterlot.”

Cece facepalmed on that. “You cannot be serious.”

“I'm afraid I am. I talked to the Displaced, who seems to be a normal guy. Hell, he wasn't Displaced by the Merchant. He just went into a cave and ended up taking a one way trip to his Equis.”

Everyone frowned at that. “That can't be good,” Elizabeth said. “I doubt he can survive long if he ends up in dangerous worlds.”

Dark nodded. “Hopefully he can get stronger. Besides that, I was given a book with that world's history and ended up catching the attention of Peter and was offered his egg. I came home a bit after that, Peter hatched, I touched him, and I ended up blacking out. When I woke up, I had this.” He showed his right hand with the new silver scar on it.

“How did that happen?” Rainbow asked.

Dark shrugged as he lowered his arm. “Hell if I know. Only seem to be a one off though. Every other time I've touched Peter, I've been fine.” After looking back at his hand, he sighed. “Though I definitely need a new pair of gloves.”

“I'll take care of that,” Rarity said without hesitation. “And maybe a few extra pairs in case something similar happens to them.”

Dark nodded. “Thanks Rarity.”

“And you don't know why Peter has feathers?” Spike asked.

Dark shrugged. “No. Doesn't help I don't know what kind of world Elwood is in besides the dragon, so I don't know whether that's related a franchise or not. Anymore questions?” After everyone shook their heads, he said, “Now as for the latest summon, what exactly do you wanna hear first?”

“How about about the Displaced and that world, then about these “key swords”,” Luna suggested.

Dark nodded. “Okay. First off, the Displaced, Kairi, is another rookie like I said earlier. But she apparently helped her version of the Elements beat Nightmare Moon not long ago.” Luna blinked in shock at that. “I don't know the exact details. Her world is another one where the ponies resemble humans, and her Celestia is apparently a Keyblade wielder. That's what those key shaped swords are called.”

“And Screwball said you are all wielders now?” Celestia asked.

When the four of them nodded, Cece said, “So? What's the big deal?”

Screwball was the one to answer that. “It means they can summon weapons that unlock any lock, magical or physical. And like your hammer, they can summon their Keyblades whenever they want and dismiss them just as easily. Well, once the rest of them can use theirs. Plus a Keyblade allows its user to perform special spells. And that's just a few of the things they can do.”

Everyone present blinked in surprise from that info before Starlight frowned. “Wait, what do you mean once the rest of them can use their Keyblades?”

Rainbow sighed and crossed her arms. “At the moment, Tito is the only one who can summon his.”

“And we don't know how long it'll take for the rest of us,” Eli added.

Everyone then stared at Dark before Celestia said, “Would you mind showing us?”

Dark took a deep breath before lifting his right arm again. Immediately after, his Keyblade appeared in it. While those who already saw it weren't surprised, the rest of the group were and examined the Keyblade.

“Wait, why-” Cece started before Dark interrupted.

“I don't know why there's a wolf head.” He shrugged. “Maybe it has to do with the fact they're my favorite animals.”

“They are?” Twilight asked.

Dark nodded. “It's why I'm in that wolf form so much.”

“Wait, wolf form?” Rarity asked.

“Oh, right, you don't know. Basically I met a Displaced and his token let's me turn into a wolf.”

“And nearly every morning after that, I've seen you in that form in the gardens as I'm heading to bed,” Luna said with a small smile. “At least now I understand why you enjoyed it so much.” She then looked at the Keyblade. “Does it have a name?”

“Name?” Cece asked.

“Many great weapons are given names,” Luna said. “Or at least back before my descent.”

Dark paused as he stared at his new weapon, remembering a small whisper go through his head the first time he summoned it. “Lycan Web,” he answered simply.

Luna nodded. “A fitting name by the looks of it.”

Dark nodded as he dismissed it. He then looked to Bri and saw that she had fallen asleep in his arm, much to his surprise. “So is there anything else?” When everyone shook their heads, he then started to walk to the door. “Well I'm gonna go put Bri to bed and then find something to do. It was nice seeing you again Eli,” he said with a wave as he left, to which she returned.

After Dark reached his room, Dark placed Bri down on his bed, by the wall, before putting the blanket over her. He then put Peter down on the nightstand. Almost immediately after that, Venom surrounded his arm again and looked at him.

“You sure this is a good idea?” The symbiote asked his host.

Dark shrugged. “It's been a couple months. Plus I barely did anything last time.”

Venom nodded. “I remember. Though what exactly do you expect to do?”

Dark shrugged. “Explore a bit. Maybe meet some people. And if I have to, play hero. Not like I can do much else with how late it's getting.” As Venom nodded, Dark said, “Hey um...can you find a better way for us to talk than...this?” He then gestured to Venom with his free hand. “It's…”

“Creepy?” Venom finished.

Dark nodded. “Kind of, yeah.”

“I'll figure something out and let you know what I come up with. So you gonna leave a note and go?”

Dark nodded his head. “Gotta change first though.” Venom said nothing in response, instead just returning inside Dark. Dark then looked to Peter. “Listen, I'm gonna go somewhere for a bit. Don't worry about it. I'll be back later, okay?”

The dragon simply nodded his head in understanding before curling up and preparing to fall asleep. Dark then walked to his dresser and pulled out the clothes Rarity gave him for Hearth's Warming. After changing into them and putting on the gloves from his costume, he wrote a note and placed it beside Peter on the nightstand. When he was done with that, he grabbed his bag and exited his room. A few minutes of uneventful walking later, he found the room he was looking for and entered it, seeing the mirror portal. After checking to see that it was active, he stepped back a bit and took a deep breath before running through the mirror.

Author's Note

And another one done, just in time for Easter. I'd like to thank Star for helping me start this one. And I only realized last night when someone pointed it out that this is basically a recap chapter, since most of it is talking about stuff that already happened in previous chapters. Not complaining. Just surprised I never noticed it beforehand.

So yeah, the main group and a few others now knows about Hydra and Venom. As well as the existence of the other 2 symbiotes, plus their weaknesses. Not much is actually new besides the name of Tito's Keyblade, Lycan Web. I'd like to thank my friend Switch for that name because like hell I'd be able to come up with one that good.

Once again, no idea when the next chapter will come out. Don't really know how it starts to be honest. But you all should know where it'll take place in. That's all for now. Until next time. And have a happy Easter.
-Dark

45. Mirrored Perspective

For Firestarter, working at a convenience store was a rather dull experience. Almost nothing ever happened in the store, whenever there was something going on it would always be after his shift. Though as the red skinned teen glanced upwards at the convex mirror, he couldn’t help but wish today was just another dull day instead of the one he was likely going to have. “Why couldn’t it just have been my bullies…” He hissed, quickly pressing the emergency button under his desk and, as if they knew what he was doing, the two masked men immediately began walking towards him. “C-can I help you today sirs?” The blonde teen asked, putting up a large fake smile.

The two took out their guns and pointed it at him. “Yeah, you can hand over all of your money.” The masked man in the back walked forwards and took out a plastic bag, gesturing for the teen to put the money in the bag with his gun.

Firestarter gulped, wishing he had his lighter to calm him. He raised his covered arm up and opened the register, grabbing bundles of cash from it and dumping it into the bag.

The first robber narrowed his eyes at the amount. “What is this?” He asked, lifting the bag up. “Do you think this is a joke?! Is this really all you have?” He yelled, pointing the gun at him.

“We don’t really have a lot of customers…” The blonde teen gulped, eyeing the waving gun. Feeling a little braver, he continued speaking. "This is also a convenience store, we don't keep all the money in the cash registers."

The robber scoffed. "Fine then, we'll just help ourselves to all the goods you have here." The two masked gunmen starting grabbing all of the items off of the counter and dumping them inside the bag.

"Wow. Talk about pathetic," a voice said by the entrance. Looking towards the speaker, everyone saw a figure leaning by the door with his arms crossed and wearing a pure black suit that seem to reflect light with a matching mask that had pure white eyes.

The masked man raised an eyebrow and pointed his gun at him. "Who are you calling pathetic? Don't you know that Halloween already passed, kid?"

"Why don't you just leave before you get hurt trying to play hero?" The second man said, waving his gun at him.

"Sheesh, talk about deja vu," Dark said to Venom. He then looked to the first robber. "And I'm calling you pathetic since you look like you're trying so hard just to rob this place."

The robber scowled, cocking the gun. “You sure do like to talk big, kid. Why don’t you just drop whatever you have before we make you regret playing hero.” The second man took a few careful steps forward, glaring at the costumed figure.

Dark just looked at them, undeterred. "So, you are just gonna shoot me if I don't walk away?"

The second robber chuckled. “Yeah that’s right, and if I were you I would take that offer.” The gunman walked closer to him. “But if you’d like I can just save us all the trouble and shoot you right now since you’re so dead set on playing hero.” The gunman poked Dark with the gun.

Dark rose an eyebrow behind his "mask" with it showing a similar expression. "You tired of these guys too?"

"Yes."

"Okay then," Dark said before immediately grabbing the arm of the closest robber and pulling it to the floor. Before the other one can react, Dark shot a web to his gun and pulled it away from his hand, and finally webbing it to the ceiling. The first one tried to punch Dark, but he simply caught the fist and squeeze it enough to cause the guy to fall to his knees.

The gunmen cried out in pain as he glared hatefully at Dark. “What the hell?” He hissed out. “How the hell are you able to do that? You some kind of freak?!”

Dark's eyes widened before he narrowed them in anger, his eyes turning red in response with his mask matching. He started growling and let go of the robber before grabbing him by the collar and lifted him up with ease. "What did you just call me?"

The masked robber gulped, his eyes widening in fear as he stared at the red eyes. “W-what the hell are you?!” He screamed as he started flailing around in panic.

"Tito, calm down," Venom told the Displaced.

After looking away for a moment, Dark calmed down before looking back at the thug in his grasp. "Name's DarkSpider." And with that, Dark lowered him before headbutting him hard enough for the thief to knock out. Dark then let go of him and looked to the second one, who was frozen in shock. "You gonna try anything stupid?"

The thug shook his head, and got down on his knees, raising his arms up in the air in defeat. “I surrender, just don’t hurt me.” The gunman pleaded.

Dark glared at him before pushing him to the nearest wall and webbing him to it. "That should hold you until the cops show up."

"We should leave before that happens."

"Agreed," Dark muttered, quiet enough so nobody else can hear. With that said, he left the building and web zipped to a nearby roof.

Walking around the two gunmen, Firestarter stepped outside the building and watched as the hero left. The red skinned teen continued to stare in awe, even as a number of police cars parked in front of the store. His attention was stolen when a woman with curly red hair snapped her fingers in front of his face. “Uh, can I help you officer?”

The pale skinned woman nodded. “Yes we received a signal coming from this store, and from the looks of things it seems like everything is fine…” She looked around the front of the store, not noticing anything suspicious. “Have the thieves already gotten away? And if so, what direction did they go?” The officer asked.

Firestarter merely pointed at the store. “They’re still inside.”

Her eyes narrowed as she reached for her gun. “Hostages?”

He shook his head. “Some guy in a costume came in and beat them up…” He turned back, and scratched his head. “He also covered one of them in some sticky webs, and he was stuck to the walls of the store.”

The officer raised an eyebrow, turning towards two other officers, she motioned them to head inside. “So a man in a costume came in to the store as it was it being robbed and stopped the thieves with some webs?” The teen nodded, and the officer sighed. “Alright then, why don’t you go with my partner while I investigate inside.” Following her instructions, the teen walked towards one of the cars, just before her partner can leave, she held him back. “Check in case he’s suffering from a concussion, I’m going to head in.”

Not waiting for an answer, Officer Valor made her way inside, her hand on top of her weapon. Seeing the other two policemen gathering around one of the walls, she spoke up. “Gentlemen, what’s going on? Have the thieves been detained?”

One of the officers sighed, and nodded. “Yeah, and not by us.” He answered, taking a step back and revealing a webbed up masked man. Valor’s eyes widen as she stepped closer to them. “No idea what it is, it's sticky and we can’t really pull or rip it off.”

“Like some kind of web…” Valor whispered to herself, no longer feeling suspicious about the teen’s story. “The other one? Is he trapped too?”

The officer shook his head. “Nope, just unconscious.”

Just as she was reaching over to touch the webbing, the sticky substance began to fade away, causing her to take a step back and grab her gun. Seeing that nothing bad was happening, she took her hand away from the weapon and took out a pair of handcuffs. “Sir we have a few questions to ask you, but first we need you to come with us.” She told shivering robber.

The gunman nodded quickly. “I’ll tell you anything, just make sure that freak can’t find me.”

Valor narrowed her eyes. “We’ll see what we can do.” She placed the handcuffs on him. “Take him to the parking lot, read him his rights.” The officer next to her nodded, and picked the gunman up. Quickly turning back, she called out to the leaving officer. “Oh, and bring the kid here, I want to ask him some more questions.” Just as she was about to make her way to the store counter, she noticed a second, unconscious gunman. “Stay here with him in case he wakes up will you? Don’t let anyone touch him until the ambulance arrive.” She ordered the second officer.

Taking out her notepad, she began quickly writing a few things down on it. She sighed as her shoulders dropped, raising her head to stare at the ceiling, her eyes widened when she noticed a webbed up gun at the ceiling of the store. With the webbing finally dissolving, she quickly caught the falling the weapon before it can hit the floor, having to throw herself to the floor to catch it. She sighed in relief when the gun didn’t go off, and placed it at the counter. “What the hell is going on here?” Valor asked herself, looking around in confusion.

Dark landed in an alleyway after a few minutes of fleeing the store. As he walked down the alley, Venom slipped back into Dark.

"You okay?"

Dark sighed. "Yeah. Just...really hate that."

"Believe me, I know."

Dark shook his head as he put on his hood and walked out of the alley. Almost immediately after turning a corner however, he bumped into someone. After taking a step back, he muttered, "You'd think with spider-sense that that'd happen less…"

"Tito?"

Dark blinked before looking at who he ran into, seeing Sunset Shimmer. "Oh. Hey Sunset. Didn't expect to see you here."

Sunset waved awkwardly. “I can say the same thing about you. It's been awhile.” She greeted with a small smile. “So what brings you here?”

"We-" Dark started before shaking his head. "I mean, I wanted to check this place out since the last time I was here, I spent the whole time at that concert hall."

Sunset nodded. “I see, well the city is a big place and I wouldn’t want you to get lost, so why don’t I join you?” She smiled. “We can catch up as well, I’ve been curious as to what’s been going on in Equestria since the last time we’ve talked.”

Dark shrugged. "Sure. Though trust me, I have my own way of figuring out where I'm going. Was able to traverse Manehatten easily my first time."

“Well I’m sure using your webs to be able to see most of the city from above has nothing to do with it.” Sunset motioned Dark to follow her as she led them to a nearby mall. “So how's everything back in Equestria?”

Dark hummed as he remembered everything since his last visit. "Well Cece and I became Twilight's guards, we fought an evil version of a Displaced, found out Rainbow has a special gene that allows her to control water and heal fast, stayed in Canterlot for the last couple months, met Discord's daughter, I fought a comic book villain with shock gauntlets, gained an adopted daughter, befriended Trixie, met a very experienced Displaced who gave me access to magic and the ability to become a wolf, found out two of my cousins were Displaced and reunited with one of them, went to a convention, fought another villain with robotic wings, bonded to a symbiote, found out an evil organization exists, got my own dragon, fixed my issues in Ponyville, and got a Keyblade." He then stood silent for a few seconds. "Yeah, I think that's everything important."

Sunset stood silent for several seconds, feeling a bit overwhelmed from all of the info that was dumped on her. “Uhh… well sounds like you’ve been busy… It's great that you’ve reunited with your family.” She narrowed her eyes a bit. “What was that part about an evil organization? That sounds serious… and dangerous.”

Dark sighed. "If they're anything like the versions I know about, extremely. Doesn't help that they know my secret."

Sunset turned towards Dark, looking worried. “They know your identity? Do you think they have ponies spying on you?”

"Or they had someone present during the fiasco with Nisled. Most of the town saw my face during that, and no doubt some saw me use my powers."

"And one member definitely hates your guts."

"Yeah, the guy I bit and who we crushed the arm of," Dark responded verbally.

Sunset turned towards Dark with a concerned look. “You…. bit and crushed someone’s arm?”

Dark blinked. "Right...sometimes forget only I can hear him…" he then shook his head. "But yeah, back at the convention I mentioned. Some guys in that organization attacked me and my daughter and revealed they knew both who and what I was. So, long story short, I fought back. Turned into a wolf and bit the arm of the one who talked. Imagine how painful a bite from a wolf that's 5 feet tall would be."

Sunset shuddered. “No doubt it’d be painful, from what I remember a normal wolf can crush bones with just a few bites. Depending on the damage he might have to get a prosthetic if they couldn’t heal it with magic.” She turned away shyly. “Learned about that from a game, wolves were always a pain to fight against, especially in packs.”

"Noted. But yeah, he escaped while I focused on someone else. Then a few days later, I ran into him again in Manehatten and he had a robotic arm. I honestly would've died, if not for Venom."

Her eyes widen in alarm. “You almost died?! Are you okay? You don’t have any lasting injuries do you?!” She shook her head, trying to calm herself down. “I’m just glad that whoever this Venom guy is he was there to save you… need to thank him if I ever meet him.”

"No need since he can hear you just fine."

"You enjoy being cryptic?"

"Maybe a little," Dark responded, looking away from Sunset as he did so.

“What do you mean?” Sunset asked. “You have your phone with you or something? He’s on speaker with us right now?”

Dark stopped and then used his spider sense to check that nobody was around before mentally giving Venom the go ahead. A moment later, Venom surrounded Dark's arm for the fourth time that day and turned to Sunset.

Sunset’s eyes widen as she jumped back in surprise. “What is that?! Why is it surrounding your arm?!” She asked, nearly yelling.

"Sunset Shimmer, this is Venom. He's a symbiote made from my DNA that bonded to me during my fight."

Sunset stared at Venom, wide eyed, for a few seconds before shaking her head. “Um, hello.” She waved shyly. “Thanks for saving Dark…”

"Not like I'd leave him to die," Venom responded. "Especially after he freed me from being a puppet of Hydra."

She jumped again from hearing the symbiote speak. “Sorry, just didn’t expect you to talk.” Sunset glanced between the two of them. “So I’m guessing Hydra is the name of this evil organization? Sounds like an evil enough name.”

"Yup," Dark and Venom said in unison. Dark then said, "They made Venom and 2 others and one of them was freed. Luckily it was the good one."

"Lucky for everyone," Venom added.

“Why would it be lucky that only two of you escaped?” Sunset asked. “Was the other one bad or something?”

Dark was about to answer her before his spider sense went off. Reacting quickly, Dark immediately ran off with Venom returning into his body.

Dark ignored the Sunset's cries to slow down, allowing his instincts to guide him. Spotting a tall black gate in front of him, he ran past the front entrance and darted to the nearest tree, looking around the area for any signs of trouble. Deciding to go in deeper into the park, he finally caught the sound of people speaking, walking towards the source of the voices, he saw a group of teens surrounding someone with a hood covering their face. He edged closer to them so he can hear them.

"P-please...don't…" the hooded person pleaded, their voice revealing to be a female and sounded very familiar to Dark for some reason.

"Is that really her?" Venom asked in surprise.

'Who?' Dark asked. But before Venom can reply, one of the crowd members started talking.

"Did you think we would just forget?" The largest of them scowled, cracking his knuckles. "You and that little group of yours caused a lot of trouble."

Another one cracked his knuckles. "And now that we got you alone, we're gonna give you something long overdue."

After that, they all stepped closer and pushed her to the ground. Immediately after that, they all started to hear a growl. Turning to the noise, everyone saw a pair of glowing red eyes, causing the group to immediately take a step back in shock. The creature stepped out of the shadows, revealing it to be a large wolf, standing just a few inches shorter than most of the group. The wolf kept growling as it stepped closer to them before letting out a loud bark. Taking that as a cue to run, the group did so as fast as they could while the wolf chased them for half a minute.

Once Dark was satisfied, he returned to the shadows before changing back to his human form. After waiting a few seconds, he looped around so that he approached the girl from the opposite direction from where he chased her would be attackers.

Spotting the girl shivering on the floor, Dark slowly walked up towards her. Hearing him come closer, the hooded girI started crawling away in fear. “P-please don’t hurt me.”

Dark stepped back on lifted his hands. "Whoa, calm down. What happened?”

She stayed silent for a moment before saying, “You don't know?”

“I just got here a few minutes ago and heard screaming. How could I know?”

She quickly scanned the area around them, trying to see if the monster she saw was still around, satisfied that it was gone she turned towards Dark and gulped. “There was a monster here, it looked like a giant wolf!” She turned away “It was chasing some guys who were here earlier, I just hope it doesn’t come back.”

Dark rose an eyebrow and looked around. “Well I don't see any giant wolves. Plus I may not have been here long, but I doubt there are any wolves here.” He then walked towards her and extended his arm. She looked at him for a few moments before hesitantly grabbing it as he pulled her to her feet. “There we go. Are you okay?”

“Y-yeah, I'm fine,” she said, sounding confused.

“You seriously can't recognize her?” Venom asked.

‘Should I?’

Venom let out a sigh. “You should actually look at her face. Might help your memory.”

Dark rolled his eyes before taking a closer look at the girl, the moonlight just barely reaching her face. He saw that she had light blue skin and reddish eyes, and even saw a bit of her hair, which was two different shades of blue.

Dark blinked and did a double take when he finally realized who he was with. “Sonata Dusk?” He said without thinking.

“Took ya long enough,” Venom muttered.

Sonata blinked in confusion. “How do you know my name?”

Dark widened his eyes. “Um…”

Before he could make up an excuse, they both heard someone call out. “There you are.” The two of them turned to the voice and saw Sunset reach them before putting her hands on her knees, panting.

“Uh, you okay Sunset?” Dark asked a few moments later.

Sunset nodded. “Yeah… It's just… you're very fast…”

“Wait, you two know each other?” Sonata asked.

As Sunset finally caught her breath, she stood back up and nodded again. “Yeah. Tito, this is Sonata Dusk. Sonata, Tito.”

“We met a few months ago,” Dark explained to Sonata. “My sister and I are from out of town and we ran into Sunset and her friends after we arrived. How do you know each other?” he asked, simply to imply he didn't already know.

While Sonata looked away and, to his surprise, looked guilty, Sunset frowned. “Wait, didn't you say-”

Dark immediately interrupted her. “Can I speak to you in private?” He asked before grabbing her by the wrist and walking away until Sonata was unable to see or hear them.

“Um, you okay?” Sunset asked, confused.

“Yeah,” he whispered. “Just rather you not spill that I know about the Battle of the Bands.”

“Why not?”

“Well unlike Twilight, I'm not pretending to be a student. So some random guy knowing about something that happened I don't even know how long ago? Might cause some questions. Plus that wouldn't explain how I’d know how you two actually know each other.”

“We go to the same school,” Sunset said simply.

Dark blinked. “Right… Wait, I thought the Dazzlings ran off after you girls beat them.”

Sunset nodded. “They did. But they came back a few weeks ago. Apparently without their powers, they have nowhere else to go and after trying for a while, they decided to come back. So me and the others have been keeping an eye on them. Both to keep them out of trouble, and so nobody tries to hurt them.”

“May need to try harder with that last one,” he muttered.

“Why?”

“I saw her getting assaulted by some guys when I got here.”

Sunset’s eyes widened in shock. “What?”

“Yeah. And I...dealt with them and chased them off before looping around and meeting Sonata. Not gonna lie, I didn't even know it was her until Venom told me to look at her face.”

“Guessing you regret saving her then,” Sunset muttered.

“Why?” Dark asked, which seemed to surprise Sunset. “Unlike during the Battle of the Bands, she didn't do anything wrong. She was even asking them not to do what they were doing. It's like Twilight said. Without those gems, they're just normal girls.”

“Huh.” Sunset then looked over her shoulder. “Maybe we should get back to Sonata. Just in case.”

Dark nodded in agreement before walking back. When they saw Sonata again, she was facing two other hooded figures with her back to him and Sunset.

One of the hooded figures noticed the pair and said with an annoyed tone, “Hello Sunset.”

“Adagio,” Sunset replied.

The other one, which Dark figured was Aria, looked to him. “So who's this guy?”

“Name’s Tito,” Dark answered. “I'm from out of town and visiting. And you are?”

“This is Adagio Dazzle and Aria Blaze,” Sunset told him, gesturing to each one. “They're Sonata’s sisters.”

“So all their names are music based? Okay.”

“You never heard of us?” Adagio asked, surprised.

Dark shrugged. “Like I said, I'm from out of town and my last visit was months ago and only for a few hours. Sorry if I don't know the names of everyone here.”

“So what are you doing here in the park right now?” Aria asked him.

Dark shrugged. “I heard some screaming and followed it. When I got here, I saw Sonata.”

Adagio rose an eyebrow. “Screaming?” She asked, turning to Sonata.

Sonata nodded. “A large wolf came from out of nowhere and chase those guys away.”

Sunset rose an eyebrow before taking a brief glance at Dark before looking back at Sonata. “A wolf?”

“Well, I think it was a wolf. It large, about as tall as me and had really dark fur and glowing red eyes,” Sonata immediately hugged herself and shivered in fear at that last part. “Those eyes were terrifying…”

Sunset cleared her throat. “Well I lived here for years and I can safely say that there are no wolves in this park.”

Dark looked at the sky and saw the crescent shaped moon high in the sky. “Well, it's getting late. It was nice meeting you girls, but I best be heading back. Until next time,” he said before heading towards the direction of the school.

“I'll go with you for a bit,” Sunset said as started walking beside him. Before they were out of sight, she turned to the trio and said, “See you girls tomorrow.”

A little after the pair left, Aria looked at Sonata. “A wolf?”

“I'm serious!”

“Just sounds ridiculous to me,” Aria replied with a shrug.

“Calm down you two,” Adagio said before taking a deep breath. “No matter what stopped those assholes, the important thing is Sonata is okay. So let's just go home and go to bed and worry about it tomorrow, okay?” The others slowly nodded. “Okay then.”

With that said, the three of them left the park and heading to their current home. A few minutes after they left however, Sonata said, “Wait a minute…”

“What is it?” Aria asked.

“Tito said he never heard of us, right?”

“That's what he said. Why?”

“Then...how did he know my name?”

Adagio and Aria frowned. Adagio then looked at Sonata and said, “What do you mean?”

“After he helped me get back up, he looked at my face and said my name, as if he recognized me. Even said my last name.”

Aria shrugged. “Maybe Sunset or her friends told them. No big deal.”

“Then why did he ask how Sunset and I knew each other?”

Adagio hummed. “Sounds like something is off about Sunset’s friend.”

“A wolf? Really?” Sunset asked.

Dark shrugged. “I didn't want to bring any unnecessary attention to myself so I changed into a wolf while in the shadows and chased them off.”

“And what's this about glowing red eyes?”

Dark sighed. “Apparently when I'm mad, my eyes turn blood red and terrify anyone who sees it. Only exception so far is Nisled and Celestia. So bad that most of Ponyville thought I was a demon until earlier today.”

Sunset blinked. “O~kay. Not sure how to respond to that.” She then shook her head. “So why did you run off earlier?”

Dark rubbed the back of his head. “Sorry about that. For some reason, my spider-sense alerts me when someone needs help and I'm just drawn to it. This isn't the first time it activates in the middle of a conversation. Can't control it though.”

“Sounds both useful and inconvenient.”

“That's one way of putting it.”

“Wait, you don't know why that happens?” Venom asked.

“No. Why?” Dark asked but Venom stood silent.

“Don't mean to sound mean, but it's kind of weird seeing you talk to yourself to be honest.”

Dark shrugged. “I've been called much worse.”

After a few more minutes, the two of them arrived at the school. Dark then turn to Sunset and stuck out his hand. “Well, it was nice seeing you again Sunset.”

Sunset smiled before shaking his hand. “You too Tito.”

After they let go, he walked towards the portal and said, “Don't be surprised if me and Cece come back soon.”

“I'll let the others know.”

With that said, Dark then ran to the portal and jumped through, landing in Twilight's castle. After checking himself to make sure he was fine, he left the room. Not two seconds later, he ran into someone again.

“Damn it,” Dark muttered.

“Oh, there you are.”

Dark shook his head before looking in front of him and seeing Rainbow. “Oh. Hey Rainbow.”

“What were you doing in there?”

“Went through the portal to actually see more of that world.”

“Anything interesting happen?”

Dark shrugged. “Not really. Stopped a robbery, met up with Sunset, stopped an assault, and met a few...interesting girls. Anything happen while I was gone?”

Rainbow shook her head. “No.”

Dark hummed. “Well, best go to bed. See you tomorrow Rainbow.”

“We going to train tomorrow?”

Dark smiled. “I don't see why not.”

Rainbow smiled back. “Great. G’night Tito.” With that, she flew off.

Dark chuckled as he walked back to his room.

Author's Note

And it's done. Took over a month to do and it was super annoying how much I got stuck.

So Tito went to EqG and met the Dazzlings. I've been planning this for over a year and I have my reasons. Though nice to know that we finally see the canon Dazzlings again after 5 years and it looks like they turned over a new leaf. Personally I hope they did. I rather they be neutral or good than villains.

Not much else to say after that. Next chapter is a Star one and is almost done. It should be done by the anniversary. Until next time.
-Dark

46. Hexed Clown

The Fool laughed, holding up the shrunken down painting between his fingers. Grinning widely, he carefully stashed the priceless art piece in his pocket as he walked past the tied up guards. Without turning back, he tossed a tarot card over his shoulder, the card landing right in front of the defeated ponies. Finally reaching the museum’s most treasured art piece, he snapped his fingers, using his magic to make the glass case disappear, leaving behind the shining large red gem. Carefully picking the gem up, the jester inspected his new prize, taking in every detail of the gem. “Such beauty…” Fool whispered to himself, smiling at the perfectly cut red diamond. “And to think they wanted to keep you away from me,” He said, shaking his head with a smile. “Don’t these fools know anything? I despise anyone who tries to keep me away from what rightfully belongs to me, all of the world’s riches are mine to keep!”

“The only thing that belongs to you is a coffin.”

The jester froze, his face turning pale as he broke out in a cold sweat. He quickly turned around, his smile was shaky as he stared at the horrid pony in front of him. “W-well hello there!” He called out hesitantly as he took a step back. “F-fancy seeing you here T-Toxin.”

The orange-red and blue-black pony shambled towards him, she shook her head as her white eyes continued to glare at him. “I thought I told you to leave my city Fool.” She said, sounding disappointed. She slowly raised her clawed hand and set it down on the jester’s shoulder. “I told you what would happen if I see you causing trouble in my city didn’t I, Fool?” She began to apply pressure onto his shoulder, causing him to whimper.

“P-please Toxin I’m sorr-AH!” He cried out in pain as he felt his shoulder get crushed.

“I don’t want your damn APOLOGIES!” Toxin’s face became monstrous, her normally covered mouth became full of sharp teeth as she screamed at him. Raising the jester up high, she threw him onto the wall behind him. “You’re not sorry… not yet anyways.” The monster stomped towards the Fool, ignoring his pleas and protest. “If you were truly sorry, you wouldn’t have done it in the first place.” Toxin hissed, picking up the pony and raising him up to her level. The monster gave him a toothy grin, “But don’t worry, I’m going to make sure this won’t ever happen again.” She giggled, her tongue slithering out of her maw as she used it to lick his exposed face.

“Toxin please! I swear you’ll never see me here again!” Fool bargained, recoiling away from the tongue.

“You’re right about that Fool.” The monster began, laughing in its distorted voice. “I won’t see you again, I won’t see you ever again.” Laughing loudly, she pulled her head back before darting her head towards him, her mouth stretching widely. The last thing Fool ever saw was the inside of Toxin’s mouth.

Trump Card bolted straight up from his bed with a sharp gasp, his face was covered in sweat from the nightmare he had just woken up from. The stallion ran his hand through his orange mane, panting heavily as he tried to calm himself down. Looking around his room, he sighed in relief when he saw that he was alone. “It was a nightmare… There isn’t anyone here.” The lavender unicorn told himself, starting to get up from his bed. Glancing outside the window, he saw the moon hanging in the night sky, the stallion turned towards the alarm clock that sat on his desk and frowned. “It's barely 1…” He grumbled. Deciding that he wasn’t going to get any more sleep anytime soon, Trump Card walked towards the kitchen to get a glass of water.

As he was getting a glass of water he spotted a couple of newspapers scattered across the kitchen counter.

“Swarm’s Beetle taken down by rookie hero! New vigilante reveals herself as Toxin!

Leader of the Insect themed gang known as “The Swarm”, Yellow Jacket, found dead on the docks, police suspect a hostile regime change.”

Card scowled at the papers, he could care less about the underworld’s politics, but seeing the vigilante gaining more and more fame made him angry. “She’s no hero, that crazy bitch is a monster,” he muttered as images of Toxin’s monstrous form came to mind. Trump Card shook his head to clear his thoughts. Turning back towards the papers, he used his magic to crumble them up and toss them into the garbage can.

Going to his living room, his eyes scanned all of the Fool’s equipment scattered across the living room table. Card sighed as he sat down on his chair, picking up small stack of tarot cards that were placed aside. Trump Card began shuffling the deck, taking out three cards he placed them spread out in front of him. He flipped over the first card, from it he could see his history, a family that was dirt poor, his family struggled with being able to provide for him and his sister. Trump sighed, he hated having to look into the past, but then again, it wouldn’t be a good reading if he wasn’t shown his origins.

Flipping over the second card, he noticed its position was reversed. Seeing the position of the card, he sighed and took a look at the present. He was once at the top, the greatest thief in all of the city, not a single pony had ever once seen him, and it all came crashing down around him the night he met Toxin. He scowled in frustration. Ever since that night, he couldn’t muster up the courage to wear his mask again, fearing that the nightmares might become a reality. The lavender unicorn clenched his fist tightly, his knuckles almost turning white.

Just as he was flipping over the third card, he heard someone pounding loudly on the apartment door. The unicorn narrowed his eyes, turning towards the living room table, he used his magic to teleport everything into his room. Getting up from the chair, he slowly walked towards the door. “Hello? Who is it?”

From behind the door, a sophisticated sounding voice responded. “Hello, we’re here to speak to a pony named Trump Card, that wouldn’t happen to be you is it?” He asked.

The unicorn raised an eyebrow. “Who’s asking?”

“We’re here to offer you a job, not only that but we’re looking for some information.” The voice responded.

Trump Card shook his head. “I’m not an info broker, go look somewhere else.” He began walking away from the door.

“We’re looking for info regarding Manehatten’s newest vigilante, Toxin.”

The unicorn froze, calming down, he turned back towards the door. “What makes you think I know anything?”

“Why not open the door first? It's rather unprofessional to talk to a potential employer like this you know.” Before Trump Card could make up his mind, the voice spoke again. “And just to sweeten the deal, we know a thing or two about the vigilante as well, and we’ll be glad to share this info with you.”

“And what info do you have.” He asked.

“Weaknesses.”

He felt this throat tightened. “If you know that, then what do you need me for?”

The response came quick. “You’re the only one in the city to have fought Toxin and not get turned over to the police. What info you have is valuable.”

Trump Card became pale. “Y-you know?!” He almost yelled.

“Don’t worry, we’re not going to tell anyone, it’d be counterproductive of us to do so.” The voice promised. “But first, why don’t you open the door?”

Trump Card glanced at the room where he hid his costume, shaking his head he slowly began unlocking the door. Once he finished unlocking the door, he gulped and spoke up. “It's open.”

Trump Card saw the door knob twist, before he could come up with any plan of escape, the door began to creak as it was opened. At the otherside of the door was a tall pony wearing an expensive white tuxedo, his head was covered by a purple mask, and his eyes were covered by a pair of black goggles. His gloved hands let go of the door knob as he stepped in, Card noticed the red rose pinned at the left side of his shirt.

Before Trump could say a word, the masked pony stepped to the side and allowed somepo-something else inside. The creature was tall, towering over the both of them, his entire upper body was covered in a black leather jacket, not a single piece of skin, scale, or fur was shown. His lower body was also covered by a pair of black pants, there was a hole in the back to allow his black, scaly, tail to roam freely, the appendage rose up in the air before slamming to the floor. Covering the creature’s head was biker’s helmet, two holes were at the sides of the helmet, allowing for the creature’s bull like horns to stick out. Looking behind the creature, Trump Card only just noticed the pair of large black wings sticking out of his back, the wings stretched out briefly before closing.

‘A dragon?!’ Trump Card broke into a sweat, gulping at the sight of the dragon that towered over him.

The disguised dragon stepped forwards, once he was within arms reach, the dragon raised a gloved claw. “You must be Trump Card, it's a pleasure.” It-he greeted.

The unicorn hesitantly shook his claw. “The pleasure is all mine, sir...”

The dragon laughed. “You can call me Kingpin.” He answered, letting go of his hand. “Now are we just going to be standing here or..?”

Trump Card jumped back. “OH! How rude of me, please have a seat.” He lead the two towards the living room. “Please sit wherever you like.” The dragon, Kingpin, took a seat at the living room’s sofa, the pony stood behind him. Trump Card sat in the seat directly in front of the sofa, glancing at the pony behind him, Trump spoke up. “Excuse me, but I haven’t caught your name.”

“I didn’t throw it.” The masked pony joked, smirking behind his mask. “But you can call me Rose.”

Card nodded, glancing nervously between the two. “So you said you had some questions for me? About Toxin?”

Kingpin nodded, slowly raising a claw. “Yes, it's just a few simple questions, nothing to get worked up about.” He leaned back on his seat. “So tell me Trump Card… during your fight with Toxin, what did you notice about her? What did you learn throughout the fight?”

The unicorn gulped. “So you do know my identity then…” He chuckled nervously. “Well… one thing I did noticed about her is that she didn’t really seem to be all there…” He answered. Rose took out a small notepad and a pencil, motioning him to continue. “She just seemed to space out at times, not really giving me her full attention, it infuriated me at first.”

“Spacing out…” Rose whispered, he turned towards his boss. “You think it's possible they’re communicating?”

“It's possible.” Kingpin answered, noticing Card’s look of confusion, he waved him off. “Continue with your report.”

Though he wanted to figure out what they were talking about, he didn’t feel very confident in confronting the dragon. “I suppose another thing I noticed is that she always seemed to know when I’m about to attack before I actually threw a fist.”

“Battle precognition.” Rose said, jotting down a few notes. “Isn’t that what you said the Spider had?” He asked.

“Not exactly precognition, but it's close enough.” He answered, flapping his wings. “It's good to have my suspicions confirmed.”

“If it's some type of precognition it would explain how she saw through my illusions.” Card scowled. “She wasn’t in any real danger so she just walked on passed it.” He clenched his fist, red smoke beginning to leak out.

Kingpin’s tail slammed to the ground, catching the lavender unicorn by surprised. “Focus Fool, what else did you learn?”

The Fool gulped, lowering his head. “When she escaped my illusion, she became angry and started changing. Her face became more monstrous, the mask became a mouth filled with large sharp teeth.” He shuddered. “I thought I she was going to kill me, her voice was deeper, almost demonic, she said she was going to make me go away… then I got my powers… I exploded into smoke and escaped.” He whispered to them, staring at his hands.

Kingpin hummed. “Yes, ponies all over the city seemed to developing powers, they appear in times of great stress.” He tapped his claw on the sofa’s side. “The city is becoming a breeding ground for supers.” He spat out. The Kingpin shook his head, turning his attention back into the previous topic. “Tell me Fool, what do you know about the Spider?”

“The Spider?” Fool asked, confused. “He’s some kid, fancies himself a hero. I know he put the leader of the Thunderbolts in prison, but not much else.”

The dragon hummed. “That upstart is more than just a child, there is a reason he calls himself the Spider. His powers are similar to everything a spider can do. He can shoot out webs, stick to walls and climb them, he even shares the same battle precognition that Toxin has.”

Trump Card sat silently for a few seconds, before raising his head and looking at Kingpin. “There’s a connection between them?”

Kingpin shrugged. “It’s possible. Two heroes appearing with similar power sets, in such a short amount of time? It is only reasonable to suspect there may be a connection. But of course, it could all be just a coincidence, and there isn't a connection at all.” Kingpin hummed, his tail raising and slamming to the floor repeatedly while he was thinking. “There is another spider you know?” He began, the Fool’s eyebrows raised in confusion. “I’m not talking about Toxin of course, she may not be a spider at all. But this one is, the exact same power set, but greater potential.” He chuckled. “And unlike that child, this one is reasonable, a man that can be bought, and I know that there isn’t a connection between him and the Spider.”

“So why are you telling me this?” Trump asked. “I thought you were focused on Toxin, not the Spiders?”

“My focus is on all of them.” Kingpin answered. “I’m sure you know the saying, “Know your enemy”.” He tapped on side of his helmet. “Besides you stand to benefit from this information as well, Trump Card.” The dragon leaned forward. “I expect all of my employees to know everything there is to know about the threats to my operations.”

“Employees?” Trump Card narrowed his eyes.

“Rose told you didn’t he? We’re here to offer you a job.” The dragon picked up a large metal briefcase and set it down on the living room table. “Accept and I can equip you with the tools you need to defeat Toxin and any other “hero”.” Kingpin leaned back, and the briefcase snapped open by itself, without any input, the lid of the case raised itself, allowing for Trump Card to see what's inside. “Of course that's not all, I’m also willing to pay you a generous amount of bits.”

Inside the briefcase were several small capsules, there were pins stuck to the side of the tip of each of them. Below the capsules, a scythe separated into three parts, the weapon appeared to be advanced. Trump Card carefully picked up the part that carried the blade and studied it.

“A gift, should you accept.” Kingpin said. “It's called the Vibro Scythe, it was made by someone who calls himself the Tinkerer. With that scythe you can cut through anything, no matter what the material is made out of.” He chuckled. “And should anyone try to take it from you, I’m sure they’ll be in for a nasty shock. I do recommend reading the manual, you don’t want to injure yourself with these new toys.”

As Trump carefully set the scythe back down, he glanced around the inside of the case again, this time noticing a small odd rectangle. Picking it up, he flipped it open and stared at the small buttons confused. “What’s this?”

“A way for you to contact us. Our numbers are already programmed in.” Kingpin waved his question away.

Deciding to help, Rose spoke up. “It's called a Cell Phone, an invention from the Kingpin’s homeland, it will allow you to communicate with us no matter where you are.”

“There’s a manual for that too if you look inside.” Kingpin quickly added. “Oh, and in case you were worried. We want you on retainer, you are free to do whatever you wish with our gifts when you’re not on the job. However as our retainer, we expect you to drop whatever it is you’re doing and answer when we call.”

“Like a mercenary.” Rose added. “You are free to work for the other gangs as well should they wish to hire your services, we’ll get back to that at another time.” The earth pony quickly added when he saw his confused look.

“So tell us Trump Card.” Kingpin got up from his seat, towering over the unicorn. “Do you accept our offer?”

Trump Card stared at the offered hand, looking back down at the desk, he noticed his tarot cards still layed out next to the briefcase. Glancing at the third, flipped over card, he grinned. Trump Card stood up from his seat and grabbed the offered hand. “Kingpin, I’d be a fool to not accept.”

The Kingpin smirked behind his helmet. “I knew you’d see it my way.”

The final card that Trump Card saw, was ‘The Star’, faced upright.

Kingpin stared down at the street below him, watching as the ponies of Manehatten quickly made their way back to their homes. Taking a deep breath, the disguised creature turned towards the night sky, taking in the scenery. “Such a beautiful night.” He said to himself. Kingpin reached towards his jacket’s pocket and took out a single tarot card, before flipping the card so that the front side of the card would face him, and smirked at the image portrayed in the card. “The Fool, what an amusing character he is.”

The Kingpin continued staring at the card, even as the door to the apartment roof opened with a loud creak. Stepping out of the doorway, the Rose bowed slightly before storing the cell phone back in his pocket. “Sir, the copter should be here in about two minutes.”

“Good.” Putting away the card, he turned to face his accomplice. “Tell me Rose, what did you think of our newest asset?”

The masked pony stayed silent for a few seconds before responding. “I would be lying if I said I wasn’t somewhat disappointed sir.”

The Kingpin chuckled. “And why’s that?”

“He’s… different from what I expected.” He admitted. “I was expecting to meet some braggart with a flair for the theatrics, not some sad, traumatised, has been.”

“Yes, I have to admit, this Trump Card didn’t hold a candle to the Fool from the security footage.” The draconic figure hummed, tapping the side of his helmet. “But I suppose that is to be expected. Powers appear during times of stress, and from what the Fool told us, his powers appeared when he thought Toxin was going to kill him. I imagine thinking that you’re about to die would be pretty stressful for anyone.”

The Rose nodded. “Stressful enough that it would be traumatising.” The earth pony became silent once more as he started thinking back to the meeting. “Do you think he’d be useful? It's as you said, he was traumatised by Toxin, wouldn’t he freeze if he had to fight her?”

Kingpin shook his head, raising a gloved claw. “I doubt that. The Fool may be scared of her, but that fear pales in comparison to his rage and desire for revenge. If he was forced into a fight with our little vigilante, he would fight as if his life depended on it. He’s under the impression that if he were to lose, Toxin would not hesitate to kill him.”

The Rose nodded, accepting the Kingpin’s reasoning. Before their conversation could continue, a loud whirring sound caught their attention, looking up, the two creatures saw a black helicopter slowly make it's down onto the roof.

Kingpin hummed, stepping closer to the copter once it had finally landed. “It would seem our ride is here.”

Rose rushed towards the copter’s metal door and slid it opened. Stepping aside, the masked pony bowed. “After you.”

“How polite.” Kingpin commented, slowly making his way to the copter. Just as the disguised creature was about to step in the machine, he stopped and stared at the copter’s sole passenger. “What in the world happened to you?”

Turning towards the inside of the machine, the Rose couldn’t help but gawk at the wounded state D’Vorah was in. “Mo-- D’Vorah, are you alright?!” He cried out, almost pushing his boss out of the way as he rushed over to her side.

The insect like pony hissed as she pulled herself away from Rose’s touch. “Calm yourself Rose, I’m fine.” She answered sharply, making the pony flinch. D’Vorah sighed, “Sorry, tonight just been stressful.”

Kingpin stepped in the copter, taking a seat right across from the insect controller. “What happened?”

D’Vorah scowled, rubbing her arm. “Toad.” She answered, watching as Kingpin leaned forward in interest. “She attacked the warehouse I was in today. I was having a meeting with Yellowjacket’s old lieutenants, making sure they knew that the Swarm was under my command now.”

“And she came in during the meeting?” Rose asked, taking a seat right next to her. The three of them ignored the helicopter’s whirring as it started to take off.

D’Vorah nodded. “Without Beetle and the armor Tinkerer gave him, the only ones able to take her on was Blob and I.” She then scowled, clenching her fist as she punched the vehicle’s wall next to her. “Then that fat bastard betrayed me!” D’Vorah yelled, the pinsirs on the side of her face snapping wildly.

“Betrayed you?” Kingpin repeated, leaning back on his seat. “Wasn’t he the one trying to desert the Swarm the last time you were there?”

“That’s him.” She nodded, gritting her teeth. “The bastard said he wanted to be with his family more, so I turned his wife and kid into bugs as a punishment.” The wings on her back buzzed angrily, as she began recounting the betrayal. “I thought by doing that he would’ve given up all thoughts of leaving, turns out he was just waiting for the right time.”

“And he betrayed you the moment Toad stepped in, correct?” Rose asked, deciding to continue once he saw D’Vorah nod. “Do you think they were working together?”

“I don’t think so.” The bug controller shook her head. “In the beginning of the fight he was helping me fight against that bitch. It was when we finally cornered her that he had the sudden change in heart, he started going on about his little girl, and I suppose that toad girl does look a bit like her, and that was when he started attacking. After the fight was finished, I was only barely able to see the two escape together, I suppose they’re working together now.”

“So it was a last minute decision then.” Kingpin hummed, tapping his claw on the side of his helmet. “This… is a problem.” He announced, catching the two’s attention. “Toad is a strong Super on her own, but with Blob on her side the two now pose a bigger threat to our operations.”

“How so?” Rose asked, taking out his notepad and a pen.

“Before we took over the Swarm, Blob was the second in command of the entire gang, answering only to Yellowjacket. He knows everything there is to know about them, the location of every warehouse, their suppliers, and every single important individual.” Kingpin explained, tapping his seat in an irritated manner. “It's possible that we’re now witnessing the birth of a brand new gang, one outside of our control.” The two looked up at him, shocked.

“How can you be so sure?” The mutated pony hissed.

“As I said, Blob was one of the leaders of the Swarm. He has connections, and he has a strong pull in the gang. If he were to suddenly announce that he would be leading a new gang with the help of the Toad, how many of the Swarm’s grunts and leaders do you think would flock over to them?” He growled, becoming increasingly frustrated with the events. “D’Vorah, do you have your insects tracking them?” He asked.

The insect controller grimaced. “I did… but all of the flies I had on them disappear after a minute of tracking them, I sent more insects to follow, but those ones would disappear shortly after entering the docks.”

“The docks?” Rose repeated, writing something down on his notepad. “It's possible that the docks might be where she’s making her territory.” He frowned and tapped the side of the notepad with his pen. “But how is she able to make all of the insects in the area disappear?”

“It's possible that she may have access to some special gadgets similar to the Tinkerer’s.” Kingpin sneered behind his mask, “Or perhaps she just eats them like the Toad she is.” The dragon turned towards the Rose and pointed towards him. “I want you to put out some feelers, get everyone we can to look into this. Keywords of interest: Brotherhood, Mutants, Toad, and Blob.”

“Brotherhood and Mutants?” Rose asked, not understanding why those words in particular were of interest.

“There was another Toad where I was from. Same powerset, similar appearance, different gender. I suspect the two are related, and if she’s anything like the other, then expect to see a new, uninvited player to make themselves known.” Kingpin explained, growling as he waved his claw. “One with some megalomaniacal tendencies, and given how cunning and crafty this one is, I suspect she’ll start making waves in the underworld soon.” Subconsciously, his tail rose up in the air and slammed down causing a large dent on the helicopter’s interior. “I spent years investing in this city, and I’ll be damned if I let some brat with delusions of grandeur ruin everything I’ve been working for!”

“Hey, you’re sure you’re going to be okay here?”

The large earth pony turned back towards the toad-like girl and gave her a small grin. Raising a hand, he waved off her concern. “Eh, don’t worry about me Toad. I’ll be fine wherever you place me. This isn’t my first time sleeping in a warehouse like this.” He walked towards the ruined couch and laid down across it. “Besides it's not like we can go back to my house. D’Vorah is likely waiting there to ambush us.”

The toad girl hummed, agreeing with his reasoning. “That’s true, we should probably try to make time to stop by though. Pick up some supplies and any valuables you might want to keep.”

Blob was quiet, simply staring blankly ahead. “Yeah I’d like that…. Well, we should probably go to sleep now, it is getting late…” Turning over, he pulled the thin blanket over him. “Goodnight Toad.”

“It's Froppy.”

He snorted. “Toad sounds better.”

Shaking her head, the mutated human walked away from the tired pony. Her thoughts were all occupied by what happened just hours ago, and while a part of her felt conflicted with the fact that she was now harboring a wanted criminal in the same warehouse she was sleeping in, a larger part of her simply couldn’t ignore the fact that there was someone here in need of help. She sighed, reaching up and taking off her red beanie before tossing it to a crate besides her. “Man, things were a lot less complicated back on Earth… no superpowers, no supervillains, no moral questioning, nothing but middle school, chores, anime, and games.” Grabbing a bundle of old hay, she quickly made a small pile next to the crate to sleep in. Turning around, she flopped backwards onto the pile and frowned. “I miss having the couch…. Tomorrow morning we’re definitely stopping by his house.”

Reaching over to the crate, she lazily pulled a newspaper to her. She briefly flailed in panic when the contents of the papers spilled all over her. Bolting straight up from her makeshift bed, she glared at the mess of papers before sighing. Reaching down to pick them all up, her eyes widened when she spotted the newspaper right next to her, picking the paper up, she slowly brought it up to her face, ignoring the slight shaking of her hands. “It can’t be…” She stared at the image in the paper.

“Traveling Superhero: Spider takes down new supervillain known as Vulture.”

The image underneath the headline, showed a picture of a man wearing a Spider-Man costume fighting against a pony expy of Marvel’s Vulture. The background behind them showed that they were in the upper class city of Canterlot.

The teen’s hands shook as she stared at the image. “N-no way.” A smile slowly formed, “I guess this makes finding you a lot more easier now…” She let out a small laugh. ‘Still, never thought you’d go be a hero… well you just try to hold on as long as you can, alright? Lord only knows the amount of trouble you’ll get into without your little sister there to reign you in.”

Author's Note

And this is done.

AN: Hello wonderful readers! Star709 here once again with a chapter written by yours truly! Want to thank Dark for helping fix all the mistakes I made writing this. Anyways please let us know what you think about this chapter, what was good and what was bad. So at last the Toad is revealed, just what is her relationship with the Spider? Does Tito really have another sibling lost in Equestria? Or is it just a big misunderstanding? Not only that, but the Kingpin’s gang is getting larger with new powerful Supers each day, just what does he have planned for the city of Manehatten? Find out next time in Spider in Equestria!

So yeah, that happened. Another good, if not great, chapter from Star. In my opinion. No idea when 47 will be done. Until next time.

P.S. 3 year anniversary.

47. Dive Into The Heart Part 1: Trial Of Power

Dark’s eyes snapped wide open, his heart beating rapidly as he looked around. Surrounding him was nothing but a pitch black void, absent of light and anything else that would give his location away. Even in the void, all Dark could feel is a cold emptiness, everything around him felt strangely similar to being underwater. “Venom? Do you know what’s going on?” He asked, frowning when he didn’t get a response.

Then… his feet touch something solid. He looked around, what felt like water swirled around him and yet he could breathe…but he still couldn’t see. Darkness surrounded him. Not feeling his spider-sense go off, he hesitantly took a step forward. As soon as his foot touched the ground the darkness exploded, peeling into white doves that flew away and above him, carrying the water with them. As they fled, the birds revealed a circular platform, stained glass now beneath his feet. Standing on the decorative glass, Dark looked down and saw what appeared to be himself, one with slightly longer hair with blue streaks.

"What the hell…" Dark muttered as he looked around.

“There is power within you…” A calm, and encouraging voice echoed around him, causing him to look around for the source of the voice. “If you give that power form, it can protect you.” The voice hinted, when suddenly a trio of pedestals emerged from the platform he was standing in, somehow not breaking any of the glass. On the pedestals was a sword, a wand, and a shield.

“What path will you take? All paths move forward, don’t be afraid.”

Dark blinked when he looked at the items before recognizing what's going on. "So this is basically like the tutorial." He then shrugged. "In that case, might as well pick the one I always chose." With that said, he walked to the sword.

“The path of the warrior. Great power and courage, terrible destruction and burden.” The voice said quietly as Dark walked towards it. “Is this the path you choose?”

Dark nodded to himself before grabbing the sword.

A blinding flash of light shone through the darkness near the platform, the brightness causing Dark to close his eyes. After waiting for the light to dim, Dark opened his eyes and saw a row of white, transparent stairs leading upwards towards another platform of in the distance. After waiting for a few seconds, Dark shrugged and walked up the steps. When he reached the center of the next platform, he heard the voice again.

“Be careful, there will be times where you have to fight. Even here, there is darkness…”

"I believe I know where this is going…" Dark muttered before gripping the sword tight.

Then in the corner of his eye, he saw movement, a flat shadow crawled towards him. Stopping in front of him, the shadow pulled itself off the ground, revealing itself to be a black ant-like creature with a pair of beady yellow eyes. Its antennae bobbed as it tilted its head at him, flexing its claws, the creature leapt towards Dark, its claws stretched out to scratch him.

Dark stepped to the side of the creature before stabbing it through the head.

The Shadow made no noise as its body poofed, leaving no trace of its existence behind.

“Don’t drop your guard. The darkness is always just behind you…”

All around the platform, more flat shadows appeared, crawling towards Dark before pulling themselves out of the ground and leaping towards him. The small swarm continued attacking, ignoring the deaths of their comrades and the swings of Dark’s sword.

From the edge of the platform, a bright red door rose from the floor, providing Dark a chance to escape. Upon seeing the door, the Shadows increased the ferocity of their attacks, desperate to not let him escape. Dark slashed at the dark creatures blocking his path, cutting down all of the ones that stood in his way.

As Dark made his way to the door, the platform around him continued to get smaller, being completely covered by the shadowy creatures. Reaching the door handle, he swung the door wide open and jumped inside, just barely avoiding a claw swipe from a shadow.

Just like when the stairs appeared, he was once again blinded by a flash of light, forcing him to close his eyes to block out the light. When he opened his eyes, he immediately noticed the marble walls, pillars, and floor that made up Canterlot Castle. Looking around, he spotted an open door in front of him, leading him to the outside of the castle.

Once he was outside in the castle’s gardens, he immediately noticed the lone figure standing a few feet away from him, staring at him with narrowed eyes. Dark blinked, shocked at what exactly was staring at him. The creature that was practically glaring at him was a Mega Lucario, Bri’s final evolution and mega form, with some rather noticeable scars scattered around its body.

"Okay, now I am completely confused," Dark muttered before looking around. "Wish I remembered more about that tutorial…"

The Lucario raised its crimson paws and crossed them. Seeming to take a break from glaring, it closed its eyes and turned its head to the ground. “The Path of the Warrior, great power and courage comes to those who heed it, yet terrible destruction and burden await all who are consumed by it.” Dark gaped when he heard the feminine voice come out of the Mega Pokemon, not expecting the Pokemon to speak. The Pokemon turned towards him and met his gaze with a glare. “Tell me, what is most important to you?”

After a few seconds, Dark muttered, "A talking Mega-Lucario… What the hell is going on…" to no one in particular with a shake of the head until he blinked and looked at the pokemon again. "Wait, what did you say?"

“What is most important to you?” The Lucario repeated the question, continuing to glare at him.

Dark shrugged. "Simple. My friends and my family. Why?"

The Lucario hummed. “Friends and family?” She repeated. “You have chosen the path of the warrior, great destruction and burden will follow you, and they will follow those you value if you don’t have the strength to protect them.”

Dark raised an eyebrow. "Why do you care?"

“You are not yet ready.” She shook her head. “And should you lack the power and courage to fulfill your role, darkness will swallow your friends and family.” As she finished her response and black aura started to surround her, clinging onto her like a cloak. Her red eyes became a bright, shining yellow. Stretching out her arm, a black bone like club appeared on her paw. The pokemon then roared, her shadowy aura flaring.

Dark rolled his eyes and sighed before taking a fighting stance and tightening his grip on the sword in his hand.

The Mega pokemon quickly raised up her paw to the air and tightened it into a fist. Under Dark, a mass of black tendrils shot out around him and grabbed at his shadow, holding onto it tightly. Acting quickly, the Pokemon cloaked herself with her black aura and rushed at Dark for a tackle.

Seeing the attack coming for him, Dark quickly tried to jump out of the way, only to fall onto the ground. Looking back, Dark saw the mass of tendrils gripping only his shadow.

“Shadow Hold, you cannot escape… have courage and use the power you have, and you will be able to win.” The voice from before advised him.

Dark didn’t have time to think or respond to the voice when the Lucario’s tackle hit him. He felt a sharp pain in his chest as he was launched backwards, falling back inside the castle. The tendrils from before shot out of the ground and gripped his shadow again.

Dark growled in frustration, gripping his sword tightly. Seeing the Lucario rush him again, he swung his sword at her charging form, successfully managing to hit and push her back.

Landing on her feet, the Lucario roared, her black aura shooting up to the castle’s ceiling, covering the entire ceiling in literal darkness. Suddenly the darkness in the ceiling sharpened, and started falling like rain.

Raising his arms up, Dark tried to block the raining darkness, hissing in pain every time the dagger-like shadows hit him. Bringing down one of his arms, he shot out a web and pulled her towards him, slashing her with his sword as soon as she got close.

The Lucario hissed, pulling back her palm and hitting Dark at the middle of his chest. Dark gasped for air as he flew back once again, feeling every part of him seize every time he tried to move a limb. The cloud of darkness in the sky started raining again, its shadows only harming Dark. Jumping high into the air, the Lucario summoned her bone club and aimed down at Dark’s chest, intending to impale him.

Feeling his spider-sense take over, Dark quickly rolled out of the way of the incoming attack, just barely dodging the bone club. Grabbing his fallen sword, he swung at the pokemon and hit the Lucario with the broadside of the blade, causing the pokemon to stagger backwards. Quickly taking advantage of his opponent’s state, he pulled back his arm and punched her across the face. Dark grimaced in pain when he felt the shadowy rain stab his body, and muttered a quick curse when the Pokemon jumped away.

The black aura surrounding the pokemon became denser as she snarled and barked. Her yellow eyes seemed smaller as she glared hatefully at him. “Not enough… You’re not enough.” She barked, snapping her jaws at him. “Need more power… you can’t save them! Darkness swallowed me! And it will swallow the rest of them too!” Suddenly the bone club on her paw disappeared and she began whimpering, the pokemon screwed her eyes shut in pain as she raised her paws to grab at her head. The black aura around her swirled, becoming red in color, and as if acting on it's own, it shot out of her in the form of a shadowy wave.

Dark quickly leapt away, barely dodging the Shadow Wave. Glancing behind him, he noticed the dark tendrils disappearing.

“Her emotions entered a fever pitched, she’s entered Hyper Mode! Defeat her and free her heart from darkness.”

"This is insane…" Dark muttered.

Gathering up her red aura, the Lucario launched it to the ground below her. Suddenly feeling his spider-sense go off again, he jumped high into the air, dodging the red spikes that shot out of the ground below him in time.

Using his webs, he used the pillars to swing closer to the mega evolution, doing his best to ignore the cold sensation that stabbed at his chest everytime the shadow droplets hit him.

The Lucario’s eyes widened when she saw Dark coming towards her, manipulating her red aura, she launched another Shadow Wave at him, attempting to push him away.

Using his webs to go around the wave of darkness, Dark jumped down behind the Lucario. Gripping his blade with both hands, he slashed the Lucario across her chest. Suddenly the sword started to shine brightly, the light of the blade being almost blinding. Then, as if knowing what had to be done, Dark brought the blade back and shoved the blade into the Pokemon.

The Mega Lucario howled, the red aura lashing out violently as it glowed with a bright white light. Suddenly a green aura started to emit from the stab wound, slowly surrounding her entire body, the green glow expelled the darkness that clung onto her. The pokemon took a step back, staggering. Her yellow eyes returned to their normal shade of red, the pokemon briefly glanced at Dark before falling to her knees, gasping for air.

The darkness above them rumbled, black lightning briefly shot out of it before it began disappearing. The castle’s ceiling soon became visible again as the Shadow Sky’s effects wore off.

Dark took a knee before looking around. "Okay, seriously. What the hell just happened?"

The pokemon took a few calming breaths, briefly glancing at him before returning her gaze to the ground. “A taste of what's to come if you let the darkness take root and fester on your world.” The pokemon smiled. “As for me specifically? I’m here to test you, to be your trial, to see if you could walk the path of the warrior.” She smirked. “You’ve completed the Trial of Power. There will be others, to test your worthiness.”

"Okay… Mind telling why you care so much?"

She shrugged. “Sorry, but it's not my place to say.”

Dark sighed. "So now what?"

Looking behind Dark, she gestured him to look back. Behind him was a bright red door, the door stood still in the middle of the room. “Go to your next trial, complete their challenge, and prove you are worthy of the light’s power.” The Pokemon stood up, crossing her arms. “Have courage, and use the power you have wisely. Do not let yourself be consumed by it, and you will be just fine.”

Dark rolled his eyes as he walked to the door. "I'm pretty sure this did not happen in the first game…" he muttered before he opened the door and stepped through it.

Author's Note

Well that's posted. This is part 1 of 4. It was originally gonna be a single chapter but with how long it got, Star and I decided to split it. Seriously, it was over 13k words. And sorry for any one who gets mad at how we're doing this. As you can obviously tell, we took some liberties (for lack of a better word) regarding how this works. The reason for why Tito went through what he did during his Dive will be revealed in the final part of this set.

Hello wonderful readers! Tis I, the great Star709, here once again with a new chapter! This chapter did give some trouble to us, but luckily Dark and I were able to pull through. So please let us know what you think of the chapter, and if you have any questions feel free to leave them here. Until next time!

-Dark

Star

48. Dive Into The Heart Part 2: Trial Of Courage

Similar to before, there was a bright flash of light that temporarily blinded him. Just as quick as it appeared, the light faded, revealing Dark’s new location. Dark looked around, noticing that he was in the middle of a forest, the forest’s fauna bore a striking resemblance to the Everfree, the only difference being the thick fog covering the ground and obscuring some of the noteworthy features of the forest.

Dark put his sword on his back and crossed his arms. "So what's the deal with this 'trial'?"

A small giggle echoed from behind him, causing Dark to turn around quickly. The source of the laughter was a human, a girl who seemed to be around his age. The teen had long red hair with black highlights that went down to her waist with a small bead near the end of it, blue eyes, and wore a black jacket and a pair of dark grey pants.

Dark blinked in surprise. "And you are?"

“I’m your next trial, here to test your worth.” She replied quickly, smirking at him. “Saw your last trial. If we were operating under different rules, I would’ve given you a gym badge for a job well done.” She said, giving him a thumbs up.

Dark deadpanned. "Funny. So what do you want?"

She pouted, “So serious. You two are so alike sometimes.” She sighed, reaching over and scratching her head. “As I said before, I’m here to test you. This kind of light and darkness isn’t supposed to be in this world you know. So just to make sure that the light’s weapon is going to the right people, a series of trials were created to test your worth.”

Dark blinked. "What do you mean?"

“When you brought over those items from the other world, you invited the darkness to this world as well.” She said seriously, frowning at him. “You can’t have one without the other, it's some kind of yin-yang type of deal.” The human explained, humming. “So since the darkness is approaching your world, or heck, might already be here, a very special third party decided to intervene and set up all these test for you.”

"What third party?"

She grinned at him and shrugged. “Sorry! Can’t really say. I do know, but I just can’t tell you.” She waved at the air dismissively. “If you have anymore questions, you should save it for the last guy.”

Dark rolled his eyes. "Fine. So what do I have to do?"

The human teen smirked, crossing her arms. “First things first…” She took a deep breath and sighed. “It's obvious from the things you do that you want to be a hero. You risk your life to save others, and fight villains who wouldn’t hesitate to end you and yours.” She stared at him, looking at him in the eyes. “Why did you decide to be a hero?”

"What?" Dark said, confused.

She frowned, looking annoyed at having to repeat herself. “Why did you decide to be a hero? Need me to talk a little slower, maybe a bit louder?” She asked with a mischievous smirk.

Dark narrowed his eyes. "Ha," he said sarcastically. He then sighed. "If you really wanna know, I like helping people. Makes me feel like I actually matter. Plus I know very well how bad it is if you just let people get hurt." He then crossed his arms. "With great power comes great responsibility after all."

She hummed, pondering his answer. “With great power comes great responsibility… a bit cliche if you ask me, but it's a good answer, a good motto to live by.”

Dark shrugged. "The motto of my hero and he's a good example of what happens when you use your skills selfishly."

The teen closed her eyes. “That's good, it's great that you have a motto like this to pull inner strength from…” She opened her eyes and stared. “Being a hero, you can bring a lot of wonder to people’s eyes… but if you’re not careful.” She expression turned dark, and gave a cruel smile. “That wonder can easily be turned to ruin.” The teen was consumed by dark red flames, when the flames disappeared so did she. Dark looked around, hearing nothing but the sound of giggling. “Let’s see if you’re able to keep that wonder alive hero.”

Dark felt uneasy as he grabbed the sword and readied it. "This is gonna suck, isn't it…"

“Indeed it is Spider!” Turning around quickly, Dark spotted a black gloved fist about to hit him. Dark quickly jumped back to dodge the incoming fist. Seeing that he put a good enough distance between them, Dark started taking in everything about his opponent. The creature in front of him was covered in black leather clothing, covering his entire form. Covering his head was a black biker helmet, two bull like horns poked out of the helmet. From behind the creature two black wings stretched out briefly, before folding up again. “I’m going to enjoy this.” The disguised dragon-like creature said, cracking his fist. A black tail rose up and slammed hard on the ground.

"Uh huh. And who are you?" Dark asked with his head tilted in confusion.

“We haven’t met yet, but we will soon enough.” The dragon growled angrily. “You will know me as the Kingpin.”

Dark looked him over again. "Well you certainly look big enough." He then blinked. "Wait, there's a Kingpin too as well as Hydra? You gotta be kidding me…"

The dragon chuckled, “Oh there’s more than just that, I can guarantee it. Something that you will soon find out.” Quickly taking the bottom half of his helmet off, a stream of fire erupted from his mouth.

Feeling his spider-sense take over, Dark quickly leaped towards the tree besides him and dodged the attack. Raising his arm, he fired a couple of quick webs at the drake, hoping to web his mouth shut.

Taking a deep breath, the Kingpin fired another stream of flames, incinerating the webs before they even got close. Dark quickly jumped away from the tree, he gritted his teeth when he felt the intensity of Kingpin’s fire. Not giving him any time to act, the dragon-like creature shot towards him, raising his energy covered claw in the air. Bringing the claw down, the Kingpin ripped apart Dark’s shirt, just barely missing his chest.

Raising his sword, Dark swung it down to slash at the villain. He gaped when he saw the sword stop mere inches from his head. The blade suddenly shot out of his hands, and started floating near the dragon.

The Kingpin smirked behind his helmet. Shooting up towards the air, he pointed a claw at Dark and laughed when he saw the hero fighting against his own sword.

Dark then took a quick glance at Kingpin before dodging the blade. "Wait, you have Magneto's powers?"

“I have a superior version of his abilities, I’m not like the Kingpin in the comics.” He answered, clenching his fist. “I’m so much more.” Detaching the lower half of the helmet again, Dark briefly saw a red jaw before it shot a stream of flames at him.

Dark immediately jumped away and shot another web at the dragon's face. "Yeah I can tell." Dark then blinked when he properly processed what he said. "Wait, how would you know about that version of Kingpin?"

The Kingpin smirked. “Did you really think you were the only human to ever arrive in Equestria?” He suddenly shot out a pair of fireballs from his claws. “There has been others before you! And there will be others after! And I have been at this far longer than you have.” He said darkly. Flapping his wings once, he shot down towards Dark, his claws stretched out to grab him.

Dark jumped over him, narrowly dodging the grab. "Okay, first off, I know I'm not the only one. My sister and cousins are Displaced after all. Second, you are clearly not human anymore. But thanks for the heads up that you're a Displaced."

“It's not like that knowledge will be of any use to you.” He said, rising up in the air. “After all, we’ve been given a second chance, and we’re not going to let you get out of this alive!”

Dark readied himself before he blinked in confusion at a single word. "Wait, we?"

Dark felt his spider-sense scream at him to dodge. Listening to the warning, he just barely managed to jump out of the way of what appeared to be a spear made of light from impaling him. Turning towards the source of the spear, his eyes widened when he saw what appeared to be a gray copy of him, one with longer grey hair. The copy seemed to be wearing the exact same clothing he had, his eyes were like a reptile and were colored green with a scarf over the lower half of his face.

The copy chuckled. “It's so good to see you again Dark, I never thought I’d get the chance to do this again. I must remember to thank that girl for bringing us here.” The being slouched, slowly dragging his feet closer to his partner.

Dark felt a chill go down his spine as the copy spoke, its voice and eyes being eerily familiar to him but he couldn't figure out why. "And who the hell are you?"

The copy laughed. “I am your shadow. Or perhaps it’d be more accurate to say I am a god, who has taken your form.” He shrugged. “Take your pick, both answers are true.”

Dark deadpanned briefly before ducking from his sword trying to decapitate him. "Stop that!" He yelled at Kingpin.

“Yeah! Stop that!” A shrill high pitched voice called out from the woods. “You can’t end the fun without me!”

Dark turned pale as he heard that voice. A voice he heard in memories that Venom has shown him the day after they met. "Oh no…"

Dark quickly jumped away from the spot he was in. Just barely avoiding a sharp red tendril that was about to impale him. Jumping out the woods was a bright red humanoid, with two large white eyes, and a full set of sharp teeth on its face. The being laughed as he spotted Dark. “Heeey there daddy!”

Dark blinked, allowing his confusion to push aside his fear. "W-what?"

"Didn't Venom explain it?" Carnage asked, tilting his head. "We came from you, your DNA allowed us to exist. So in a way, you're our daddy!" He giggled darkly, smiling at Dark's discomfort. "And we have a lot of catching up to do pops!"

Dark sighed. "I am in hell…" he muttered before his spider-sense went off and he dodged his sword again.

Carnage chuckled, his arms shifting into blades. “Not yet…” He hissed out before leaping at him, raising his bladed arms to slash at Dark.

Dark quickly jumped away from the deranged symbiote. Before he could counterattack, a pair of arms shot out from his shadow and grabbed at his legs, not letting him move. Turning back towards his shadow, he saw the greyed out copy’s head poking out of his shadow. The copy chuckled, refusing to let go of his legs. “Carnage hit him now!”

Carnage let out a shriek, darting towards Dark and slashing his chest as soon as he got close. Dark tried to raise his arms to defend himself, but two clones of the shadow villain shot out from the ground and held his arms, not allowing him to move it and allowing Carnage to continue his attacks.

Raising one of his bladed arms, Carnage laughed. “Sucks that the fun has to end so soon, but that’s life I guess.” He chuckled, licking his lips. “And don’t worry about your friends, I’ll be sure to take really good care of them, you’ll probably see them soon!” The symbiote burst out in laughter, bringing down his bladed arm to decapitate Dark.

Before the attack could hit, a black shield with a red border crashed into Carnage’s head, causing him to stagger backwards. Before the symbiote could react, a black tendril shot out towards him and wrapped itself around him, pulling itself back, and threw the red symbiote at the other side of the clearing. Suddenly three more black tendrils shot out towards the shadow villain and his clones, grabbing them and tossing them away.

Dark fell on his knees, breathing heavily. Looking forward, he saw the discarded shield get picked up before a gloved hand reached out to Dark. After taking it, the person pulled him back on his feet and Dark saw someone who looked similar to him with a few differences, such as white streaks of hair on his head, his hair was a bit messier, and his cloak was pure black.

Before Dark can respond to his savour, the person turned to where Carnage was and smirked. "Been wanting to do that since you woke up. Definitely felt satisfying."

The symbiote tilted his head in confusion before his eyes widened. “Venom? Is that you?!” Carnage smirked and chuckled. “Always knew we would meet again dear brother. So what's with the new body? Things didn’t pan out with daddy dearest? Our old man didn’t want to play that game of catch with you?” He shook his head. “Doesn’t matter, because in a few seconds, it's going to be nothing but a red stain!”

Venom rolled his eyes. "Boy am I glad you didn't get out…"

"Venom?" Dark muttered, confused.

The symbiote looked at Dark and smiled. "Hey. Sorry for being late. It was pretty hard getting here in all honesty." He then looked down at himself. "And before you ask, this was what I came up with for us to talk better than showing up on your arm."

A moment later, the two of them moved to the side to dodge the sword again. "How long are you gonna keep doing that?!" Dark exclaimed to Kingpin.

The Kingpin crossed his arms and smirked behind his helmet. “Hopefully…” He snapped his claws, smiling as Venom’s shield shot out of his hands and started floating by him. “Not for much longer now… just until you stop moving.” Pointing at the two of them, both the sword and shield shot towards them, the shield laying flat, trying to impale the heroes with the pointed edge. Besides the dragon, Carnage shrieked, charging towards them on all fours. Turning towards his partner, the Kingpin gestured around the area. “Don’t let them escape.”

The grey copy nodded, taking a step forward. The shadow villain quickly turned his head to scan the area. Satisfied, the copy chuckled darkly as he surrounded himself in a dark aura. Spreading out his arms, the shadow villain spread out his aura and created a large army of clones surrounding the two heroes, the clones making a circle around them. One by one, the clones charged at them, using their large numbers to their advantage.

Dark gritted his teeth in frustration, slashing at the clones running up to him, but no matter how many he killed, more just kept arriving. Feeling one of the clones jump onto his back, Dark staggered forwards, the brief moment of weakness allowed the other clones to pile onto him, all of them using their bodies to hold him down.

Dark turned towards Venom and gaped when he saw Carnage slowly covering Venom’s body with himself. The deranged symbiote laughed as he slowly assimilated Venom. “Don’t worry dear brother! Soon you and I will become inseparable!” He burst out laughing at his own joke, watching with glee as Venom’s punches slowly became weaker and less frequent.

“You can stop this you know.” The voice of the girl echoed around Dark. “Just give up, and you’ll be allowed to live. It's obvious that you’re not suited for this job.”

Looking up, Dark spotted the Kingpin slowly making his way towards him, Dark’s sword in his claws. The dragon stopped, looking down at Dark as he gripped the sword with both of his claws. The Kingpin raised the blade over his head and chuckled. “Goodbye hero.”

“Give up. You’re not going to win, why throw your life away?” The girl spoke again.

Dark panted as he tried to get up but failed, his irises were glowing red with how angry he was. "I don't care. I rather die fighting then just give up to a bunch of monsters."

“So be it.” The Kingpin said, giving Dark a wide smile behind his helmet. The dragon swung the sword down towards his neck. Dark closed his eyes, bracing himself for the pain that was about to hit him. After several seconds of not feeling anything, Dark hesitantly opened his eyes, and blinked in confusion when he saw all of the villains frozen, none of them moving a single inch.

Suddenly one by one, all of the villains started disappearing as if they were never around in the first place. Both Dark and Venom slowly got up and looked around in confusion. Both of their attention was grabbed by the sound of clapping right behind them. Turning around, they saw the human girl smiling at them. Seeing that she had both of their attentions, she flashed them a grin and gave them a thumbs up. “Congrats heroes, you’ve completed my trial!”

The two blinked in confusion before Dark said, "Wha?"

"What are you talking about?" Venom asked.

“Geez, maybe I should speak a bit slower and louder for you two.” The human pouted, crossing her arms. “Just as I said, you beat the trial! So congrats!” She raised up her hand and scratched her head. “Though I suppose I can see why you’re confused… So let me explain, and you better pay attention because I won't repeat it again!” She said, giving them a small glare. “The last trial was the Trial of Power, this one is Trial of Courage. Like the title implies, it's meant to test your courage and how strong your beliefs are.”

She snapped her fingers, putting the two heroes on edge when the three villains reappeared behind her. “Let me tell you, you guys are going to get a pretty big Rogues Gallery with the way things are going now. So in order to test you guys, I plucked two of the most powerful villains, and one of the most dangerous, and brought them all together to test your courage.” She crossed her arms and gave them an apologetic look.

Dark blinked. "Okay, how?"

“My powers are all about illusions, so I created copies based off of the real deal.” She answered. “The goal of this trial wasn’t to defeat these three, that would’ve been impossible for you two with the way you guys are right now. The goal of this trial was to prove to me that you have the courage to keep going, that no matter how powerful your opponents are, you’ll always get right back up.”

Venom narrowed his eyes. "Illusions, you say?" He asked.

She nodded. “Yup, they’re just illusions. They were never real, you were never in any real danger, and all of the injuries and pain you felt were fake as well… I’m a pretty powerful illusionist if I do say so myself.” She boasted, looking smug as she bragged about her power.

"That explains the look…" Venom muttered.

“What do you mean?” She asked, tilting her head. “I always look like this.”

"Sure you do," Venom said sarcastically as he crossed his arms. "To be honest, the hair is a dead give away."

She glared at him, pointing a finger at him. “Quiet you! I’m pretty sure he hasn’t figured it out yet, and I would prefer it if it stayed that way!”

"Why?" Dark asked.

She waved at him dismissively. “Oh don’t worry about it, you just focus on completing these trials. Alright?” Reaching into her pocket she took out a small golden ring and tossed it behind her. The ring suddenly exploded in size, the middle part of it shining brightly. “Well whenever you’re ready, just step through the Warp Ring, it’ll take you to your next trial! Oh, and be careful when you encounter these guys in real life, my illusions were pretty spot on, but they aren’t as powerful as the real deal.” She warned, gesturing at the three villains.

"So I'll really fight guys like this?" Dark asked.

She nodded. “I’m sure Venom already warned you about Carnage. You probably won’t have to worry about this poser.” She pointed at Dark’s grey copy. “For quite a while, though that mostly depends on you and the choices you make. Kingpin however…” She looked at him and frowned. “He’s in Equestria right now, doing his own thing, gaining more power, and getting more ponies to join his side. He isn’t someone you want to take lightly.” She sighed. “I’m pretty sure I’m not really allowed to give too much info away, so if you have any specific questions about them, I very likely can’t answer it.” She waved her hands around in the air. “You know… something about time and all that junk.”

Dark sighed before deciding to just go through the "Warp Ring", but not before he and Venom retrieved their weapons. After that, went through the ring.

The girl watched the pair leave through the ring, after the duo stepped through it, she waited until the ring deactivated before letting out a deep sigh. Her body became consumed in red flames, she allowed the flames to consume her illusion as she reverted back to her real form. She stretched out her black furry limbs and let out a sigh of relief. “Finally, was getting tired of holding that form for so long.” Bringing a red claw up, she scratched her black furry muzzle and frowned. “I hope they’ll be okay. Probably should’ve gone a bit easier on them with this trial.” A few moments later, she shook her head, and smirked. “Nah, what am I saying? They’ll be fine, no need for me to worry so much.” The bipedal vixen grinned, watching as everything around slowly began to fade away. “Well… guess my job's done.” The vixen said, not losing her smile, even as she began to fade away. A few seconds later the bipedal fox and the forest around her all faded away, leaving nothing behind but a bright white void.

Author's Note

And that is done and posted. Part 2 of Dark's Dive. Not much to say about this besides little spoilers for several things planned and Dark seeing Venom's "human form" for the first time. And if anyone wants to know why or how Venom was able to enter the Dive, you'd either have to wait a few more chapters, or read the Kairi story since it was mentioned there. The next chapter will be posted within the next 24 hours.
-Dark

49. Dive Into The Heart Part 3: Trial Of Restraint

When the heroic duo stepped out of the Warp Ring, the two couldn’t help but gape at their surroundings. The floor beneath them seemed to made of a green gem-like material, every so often the walls around them would crumble and sink onto the floor before being replaced by an entirely new wall facing a different direction. The sky above them continued to shift colors every few seconds, looking around the pair spotted numerous floating platforms, blocks, spheres, and runways. Flying in the sky were a flock of purple gem like fish, the fish all shifted into green gem like birds every few seconds. Turning back, the two saw the giant ring shrink and disappear, leaving them stranded in the chaotic world.

After a few seconds, Dark looked at Venom. "So what were you talking about, knowing who that was?"

"I'm sure it'll come to you eventually," Venom replied, looking around.

Dark rolled his eyes before deciding to ask something else. "Was what Carnage said true? You guys see me as your dad or something?"

Venom shrugged. "More or less. We did come from your DNA after all. Though Carnage seems to view you like you view your own dad." After a few seconds, he said, "Okay, much worse, but still."

Dark tilted his head. "Why haven't you mentioned that before?"

Venom looked to him with a raised eyebrow. "Well with everything else going on with you, I figured the knowledge that 3 symbiotes see you as their dad wasn't important." He then turned around. "Come on. Let's see if we can finish the next trial." With that said, he started walking with Dark next to him.

After a few minutes of walking, Dark said, "Hey."

"Yes?"

"You remember a lot of things, right?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Do you remember the tutorial to the first Kingdom Hearts game? I felt like this was similar to it at first, but after the Lucario, I'm very confused…"

"Can't help you there. The only thing that happened in it was some basic tutorial stuff, picking an item, dismissing another, fighting Heartless, answer 3 questions, fight more Heartless, and fight a giant Heartless. Nothing about trials as far as I know."

Dark sighed until he remembered something. "Oh boy… You don't think we'll need to fight that boss, do you?"

Venom shrugged. "Who knows. This thing seems much different than the game. But even if we do, we should be fine. Besides, unlike Sora, you have help," he finished, lifting the shield in his arm for emphasis.

"Why did you pick that anyway?"

Venom shrugged again. "The power of the guardian. Kindness to aid friends. A shield to repel all. Felt right to get it."

Dark hummed in response.

The two continued to walk deeper into the gem like maze, being careful around the moving platforms, and ignoring all of the strange fauna around the chaotic maze. Suddenly feeling their spider-sense takeover, Dark and Venom jumped to the side, just barely avoiding a series of poisonous barbs being shot at them. The heroic duo quickly turned around to see one of the flowers they passed by slithering towards them, the petals of the flower seemed to be purely metal, on the center of the flower was a row of metal teeth. From behind the flower, more of the world’s strange fauna uprooted themselves from their position and started slithering towards the heroes, all of the cybernetic flowers were letting a series of hisses and clicks.

The flowers in the front hissed, pulling back their heads and spitting out a number of poisonous needles at the duo. The two heroes quickly jumped out of the way of the needles, Dark quickly raised his arm up and fired a series of webs at the flower’s mouth, preventing them from spitting anything out. From behind the cybernetic flowers crawled a giant mushroom, the fungus had two large bulging eyes, mechanical spider legs carried the mutated abomination towards the heroes. On the mushroom’s side were two mechanical arms, the arms ending with a pair of buzzsaws.

"Okay, this is complete bull…" Dark muttered.

“I would appreciate it if you didn’t hurt my children’s feelings.” A calm feminine voice called out to them. From behind the group of cybernetic plants, a trio of giant vine-like tentacles crawled forward. Standing on top of the middle vine was what appeared to be an earth pony mare, she wore a heavy trench coat to cover most of her body. On top of her head was a gas mask, with a pair of red lenses, the gas mask was effective in covering every part of her head, not even letting her hair flow out. The mare’s hands were also covered by a pair of brown gloves, with pieces of metal scattered around them. “Hello heroes, it's a pleasure to meet you.” She gave a deep exaggerated bow.

"Who the hell are you?" Venom said with a growl.

"Children?" Dark asked, confused.

“Can’t you tell?” She let out a small giggle. “I’m a florist! And these flowers are all my children. I grew and raise them. I made sure to take really good care of my plants, so that they may grow and spread without anyone getting in their way.” The mare reached down to pet the mechanical mushroom. “So I would appreciate it if you didn’t cut down my plants.”

Dark blinked before looking to Venom. "So we're seriously going to fight a Poison Ivy knock off?"

Venom shrugged. "Looks like it."

The mare hummed, frowning behind her mask. “Geek-Knight called me that once too. No idea what or who Poison Ivy is, but I don’t appreciate being called a knock-off.” She turned towards her flowers, and smiled. “Why don’t you darlings go and play. Don’t worry, Mama will make sure your meals don’t leave.” The two remaining giant vines rose up, and set themselves down around the two heroes, creating a makeshift ring for them.

The plants all hissed, charging towards the pair. Gripping his sword, Dark leapt forward and cut down the small metal flowers, killing them with a single swipe. Suddenly his spider-sense went off, turning around, Dark saw the giant mushroom’s buzzsaws come down on him. He was quickly pushed out of the way by Venom, blocking the saws with his shield.

Acting quickly, Dark leapt forward and cut down the mushroom beast in half. He quickly took a step back and covering his mouth when small cloud of spores exploded off of the monster.

Behind them, the disguised mare clicked her tongue, annoyed at the plant’s failure. Grinning behind her mask, the mare decided it was time to move to the second phase of the plan. “You know, you two put up a much better fight than all of those civilians.” She called out, getting their attention. “Yeah those ponies didn’t stand a chance against any of my kids, and unlike their foals, my children made sure not to leave behind a mess after they were done eating.” As she finished talking, more of her plant-cyborgs slithered and crawled their way into the battle, quickly surrounding the heroes.

Dark blinked before he started growling, his eyes turning red as a result. "What?"

She smirked at his reaction. “Gotcha.” She whispered to herself, making sure to not be heard. “Yeah, one of my greatest accomplishments! I created the perfect child, and sick him onto the city. In just a matter of hours, Manehatten fell and became a swamp, the perfect home for my kids and grandchildren, and they all feasted on the poor sods who were stuck there.” She let out a laugh. “Let me tell you, not even the city’s so called “heroes” were enough to stop my Kruzdu Hybrid Hydra!”

"Kruzdu?" Venom muttered. "Never heard of that."

"Don't care, taking her down," Dark replied.

As Dark darted towards her, he quickly cut down the plants that jumped in front of him, ignoring the attacks and shrieks. The villainous mare grinned as he got closer. As soon as Dark was in front of her, she laughed when he was suddenly pulled back by a pair of webs. She cupped her hands and brought in front of her, “Hey Geek-Knight! A little faster next time?”

Turning around, Dark saw what appeared to be a human inside an advanced suit of knight like armor. Scanning the suit, he realized the armor was exactly like Spyder-Knight’s, down to the last detail. The knight huffed, tossing Dark back at Venom and letting go of his webs. “Fie! I toldeth thee to stand ho calling me Geek-Knight! It's demeaning!”

“I will! As soon as you stop speaking like that!” The mare yelled back.

“But the director likes the way I talketh!” He yelled, throwing his arms in the air.

“Because she’s old enough to understand what you’re saying! I can barely understand you!” She yelled in frustration.

Dark and Venom stared at the 2 before looking at each other, Dark's eyes reverting back to normal due to his confusion. "I'm starting to feel like I'm being pranked," Dark said to which Venom nodded in agreement. Dark then looked at the newcomer. "Who the hell are you and what are you doing here?"

The armored knight turned back towards the duo, as if he had forgotten they were there. Clearing his throat, the knight crossed his arms and chuckled darkly as he leaned back slightly as if to look down on them. “Whom am I?! So thee wishest to knoweth mine own name? Foolish! I am the dark knight who’s very nameth strikes feareth into the hearts of innocents! I am the black knight who slayest Kings and Queens for nothing more than a mere shiny coin! I am the Spyder-Knight!” He laughed out loud, putting his hands on his hips.

Dark just stared at the guy for a few moments before saying, "I'm pretty sure a lot of what you said weren't actual words. Plus you sound pretty freaking stupid talking like that."

The mare in the back laughed. “I told you! Everyone thinks the old Ponish sounds pretty stupid!”

"And exactly who are you supposed to be?" Venom asked her since she never answered him earlier.

The mare stood silent for a few seconds. “...I don’t have a name I can give.” The knight snorted. “Screw you Geek-Knight! Maybe you should actually try to learn old Ponish instead of making up words half the time!”

Dark then turned to Venom. "Is it me or does it feel like they would rather fight each other than us?" Dark asked.

"Looks like it to me," Venom replied with a shrug.

“Enough!” The Spyder-Knight yelled, raising his gauntlet. “We’ll never get anything done if we just argue! Let’s just agree that you’re wrong, I’m right, and finish the job!”

Dark looked at Venom. "Okay, you deal with Gloriosa over there, I'll deal with Lancelot," he suggested, to which Venom nodded in agreement.

Flexing his hands, a pair of swords shot out of the knight’s gauntlets, briefly raising them up to cross them, the knight let out a battle cry. “Have at thee!” Spyder-Knight rushed the pair, briefly swatting at Venom’s direction before he left. As soon as the symbiote left, the knight turned his full attention to Dark. “Oh this endues me backeth, I remember at which hour we hath used to doth battleth all the timeth dear rival.” The knight charged, briefly clashing his blades against Dark’s sword.

Dark raised an eyebrow. "Rival?"

The knight nodded. “Indeed! You were once my most fearsome rival, always coming to stop me and my merry band of knights!” He briefly paused. “Ugh… continuing talking in this accent is killing me, I’m running out of words.”

"Wait, so you two are more guys I'll eventually fight?" Dark asked with a surprised tone. He then realized a certain word the knight said. "Wait, once your most fearsome rival?"

The knight’s eyes widened, he quickly coughed and then let out a haughty laugh. “That’s right Spider! Haven't you been listening to what Ge-errrr… Ivy said? We are villains!” He jumped back, creating a distance between them. “Using her plant-cyborg monsters, Ivy took over Manehatten and dispose of all the heroes in the city! I on the other hand had grander schemes!” The knight spread out his arms and laughed. “I sought to make the entire world my own!”

Dark deadpanned. "Seriously? Take over the world? Talk about unoriginal."

The knight sputtered, seemingly offended. “Tis not unoriginal! Tis a time honored tradition amongst villains! Like kidnapping the princess! Which is something I also did.”

"Did, or will do?" Dark asked. "This whole thing is confusing enough as is to be honest."

He raised a finger to answer, but then quickly lowered it. “It is rather confusing isn’t it?” He said without the knightly accent. The knight spun around and raised a finger to the air, going back to using his old Ponish accent. “But to answer your question in the most simplest of manners! The answer is: YES!”

Dark narrowed his eyes. Looking at the knight’s helmet, Dark concentrated his magic on it and spun it around, blinding the knight and causing him to panic. Letting out a small stream of curses, the knight quickly grabbed the sides of his helmet and fixed it back to place. Before the knight could do anything else, Dark quickly rushed towards him and punched the knight across the face, causing him to fall backwards.

"Fricking smartass…" Dark muttered.

Suddenly four thin spider-like legs shot out from the back of the knight’s armor, the spider legs quickly crawled away from Dark, creating a big enough distance to allow the Knight to recover. Spyder-Knight rubbed his armored cheek and huffed. “Okay, first off, rude.” He grumbled, glaring at Dark from his helmet, the helmet then copied his expression, making it known that the Knight was glaring at him.

Dark shrugged. "Fighting smart."

“Fighting smart.” The knight scoffed, repeating the words to himself in a mocking tone, still feeling rather annoyed at the cheap trick. Using his new spider legs, he picked himself up from the ground and stared down at Dark. “For that Knave I shall have your head!” He shot towards Dark, his blades aimed at his chest. “On guard!” The knight cried out, clashing with Dark in another sword fight.

“I have to say, though you may be the same fool I knew before, you are nothing compared to the Spider of my timeline!” The Knight said, crossing his blades with his. “The Spider of the future fell trying to stop me.” He whispered to him, his voice no longer carrying the jovial tone, instead becoming much sinister. “With those gemstones I had collected, the Spider, and his allies all dropped like flies. And with their power, I flooded each and every city that refused to bow down to me!” He boasted, staring intently at Dark. “And I continued to flood the rest of the world, all of the countries that refused to bow down to me are all now deep in the ocean.” He chuckled. “ And one day, the me in your timeline will flood the world too.”

Dark blinked in confusion. "What?"

Spyder-Knight blinked behind his helmet, taken aback at his reaction, or rather lack of one. “Seriously, nothing?” He whispered to himself. “Maybe I overdid it with the ham…” Bringing his foot up, he kicked Dark away. “Alright think… need a new plan, bragging about the tsunami did nothing.” He growled to himself, staring intently at Dark. Suddenly his eyes lit up as a new plan formed in his head. “Eehhh, a bit scummy, but I’ve done worse.” Mentally commanding his spider-legs, Spyder-Knight raised himself up air. Clearing his throat, he quickly made sure to amplify the volume of his suit. “Kneel!” He shouted, his voice booming with how high the suit amplified his voice.

Suddenly Dark’s eyes went wide as his head practically exploded with pain. The hero was forced onto his knees by the sheer intensity of the sudden migraine that attacked him. He weakly raised his arms up to grab his head, as if it would help lessen the headache. The pain shot through him again, as if punishing him. The pain of the migraine being too much to allow him to form any proper thoughts.

“Dark!” Venom cried out, seeing the effect of the Knight’s shout. Acting quickly, the symbiote pushed the villainous mare away and slammed his arm into the ground. Under the knight, the ground broke apart as a large black tendril shot out from underneath to attack the armored human.

The Knight quickly dodged the attack, using the suit’s waldoes to skitter away from the collapsed ground. “Stay out of this parasite!” Spyder-Knight yelled, leaping forward and grabbing at the tendril that tried to attack him. Activating his suit’s defenses, he filled the tendril with electricity, shocking Venom who was at the other side of the battlefield.

Venom shouted in pain as he retracted the tendril. Seizing the opportunity, the villainous mare smirked as she let out a loud whistle, causing a fourth giant vine to appear off of the ground. The vine pulled back slightly before swatting the symbiote away from its mistress.

Dark slowly got up, gripping his sword tight as he was panting, his irises back to their red colors. "This is seriously starting to piss me off."

The Spyder-Knight grinned behind his helmet, using the waldoes, he slowly crawled closer. “Finally, now the real trial can start.” He chuckled to himself, flexing his arms to bring back his twin blades. “What’s the matter Spider? Feeling a bit under the weather? Count yourself lucky that you didn’t fall under the full effects of my brainwashing.” He called out to him, crossing his arms as the waldoes brought him closer. “That rainbow pegasus and Riolu, weren’t so lucky however.” He boasted loudly, retracting his waldoes as soon as he got close enough. “In the future they tried to resist my control, but I suppose the pain was too much for them to handle given how easily they fell under my control!” He laughed. “Once they accepted me as their master, it was fun to watch as you were forced to fight against your loved ones.”

Dark's eye twitched before he started glaring at the knight and growled in anger.

The ground below them started rumbling, around them the gem-like walls of the maze started sinking into the ground. One by one new walls rose in random locations and directions. Below the villainous knight, a wall started to rise, elevating his position and forcing Dark to look up at him. The knight smirked, briefly turning away to check on his partner.

Off in the distance, the female villain continued to fire off a barrage of energy bolts from her blasters at the symbiote, forcing him to stand still and crouch to defend himself with the shield. Behind the mare, giant vines lay limp, two of them being cut off from the main body while the third had a large hole in the middle of the vine.

“Got a lot of guts killing my babies freakshow, but if you think that's going to stop me then you’re dead wrong!” The gas mask wearing mare shouted, continuing her onslaught. “The heroes of my timeline killed tons of my babies during my attacks, but I never let that stop me! Not even that stupid pink bitch with the hammer! Idiot thought she could smash my pods and get away with it?!” She let out a short triumphant laugh. “No one messes with my plants! And that bitch learned that lesson the hard way! Let me tell you, the Kruzdu really enjoyed that meal, almost as much as he enjoyed eating that new princess!”

Venom simply rose an eyebrow. "Big talk. But if that thing is so special, where is it now?"

The villain clicked her tongue in annoyance, thinking quickly she smiled behind her mask. “Where else would he be? Left him back at home to take care of the rest of the sorry sods in Equestria. When he’s done, there won’t be a Equestria anymore, just one big mega-swamp for all of my plants and their babies.”

"And why are you here then?" Venom asked. "Sounds like you won where you're from. Why bother dealing with us here?"

“Isn’t it obvious?” She asked, laughing. “It's so I can do it all over again, this time affecting another timeline. My babies’ spores will spread all over! Not just the world, but every world, dimension, universe, and alternate timeline!” Her laughter started becoming more erratic, sounding practically maniacal. “I’ll turn every world into a paradise for my babies!”

Venom blinked. "I can't tell whether you're completely insane, or just straight up stupid."

The mare stood completely still, shocked. “Stupid?” She repeated, whispering the word as she paused her onslaught. “I’m not stupid…” She whispered, her arms shaking. “I’m not stupid you hear me…” She suddenly threw the two pistols away and flexed her hands, the metal bits of the glove started spreading until her entire hand was covered in metal. “DON’T YOU DARE CALL ME STUPID YOU LITTLE BODY JUMPING PARASITE!” The mare shot towards the symbiote, using her metal claws to grab the shield and yanked it out of his hands. Letting out a yell, she tossed the shield to the side and started slashing him with the newly formed claws. “DIEDIEDIEDIEDIE!” She shouted, not pausing at all to take even a single breathe.

Venom could do nothing as the mare continued tear apart his chest, his regeneration being the only thing that was keeping him okay as the mare tore pieces of his body off and flung them away. “DIE YOU LITTLE SHIT! STAY DOWN LIKE THE TRASH YOU ARE! YOU THINK YOU’RE BETTER THAN ME?! I’LL FEED YOUR CORPSE TO MY MUSHROOMS!” She spit at him, slashing him across the face. “BUCK THAT! YOU’RE NOT EVEN WORTH FEEDING TO MY CHILDREN, YOU’RE DIRT! LOWER THAN DIRT! WORM! NO, LOWER THAN WORM! YOU DON’T EVEN REGISTER AS SOMETHING THAT’S ALIVE YOU PARASITE!” The mare grabbed him by the throat, and with a yell tossed him across the battlefield. The symbiote crashed onto Dark, causing the duo to go through several walls as they flew. Around them the walls crumbled on top of them, covering the heroic duo in gem-like debris.

Spyder-Knight couldn’t help but gape at the destruction. Seeing his partner run up towards his direction, he gulped. “Holy shit Gen, what the hell was that?”

The mare slowly turned her head towards him. “He called me stupid… no one calls me stupid.”

The knight gulped, nodding slowly. “Right.” He turned back towards the pile of rubble, he decided to shift the topic as to not piss off his partner. “Let’s go, we still have a mission to finish.” The mare grunted, scowling behind her mask. The two villains slowly walked towards the rubble, stopping only when they were a few feet away from it. The two turned towards each other and nodded. Making sure that they had their weapons ready, the two villains walked to the front of the debris.

Suddenly a large black claw burst out of the debris and then another. A moment later, the large body of Venom and Dark bonded together rose from the rubble in the same form they were in when they first bonded.

"Our turn," Dark and Venom said simultaneously as they glared at their opponents with pure red eyes. Pulling back their arm, they launched their fist towards the villainous mare, catching her off guard as their arm extended far enough to hit her and toss her back a few yards. Once the earth pony was dealt with, they turned their full attention towards the armored knight. The bonded symbiote leapt out of the debris and towards Spyder-Knight, uppercutting the evil knight. Acting quickly, they shot out a web to grab the airborne knight.

The duo smiled, showing off Venom's elongated tongue. Using just a single hand, they slammed the webbed up knight onto the ground in front of him. Making sure he was still trapped in the web, they pulled the knight towards them and grabbed him by the legs, causing the knight’s eyes to widen in fear and panic.

“Please don’t.” He whispered.

They let out a roar as they picked him up and slammed him onto the ground behind him, not giving him a chance to recover as they quickly slammed him to the ground in front of them again. The bonded duo continued to slam him around for a few seconds longer before tossing the limp knight into a nearby wall. The wall crumbled around the knight, covering his entire body in the debris.

“Oh crap…” The villainous mare whispered, her eyes wide at the treatment the knight got. Shakingly getting off the ground, she grimaced. Her trench coat briefly shifted around, she quickly put a hand on her back and patted it. “Don’t use your tentacles, don’t use your tentacles.” She whispered to herself. Suddenly she heard a loud crash besides her, the floor underneath her shook briefly, causing her to flail and try to regain her balance. “Don’t use the tentacles! Don’t use the tentacles!” She yelled, flailing her arms around as she slowly regained balanced.

"Tentacles? Wait, forget it. We don't care."

The mare yelped, jumping away from the voice as she turned around to face the bonded pair. Looking up, she saw the monstrous face of the bonded symbiote. “Buck you! I’m not scared of you!” Flexing her hands, the metal claws suddenly began sparking with electricity. “Don’t screw with me parasite! I know you can’t handle a little spark!”

The duo quickly grabbed the yelling mare’s face, their claw being large enough to cover her entire head. Ignoring the shouting, they quickly slammed the villain’s head onto the ground beneath them, causing the gem-like structure to crack. The villain briefly stood rigid before falling limp, her chest rising and falling being the indicator that she’s still fine.

"You two talk way too much," the duo said before calming down, their eyes reverting back to normal. A moment later, they started shrinking until they were their normal size and ended up separating from each other before looking themselves over.

"Okay, didn't know that we can still do that here," Venom said.

"Sure would've been nice to know that 10 minutes ago," Dark muttered before picking up his sword as Venom went for his shield.

The duo’s attention was quickly stolen when they notice a small mound of rubble shift around. The rubble slowly parted, revealing the spider themed knight to still be conscious, his armor was full of cracks that sparkled with electricity, his helmet was dented and one of the lenses was cracked.. The knight briefly stood up before falling to his knees, he tried to mentally command his waldoes, only to notice that they were missing after not receiving any response. The knight looked up at the duo and grimaced. “Aanndd we lost… even against weaker versions of you guys…” The knight chuckled. “Seems like we messed around too much, and here we were hoping for another shot at conquering Equestria… At least the one in our timelines is still around, between my knights and her monsters, I’m sure that it will fall under our control in a-”

"Oh just shut up," Dark interrupted. "Why do you keep boasting when you clearly lost. You aren't really helping your case."

“And what are you going to do about it?” The knight challenged, glaring defiantly. “You can’t shut me up.” He smirked behind his helmet. “I’m already defeated, and you’re a hero, you can’t do anything to me anymore. So why shouldn’t I take this time to talk? Only way you can get me to be quiet is to kill me.” He said smugly. “But it's not like that would ever happen! Heck after I get out of here, I’ll just go back to wreaking havoc on my world!”

Dark rolled his eyes. "While I'll admit, the more you talk makes me tempted to end you more and more, especially with the stuff you told me, I do have a few rules of my own." He then shrugged. "Besides there is one way to shut you up." Before the knight could respond, both Dark and Venom punched him in the face, sending him flying. After landing, he went limp, finally knocking out. Dark shook his hand before sighing. "That felt good."

“You sure about leaving them alive?” A voice called from above them, the two looked up and saw a short flying figure looking down on them. Most of his features were obscured by the light of one of the chaotic world’s suns. “The two are very dangerous villains. You heard what they said didn’t you? Those weren’t empty boast, despite the way they act, they’re both very dangerous criminals.”

Dark rose an eyebrow. "And who are you to judge?"

The figure slowly floated down to meet them, revealing himself to not only be entirely mechanical, but also bore a striking resemblance to a certain robotic villain. His mechanical body was entirely black, save for the yellow stripes and highlights around his head. While his right arm was completely normal, his left arm ended with what appeared to be a laser cannon that reminded the pair of Mega-Man. The sclera of his eyes were completely black, both the iris and the pupil of the robot’s eyes were red. The robot surprisingly had a mouth on his metal muzzle. The robot’s yellow chest had a red gem sticking out of it. Giving the pair a two fingered salute, it smirked. “Yo. Name’s Shard, and I’m the trial giver of this challenge.”

"And you only show up now?" Venom asked.

The bot shrugged. “Eh, I thought it would be much more interesting this way. Certainly made the fight more interesting with the confusion.” He answered honestly. “Besides, had to do something unique from the other two. Couldn’t act like the wise cryptic, and didn’t want to show up at the beginning like the last gal did.”

"So what was the point of this trial?" Dark asked, feeling annoyed about all the fights he has been in from these trials.

Shard turned to him, his expression being serious. “Before I tell you, I’ll ask one more time…” The robot took out a yellow colored gemstone, the jewel glowed brightly, blinding them temporarily. When the duo opened their eyes, they saw the two villains laying down in front of them, the two were still unconscious and injured. “Are you sure you want to show these two mercy? After all, I’m sure they wouldn’t hesitate to finish you off. Wouldn’t it be best to just end them here and now instead of letting them go and terrorize their world?”

Dark looked at the two villains for a few moments before looking at Shard. "I'll tell you what I told Lancelot here. I have a few rules myself when it comes to killing. And as much as I want to hurt these guys, it's not my call whether or not they should die." He then shrugged. "Besides, I'm pretty sure they were bluffing. If they were really that difficult, I think they would've been much harder than they were. After all, if they are from future versions of my world, then that means they faced me when I was stronger and more experienced, and yet we beat them here."

From the black screen that made his eyes, the bot raised a digital eyebrow. “You are aware they held back right? It was part of the rules, if they win they’ll be allowed to travel into other Equestrias, however they have to fight you at your level.” He gestured at the knight with his cannon. “Spyder-Knight wasn’t allowed to use his minions, or even rely on his team of “knights”.” He turned to the other fallen villain. “...She wasn’t allowed to bring her strongest creations, like that Hydra Hybrid she mention or even the robot copies of you.”

"Sheesh, what's it matter to you anyway?"

“Juuust need to see something.” Shard said, narrowing his eyes at him. “Now, just need a final confirmation. You know now that they were holding back, and are much stronger than they showed today.”

"And I'm telling you one last time. I am not gonna kill them. In case you haven't noticed, I'm not the Punisher. I don't play the part of executioner," Dark said, getting rather annoyed that the bot seemed to want him to kill the two villains. "If you want someone who kills on a whim, find someone else."

Shard hummed, digitally closing his eyes. “I see… In that case.” The robot tossed the emerald in the air, letting it glow brightly as it blinded the pair once again. Once the light died down, the two gaped when the once unconscious villains were suddenly healed and standing, the two criminals stood behind the robot with their arms crossed, seemingly glaring at them, causing Dark and Venom to ready their weapons. Suddenly both the knight and robot threw their arms up in the air, the robot seeming to be smiling. “Congrats you two! You’ve passed the trial!” The mare clicked her tongue in annoyance and turned away.

The pair blinked. "Huh?" They said together.

Spyder-Knight coughed, catching their attention. “Alloweth me! Thee seeth, the two of us aren't actually ne'er-do-wells! Thou see, we are actually-”

"Hold it right there," Dark interrupted, lifting a hand up. "If you are gonna talk, talk normal or else I'm punching you again."

The knight slouched, seeming to be disappointed. “How rude… Why is everyone always so against me speaking old Ponish?” He asked, seeming to be actually confused.

The mare snorted. “It's cause it makes it hard for us to understand you, Dork-Knight!” She said harshly, glaring at the knight behind the gas mask. “Not only that but it's pretty annoying.”

“Nay! Tis not annoying!” Spyder-Knight yelled, turning back towards his partner. “Princess Luna and the children love my old Ponish!” He sniffed. “The children always laugh and are so happy to see me, and Luna always smiles whenever I speak like this.”

“Pretty sure it's a pity smile.” The earth pony said, smirking at him. “And I’m also sure that those kids are laughing at you and your stupid accent.” The knight recoiled, as if he was struck.

Dark pinched the bridge of his nose. "This is getting ridiculous…"

“Surely you’re jesting!” The knight yelled, ignoring the other three. “I’ve hath spent hours in those public relations classes and it turns out everyone hates the voice?! But it's mine whole image! I'm a gallant knight! The dashing rogue! The hero who is going to one day surpass the Spider in terms of popularity!”

Getting annoyed, Dark used his magic to flip the knight's helmet again. While he was distracted with that, Dark pointed to the mare. "Okay, you explain."

She snorted, laughing at knight’s struggling. Turning towards Dark, she nodded. “It's like what Lame-celot said. We’re both heroes from the future, not actually villains.” She then gritted her teeth. “Weeeelll… it’d be more accurate to say we’re Ex-Villains. The three of us are reformed now.”

"Seriously?" Dark asked, shocked while Venom simply crossed his arms.

The mare nodded. “Yeah, we were chosen for this task because we have experience in the whole villainly thing. Not only that, but experience fighting against you too.” She waved her hand dismissively. “Have to say though, I wish I was brought here with my white knight instead of this loser.”

“I heard that!” The knight cried out. “And for once I agree! I wish I was brought here with the Spears! Or at least Black Widow! We would’ve done a much better job together!”

"White knight? And wait, there's a Black Widow in this world too?" Dark asked, confused.

Fixing his helmet, the knight nodded. “Yup! There’s a Black Widow here too, and she’s the best partner you can ever have! We’ve been through everything together!” The knight sighed longingly, staring off in the distance. “She’s stuck with me through thick and thin, even was my partner during our villain days.”

Dark raised an eyebrow before shrugging. "Well good to know your girlfriend is loyal to ya."

Spyder-Knight sputtered, “Wha-! Hey! She’s not my girlfriend! We’re just best friends! That’s all!”

The mare snorted. “Riiiight. Come on, even he knows you’re head over heels for her.” She pointed at him and chuckled. “Dork-Knight here doesn’t have it in him to confess.”

"Oh, so that's something he shares with Dark," Venom said with a smirk.

"Oh shut up," Dark said with a glare. He then looked at the mare. "And what do you mean even I know?"

Shard decided to speak up. “A lot of people in the agency know about Spyder-Knight’s “secret” crush on Widow. It's pretty obvious to us all.”

Before Dark can respond, Venom asked Shard, "If they're good guys, why the stuff about winning against us and you wanting us to kill them?

“I made that up.” Shard answered honestly. “That thing about them going to your Equestria and wrecking it if they win was just something I said to provoke you.” The robot crossed his arms. “The whole point of this trial is to see if you have the capacity to show mercy, restraint, and kindness to a fallen foe, no matter how annoying or bad they may seem. Now this doesn’t mean you should show mercy to everyone, but like these two,” He gestured at the heroes. “There are some people who are just misguided and need help. I needed to see if when push comes to shove, you would have it in you to show some kindness and have mercy on them.”

"Well considering I'm already friends with 5 former villains, I would think so," Dark said with a shrug.

Shard smiled. “That's good, means you have it in you to look past other’s mistakes and have the capacity to help another.” Shard turned towards the other and decided to clear up any lingering doubts. “Now about what these two told you… A lot of the villainous acts they boasted about were exaggerations or simply falsehoods. These two don’t have a body count…” Shard frowned, turning towards the mare as he narrowed his eyes. “I think.”

She shrugged. “It wasn’t me, and it wasn’t like they attacked innocents… well… none of them but the Kruzdu…” She admitted with a hiss.

"Need to remember to nip that in the bud…" Dark muttered. He then blinked. "No pun intended."

“Right! And that whole thing about flooding the world was also false!” The knight said, crossing his arms and nodding. “...Mostly false… it was greatly exaggerated.” He laughed nervously, “On the plus side, I don’t actually have a brainwashing power!”

“It's still a mind based power though.” The mare responded.

“Yes, but not a brainwashing one.”

"Gave me one hell of a headache though…" Dark said, glaring at him.

The knight raised a finger. “Ah! But notice how you still have full control over your body!” He flinched when the glare didn’t lessen. “Err… sorry, but I couldn’t really go too easy on you, you know?”

The mare sighed and turned towards Venom. “And I’m sorry for trying to kill you. I shouldn’t have gone that far.” She then glared at him behind her mask. “But if you ever call me stupid again, I will not stop until you’re six feet under! Got it?”

Venom shrugged. "We'll see."

Dark looked around. "So...now what?"

Shard coughed. “Now I just need to ask you a question. I should’ve done this at the beginning of the trial, buuut things are more interesting this way.” The robot smirked, rubbing the back of his head with the cannon arm. “Now… Mercy or Kill?” The bot asked quickly, grinning at the confused expressions.

"Don't you mean mercy or genocide?" Venom asked with a smirk, to which Dark sighed.

"When I have the choice, I'll pick mercy. Though that doesn't mean I won't beat someone within an inch of their life if they mess with my family," he added.

Shard nodded. “Alright, I accept your answer.” He then smirked. “Though I actually already knew it before the trial even started… part of the reason why I decided to start with a fight.”

Spyder-Knight stared at the robot confused. “...Weren’t you going to quote Undertale for the question?”

“I still don’t know what that is!” Shard answered.

The mare tsked. “You know how most humans are, they like to reference things that only other humans get.” She then smiled under her mask. “Not like my white knight.”

Shard clapped. “Alright enough chit-chat. We’ve kept them waiting long enough.” Taking out a small ring, the robot tossed it casually besides him. The ring expanded and created a portal. “Unless you have any questions, feel free to step on through the Warp Ring. It’ll take you to your next destination. You have just one last person to talk to… They’re the reason why we’re here and why you’re doing these trials.”

Dark nodded before he and Venom ran through the ring together.

The ring shrunk down and the portal disappeared. Taking a few steps forward, Shard picked up the ring and stored it.

“Soo… are we done now?” Spyder-Knight asked, taking off his helmet.

Pulling off the gas mask, the mare ran her hand through her messy green curly mane. “Man I hope so! I’m beat, even though we were fighting a younger version of him, Dark still packs quite the punch!” She tossed the gas mask over her head, letting it fall to the floor.

The knight hummed. “I’m pretty tired too.” He said stretching his arms. Mid-stretch, he turned towards the robot. “What about you Shard? Think we’re done here now?”

The robot stared at the wall, watching as it begun to fade away. His two partners took a step back in surprise before sighing dejectedly. Shard sighed, turning back towards them. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure that we aren’t really needed here anymore.”

“Yeah… likely we’ll never be called up again…” The mare grumbled, glaring as the light engulfed her fallen plants.

The human frowned. “That's a good thing though right? Means we did our job, and it probably means that the world doesn’t need more wielders to combat the darkness.”

She scoffed. “Yeah I guess you’re right.” She crossed her arms and turned towards the bot. “Well, it was nice meeting you bucket-head.” Turning towards the knight, she flashed him a smile. “You too Dork-Knight, hope our real selves are all able to meet under friendly terms.”

Shard frowned at the name, before letting out a small chuckle. “Yeah, I hope so too. Maybe our real selves will be able to interact and form a team like we did.”

“I too desire that our real selves all meeteth! It was most exciting to be around thee all, even if one of us did possess quiet the sharp tongue…” He grumbled, ignoring the mare’s smirk. “I'm sure your true selves will all has't a most wondrous timeth together!” The knight said, pulling the other two heroes into a hug. “To the future!” The knight said, letting the bot go to raise his fist high up in the air. He laughed, ignoring the mare’s protest as the three of them faded away. The bright light engulfed everything, leaving nothing behind.

Author's Note

And now this is posted. Not much to add to this besides more spoilers for Dark and Venom. Though I wonder if anyone will be able to figure out who those 3 really were.

Good morrow dear followers! Tis I, the noble Star709, co-Author of SiE! Here with another chapter, and the third part of this mini-arc! I doth desire that thee did enjoy the latest chapter. Please bid us thy thoughts on it, what parts did thee enjoy and what thee didn't so yond we can learneth from it and improveth! Also I really enjoyed writing for Spyder-Knight, and for some reason "Bonetrousle" kept playing in my head while writing his dialogue. Also I would love to know what you all think of the three new heroes, please don't be afraid to be honest.

Yeah, Star really enjoyed writing those three. Especially their interactions with each other. Welp, the fourth and final part will be posted by tonight. Hopefully you enjoy it.

-Dark

Star

50. Dive Into The Heart Part 4: The Light Of Harmony

Stepping out of the giant ring, the duo looked around the new area they found themselves in. Similarly to when Dark first appeared, all around them was complete darkness, except for the large cave entrance in front of them. Looking around, they didn’t see anything else in the darkness or near the cave.

"So where are we now?" Dark asked.

"Looks like a cave," Venom stated.

Dark deadpanned. "Oh really?"

Venom shrugged. "Ask a stupid question." After looking around for a few moments, he said, "You know, it was pretty interesting what you said to Shard."

"What do you mean?"

Venom raised an eyebrow. "You said you won't be killing anyone and yet I clearly recall you threatening to strangle someone with his own intestines a few days ago."

Dark glared at the symbiote. "Hey, you and I both know that was just to scare the bastard away from Rainbow and Bri."

Venom chuckled. "Calm down. I'm just messing with you."

Dark sighed. "Whatever. Let's get this ove-"

Suddenly behind the two of them, a bright red door appeared from the ground. A bright light was emitting from the door, and shined even brighter once it was opened. Stepping out of the red door was Rainbow Dash, looking shocked at seeing the two of them. Before anyone could say anything, the door behind her disappeared.

Rainbow groaned. "Another one? Seriously? Fine." She gripped a sword in her hand that was identical to Dark's and lunged at him, with him narrowly dodging her before blocking an attack with his own sword.

"Rainbow! What the heck are you doing?" Dark shouted before jumping back.

The next moment, black tendrils wrapped Rainbow up by her torso and lifted her up. Following the tendrils, she saw Venom with tendrils sticking out of his back. "Hey, let me go!"

Venom shook his head. "No. Not until you calm down."

"I already did that damn trial. Why do I need to fight another one?"

Dark blinked. "Wait, trial? So you've been going through this insanity too?"

Venom hummed before looking at Rainbow. "Calm down Rainbow. That's really Dark. Not some fake that you had to face or anything."

"And why should I believe that?" She asked, no longer hostile but suspicious.

Dark sighed. "Well I've been going through some trials too. Had to fight a Mega-Lucario, 3 bad guys I never even met, and 2 other people I never met." He then pinched the bridge of his nose. "This whole experience has been a major headache. And that knight guy gave me an even bigger one…"

Rainbow started calming down after that and Venom set her down gently. She then took a step closer to Dark. "Tito?"

Dark nodded. "Yeah Dash, it's me. Nice to know I'm not the only one who went through this hell."

Rainbow then let out a sigh of relief before looking at Venom and pointed at him with her thumb. "And who's he?"

"That's Venom."

Rainbow's eyes widened in shock but before she can say anything, a bright flash of light cut them all off. Turning towards the light they saw a new door appear, a bright red one similar to the one that brought Rainbow there. The door creaked open, allowing for a familiar lavender alicorn to step through, Twilight’s eyes widened when she saw them, looking around she gave them each a confused look.

Twilight tilted her head. "Dark? Rainbow?"

Dark nodded. "Yeah, it's us Twi." He then noticed that in her hand was the staff from the beginning.

"So you too, huh?" Rainbow asked. "So what did you go through?"

Twilight shrugged. "Went through a maze, did some puzzles, answered some questions, and had a magic duel with Princess Celestia." She then rubbed her temples. "That last one was truly difficult…" She then looked at her two friends. "What about you guys?"

"Like I told Dash, I fought a strong pokemon and 5 people I never even met. And answered a few questions myself."

Rainbow sighed. "I fought some pegasus with fire powers, ran into evil version of you and the others, and fought an evil version of Tito. That last one was...pretty difficult…"

Dark shrugged. "Well you clearly passed if you're here."

Just like all of the other times, another door appeared with a blinding flash of light. Similarly to others, the red door opened allowing the cat-like mobian to step through.

"And that's all 4 of you," Venom stated.

"Tito?" Elizabeth asked.

Dark nodded again. "Yes, it's really me Eli. And this is the real Twilight and Rainbow. And that's Venom. Don't ask how he looks like that, I don't really know."

Elizabeth blinked before standing up straight. "Well okay then." She then saw the shield in Venom's arm. "Huh. I see we got the same idea," she said before pulling out a matching shield.

"So two swords, two shields, and one staff, huh?" Venom asked. He then frowned. "Okay, I know why Dark picked the sword, because he has a couple years of experience, but why did you three pick your respective items?"

Elizabeth hummed. "Well I'm not so good with a sword yet and when I heard that staff is the item of a mystic, I turned it down. But with the shield, it felt right." She then shrugged. "Besides, the power of a guardian sounds about right for a knight."

After that, Twilight looked at her staff. "As for me, it was like I was drawn to it. Plus I definitely don't know how to use a sword and shields are more Shining Armor's thing than mine."

After that, Dark looked at Rainbow, who shrugged. "I got used to using a sword thanks to practising with you so I figured it was the best choice."

Dark nodded before looking around. "Well with that out of the way, what do we do now?"

"Well there's only one clear way to go," Venom said before pointing to the cave.

Rainbow shrugged. "Well come on then." With that said, she flared up her wings and flew in with the others following her.

As the group made their way inside the cave, they immediately began to notice all of the crystal growths around the cave, a large formation of rocks stood parallel to each other as they led deeper into the cave.

“Doesn’t this place seem familiar?” Twilight asked, turning towards Rainbow Dash, who could only nod as she narrowed her eyes to scan the area.

Finally reaching the end of the cave, everyone couldn’t help but gape at the giant, jagged, crystal tree that stood at the end of the cave, the formation of rocks made a semi-circle around the tree. On the middle of the tree was a six pointed star shaped gem, similar to Twilight’s cutie mark, with similar gems all around the ends of the branches, each of the gems showing a cutie mark similar to the elements.

"What is that?" Eli asked. "And why does it have your marks on it?" She said, looking at Rainbow and Twilight.

"That, Elizabeth, is the Tree Of Harmony," Venom explained. "And the reason for that is because they, as well as the other four, embody the Elements Of Harmony," he said, gesturing to each of the gems on the branches.

"But why are we here?" Rainbow asked.

As if to answer her question, a bright light shone from the tree, the light eventually began to fade as someone stepped out of the light. The pony that stepped out of the light looked exactly like Twilight, the only difference was that she was semi-transparent, and her body sparkled in the light the tree gave off. The Twilight copy slowly turned towards each of them and smiled. “That was because of me.” The copy said, her voice carrying an echo.

Dark groaned. "Another copy of someone? Really?"

Twilight gave a slight glare to Dark before looking at her shining double. "Who are you?"

"And why do you look like Twilight?" Rainbow said.

“I am the Tree of Harmony, and as Twilight Sparkle embodies the Element of Magic, I have chosen her form to be the most fitting to take.” The copy answered, her expression never changing.

Everyone blinked at that before Venom said, "Wait, so all those theories of the Tree being sapient are true?"

Dark shrugged. "Looks like it. At least for us."

"Wait, what theories?" Twilight asked.

Dark waved his hand dismissively. "Just some theories I heard back on Earth, not important."

Elizabeth then looked at the Tree. "So miss...Tree…you said you're the reason we're here? Why is that?"

“The reason why you are all here is because of a foreign Light and Darkness that have intruded in our world. The light seeking to arm you to better defend yourselves, and the Darkness seeking to devour everything in this world.” The Tree’s avatar spoke, her smile dropping into a frown. “Seeing as how the light sought to help, I decided to intervene on your dreams, in order to test the four of you to see if you were truly capable of combating the darkness.” She explained to them, her expression serious. “Had I not intervene you would’ve simply chosen your boon, and combat a small amount of those creatures of darkness until you were given the Keyblade. I did not think this was enough to see if you can combat this new threat.” She turned towards Dark. “And while one of you may already have a Keyblade, I felt the need to test him as well, in case he wasn’t ready to wield such a weapon.”

"Wait, so you hijacked our dreams and had us go through these trials?" Rainbow asked, getting a little mad.

She nodded. “I did what I felt was necessary. While you are one of the Elements, that doesn’t mean you are automatically worthy of the Keyblade. Such a weapon can be dangerous in the wrong hands or in the hands of someone unworthy.”

"Kairi seems to think they're worthy," Venom commented. "And if they weren't, they wouldn't have been able to hold her Keyblade in the first place."

“It’s best not to take any chances.” The Tree answered. “Especially not with matters such as these.”

"Okay, seriously. How dangerous can this be?" Rainbow asked. "If they're anything like those black bug looking things I fought earlier, then you are seriously worrying about nothing."

The Tree frowned, her eyes narrowing at Rainbow. “Those “black bugs” are just the beginning, and I’m sure that they’re the weakest among their group. After all they are used to test others during these dreams.”

"She's right Rainbow," Venom said, crossing his arms. "Those things are the lowest level in terms of power regarding Heartless. At least as far as we know."

Dark's eyes widened before looking at the Tree. "Wait...you and that person in my second trial said that the darkness is coming if it wasn't already here. That doesn't mean Heartless, does it?"

The copy sighed, looking down in dejection. “Unfortunately I am not able to repel the darkness for very long, and seeing as how the initial trial seemed to be trying to prepare you for their arrival, I do believe that those Heartless will be arriving soon.”

"Well shit…" Dark muttered.

"Uh Tito, how bad is it if this is true?" Eli asked, concerned.

"Worst case scenario? The entire world plunges into darkness. And I don't mean like Nightmare Moon planned. I don't know the exact details but I'm pretty sure it's pretty much the world being erased."

"WHAT?" The other 3 wielders yelled in shock.

Venom looked at the Tree. "Any idea how long we have before they show up?"

“I’m doing my best to keep the darkness away, yet I fear that some of it has already slipped past my defenses.” She sighed. “I believe you only have a few days before they start appearing, a week if we’re lucky.”

Dark sighed. "Great. Just great. Not only do we have to deal with Hydra, who wants me dead, but Heartless too?"

"Don't forget all those villains we fought earlier," Venom said.

"Oh right. That. Did you do that too?" Dark asked the Tree.

“I did summon copies of individuals, all of them from the most likely future to happen.” The tree answered. “However if you are referring to your second trial then it was your trial giver that summoned those villains, not me. Her illusionary powers allowed her to mimic powerful villains that you are very likely to meet.”

"Wait, so I really will meet all those guys?"

“Not for certain, they are all from the most likely future.” She said. “Things can change, and depending on your actions or the ones from those around you, it's also likely that you’ll never meet any of these individuals, or perhaps if you do, they will not be as you saw them today.”

"Duly noted."

"Okay, I have a question," Rainbow said. "Why in Tartarus did you have me go through that last trial?"

“I am sorry that you had to go through such distress in your last trial Rainbow Dash.” She apologized, looking at her sadly. “But I did what I felt was necessary. The last trial was meant to test your courage, your will to move forward and see things to the end. I know it seemed harsh, and twisted, but it was the most effective way to test you.”

Rainbow simply glared at the avatar and didn't say anything else. Eli then stepped forward. "Okay, so let me get this straight. We all went through some trials because of a sentient tree hijacking our dreams because it wanted to see if we were capable of facing some sort of darkness that is coming and apparently some of us fought people we might meet later on." After a few seconds, she finished with, "Am I missing anything?"

The tree smiled lightly. “No, that’s basically it.”

"There anything else we should know about?" Dark asked.

The Tree hummed. “Well… I do recommend talking with Screwball about that gem she found in Blackwood Forest. It's best if you do it as soon as you can, there are others who are looking for gemstones similar to it.”

Dark blinked. "Wait, gem from where?"

"Blackwood Forest?" Twilight asked. "That's not far from the hotel you guys were staying in for the convention."

Venom nodded. "She probably found that gem while Dark was waiting for the doctor to show up."

“Well it is time for you to go now.” The Tree said, catching their attention. “It should be morning by now, and it's time for you all to wake up.” She frowned, and bowed her head. “Before you go, just let me apologize for the trouble I caused you all this night. With the darkness approaching, I felt that it was best to do this rather than take any chances.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes while everyone else shrugged.

The giant tree in the back suddenly started glowing brightly, blinding everyone in the room. The light from the tree slowly engulfed everyone, sending them back to their bodies. The avatar then flashed disappearing as the area they were in faded away as well. Leaving behind nothing but an endless white void.

Author's Note

And now this is done. So...yeah. Basically explained the reason for the spoilers and the trials. And I realized yesterday that this may be in character with the Tree since it forced 6 children to face their fears for a test. Also, sorry but we aren't showing the Dives of the other 3. And I'll like to thank Star for helping write this and writing for every one except for my 4 wielders and Venom. In other words she wrote for about 9 characters. And I'd also like to thank my friends who proofread the Dive. That's about all I have to say for now. No idea when 51 will be done since we haven't started it yet. Until next time.
-Dark

P.S. Saw Far From Home last Tuesday and I loved it. Even gave me a few ideas.

51. Stone Garden Zone

Dark looked over the emerald colored diamond in his hand, carefully turning it over as he took in every small detail about. The gem was very familiar to Dark, even the small amount of light it let out brought a few memories to mind.

"You really think it's one of them?"

Dark took a quick glance to Venom, who appeared in his human form, but didn't reply. He then looked at Screwball. "You said you felt a large amount of energy coming from this thing?"

Screwball nodded. “It felt a bit similar to my chaos magic, but a bit different, like it's more focused and raw.” She then shrugged, frowning a bit. “Really that's the best way I can describe it.”

Dark sighed. "Well this is bad…" he muttered.

"Why?" Cece asked. "It's just some gem. What's the big deal?"

Dark held up the arm with the crystal. "If we're right, this is one of seven Emeralds. All of which are a major problem if they fall into the wrong hands."

“No wonder it looked so familiar! It's a Chaos Emerald!” Screwball shouted, a smile on her face. “For some reason I just couldn’t remember what it was until now.” She frowned, crossing her arms. “Probably the higher ups blocking some stuff…" she muttered to herself, quiet enough for nobody else to hear.

Rainbow leaned closer from her throne. "Chaos Emerald? That sounds bad."

Dark shrugged. "Well they can be used for good. But if any of them gets into the wrong hands, could be a problem. Just one of these are a very efficient power source."

"And all seven can cause some issues," Screwball continued. "Or turn people super. Or revive the dead. And some other stuff as the writers wanted."

Starlight looked at the Chaos Emerald. "Well we have one. Where are the other six?"

Screwball and Dark shrugged before Screwball said, "I only felt this one when I was near the same area and haven't felt that kind of energy at any other time. And the Emeralds can be anywhere in the world."

"Doesn't help that we only just learned that these things exist in this world," Venom said, though nobody seemed to notice besides Dark, who gave a quick nod.

Cece sighed. "So Hydra, sentient darkness that can erase our world on its way, and now we have to figure out where the rest of these things are? Seriously, we just got back here yesterday. Can't we relax for a bit?"

Twilight sighed. "Looks like that'll have to wait Cece."

Dark rolled his eyes before tossing the Emerald back at Screwball. He then looked at Twilight. "So what do we do?"

Twilight got up. "Well I'm gonna go to Canterlot to inform the Princesses about that...dream we had as well as about these Heartless. Guess I can add these Emeralds too." With that said, she left the room.

With nothing else to discuss, the rest of the group started to leave not long after Twilight did.

Suddenly the door slammed open, revealing a certain pink pony mare on the other side of the door. The pink party pony grinned widely as she skipped towards the others. “Heya guys!” She greeted, waving excitedly at everyone. “So I came by to ask about what flavor cakes you guys like since I’m still planning your welcome back party, it probably won’t be ready till night time, but don’t worry! I’ll make sure that by the end of the day I’ll have the party ready to go!”

Cece rolled her eyes while Dark just smiled. "Vanilla Pinkie. And just use that for any future reference." He then looked at his sister. "And strawberry for Cece."

Pinkie Pie saluted, her expression momentary becoming serious before breaking into a huge grin. “Got it! I’ll see you guys later then!” Just as she was about to skip away, she stopped suddenly in front of Screwball, her eyes widened when she saw the gemstone. “Oh my gosh! You have one of those gems too?! Marble has one in her room back on the rock farm! Though ours was a different color.” She stuck her tongue out as she tried to remember. “It looked pretty grey, but really shiny and glowing!” She turned around and started to leave. “Well I’ll see you guys later!”

Everyone blinked as processed what Pinkie said before Screwball said, "Pinkie wait," before teleporting in front of the pink mare. "You said you found one of these before?" She asked, pointing to the Emerald.

Pinkie nodded, still keeping her smile. “Yup! Marble found it one day when we were just small little fillies!” She answered. “It was really shiny and it sometimes glowed, so we kept it in our room! It made for a good nightlight.”

"Is it still there?" Rainbow asked.

The pink mare hummed, nodding slowly. “Yeah I’m pretty sure it's still there, at least last time I checked.”

Dark shrugged. "Well, looks like we have a slight change of plans…" he then looked at Pinkie. "Hey Pinkie, mind if we go to that rock farm your family has?"

Pinkie gasped, bouncing in place. “Sure I don’t mind! It's been a while since I visited my family’s rock farm! Oh, this is so exciting! I’ll get to introduce you guys all to my sisters, my parents,” She then frowned. “Though I’ll have to reschedule the party… Oh well, we can have it tomorrow!”

Dark then clapped his hands together. "Well then let's go."

“Soooo, not that I mind or anything, but why do you guys want to come to the rock farm anyways?” Pinkie asked, glancing at everyone. “Is it because of that gem?” She said, pointing at the gem on Screwball’s hand. She jumped briefly when the train started shifting around.

Cece nodded. "According to Tito and Screwball, it's part of a set and are very dangerous. I'm guessing we're heading to your family's...rock farm...to get it…" she muttered, trying to figure out what a rock farm even was but not wanting to ask.

Screwball nodded. "Trust me Pinkie. These things are insanely dangerous. Your family is lucky nobody knows how special these things are."

Pinkie frowned, glancing at the trains window. “If you say it's dangerous, then I believe you… Though we’re going to have to convince Marble to give it up and she’s pretty attached to it.”

"I'm sure we can convince her," Cece said, petting Emily in her lap. "Especially if she's anything like you." She then frowned when she saw Screwball snickering. "What?"

"While I can say that all the Pies are strange, they are not all the same. Heck, Marble Pie is more like Fluttershy than Pinkie."

Cece blinked. "Seriously?"

"Yup. Heck, she never once said an actual word in the show. So no idea what she even sounds like."

Cece then looked at Pinkie for confirmation. "Seriously?"

Pinkie nodded with a smile on her face. “Yeah Marble is pretty quiet, and she’s really shy around ponies. Lime is also always a huge grump and gets mad super duper easy! My parents are really quiet and so serious, and Maud always has a straight face!” She then leaned over and whispered loudly. “But don’t let that fool you, Maud has a great sense of humor.”

Cece then looked at Screwball with a raised eyebrow, in which the filly replied with a simple shrug.

Dark turned his attention away from the trio at the otherside of the cart. Glancing at Rainbow, he couldn’t help but notice stormy expression on her face. The rainbow maned mare continued staring at the train’s window, ignoring everything around her.

"Wonder what's eating her up," Venom commented from Dark's side, to which Dark shrugged in response.

"Um...Rainbow? You okay?" Dark asked.

Rainbow sighed before looking at him with a frown. "I'm fine. Just still pretty annoyed about last night."

"What was so bad about it? At least you didn't almost die from people you didn't know exist or deal with an annoying duo."

"No, but I fought evil version of our friends, as well as you." She then looked out the window again.

Dark stood silent for a few moments before saying, "Exactly what happened in your trials?"

Rainbow glanced at him and sighed. “It wasn’t so bad at first…” She began, sitting up straight. “The first trial was called the Trial of Power, and the trial giver was a copy of Spitfire. She told me that since I picked up the Dream Sword, that my trials were all combat focused, and my first opponent was this weird red furred pegasus.” She frowned, trying to recall the details of the encounter with the villain. “We were fighting just outside some high school in Cloudsdale. The guy had the power to control fire and called himself “Pyro.”” She snorted, finding the name to be unoriginal. “After I beat him, Spitfire told me about how that villain was one I was going to have to deal with in the future. Apparently he will think of himself to be my nemesis or something like that. Guess that makes sense. I'm water and he's fire after all.”

“The second trial was called the “Trial of Wisdom”.” She said, using her fingers to make some quotation marks. “Apparently I’m too brash and too quick to act, so they made that trial in order to force me to think more often before I make a decision.” She turned away and crossed her arms. “I mean, I know it's kinda true, but what am I supposed to do if I see these really evil looking guys attacking my friends?!” She threw her arms up and scowled. “Turns out those evil looking guys were actually some really edgy heroes, calling themselves Daredevil, Punisher, Jester, and Rattle. And the ponies I saved were all just evil clones of our friends! They called themselves the Sinister 7, and the evil clone of me was apparently in prison and everyone thought I was the evil clone! There’s even an evil clone of Spike!” She yelled, causing a few heads to turn their way before they resumed their previous activities. Rainbow sighed and rubbed her head. “It was so confusing.”

Dark blinked. "Sinister 7? That's really what they called themselves?"

"Yeah. Why?"

Dark shook his head. "Nothing important. So you said there were heroes called Daredevil, Punisher, Jester, and Rattle?"

"Yeah. But with those names and how they looked, you can't blame me for thinking they were the bad guys."

"Like how you thought I was a bad guy?"

Rainbow blinked before quickly turning her gaze out the window again. "This was different. They were fighting our friends and I had no way of knowing they were the good guys. What was I supposed to do?"

Dark shrugged. "Hard to say. But if you made it out, it at least means you passed."

“Yeah, I did pass. Wasn’t easy though.” She admitted, frowning. “When I figured out those ponies weren’t our friends, I decided I could stick around for a bit and pretend to be the evil Dash to get some answers. Turns out I was in some weird alternate reality? Everyone was backwards in it, good ponies were bad, and the bad ponies were good. Even the princesses were evil in that place.” She explained, waving her hand around. “So I decided to go look for the edgy heroes once I found out they were the good guys. Took a while to convince them I was a good guy, and together we took on the Sinister 7, even got to fight the evil me.” She scratched her head, trying to remember the details. “She called herself Blizzard, even had the same powers as me.”

Dark blinked again. "And I thought we had a rough time… How long were you even in that trial?"

Rainbow hummed, her eyes narrowing. “I don’t really remember… I lost track of time, and it felt like I was there for a pretty long time. Probably about a few hours, a few days at most.” She shrugged. Rainbow then let out a small laugh. “Found out some pretty interesting things while I was there though, apparently Trixie is an alicorn princess there, Sombra is the king of Equestria, and Granny Smith runs a mafia in Ponyville.”

Dark's eyes widened. "Seriously? Sheesh, that's insane… And sounds familiar."

"Comics," Venom stated, to which Dark gave a subtle nod.

"So then what happened?"

Rainbow frowned. “After I beat the Sinister 7 I was allowed to leave and continue to the next trial.” She sighed. “The last trial was called the “Trial of Courage”, and at first I was talking to a copy of you, he asked me a question like the others… and then…”

"You fought him," Dark said. He then shrugged. "Don't see what the big deal is. We've fought each other a ton of times. Should've been easy for you."

Rainbow looked at the window again. "He...said some things. Stuff that seriously messed me up."

"What did he say?"

She stood silent for a moment before taking a brief glance at him. "Do you hate me?"

That question caused Dark to double take. "What? Of course not. Why would you think that?"

Rainbow shook her head. "Forget it." She then looked out the window again.

Dark briefly considered continuing the conversation but decided against it. He then grabbed Peter from his lap and moved to another seat to give Rainbow some space.

As soon as he sat down, he saw Venom sitting beside him. After making sure no one else was in ear shot, Dark whispered, "Okay, how are you doing that? And how come nobody seems to notice you?"

Venom raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? You haven't figured it out?" A couple seconds later, he shrugged. "Well dear father, it's simple. I'm connected to your brain. With that connection, I can just make a mental image of myself. Basically like an imaginary friend. Only ones who can see me like this besides you are psychics or my siblings."

Dark blinked. "Well okay then. Wait, why the others?"

"We have a sort of mental connection. We were able to communicate with each other via our thoughts while we were trapped in those tanks after all. So I wouldn't be shocked if they can use that connection to see my...avatar."

Dark nodded simply before pulling out his phone and finding something to read.

Pinkie squealed, skipping along happily to the front gate of her family’s rock farm. Taking a deep breath, she called out to her family. “Hey everypony! I’m home!” She then threw her arms out to gesture to the group behind her. “And I brought friends!”

An amber furred stallion walked towards the group, a stoic expression on his face. He gave Pinkie a small smile. “Pinkamena, it's good to see thee again.” Turning towards the others behind her, he gave her a questioning look. “Thee must beest Pinkamena’s friends. Thee may calleth me Igneous Rock. Its valorous to meeteth thee.”

Cece blinked. "What?"

Dark simply sighed. "And I thought we were done with this after Spyder-Knight…" he muttered before clearing his throat. "Hello sir. We're Pinkie's friends. And we came here to...um…"

"We came here to get the Chaos Emerald you guys have," Cece stated.

The stallion raised an eyebrow. “Chaos Emerald?” He hummed. “I don't bethink we has't anything like that in our possession. I nev'r coequal hath heard of such a gem.”

"Basically something like this," Screwball explained as she pulled out her Emerald. "Pinkie said she and Marble found one that's gray."

Igneous walked closer, examining the emerald. “Ah aye, I recall Marble and Pinkamena having a gemstone just like this one. None of us knoweth what tis is and Marble currently hath it in her room.” He raised an eyebrow and gave them a cautious look. “Just out of curiosity, why doth thee wanteth t?”

Screwball pocketed her Emerald. "Long story short, it's an incredibly dangerous and powerful gem when in the wrong hands. A single one even can control time if the person learns how to."

"Wait what?" Rainbow and Cece exclaimed before looking at Dark for confirmation.

Dark nodded. "Slow down time, travel through time, or teleport. Those are the most known abilities as far as I'm aware. And like we said, all 7 together can be helpful, or pretty much spell our doom." He then looked at Igneous. "And like my friend said, it can be incredibly dangerous in the wrong hands. And we recently learned of a group of ponies who will want them if they learn about the Emeralds."

“We at each moment suspected that the gemstone wast magical, but I nev'r bethought twas that powerful.” Igneous said, looking rather concerned with the news. “If 't be true thither very much art others who wanteth to misuse its power, then perhaps tis best it goeth with thee. I trust mine daughter's judgement, and if 't be true she's well enow with thee all then I suppose I can trust thee all too.” He turned towards the farm house, and gestured them to follow him. “However thee wilt all needeth to convince Marble, t doest belong to her.”

"Well where is she?" Rainbow asked.

He pointed at the house in front of them. “We finished our chores a while ago, so she should beest inside with the others.” He answered, leading them to the house. Opening the door, he called out to the others inside. “Everyone, Pinkamena is here, and the lady hath brought guest.” Igneous stepped to the side, allowing the group to enter the house. Once everyone stepped in, he closed the door and lead them to the living room where the rest of the Pie family was at. “Everypony these art our guest.” He said, introducing them.

The oldest mare bowed her head in greeting. “Good morrow to you, everypony, I am Cloudy Quartz, tis a pleasure to meeteth thee.” She said, taking a step closer. Pinkie squeed and ran up to hug her. Cloudy smiled and hugged her daughter in return. “Good morrow Pinkamena, it's so good to see thou again, it's been so long.”

The bluish grey mare frowned, not getting up from her seat in the living room. “Name’s Limestone Pie, just don’t cross me and we’ll get along just fine.”

Cece blinked before looking at Pinkie. "This is your family?"

"Part of it," Screwball replied. "Maud is completely stoic and almost emotionless and I said Marble is like Shy." A few seconds later, she added, "And before you ask, no. Pinkie's not adopted."

“Speaking of Marble!” Pinkie says, catching their attention. She darted to the lump of dark grey hair hiding behind the couch and dragged her sister towards them. “Everypony this is Marble Pie! My little baby sister who’s only a few minutes younger than me, but she’ll always be my little baby sister, isn’t that right?” She said, grabbing the confused pony and turning her head to look at her in the eyes. Without waiting for a response, she turned back to her friends and continued talking. “She’s so excited to meet everypony!” Hearing a lack of response from her sister, she elbowed the pony and gestured towards the group.

Smiling shyly, Marble nodded. “Mm-hmm!” She hummed.

Cece blinked for a moment before turning around and walking out the door. "This is a little too much crazy for me. I'll just wait outside while you guys get the Emerald."

After she left, Screwball turned back to Marble and cleared her throat. "Um, excuse me Marble. But Pinkie said you found a gray crystal that looks like this?" She asked as she pulled her Emerald again.

Marble quickly glanced back at Pinkie, moving forward when she saw her sister encouraged her to step forward. Shyly taking a few steps closer, she examined the emerald on Screwball’s hands. She stared at the emerald in awe, recognizing it to be similar to the one she had. Turning back to Screwball she nodded in confirmation to her question. Reaching for one her dress’ pockets, she gingerly took out a grey colored emerald and held it out for her to see.

The two emeralds suddenly began glowing brightly, they flashed repeatedly for a few seconds before letting out one massive blinding light. The light briefly blinded everyone in the room, when they regained their vision everyone gaped at the large beacon shooting upwards towards the sky.

Cece and Emily immediately turned towards the house as they saw the beam of light, the pair completely confused by it before running back inside.

All around Rockville, the ponies couldn’t help but stop and gape at the pillar of light that shined at the edge of their village. Foals would grab the attention of their parents and point to the light, shocking their parents at the sight.

“What is that?” An elder stallion questioned.

“Isn’t that light shining in the Pie’s farm?” One mare said, staring in awe of the light. “Doth thee bethink something hath happened to those folk?”

“It's quite quaint, surely a miracle must've hath happened!”

Even as the light died down, the ponies couldn’t help but keep their eyes locked at the spot the light had been shining through. All around Rockville, confusion and awe filled their heads.

“Sir! Sir!” The high pitched squealing of the crab-like machine stole his attention. Rotating his transport, the egg shaped figure gave the robot his attention. Seeing that it had its leader’s attention, it continued speaking. “You might want to take a look at this!” The crab pointed right behind its leader with its metal claw.

Turning around the egg shaped commander couldn’t help but stare in awe of the pillar of light. “What is that light?!” He yelled, leaning forward in interest.

“It appears to be coming from the rock farm in Rockville, sir.” The crab answered, skittering closer.

“A Rock Farm you say?” He repeated, staring at the light as it slowly died down. “Fascinating.” Turning towards the computer on his transport he started pressing a few buttons. “Computer, scan that light. Have we found our target?”

“Scanning…” A masculine, monotone voice said, following the orders. “The energy the beacon is giving out is exactly the same type of energy of the target. Chances of the source of light being the target… 98.75%.”

“Fascinating.”

A few seconds later, Rainbow spoke. "What the hay was that?" She asked as Cece and Emily came back inside.

Screwball sighed. "So we're going with the Sonic X thing huh?"

"The what?"

"In a certain Sonic show, when 2 or more Emeralds are "reunited" after being separated, a beam of light happens," Dark explained. He then looked at the two Emeralds. "And looks like that's the case here…"

“That. Was. Amazing!” Pinkie yelled, scooping up Marble in a hug as she bounced around. “What was that?! You just took out your gem and then both of them started glowing, then boom! A huge pillar of light appears out of nowhere! I bet everyone in Rockville saw it!”

Dark, Venom, Cece, Emily, and Screwball stared at Pinkie. "Rockville?"

Pinkie nodded. "Yeah, that's the name of the village. Rockville."

Cece deadpanned. "The more I learn about your world, the crazier it seems…"

Rainbow shook her head before looking at Dark and Screwball. "So is there any problems with that?"

The pair shrugged. "Depends on if anyone understands it," Screwball replied. She then put her Emerald away again. "Look Marble, can we take your Emerald? For now I'd rather we hold on to as many of these things as we can. And no telling how many others saw that beacon."

Marble’s eyes darted between Screwball and the grey emerald she had in her hands. The grey mare stared down at the emerald with a conflicted expression, she glanced towards Pinkie before looking back at them. Before she could give them her answer, a hard knock on the door interrupted them.

Limestone turned towards the front door with a glare. “Now what?”

“Oooh! I’ll get it!” Pinkie called out, skipping towards the door. “They’re probably just wondering about that light show.” Opening the door, she gave the newcomers a bright smile. “Hello there officers, how can I help you?”

Standing in the doorway were a pair of guards, the one on the right was a pegasus, while the one on the left was an earth pony, the pair covered in the standard guard armor. The one in the right spoke first, “Good afternoon ma’am. We’re here to investigate the bright light that seemed to originate from this exact location.” The first guard explained, giving Pinkie a light smile.

“Did you happen to see anything that might have caused it or even the source of that light?” The second guard asked with a frown.

"Don't worry guys, we got this, Cece said as she stepped next to Pinkie. "You can be on your way."

The two guards turned to each other, a single eyebrow raised. Turning back, the first guard gave Cece a smile. “While we appreciate the help citizen, this is a matter that the guards should handle.” He said, waving his hand dismissively. “However, does this mean that know what caused that light?”

Cece raised an eyebrow from under her hood. "Citizen? Seriously? I know the guard are weaklings but besides making me mad, they never seem to be idiots. I know for a fact that Celestia spread the word about us to all the guard."

The two glanced at each other again, their eyes narrowing. With a huff, the second guard turned away from her. “We don’t have time for this, we’re very busy girl, and I doubt that the Princess would let someone so young into the Royal Guards.” Now giving Pinkie his full attention, he addressed the confused mare. “Now ma’am, may we enter the house so we can continue our investigation? It's very important we find whatever caused that light, it could put your friends and family at risk.”

Dark glared at the guard but before he could do anything, he started hearing growling. When he looked to the source, he saw Bri poking her head out of his bag and growling at the guards with an angry glare.

The guard scowled when he spotted Bri growling at him. “Get your mutt under control before I have to do it for you.”

Dark blinked before he glared at the guard again, growling himself. "What did you call her?"

“A mutt.” He gritted out. “Now are you going to get that thing under control or am I going to have to discipline the both of you.” He threatened, taking a step forward.

At this point, Venom was glaring at them too, as well as Screwball. Dark rose an eyebrow. "Oh really? Trust me dude, you don't wanna do that."

The guard continued glaring at Dark. Hearing Bri let out a bark, he turned towards the pokemon and scowled. “Fine, seems like I’m going to have to teach this thing some manners.” The guardsman stomped towards them, his hand reaching out to grab the pokemon. Before he could grab Bri, Dark quickly grabbed his armored chest and tossed them out the door, almost hitting the first guard.

The other guard glared. “Now you’ve done it, for assaulting a guard I’m placing you under arrest!” As he took out the sword on his belt, he was suddenly thrown out by Cece’s hammer hitting his chest plate. The guardsman landed right next to the other one, who was in the middle of getting up.

“We should’ve just stormed the house.” The earth pony spat out. “Last time I’m listening to you.”

“Y-you were too confrontational, don’t think I won’t report your behavior.” The pegasus stuttered, getting onto his knees, a large dent was on his armored chest. “We’re meant to have the trust of the civilians, they won’t trust us if we’re being confrontational.”

"Okay, first and only warning," Cece said as she stepped out of the house, shouldering her hammer and removing her hood. "You two dumbasses leave now, and I don't show you why the rest of your buddies are afraid of me."

The two guardsmen glanced at each other, getting up from the ground, they glared at Cece. The earth pony grunted. “Now can we do things my way?”

The pegasus frowned, “Fine.” He spat, reaching for his pouch. “We’re not supposed to be doing things like this, you are aware of that right?” He said, glancing at his partner who just shrugged. “I will be reporting you after this is over.”

“Fine by me.” The guard smirked. Reaching for something in his pouch, he took out a bright orange gun-like object, the end of the gun was colored yellow. Pulling the gun’s trigger, a bright yellow bolt of energy shot out of the gun straight towards Cece. The pegasus besides him took out a similar weapon and began firing at the pink hedgehog as well.

Before the energy bolts could hit Cece, she was pulled away from its path by a pair of webs. Dark quickly jumped over her without his bag, heading straight for the guardsmen. Raising his arms up again, he shot out a pair of webs to swipe the blasters from the duo.

"Okay, now I know something is up. The guard doesn't have tech that good." He then rubbed his hands and stood up straight. "Now, who are you really? Hydra goons?"

The earth pony scoffed. “Hydra?! Don’t make me laugh, they’re nothing but a bunch of fools!” Smirking, he raised his fist and hit his chest. “We’re with the Doctor of course! Just you wait, soon there won’t be a single pony who hasn’t heard of the Empire!”

The pegasus scowled, using his wing to hit his partner’s head. “Idiot! Are you trying to expose us?!”

The earth pony rolled his eyes. “Honestly it doesn’t even matter, they won't be able to spread that info anyways, after all we’re the only ones who are going to walk away from here.”

'Doctor?' Dark thought with a confused expression under his cover before he shrugged. "Whatever. I'll just beat the info out of you then."

“You won’t get the chance.” The pegasus said snidely. Darting towards Dark, the pegasus spread out his wings and swung one of them at Dark.

Feeling his spider-sense warn him, Dark quickly jumped back barely avoiding the wing’s feathers. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw the feathers slash through his shirt, leaving a large cut across it.

Spreading out his wings again, the pegasus flapped his wings, shooting out a volley of sharp, metal feathers to impale him.

Dark quickly darted to his side, dodging the incoming feathers. Before he got the chance to counter attack, the earth pony leapt towards him, managing to land a single hit before being tossed aside. Dark gritted his teeth, wincing at the surprisingly strong blow from the earth pony. Regaining his senses, he dodged another barrage of metal feathers before using his webs to restrain the pegasus.

Just as the earth pony was getting up again, he was suddenly tackled to the ground by a rainbow blur. The stallion growled, glaring at Rainbow as she started freezing his body. Rainbow then stood over the fallen foe confidently, “Now why don’t you just do yourself a favor and stay down!”

The stallion smirked, confusing the cyan pegasus. Seeing a bright light start to come off from under her, she looked down and noticed the palm of his hands start glowing. As if sensing the incoming danger, Rainbow quickly jumped back, barely avoiding the two lasers from killing her. The ice around his body began to break apart as he stood up, the stallion shrugged off all the ice that stayed on his body, his hands humming dangerously. “Now… why don’t I give you a counter offer? Do yourself a favor and surrender any, and all of the emeralds you have, and I promise you a quick and painless death.” He said the palms of his hands glowing brightly, the fur around his palms being burned away, revealing the hand to be metal underneath.

Rainbow got over her shock and glared him. "I don't think so," she stated before forming an ice sword.

The stallion smiled, his mouth seeming to be wider than most ponies. Raising his two arms, his eyes literally began to shine. “Deactivating stealth protocols. Fighting at full capacity!” He said in a monotone, yet jovial voice, his speech carrying an echo. His hands hummed dangerously, lightning up with energy.

Rainbow’s eyes narrowed in confusion, suddenly not too sure if what she’s fighting is actually a pony. Eyes widening, she quickly dodged the incoming lasers. Bolting towards the stallion, she expertly maneuvered herself around the beams of light, successfully dodging every blast as she got closer. Remembering how the hands were made of metal, she raised her sword and slashed at the stallion’s hands, successfully managing to slice the metal hands in half. Dispelling the ice sword, she raised her arms up and froze the fake guardsman’s entire body, making sure to leave the whole thing encased in ice.

Breaking free from the webbing, the pegasus quickly jumped back, trying to create some distance between himself and the hero. “That idiot! The hell does he think he’s doing exposing us?!” He quickly dodged an incoming punch before going airborne. “This is a catastrophe! No use in trying to salvage the mission…” He grimaced, darting towards the train station to escape.

“Oh no you don’t!” Cece yelled, flinging her hammer towards the retreating pony. The hammer spun towards its target, successfully managing to hit the pony’s back, causing him to crash onto the ground. The pegasus skid across the ground for a few inches before finally stopping.

Just as the pegasus was about to get up, he felt something press onto his back, turning back slightly he saw the pink hedgehog pressing her hammer against his back. “I wouldn’t move if I were you, why don’t you give up?”

The pegasus scanned the area around him, trying to find a way to escape. Checking to see if everything was okay, he tried to move his right arm, only to notice it no longer responding. He grimaced, finding himself truly trapped. He gritted his teeth, trying to come up with a plan. “Fine… I surrender.” He said, his voice sounding off, and carrying an echoing sound.

"Who are you?" Cece asked as Dark and Rainbow stepped closer but still kept their distance.

The downed pegasus stayed silent for a few seconds before finally responding. “I think the better question is what am I?” He said, the front of his body being obscured by how he was positioned. “Who I am is of no importance.”

"Another cyborg?" Dark asked, looking at the frozen earth pony and remembering the Hydra goon with the robotic arm.

The pegasus let out a small chuckle. “You’re close, but no, I’m not a cyborg. Just another loyal creation of the doctor’s.” He answered, his metallic wings twitching.

"Creation?" Cece asked.

Rainbow's eyes widened as she looked at the frozen "guard" before looking at the downed one. "Wait, are you a robot?"

The pegasus stood still for a second before laughing, his laughter sounding cold and carried an echo. Twisting his body, he stared at the trio with a happy expression on his face. “Now what gave you that idea?” He said. The trio took a step back in shock when they saw what was hidden underneath the pony’s fur. On the right side of his face was nothing but metal, the fur surrounding that part of his face seeming to have come off during Cece’s attack.

Dark shook his head as he got over his shock. "You two were after the Chaos Emerald. I take it this "doctor" knows about them?"

The robot nodded. “That is correct, the Doctor knows all about the Chaos Emeralds. We were sent here to collect the emerald that is located here in Rockville. We got lucky that we ran into you though…” He looked down at himself before looking back at them. “Or rather we thought we got lucky… seems the two of us weren’t enough to take on the three of you… I blame him.” He said, turning his head towards his partner. “He should’ve let me do all the talking instead of being so hostile.”

"Actually your first mistake was dismissing me," Cece said. "But yeah, your friend is definitely dumber. Now who is this doctor you keep talking about?"

The pegasus grimaced at the question, after debating if he should answer or not, he shook his head and gave her his full attention. “If I agree to tell you everything I know I want something in return.” He began, not giving them any time to think about it, he then listed his demands. “I want to be repaired, and I want protection from the Doctor and my former comrades. I can’t exactly return to him like this. He’ll have me dismantled and used for scraps once he hears about how badly I failed.”

Dark shrugged. "Fine."

The robotic pegasus smiled, his shoulders drooping in relief. “The Docto-” The machine was caught off when a volley of energy bolts tore through him. The body of the robot was full of holes, with only half of his head remaining, he looked down at his body and fell backwards, his single eye darting around in fear and desperation before another energy bolt blew up the remaining half of his head.

“What a shame.” A monotone voice echoed from above, catching the shocked trio’s attention. Above the trio was a large grey hovercraft, with the lower half being completely black. Sitting inside of the floating machine was an egg shaped humanoid robot, the robot’s middle torso was red with a pair of yellow downward-pointing triangles. Its head was a grey dome, with a pair of orange colored eyes staring down at them. Behind the robot was what appeared to be a pair of rockets attached to its back. “The androids held so much promise… Oh well. They were only prototypes. I must make sure to report this to the Doctor.” The Super Badnik looked briefly at the frozen robot before turning its attention back towards the heroes. Getting up from his seat, the robot gave them a bow. “Greetings Spider, Ms. Rose, and Ms. Dash. I am the EggRobo.”

Author's Note

And that's done. Yeah, another multi-parter. This one only 2 parts. So the group now knows about the Chaos Emeralds and found another one. And they have now met EggRobo. Once again, this was supposed to be one chapter, but we felt like this was a good way to end it. Hope you guys enjoy it.
-Dark

52. Stone Garden Zone Act 2: Egg Breaker

Dark blinked as he saw the bot and the machine it was on. Cece then said, "Is it me or does that thing look like the bad guy from Sonic? What was his name…?"

"Eggman," Dark answered as he stared at the robot. "Looks like we know who made those bots now…"

“The Doctor prefers to go by the name, Robotnik.” The EggRobo said, piloting the machine to float downwards. Behind the robot, a group of black and blue robotic bees flew up to it, many of them aiming their stingers at the trio.

"Great, another group of killer bees," Cece muttered with an annoyed tone as she readied her hammer. "As if the pokemon weren't bad enough."

“Please,” It started, raising its gloved hands in a calming gesture. “There is no reason for us to fight. We were only sent here to collect the Chaos Emeralds. It would be within your best interest to surrender them to us.” It said, lowering down its right hand to receive the emerald. “Give us the Emeralds, and we’ll leave. There doesn’t have to be any strife between us. Once we get what we came here for, we’ll leave peacefully.”

"Give Eggman the Emeralds?" Dark asked. "I'm pretty sure a main point in the franchise is to make sure to keep those things away from old Baldy McNosehair, so we'll pass." He then summoned Lycan Web and gripped it as he took off his hood to no longer obscure his vision.

“Aren’t you a hero?” The robot asked, pulling its hand away from them. “Is it not your job to deescalate the situation, to stop violence not cause it? Especially when there’s a good chance civilians could get caught in the battlefield?” It questioned, its eyes briefly turning to the farm house before looking back at Dark.

"It's also my job to make sure bad guys don't get their hands on dangerous items if I can help it," Dark growled out as his eyes started turning red, though the bot seemed completely unfazed by it.

“The Doctor isn’t bad.” It responded, shaking its head. “His goals align with yours! You both seek to make Equestria a much better place. He seeks to make Equestria a utopia!” It said, spreading its arms out wide. “No crime, no villains, only peace and prosperity! There won’t be any need for heroes, because Equestria will become a paradise when the Doctor’s mission is complete. You should be helping us!” It stared at Dark, noticing how its words were having no effect. “But alas… you are far too narrow minded to see the glory Dr. Robotnik will bring. What a shame.”

Rainbow looked at the siblings. "You getting tired of this guy too?"

The Displaced nodded and spoke in unison. "Yup."

"Okay then," she said before she sent a few ice shards at the main bot and some bees.

The robot calmly started fiddling with the console on the hovercraft, after pressing a few buttons, a large shield made of fire suddenly appeared, protecting the Badnik. The bees were quick to hide behind the fire shield, all of them avoiding the ice attack. As soon as all the ice melted, the bees quickly swarmed the heroes, the Buzz Bombers all stayed high up in the air, trying to keep their distance as they all fired bolts of energy from their stingers.

Seeing that the heroes were now all distracted, EggRobo began pressing a few more commands on its console. Behind the Egg Mobile, two large portals appeared, and suddenly a large horde of insect-like robots began pouring out of the portals. Seeing their targets, the machine army wasted no time in swarming them and attacking as one.

Dark hissed, feeling one of the large ladybug robots cut his leg with its scythes. He swung down Lycan Web on the retreating Motobug, only for it to out speed him and get away. Before he could chase the bot, a large purple caterpillar burst from the ground, the Caterkiller hissed at him before biting down on his Keyblade. Dark tugged on his Keyblade, trying to pull his weapon out of the robot’s mouth. Upon finally pulling the weapon out of the bot’s mouth, he quickly sliced the bot’s head in half, causing it to fall backwards.

The fallen insect’s body began thrashing about, causing Dark to point his blade at it, preparing to strike. However before he could attack, the middle segment of the Caterkiller suddenly opened up, revealing a glowing green orb. The orb shined brightly for a moment before disappearing, leaving a dazed squirrel behind. The animal looked at its surroundings in confusion before darting in a random direction, squealing as it ran.

Before Dark could think or respond on what he just saw, he was forced back into the fight by his spider-sense screaming at him to dodge. Looking back at what triggered his spider-sense, his eyes widened when he saw a checkerboard pattern wrecking ball swing past him, barely managing to dodge it at the last second. Looking towards the source of the attack, he spotted the egg shaped robot piloting the hovercraft, a chain connecting the wrecking ball to the vehicle.

Dark was suddenly forced to crouch down as he felt a weight being pressed down onto him. Cece then jumped off of Dark, her hammer raised high to strike the Badnik Commander. With a yell, she swung her hammer down at the Egg Mobile, causing the robot commander to fly off of it. The egg shaped robot crashed onto the ground, his blaster landing right next to him. The hovercraft fell out of the sky, crashing onto the ground and crushing a few badniks that were under it.

Wanting to finish the fight quickly, Rainbow darted towards the fallen robot, a sword made of ice forming on her hand. Just as she was about to cut down the machine, the robot quickly rolled to its side, dodging the strike. Before Rainbow could attack again, the robot’s rockets burst to life, flames shooting out from under the rockets as the EggRobo quickly few away from the pegasus. Satisfied with the distance it created, the top of its head suddenly opened up, a volley of missiles shooting out of the opening.

Rainbow gulped, taking off to the skies to try to lose the missiles, only for the missiles to curve upwards, following closely behind her. Turning around, she shot out a few icicles at the missiles, successfully managing to take down a few of them. She grit her teeth a sharp pain in her back as one of the buzz bomber’s projectiles hit her. She turned and spotted a trio of Buzz Bombers shooting at her. Flying straight down, she tried to lose both the airborne enemies and remaining missiles. She pumped her fist in the air when she heard the missiles hit the Buzz Bombers.

From the explosion, a trio of green orbs fell from the sky, crashing onto the floor. The orbs flashed brightly for a second before disappearing, leaving a trio of confused animals behind. The animals were quick to scurry away from the danger.

The EggRobo let out a series of beeps, doing its best to dodge the swings of Cece’s hammer. The hedgehog continued to swing her hammer into her foe, not giving the robot any time to rest or counterattack. Already the strategy began to pay off as she managed to land a few blows, creating sizeable dents on the robot’s armor.

Suddenly the robot commander’s chest split open, causing Cece to pause. From the EggRobo’s chest, a large, bronze colored cherry bomb rolled out from it and fell in front of the duo. The bronze colored bomb had two holes meant to resemble eyes, and possessed a white mustache under the bomb’s eyes.

Cece’s eyes widened, and she quickly raised up her hands to cover her face before the bomb exploded. The force of the explosion was enough to send her flying back towards the farm house, knocking her unconscious. From the large dust cloud the EggRobo flew out of the cloud and back into his hovercraft. Pressing a single button, the Egg Mobile hummed to life and started floating mid-air once again.

Dark gritted his teeth when he saw his sister get knocked out, wanting to go out to help her but being unable to. He allowed himself a sigh of relief when he saw the others pulling Cece inside the house. Upon knowing his sister was safe, he began giving his robot foe his full attention once more. Now sneaking glances at the Badniks' commander while trying to come up with a plan to defeat him.

Before Dark could destroy the giant mantis robot, the machine was suddenly hit by both a volley of small fireballs and a single large ball of water. Both attacks managed to cause the Slicer’s upper body to explode. A single green orb fell out of the upper body, leaving behind another animal. Dark turned back and saw both Emily and Mike running towards him, looking behind the two he spotted Screwball with Mike’s pokeball in her hand.

Dark gave a small nod towards the pink filly, he then turned towards EggRobo, and began shouting commands to his Frogadier. “Mike, Smokescreen!” The ninja like frog nodded and jumped above the robot commander. He then spat out a large cloud of smoke, completely blinding EggRobo. The smokescreen continued pouring out of the pokemon’s mouth, covering not only the leader, but blinding the badniks as well. Wanting to take advantage of the enemies’ sudden blindness, the pokemon covered himself in a white aura before darting towards the smoke cloud and headed towards the hovercraft.

From the smokescreen, the Egg Mobile was thrown out, spinning around as it crashed onto the ground. The EggRobo hurriedly tried to restart the vehicle before any of the heroes could get to him. Upon seeing his enemies run towards him, he began calling at the remaining Badniks, commanding them to protect him from them.

Seeing the remaining robots line up to shield the robot commander, the heroes stopped, then Rainbow, Mike and Emily stepped forward, gathering up their energy. The three then released their energy towards the robots, hitting them all with fireballs, icicles, and large blast of water. The Badniks all crumbled under the attack, their armor not being strong enough to withstand the attacks. Many of the robots’ bodies exploded from the combined assault, creating a large dust cloud. From the dust cloud, many animals scurried away from the danger, all of them darting to random directions.

Once the dust settled, Dark quickly darted towards the downed Egg Mobile. Upon spotting the panicking EggRobo, Dark restrained him with his webs on to the hovercraft. Seeing that the robot was now trapped, Dark let out a small sigh of relief.

“Got anymore tricks?” He asked, keeping his distance from the Badnik.

The robot’s eyes gleamed as it stared at Dark, “Just a few more.” Suddenly the ground in front of the heroes exploded as a small group of large, red mole-like robots crawled out from underground. The group of Grounders pointed their drills at the heroes, their drill arms whirling menacingly. Taking advantage of the group’s surprise, one of the Grounders immediately darted towards the EggRobo and used its drill arm to cut the webbing that was trapping him.

Quickly turning on the Egg Mobile, the robot commander began to float away from the group. Turning back down at them, his eyes shined brightly once more. “I’ve tried being nice, I tried to give you an easy way out. But since you insist on being difficult, I’m afraid more drastic measures must be taken.” A large portal opened up behind the EggRobo. Turning his vehicle around, the robot flew into the portal.

It only took a few seconds before something else jumped out of the same portal, landing behind the red Grounders. The object that landed was a giant machine that was a head taller than the Pie family’s house, the EggRobo having sat at the top of the machine’s head. The machine was humanoid in shape, with a black underside and a red and blue color scheme at the top. The legs of the robot was blue, with the feet being a bright red. On the robot’s left hand was a giant blue ball with yellow spikes. The green eyes of the robot lit up as it glared down at the heroes, its spike-like nose briefly whirled as if it was a drill. The mouth of the machine opened up and chomped down, showing off its sharp teeth.

Dark sighed. "You gotta be kidding me…"

“Now, let me show you just what fate awaits those who defy the Doctor!” The Egg Breaker briefly flexed its arms before the giant mech leaped forward and brought down its mace arm to crush the assembled group. The group all quickly scattered, avoiding the giant mace. The impact shook the ground though, and caused them to stumble. Seizing the advantage, the EggRobo spun the Egg Breaker’s upper body. That caused everyone around him to get hit by the mace, even destroying a few of the Grounders close to him.

Rainbow let out a cry of pain when the mace hit her in the back, causing her to be flung towards the rock farm’s front gate. She crashed into the wooden fence, breaking it. She groaned as she struggled to get up, hissing in pain when she tried to flap her splintered wings. Turning back towards the fight, she quickly dropped towards the ground again and narrowly avoiding the spiked ball that was shot towards her. The ball soon returned, being drawn back in by a chain that connected the ball to the mech. Her eyes widen as an idea popped into her head, she quickly got up and looked around the field and spotted Dark. “Tito! We gotta break the chain!”

“As if I’d give you the chance!” The EggRobo called out, making the mech jump towards the cyan pegasus.

Before Rainbow could get out of the way, she was quickly pushed away by Mike. The Frogadier held onto to her as he used his speed to pull them both away from the mech’s range. As soon as they were out of the danger, she turned back towards the pokemon and smiled. “Thanks Mike.” The frog nodded, letting out a single croak.

Dark let out a sigh of relief at Mike’s action. Turning back towards the EggRobo, he scowled at the bot as he gripped the keyblade tighter. Darting towards the mech, he dodged the robot’s swipes and jumped high into the air. Making direct eye contact with the badnik leader, he swung the Lycan-Web down at the EggRobo with the intention of cutting the robot down.

The egg-shaped humanoid quickly threw his left arm up in the air, trying to block the blow. The EggRobo let out a high pitched beep as his left arm was cut off by the keyblade. His eyes shined brightly as the robot began to feel something within him bubble. With his remaining arm, EggRobo quickly took out his blaster from his waist and began firing at Dark.

The Spider let out a cry in pain, as a few of the blaster’s energy bolts tore through his clothing and left scorch marks on his skin.

Taking advantage of the situation, the EggRobo quickly began piloting the mech once again and had the Egg Breaker leap towards Dark. When it got in front of him, the mech pulled its mace arm back and backhanded Dark towards the large boulder that was next to the Pie family’s home. Not giving Dark any chance to recover, the top part of the EggRobo’s head split open as he fired a volley of missiles at the boulder, breaking it apart with most of it flying at Dark and burying him.

“Tito!” Rainbow yelled, fearing the worst, the two pokemon besides her also calling out with the same emotion.

“Do not worry.” The monotone voice of the EggRobo called out to them. “You’ll all be joining him very soon.” The Egg Breaker leapt towards the trio, its spiked ball raised high in the air. The three of them scattered, dodging the attack and getting out of the range of the shockwave in time. Turning towards the two Pokemon at his left, the EggRobo’s head split open once more as a volley of missiles shot towards them.

The Frogadier quickly grabbed his partner and ran from the missiles using Quick Attack. The Fennekin in Mike’s arms began shifting around, and as soon as she got in a proper position, she began firing embers at the missiles and trying to destroy them all. Suddenly the ground beneath Mike collapsed, looking down, the frog pokemon spotted one of the red mole robots under him. The Grounder unit grabbed the Pokemon’s leg, refusing to let go of him. Both Mike and Emily let out a shriek as the missiles caught up to them, the deadly explosives went off catching the three of them in the blast. A large cloud of smoke obscured everyone’s vision of the pokemon. When the smoke cloud disappeared, both of the Pokemon were found on the ground, battered and unconscious.

Rainbow paled when she saw the damage the pokemon took. Taking a step forward towards them, she was stopped by the Egg Breaker planting its foot right in front of her. EggRobo’s eyes gleamed maliciously as it stared at the now scared pegasus. “Do you see now, the consequences of your actions? Had you simply surrendered the emeralds, none of you would’ve been hurt, and we would’ve left peacefully.” The mech took a step forward and slowly brought its spiked hand down, stopping when it was right in front of her. “Now because of your foolishness, all of your friends are now suffering. And the family of this farm are now terrified, because you didn’t think!” The EggRobo said harshly. “Perhaps now I’ll take those two animals of yours with me. They’ll make fine batteries for our Super Badniks.”

Next to the house, the pile of rubble that buried Dark began to shift. A single black arm shot out of the pile of rocks, a moment later the bonded form of Dark and Venom crawled out of the debris in Venom's monstrous form. They glared at the EggRobo with red eyes as they growled. Seeing that the robot was distracted, they grabbed a large rock and flung it towards the mech’s pilot.

The EggRobo let out a series of panicked beeps as the Egg Breaker stumbled around, the left eye of the mech getting smashed by a large rock. Turning towards the source of the rock, the robot ‘glared’ at the bonded pair. “So this is where you disappeared to LS-1. What a shame. You had so much potential. Unfortunately for you, the empire does not tolerate traitors!” The mech turned away from Rainbow, EggRobo giving the bonded symbiote his full attention. The mech flexed its arms for a brief second before running towards them, its spiked arm pulled back as it prepared to punch them.

The bonded pair quickly grabbed another large stone and leapt out of the debris. Seeing that they were now above the mech, they extended their arm downwards, successfully managing to stab the mech’s chest and lodging the stone deep into the machine. The Egg Breaker let out a mechanical groan, its upper chest shaking slightly. Taking advantage of the situation, the pair began claw at the machine’s chest, creating large gashes and claw marks.

The EggRobo growled, feeling something inside him bubble. Meddling with the console, he tried to regain control of the battle again. He had the Egg Breaker swing its mace around in a vain attempt to hit the symbiote. The mech suddenly stumbled forward. When the bot turned around to see the reason why, it spotted the rainbow haired pegasus launching icicles at him. The robot’s eyes shined brightly as it turned the mech around. “STAY OUT OF THIS!” The left arm let out a hiss as the spiked ball shot out towards her. Rainbow only had enough time to bring her arms up to shield herself. The spiked ball then crashed into her, tossing the pegasus away.

Rainbow fell hard onto the floor, her body shuddering as she struggled to breathe. Her eyes were dazed and unfocused as she just stared blankly at the sky. Taking a sharp breath, she struggled to stay awake before finally falling unconscious.

"Rainbow!" The pair shouted together as she was knocked out. They then glared at EggRobo. "We'll make you pay for that!"

“Make me pay?” The EggRobo repeated, letting out a chuckle. “Look around you!” It said, spreading out its remaining arm in a gesture for him to look around. The duo spotted Mike and Emily’s still forms. “All of your allies have tried to make me pay and they all have fallen. Quit embarrassing yourselves! Even with LS-1 at your side, you cannot hope to stand up against the genius that is Dr. Robotnik.” The mech raised its arms and flexed once more, before slamming its mace down at the ground in front of them. “The animals will serve the empire as batteries for future badniks. You, that pegasus, the hedgehog, and everyone else in this rock farm will not live to see the end of the day.”

The bonded pair stared wide eyed at their fallen friends, as a feeling of dread began to fill their body. They opened their mouth to speak but couldn’t utter a single word, as they felt their throat tightened. Taking a step backwards, the bonded symbiote brought a claw up to their head as they grumbled, their other claw clenched into a fist as it trembled.

“What is the matter?” The EggRobo jeered, seeing their reaction to be one of fear. “Do you now see your folly in challenging the Doctor? It is far too late for you to change your minds now. But perhaps if you surrender the emeralds now I might be able to find it within me to give you a small mercy.” The mech stomped forward, causing the duo to stumble a bit. “I’ll give your allies a quick and painless death! You on the other hand, must be made to suffer for all the trouble you’ve caused!”

The pair then dropped to one knee as they placed both hands on their head in pain. As they did so, Dark started panting as they started to shrink down, reverting to Dark's normal size.

“So you surrender?” The robot’s orange eyes gleamed, using its single hand it began inputting the commands to the mech. “What a shame. I didn’t expect you to give up so easily… But perhaps you’ve finally come to your senses, and realized how futile your actions really are.” The Egg Breaker rose its spiked hand above its own head. “Either way, I suppose this is goodbye hero. Don’t worry, your friends will join you very soon.”

At that point, something inside both Dark and Venom snapped. They started panting as pieces of Venom started to rise in small tendrils from Dark's body as they started to straighten up a bit into a crouch and glared at EggRobo with narrowed, blood red eyes, with their "mask" torn, resembling a mouth more like Carnage than Venom's usual look. The next moment, they let out a loud, animalistic screech as if to challenge the Badnik.

The EggRobo leaned back in surprise, its eyes dimmed at it stared at the new form the duo took. “And here I thought you came to your senses. No matter, you only delay the inevitable.” its eyes shining once more, the Egg Breaker swung its spiked ball down to crush the duo.

The pair dodged the attack, jumping out of the way as the ball struck the ground. Growling, the duo leapt towards the mech. Letting out a high pitched screech, the bonded pair raised a single claw at the air and slashed the Egg Breaker’s chest, leaving behind three large gashes on the robot’s armor.

The mech stumbled backwards, almost falling until the EggRobo regained control of the battle armor. The EggRobo let out a small metallic growl, leaning forwards to look down at the damage, the badnik slammed its fist onto the head of the mech. “I don’t believe this! The Egg Breaker should’ve been able to absorb any of that “hero’s” attacks! The power boost LS-1 gives must’ve been greater than initially thought.” Hearing another shriek, the EggRobo let out a distressed beep as the duo swung its claws down to destroy the badnik. Managing to avoid the initial attack, it brought up its blaster to fire, only for their tendrils to shoot out and impaled the blaster, destroying it.

The pair screeched animalistically, swinging a claw down at the EggRobo. They let out a pained screech as their body began to be filled with electricity, the electricity flowing freely out of the EggRobo’s Thunder Shield.

Taking advantage of its stunned opponent, the EggRobo quickly switched off the Thunder Shield that protected it and turned on the rockets on its back. With a burst of speed, the robot tackled the bonded symbiote onto the ground. The Badnik wasted no time, flying back onto the mech to pilot it once more.

The Egg Breaker leapt backwards, creating a large distance between the two fighters. Raising its spiked ball, it fired the ball towards the duo.

They growled, dodging the attack. Letting out another shriek, the bonded pair leapt towards the chain and began pulling it towards themselves. Seeing what they were planning to do, the Egg Breaker began pulling back, trying to pull them towards it. With a yell, the pair snapped the chain connecting the ball to the mech, causing the mech to stumble backwards. The duo continued to pull the chain, stopping only when the spiked ball was in front of them. Grabbing the giant ball with both of their claws, the pair let out a screech and chucked the spiked mace towards the stumbling mech.

The EggRobo’s eyes dimmed at it stared at the mace flying at it. Quickly looking down, the badnik disconnected the Egg Mobile from the Egg Breaker and quickly flew away from the mech. A second later, the spiked mace crashed onto the Egg Breaker’s upper body, completely crushing its head and most of the upper body. Taking a step backwards, the mech fell onto the ground, causing the ground to shake momentarily. Sparks of electricity flowed through the mech, as parts of its body began blowing up. In a flash of light, the mech exploded, sending parts of it flying all over the rock farm.

The EggRobo’s eyes were almost black as it stared at the destruction of its mech. The bubbling feeling within itself began surfacing again, as it could feel its body tremble as it was filled with the urge to continue fighting the hero. Bringing its remaining hand up, it clenched its fist as the badnik was finally able to register just what the feeling was. “Rage…” It said to himself. A loud, high pitched screech brought it back from its thoughts. Turning towards the duo, it saw the pair darting towards it on all fours, the tendrils on their back whipping all over the place. “This mission is a failure. Continuing to fight will only result in self-termination.” With that said, it turned the Egg Mobile around and began flying away. The Badnik’s head split open once more, firing a volley of missiles towards the pair, the bonded duo let out a screech as the missiles blew up in front of them, the heat of the explosion causing the pair to jump away to protect themselves.

Suddenly a large portal appeared in front of the hovercraft, allowing for the badnik to fly inside. The portal then quickly snapped shut, preventing the rampaging duo to follow it any further.

The pair let out another enraged scream as they looked around for EggRobo. After a few moments of finding nothing, they started panting as their arms started to go limp. A minute later, they fell over as Venom retreated inside Dark, both the host and symbiote falling unconscious.

Author's Note

And this is done. Like the Dive, this was all originally supposed to be one chapter. But we figured we should split it for length, and because these parts felt like good parts to end it.

Hello our wonderful readers! Its me again, Star709, the great Co-writer of SiE with a new chapter! As always please tell us your thoughts on it, if you liked it or not, and why, any and all forms of criticism helps. And so, the Eggman Empire is finally revealed, and just a small glimpse of its power is shown. Stay tuned for next time and see you all at the 3rd act of the Stone Garden Zone.

So yeah. Tito and his little group has had their first fight against Eggman's forces. And got their asses kicked all things considered. If it wasn't for one thing, they would've lost. I'd like to thank my friends for proofreading the chapter and I definitely wanna thank Star for how much she did for this chapter. Which was most of it admittedly. Hope you guys liked it. We're sorry if you don't. Until next time.

-Dark

Star

53. Stone Garden Zone Act 3: Stage Clear

“-no need to be so mad, they stopped the bad guys!”

“No need?! Holder’s Boulder is gone! And Marble is shaking like a leaf in the corner of the room!”

Dark frowned, the sound of multiple people yelling slowly waking him up.

“Well at least the robots are all gone, right?” Dark was able to recognize the voice as Pinkie’s.

“So what?! They still wrecked the farm! And now we have a huge mess at the front yard!” The voice of Pinkie’s elder sister echoed through the room, causing Dark’s still form to twitch. “Just what are we supposed to do with that frozen pony, or what about all of the metal just lying around?! And what about that destroyed giant metal golem sitting in front of the house?!”

"Oh calm down," Dark heard Cece replying. "Be happy your house is still standing and that you're still alive!"

“Calm down?!” Limestone shouted. “Easy for you to say! I don’t know how often you guys get attacked, but most of us had never been this close to a fight! And just what’s going to happen if they come back?! They had you all beaten before that guy went berserk! If you guys had just given them what they wanted in the first place, we wouldn’t be in this mess!”

"And how do you know that they would've let us go? I'm pretty sure they would've still attacked if we gave them the Emerald."

"Besides, once the Emeralds are away from here, I'm pretty sure they won't bother you guys," Screwball commented. "I mean, what reason will they have to bother a bunch of boring earth pones who had nothing to do with the fight or the ones who were in the fight."

“Just what’s so special about these gems anyways?!” Limestone demanded. “What’s so great about them that you guys had to fight an army of metal bugs and golems just so you could keep it away from them?”

"We told you. The Chaos Emeralds hold immense power inside. To the point that people say that all 7 can cause great miracles. And if someone like Eggman gets his hands on them, the whole country, if not the world, will become a metal dystopia with him in charge."

“If that's true, then why is it now that trouble started showing up? We’ve had that emerald for years, since Marble and Pinkie were fillies, and not a single thing happened. Nopony even came to the farm to ask about it until you guys showed up!” Limestone yelled angrily. “Pinkie may trust you guys, but I don’t! It seems awfully convenient to me that those guys all showed up at the same time you guys did! Heck, that light show you guys made with the emeralds is probably what caused them to all show up!”

"Well I can't deny that. Especially if they're aware of what the beacon means…"

Dark shook his head as he tuned out the conversation. With more effort than he expected, he sat up. To his confusion, he noticed that something was on his chest and lap, with the former feeling rather wet. Opening his eyes, he saw Bri clinging to his chest with tears on her face and Peter on his lap.

The pair looked up at Dark and Bri let out a whine before crying into his chest while Peter in turn had a concerned look on his face. Dark lifted his hands and placed both of them on Bri and Peter's heads.

"Don't worry guys…" Dark told them. He then slowly picked took them off him before weakly standing up. Hearing the arguing getting a bit louder, he sighed and began walking towards the other room where everyone else was at. He grimaced when he felt a sharp pain in his back, he did his best to ignore the soreness of his body. Finally stepping into the other room, he looked around and spotted Marble huddled in the corner of the room, her mother doing her best to comfort her, and at the center of the room was Limestone scowling at the others as they tried their best to calm her down.

Before Dark could say anything, his head immediately hurt and he placed a hand on it while he leaned towards a wall, which led to him getting everyone's attention.

"Tito!" Rainbow shouted before Cloud Dashing to his side and putting one of his arms over her shoulder to help him stand.

"You okay?" Screwball asked as she, Pinkie, Mike, Emily, and Cece walked towards them.

"I'm fine…" he muttered. After removing his hand from his head, he asked, "What happened?"

Cece shrugged. "Not entirely sure. When I came to, you were unconscious and the mech was torn up. But according to the gray bitch here-"

“Well excuse me for being worried about my family’s safety you short bitch!” Limestone scowled, being held back by her pink energetic sister.

Pinkie Pie laughed nervously, “Hey now, no need for name calling! I think if we all just take a deep breath and relax, we’ll be able to come up with a solution that will make everypony happy!” She said giving everyone a shaky grin.

Before Limestone could reply, an amber furred hand landed on her shoulder. Igneous Rock shook his head before turning to the others. “Pinkamena is right, alloweth's all taketh a breaketh so we may all collecteth our thoughts.” Limestone gritted her teeth in frustration before nodding, turning away and following her father out of the room.

Pinkie looked back and forth between her friends and family, biting her lip, she slowly made her way to her family. “I’m going to check on Marble, I’ll be back soon.” She said, following the others out of the room.

Dark shook his head before looking back at his sister. "You were saying?"

Cece sighed and turned back to face him. "According to her, you went nuts and ripped the thing apart."

Dark blinked. "I what?"

"You don't remember?" Rainbow asked.

Dark shook his head in response. "After you all fell, I just remember getting pissed. After that, it's all a blank."

"It was pretty scary…" Screwball said. "You were basically acting like an animal, screaming and growling and running on all fours."

Dark rose an eyebrow. "I did all that?"

Screwball nodded. "It was nuts. But whatever it was, it's what beat the mech."

Dark blinked again. "What the hell happened…"

"That's what we wanna know," Cece commented with her arms crossed.

"I'm sorry but I truly can't remember."

"What about the other one?" Rainbow asked. "Venom?"

Dark frowned. "I...I haven't heard from him since I woke up…"

"Is that bad?" Screwball asked.

Dark shrugged. "I don't know. I just grown used to hearing him." He removed his arm from Rainbow's shoulder and stood up a bit straighter. "But we have more important things to discuss."

"Like what?" Cece asked.

"Eggman."

Rainbow frowned. "You said that name when the bot showed up. You know him?"

Dark took a brief glance at Cece. "Yeah. He's the nemesis of Sonic The Hedgehog. And the main villain of the game Amy is from."

Rainbow tilted her head in confusion for a second before looking at Cece and remembering where she heard the name from. "Oh."

"You think it's another Displaced?" Cece asked.

Dark nodded. "The bot recognized you as Amy. There's no way a native would know about that."

"So what are we dealing with?” Rainbow asked him.

"Given the right resources, he can be incredibly dangerous," Screwball answered. "The dude is possibly the smartest guy in the games."

"Possibly?"

"He's said to have an IQ of 300 but he almost always loses to Sonic and he's not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed. Only true win I know about was that racing game and he didn't even know the extent of his prize."

"Plus he has a seriously bad habit at trying to control forces well beyond his understanding," Dark added.

"What was with the animals that came out the machines?" Rainbow asked.

Dark hesitated for a moment before saying, "If I remember correctly, Eggman uses animals as living batteries for his robots. Destroying the bot frees them."

Rainbow's eyes widened when she heard that. "Ooookay… let's not tell Fluttershy that. At all. Don't wanna imagine how she'd react…"

Screwball nodded. "But this… This was unexpected. Heck, if it wasn't for whatever happened with Tito, you'd all be dead for sure…"

"Why's that unexpected?" Cece asked.

"Normally a robot takes a couple of hits in the games and shows I've seen," Dark responded. "But these things were tougher. And despite how many of us where fighting, we still almost lost. There's a chance that it's just that that bot was super competent, but I don't wanna take any chances."

Cece pinched the bridge of her nose (or where it would normally be). "You gotta be kidding me. Now we have to add a robot army to the stuff we need to worry about?!"

Dark sighed. "Three different problems, each with their own strengths. And no idea when any of them can strike."

Screwball looked at the trio. "So what do we do?"

"We train," Rainbow answered. "If we wanna deal with all this and win, we have to get better at fighting. All of us."

Dark sighed. "While you're right, it'll take more than a handful of people to take down all these threats. And several of our friends aren't exactly fighters."

Rainbow shrugged. "Then we find ponies who can help. We've done that before you guys came."

"Oh yeah sure, let's find ponies willing to help two aliens and a mutant fight robots, living shadows, and a cult," Cece replied, sarcasm thick in her voice. She then frowned. "Who in the world will be insane enough to do that?"

Screwball shrugged. "You never know Cece. Heroes can come from anywhere."

“Excuse us,” Igneous called out, grabbing their attention, behind him was the entire Pie family present. “We were talking and before any of us can concur to a decision we might not but knoweth. If 't be true we surrend'r the em'rald to thee, shall yond guaranteeth us we shall beest hath left alone?”

While Cece looked at him with a confused expression, Screwball nodded. "Yeah. Like I said before, there's no reason they'd come back for you guys. You didn't have any part of the fight. And without the Emerald, they have no reason to even pay attention to you, let alone attack you."

“I seeth,” He let out a sigh in relief. “Well yond is certainly valorous news.” Stepping to the side, he allowed the youngest Pie sister to step through. Marble glanced at them with a nervous gaze, in her hands was the bright grey chaos emerald. “Prithee taketh this, I only desire yond what thee toldeth me is true” Letting out a shaky sigh, Marble presented the group with the emerald, waiting for them to take it.

Dark walked to her and slowly grabbed the Emerald, trying his best not to scare her. After he was done, he took a step back and looked at it.

Limestone scoffed, crossing her arms. “All that damage and noise just for a single magic gem. It's going to take forever to clean up this mess. Where are we going to put all that scrap metal anyways?”

“Anon Limestone, we'll findeth somewh're to putteth t all. This isn't their fault.” Cloudy Quartz spoke up in a scolding tone.

"Don't worry about it," Screwball said before immediately snapping her fingers. "There, all fixed."

“All did fix? What doth thee cullionly?” Igneous said, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"Check outside."

Listening to the filly’s words, Igneous and Limestone went outside, both of them gaping in surprise at how all of the damage of the attack being gone. “But… how?” He questioned.

Pinkie squealed in happiness, hugging Limestone. “You see! Now the entire mess is gone now!”

Screwball did a small bow. "Name's Screwball, daughter of Discord and the princess of chaos. I'm not allowed to help in fights but clearing out debris and fixing a boulder? Too easy."

“A princess you say?” Igneous bowed his head. “Well thee has’t mine thanks.”

Screwball shrugged. "Don't mention it. Least I can do for your cooperation. Now that that's over with, we'll be on our way."

"And if you're lucky, you'll never have to see any of us again," Cece muttered. "Besides Pinkie."

Igneous raised his hand, as if remembering something. “Waiteth! Before thee wend. Thou might wanteth to taketh this.” He said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small golden ring. “We hath found it floating 'round the backeth just a few days after we hath found yond gemstone, though it wast much bigger before it shrunk.” He explained, frowning as he turned the ring around in his hand. “I has't a humour yond its did connect to the gem in some way, and if 't be true, I'd rather not has't it around lest those things cometh backeth to taketh it.”

Dark blinked in confusion before taking the ring and examining it, seeing nothing special about its appearance.

"Some generic ring? Really?" Rainbow asked.

"Wait...why does that look familiar…?" Cece said as she stared at the ring.

Dark blinked as he recognized it. "It can't be…"

“You know what it is?” Limestone asked, her eyes narrowing. “We were never able to figure out what it was, just knew it was magic in some way. When we first found it it was floating and spinning around slowly, and as soon as we got close it shrunk down to the size of a normal ring.” She scowled, crossing her arms. “If that thing is connected to that gemstone then just keep it. Rather not have those things come back for it.”

Dark looked at the ponies. "I can't say I know why that happened, but if I'm right, this thing does have a connection to the Emeralds, and by extension my sister and Eggman." He looked at the ring again. "Though no idea how much use it'd be. Not like any of us can absorb it…"

Rainbow rose an eyebrow at him. "What?"

"It's very likely this is the same as the rings from the franchise Amy Rose and Eggman are from," Screwball explained. "And in those games, rings were used as a way to protect the player from dying upon getting hit by an enemy." She then looked at the ring herself. "Rather strange that they might exist here."

Dark shrugged and tossed the ring as if flipping a coin before catching it. "Meh, doesn't matter. We got what we came for. Let's leave now before anyone else shows up for the Emeralds."

Screwball nodded before looking towards the Pies. "Well it was nice meeting you all. And see ya later Pinkie." With that said, she snapped her fingers and all the visitors sans Pinkie were suddenly back in the throne room of Twilight's castle, scaring Twilight who was sitting on her throne reading some notes.

Dark looked at the filly. "Why did you leave Pinkie?"

"We talked while you were out. She said she wanted to stay with her family for a bit after that...mess."

At that moment, Twilight spoke up. "What's going on?"

"We found another Chaos Emerald at Pinkie's family's rock farm, Tito, Cece, Dash, Mike, and Emily fought a bunch of robots, Tito went berserk and destroyed a mech, and we got the second Emerald and a ring," Screwball summarized. "Rather long day."

Twilight blinked in confusion before shaking her head and placing a hand on her temple. "Okay, I'm gonna need more details later. But what's this about robots?"

Dark sighed and sat on one of the thrones with Bri putting herself on his lap. "We ran into someone who knows about the Emeralds."

"Or more accurately, some of his flunkies," Cece commented.

Dark nodded. "A man known as Eggman. I don't know the full details right now, but someone very much like him knows the Emeralds exist and is after them. Even had a bunch of robots ready to take it."

"And I'm guessing it didn't go well?"

Screwball shook her head. "No. They all fought the bots, but if it wasn't for something happening with Tito, they would've lost. If anything, today's fight ended in a draw."

"What happened?"

Dark shrugged. "I honestly don't know. Heck, I don't even remember that part of the fight. All I do know is I went nuts and I took down a mech. After that, I knocked out."

Twilight blinked in surprise before shaking her head and sighing. "Okay, forget what I said. I need to know the details now. Tell me everything that happened from the moment I left."

Dark sighed as stared at the Emerald in his hand while sitting out at one of the balconies. He was about to put it away when he heard a voice.

"Man that sucked…"

Turning around, he saw Venom, with bags under bloodshot eyes for some reason. "Hey."

"Hey…"

"Why the look? I thought you can have your appearance be anything you want."

"This is how I feel. So what I miss?"

Dark put the Emerald in his bag as he explained everything that happened after he woke up. When he was done, he said, "Twilight said she'll send a letter to the Sisters before she and Spike go to sleep."

Venom nodded before looking up at the night sky. "Wild couple of days, huh?"

"At this point I think it's par for the course for Displaced."

"Most likely."

They sat in silence for a couple of minutes before Dark decided to ask, "So do you know what...that was all about?"

Venom shook his head. "Not really. All I know is we were both incredibly pissed at that oversized sheet of scrap and then something in you snapped. It definitely affected me though since I couldn't think of a single coherent thought besides ripping that thing apart."

Dark sighed. "That's helpful…" he muttered sarcastically.

"It's better than nothing. And at least it helped us. Whatever it was." After a few more minutes of silence, Venom sighed. "Okay, final question. What are you going to do with that ring?"

Dark blinked before reaching into his pocket and pulling out the ring that Igneous Pie gave him. "I honestly don't know. Not throwing it away through. It could be useful. Even if I don't know how yet."

"So you're keeping it?"

Dark shrugged in response. "I guess." He then looked down at the piece of jewelry. "Though I'm not a big fan of wearing rings. Especially with the fact I always wear glo-" he immediately stopped talking as the ring suddenly expanded in size, as if in response to his previous comment. Dark blinked in surprise before looking at Venom, who shared his expression before calming down.

"Okay then. Looks like you don't need to wear it like a ring."

Dark stared at the item for a few seconds before slowly putting his left hand through. When he reached his wrist, he stopped and a moment later the ring contracted around it until it reached his arm, to which it stopped.

Dark looked at his arm for a few more moments to see if anything else would happen. When nothing did, he looked at Venom. "Well...didn't expect that…"

Venom shrugged. "Well now you have a new bracelet." He then looked up at the sky again. "You should probably go to bed. It's been a very long day for both of us, you more so. Plus I doubt Bri will be very happy if she woke up and you aren't there after what happened today."

Dark nodded as he got up and left for his room.

Author's Note

And that's finally done. Took over 2 months but Star and I finally finished this chapter. Not much to say about it on my end besides Tito's group getting the Emerald and a peculiar ring. Whether or not anyone can figure out the true significance of the latter depends.

Hello our wonderful readers, it is me Star709 here with a brand new chapter! Sorry this one took so long, we got stuck multiple times throughout it and my laptop got filled with viruses last week. But anyways we hope you enjoyed this chapter, please share your thoughts and ask your questions, we would love to hear them. Next chapter shouldn't take long, it's almost done and it's another me chapter!

Well, that's all for now. Until next time. Which will hopefully be later today.

-Dark

Star

54. Stone Garden Zone Act 4: Ambition

Gero scowled, watching the footage of the fight between the Doctor’s mechanical soldiers and the Spider. He turned towards the Doctor and stared, trying to see his reaction to the fight. Not being able to see his reaction, he decided to speak up. “Seems like the Spider made short work of those Badniks of yours.”

The Doctor stood silent, staring intently at the screen in front of them. The expression of his face was completely serious, there wasn’t a single hint of emotion on him.

Frowning, Gero decided to try again. “That weapon of his is rather odd don’t you think? Never seen anything quite like it.” Glancing at the screen, he watched the hero cut down a “Slicer” Badnik with his oddly shaped sword. “Though the design is odd, it’s pretty effective, even against the Slicer’s blades.”

The Doctor continued to ignore him, simply grabbing the remote and fast forwarding the recording. He let the video continue playing normally once the Egg Breaker appeared on screen.

Giving up on trying to see the Doctor’s reaction, he decided to go back to watching the fight. As the fight played out, Gero couldn’t help but smile at the sight of the Spider’s friends falling one by one from the mech’s attacks. He couldn’t help but wonder if it was possible for the Doctor to make his upgrades similar to the Egg Breaker’s weapons and armor. Heck just having a mech to ride into battle would be enough for him.

Just as he was about to ask the Doctor about the upgrades, he was cut off by a high pitched shriek coming out of the recording. The cyborg couldn’t help but jump back when he heard it, being caught completely off guard by it. “Celestia! What in Tartarus’ name was that?!”

The Doctor leaned forward, pausing the video. As he took a closer look, the Doctor couldn’t help but smile widely at what he was seeing. “That, my friend, is a very good question.” Playing the video, the two watched as the bonded pair’s new form tore apart the Egg Breaker.

Gero gritted his teeth at what he was seeing. “Just when he’s on the verge of defeat he pulls out some new trick!” He clenched his mechanical hands. “It's infuriating!”

“Yes, but this is a good thing!” The Doctor exclaimed, confusing the coal furred cyborg. “Use your head Gero.” He said, tapping his head. “This is a good thing because now we have more data! We now know more about the Spider’s capabilities compared to before!” He turned back to the computer monitor, his grin slowly getting wider. “And it's not just data on the Spider we have, but on his friends and the rogue symbiote now as well. With this, we now have a better idea at what exactly we are up against!” He turned away from the monitor, taking a few steps closer to the large table in the middle of the room. Laying on top of the table was the EggRobo. The badnik ignored its master as it continued to watch the screen, its hand clenched as it seemingly ‘glared’ at the monitor.

The badnik commander was pulled out of its thoughts when the Doctor blocked its view of the screen. The Doctor smiled widely at his creation. Spreading his arms, he laughed. “Excellent work EggRobo. Without your sacrifice, I would’ve never been able to gather up so much data!”

The badnik leaned back, seemingly confused. “Doctor?” He questioned. “I failed to retrieve the emeralds, and the Spider was able to destroy an entire horde of Badniks, not to mention the Egg Breaker is now lost.”

Robotnik scoffed, waving his hand dismissively. “Such a minor loss compared to the data we retrieved.” He turned away and walked back up to his monitor. “Besides, all of the emeralds will be in my possession in due time. We simply must have patience.”

“What about the fact that the Spider knows about you now?” Gero brought up, folding his arms. “He seemed to recognize the EggRobo, and even called you Eggman.”

Robotnik frowned, he hummed while pulling his mustache. “While this isn’t exactly how I wanted to reveal myself, it's not really a set back.” He chuckled, giving the pony a grin. “Besides what exactly can he even do about it? Warn the Princesses?” He laughed. “Like they’re able to do anything to me! And those so called “guards” are a complete joke compared to my Badniks!” Settling down, he gave the video his full attention again. “So no Gero, I’m not worried that my existence was revealed. If anything, it will certainly make the game much more interesting.” He chuckled.

“Game?” Gero questioned, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes Gero, the game.” He answered, turning his head to look at the pony, flashing him one of his signature smiles. His smile was stretched widely across his face, Gero couldn’t help but feel unnerved by seeing it. “As you are likely aware, the Spider and I are not from this world. However, despite being the same species, we aren't from the same world. He comes from a world known as Earth, I come from a planet called Mobius. It is in Mobius where I had my first game.” The Doctor stared up to the ceiling, a nostalgic look on his face. “In Mobius I was an emperor, the ruler of the entire planet! The world fell to me so quickly, so easily, that I had nothing to do. So I allowed a group of children to exist so that I could entertain myself in battles against their petty resistance.” He smirked. “I will concede that they have won my little war games more often than not. But so what? Mobius was never free from my influence, and the rest of the world knew that I still owned them.”

He turned his body towards Gero, taking a few steps towards him. “Gero, I can take over this world anytime I want. It wouldn’t be difficult.” He said seriously, as if he was just stating a fact. “Magic can be easily negated once you know how it works, and those Princesses? They aren’t anything special. Mobius had dragons too, and they fell to my empire. But do you know why I haven’t done anything yet?” The pony only shook his head. “Because then I would be left with the same problem I had when I was in Mobius, I would be bored. With not a single thing to do but run my empire.” He answered, giving Gero a smile. Turning away from the pony, he spread out his arms and cried out in glee, “So why not have some fun with it?! Just like I did in Mobius! I will give the heroes a fighting chance! I will let them have their victories so they can grow from them and gain confidence! It doesn’t matter in the end, because I can end it all anytime I want. And it will only make my final victory all the more satisfying.”

Walking towards his monitor, he paused the video as soon as Dark was on the screen. “And this Spider character is just what I needed for my game!”

Gero tilted his head in confusion, behind him, the EggRobo turned its head towards the Doctor. “What do you mean?”

“For my game to be any fun, I need someone with courage, determination, someone with a true heroic heart to be my opposition.” He pointed at the hero and grinned. “And he’s it! He’s the type of person to never give up, no matter what. Someone with a strict, inflexible, moral code. And he has the strength to back up his beliefs. Someone like this is the perfect obstacle for me to overcome in my quest to rule the world. It's always the true hero type that are the hardest, but the most satisfying to break.”

“What about the others?” Gero said, nodding his head towards the monitor. “Any of them fit the bill for your game?”

Robotnik hummed, pressing a few buttons on his remote. The image of the Spider then disappeared, only to be replaced by the images of the other participants of the fight. “The hedgehog has some potential, but it's all wasted. Someone like her is easy to work around, and easy to predict.” He tsked. “Nothing like the rascal I know about. She doesn’t provide anything but muscle for the team. A shame really. Despite her eccentricities, Miss Rose was quite a worthy foe.”

Turning towards the monitor, Gero spotted the pink hedgehog the Doctor was talking about. “Who exactly is “Miss Rose”? And why did EggRobo call her that? According to Hydra’s files, that hedgehog is the Spider’s sister. I believe her name is Cece.”

Robotnik smiled. “My friend that is Miss Rose.” He said, pointing at Cece. “But at the same time… she isn’t.” He answered cryptically. “Anyways, Miss Rose was an adversary of mine back in Mobius. She was a mystic, precognition, dowsing, magic, she could do it all.” He grinned. “While Amy Rose did provide her little militia some much needed muscle, her true strength lies within her leadership skills. She was a natural born leader and an excellent tactician!” He suddenly frowned, humming to himself in thought. “I wonder though… could Miss Rose actually be in there? It took me a while before I finally became aware…” He mumbled to himself before giving a grin. “Well if she is in there it would certainly make things more interesting.” Robotnik chuckled.

“Now as for the others…” Pressing another button on his remote, he took out the image of Cece and focused on the other three participants. Zooming in on the image of the rainbow haired pegasus, he hummed. “Now this one is certainly an interesting case. Fast, overconfident in her abilities, cocky, and arrogant.” The Doctor laughed. “Why she’s practically just like Sonic! If it wasn’t for the Spider’s determination and much more fascinating abilities, this pegasus would have surely been my main opposition.” Playing some footage of the pegasus mare in a fight, he hummed. “Her hydro and cryokinetic abilities are incredibly fascinating though…” He frowned and turned his attention towards the earth pony. “It is to my knowledge that earth and pegasi ponies can’t use any magic, so how is it that this pegasus is able to use these strange powers?”

Gero closed his eyes, trying to recall the information he received relating to the pony’s strange powers. “From the reports I’ve read, her hydrokinesis comes from a rare and strange gene found only a small portion of the population. I believe they call it the conduit gene. Not much data on it since the only way we got the info was someone eavesdropping on her and someone else on it.”

“Interesting.” Making a mental note of that, he removed Rainbow Dash’s image from the screen. Enlarging the images of the last two fighters, he frowned, not being able to recall any Equestrian or mobian creatures matching the description of the two animals.

Turning to his organic lackey, he pointed at the creature’s images. “Does Hydra have any information on these animals?”

Gero frowned as he stared at the pictures. “Not really. Only on their basic abilities, nothing on their origins or what they really are.” He scowled and crossed his arms. “The Spider was also seen with another strange creature, a blue and black jackal, probably a pet.” Gero than clenched one of his arms. "It was with him when we first "met"."

Robotnik frowned. “What about you EggRobo? Did you get any clues as to their origins?”

The Badnik shook his head. “Forgive me Doctor. I do not have any information regarding their origins. All I do know is that they both displayed incredible power over two of the natural elements.”

The scientist tsked, turning back towards the screen and glaring. Behind the three of them another robot flew into the room, carrying a tray on his hands. “Excuse me sir.” The orb shaped robot called out to them, gaining their attention. “The refreshments have arrived.” It said, bowing its head.

Behind the red robot, Cubot floated in, carrying another tray in his hands. “Yeah, and the drinks you ordered are here too!” Cubot flew towards the earth pony, handing him his drink.

Floating to his master, the red robot tilted his head at the human’s frustrated expression. “What’s the matter, sir? Did I get the wrong drink?”

Taking the drink from the tray, he shook his head. “No, lucky for you.” He grumbled, pausing to take a sip of his drink.

Turning to the screen, the badnik squinted his bright blue eyes as he hummed. “Is it a new variable? I would’ve thought you’d be excited to see something new.”

“Normally yes, but there’s so little data on these animals!” He threw his hands up in the air. “I know they can’t be native to Equestria or any of the regions outside this country, otherwise I would’ve had some data on them!” The Doctor yelled, placing his drink down on the table. “And they can’t be from Mobius either, they didn’t have any wildlife like these two here!”

Orbot hummed again, taking a moment to think of an answer. “Have you tried looking in the… Other’s memories?” He asked. “Perhaps you can find the information you seek there.”

Robotnik looked down at the small robot at his side, frowning. “You may be onto something there Orbot.” He said, a smile forming on his face. “It's about time we make use of that parasite! If he plans to stay in my body, then he should at the very least make himself useful.” He said, ignoring Gero’s confused look.

““Other”, sir?” Gero asked.

Robotnik glanced at the cybernetic pony and hummed. “When I first woke up in Equis I noticed something off about myself. A whole new set of memories laid there in my mind. Ones I have never experienced before, and those memories were a treasure trove of useful information about Mobius, Equestria, and countless other realities that I was unaware of before that day.” The human smirked. “And after a couple weeks of some mental preparations I was finally able to put that information to use in my plans for global conquest.”

Gero narrowed his eyes as he processed that information. “Global conquest…” He whispered to himself. Looking around the lab, he took in all of the pieces of technology and deactivated Badniks that laid around. “Doctor,” He began. “All of this tech, why is it that I’ve never seen it in the hands of Hydra before? From what I know, you’re Hydra’s chief scientist, I would’ve thought that you’d be equipping all of the grunts with these weapons instead of keeping it to yourself.”

“And what would be the point in doing that?” Robotnik asked, turning away from the pony as he looked back at the screen. “Hydra is doomed to fall. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but it will fall eventually.” He answered, shocking the pony. “Their plan to take over Equestria is laughable, and while they may be able to conquer it, their rule will never last. Their “great empire” will fall, and crumble to dust, and with time, be forgotten.”

Gero narrowed his eyes, “What makes you say that? Do we not have enough power to accomplish our goals?” He questioned.

“To defeat the Princesses and those plucky heroes? Perhaps. But to have enough power to keep the kingdom, to quell rebellions, to protect yourselves from any and all neighboring kingdoms seeking to conquer a weakened nation? No.” Robotnik answered, minimizing the images of the two creatures on the screen. “Hydra does not have the power to keep Equestria. Not to mention that even if they do win, there is the issue of finding a way to raise and lower the moon without the sisters’ help.”

“But what about your inventions?” The pony brought up, waving his hand to all of the technology in the room. “With all of this, would Hydra have a chance?”

Robotnik grinned. “Why of course. With my genius and creations, Hydra would have all the power necessary to keep the Equestria under their control for a very long time.”

The answer only served to confuse the pony even more. “But then, if you’re with Hydra, why not share all of these weapons?”

“Because Gero I’m not with Hydra.” The Doctor answered, zooming on a few other images. “Hydra is merely a means to an end. Hydra provides me with all the resources I need for my machines, and all I have to do toss them one my old inventions every once in a while to keep them satisfied.” He smirked. “It's certainly much easier to work for them and get what I need when asked than having to look for resources myself.” Putting down the remote, Robotnik turned to Gero and frowned. “Speaking of Hydra, why did you join?”

“Why did I join?” He repeated, confused by the sudden change in topic. “For power I guess… the pay was good too, much better than what they paid me back in the Royal Guards. With Hydra, I’ve gained the freedom to do whatever I wanted, I wasn’t bound by a strict code. And with the rank I possessed, I wasn’t forced to follow the orders of some honor bound fools.”

Robotnik hummed. “Yes, I’ve read about your disagreements with your former comrade in your files… Gallant Heart was it?”

Gero nodded. “He was next in line to lead the Royal Guards after Shining Armor left.” He scowled, clenching his mechanical fist. “Just thinking how Armor was going to give him the promotion instead of me still makes me angry.” He sighed, unclenching his fist as he relaxed. “And even though he came close to discovering Hydra, I couldn’t help but feel delighted. He gave me the perfect excuse I needed to off him.”

“So it's power that motivates you?” Robotnik said, bringing him out of his thoughts. “Power and the need to control?” The human smiled widely, walking up to the confused pony. “My boy, if that's all you want, then why are you wasting your time with Hydra?”

“What do you mean?” Gero asked, taking a step back from the advancing scientist.

“I told you didn’t I? Hydra is doomed to fail, and Archer is far too petty and foolish to lead them to victory.” He said, his smile taking up half of his face. “And don’t forget how quickly the old bat was willing to throw you away. Why if it wasn’t for me, you’d be out in the streets begging or throwing your lot with some gang.” He continued upon seeing his stunned look. “Gero, if it's power you want, then join me.” He said, offering his hand. “I know you agreed before, but that was when you were under the assumption that I was working for Hydra. You’ve seen what my machines can do, the Spider and his allies were at the brink of defeat, if it wasn’t for that new transformation, we would’ve won. And don’t forget it was my cybernetics that almost led you to victory in your fight against the Spider. And tell me, honestly, do you really believe Hydra can give you the power I offer?”

Gero stared at the offered hand, the scene before him seemed familiar, and he was instantly reminded of his first meeting with the Doctor. “Just what exactly are you planning?” He asked.

“Global domination.” Robotnik answered, his smile never leaving. “With the resources Hydra is providing me, I’m planning to create everything I need to declare war against the world.”

Gero’s eyes widened. “That’s…” He shook his head in disbelief, “Just how exactly do you plan to accomplish that?! You want to go up against the entire world? I don’t think even your machines can stand up against the whole world!”

Robotnik threw his head back and laughed. “That’s where you’re wrong. I told you before, I was a conqueror in Mobius, and with these new memories, conquering Equis will be much easier!” Twirling his mustache, the Doctor reached over and placed an arm over Gero’s shoulders, pulling him in closer. “Gero, an opportunity like this doesn’t come everyday you know? When I’m off declaring war on the Dragon Lands, I’m going to need someone I can trust to lead Equestria in my absence.” He whispered to his ear. “Just think of it, you can be the first of my Egg Bosses, while I rule the world, you will govern Equestria, and as long as you know who’s in charge, you can rule this country as you see fit.”

Letting go of the pony, Robotnik patted the stunned cyborg in the back before walking away from him. “Just something to think about, you don’t have to give me an answer now, but it's best if you do it quick! Offers like this don’t last forever now.” Walking towards the console, he started pressing a few buttons on the keyboard, changing the image displayed on the monitor.

“Now, I have a new mission for you Gero. It's a way for you to test out your new cybernetics and get something done for me as well.” Robotnik began, pulling up several blurry images. Each of the photos contained images of several blurry or pixelated figures. Gero noticed that in all of the newer images, the number of blurred figures in the photos began to decrease, until the most recent picture only showed three pixelated figures, the censorship made it almost impossible to tell what or who they were.

“Lately some of my warehouses have been attacked by this group of unknowns. Unfortunately something keeps interfering with the security cameras, corrupting the footage and images taken of the perpetrators. These are the best images I have of the offenders. I want you to take a team of Badniks, and find out who and what they are. These attacks aren’t random, whoever they are, they know what they’re doing, and they know who I am.” Robotnik scowled. “They wouldn’t be targeting my bases like this if they didn’t know who I am, I want to know how they know, and what they know. This is your assignment for now, you may leave. I will send you a more detailed file on everything I have on these unknowns as soon as I can.” The Doctor said, dismissing the pony with a small wave.

Gero nodded, choosing to remain silent. Turning away from the Doctor, the charcoal furred pony quickly exited the lab, wanting to get away from the human as fast as he could. The Doctor had given him a lot to think about. While he liked the freedom and power that came with being a member of Hydra, he couldn’t help but admit that the Doctor’s offer had been much more tempting. Gero debated if he should warn Archer about the Doctor’s treachery, the pony thought about how it could win him a new promotion, earn him more freedom and power within the organization. He looked down at his cybernetic arms and smirked, a small chuckle escaping from his lips. “Yeah right… as if Hydra could give me anything like the Doctor can…” Looking up, he came to a decision. “Well so long as the upgrades keep coming, I guess I don’t mind working for the Doc. I doubt Archer even has anything that can stand up against the Doctor anyways.”

Orbot stared at the door Gero stepped through and hummed, turning his head slowly towards his creator. “Are you sure it was wise to tell him all that? He could be heading to warn Archer right now.”

Robotnik scoffed, dismissing his worries. “Even if he did, it would already be too late for Archer to do anything about me. Besides, Gero is smarter than that, I’m sure he will make the right decision.” He walked past the small red robot and made his way towards the EggRobo. “Now, let us pick up where we left off.” He said, catching the badnik’s attention. “During the first phase of the fight, what did you notice?”

The EggRobo wasted no time responding to his creator. “Throughout the beginning of the fight I had notice that compared to most Badnik models, the Motobugs were most effective against the Spider. They outspeed him and made effective use of their hit and run tactics. While the Caterkillers were able to surprise him, they weren’t able to do much. Slicers on the other hand had the power to be able to keep him busy for a short time before being cut down. In conclusion, the Spider’s reflexes are not able to keep up with fast opponents, however Motobugs alone are not strong enough to bring him down. We would need something with the perfect blend of speed and power.”

“Speed and power?” Robotnik grinned, an idea forming in his head. “Well I suppose it would be for the best if I brought him along. After all, things just don’t feel the same without him around.”

“Doctor?” EggRobo questioned.

“Don’t you worry EggRobo, the next time you go out in the field, it won’t matter what new power those heroes pull out.” He chuckled, grabbing the discarded control and opening a new file on the screen. “None of them will be able to come close to even touching my greatest creation. The perfect blend of speed and power! And another Badnik from the exact same series of Badniks you are from, my dear commander. The Metal Series.”

Author's Note

Hello there readers! Its me again with a brand new chapter written by yours truly. And because I know there's going to be questions about this... In this story, Dr. Eggman is a displaced, however he is a displaced who has all of the memories of the Archie comic's Dr. Eggman, and not only that, he also has a copy of Archie Eggman's conscious sharing his body. If that confuses any of you, just wait for future chapters of SiE to see exactly what I mean.

Star

55. Dog Days

Garm lazily watched the pair in front of him fight, the sounds of steel clashing against each other echoed throughout the yard. The diamond dog sighed in boredom, finding the one sided fight, or rather the “sparring session”, to be dull. “Poor Twig… I’ve seen pups give a better fight than him.” He said, shaking his head and turning away from the fight. Upon hearing his words, the white furred filly besides him snorted, trying to hold back her laughter. Turning his head towards the small unicorn that sat across from him, he raised an eyebrow at her. “Something funny?”

“Just find it sad that a couple of puppies can fight better than Monkey Boy over there.” The white filly said, pointing at the flailing human, his clothing full of cuts and holes from the armored pegasus fighting him.

“Yield! I yield!” The human cried out, staggering backwards as he clumsily blocked another strike. He gripped the blade tightly, trying his best to not let go. “Come on Val! Take it easy on me, I’m still recovering!” He cried, trying to summon up his super strength to push his foe’s sword away.

The armored knight scoffed, using her own strength to push the human back. “I am taking it easy! If I went any easier on you then you’ll just end up like all the other royal guards in Canterlot!” She yelled, pulling her sword back and striking the human’s blade again. “You told me you wanted to be better than them didn’t you? Well you can’t do that without getting some bruises! So suck it up and raise that blade. We’ll take a break as soon as you land a hit!”

Turning away from the fighting, the white filly sighed. “I don’t know why she wastes so much time mentoring him. Monkey Boy is a lost cause. Poor guy isn’t much better than those guards sis always complained about.”

The diamond dog only hummed, not being able to think up a good response to the filly’s thoughts. Reaching over for one of the sandwiches, he grabbed it and popped it in his mouth. “Well as much as Twig likes to use it as an excuse, he really is just recovering.” He finally said, “Can’t really expect much out of him like he is right now. I’m sure by the time he’s fully recovered he’ll be a force to be reckoned with.”

The raven haired filly rolled her eyes, dismissing the idea. “Oh yeah I’m sure he’ll be really strong in no time.” She said sarcastically. “Why, I bet in just a few months, Monkey Boy here will be strong enough to take over all of Canterlot!”

Garm chuckled at the filly’s joke, shaking his head slightly. 'Oh if only you knew…' The diamond dog looked back at his two partners, his eyes narrowing at the human. While initially unimpressive, he knew there was more to the seemingly harmless human than meets the eye. After all, if he really was as weak as everyone thought him to be, there would’ve been no way for him to survive the encounter with Sköll. He frowned, ‘If only I could figure out just what you said to him… what you did…’ He shook his head, preferring to not think about the monster dog.

A sharp cry shook the duo from their thoughts, turning back towards the fight the pair watched as the human fall backwards, his sword being thrown to the side. Grimacing, he rubbed his back and got up, his knees shaking slightly. In front of him the armored pegasus sighed and sheathed her weapon. Shaking her head, the pegasus walked past him and picked up the discarded sword. “This isn’t working.” She said, surprising the human. “No offense Kaito, you have power no doubt, but you lack skill, and really it’ll probably take us a bit longer to get you into shape.”

The filly broke out in laughter. “So much for becoming a master of the blade!” Kaito turned towards her and glared.

“Astra, leave Kaito alone.” Valor scolded, taking off her helmet and putting it on the ground. “Anyways Kaito, there isn’t anything to be ashamed about. Learning how to fight and weilding a weapon efficiently takes time. Learning how to do it all in a week just wasn’t a realistic goal.”

The human sighed, running his fingers through his hair. “I know, but we were supposed to leave for Manehattan today, and I didn’t want to be a burden for the job.”

Valor walked up to him and placed a hand on top of his shoulder, smiling gently. “Hey come on, you aren’t a burden. You just need more practice. For now, it's best if you just focus on your strengths rather than learning new skills.”

“Valor is right.” Garm said, walking up to them. “It's better to focus with what you got than with what you don’t have.” He closed one of his fist and punched his open palm. “So why don’t we practice a bit with your powers? You’re pretty new with them right? Well we still have some time before the train leaves, so why don’t we train a bit?”

Kaito nervously backed away from the old dog. “While I would love to, I’m feeling really tired from the sparring with Val.” He laughed nervously, raising his hands in a placating gesture. “Besides I have to save my energy for the job we have, right?”

Astra slowly made her way towards them, looking up towards them in confusion. “What’s this job you guys have anyways? And why does it require you guys to be gone for several days?” The white filly asked, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.

The white furred pegasus sighed, raising her hand to move her curly red mane away from her sight. “We took a job as security in Fortress Construction. Apparently a duo of supers robbed the place sometime ago. They didn’t take everything but a ton of things were trashed and are missing.”

“And with the three of us around, they’re hoping that we’d be enough to stop any thieves from taking whatever's left in there.” Kaito chimed in, interrupting the knight’s explanation with a smug smile.

The filly snorted. “Well it makes sense why’d they hire Val and Garm here.” She began, a smirk forming on her face. “Sis used to be one of the best guards in Canterlot, and Garm is just plain scary looking, but why the heck would they hire Monkey Boy here?” Astra chuckled, pointing at the human. “What? Did you guys give them a really good deal? Hire two professional security guards and get a third rookie guard free?” She laughed, ignoring Kaito’s annoyed glare.

Valor pinched her cheek and glared lightly at her. “Be nice.” She scolded, ignoring her yelp.

Rubbing her cheek, Astra frowned and looked back up at her sister. “Sorry…” She mumbled, glaring at the ground before looking back up. “If they really wanted the place to be well guarded, why didn’t they just hire that new superhero in Manehattan? Toxin.”

The three of them briefly shared a look at each other, before Valor looked back at her sister with a smile. “That’s simple, she’d be too busy patrolling the streets and fighting villains to really be doing guard work.”

“Besides, how would they even get in touch with her? Not like she left the public with her address or something.” Kaito added, waving his hand dismissively.

Astra rolled her eyes. “With an ad on the paper, duh!” She then sighed, crossing her though. “Though I have to admit, it would be tough to get a hold of her, and I doubt she’d accept the job.”

“Which is why they hired us.” Valor said, clapping her hands. “Anyways shouldn’t you be heading to school now? Classes should start in about forty minutes.”

Astra groaned, slouching as she stared up at her sister. “Oh come on Val! Can I please just stay home today? Please?” She begged, clasping her hands together.

The pegasus smiled, patting her head. “Sorry, but no. Just because I’m going to be gone for a few days doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want during that time.” She said, pushing the small filly towards the house. “Now go get your stuff and go, you don’t want to be late.” Astra sighed, glaring at the house as she slowly made her to the door. “And I will be checking in with the school when I come back to make sure you actually went! So don’t think you can just ditch class either!” The filly groaned loudly, walking faster to the house and stepping inside.

Garm hummed, turning towards the other two. “We should be getting ready to go too, the train comes in just an hour.”

Valor nodded, agreeing with the diamond dog’s suggestion. “You’re right, we don’t want to keep our boss waiting.” With that the odd trio began making their way to the house, intending to pick up their suitcases and leave.

Running past the others, Kaito grabbed his suitcase and set it down on the living room table, propping it open and taking out a bright silver watch before putting it on. Grabbing the dial of the watch, he turned the dial a few times and pressed down at the center of it. Suddenly his body began glowing in a blue light, before leaving behind an earth pony stallion, the pony possessed peanut brown colored fur with his mane being a much darker shade of brown. The pony turned back towards the other two and grinned, giving them a thumbs up. “Stage Troupe is ready to go!” He announced turning back and putting on a trench coat.

Garm snorted, “I still think your Diamond Dog disguise looks better.”

Valor rolled her eyes. “Come on boys, we can argue about Kaito’s disguises later in the train.” She said, waving her hand as she walked past them to the front door. “Though if you ask me, I prefer the pegasus disguise.”

The train attendant slid the door opened for the odd trio and stepped aside, giving the three enough room to enter the private room. “The private cabin you requested miss.” The pony said, bowing at the three.

Valor briefly looked around the private room and nodded. “Thank you, that will be all.” She said, handing the pony a couple of bits. She entered the room and set down her stuff near the bed, the other two behind her doing the same.

The attendant smiled and nodded. “If you need anything please just ring the bell.” He said, sliding the door close, leaving them to their privacy.

Kaito immediately threw himself onto the bed, bouncing once before settling down. He let out a pleased sigh and dropped his “Stage Troupe” disguise. “You know, this bed is a lot more comfortable than the one I got back in Canterlot.” He waved over the elderly diamond dog. “Hey Garm feel this bed, pretty sure it's better than the one in your hotel room.”

The diamond dog placed his paw on the bed and rubbed the surface of it, letting out a short hum. “Certainly feels softer.”

Valor rolled her eyes. “Come on boys, you can play with the bed later, right now we need to talk business.”

“What’s there to talk about?” Kaito asked, raising a hand lazily. “We can’t really come up with a plan for the job right now, especially when we haven’t even received our tools yet.”

“He’s got a point, those tools we’re getting could make the job a lot easier and just make whatever plan we make now completely unnecessary.” Garm added, sitting down on the soft mattress, sighing contently. “You know, before we head back to Canterlot, we should take this bed with us.”

“Now that's a plan I can get behind.” Kaito said, smiling. “How are we going to sneak it past the attendants though?”

“Easy.” The dog began. “We brute force our way out.”

The human rolled his eyes. “Brute force? Come on Garm! There’s no style in doing things that way! We should sneak it past them. Maybe one of us leaves the train and waits behind this cabin’s window, and whoever’s inside tosses the out for the other guy to catch it.” He smirked. “Trust me it's full proof and best of all, no heat gets tossed at us.”

Valor let out a frustrated sigh, placing her palm on her forehead and shaking her head. “Can you two just be serious! I want to have a serious conversation about our employer before we have to meet him again!”

Garm raised an eyebrow in confusion. “The Kingpin? What about him? You having second thoughts about this?” He asked, leaning forward to give her his full attention. Kaito got up from the bed, and gave her the same confusion expression.

Valor shook her head. “Second thoughts? No. But something about him just doesn’t sit right with me. I don’t like being indebted to that man.”

“I know what you mean.” Garm spoke up. “He’s been generous with us, too generous. We’re new, we don’t have a reputation, and he has no way of knowing if we’re worth it. He’s making a big investment by giving us those gadgets we’re picking up free of charge.” Garm gritted his teeth. “I don’t know what game he’s playing, but I don’t like being a part of it.” He hated being led around. At least with Kaito he knew what to expect, but the crime lord was nothing like the human.

Kaito hummed, closing his eyes in thought. Letting out a sigh, he voiced his thoughts. “You guys are being too paranoid about this. Even if the Kingpin is just using us, we’re using him too. And if he does have something nefarious planned for us, we’ll just fight our way out.” He turned towards his allies and smirked. “Remember, we’re the Fenrir Mercenaries, as long as we work together, there isn’t anyone we can’t beat.”

Valor shook her head. “I wish it was that simple, but this guy is a crime lord. He has the largest gang in the city backing him up.” She sat down on the sofa across from the bed and sighed. “Not to mention he’s a dragon, that alone makes him more dangerous than all of those flunkies of his combined.”

Kaito scoffed. “So what? We got Sköll with us.” He said, pumping his fist. “The big guy alone could take on all of his flunkies with no trouble, I bet he could take on the Kingpin all on his own as well.” He stood up and punched the diamond dog’s shoulder playfully. “Isn’t that right Garm?”

The diamond dog blinked, before humming in thought. “Well… Maybe? I’m not really sure what Sköll is really capable off, just that he’s strong.”

Kaito shrugged, accepting the answer. “Good enough.” He glanced at Valor. “As I said before, as long as we stick together, we can’t lose.”

She sighed and leaned back in her seat. “You sound like Princess Twilight.”

Kaito raised an eyebrow. “Is she cute?” Beside him, Garm let out a small chuckle.

Valor narrowed her eyes, seemingly glaring at him. “Well… yeah, if you like the nerdy bookworm type.”

He nodded, closing his eyes and humming. “So like super cute, got it.” Kaito smirked and opened a single eye to look at the glaring pegasus. “You think she’s hiring? She’s a princess so she must have a personal guard. Maybe I can be the head of the guard.” He said, chuckling at the end.

“I doubt she would hire a twig like you.” Valor said, crossing her arms. “Besides, I don’t think she’s hiring. None of us in the guard ever got moved to Ponyville, and last I heard she hired two newbies to be her personal guard after having none for years.”

“Just two rookies?” Garm questioned, sounding a bit shocked. “From how smart everyone makes her out to be, I would’ve thought she would hire at least someone with experience.”

She shrugged. “I don’t really know the details, I left before I got to meet them. They apparently were at Canterlot training with the rest of the guard for a while.”

“Up in Canterlot huh?” Kaito mumbled, staring at the ceiling for a moment before shaking his head. “Well we probably won’t have to worry about them for a while, after all they’re stationed in Ponyville, and I doubt we’d be going there anytime soon.”

Valor nodded. “You’re right, for now we should focus on the threats we’re almost certain to meet.” Reaching towards her bag, she took out three beige folders. “According to the dossiers that Kingpin prepared, the most likely resistance we’d face is the solo hero Toxin, that new villain duo calling themselves Blob and Toad, and if we’re unlucky, the Spider.” She laid down the folders in the table in front of them. “It's best if we stay prepared, so any of them you want to discuss first?”

Kaito hummed, picking up with the dossier of the Spider with some interest. Opening the file, he quickly looked through it. Most of the papers inside were speculations, newspapers, confirmed abilities, and reported sightings. Picking up one of the newspapers, his eyes narrowed. “You know… I don’t think this guy is a pony at all…” He spoke up, catching the other’s by surprise.

“What makes you say that?” Valor asked. “Most ponies agree that he must be an earth pony with powers, or at least a unicorn cloaking his features.”

Raising a hand, Kaito rubbed his nose. “There’s no snout, no horn, and his ears aren’t in the right place to be a pony.” He shrugged, passing the file to Garm. “It's pretty obvious really. Besides, his body type is all wrong to be anything else. And if he really was a pony, his legs are also all wrong. They don't end in hooves, and they aren’t bent in the right position. If this really was a unicorn disguising themselves, then they’ve picked one weird looking disguise. After all, it looks practically human to me.”

Upon receiving the file from the diamond dog, Valor carefully looked through all of the photographs, her eyes narrowing with every picture she looked at. “You’re right. He’s not a pony, his body type is similar to yours.” She facepalmed and groaned. “How did I not catch that before?”

Garm snorted. “So we got two monkeys around now?” He laughed, ignoring Kaito’s annoyed look.

Valor smiled, letting out a small chuckle. “Seems like it. Though it seems to me that we got the newest model.” The other two turned towards her in confusion. “Kaito showed up in Equestria at around the end of December. This guy? He’s been here since November, possibly longer.” She said, flipping the newspaper to show them the paper’s date.

Kaito’s eyes widened. “A whole month earlier? How did he even survive that long…?” He said, whispering the last part to himself.

“New doesn’t mean best though.” Garm commented. “What about the guy’s powers? We know they both like to use the Spider motif, but is there anything we should be worried about?”

Valor flipped through the pages once again, humming in thought. “I don’t think so. This guy just seems to have the same powers as Kaito… Though Kaito does have one thing that this Spider doesn’t have.” She said smiling widely. “Care to guess?”

“Is it my dashing good looks?” Kaito guessed, running his hand through his hair. “Or perhaps my amazing sense of humor?”

Valor shook her head. “Pretty sure you don’t have that either. Besides, I was talking about your stingers.” She said, pointing at his wrist. “None of papers ever mention him pulling out a pair of metal stingers from his wrists.”

“Huh.” He responded, looking at his wrists and popping his two stingers right out. “Neat.”

Garm hummed, rubbing his chin. “You sure he doesn’t have any special powers different from Kaito’s?”

“It's entirely possible he does. After all, he's only been sighted four times in the last few months.” Valor pulled out the newspaper that was at the front of the dossier. “His very first sighting had him webbing up a couple of gang members.” Pulling out the second newspaper, she pointed at the masked webbed up villain. “Second sighting was with him fighting against our objective.”

“So that's how Shocker landed in prison.” Kaito commented, picking up the paper.

“The third sighting was the most interesting.” Valor continued on, taking out the third paper and setting it down at the table. “A fight against somepony labeled "Vulture" in Canterlot. Apparently that name came up because some witnesses heard the Spider call him that. This one confirms the fact that he doesn’t only operate in Manehattan, but likes to travel around.”

Kaito smiled, setting down his paper and grabbing the new one. “I remember this one. Big Bird here was attacking some drug company or something like that. I was about to step in, but Blue beat me to it.”

Valor nodded, remembering the attack, the best she could do at that day was lead the others away from the attack. “A good thing he stepped in when he did. Someone could have gotten seriously hurt.”

“Aren’t we supposed to be villains?” Garm commented, looking between the two.

Kaito scoffed. “We may be villains Garm, but we’re professionals! We have standards.”

“And attacking civilians is too low for you?” He questioned, raising an eyebrow.

Kaito nodded, not even taking a second to think about it. “Yup! We don’t hurt bystanders. They have nothing to do with the fight, so why target them?”

Garm stared at his teammate, stunned. While they were villains, it was comforting to know that his leader had some morals, even if they are a bit backwards at times.

“Kidnapping is totally okay though. Especially when it comes to princesses, and especially the cute bookworm types.”

Garm deadpanned, shaking his head. “Of course.”

“Moving on!” Valor interrupted, sending a quick glare to Kaito before giving them a neutral expression. “His final appearance was at Hearts and Hooves Day in Manehattan. While it wasn’t on any newspapers, he was spotted in the city with another masked pony. Possibly another hero given how friendly they were. The new hero hasn’t been spotted since though, and no one has any idea what they’re capable off.”

“Well that isn’t good.” Kaito said, narrowing his eyes. “Rather not deal with any unknowns.”

“Neither would I.” Valor put down the folder of the Spider and frowned. “Overall, not a lot of info regarding him… We do at least have an idea of his powers, they’re practically the same as Kaito’s.”

Garm scratched his head. “So we have two humans in Equestria, both with very similar powers…” He hummed and turned towards Kaito. “Hey Kaito! You got a brother you didn’t tell us about?”

Kaito leaned back for a second, surprised at the question. “Well I do have a brother, and two sisters, but I doubt any of them became the Spider.” He put down the newspaper at the table and threw himself onto the bed. “Besides, last time I checked, everyone in my family was still back home. I’m pretty sure I’m the only one here.”

“So it's likely this guy isn’t related to Kaito, and the similar powerset is just a coincidence.” Valor shook her head. “Hopefully the Kingpin buys it. Not sure anyone else will believe that story.”

Garm stared down at the several photos laid before him, frowning. “Well, one thing I did notice, this guy is much healthier than Kaito is.” Kaito jumped up from the bed and looked down at the photos, his eyes narrowing. “Kaito’s thin, too thin. Tartarus when we met the Kingpin he looked like a strong breeze could knock him down at any moment.” Kaito looked down at his stomach, feeling a bit self conscious at the comment. “I know you’re recovering, but there’s a good chance that the Spider is stronger. Not only is he healthy, he’s been here much longer. Heck most of the time he isn’t even in public, this guy could be training the entire time for all we know.”

Valor sighed. “That’s a good point, it's best we assume that compared to Kaito, he’s much stronger.” She began picking up all the papers and started reorganizing them. “Better to overestimate him than to underestimate him.” Seeing the look on Kaito’s face, she decided to move the conversation along. “I assume we’re done with the Spider, right?” She continued when the two nodded. “Well the most likely threat we’ll face on the job is Manhattan's newest hero; Toxin.”

Valor opened up the file and took out a police report. “First appearance: Stopping a robbery at Fortress Construction. What makes this more interesting, is that the building was being robbed by The Fool. No one’s ever seen him before that day. Toxin not only laid eyes on him, but she managed to defeat him in battle and get him to retreat.” She passed the report over to Garm.

“An impressive first outing I take it?” Garm said, giving the pictures in the report a glance and passing it along. “Certainly seems like a ton of important stuff got smashed.”

She nodded. “Very, especially when you consider just what the Fool is capable off.” She said as she took out another report, a logo of a red hexagon was at the top right corner of the page.

Kaito took the report and whistled after reading it. “Those are some pretty impressive abilities. Though why do so many villainous jesters have reality warping powers?”

“It's not reality warping, they’re illusions. Though his size manipulation abilities are very real.” Valor corrected, pulling out a newspaper. “Toxin has to be very versatile, if not strong, to be able to defeat someone like Fool in her first day. Her second outing, while not as grand, was something that made it on the papers.” She showed it off, revealing a photo of Toxin punching out a green armored pony wearing a purple mask, four insect wings stuck out from behind the pony, the general aesthetic of the costume was that resembling an insect. “On her second sighting she fought against the Swarm’s Beetle and won. Unfortunately for her, the Beetle did manage to get away from the police.”

Kaito looked at the picture and frowned. “Where did he get the armor from anyways? Seems a bit too high tech for him.”

Valor shrugged. “Probably from the Tinkerer, which is who we’re getting our gadgets from.” She set down the newspaper and sighed. “Unfortunately while there have been a few confirmed sightings, not all of them are newsworthy and were mostly just her beating some random gang members.” She said, passing the file to Kaito who was reaching for it.

Grabbing one of the reports with the red hexagon logo, he frowned when he read it. “She sounds like trouble. Regeneration, webs, super strength, some shapeshifting there too.” He sighed and grumbled. “Perks of having a symbiote.”

“Symbiote?”

“Parasitic blob that invades your body and gives you superpowers in exchange for living there.” Kaito responded, putting the report back and picking up another one. “Oh she can stretch her limbs too, nice.”

“So it's a symbiotic relationship rather than a parasitic one.” Valor commented organizing the papers again. “Is there any way we can separate the two?”

“Sure.” He shrugged. “Electricity can be used to separate them, along with loud sounds, and fire can kill it.” Kaito answered, setting the file down. “Pretty short, even less to go on than the Spider.”

“At least we know Toxin’s weaknesses now.” The diamond dog grumbled.

“Right, and now the final threat we can face.” She put down the third file and opened it up, all of them frowned when they noticed the small number of papers. “Well this is just sad.”

Kaito picked up the file and looked it over. “Well they’re certainly smart. They tend to stay out of the public eye, so not much info is spread about them.” He picked up the reports with the red hexagon and read them. “Huh, now we’re going into the X-Men stuff.” He commented, flipping through the pages. “Seems like there’s more info on the Blob than Toad.”

“Blob has been around longer and used to be a lieutenant of the Swarm.” Valor answered.

Kaito only hummed, continuing to read the reports. “Pretty standard package for Toad. Super strength, a minor healing factor, can jump really high, and she has a toad-like tongue.” He frowned and moved the paper closer. “Aaand she’s just a kid... Maybe we can recruit her if we get lucky.” He said, passing the report along.

Garm frowned at the paper. “No pictures.” He immediately passed it to Valor, giving Kaito a small glare.

“Oh right... I forgot.” Kaito smiled sheepishly.

Valor frowned. “Seems unlikely to happen. While it's mostly speculation, the Kingpin does suspect this Toad to have some megalomaniacal tendencies. She’s been known to steal weapons from all the gangs, steal money, and destroy all of the drugs.” She shrugged. “Last one isn’t so bad, never did get what the fuss was about them.”

“That's because you were a cop, or well, guard, you know what I mean.” Kaito said, fumbling with his words.

Choosing to ignore his words, she continued. “Everytime the Toad makes a new appearance she’s usually seen with some new gadget, likely made with the weapons and bought with the money she keeps. She was reported to use bombs, surprisingly no casualties. She also carries a blaster, a shock baton, and wears a pair of high tech goggles.”

“So she can create high tech weapons. That’s pretty cool, and dangerous.” Kaito set down the file at the table and laid back down. “Nothing in Blob’s file suggest he has powers. He’s just too fat to hurt with punches.”

“He also has above average strength.” Valor commented, picking his file. “His body also protects him from projectile weapons. At this point I’m not sure if this file is right about him not having powers.”

Kaito shrugged and waved his hand dismissively. “Eh, let them worry about it. The biggest threat between them seems to be Toad. If anything happens, we can just blame it on them for giving us faulty info.”

Garm growled. “Not sure they will see it that way.”

“You guys worry too much.” He said, closing his eyes. “Besides the file says that they only operate at night and usually at the edges of the other gang’s territories.” He raised a finger and wagged it. “Where we’re going to be is nowhere near the docks, so we’ll be safe from the Brotherhood’s attacks.”

Valor sighed, putting all the papers away and grabbing the three files. “I suppose you’re right. Well seems like we managed to get through all three dossiers. I guess we can just relax for the rest of the train ride, unless you two have something you want to talk about?”

After waiting for a few moments, Kaito let out a cheer, throwing his hands up in the air. “Finally! If you need me, I’m gonna catch up on my beauty sleep.”

Garm snorted. “You should sleep more often then, all that sleep your missing is clearly working against you.” Upon seeing Kaito’s annoyed glare, the diamond dog laughed.

Author's Note

Hello my wonderful readers! Tis I, the wonderful co-author Star709 back with a new chapter! So in this chapter we finally get to properly meet the mysterious mercenaries Kingpin talked to in his first chapter, and we got to see some of their opinions on some of the supers around them. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and if you didn't please let us know why so we can improve!

Star

Chapter 57

"Hey." Cece called out, catching her brother's attention. Resting the giant hammer on her shoulder, she pointed behind her. "I'm heading to the Everfree to do some training against the monsters there."

"Why?" Dark asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I figured that the monsters in the forest could give me a good challenge." She then scowled. "I'll need to be prepared in case those robots show up again. I'm not going to let them get the drop on me like last time. You want to come?" She asked.

Dark shook his head. "No. Need to head over to Rarity's in a bit. She said she has a new suit for me."

Cece shrugged. "Okay. See ya." With that said, she walked out the door.

"Make sure Emily doesn't cause any forest fires." He warned, calling out after her.

"Don't worry, I have a few of those ice arrows just for that," she replied before leaving, with Emily by her side.

Dark sighed. A moment later, Venom showed up beside him and said, “She’ll be fine.”

“I know that. But I still can't help but be worried."

Venom shrugged. "Well she is your younger sister. I think that might be why." After a few moments of silence, he said, "Come on. Let's see what Rarity wants. Sooner you finish, the sooner you're done."

Dark nodded before getting up from his bed, Peter jumped from the night stand to Dark's arm before climbing up to his shoulder as Dark left the room and put on his cover.

Opening the castle’s front door, Dark started to walk forward, only to stop and take a step back in surprise, not expecting to see the shy pegasus at the castle’s steps. “Oh hey Fluttershy.” Dark greeted, waving at her.

Fluttershy gave him a small smile, nodding her head. “Hello Dark, I hope your morning went well.” Seeing the small dragon on Dark’s shoulder, she let out a small coo. “And hello to you little one!” Reaching over, she gave the baby dragon a soft pat on the head. “I hope you had a good breakfast, you need to make sure to eat a lot if you want to grow as big and strong as Dark is!” Fluttershy cooed, scratching Peter’s scaly head, causing the blue dragon to smile and chirp.

Dark smiled. “Well, I’m guessing you’re here to see Twilight?” He guessed. “If you are, she’s just inside studying.”

“Oh, well thank you but I’m really here to see you.” Fluttershy said, shaking her head. Grabbing her green satchel, she brought it to the front and opened the bag, revealing to him an odd blue and red bird.

The bird had wild red feathers on the left of his body, the feathers usually sticking out randomly, while the right side of the bird was full of smooth, calm, blue feathers, all of them perfectly cleaned and well kept compared to the left side. The bird was about the same height as a normal house cat. The bird screeched, flying out of the satchel before settling down on top of Fluttershy’s shoulder. Lifting up its left wing, it began trying to fix the messy feathers.

Fluttershy smiled fondly at the wild looking bird. “I’ve been making sure to take care of it whenever I can, and I wanted to wait until it was old enough to take outside before introducing you all to him.” She then frowned, “Though I haven’t really thought up a name for him, since he belonged to you, I didn’t really feel like it was appropriate to name him.”

Dark blinked in confusion under his hood before he remembered the egg he had sent to her. "Huh. With everything that happened, I completely forgot about that." He put his hands in his pockets. "So how old is he anyway?"

Fluttershy hummed, thinking back to the day she first received the egg. “I believe he’s about a month and three weeks old now.”

Dark nodded in response. "Anything I should know about him?"

Shyly, she nodded, giving him a nervous grin. “Well… there is one thing. He apparently has powers.” At his silence, she continued. “I saw him light himself on fire, and just last week I saw him turn his food into ice.” Fluttershy gave a shaky laugh. “He’s a bit of a handful, but I know he didn’t mean to cause trouble.”

Dark blinked in confusion. "I'm sorry, but you said he lit himself on fire and froze food? How?"

She shrugged. “I’m not really sure. One day he just suddenly gained powers without any warning, he might’ve just been born with them?”

After a brief pause, Dark just sighed. "Maybe Delsin would know what that's about…" After shaking his head, he said, "Anything else I should know about? Besides needing to fireproof my room now."

“Well…” She began, pausing to think. “While I’m not a hundred percent sure of his species and his natural diet, he does seem to be a predator at least. And given how similar he is to eagles, I’m pretty sure he’s supposed to be eating small animals like mice, though he also likes fish, so I’ve been feeding him that.”

"Well Delsin did say the egg was a Karmic Eagle," Venom said with a shrug besides Dark, to which Dark repeated to Fluttershy.

“So he is an eagle, or a type of eagle.” She hummed in thought. “I never heard of a Karmic Eagle though, I guess it's something from Delsin’s world.” She sighed. “That's a shame, I would’ve loved to learn more about them.”

"I recall Delsin saying that it's unique to his world and was made by his version of Screwball when she met Celestia. Wish I could've gotten more out of him though…"

“Well I’m sure he wouldn’t mind telling you more about Karma Eagles, the next time you see him.” Fluttershy says with a smile, then gained a curious look. “So, were you heading somewhere before I came here?”

Dark nodded. "Yeah. I was heading to Rarity's. She said she wanted to give me a new suit she made. And I have nothing better to do anyway since Dash is with the Bolts, Cece is in the Everfree, Mike is training somewhere, and Twilight is busy studying some stuff and I rather not bother her."

"What about Brianna?"

"She's with Screwball, and I don't know where she is."

“I see…” Fluttershy said, frowning in thought. “Well I suppose I should be on my way then, don’t want to keep you here when you’ve got places to be.” She picked up the young eagle with both hands and extended her arms towards Dark. “Well it's time for you to go back home little guy. Be sure not to cause too much trouble.” The bird let out a loud chirp, flying out of her hands and perching itself on top of Dark’s head. Turning around, she began to walk away, waving goodbye at Dark and the bird.

Dark waved back to her before looking to his head, his hood blocking his vision but he could feel the small bird on him. Sighing to himself, he started walking to Carousel Boutique.

"So any idea for a name for him?" Venom asked, his mental avatar walking besides Dark.

"Right now? No."

After a few moments of silence, Venom said, "Any idea what Rarity has for you?"

Dark looked at Venom with a raised eyebrow. "Wouldn't you know if I did?"

Venom shrugged. "Just wanting to make small talk." With that said, he vanished.

After a couple of minutes of walking, Dark made it to Carousel Boutique and knocked on the door.

“Come in! We’re open!” Rarity called out from inside, using her magic to open the door as she continued to concentrate on the dress in front of her, crossing her arms as she took in every detail of the clothing on the mannequin.

Dark walked inside the store. "Hey Rares."

Recognizing Dark’s voice, she turned around and smiled. “Why hello there Dark! And just how was your morning?” Rarity greeted, setting down her notepad near the mannequin. Seeing the small bird sitting on top of his head, her eyes widened in surprise. “Hello, and who’s this?” She asked, gesturing to the dual colored bird.

"My new pet. Shy's been watching him for me for a little while. Don't have a name for him yet."

Rarity’s eyes widen in recognition. “I see! This must be the little bird that Fluttershy told me about.” She turned towards Dark and frowned, “You best be careful now, from what Fluttershy told me this bird isn’t exactly a normal one.”

"I heard. The guy can burn and freeze things. Seriously gotta be careful now…" he then cleared his throat. "So you said you had a suit for me?"

She clapped her hands and nodded. “That's right! Screwball gave me the idea for the suit, said it had something to do with your new weapon.” Turning around, Rarity gestured to him to follow her up the stairs. “Come along now, I have it ready for you just up stairs.”

Nodding, Dark followed the unicorn up the stairs, the two continued walking past a few rooms before making it to her workroom. Opening the door, Rarity stepped aside to allow him to walk in first, the first thing Dark noticed in the room was Screwball and Bri waiting inside, the two of them keeping themselves occupied.

When Screwball noticed the pair come in she smiled. "Hey Tito." She then blinked. "What's with the bird?"

"New pet. Delsin left the egg. Special bird with fire and ice powers. No name yet."

Screwball blinked again before a small smirk appeared on her face. "Fire and ice?"

"That's what Shy said."

"And has red on one side…"

"Yeah?"

Screwball then gave a full smile. "How about Shoto?"

Dark blinked. "What?"

"For his name. Shoto."

"Why?"

"Got it from an anime. Trust me, you'd agree if you knew about it."

"Okay…?" Before he could question her further, he felt a tug on his leg. Looking down, he saw Bri with her arms up towards him. But to his surprise, she was wearing a miniature version of his own cloak.

Picking Bri up to his chest, she immediately gave him a hug and he looked to Rarity. "You made this?"

Rarity nodded, smiling lightly. “I had some free time and couldn’t resist. She absolutely looks up to you and figured something like this would help her feel closer to you.”

"Plus you can't deny she looks adorable like that," Screwball added before putting on Bri's hood.

"That goes without saying," Dark muttered before putting her down and turning to a nearby mannequin. A long black, smooth cloak that reached all the way down to his feet, with a dark shade of blue on the bottom edge of the cloak, sleeves, and the hood, and a silver chain connecting the two sides of the cloak at the hood, with the hood covering the face of the mannequin, obscuring most of its head and the face underneath was obscured by shadows. "This the new suit?"

She nodded, “It was rather interesting to work with, even with Screwball’s description I still had a bit of a challenge with it."

"Yeah, why did you suggest this?" Dark asked the filly.

Screwball shrugged. "Figured it'd go with you being a Keybearer now."

"How?"

"It's based on the cloaks of Organization XIII."

Dark tilted his head, never having heard of the group. "Who?"

Screwball huffed and waved her hand around dismissively. "The bad guys of Kingdom Hearts. Don't worry about it. Just put the dang thing on."

Dark shrugged in response before placing Peter on top of Bri's head and using his magic to put Shoto on Screwball's, then grabbed the cloak and went to go change.

Screwball then looked to the unicorn. "Hey Rarity?"

Rarity turned towards the filly. “Yes?”

"Are you willing to make more outfits soon? Might be able to come up with more for the guys. And Tito and Cece can definitely use a larger wardrobe." She asked.

Rarity nodded excitedly. “Of course! I’m always happy to help expand my friend’s wardrobe!” She leaned forwards in interest. “Do you have anything in mind right now?” She asked, eager for some more new and interesting projects.

Before Screwball could answer, Dark walked into the workroom wearing the new Organization inspired cloak, along with the gloves, which Dark was tightening as he entered. Walking right up to a nearby mirror, he looked over it and smiled. “Well it looks pretty cool, I like it.” He said, nodding.

Rarity nodded, clasping her hands together. “I’m glad you like it! You do look rather dashing and mysterious with it.”

"And it has a pretty cool feature," Screwball added, before pulling out a flashlight and pointing it at Dark's face.

Dark groaned as he raised a hand to cover the light from his eyes. "Why are you doing that?"

"Look at your reflection now."

Despite his confusion, Dark obeyed her and looked at his reflection. Much to his shock, he didn't see his face. Despite the bright light being pointed at him, his face was still concealed in shadow.

"How in the…"

Screwball then had the flashlight disappear. "You can thank Twilight for that. It's one of the spells she learned from Link. So long as that hood is on, nobody will be able to see your face."

"Huh." Dark then smiled. "Okay. That is pretty useful." He then turned to Rarity. "So how much do I need to pay?"

"Don't worry about that Tito," Screwball said. "The two of us came to an agreement."

Rarity waved her hand. “Oh yes, everything has already been taken care of, so there’s no need to worry.” She smiled. “You just enjoy your new cloak.”

Dark simply nodded. "If you say so." With that said, Dark picked up Bri and Peter climbed up his arm and perched himself on Dark's shoulder as Dark left to get his normal cloak and leave.

Screwball turned to Rarity. "I have an idea for two more outfits. I'll send you the details later," the filly said before going off to follow Dark, Shoto still sitting on her head, hardly disturbed.

The timberwolf snarled, snapping its jaw towards the pink hedgehog’s hammer as it tried to yank it out of her hands. The wooden wolf let out a yelp as it was smacked by the invader’s hammer, causing it to crash towards one of the many trees of the forest. The monster growled, as it lifted itself up. Shaking its head, the timberwolf glared at the two creatures that invaded its home.

As it was glaring, the predator crouched down, slowly crawling backwards to hide inside the bushes. Once it made sure it couldn’t be seen, the wooden wolf began to slowly walk around them, silently observing the pair burning and smashing its pack. As it glared, it couldn’t help but be reminded of the blue invader that trespassed on its territory months ago. Similarly to these two, the young invader was able to defeat it and its packmate with ease. Just thinking of the blue invader made it growl in anger, the strange creature it had encountered that day had displayed unnatural abilities, trapping it and its fellow packmates in a sticky web-like substance, the thing even displaying an unnatural amount of strength for a creature of its shape and size.

Looking up, it couldn’t help but wonder what was the connection between the two and the blue invader that stole its meal. All it knew is that the creature’s scent lingered around the two, so it knew they must be part of the same pack. A toothy grin formed as an idea came to mind. If the three were truly a part of the same pack, then it now had the perfect opportunity to get its revenge for the humiliating defeat it had suffered that day. If the invader in front of it happened to be someone important to him, then all the better.

The wooden beast stalked behind the pink invader, once it was satisfied with it's position it crouched down waiting for the perfect opportunity to attack to present itself. The wolf let out a low growl, it's sap-like drool dripping onto the floor as it watched it's packmates fall one by one. The timberwolf didn’t let their deaths affect it, in just a few moments, it would avenge them and strike a blow to the blue creature’s pack.

Cece wiped her forehead as she leaned on her hammer. "Sheesh. These things were more annoying than I thought." She then gave a few of the sticks on the ground a soft kick before picking a couple up and tossing one to Emily, who caught it and began eating it. Cece smiled as she kneeled down and started petting Emily while the fox gladly ate her snack. "Don't see why ponies are so scared of this place. It's not that bad."

Getting up, Cece stretched her arms, glancing up towards the sky. Seeing how late it was getting, she began walking towards the direction she came in, walking past a patch of blue flowers. Hearing a twig snap, she turned her head towards the snapping, letting out a yell as a large timberwolf leapt towards her, causing her to fall backwards onto the patch of blue flowers. The wooden wolf’s claws gripped her shoulders, causing her to hiss as the wooden claws sunk into them. Cece began thrashing around, trying to toss the wolf off of her.

The timberwolf grinned, its sap-like drool falling onto the pink hedgehog’s face. The wolf began snapping its jaws at her, trying to take a bite off of her. Cece continued to move her head out of the way of the creature’s jaws, successfully dodging the wild animal’s attacks.

The timberwolf suddenly let out a howl of pain, a small fireball striking its shoulder, causing it to loosen its grip on Cece. Taking advantage of the opportunity presented to her, she raised her foot up and kicked the timberwolf off of her. Turning towards the small fox that saved her, Cece smiled, quickly petting Emily before she gave the monster her full attention. Picking up her hammer off the ground, she gripped it tightly as she glared at the large wolf, noticing how much larger it was compared to the other ones she was fighting. Besides Cece, Emily growled, her tail bristling the fur in her ears glowing as she began letting out small barks at the monster.

The timberwolf snarled, showing off its wooden teeth to its foes. Looking around, it began looking for an exit, no longer feeling confident of its ability to win without the element of surprise. Quickly turning around, the wolf used it's back legs to kick a cloud of dirt onto the duo, briefly blinding them. Taking advantage of their temporary blindness, the wolf took off, vanishing from the area.

Cece wiped her eyes with the back of her right hand. "Gah! Damn twig!" When she can see again, she kneeled down by Emily, who was trying to get the dirt off her eyes. "Hold still." She pulled out a canteen of water and poured some on her hands before wiping the dirt off the pokemon's face. When she was done, Emily opened her eyes. "Better?"

Emily let out a happy yip before nuzzling Cece, who chuckled in response. "That's good." She then put her hammer away, picked up Emily, and stood up. "Come on. Don't want to worry Tito or Twilight." The young hedgehog then began to leave the forest, not paying any attention to the flower patch as she walked through it.

Author's Note

And finally done. You have no idea how annoying it was to do this chapter. So, Tito has a new pet, a new suit, and everyone can guess what happened with Cece in the end, even if nobody can guess what will happen as a result from it.

AN: Greetings readers! Tis I, the humble and charming co-author, Star709! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, whatever your opinion is, please let us know, we love to read your comments and we love receiving feedback that help us improve.

On a side note, saw the Sonic movie last month. Pretty good in my opinion.

-Dark

Star

58. The Fenrir Mercenaries

Taking a large bite off his sandwich, the costumed human peered at the prison gates through his binoculars. Swallowing the food in his mouth, he frowned and rolled his eyes at the sight of a couple of Thunderbolt members trying to break into the prison a third time. Similar to the other two attempts made earlier, the gang members were immediately spotted and taken down by the prison guards. “Well, it seems like we can’t break in through the sides of the prison either.” He said, catching the attention of his teammates. “Another group of Thunderbolts tried to break into the prison again. This time by cutting through the fence.” He took another bite and continued speaking, his words a bit muffled due to the food in his mouth. “Unfortunately for them, there were a couple of pegasi guards that spotted them from above.”

Valor frowned at Kaito, glaring at him in annoyance. “First off, don't talk with your mouth full, you’ll choke.” Putting on the silver colored guard helmet, she made sure to move her hair through the gap of the helmet, letting her red, curly hair flow out. Once the helmet was on properly, Valor turned on the armor’s charm, causing it to change the color of her white fur into a light blue, and changing the color of her mane to a darker shade of blue. Satisfied that the armor’s charm worked, she continued scolding her partner. “Second, we were never going to try to enter through the sides anyways.” Making her way towards him, she grabbed the binoculars and looked around the prison, taking in every single detail of the building and its surroundings. “Those Thunderbolts are making a mess of things. They’re increasing security and patrols.” She sighed, and gave Kaito back the binoculars. “So much for going in from above.”

“I could teleport us inside?” Garm offered, tightening the straps of his gauntlets. “It’d cost me though. If a fight breaks out, I’ll be more limited.”

Kaito shook his head. “It's best we don’t teleport inside, we don’t want to risk you being low on energy if one of the heroes happen to come.”

Valor nodded. “Agreed. Besides, the light show might alert the guards inside.” Humming in thought, Valor turned back towards the prison and frowned. Crouching down, she waved Kaito over. “Hey, pass me the binoculars really quick.” Upon being given the item, she peered at the prison’s front gate, watching as several guardsmen walked in and out of the prison with no issue. She stared at the guards for a few seconds longer before a smirk formed. “I think I have an idea.”

Kaito smiled, leaning forwards in interest. “Oh? Care to fill us in?”

Handing him back the binoculars, she sat down on the grass and pulled out a notebook, writing down her plans onto the pages. “I will, just as soon as I’m done ironing out the details.”

Nodding, the remaining duo decided to spend their remaining time to rest, seeing no point in doing anything else that could waste energy. The diamond dog hummed, his ears twitching as he overheard the yelling and screaming from the now caught Thunderbolt members. “Those idiots are too loud.” He growled, “They’re like pups, always yapping and seeking attention. Idiots don’t realize that it was all the noise they made that got them into trouble in the first place.”

“Yeah, they don’t seem to be the brightest bunch.” Kaito said, “Wondering if that extends to Shocker too? He’s their leader after all.”

Garm snorted. “For his sake I hope not. However, given how we’re here to break him out of prison, it's likely that he’s no better than them.”

“Well that’s not really fair. Unlike these guys, Shocker wasn’t taken down by a normal.” Kaito added, wagging his finger. “From what I found, he was actually causing a bit of chaos since the authorities couldn’t do anything to him. He’s only here cause of the Spider.”

Garm tisked. “It's like I said, they’re like pups, always yapping. It was because of Shocker making so much noise that the Spider came to Manehatten and dealt with him.” The diamond dog shook his head. “And with the reputation of his gang, I don’t have much hope for this guy’s intelligence.”

“I think I got it!” Valor called out, startling the two. She then turned towards Kaito with an excited grin. “Kaito, do you have your holowatch with you?”

Raising an eyebrow, he pulled the watch out of one of his pouches. “Yeah, why?”

Smirking, she pointed towards the elderly diamond dog. “Because you’re giving it to Garm for the mission.” Seeing the confused expressions of her teammates, she closed the notebook and jumped up from the ground. “Alright then! Listen up boys, because I’m only going to say this once!”

Kaito groaned, glaring at the now blue pegasus behind his mask. “This is never going to work.” He hissed.

Quickly putting away the bandana that covered her face, she smirked at the human behind her. “Of course it will work, I was a member of the Royal Guard before joining you remember?” Valor said, trying to put him at ease. Raising an arm, she patted him on the back. “Just trust me and play along.” She turned back to the large, burly, white earth pony walking besides them. “That goes for you too Sköll!” The disguised diamond dog only grunted.

The trio continued walking towards the front gate with Valor leading them, the mare gripping the briefcase in her hands tightly. The trio ignored the looks they received from the prison guards and only stopped once the guard stationed at the entrance raised his hand.

“Halt! You’re in a restricted area, state your business now.”

Taking a step forward, Valor gave the guardsman a short bow. “Good evening, we’re here to conduct the investigation on Shocker. As stated in the letter that you received, the Spider will be joining us as he is currently the one who was most in contact with the suspect.” She said, gesturing towards Kaito. “We are in a hurry, and would like to begin immediately.”

The guard raised an eyebrow. “A letter? The warden never told us about any letter.”

Valor tilted her head. “Are you sure? We sent the letter twice just in case the first one got lost in the mail.”

The guardsman shook his head and sighed. “I’m sorry, but none of us were informed of any official investigation taking place tonight. I’m afraid I can’t let you in without a word from the warden.”

Valor frowned, and took out her old badge, flashing it to the guardsman. “I must insist that you let us through. We were sent all the way from Canterlot, and Princess Celestia is expecting results.” Tucking the badge away, she gave the guard a pleading look. “At the very least can we talk to the warden to settle the matter?”

The guard frowned, feeling his resistance crumble. “I… suppose I can contact the warden.” He smiled sheepishly. “I wouldn’t want you to have come all this way for nothing.” Stepping aside he opened the front gate and began guiding them towards the prison’s front door.

Valor snuck a quick look towards her human partner and gave him a smug grin. The villainous spider scowled and crossed his arms, ignoring her smug grin. Once they were inside the prison, the guard walked in front of them and gave a short bow. “Please wait here while I go get the warden. If you need anything, please just let the other guards know.” He said, gesturing towards the two guards stationed near them. Seeing that no one was going to say anything, he nodded and walked off.

Kaito began to grumble, crossing his arms as he stared off to where the guard walked off to. “I can’t believe that guard just let us walk in here, or that he accepted your lie so easily.”

“Keep your voice down.” Garm growled as he turned towards the two stone faced guardsmen near them. “We aren’t alone, and we aren’t in the clear yet.”

Before Kaito could respond to the diamond dog, the three of them picked up the echoing sound of a number of ponies walking towards them, and judging by the sound of echoing, it was more than two ponies making their way towards them. The trio stood on edge, Garm slowly inching his hand towards the mechanical club on his belt.

The echoing hoofsteps stopped once the group of guards reached the trio, standing at front was a tall, brown furred, earth pony stallion, he had a strong chin and his white mane was cut short. His most unique feature was his eyes, his left eye colored brown while his right was a dull green. The prison guard didn’t wear any of the standard royal guard armor like the rest. Instead he wore a plain grey officer’s uniform and a pair of black pants. The stoic stallion looked between the three and nodded, clearing his throat to bring everyone’s attention back to him. “My name is Stone Tower, I am the Warden of Ryker’s Island.” He stepped forward, briefly causing the three to stiffen before surprising them with a bow. “Let me be the first to welcome you to my prison. I have heard from Front Line that you were sent by the princess to conduct an investigation on Shocker.”

Valor nodded, stepping up and showing off her badge. “Thank you for taking the time to speak with us Tower, I am Sergeant Gleaming Shield.” She stepped aside and gestured towards the two behind her. “These two with me are Officer Brick and the Spider. The Spider was sent with us as he is currently the one with the most knowledge on the criminal Shocker.”

The Warden hummed, nodding along with what she said. “Yes I suppose it does make sense.” He looked at Kaito and frowned. “So you’re the Spider? I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting you to be so…” He mulled over his words, trying to think of the proper words. “Scrawny.” Kaito crossed his arms, trying his best to not appear offended. Tower chuckled, having seen through the facade. “I don’t mean to offend you Lieutenant Dark, I just expected someone of your reputation to be a bit… muscular and well built. Guess cameras really do add a few pounds.”

The trio’s eyes widened at the new bit info as Garm gripped the handle of the club more tightly. Before anyone else could say something, the warden continued. “I have to say though, is the costume new? I’ve never seen you in the papers with that before.”

To Valor’s surprise, Kaito didn’t flinch or stutter when responding to the warden’s question. “Indeed it is, thank you for noticing.” He joked, chuckling a bit. “My normal costume got a bit too damaged in the last fight I was in, so I had to bring this old thing for the investigation while the normal was getting patched up.” Kaito raised his arm and scratched his head. “I know the colors are a bit edgy and make me look villainous, but I was hoping I could maybe intimidate Shocker with it, it does have a bit of a menacing look to it, don’t you think?”

Tower nodded slowly, narrowing his eyes at the costume a bit. “Indeed it does…” He looked between the three and raised an eyebrow. “Seems to me that one of your usual companions isn’t here today.” He said slowly. “I’m assuming the Hammer of the Guard is too busy up in Canterlot?” The warden asked, his tone sounding almost suspicious.

Valor silently cursed, not believing their bad luck, too much unknown information was now making itself known. Kaito however, continued onward, his voice never wavering. “Ah yes, unfortunately the princesses wanted them to train some of the newer members of the Solar Guard, so they were unfortunately unable to join us.” Valor was once again surprised at how quickly Kaito was able to come up with an excuse, and even though Tower hadn’t revealed the gender of the new unknown, he was successfully able to speak around it with his chosen words.

The warden winced at that. “I see. Lets just hope they survive the night then.” He joked, chuckling lightly. He then clasped his hands, making Valor and Garm jump slightly. “Well then, before I can let you into the facility, would you mind doing me a favor?” He asked, smiling.

Kaito nodded. “Of course, if it's within my power, I’ll do my best to complete it.”

“That's certainly good to hear.” Tower said, his smile widening to the point where his teeth can be seen. “Now, can you remove your mask for me?” The trio stiffened, Garm took a step back, ready to attack the guards in front of him, Valor felt her throat tightened as she nervously turned to look back at Kaito, trying to gauge his reaction.

She was once again taken off guard when he spoke. “Of course, I see no problem with that.” Raising his hands, he grabbed the bottom half of his black mask and began peeling it off, showing off his peach colored skin. Once the mask was removed completely, he looked up at the warden and gave him a smirk. “Tell me, am I as handsome as you thought I’d be?” He joked, his sharp, brown eyes narrowed as he chuckled at his joke.

Tower’s eyes widened in surprise, squinting, he looked closely at the human’s smooth face. Not finding anything there, he looked up at his brown messy hair. Letting out a defeated sigh, he bowed. “Forgive me Lieutenant Dark for being suspicious of you. I can tell now that you must really be the Spider.” He apologized, the guards behind him bowing as well, catching Valor and Garm off guard. Tower then stood up straight, giving the human his full attention. “Recently the Thunderbolts have been attempting to release their leader, and with each failed attempt they only get bolder and craftier, I had to make sure it really was you.”

Kaito waved his waved hand, dismissing the apology. “It's fine, you have nothing to be sorry for, rather I commend you for taking your job seriously.” He gave the warden a salute. “It's good to see someone in charge taking initiative.”

The warden smiled and returned the salute. “Thank you for understanding.” With a small cough his face then returned to stoic visage seen before. “That said, I heard from Front Line that you sent us a letter about the investigation earlier?”

Valor nodded. “Right, we sent you two letters, one in case the first one got lost in the mail. With the case being so important we felt the need of being cautious.”

Tower hummed. “I see, unfortunately I haven’t received any letters as of this time.” He sighed. “That said, I’m afraid protocol dictates that I cannot allow you to begin your investigation without any sort of oficial proof.”

“What? After all that?” Garm cried out, looking rather annoyed.

Tower shot him an annoyed look and continued. “I’m sorry, but my hands are tied.”

Valor gritted her teeth and looked down. Seeing the briefcase she held in her hands, she looked up and gave the warden a pleading expression. “Please Warden, if you just give me a chance to brief you on the investigation, I’m sure you’ll change your mind.” She brought the briefcase up to show it to the warden. “Please, this investigation is absolutely vital.”

Tower sighed, lowering his head as he debated on her request. Dropping his shoulders, he raised his head and gave her a tired look. “Fine, if it's really that important, I’m willing to hear you out.”

Valor smiled, bowing in gratitude. “Thank you.” She looked around and gave him an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, but can I request that we talk about this in your office? The details of this case are not meant to be heard by just anyone.” She looked back at the two with her. “Lieutenant Dark and Officer Brick will stay here, if you don’t think what I have to say is enough, then we’ll go.”

The warden raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t Lieutenant Dark your superior? Shouldn’t he be holding the debriefing?”

Kaito cleared his throat. “Well, while that would normally be the case, I am confident in my subordinate’s ability to inform you of the details. Besides, there is a chance my appearance will agitate the inmates, and that could clue in Shocker about us being here.”

Tower hummed, letting out a sigh, he gave the three a single nod. “Very well then.” He turned around, and waved his hand at Valor, gesturing at her to follow. “Follow me then, the two of you can wait here. Front Line?” The guard saluted, giving the warden his full attention. “Why don’t you keep the Lieutenant and his friend company, I’ll try to get back as soon as I can.”

Valor quickly turned back to Kaito and whispered to him. “You have ten minutes.” As soon as she said that, she quickly made her way to the warden’s side, following him to his office.

Kaito smirked. “Five minutes is all I need.” He boasted, making Garm snort. Once the two were out of sight, he sighed, stretching his arms. Putting on his mask, he glanced at all the guards stationed near him. “Sooo…” He started, catching everyone’s attention. “I don’t suppose one of you would be willing to point me towards Shocker now, would ya?”

Front Line raised an eyebrow, glancing back at the guards next to him. “Umm… Sorry Lieutenant, but we’re not allowed to do anything without the Warden’s say so.”

Kaito sighed, shaking his head. “I was afraid of that.” Behind him, Garm let out a small chuckle. Acting fast, he sprayed Front Line with his webs, completely covering him with webs and leaving him stuck to the wall. Before the other guards could fight back, Garm smacked the closest guard with his club, knocking the guard out cold.

The other three guards backed up, their eyes wide with confusion and anger. “Just what do you think you’re doing?!” One of them yelled. “Even if you were sent by the princesses, do you think they would stand for this?!”

Kaito scoffed, shrugging his shoulders. “I don’t think so, but really who cares what they think.” He announced, shocking the three. “Besides it's not like I’m a member of their little boy scouts.” Extending his wrist, he webbed two of the guards onto the floor, trapping them. “Let me clue you in just who I really am!” Crossing his arms, Kaito leaned back and raised his head, as if to look down on them. “You’re looking at Equestria’s future ruler! The bane to heroes everywhere! The greatest villain this world’s ever known!” He yelled out, spreading his arms out widely. “I am the Scarlet Spider!” Kaito let out a loud laugh, filling the room with his laughter.

Besides him, Garm shook his head at his actions. His head perked up at seeing the remaining guard slowly inch away from them, leaping forward, he clubbed the guard besides the head, knocking him unconscious. “Hey future leader! Why don’t you spend less time goofing off, and more time focusing on the mission?” The diamond dog growled, shutting off the holowatch and getting rid of the earth pony disguise.

Kaito flinched at his words, nodding slowly. “Err… right.” Turning towards the struggling form of Front Line, he made his way towards the bound guard, placing a hand next to his head. “So Front Line, why don’t you do your future king a favor and tell me where Shocker is?”

“I’d never tell you anything imposter!” The guard scowled.

Kaito sighed, pulling his arm back and flicking his wrist, causing a large metal stinger to pop out of his wrist. Smiling, he brought the stinger closer to guard, placing it just on top of his throat. “Why don’t you try again?”

Front Line gulped, looking between the stinger and the villain. “H-he’s at cell block B! C-cell number 27!” He stammered, trying to pull his head away from the dangerous looking stinger.

He smiled. “Your king thanks you.” Retracting his stinger back into his body, he pulled his fist back and punched the guard at his temple, leaving him slipping in and out of consciousness. “So Cell Block C, number 27.” He repeated, turning back towards Garm. “See? I can be focused.” The diamond dog shook his head, ignoring his leader’s words. The two began to run off deeper into the prison, attacking any guard they happened to pass by on the way.

The duo ran in and out numerous cell blocks, ignoring the shouts of the prisoners as they tried to find the correct block. Garm snarled, getting annoyed at the constant shouting from the guards and prisoners, turning towards his partner he let out a loud bark. “Kaito! This is taking too long! The entire prison must know what we’re trying to do now!”

“Shut up!” He yelled back, his frustration getting the better of him. Looking around, he spotted a map at the end of the room and ran towards it, trying his best to find the area that Shocker was locked in. “Just keep the guards distracted while I try to read this map!”

Snorting, the diamond dog turned back towards the group of guards running towards them, all of them were brandishing their weapons. Raising his right arm, he looked carefully at the trio of large golden rings wrapped around it. Letting out a sigh, Garm got down at all fours as he glared at his opponents. “You better hope no heroes come along later.” He growled, putting his club between his jaws as he leapt forward. “MMMFFP! MMFMM!” His speech was muffled and in the blink of an eye, he disappeared, only to reappear behind the rest of the guards, his club on his claws. The guards all stumbled before falling forward, all of them feeling a sharp pain on the back of their head and promptly passed out.

Garm breathed heavily, two of the rings on his right arm began glowing brightly before disappearing, leaving him with only one ring on his right arm, and three more rings on his left. He stumbled a bit when Kaito ran towards him, patting him on the shoulder and then continuing to run. “Found where they’re holding Shocker! Let’s go!” The dog nodded, getting back down on all fours and running towards him, easily being able to keep up with his speed.

Kaito looked down besides him, watching as Garm use his large claws to gain more speed. Moving his head back to look at the fallen guards, he frowned. “How much energy did you lose?”

Garm growled. “Too much, we won’t be able to teleport out of here. Not if we want to be ready in case a hero arrives, and not all four of us.”

He tisked. “Guess we’ll have to find a different means to escape.”

It didn’t take long before the duo reached their destination, spotting a few guards patrolling the area, Kaito nodded at Garm, tilted his head towards the guards. “Take care of them while I find Shocker.” While the diamond dog leapt towards the guardsmen, Kaito ran up the metal stairs, tossing any guards that got in his way off the railings. He stopped suddenly in front of a single occupied cell, spotting a confused brown earth pony with a yellow mane. Kaito smirked behind his mask and gave the confused inmate a bow. “Well if it isn’t Shocker, I have to admit, it was quite the hassle to find you. Thank your lucky stars, because as of today, you are a free pony!” He cried, popping out his wrist and cutting the bars of the cell, leaving him an opening big enough for the prisoner to crawl out of.

Kaito’s eyes widened as his spider senses went off, forcing him to duck an incoming punch from the now freed prisoner. Going off a second time, he jumped away from Shocker, creating some distance between them.

The earth pony gritted his teeth. “I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing here Spider, but if you think I’m thanking you for freeing me, you have another thing coming!” He yelled, running towards Kaito and throwing another punch.

Kaito quickly caught the incoming fist and held him there. “Now, now, Shocker, you shouldn’t be so hasty now! Just take a closer look at me and you’ll see I’m not the Spider.” He quickly caught the other fist and growled. “Listen here oaf! I’m not the Spider! I’m the Scarlet Spider!” He pushed him away and quickly gestured towards the costume. “Look! We look completely different, heck I bet we sound different too!” The earth pony slowly lowered his fist in confusion, really looking at the man who saved him. Seeing that he was now pacified, Kaito quickly struck a pose that had him crossing his arms and covering his left eye with his right hand. “I see that you have finally come to your senses. Rejoice peon, for I, the Scarlet Spider, was contracted by the one you know as the Kingpin to come and free you!” Seeing his eyes widen, Kaito laughed. “You truly are fortunate to have such a caring employer.”

Shocker crossed his arms, scoffing. “‘Caring’, yeah right.” He shook his head and then gave Kaito a shaky grin. “So you’re here to break me out then?” Seeing him nod, he chuckled. “Excellent, so what are we waiting for? Let’s get out of here!”

Kaito raised his arm up and waved his finger, as if to scold him. “Not so fast my friend, we still need to find a way out of here.”

Shocker’s jaw dropped. “You mean to tell me you’re stuck here too?!” He groaned and facepalmed. “What kind of idiot are you?!”

Scowling, Kaito flicked the pony’s nose, causing Shocker to step back and glare. “I’m not stuck here, you are. Thing is, we can’t exactly use the escape method I was planning to use anymore, so we’ll have to come up with a new plan to escape.”

Shocker nodded, impatiently looking back and forth. “Alright then, any ideas?”

Kaito looked around the cell block, watching Garm toss around multiple guardsmen as numerous prisoners cheered and hissed. Watching the prisoners, he smiled as a plan began to form in his head. “Yeah I think I have one.” He turned back towards Shocker. “What do you say about getting some revenge on the guards?”

Shocker grinned.

The door to warden’s office slammed wide open, revealing a panicked guard. “Sir! The prisoners have all escaped! There’s a riot goin on!”

The warden slammed his hands on his desk, causing a few papers to fly off his desk. “WHAT?!” He yelled. “How did this happen?! Who’s responsible for this?!”

Valor sighed in relief, her shoulders drooping as she got up from her seat. “That’s my que. Took him long enough.” She quickly grabbed the shock baton attached to her belt and jabbed it at the warden’s stomach. Tower cried out in pain as he was electrocuted, leaving the shock baton there for a few more seconds, she let the pony drop to the floor unconscious. Valor raised an eyebrow. “Huh, that actually worked. Doubt it works as well on pegasi.” She commented turning towards the cowering guard. “Sorry bud, but I have a job to do.”

The guard cried out in pain as he too was electrocuted.

All around the prison complex prisoners rampaged. Many of them were making their way to the exit, desperate to free themselves, a few of them had stayed behind to free others, while a noticeable portion of them stayed behind to destroy the prison and attack the guards in an act of revenge.

Shocker let out a booming laugh, a lead pipe was in his hands as he smashed some of the objects in front of him. The earth pony patted the costumed human in the back. “You’re alright Scarlet! Much better than that other Spider! If you’re ever in Manehattan again, drinks are on me!”

Garm snorted, continuing to run ahead. “I doubt twig here can handle liquor.”

Kaito sputtered, feeling rather offended. “Hey, you don’t know that!” He glared at Garm, moving past all of the rampaging prisoners, focusing on the task at hand. Noticing a group of prisoners crowding around something, he stopped, ignoring Shocker’s shouts. Moving his head, he tried to get a good look at what the prisoners were surrounding, only being able to spot a blue mane between them. Figuring that they were surrounding a single guard, Kaito stepped in, pushing away the pony closest to him so he could get a better look. Just as he was about to shout at the prisoners, he stopped, noticing the silver armor of the guard.

Valor scowled, glaring at the prisoners around her, two of them were already on the ground twitching. “Took you long enough.” She said, glancing at Kaito before jabbing another earth pony with her shock baton. “Can you kindly tell these idiots to buzz off? They don’t seem to get that I’m not actually a guard.”

Kaito nodded, standing between her and the rest of the prisoners. “She’s right.” He said, crossing his arms as he glared at the thugs. “Valkyrie here is with me, and if you want to get out of this prison then I suggest you stop wasting time with the guards before the heroes show up and catch us all!” The thugs all took a step back, glancing at each other before nodding and taking off. Seeing the thugs run off, he looked back at Valor and nodded. “Thanks for keeping the warden distracted. I assume he didn’t give you too much trouble?”

Valor shook her head. “Nope, he was quite the gentlecolt, at least until you broke all the prisoners out.” She then smirked, and playfully punched his shoulder. “By the way, it took you seven minutes to break him out, not five.”

Kaito rolled his eyes. Before he could say anything, both Garm and Shocker ran up to him, the earth pony taking a step back when he spotted Valor. Raising a hand, Kaito stopped Shocker from attacking his partner. “She’s with us.”

Valor turned towards the earth pony next to him. “You must be Shocker, I’m Valkyrie.” She tossed him the briefcase in her hands and watched him open it. “Your boss hired us to free you.”

Shocker’s eyes widened, a laugh escaping his mouth as he took out his mask. “Yeah, your partner told me all about it.” Putting on the mask, he took out his two gauntlets and put them on. Clenching the mechanical fist, he grinned. “It feels good to be back. So are we going to sit here all day or what?”

Valor raised an eyebrow. “You’re not going to put on the rest of your costume?”

“I will, after we get out of here.”

Garm hummed, glancing at the earth pony in surprise. “A smart choice, the longer we wait, the more we risk the heroes arriving.”

The four of them then took off towards the exit, pushing past any of the prisoners that were in the way. The four slammed open the prison’s door just in time to see a group of guards try to block off their way to the front door.

Smirking behind his mask, Shocker jumped forward, raising his two gauntlets and smashing them onto the ground in front of the guardsmen, creating a massive shockwave that blew away everything next to him.

Picking himself up from the ground, Shocker took a step back and stared at his gauntlets. “Whoa, a little stronger than I remember.” He said, chuckling at the end.

“The Tinkerer upgraded your gauntlets’ power. Said you’ll need them if you meet up with the Spider again.” Valor said, catching up to him.

He stared at his gauntlets for a second longer before clenching them. Throwing his clenched fist into the air, he laughed. “The Spider better watch out! Because the next time we meet, I’m going to squish him like a bug!”

“Sorry boys, but there isn’t going to be a next time!” The four of them didn’t have to wonder who had spoken up for too long, as an orange and blue blur quickly came in swinging from a web, kicking Shocker back onto the ground. Spreading her wings, the costumed vigilante landed softly on the ground, glaring at the villains. The three mercenaries tensed up, recognizing just who had attacked Shocker.

The elderly dog growled, gripping his mechanical club tightly. “We took too long.”

Valor pressed down on the button of her baton, the weapon on her hand then hummed to life, the forked end sparking wildly. “I was hoping to be out of here before any of those heroes arrived.”

Smiling behind his mask, Kaito couldn’t help but feel excited about seeing the vigilante. He was a villain after all, and what's a villain without a hero around to try and stop them? “Now now, there isn’t any need to panic. We were bound to run into the heroes sooner or later.” He said, standing in front of the two. “Besides, it's not like we weren’t prepared in case this happened. And in case you forgot, including Shocker, there’s four of us.” Kaito then glared, smirking behind his mask. “And just one of her.”

The two mercenaries nodded slowly, their confidence slowly rising as they glared at their opponent. Standing in front of the mercenaries, was Manehatten’s newest hero, Toxin.

Lightning raised an eyebrow, her "mask" matching the expression as she crossed her arms. "Well, isn't this something. A copycat, a guard pony, and a large wolf guy along with the loud dumbass."

"Anything to know about these guys?" Lightning mentally asked Toxin.

"Only one I recognize is the lookalike. If memories serves, he has similar powers as daddy, albeit not as good, and metal spikes from his wrists."

"Works for me." Lightning then cracked her knuckles. "So, is there a reason you 3 are here? Or do I need to deal with more pests than expected?"

“Why I’m not sure what you mean.” Kaito said, shrugging. “We’re just trying to help. Shocker’s friends and family were so worried for him, and being the bleeding heart I am, I simply had to reunite them.”

"Wow. And I thought that Element Of Honesty mare I heard about sucked at lying," Lightning said, laughing. "Please. The cops did a background check on the guy when he got locked up the first time. He has no family who gives a damn about him and his only "friends" are a bunch of idiots in his gang. So I'll make this simple. Either you all turn yourselves in right now." She then took a fighting stance. "Or I beat the shit out of you till you break. Your choice."

Kaito hummed, tapping his chin as if he was honestly thinking about her offer. “A tempting offer, really. But here’s a better one.” Grabbing the shock baton attached to his belt, he turned the weapon on, causing the forked end of the weapon to cackle with electricity. “We all know about your weakness to electricity, and the true nature of your powers. So why don’t you step aside, or else that symbiote of yours finds a new home with our employer.”

Lightning raised an eyebrow again. "So you know about her." Lightning shrugged. "Meh. I never was one who did the smart thing. Though you aren't very bright yourself if you think we'll run off because of a stick." She immediately shot a web at Kaito's baton, pulled it from Kaito's hand and caught it herself before snapping it on the wall. "So, I'm just gonna guess that you selected the second option."

Kaito stared at the destroyed baton in horror. Grinding his teeth, he glared at the bonded duo. “What’s the big idea?!” He shouted, clenching his fist. “Do you have any idea how much that will cost to replace?!” Shaking his head, he pushed the thought aside, trying to focus on the mare in front of him. “Guess you’ll have to pay us back with that symbiote of yours. I hope you aren’t too attached.” Reaching into his belt, he took out a small black blaster, a transparent glass along the hand grip showed off the glowing blue battery. “Fenrir! Attack!” He shouted, pulling the trigger of his weapon and firing off multiple bolts of energy at her.

Leaping towards her right, the hero dodged the incoming bolts with ease. Without wasting a single second, Lightning quickly darted towards Kaito, pulling her fist back as she prepared to punch him. She suddenly pulled back, avoiding the incoming fist from Kaito. Leaning to her left, she dodged another punch from him before throwing one of her own.

Feeling his spider-sense go off, Kaito quickly jumped back, avoiding her punch. Besides him, Garm let out a vicious growl, leaping towards the hero and managing to tackle her to the ground.

Pulling his arm back, Garm slashed Lightning across the face with his claws. He snarled as he continued the savage attack two more times before being thrown back by her. The hero clenched her teeth as she quickly got up and leapt backwards, trying to distance herself from the villainous trio.

As Garm got back up, Valor darted towards the hero, taking out a second baton and switching it on. The ex-guardmare delivered quick jabs aimed at the hero’s stomach. Unfortunately for her, the hero was too fast for her to land the blows, as Lightning combined her natural reflexes with her spider-sense to dodge the attacks.

Spinning around Lightning’s punch, Valor gripped her second baton and jabbed her side, causing Lightning to scream out in pain for a brief second before she jumped away from the mercenary.

The bonded hero was given no time to rest however as a bright flash of green light went off behind her. Before her senses could warn her, she felt a sharp pain at the back of her head, causing her to drop to the floor. Looking back to what hit her, she saw the elderly dog standing over her, a smirk on his face. Raising his foot, the dog tried to stomp on her back, only for Lightning to quickly roll away. Jumping back onto her feet, she quickly slugged the dog across his face, causing him to stumble backwards. Taking advantage of the new opportunity, Lightning quickly stepped forward, and using all of her strength, she landed another blow onto Garm’s stomach, hoping her super strength would be enough to put the dog out of the fight.

Her eyes widened in shock when the dog’s entire body was suddenly covered in a golden aura, which cracked and broke apart, causing the rings on him to phase out of his arms and scatter in random directions.

Garm’s eyes shot wide open as he began to panic. Turning towards his partners, he called out towards them. “Ka- Scarlet! Valkyrie! I can’t lose those rings!”

The two nodded, darting towards the hero to buy their ally time. Figuring that the rings were important, Lightning darted towards the closest one to her, just as she was about to grab it, a string of web from Kaito pulled her arm back. Kaito grinned behind his mask. “Why officer, I would’ve thought someone like you knew better than to take something that doesn’t belong to you.” Before Lightning could respond, she was pulled away from the fallen rings, being dragged towards Kaito by his webs.

Gritting her teeth, Lightning Dust flexed her hands, sharpening them into claws. Using her new claws, she cut the webs that were dragging her back, freeing herself. Feeling her spider-sense go off again, she quickly rolled to her side, avoiding the large metal gauntlet that slammed onto the ground she was at earlier. Jumping back onto her feet, she took a step back and glared at the escaped prisoner.

Shocker smirked, slamming his fist into his open palm. “Didn’t forget about me did you?”

The pair let out a growl. "That's it!" A moment later, the mask split into a mouth as multiple tendrils shot out from their back and grabbed Kaito, Shocker, and Valor by the torso before squeezing them very tight and slamming all three of them into the floor and ceiling a couple of times. "You and your friends are really annoying us, toothpick." They said to the masked human. "Can't say I didn't warn you."

Kaito gritted his teeth. “Why does everyone keep fixating on how thin I am? I can’t be that scrawny!” He hissed to himself, his annoyance briefly overriding the pain. Looking around for the diamond dog, he spotted Garm a few feet away grabbing the last ring. “Hey Sköll! Anytime you're ready, feel free to join us!”

The diamond dog ignored his partner’s cries, quickly counting them all to make sure he had them all equipped. Satisfied, he turned back towards his struggling teammates, darting his head around as he struggled to find an opening. “Scarlet! I can’t blast her when you’re all so close to her, you’ll be caught in the explosion!”

“Oh well I’m sorry!” Kaito yelled out, yelping when Toxin squeezed him again. “But we can’t exactly help it right now!” He gritted out, thrashing around as he tried to free himself.

Valor scowled, struggling to keep her eyes opened as she glanced at Garm. “Sköll! You have to get mad!” She let out a cry as she was thrown into the ceiling again. “Don’t worry about us! Just get mad!”

"Mad?" Toxin muttered in Lightning's head. "No… Can't be talking about that…"

Before Lightning can ask what she meant, the diamond dog threw his club to the side, the echoing clanging of the metal club hitting the wall catching her attention. Garm scowled as he tried once again to find an opening, not wanting to rely on the monster once more. Not being able to successfully think up a way to free his team without hurting them, he let out a shaky sigh.

“I hope you know what you’re doing.” He growled, his breathing becoming strained. Quickly taking off his spiked gauntlets, he bent over, his mouth curling into a snarl as his body began to bulge. Growling in discomfort, the diamond dog’s growing body ripped apart the vest he wore, his spiked collar snapping as his body became too big for it. The grey fur covering his body stiffened, becoming almost like spikes as they turned into a dull bronze color.

The diamond dog stumbled backwards, growling and snarling to himself as his body continued to grow. Letting out a roar, he slammed his overgrown claws onto the ground as if to vent his anger. Now at 9 feet tall, the giant diamond dog towered over everyone in the room, the giant had to slouch down to stop his head from hitting the ceiling.

The dog’s large red eyes narrowed as it stared at the hero in front of it, glancing at who the hero had trapped in her tendrils, it growled. “You hurt Sköll’s friends? You hurt Red?!” His voice was now much deeper, his words almost coming out as growls. “Sköll will smash you!” He roared, slamming his giant fist onto the floor under him, filling it with cracks and causing bricks to fly up in the air.

Lightning immediately jumped away from the transformed diamond dog and landed a few feet above ground on a nearby wall, Toxin immediately retreating her tendrils back into her and reverting the mask back to normal since all their anger changed to panic.

"Toxin, you have any advice?"

"Golden rings, red eyes, anger… This can be one of 2 things. And none of which is good for us."

"Then what do we do?!"

Toxin stayed silent for a moment before sighing in Lightning's mind. "I'm sorry." Immediately after that, Lightning suddenly felt her arm thrust out and her body swinging away from the criminals without her control.

Sköll roared, leaping after them, the mutated canine looked around for the two. Not being able to spot the fleeing hero, he let out one more roar as a warning, the walls and ceiling vibrating from the intensity of the roar. “Puny pony.” Snorting, the giant diamond dog turned back, making his way towards the three villains.

Shocker crawled away from the giant dog, his eyes wide in panic. “W-” He broke into a series of coughs, using one of his hands to clench his stomach, still feeling the pain of Toxin’s tendrils. “What in Tartarus is that?!” He yelled.

The giant dog used his massive claw to push the prisoner away, ignoring his protest. Crouching, Sköll looked down at the coughing human. “Red.” It growled, catching the attention of the human. “Red okay?”

Kaito coughed a few more times, giving the massive dog a thumbs up. “I’m good, I’m good.” He shakingly got up, crouching down to cough a few more times. “You’re a good dog Sköll, thanks.” Taking a deep breath, he turned towards Valor. “Val, how are you doing?”

“I’m fine.” She said, gritting her teeth. “Definitely going to feel that in the morning.” Getting up, she turned towards the giant dog and smiled. “Thank you Sköll, you did good.”

Sköll nodded, turning towards Shocker, his red eyes narrowing. “Who’s he?”

Kaito raised his hand, getting in between the two. “He’s a friend, and we’re here to break him out. Right now we need to get out of here, can you help us?” As Kaito talked to the diamond dog, Valor grimaced, trying her best to pick up Garm’s discarded items.

Sköll hummed, looking between the three for a second before nodding. Reaching over, he picked up Kaito, setting him down on top of his shoulders. Picking up the other two, he set them down on his back and got down on all fours. “Where does Sköll go?”

Kaito grinned, “Just go forward, I’ll tell you when to stop.”

Nodding, the diamond began running, when he reached the exit, the giant dog simply ran through the wall, breaking the wall and causing bricks to fly everywhere. Sköll continued to run past all of the prisoners running around the facility and guards, he ignored the cries of protest from both sides as he continued to run on all fours. The searchlights from the watchtowers were no longer able to track the giant’s form as he continued running. His fur glowed slightly, as bronze dust began to peel off of it. By the time his bronze colored fur turned back to normal, the four criminals had already left the island.

Thrashing around, the short yellow pegasus pony scowled at the guardsmen in front of him. His legs kicked the air wildly as he tried to free himself. “Hey let us go!”

Besides him, a large green earth pony growled, trying his best to toss the group of guards restraining him. “Yeah! You can’t treat us this way! We have rights!”

Tower sighed, resting a hand on his stomach where the false guard attacked him earlier. Glaring at the two Thunderbolts he scowled. “How many more escapees did we catch?”

Stone Wall looked down on the list and frowned. The earth pony guardsman sighed and shook his head. “Only about twenty of them sir.”

Tower scowled. “Damnit.” He cursed, turning around as he glared at the empty cages of the cell block. “Just put those idiots back into their cells.” Turning to one of the other free guards, he waved one of them over. “How many of our men did we recover?”

“About half of everypony stationed here sir.” The pegasus guard grimaced. “Though I have to add, a good number of the guards we found were beaten pretty badly, most of them unconscious. The ones who were fine have been sent out in teams to try to recover the escapees and to try to find any more guards who are in need of help.”

The warden cursed, slamming his fist onto the wall. “The Spider played us for fools.” He growled, clenching his fist. “Just how has he been working with the Thunderbolts.” Tower shook his head. “No, Shocker is an idiot. If anything it's more likely that the Thunderbolts have been working for him.” He grimaced and shook his head again. “This whole thing doesn’t make any sense.”

The warden paced around the room, his expression shifting through stoic and anger as he continued to try to make sense of the problem he was facing. He stopped suddenly, turning his head towards an empty prison cell. Cautiously moving towards the cell, his eyes narrowed when he spotted an odd shadow crawling against the wall.

Turning back, he waved towards one of the guards. “Stone Wall, tell me. Do you see that?” He asked, pointing at the flat shadow crawling around every flat surface in the room.

Stone Wall stepped closer, his eyes narrowing as he tried to get a better look at the strange shadow. “Yeah… what is that?” He questioned, stepping into the cage. As if sensing the pony was in the same room with it, the shadow crawled towards him, stopping as soon as it was in front of him.

Suddenly the shadow began pulling itself off the ground, causing the two ponies to take a step back in surprise. The creature's body was pitch black and small, with two small antennas that hung limply in front of its face. Raising its head, the creature’s beady yellow eyes stared at the two guards in front of it. Crouching, the shadow leapt towards Stone Wall, its claws reaching for him.

Author's Note

The third Fenrir chapter. And the one that actually shows what they can do.

AN: Hello everyone, Star709 here! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! If you did or didn't, please let us know why in the comments. I'd also like to thank Dark for all of his help in keeping me on track and helping me whenever I got stuck, which was often. Hope you all enjoyed seeing the Fenrir Mercenaries in action, I sure did enjoy writing them.

So yeah, Fenrir busted out Shocker as well as most of the Ryker inmates, fought Lightning and Toxin, and then there's that final scene. Pretty insane chapter overall. No idea when 59 will come out but nonetheless, hope you all enjoy the the last 2 chapters.

-Dark

Star

59. Blooming Rose

Dark leaped towards his left, barely avoiding the rainbow-colored blur from tackling him. Upon landing, he quickly spun around, shooting a string of webs from both of his wrists towards the blue pegasus, trying his best to bind her.

Rainbow Dash flew up towards the air, dodging the two strings of webs heading towards her. Curving downwards, she flew down towards Dark, both of her arms were stretched out to grab him. Only for Dark to dodge her again.

As the two continued their spar, Bri and Screwball watched from the sides, the two of them being rather impressed with how much the two have improved from the last time they sparred. The Riolu then raised its paws in the air, cheering the two on in their fight.

"You know, this is rather dumb," Venom said inside Dark's mind.

"What?"

"The two of you sparring so much. It's counterproductive."

"How-" Before Dark could finish his reply, he was suddenly sucker punched by Rainbow. Upon scoring the hit, the blue pegasus pumped her fist in the air and gave out a loud shout in excitement.

"Ha. Too slow Tito."

Dark simply rolled his eyes. "Yeah, lucky shot taken while I was dealing with Venom…" he muttered, just low enough that she didn't hear. After that, they resumed their fighting.

"I'm just saying you should probably spar with your pokemon or even Cece."

Upon hearing his sister's name, Dark immediately let his mind wander, letting his spider-sense control his movements as he started thinking about the previous night, with Cece coming back with some minor wounds and slashes on her. While she said she was fine, he couldn't help but worry about her. Even when not fighting anything serious and with Emily by her side, she still got hurt.

While Dark was busy thinking about his sister, none of the two fighters noticed a brief flash of pink light coming from one of Dark's pockets. Being warned by his spider-sense to dodge, Dark quickly leaped towards the air, avoiding the pegasus as she flew right where he was. Suddenly, Dark began to notice the pink glow spreading all over his body, before he could do anything about it, he was forced to curl up and was forcibly thrown towards Rainbow Dash. The pegasus could do nothing as she stood there and gaped at the strange attack before she was suddenly tackled by the ball-shaped Dark.

Dark immediately uncurled himself and stood up, looking at his body in complete shock. "Okay… That was unexpected…"

"What was that?" Rainbow asked as she got back on her hooves, feeling rather weak for a few moments while her body healed from the attack.

"I-I have no idea." Dark placed a hand on his head, under his hood.

"Did you seriously turn into a ball?"

"Apparently…"

"Well, didn't see that coming," Screwball commented as she and Bri stepped towards them. "When did you learn the Homing Attack?"

The two fighters blinked. "The what?" Rainbow asked.

"Did you just say Homing Attack?" Dark questioned.

"You know what that is?"

"It's a Sonic move. While he's in the air he can zoom towards an enemy from afar while...curled…up…" After explaining that his eyes widened. "Well holy shit. I did just use the Homing Attack."

"So is that another thing you gave yourself, or…"

"No. Nothing related to Sonic was in mind when I made the DarkSpider character. So I have no idea how I did it."

"Maybe that glowing had something to do with it," Screwball suggested.

"Glowing?" Dark asked before remembering the glow he saw before he did the move. "Right. What about it?"

"Something in your pocket was glowing pink before you did the move. There anything special?"

Dark shrugged before pulling out the only two items in his pockets, his chaos gem and Kairi's token. "These are it."

"There a chance it's the token?" Rainbow asked. "I mean, Link's token can turn you into a wolf. Maybe Kairi's has something to do with that homing thing."

Dark sighed. "I don't know. I'd need to ask her myself and I rather not summon her for something so minor."

"Why don't you just call her?" Screwball pointed out. "I did upgrade her phone to get calls from you, remember?"

Dark blinked. "Okay. I'll give that a shot. But I left my phone in my room. So, see you later?" He asked Rainbow.

The pegasus sighed. "Sure. Heck, probably should check up on Tank anyway. See ya Tito." And with that, she spread her wings and took off.

Dark hummed before shaking his head and picking up Bri. He then turned to Screwball. "Are you coming or do you have plans?"

Screwball shrugged. "Might wander around. Get more familiar with the town. Talk to you later." She then disappeared in a flash of light.

Dark nodded at the area the filly previously was before heading back to the castle.

(???)

“This… Isn’t my room…” I thought out loud, as I noticed the large crystal walls and floors below the bed. My eyes narrowed as I tried to remember how I got here. “In fact, I don’t remember even falling asleep…” Carefully, I stepped out of the bed, only to let out a hiss when my feet touched the floor. I stumbled around for a few seconds before grabbing the bed next to me for support. “Why does my body feel so sore?” I complained, deciding to just stand there for a few seconds to get used to the soreness. “I feel like I went full round against Knuckles.” Letting out a sigh, I began walking towards the door.

Suddenly I stopped, my eyes locking with the small, sleeping fox-like creature next to the bed. The small fox yawned cutely, and stretched out its feet. Opening its eyes, the two of us made eye contact before she let out a small bark and jumped towards me, stopping right in front of me.

Looking at the small creature, my heart couldn’t help but melt. “Aww, aren’t you just the cutest thing!” I cooed, picking up the small fox and holding it tightly against my chest. The small fox looked briefly confused for a second before it yipped happily, nuzzling against me. I continued to shower the small fox with affection before I remembered about my situation. Giving the fox a suspicious look, I briefly wondered if it had anything to do with it. “Say, you wouldn’t happen to be the one who brought me here are you?”

The fox only tilted its head in response, looking even more confused than before. “Fen?”

I smiled, petting the fox. “Nah, nothing this cute could possibly be evil.” Carefully putting the fox down, I walked back to the room’s exit, finding it to be surprisingly unlocked. “Huh. Whoever my kidnapper is, they must be pretty new at this. That, or Eggman’s finally slipping.”

Stepping out of the room, I walked down the hallways for a minute before I heard the small pitter-patter of tiny feet. Turning around, I spotted the yellow fox running after me. Stopping once it caught up to me, the fox yipped, tilting its head at me in worry. Smiling softly, I reached down to give it a comforting pet. “Oh right, how selfish of me. You must be trapped here too. Well come on then.” I gestured at her to follow me. “We should get out of here before any of Eggman’s stooges find us.”

The fox shot me an even more worried look, hesitating for a moment before following after me. The poor thing was likely worried about running into whoever or whatever captured her. Not that the little cutie had anything to worry about with a Freedom Fighter around!

Looking around the castle’s hallways, it soon became apparent to me that practically everything in the castle was seemingly filled with crystals, something that really put me on edge. Summoning my hammer, I gripped it tightly, slowing down my walking speed. “Crystal pillars, and crystal walls… There’s only one troll I know who's this obsessed with crystals.” I frowned in worry, looking around for any sign of the elderly wizard. “But Naugus is still with GUN right? He shouldn’t be able to escape, especially not so soon.” I mumbled, taking a look back at the fox as suspicion started to fill me again. Naugus was a shapeshifter, it wouldn’t be too out there for him to turn into something to gain my trust…

The fox smiled happily when it saw me looking at it, letting out a happy bark.

Instantly all of my suspicion disappeared. Internally I couldn’t help but laugh at how paranoid I was being, 'Like Naugus could turn into something so adorable, it likely just got caught up in the whole thing!'

Stopping in front of the tall, glass-covered, wooden door, I carefully looked around the hallway before cautiously opening the door. On the other side of the door was what appeared to be a bedroom, with a nightstand next to the bed that had two rather large books. On the other side of the room was a small shelf, filled with books, and a telescope right next to it. Looking around the room one more time, I couldn’t help but frown. “Well… This doesn’t really look like a room that belongs to an ancient troll wizard…”

I sighed, reaching for my communicator. My eyes widened when I couldn’t find it, “I know I have it in here!” Searching for it one more time, I gulped when it became clear that it was no longer with me. “Alright, if there were any doubts that this was a kidnapping, then this clears it all up.”

Stepping out of the room, I looked around the hallways. Satisfied with it being empty, I scooped up the small fox and began walking towards the opposite direction from where I came from, hoping to find an exit before Naugus could find me.

I stopped, my eyes widening as I came face to face with someone else in the castle, standing in front of me was a human wearing blue clothing. In his arms was what appeared to be a young black and blue canine-like creature in an identical outfit, with its hood down, revealing its puppy-like face with brilliant red eyes, staring at me with a confused look.

"Morning," the human said with a small wave. "Sleep well?"

I blinked in confusion, being caught off guard by the casual greeting. “Umm. Yeah, I slept pretty well.” I responded hastily.

"You feeling alright? You had me worried last night."

I forced out a laugh, trying to not let my confusion show. “Oh yeah I’m feeling great! Really, there’s nothing to worry about with me.” I looked around, trying to spot an exit. I slowly inched away from the two. “Now if you'll excuse me, I really need to go now. Thanks for worrying about me, and I’ll see you later.”

Before I could leave, however, the small pup immediately leaped out of his arms and ran to me before stopping right in front of me, the confused look still in its face as it tilted its head.

I stared at the small pup before looking up at the human, my smile becoming shakier. “What’s it doing?”

The human scratched the back of his head through his hood. "No idea. She's never acted like this before." He then shrugged. "Maybe she wants to spend time with her aunt. You guys don't really hang out that often now that I think of it." A moment later, he looked to his right and said nothing for a few seconds before saying, "Makes sense." He then turned to me. "Mind watching her for a bit? I need to get my phone and call Kairi. A rather surprising development just came up that she might know something about."

“Umm… Sure? I can watch her.” I nodded, feeling rather lost at the moment.

"Thanks." He then walked to the pup and knelt down to pet her head, to which she gave a happy yip to. "Be good, okay Bri?" The pup gave a smiling nod and hugged him in response, to which he returned with a laugh. When he let go, he stood back up. "Well, see ya later Cece." And with that, he left without another word.

Absentmindedly waving at him, I turned down to look at the pup and gave her a shaky grin. “This is starting to feel less like a kidnapping, and more of a case of mistaken identity,” I mumbled, reaching down to pet the small pup. “On the plus side, Naugus must still be in prison, and I won’t have to deal with that creep again.” I sighed, scratching the back of my head.

The pup made a small noise while pointing at me, which seemed to confuse the fox I had with me, causing it to look at me the same way as it.

Looking back up, I glanced at the multiple hallways before me. Turning back towards the pup, I gave her a small smile. “Hey… So I’m pretty sure you know what’s going, or at least have some idea... Any chance you can help me navigate this place? The castle is pretty big, and I’m kinda lost here.”

The pup simply tilted her head before smiling and emitting a happy yip.

(Twilight’s Castle, Dark’s POV)

Pushing open the tall wooden door, I walked inside the spacious room, looking around for my phone. Spotting the phone laying on the nightstand right next to a resting Peter and Shoto, I walked towards it and grabbed it as Shoto flew up and perched himself on my head again.

"Are we really sure this'll work?" I asked, looking towards Venom and ignoring the bird.

Venom shrugged. "Only one way to find out right?"

I shrugged in response. After unlocking my phone, I went through the contacts til I found Kairi. After clicking her name to call her, I put the phone to my ear as I waited before hearing a click.

“Hello?”

“Holy crap it works,” I said in shock.

“Tito? Is that you?”

“Hey Kairi, how have you been?”

“Uh, the same as I was yesterday when you were here. You act like… Wait a moment, I forgot that time works differently between universes…”

“Only a day for you? Yeah, been longer for me. Quite a few things have happened on my end…” I muttered as I remembered what happened at the rock farm.

“Oh? Did something happen with your Keyblade?”

“No. It's fine. Though that dream I had that night was unexpected.”

“Did it have anything to do with a stained glass floor in a dark void?”

“Uh-huh. Pretty much. And apparently the others had it too. Take it you know about it? I remember it was in the first Kingdom Hearts game and you said you're an expert on those games.”

“That’s right, what you have just experienced is the Dive to the Heart. Basically, it’s your Keyblade getting a feel for you. In the games, the Dive to the Heart acts as the tutorial for the basic gameplay, while also revealing the character of Sora, or whoever the playable character of the game happens to be.”

"Then how did you enter it?" I whispered to Venom.

"It wasn't very hard. Ask her. She might know."

I sighed before saying to Kairi, “Any way for someone else to end up in one's dive?”

After a brief moment of silence, she said, “Well, in terms of the lore for the series, there was no mention of anyone else showing up during a Dive. Why do you ask?”

“I ended up having a...visitor, for lack of a better word,” I said as I looked at Venom.

Kairi was silent again for a few moments. “Was your ‘visitor’ Venom, by any chance?”

"Very subtle Tito," Venom said.

“Shut up,” I whispered to him before telling Kairi, “Yeah, pretty much.”

“I’m pretty sure I know what’s going on here. In Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep, for the final boss of the character Ventus, the entire battle takes place within a Dive. However, that was only possible because the final boss, Vanitas, was intricately linked to Ventus’s heart. I believe something similar is going on here with you and Venom. Because he originally came from you, your hearts are inextricably linked, allowing him to participate in your Dive.”

“Wait, I heard that name before. Vanitas…”

"Delsin mentioned that he got his darkness powers from a Vanitas Displaced. Even mentioned Birth By Sleep too."

I nodded as I remembered. “Oh right. Anyway, what do you mean our hearts are linked?”

“It’s exactly what it sounds like. Your heart is a part of his, and his heart is a part of yours.”

“Doesn't that mean the hearts of the other symbiotes are a part of me too?”

“Yes, but in a different way,” She explained. “They can’t intrude on your Dive, because they haven’t bonded to you. Venom on the other hand, has bonded to you.”

“So besides entering my dive, does that mean anything?”

“From a lore perspective, not really, since the only example we have to draw on is the battle between Ventus and Vanitas. We’ll need to wait and see to know for certain. In any case, was there anything else you were calling about? It seemed like you had something else on your mind before we went down that bunny trail.”

“Yeah. You know your token?”

“Yes, what about it?”

I pulled it out of my pocket with my free hand and looked at it. “Does it have anything special about it besides the summoning?”

“Not that I’m aware of, unless the Merchant did something to it when he put it in my bag. Why do you ask?”

“Screwball said she saw it glowing while I was sparring with Rainbow. Figured you might know what that was about.”

“Wait, did you happen to use an ability that you don’t normally use in combat? Like, an ability someone else usually uses?”

I nodded, though I guess to nobody in particular. “Apparently I did something that looked similar to the Homing Attack.”

"What you just did is called a Dimension Link, or D-Link for short. Basically, it allows the user to borrow the abilities and skills of another person that they have created a strong bond with. Somehow my token acts in the same way as the Wayfinders from Birth by Sleep.”

“And you weren't aware of that?”

“No. In the games, Kairi’s lucky charm is just that, a lucky charm. No powers or abilities attached to it.”

I raised an eyebrow at that. “Then why is yours different from hers?”

“No idea. Could be that the Merchant thought it would be a good idea.”

I scoffed at that. “Doubt it. Probably something to do with when you made it a token.”

“Sounds like that could be the case. Be very careful when you experiment with it. In the games the D-Link was on a timer, so don’t do anything reckless while using it, otherwise you could end up hurt, or very dead.”

“Honestly I didn't even notice it until after Screwball brought it up. Didn't feel tired or anything.” I then muttered, "Though that glow was weird…"

“Could be that you were unconsciously tapping into the ability, that could change when you properly use it. All I’m saying is that you need to be careful when experimenting.”

“Duly noted.”

“Alright, anything else? I’ve kinda got the Doctor waiting in the other room right now…”

“You sick?”

I heard her giggle at that.“No, no. You might know him better as either Clockwork, or Doctor Whooves, whichever is more recognizable.”

“Only Clockwork I know is from Danny Phantom and Sly Cooper. So why do you bring Time Turner up?”

“Huh, that’s odd, didn’t think he was going by Time Turner in your world…” She then stopped. “In any case, apparently he’s here to reactivate the training facility in the Tower. I’ll tell you more next time we talk.”

“Kay. Until next time.” I then hung up the phone and put it in my pocket. "So, that's an interesting development." I then looked at Venom who was frowning at me with his arms crossed. "What?"

"Did you seriously forget to tell her about the Heartless thing?"

I looked at him confused for a moment before my eyes widened in realization. After that, I buried my face into my free hand. "You have got to be kidding me…"

Before I could do anything else, I heard a knock come from my door. With a sigh, I put the Wayfinder back in my pocket and put my other hand down as I walked to the door. Immediately after opening it, I was hugged by Bri, barely keeping myself standing as Shoto flew up in alarm before landing himself back on my bed.

"Hey Bri. You okay?" I said with a small chuckle as I lifted her up to look her in the eye.

Looking behind her, I spotted Cece standing by the door with Emily by her feet, her eyes darted around the room, as if afraid to make eye contact. Before I could say anything, Cece cleared her throat. “Hey so… Can we talk? It's pretty important.”

"Um...sure. What's wrong?"

Cece scratched her head, humming in thought. “Well… Alright this might sound a bit strange, but I need you to bear with me, alright?” Letting out a sigh, her ears drooped as she fiddled with her hands. “So what am I to you? Who do you think I am?”

I raised an eyebrow at her in confusion as I put Bri down. "What?"

Cece sighed, raising her hands up in a calming gesture. “Look, it's going to sound weird, but you have to believe me... I’m not whoever you think I am. My name is Amy Rose, and I think you may have me confused for someone else.”

Author's Note

So now Dark has access to D-Links via Kairi's token. And there's also that whole Amy thing. I bet nobody saw that coming.

Hello wonderful readers, its Star709 here! Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, no matter what your opinions are please share them! Authors thrive off of comments after all. And do you guys think of the reveal? Is it really Amy Rose? Is Cece just having some memory issues? Which version of Amy Rose is it? The answer may be revealed in the next chapter.

Pretty sure several people already know what happened. Not sure when the next chapter will be but we hope you enjoyed this one.

-Dark

Star

60. Jubilee Trouble

Lightning Dust sighed, resting her head against the train’s window, lazily watching the scenery outside as the train quickly sped by. Looking around her, she noticed the lack of passengers in the cart she was in, with her taking the first train to Ponyville so early in the morning, it only made sense that the cart would be empty.

Lightning sighed. "Are we really doing this?" She whispered.

"He deserves to know," Toxin responded. "Besides, it'll be nice meeting him."

Lightning shook her head. "I still can't believe we ran away like that…"

"There was no way we could've defeated him. Whether he's this world's equivalent of the Hulk or it's a super form, we didn't stand a chance."

"And why do you think telling the Spider will do any good?"

"I don't have all his memories. Maybe he knows something I don't when it comes to one of those things. Plus I have a feeling daddy will end up encountering them eventually. Don't forget about hero sense."

"Right, right." Lightning sighed again. "Hopefully I get to him before Rainbow learns I'm there. I am not ready for that confrontation."

"Don't worry. I'll let you know if she's anywhere nearby. You just worry about meeting my dad."

Lightning rolled her eyes before looking out the window to see the nearby town come to view. "Well, here we go…"

Dark stared at the pink hedgehog with wide eyes under his hood, with Emily having a similar reaction.

"I-I'm sorry, what?" Dark said as he put Bri down.

“It's like I said, I believe you have me confused with someone else. My name’s Amy Rose.” The hedgehog then gave him a nervous smile. “Maybe you’ve heard of me? Freedom Fighter, Sonic’s one true love, recently helped fix the planet after Eggman broke it into a bunch of floating chunks?” Her eyes lit up as she thought up of something else. “Oh! I was also on live TV to get the Chaos Emerald in this fighting tournament, it was sponsored by Breezie Entertainment! Is any of this ringing any bells?” She asked, her smile wavering as she fiddled with her hands.

Dark stood there dumbstruck before placing a hand over his eyes. "This cannot be happening…"

“I’m really sorry about all this, but can you tell me where I am exactly, or maybe how I got here? The last thing I remember is celebrating with my friends back in Mobotropolis.”

After a few moments, Dark took a deep breath and lowered his hand. "Well I definitely know one thing. You're not my sister. She doesn't even know about half of those things. Hell, all she knows about you is your hammer and your probably one-sided crush." He then looked down towards Amy. "Though for a number of reasons, I can't exactly help you."

Amy’s eyes widened in shock, “But why not?! If it's about money or transportation, I’m sure Princess Sally will be able to help us both out if you let me call her!” She then clasped her hands together, giving him a pleading look. “Can’t you please help me out, or maybe find someone who can?”

"I can't help you because I don't know what happened," Dark explained. "Last night my sister went to bed just fine, albeit a bit wounded and bruised from some monsters she picked fights with. And now I'm talking to the videogame character that she turned into, with no warning whatsoever."

Amy tilted her head in confusion. “What do you mean video game character? Obviously I’m very real.” She said waving her hands to herself. “And what do you mean she turned into a videogame character, or me, or whatever?”

Dark blinked as he noticed the mistake he made. Venom then looked at him and shook his head. "Smooth move Tito…"

"Shut it V," Dark said, not caring about Amy hearing him. With a sigh, Dark went through his bag and pulled out his scrapbook. After opening it to a random page with Cece in fights that Screwball added, he gave the book to Amy. "That is my sister Cece. And a few months ago, the 2 of us ended up in this world. I stayed the same appearance wise, while she ended up with a body identical to yours."

Amy stared at the pictures carefully for a while, occasionally turning a page to look at the other pictures. Closing the book, she frowned. “So your sister got turned into a hedgehog, that just so happens to look like me, and together the two of you were dragged from your world to this one.” She said, summarizing the information she got.

"Not just look like you. She became you. Has your voice and all your abilities. Only thing that truly stayed the same for her is her personality. Unless you attack any and everyone who brings up your height."

She crossed her arms, giving him a light glare. “I’ll have you know I’m the average height for a mobian. And how exactly is it that she became me?”

"You try being a 5'6" human before becoming a three-foot anthropomorphic hedgehog," Dark replied before taking the scrapbook and putting it back in his bag. After that, he walked to the wall and leaned to it. "As for your question, we're Displaced. Humans who have been pulled from our universes by someone and became beings who are fictional where we're from, including abilities. And most of the time appearances." He then pointed at Amy. "That's where you come in. Where we're from, you're just a character in one of the most popular video game franchises in the world. As well as comics and TV shows. You and everyone you know."

Amy stood silent for a while, her eyes narrowed in disbelief. Shaking her head, she tried to clear her thoughts. “Alright, if I’m a video game character then you should know something about me and my friends right? So is there something you can tell me to prove that I’m a video game character?”

"Tell you? No. My own knowledge is somewhat limited."

"Will seeing the games prove it to you?" They heard someone say. The next moment, Screwball appeared in a flash of light between the two.

Amy jumped back in fright, being startled from Screwball’s sudden appearance. After taking a calming breath, she blinked and slowly nodded. “I guess that would help…?” She answered, feeling a bit unsure about the whole thing.

Screwball then smiled before pulling out copies of Sonic Unleashed, Sonic Generations, and Sonic Adventure 2. She then shoved them into Amy's hands. "There you go."

Amy blinked, staring at the boxes on her hands before looking through them.

"Oh, and there's also these." The pink filly then suddenly dumped several comic books and DVDs into Amy's arms. "And then there's Deviant Art, but unlike a certain version of your multi tailed friend, I'm not showing you that." She then shuddered. "Believe me, you'd need some brain bleach if you saw the crazier stuff on there…"

Amy’s eyes were wide as she looked through the DVDs and comic books, flipping through one of the comic’s pages, she turned it over to them and pointed at the page. “This just happened not too long ago! I clearly remember fighting that creepy wizard and helping Knuckles fix his emerald! How is that possible?”

"Creepy what now?" Dark asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Don't worry about it," Screwball said. She then looked to Amy before snapping her finger, causing all the stuff to disappear in a flash of light. "As for your question Miss Rose, we have absolutely no idea. Best explanation I've ever heard on the topic is people having dreams of stuff that happened in other universes and showing them in various forms of media." She then shrugged. "Very likely not the case but still. Hay, this entire world is seen as a TV show for little girls before Tito and Cece showed up. Minus the anthro thing."

“The world we’re in is a TV show?” Amy asked, raising an eyebrow. She then sighed, shaking her head. “Well given how I’m apparently a…” She looked between the three types of media in front of her. “Video game/Comic book character, I guess that isn’t too crazy.”

"Well again, before Tito and Cece showed up. And some stuff here doesn't exist there. After that, things went nuts. I mean, Conduits aren't a thing in MLP. Nor are the Chaos Emeralds."

"I feel like you'll end up making her mind break if you keep this up Screwy," Dark said.

“This world has Chaos Emeralds too?!”

Dark nodded before opening his nightstand and pulling out the Chaos Emerald he got from the rock farm as Screwball pulled out the Emerald she got from Blackwood Forest.

"We went through a lot of shit to get the second one," Dark said as he placed his Emerald next to Peter. "Because guess what. Apparently there's an Eggman in this world too, and he handed all of us our asses. Hell, we only survived because of something I don't even understand."

Screwball then put her Emerald away. "Long story short, this world is absolutely nuts and Tito is basically a magnet for insanity simply from being a Displaced. Any questions?"

“I think I’m good for now,” Amy answered, scratching her head. “I don’t think I can handle any more revelations.” She then huffed, rolling her eyes. “Though it's a shame that even in a completely different universe, Eggman still manages to find some way to make things worse.”

"How about we get back to the matter at hand?" Dark suggested.

Amy nodded, grateful for the change of topic. “Right… So your sister has a copy of my body. I got that, but where do I come in? Did we just switch places? Is she in Mobius right now, while I’m stuck here?”

Screwball hummed. "Can you try taking something out of your hammer space? Like… a red and blue feather? If you can, that'll reveal something."

Confused, Amy followed the filly’s instructions, reaching into her hammer space and searching for the items she asked for. Her eyes then narrowed when she felt the foriegn objects around the pocket dimension, bringing her hand back out, her eyes widened when she spotted the feather in her hand. “What’s this?” She asked, inspecting the feather. “And why do I have it?"

Dark took it from her hand. "That's Delsin's token."

"Small question Amy," Screwball said. "Can you access other people's hammer space?"

Amy frowned, shaking her head. “Not really, though it is possible to knock something out of them.”

"So you're only able to access your own?"

She nodded. “That’s right.” She then tilted her head, narrowing her eyes a bit. “Where exactly are you going with this?”

"Well this is an interesting development…" Screwball said before shaking her head. When she was done, she gave Amy a serious look. "By the looks of it Miss Rose, it seems like you're wrong."

“What do you mean?” She asked, giving the pair a worried look.

Screwball shrugged. "By the looks of it, you and Cece didn't switch places. From what I can tell, you are Cece." She then put a hand on her chin. "Though what is going on is difficult to tell right now…"

Amy’s eyes were wide in shock as she processed what she just heard. “Wait, how does that work?! And what do you mean I am her?”

"That is what's difficult. I mean, what are the chances the real Amy Rose showing up in Cece's place and having access to her hammerspace?" Screwball then sighed. "Problem is, we don't know how this could've happened. If we did, that might be able to help answer some questions…"

Emily, who had stayed quiet throughout the entire thing suddenly let out a small yip, catching everyone’s attention. The small fox continued to let out a series of barks and yips, waving her small paws as she tried to tell them something. Seeing that no one understood her only made her gesturing more frantic.

Screwball sighed. "Tito, can you find out what she's saying? She clearly finds it important."

Dark nodded before putting down the feather grabbing Link's token. Moments later, he shook himself as he was in wolf form as he looked at Emily. "Okay. Care to repeat yourself? And try to slow down. I want to hear you clearly."

Emily took a deep breath. "Sorry. It's just that I have a feeling I know what happened."

Dark blinked. "Seriously?"

The fox nodded her head. "Yesterday, just before we came back from the Everfree, Cece was pushed into a bed of blue flowers by a timberwolf. After we chased it off, she walked through the flowers as we left." She then looked down. "I remember Mike telling me about a rather dangerous blue flower that can change people. Something like that the flower likes playing a joke on others…"

Dark's eyes widened in horror. "Are you telling me this happened because of poison joke?"

Emily nodded again. "That's the best idea I have." She then looked at Amy with a sad look in her eyes. "Will Cece be okay?"

Dark sighed. "If we're actually right, she should be fine Emily. Poison joke has a simple enough cure from what I can understand. Just need to take a bath in special herbs in order to fix the problem." He took a deep breath before touching the token again, returning to his human form.

“So were you able to figure out the problem?” Amy spoke up.

Dark nodded. "Yeah. Apparently Cece ended up exposed to poison joke yesterday."

Screwball blinked. "Seriously?"

"Seriously."

“What's poison joke?” The hedgehog asked, the name of the plant making her rather nervous.

"A blue plant in this universe that has some form of reality-bending," Dark explained as he stood up. "If you touch it without cover, then by the next morning you'll have something changed about you. All as some joke. A very skilled unicorn has her horn become floppy-"

"With way too many jokes on that…" Venom interrupted.

"-a talkative person having their tongue swollen," Dark continued, ignoring the symbiote's comment. "And someone with a sweet voice changes into a very deep and masculine one. Just to name a few examples. I'd hope Cece would've learned more about the dangers in the Everfree by now but I guess not…"

Amy frowned. “So poison joke caused me to be here…? But how does that work, and what does it mean for me?”

"If we're right, it's possible that you're the product of a magic flower that pulls jokes on people," Screwball stated bluntly.

Amy took a step back at the news, her eyes wide with disbelief. “So… I’m not real? But… my memories..? Is that just a product of the plant too?”

Screwball crossed her arms. "Probably. We don't entirely know how poison joke works. But in this case, it's very likely you technically aren't real."

"Seriously not pulling back any punches Screwy," Dark muttered.

Screwball shrugged. "I know this is hard to accept but right now it's better to know the truth than keep lying about it. That'd just make it hurt a lot harder later on."

Amy shook her head, letting out a nervous laugh. “I’m sorry but that can’t be true, maybe the plant did something else instead? Like maybe it just switched our bodies, and she’s back in Mobius in my body?”

"I honestly don't know which one is worse…" Dark muttered.

Before anyone said anything else, Venom stiffened. "What the…"

"What is it?"

Venom looked at the door before saying, "Someone's in the hallway."

Dark raised an eyebrow before turning to the two pink girls. "Excuse me ladies. Bri, stay here," He told his daughter before walking out of the room.

When he entered the hallway, he saw a very familiar pegasus. She smiled as she put her hands in her jacket's pockets. "Hey."

"Hi…?" Dark responded, confused on why the rookie cop was doing in his home. "Can I help you?"

"Actually yeah. I came for you."

Dark tilted his head. "I'm sorry."

"I came here to talk to you," she repeated.

"Mind if I ask why?"

"Well I figured you needed to know something."

"Okay, this is getting ridiculous," Venom said as he rolled his eyes.

"Hey, he's the one asking the questions," Lightning responded with a shrug.

"Well you-" Dark started to reply before his eyes widened in shock. "Wait… who did you just say that to?"

Lightning raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Um, the guy right behind you. Rather obvious," she stated as she gestured towards Venom.

"You see me?" Venom said, confused.

"Yeah. Why?"

Venom narrowed his eyes before widening them. He then started to chuckle. "I knew something felt familiar. So you're who Toxin ended up bonding to, huh?"

Lightning widened her own eyes in surprise. "Wait, how do you know about her?"

"How can I not know about my younger sister?" Venom said with a smirk.

"Sister…?"

"Wait, Venom?!" The three of them heard. "Is that you?!"

Venom gave a laugh. "Yeah. I've been using my connection to our father's mind to make a mental avatar. Allows us to talk face to face without me needing to come out. Been using it for a week now."

"Wait, so you're that Venom she kept telling me about?" Lightning Dust asked. "Her older brother who helped her deal with Carnage?"

Venom nodded. "Yup. That's me. Pleasure to meet you Lightning Dust. As you clearly know, my name is Venom. I'm the oldest of my kind and I've been bonded to Tito ever since Hearts & Hooves Day, as I'm sure you have been bonded to Toxin for as long."

Dark cleared his throat. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but how can you see Venom?" He asked the pegasus.

"Toxin and I have a connection with each other and Carnage. My guess is that since Lightning is bonded to her, that allows them both to see and hear me as easily as you can."

"Wait, if you have Toxin and came here, does that mean…"

Lightning nodded. "Yeah, I know who you are "Tito". I've known ever since a couple of hours after you left. Toxin didn't really bother keeping any secrets she knows about."

"Uh… like what?" Dark said, feeling uneasy.

"Who you really are, what you really are, Displaced, and that show. I'm surprised you were as nice to me as you were when we met when you already knew about what happened between me and Rainbow."

Dark gave a brief sigh of relief before he shrugged. "Granted I didn't know who you were when I beat those guys up, but I never regretted it. Plus even if I had any reason to actually dislike you, you didn't deserve to be left abandoned in that alley with a broken wing."

"Thanks."

Dark nodded. "So is that all you wanted to tell me? About having Toxin and knowing my secrets?"

Lightning sighed. "No. We came here for bigger problems than that."

"What happened?" Venom asked, concerned.

"Ryker's, a maximum security prison by Manehatten, had a massive jailbreak last night. A lot of prisoners escaped, including Shocker."

Dark did a double take. "Seriously? What happened?"

"From what I can understand, a trio of super villains showed up last night and started it. One was a pegasus mare, one was a very big brute, and the third-"

"We think he's a Scarlet Spider Displaced," Toxin finished.

Dark blinked. "What?"

Lightning shrugged. "Some skinny guy dressed exactly as the Scarlet Spider from that Spider-Man show you watch. Even called himself that. Dude is clearly human and it's not like those are exactly common."

Dark then raised an eyebrow. "Couldn't take care of them yourself? I doubt the Scarlet Spider can beat someone with a symbiote."

"He couldn't. His friend Sköll on the other hand…"

"Sköll?"

"The big guy. That's what they called him. It looked like a combination of Super Sonic and Hulk. He even had rings."

Dark and Venom's eyes widened. "Super Sonic…"

"Wonder if he knows about the Emeralds then…" Venom muttered.

Lightning frowned. "Emeralds?"

Before Dark can explain, he heard the sound of wings and then a familiar voice. "Oh, there you are."

Looking to the source, he saw Twilight land by him, a scroll in her hand. "Hey Twilight. Something up?"

The alicorn nodded as she lifted the scroll. "Princess Celestia wants to speak with us in Canterlot. Said something disastrous happened in Manehatten."

"I think I know what that is," Lightning said as she walked to Dark's side.

Twilight widened her eyes. "Oh. Didn't see you Miss…"

"Lightning Dust. Wouldn't be surprised if you don't really recognize me. Only saw me for a few moments after all."

"Yes. Um, I don't mean to sound rude but-"

"She's here to see me," Dark answered.

"Really?"

"Yeah. And don't worry Twilight. She knows."

Twilight's eyes widened. "What?!"

"I'll explain on the way. I'll meet you at the station. Just let me get Bri and tell Amy."

"Amy?"

Dark cursed under his breath. "I'll explain that too. And trust me, it's insane." He then looked at Lightning. "You coming?"

Dust shrugged. "Sure. Didn't come all the way from Manehatten to leave now. Besides, never actually been to Canterlot before."

"Then I'll see you at the station. And do me a favor. Tell Twilight about your situation a bit. It'll make things easier for me."

"Fine. Come on Princess. Here's hoping you don't ask too many questions," Lightning said as the two flew off.

Dark sighed. "This day keeps getting crazier and crazier…"

"It could be worse," Venom told his host.

"That doesn't really make me feel any better," he replied as he returned to his room.

Upon entering the room, Dark immediately noticed that Screwball was nowhere to be seen, leaving the pink hedgehog alone as she sat down on his bed. Amy was absentmindedly petting Emily, just staring off onto the floor in front of her, with Bri right by the hedgehog’s side, doing her best to comfort her.

"Hey," Dark said.

Amy sighed, her ears drooping as she continued to stare off into space. “Hey…” She mumbled. “If you’re looking for your friend, she left earlier to cool down.”

"I wouldn't be surprised…" he muttered as Bri walked up to him and lifted her arms up, with Dark picking her up. "So what happened while I was gone?"

She frowned, waving her hand as she explained the events to him. “The two of us were arguing. She kept insisting that I wasn’t real, and I kept telling her how crazy she sounded, and I ended up calling her crazy. She got mad and left so she could cool down.”

"You're in a world with two beings that can do nearly anything with just a thought and a snap. Honestly this isn't the craziest thing I've heard since I got here."

“But a plant suddenly creating a new… soul? Conscious? Being full of memories from an alternate universe, and inserting them into someone else’s body sounds a bit much, don’t you think?” She said, her eyes narrowed as she gave him a glare.

"Well I have sentient slime made from my own DNA living inside me and just met another who's inside someone else, I come from a universe where everyone I now know is a cartoon character, I have the powers of my personal hero, I have a daughter who can sense life energy in people, my sister and cousins became videogame characters, and a week ago I went through a rite of passage placed by a sapient magical tree who looks like one of my friends. I'm learning that nothing is too crazy for a Displaced," Dark said as he grabbed his bag. "Besides, as of right now, there's only one way to truly know if you're a product of poison joke or not."

Amy’s ears perked up. “What’s that?”

"Using the cure. If you become Cece, you're a product of poison joke. If not, then you aren't. Simple as that."

She frowned, letting out a hum as she thought about what he said. “But couldn’t that also prove that the plant might’ve just switched us around instead of just making me up?”

"If that's the case, Cece will be able to tell us."

“So we’re just leaving this to chance?!” Amy yelled, startling the small fox. “This is my life you’re leaving to chance you know! I know that I’m real, but even so, just taking a chance with a reality warping plant isn’t something I’m comfortable with!”

Dark shrugged. "I'm sorry, but it's the only way I know of that can solve this situation. And I'm already separated from my mom. I don't want to lose my sister too." He then placed his hand by Peter, who jumped onto it and climbed up his shoulder. "Look, you have a choice right now. You can either stay here and sulk, or come with me and some others to Canterlot."

Amy sighed, getting up from the bed. “I’m sorry, but right now I don’t think I can handle being around more people. I’m just going to stay here.” She answered, walking out of the room, Emily quickly followed her out.

Dark sighed. "I really don't need this," he said with a shake of his head. He then looked down at Bri. "Come on, let's find Mike. See ya later Shoto," he said as he exited the room, the small bird going to sleep soon after.

Garm flinched, his ears flattening as the train let out a loud whistle behind him. Growling, he shook his head and walked towards his two companions, around the dog a few ponies stopped to stare at him, a few of their eyes were drawn towards the large barrel strapped onto his back. As soon as he was within earshot of his partners, he growled to gain their attention. “Is there really no other way we can get around besides using the train?” He grumbled, rubbing his ears. “Those blasted machines are too loud!”

“I don’t see what the big deal is,” Kaito added, tossing a few peanuts from the bag in his hands into his mouth. “Sure, they’re loud, but it's not as bad as you say they are.” He said, his voice a bit muffled from the food he was eating.

The elderly dog growled, fighting the urge to smack the human. “I’m a diamond dog! Compared to everyone else, we have sensitive hearing!” He yelled, poking Kaito on his chest, causing him to stumble back.

Valor sighed, pocketing the small brochure she had. “Look, you’re the one who wanted to come here, and with our line of work, you’re just going to have to get used to it.”

Kaito patted his body, making sure that Garm didn’t accidentally turn off the holographic disguise. Satisfied that the disguise was fine, he gave the diamond dog a small glare. “What are we doing here anyway?”

Garm snorted, smacking the barrel strapped onto him. “I’m going fishing.”

“We came here so you could fish?” Kaito asked, his eyes narrowing as he crossed his arms.

“No one said you had to come along,” Garm answered, “And I’m not fishing for fish. There’s a special lake in the Everfree, we call it the Lake of Rings.”

Kaito’s eyes narrowed as he processed that info. “That… sounds pretty familiar.”

“And in the Lake of Rings you can find more of those “Power Rings” to fuel your powers, right?” Valor asked.

He nodded, letting out a small hum. “Correct. I used up all of my rings yesterday. Without them, I can’t use any of my powers, and I can’t rely on Sköll either. So, I came here to find more rings.”

“How many do you need?”

He scratched his chin. “Around a hundred? Really I only need fifty for Sköll to come out, but I don’t like relying on him.”

“So, is it just a hole in the ground filled with rings?” Kaito asked, scratching his head. “Cause that's what it sounds like to me.”

Garm snorted, shaking his head. “No, it's an actual lake, except it generates an unlimited amount of rings underwater. Sometimes it creates special types of rings instead of the Power Rings. There’s one that can make portals that can take you anywhere, ones that let you create weapons with your mind, and much more.”

Kaito grinned, becoming hooked on what his teammate was saying. “They all sound wonderful! We should get going, those special rings aren’t going to fish themselves out!” He said, pumping his fist into the air.

“ALL ABOARD!”

Just as the human was about to take a step forward, he stumbled, feeling his spider-sense going off. Kaito’s eyes widened, feeling his senses trying to tell him something, turning back towards the train, he watched as the train started to move, leaving the station along with whatever set his senses off inside.

“Kaito?” Valor called out, concerned over how he suddenly froze. “Is everything alright?”

Kaito stared at the leaving train with wide eyes. Feeling the pegasus shake him, he shook his head and turned his attention back towards his team members. “Yeah, everything is fine, just thought I felt something.” With that said, he began walking away from Ponyville’s train station, his mind lingering on what he had just felt. “There’s no doubt about it, that was another “spider” I just felt, and if I’m right, then this town must be the Spider’s home.” He whispered to himself, narrowing his eyes at the small town. “Have to say, I didn’t expect him to live in such a small town.”

Dark shook his head as he put a hand on his forehead as he looked out the window for a moment.

"You okay?"

Dark nodded to Twilight. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just… Felt something I never felt before."

"What do you mean?"

Dark lowered his hand to Bri's head. "I don't know. It was like my spider-sense trying to tell me something."

"You mean like hero sense?" Lightning asked.

Twilight blinked. "Hero sense?"

"That's what Toxin calls that little addition to spider-sense that tells you when someone needs help."

Dark chuckled. "Fitting name, but no. All I can tell is that it was like someone picked up on my spider-sense. Like… picking up on a radio frequency I guess." He then shrugged. "It's probably nothing. Right now, we have more important things to discuss."

Twilight nodded. "Yes. I'd like to learn more about your situation Miss Dust, specifically about Toxin."

Lightning put a hand up. "Just Lightning will be fine Princess. And while it's a crazy story, it won't take long."

“Sorry, but I haven’t seen anyone or anything matching those descriptions.” The store pony said apologetically, using the towel in his hands to clean the counter in front of him. “I’ll be sure to keep an eye out though.”

The well-dressed stallion sighed, raising a gloved hand and gliding it across his blue hair. “Well thank you anyway. Have a good day.” He said, walking towards the store’s front door and exiting it. Upon leaving the store, the small girl standing by the door perked her head up to look at him. “Sorry, but it's another dead end.” The unicorn frowned upon seeing the young girl sigh. The small girl bore a strong resemblance to rabbits, possessing two large ears flopped behind her head, and having cream-colored fur with orange markings. She wore a simple orange dress with a white color and a blue cravat, wore a pair of orange and yellow shoes covering her feet, and had a bracelet on her right wrist that had a charm shaped like a hare.

"How hard can it be to find her?" The girl muttered to herself.

“Well the day isn’t over yet, we can go ask around some more if you’d like?” He offered.

"We’ve been looking for weeks Mr. Fancy Pants. I'm starting to doubt she even showed up here like I did."

Fancy sighed, crouching down to pat the small girl on the back. “Come now Gabriella. Canterlot is a big city, granted not as large as say, Manehatten, but it's still large enough that someone could get lost rather easily. It’s possible that she appeared in the lower districts of the city, or we may have simply walked past her. If you’d like we can begin searching for her in the lower district now?”

Gabriella sighed. "Maybe later…"

Fancy Pants frowned. “Come on now, why don’t we check with Fleur and Cheese? Maybe one of them found something?” He said. Gabriella simply nodded, following the stallion as he led them to the other side of the market area. Spotting his wife, Fancy smiled, waving at her.

Fleur waved back, giving her husband a soft smile. Besides her, a small blue fairy-like creature wearing a red bow tie, flew over to the small girl beside Fancy Pants, greeting her enthusiastically. Fleur walked over to the stallion, placing a hand on his shoulder, looking down at the other two, she frowned. “Please tell me you found something?”

Fancy Pants sighed, “We were hoping you had.”

Gabriella looked to her feet. "This is getting hopeless…"

Fleur crouched down, patting the small girl. “There there Gabriella, you must not give up hope yet.” Besides Fleur, the small blue fairy hugged the girl, trying its best to comfort her.

Fancy hummed. “Why don’t we try contacting the Princess for help? I’m sure that she’ll be willing to help us, and with her help, finding your family will become much easier.”

Gabriella frowned. "Are you sure? I rather not bother her for something that doesn't really matter to her."

“Don’t say that Gabriella, the Princess is a very kind ruler, and as soon as she hears our case, I’m sure she’ll gladly help us,” Fancy assured.

"You sure she'll be fine seeing a humanoid rabbit and a small fairy-like thing asking for help finding someone she never heard of?"

Fancy Pants nodded, smiling at her. “Of course. Besides, Equis is home to much stranger creatures than a “humanoid rabbit” and a “fairy-like thing”. Why, just look at that Discord fellow. His body is made up of parts from all sorts of different creatures, and the Breezies are all basically small miniature fairy-like ponies.”

“I’m sure the princess will be fine meeting you Gabriella,” Fleur added. “We’ve met her on several occasions, and she is a very patient and gentle ruler. She does have a day court where she spends hours just listening to the complaints and troubles of all of her citizens.”

"Plus you might be able to talk to Princess Twilight's guard if they're still around," Fancy added.

Gabriella blinked. "Princess Twilight? What would her guards have to do with anything?"

“Well, one of them does look a bit similar to you,” Fancy said, humming in thought. “Though she was a bit taller, pink, and I don’t think she’s a rabbit, I believe she may be part of the same species or something similar. Maybe she’ll be able to help us?”

Gabriella's eyes widened. "Wait. Can… can you try to describe her appearance?"

Fancy Pants frowned, trying to recall the guard’s appearance. “Well, she had pink fur, was wearing a red cloak with a hood on it, green eyes, a peach-colored muzzle, wore gloves, and her hair was worn down.”

The young girl stood in silence as she recognized the description.

Besides the young girl, the small fairy-like creature’s eyes widened at the description. Recognizing who was being described the creature waved its arms around happily, turning back the creature tugged on the young girl’s clothing.

Gabriella placed a hand on the creature's head. "Calm down Cheese. I understand that you recognize it's her but really, what are the chances of Amy being here of all places? And a guard at that?"

“Amy? Do you happen to know the guard?” Fancy asked.

The girl shrugged. "It sounds a lot like Amy Rose. Someone who is from the same place as Cheese and… Cream…" she muttered as she looked at her hands before shaking her head. "Okay, let's talk to the Princess."

Author's Note

And that's done. And wow, pretty nuts chapter looking back. Whole thing with Amy, Tito meeting Toxin and properly meeting Lightning, Fenrir arriving in Ponyville, and Gabriella. You guys can no doubt guess who she is, especially due to her small companion.

Hello everyone, its Star709 here with a new chapter. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, it took us a while to write, feel free to share any opinions you may have regarding it, we authors thrive off of comments you know. So a lot happened this chapter, hope we didn't overwhelm you guys with all that happened, and if any of you are curious about whats about to happen with everything going on, then you'll just have to wait till the next chapter.

All I have to say in response to that is it didn't take that long to make. Blooming Rose was done and posted less than a month ago.

-Dark

Star

61. Wolves In Sheep's Clothing

Kaito stared at the rustic buildings of the village, carefully taking in everything around them. Letting out a sigh, he turned towards his two companions. “So what do you two know about this place anyway?” He asked, smiling at them. “The place has a huge castle, so the town must have some interesting history right?”

“It's the home to the Elements of Harmony for one.” Valor answered, the pegasus crossing her arms as she looked around. “That castle at the edge of the town belongs to Princess Twilight.”

Garm hummed, scratching his chin. “From what I’ve heard this place seems to be a magnet for trouble.”

Valor nodded. “This place has suffered attacks ranging from rampaging deities like Nightmare Moon and Discord, all the way to monsters that wandered too far from the forest like Ursas, "Plunder Vines", and a Bugbear, just to name a few.”

“A pack of dogs also caused trouble for the ponies here too,” Garm added with a frown. “Rover and his ilk made it a habit to kidnap the citizens of this town every once in a while to make them work on the abandoned mines. They were convinced that our people’s sacred treasure was something that you can just dig up.”

Valor raised an eyebrow. “The Diamond Dog pack in the Rambling Rock Ridge? I thought you said you came from the Rambling Rock?”

He nodded. “I do, but the Rambling Rock Ridge was split into three territories a long time ago over conflicting ideas regarding our treasure.”

“I wasn’t aware there was more than one pack of dogs on that mountain.” Valor commented.

“Not surprising. Ponies don’t know much about our kind,” He said, stopping for a second to fix the barrel on his back. “Dogs like Rover tend to make ponies think we’re all a bunch of savages. Doesn’t help we all prefer to live underground.”

“That’s cool,” Kaito said, not even looking at the two as his eyes stared off in the distance.

The two turned to look at each other before turning back towards Kaito. Noticing the lack of attention he was giving them, Valor cleared her throat. “Kaito are you alright? You seem distracted.”

“Yeah, usually you’d be pretty interested when we talk about things like this.”

Kaito sighed, shaking his head. “Sorry guys, just a lot on my mind right now.” He said, scratching his head, glancing at Garm, he gave him an apologetic frown. “Sorry Garm, but I don’t think I’ll be able to help you fish.”

The two raised an eyebrow at the sudden shift in priorities. Valor narrowed her eyes a bit. “Does this have to do with your senses going off at the train station?” She asked. Besides her, Garm’s ears perked up.

Kaito stood silent for a few seconds before nodding. “It does,” He sighed. “Though right now I don’t think I can share my thoughts just yet, since all I have are suspicions, and I don’t want to alarm you guys or end up sounding crazy without gathering some evidence first.”

Valor frowned. “Kaito, we’re a team. Aren’t you the one who’s always going off about the power of teamwork and always sticking together?”

Kaito sighed, crossing his arms. “Well, you have a point, but what about Garm?” He asked, causing the dog to tilt his head. “Don’t you need some help in fishing up those rings?”

The dog shook his head. “I’ve done this all by myself before, and the monsters of the forest aren’t all that tough.”

“Well if you’re sure then,” Kaito began, giving them a small shrug. “Valor, since you want to help, you’re going to help me investigate this town. Garm, be careful out there alright? And the moment things go wrong, please call us. I’ll fill you in once we all meet up at the train station in...” He quickly took out his phone, pressing the on button to check on the time. “I’d say in around three to four hours?” Seeing the two nod, he smiled, pocketing the phone. “Great, now let’s go!”

With the trio splitting into two groups, Kaito and Valor began walking deeper into the town while Garm walked off towards the Everfree. After a minute of silence, Kaito spoke up. “Hey Valor, can you remind me about something?”

“Umm, sure?” The pegasus answered, tilting her head.

“What was it that the warden called me again?” He asked. “He called me by the Spider’s real name, do you remember it?”

The pegasus’ eyes widened, thinking back, she tried recalling the name. “It was… Lieutenant Bark? Barker?” She answered with a frown, shaking her head she tried again. “No that’s not it… It was Dark, Lieutenant Dark!”

Kaito smiled, agreeing with her answer. “I thought so. Keep your eyes peeled and pay careful attention to what the ponies around us are saying. Because if what I sensed back there is right, I’m pretty sure that this town is where the Spider lives.”

“What makes you say that?” Valor asked, tilting her head.

“Back in the train station, when my spider-sense went off, I could feel like it was trying to tell me something,” He frowned, trying to find the best way to explain his thoughts. “I felt something on that train. It wasn’t going to attack me, but I could feel like there was someone or something just like me in there.”

“And you think it's the Spider?”

Kaito nodded, keeping his eye fixed on the street ahead of him. “What else could it be really? I didn’t want to say anything yet though, I had no evidence and I didn’t want you guys thinking I was being paranoid or crazy.”

Valor snorted. “It's a bit late for that.” She couldn’t help but smile at her partner’s annoyed glare. “But even though we know you’re a bit crazy, we still trust you. You should’ve said something earlier, we would’ve been willing to hear you out.”

The disguised human sighed, raising his arm to scratch the top of his head. “Well, I guess you’re right, I should have more faith in you guys.”

“Well, of course, you have to follow your advice too you know.” Valor nodded, patting him on the back. “So, what are we going to do if it turns out the Spider does live here anyway?” She asked, causing Kaito to look back at her. “Are we going to sell the information to Kingpin? I’m sure he’d be willing to pay a lot of money for it.”

“Right now I’m not sure. I’m mostly just doing this to satisfy my curiosity.” Kaito admitted with a shrug. “I’ll figure something out later. Though selling it does sound like a good idea.” He then hummed, narrowing his eyes at some of the ponies. “If the Spider lives here, then it would only make sense that he has some friends right? Why don’t we try asking around?”

Valor furrowed her brow, “Won’t that clue him in that someone was looking for him?”

“Not if we’re careful.” He answered with a shrug. “Remember, according to the warden, he’s a member of the Royal Guards. If anyone asks, we can say that we met or heard of him in the guards before. It wouldn’t be too far-fetched, you were a member of the guard before after all.”

“If you say so.” She sighed, following him to the town’s market place.

“Say, what are the Elements of Harmony anyways?” Kaito asked, while politely greeting the ponies around him.

Valor hummed in thought. “Well, the elements are six supernatural gemstones, each gemstone reflecting a certain aspect of friendship. There’s Honestly, Loyalty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, and Magic.”

Kaito frowned, his face scrunching up. “I have many questions about this, first off what does Magic have to do with friendship? And I’m assuming these elements must be important right?”

Valor nodded. “They’re extremely important. With all six of them, Princess Twilight and her friends were all able to defeat many villains in the past, usually by either stripping them of their power, or turning them into stone.” She then frowned as she thought about his first question. “I’m not sure what magic has to do with friendship either.”

“That doesn’t sound good,” He commented, frowning in worry. “What are the chances of those elements being used on us?”

“I’d say none.” Valor answered, smiling at his surprised look. “The elements were returned to their proper place. No idea where, but we won’t have to worry about them.”

“You sure? Couldn’t they just take back the elements at any time?”

“Well I’m sure they could,” She admitted, “But lately the bearers have been making it a habit of not using them. I’m pretty sure the whole Tirek fiasco could’ve been handled much faster if they only thought to bring them back out.”

“Can the elements work with just anyone using them?”

The pegasus shook her head. “From what I’ve heard, it seems like the elements have to choose you.”

He pouted, letting out a sigh in disappointment. “Well so much for taking the elements for ourselves. What about the bearers themselves?”

Valor hummed. “I suppose it is a possibility that they could try to stop us, but they’re just civilians. They may be heroes, but none of them have any formal training, really the only ones who would give us trouble is Princess Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash.”

He raised an eyebrow. “I understand why the princess would give us trouble, but why Rainbow Dash?”

“She’s a member of the Wonderbolts, which is a part of Equestria’s military, so she’ll be more dangerous compared to the others.” She explained. “She’s also the fastest pegasus in Equestria.”

“How fast?”

“She can break the sound barrier on command.” Valor replied, smirking at his shocked expression.

Kaito groaned, facepalming. “Great, the heroes have a speedster.” He glanced back at her. “So any recent news about this town that can help with the investigation?”

Valor tapped her chin. “Well, there were these rumors about demons attacking Ponyville a while back and a pony made of clouds stopping them.” She then snorted and shook her head. “It's likely just some nonsense, or some crazy exaggeration.”

He gave her a worried look. “Are demons something that plague Equestria often?”

The pegasus shook her head, letting out a small chuckle. “Demons are just a myth. Nopony’s ever seen one, so they’re about as real as the Tooth Breezie. Not to mention that the only creature that inhabits Tartarus is Cerberus.” She then frowned. “At least I think so.”

“Tartarus?!” Kaito hissed, his eyes wide. “You mean the underworld Tartarus? The place where all souls go to be judged and punished for their crimes?” He asked, his face slowly becoming pale.

Valor raised an eyebrow at the odd description. “Uhh… No? I mean, that sounds pretty different from the Tartarus I know. Tartarus is the ultimate prison, only the worst of the worst get sent there, and it's completely inescapable.” She said with a hint of pride, before letting out a long sigh. “At least it was before Tirek escaped. The worst part about it was that he’d been out of his cell for about a year before anyone noticed. Luckily he’s been caught, and the princesses did mention that we wouldn’t have to worry about him anymore.”

“Well if it wasn’t demons that attacked Ponyville… what if it was a human?” Valor turned towards him with a confused expression. “Just think about it, humans aren’t exactly common here, maybe it was a few humans causing trouble? It could be possible that the Spider may have had something to do with it too.” He reasoned, giving her a small shrug at the end.

Valor shook her head. “I don’t think so, there never were any reports of the Spider being here.”

Kaito then pointed at the buildings around them. “Well the buildings are rather small, especially compared to the ones in Manehattan. Maybe that's why there weren’t any reports of him being around?”

She shrugged. “I suppose. But we won’t know for sure until we get started with this investigation.”

He nodded. “Right.”

Spotting the large crystal-like castle in front of her, Rainbow Dash stopped, flapping her wings rapidly as she tried to slow down her speed enough to land safely. Touching the ground in front of the castle, she let out a relieved sigh.

"Wonder if he figured out that homing thing," she muttered to herself as she entered the castle and headed to Dark's room, occasionally cloud dashing. When she arrived at the room and entered it, she saw Shoto resting on Dark's bed but no sign of the Displaced. Sighing to herself, she exited the room and went to the library.

Right as she arrived at the room, Spike was just exiting it.

Spotting the pegasus, Spike quickly took a step back to avoid bumping into her. “Hey Rainbow,” He greeted, waving his claw at her. “What are you doing here?”

"Hey Spike," the Conduit replied with a wave. "Just looking for Tito. Have you seen him?"

Spike nodded. “Yeah, he left a little while ago with Twilight. I think they were going to Canterlot.” He then shrugged. “Princess Celestia called them up, not sure why though.”

Rainbow groaned. "Seriously?"

He nodded. “Sorry Rainbow. I’m sure he’ll be back later today.”

The pegasus sighed. "Yeah. Thanks anyway, Spike." With that, she cloud dashed out of the castle. As she reformed, she placed her hands in her jacket pockets. "What to do…" she muttered to herself as she spread her wings and flew to town.

Soaring above the small town, Rainbow Dash stared at the scenery below her, taking in every sight and detail as she flew past it. Blinking, she slowed down when she spotted someone waving at her. Focusing on the small orange figure, she recognized Scootaloo waving at her, behind her was Applebloom and Sweetie Belle. Flying towards them, she smiled at the three and waved.

The small orange pegasus ran up to Rainbow, a large smile on her face. “Hey Rainbow Dash!”

Rainbow chuckled. "Hey, Scoots. How are ya?"

“I’m great!” Scootaloo cried, her large smile never leaving her face. “Just been practicing some new tricks on my scooter.” She boasted, leaning against the scooter, missing the eye rolls from her two friends.

Rainbow smirked. "Really? You should show them to me later."

“Really?!” Scootaloo yelled, her eyes wide in excitement. Realizing how excited she sounded, she let out a cough and nodded. “Yeah alright, sounds cool.”

Applebloom cleared her throat, making Scootaloo turn around. “Hey, Scoots! Did ya forget about something?” She asked, crossing her arms.

The orange filly raised an eyebrow. “Forget about what?”

“The donut sale!” Sweetie Belle cried out. “We’re gonna miss the sale!”

Rainbow Dash tilted her head. “Sale?”

Scootaloo’s eyes widened as she smacked her forehead. “I forgot about that!” Turning towards her hero, she began explaining it to her. “Sugarcube Corner is having a huge sale on donuts! And we’re gonna miss it!” Putting on her helmet, she turned towards the direction of the bakery, remembering about her hero, she turned back nervously. “Would you like to come with us?”

Rainbow shrugged. "Sure. Not like I have anything else planned for the day, since Tito is apparently in Canterlot again."

Scootaloo smiled widely as her small wings buzzed in excitement. “Really? Great!” Not wanting to waste another second, the fillies rushed to Sugarcube Corner, the conduit right behind them.

Throwing open the door to the bakery, the three fillies jumped into the building. Not wasting any time, the fillies rushed towards the counter, and slammed their hands onto the counter, startling the blue baker at the other side of it.

Applebloom placed a small bag of bits onto the counter and smiled. “One box of donuts please!”

“Oh! Can we have one with chocolate on it?” Scootaloo asked.

“I want one of those jelly-filled ones!” Sweetie added, nearly jumping in place from excitement.

Mrs. Cake gave the fillies an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry girls, but we’re all sold out now.”

Just as Rainbow walked through the door, she immediately flinched when she heard the three fillies cry out in despair. Covering her ears, she waited until the girls stopped their screaming. Once the yelling stopped, she walked closer to the counter. “Uhh, what happened?”

“We got here too late!” Scootaloo cried out.

“We missed the sale!” Sweetie added, her shoulders drooping.

“If only somepony didn’t get distracted, we wouldn’t have missed the sale!” Applebloom said, glaring at the orange pegasus.

“How is that my fault?” She glared back.

As the two began to argue, Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but wince at the volume of their yelling. Just as she was about to step in, a pony behind her spoke up. “Uhh… is everything okay?” A tan furred earth pony asked, causing her to turn around. The pony had a dark brown mane and wore a beige-colored trench coat. The pony’s eyes were slightly narrowed and were brown.

Shaking her head, she brought her hand up in an apologetic gesture. “Sorry about this. They don’t mean to cause a scene, usually, they’re just upset about the sale being over.”

“I see…” The earth pony hummed, tilting his head as he watched two of the fillies fight. Reaching into his bag, he pulled out a large white box that had a large cupcake sticker. “If you’d like, I wouldn’t mind parting with some of the donuts I bought.” He offered with a smile. Applebloom and Scootaloo immediately stopped arguing, turning their full attention towards the new pony.

“Seriously?” Rainbow asked, surprised.

“Sure!” He said, opening the box to reveal the dozen donuts inside. “Even if I do share these, there would still be enough for me and my friends.”

“Really?! Thank you so much, mister!” The three filles yelled, rushing towards the open box and each grabbing a single donut.

The stallion then offered one to Rainbow Dash, briefly surprising her. The pegasus smiled and plucked one from the box. “Thanks.” She said, taking a bite from the donut.

The stallion nodded, closing the box and placing it back inside his bag. His eyes then widened as if he just remembered something, clearing his throat, he brought their attention back to him. “Before I forget, I’m new here in town, and I’m looking for somepony who lives here. Do any of you happen to know where…” He hummed for a second before continuing. “Somepony named “Dark” lives?”

Rainbow immediately stopped. "Who wants to know?" She asked, unsure whether or not to answer.

“Well you see, a friend of mine was actually in the guards. Recently we’ve been hearing rumors about some new guardsmen and all of the improvements the guards have been having.” He then smiled. “It made us curious.” He then shrugged. “So we decided to meet the one responsible for all the improvements.”

“Why?” Rainbow asked, raising an eyebrow in suspicion.

“Well besides curiosity,” He began, humming. “Back when my friend was in the guards she tried hard to improve the guards’ training regime. However, only a captain, or any other higher authority, is allowed to make those kinds of changes. After a while, she gave up, so when she heard some recruits managed to do what she’s been trying to do for so long, she decided she needed to find out how they did it, and why they were able to do it.” The stallion explained, giving her a small smile.

“Are you a guardsman too?” Sweetie Belle asked, stepping closer to the two of them.

He shook his head. “No, just my friend. Personally, I don’t think I’d fit in with the Royal Guards.” He patted his stomach, “I’m far too skinny, they’d snap me like a toothpick!” The earth pony joked, earning a small chuckle from the filly.

“Though, if you and your friend aren’t in the guards anymore, how did you know Dark’s name?” Scootaloo asked.

“Well, while she’s not in the guard’s anymore, she does still keep in contact with some of her friends there.” He leaned back. “Some of the letters she got mentioned someone named “Dark”, and they mentioned the “Hammer of the Guard”, which have been whipping them into shape.”

Rainbow nodded, remembering the dents in the armor she saw. "Yeah, that's one way of putting it…"

The pony hummed in thought. “You all seem to know this guy. If you don’t mind me asking, how do you guys know Dark?”

The fillies smiled, with Sweetie Belle being the first to speak up. “He saved Apple Bloom and Scootaloo from a group of Timberwolves a few months ago!”

Scootaloo nodded, rubbing the back of her head. “Yeah, we got seriously lost and wandered too close to their territory, luckily for us Dark was there to bail us out!”

“Did he now?” He responded, his eyes a bit wide in surprise. The pony then smiled. “He sounds like a real hero.”

"Understatement," Rainbow said. "I was about to step in when all of a sudden he showed up and saved them from a pack of fully grown timberwolves with complete ease. That's kinda how we met…" she said, looking away due to remembering how her first response to him saving the fillies was to kick him in the back of the head.

“I see…” The stallion began, rubbing his chin in thought. “Well, I suppose it's safe to assume that this hero must be the same Dark that's in the guards.” He tilted his head and smiled. “By any chance do you think it’d be possible to meet Dark?”

Before Rainbow Dash could respond, a white pegasus suddenly walked up to the group. The red-haired pegasus gave the stallion a concerned look, “Hey Ka- Troupe,” She corrected herself, shaking her head. “Everything alright? You’ve been taking a while now.”

“I have? I guess I lost track of time.” He chuckled sheepishly, “Anyways, I was just asking these girls here about that new guardsman, “Dark”, they seem to know him.”

The pegasus’ eyes widened in surprise. “Really? Huh, that was fast.”

"Who're you?" Rainbow asked, putting her hands in her jacket pocket.

“Oh! This is Valor, she’s the ex-guardsman I was telling you about.” Troupe said, introducing the white pegasus.

Valor hummed, tilting her head as she looked at Rainbow. Her eyes widened in recognition. “Ah! You must be Rainbow Dash, right?”

"Yeah," Rainbow said simply, putting her hands back in her pocket.

“Valor here is curious about this Dark person,” Troupe said, raising a finger, he continued. “She’s been wanting to meet him and find out what exactly he did to change the guard’s training regime despite being a recruit. When someone manages to accomplish something you’ve been trying to do for years in the span of a few months, you can’t help but be curious.”

Rainbow shrugged. "Sorry, but he isn't here right now. He went to Canterlot earlier for something."

Troupe let out a sigh. “I see, well that’s a shame.” Shrugging, he smiled at the group. “Well thank you anyway, seems we’ll have to try again the next time he’s around. I was hoping to see why kind of training he does with the guards…” Shaking his head, he dismissed the thoughts. “Well, thank you again. You four have a good day now!” He said cheerfully, turning away from the group and walking towards the exit, the pegasus right next to him quickly following behind.

Just as the duo were about to leave, they were stopped by a sudden scream echoing from outside the building. The six of them froze, the scream taking them all off guard. After taking a moment to process what they heard, the six of them began running out the front door, trying to see what was going on.

Rainbow looked around, trying to find the source of the screaming. Looking towards her left, she spotted a pink furred earth pony running towards their direction, her eyes were wide with terror as she continued to gasp for air. Just as Rainbow was about to stop her, her eyes widened in shock at what exactly it was she running from.

Behind the flower salespony was a small black ant-like creature with a pair of beady yellow eyes. The dark creature was crawling around in all fours, its antenna bobbed in the air with each step it took. Suddenly the black ant leaped towards the pony, tackling her to the group. Ignoring the screams, the creature raised its claws in the air, preparing to deliver the final blow to its prey.

Speeding towards the black being, Rainbow quickly formed an ice sword and slashed at the small being. The bisected creature’s body poofed away, leaving behind a small amount of black smoke. Rainbow quickly dismissed the icicle in her hand, turning her attention towards the pony on the floor. “Daisy, are you alright? What’s going on?!” She asked as she helped the earth pony get up.

The pink earth pony, Daisy, grabbed Rainbow, her eyes filled with terror. “It's those monsters! They’re everywhere! The town’s full of them, and they’re going around attacking everypony!”

Rainbow cursed as the sword evaporated. "Head inside. I'll deal with this." She then turned to the group at the bakery. "You guys stay put. This may get ugly." She then spread her wings and headed for the town square.

As she landed, she saw more creatures wreaking havoc to the place. More bug-like ones, slightly taller ones wearing knight helmets, large ones with most of their body being their torso, and even large ones that resembled pure black timberwolves.

Rainbow sighed. "Probably a good thing Tito isn't around to see this." With her arms glowing, she shot a few icicles at some of them, freezing them instantly.

Seeing their comrades freeze, all of the surrounding Heartless stopped what they were doing, turning their attention to the blue pegasus. Immediately, they began charging at her. The small Shadows sunk into the ground, skittering towards her while the others rushed her.

Forming her ice swords again, Rainbow Dash sped towards one of the knight-like monsters, using her sword to cut down the creature. Not giving the pegasus any time to breathe, one of the timberwolf like creatures leaped at her, using its weight to pin her to the ground.

The black wolf briefly snarled at her, annoyed at the pegasus who was keeping the creature at arm’s length. The wolf snapped its jaws at her, trying to maul her face with its teeth. Rainbow gritted her teeth. Using her powers, she blasted the wolf in front of her, freezing it completely.

Taking off into the air, she glared down at the group of monsters, noticing how more of them seem to be coming towards the town square. Raising her arm, she chucked one of the ice swords down at one of the Large Bodies, managing to impale the creature’s head. The large Heartless stumbled backward before falling on top of several Shadows behind it, crushing them all with its weight before they all poofed away.

One of the Large Bodies waddled towards the water fountain, ripping out a chunk of it and raising it above its head. Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened as several of the large Heartless began chucking parts of the town at her, while the black wolves leaped at her hooves, trying to bite them.

Seeing that all of their attacks weren’t able to hit her, Rainbow couldn’t help but feel her confidence rise. “Ha! Is that all you got?! I don’t know why he was so worried about you, you’re nothing but a bunch of pushovers!” She boasted, flying circles around the Heartless. “Whoa!” She cried out, seeing a small fireball fly past her.

Turning towards the source of the attack, she spotted what looked to be several old extravagant red containers with a red and black symbol of a heart in the center, similar to the Soldiers, and a golden lid with a crooked antenna. It hovered in midair in erratic patterns. Rainbow then noticed two beady yellow eyes in-between the lid and body. The Red Nocturnes all let out small high pitched shrieks before firing a volley of fireballs at the pegasus.

Rainbow Dash quickly flew down, dodging the fireballs aimed at her. Forming her ice sword again, she slashed at the Red Nocturnes, only managing to slice through two of them as the rest of them all scattered as soon as she got close.

Quickly circling the pegasus, the Red Nocturnes all cloaked themselves in flames. As one, the small swarm of Heartless rushed her. Rainbow quickly tried to swipe at them with her sword, only for it to melt from the Heartless’ intense heat. Rainbow Dash then let out a pained cry, before falling onto the ground. She hissed as she reached over to touch her back, where one of the flaming Heartless had managed to hit her.

Looking around her, she noticed all of the other Heartless begin to circle her. “Okay… so maybe you aren’t all complete pushovers…” She said, getting back up and forming another ice sword. The Red Nocturnes then all flew downwards, joining the encirclement. She huffed in annoyance at the sight of them.

Before any of the Heartless could react, a large piece of concrete flew in, crushing the head of one of the Heartless wolves. Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but stare in shock at the piece of concrete, wondering if that was meant for her.

Suddenly a second piece of concrete flew in, smashing against the backside of a Large Body. The Heartless stumbled forward a bit before turning around towards the source of the attack. Behind the group was the tan furred earth pony from before the bakery, Troupe was leaning against the broken water fountain with a smile.

Seeing that their attention shifted to him, he waved. “Couldn’t help but notice all the fun you were having. Hope you don’t mind if we join in.” Getting up from the fountain, he grabbed the chunk of concrete he was leaning on and ripped it off from the rest of the fountain. Smirking, he raised the chunk over his head before chucking it towards the same Large Body he hit earlier. The Heartless stumbled backwards from the force of the hit, before poofing away.

Before Rainbow could react, she felt herself be pulled off the ground, stiffening as she got ready to attack whatever it was that grabbed her, only to stop when she saw it was the same red-haired pegasus from the bakery.

With her hands still glowing, she said, "Not that I don't appreciate the help, but what are you two doing here?"

Flying her towards Troupe, the red-haired pegasus gently set her down on the ground before turning around towards the Heartless. “We came here to help of course.” She answered, pulling out a dagger from her pouch. “I may not be a member of the guards anymore, but that doesn’t mean I’m just going to stand on the sidelines while ponies are out here crying for help.”

"And what's his excuse?" She said, pointing to Troupe.

“Well, I can’t exactly let Valor run straight into danger without some backup.” Troupe explained. “What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t at least try to help?” He then looked back at the Heartless, frowning in worry as they all shambled closer towards them. “Though I wish she didn’t drag me along to fight against… these guys, they seem to be everywhere.”

"And unfortunately, the only one that knows anything about these things is out of town," Rainbow mentioned with a sigh, before firing another ice shot at a nearby Soldier, freezing it.

Troupe gaped at the sight of the frozen Heartless. “How did you do that? I thought pegasi couldn’t use any magic?!” He asked.

Valor frowned, turning her head slightly towards his direction. “Pay attention to the fight! You can ask questions later.” Troupe flinched, giving the ex-guardspony a nod.

"Tell you what, we get out of this fine, I'll tell you," Rainbow said with a shrug. She then Cloud Dashed behind one of the wolves and sliced it.

The two nodded, accepting the condition before darting towards the nearest Heartless. Raising her dagger, Valor stabbed a nearby Soldier, causing its body to shudder before poofing away. Reaching into her pouch, she grabbed another dagger from it and used it to stab one of the Shadows leaping at her.

Besides her, Troupe was doing his best to keep the Heartless away from him, grabbing any of the creatures that got close to him and throwing them towards the others. Stiffening, Troupe quickly jumped up at the air, dodging a tackle from one of the Red Nocturnes. Leaping towards the fire elemental, Troupe grabbed the Heartless and immediately turned around, using the small Heartless as a shield from one of the Shadow’s claw swipes. Seeing the Heartless in his hands poof away, Troupe couldn’t help but laugh. “Ha! I guess we should be calling you guys brainless! With that crappy aim, it really fits.” The earth pony couldn’t help but laugh, not noticing one of the Large Bodies waddle towards him until it was too late.

Stiffening, Troupe quickly turned around, only to be met with the large Heartless giant’s palm. Let out a small squeak, the Large Body threw the earth pony towards one of the houses, causing him to crash through the building’s window.

“Troupe!” Valor cried out, her eyes wide in worry. Letting out a growl, she flew up towards the large Heartless, stabbing the giant’s head with both of her daggers. The Large Body under her immediately started thrashing around, trying to buck the pegasus off of her. Gripping the blades tightly, she couldn’t help but send a glare towards the house her friend crashed into. “What did I tell you about getting overconfident?” Taking out one of the daggers from the creature’s head, she stabbed the Large Body again, this time getting it in its small yellow eye. The Large Body shuddered briefly before poofing away. Valor flapped her wings, landing on the ground gracefully. “I swear if we make it out of this, I’ll make sure to beat that lesson into you the next time we train.”

Rainbow then Cloud Dashed to the pair with a concerned expression on her face. "You guys okay?"

She nodded, giving her a small smile. “We’re fine, thank you. There’s no need to worry about Stage Troupe, he’s much tougher than he looks.” She said, waving away her concern. Looking around at the damaged buildings, she frowned. “Seems like those creatures did some damage though, hopefully, everypony is alright.”

Before either of them could continue, a loud howl echoed around the town. Turning towards the source of the howl, they saw a single large wolf with a black and red crossed-out heart on its head. The wolf easily towered over most of the earlier Heartless, almost being as tall as the buildings next to it. Its yellow eyes gleamed as it glared at the two pegasi in front of it. Letting out another howl, the giant wolf began charging straight towards them, its snout curled up in a snarl.

Seeing the massive wolf charge straight towards them, the two pegasi immediately flew out of the way. Rainbow quickly flew into the building behind them, to pick up the earth pony, before she flew away.

The wolf snarled, crashing into the house and causing the building to fall apart, pieces of debris slid off of its black fur as it shook itself. Turning towards the trio, the wolf crouched down before leaping into the air to catch them.

Seeing the leaping canine right behind her, Rainbow quickly tossed Stage Troupe to the side, saving him from the wolf’s jaws. The wolf clamped its jaws onto her tail, catching the fleeing pegasus. With a savage glint in its eyes, the wolf shook its head violently, causing Rainbow to be tossed around in every direction. The pegasus couldn’t help but scream as she was suddenly flung towards the destroyed fountain, letting out a pained yell as she crashed into the water.

Seeing Rainbow Dash down, the other two ponies quickly rushed in her direction, stopping once they were between her and the giant wolf. The wolf growled in annoyance when it saw the two place themselves between it and the pegasus. Howling, the wolf raised its claws and swiped at the pair.

Quickly jumping back, Stage Troupe reached into his coat, taking out a long yellow, metal prod. Pressing down on the large button, he activated the stun baton and jabbed it at the wolf’s outstretched limb.

The wolf howled in pain, feeling its body seize up for a second, before taking a step back. Snarling, the wolf stood on its hind legs, raising its two front paws in the air before slamming it down in front of the earth pony, causing him to trip and fall backwards. Raising its left claw, the wolf tossed the fallen pony to the side. Suddenly the wolf yelped, feeling a sharp pain on its neck. Shaking its head violently, it flung the red-maned pegasus off of him, along with the daggers that stabbed it.

Valor let out a pained shout upon colliding with one of the stray lampposts. Seeing her vision swirl, the pegasus collapsed onto the ground, her consciousness fading.

“Valor!” Troupe yelled, gulping when he noticed the wolf turn its attention back to him.

Hearing the yelling, Rainbow Dash groaned, lifting herself from the fountain. Looking around the town square, she spotted the unconscious pegasus laying face down on the dirt. On the other side of the street, she spotted Troupe stepping backwards from the giant wolf. Gritting her teeth, she glared at the giant canine, her thoughts drifted back to the rock farm, being reminded of her defeat by the hands of the EggRobo. The way the wolf prowled and towered over its defeated foes reminded her of the Egg Breaker standing over her friends. She recalled the robot’s words and taunts and scowled at the memory.

Absorbing some of the water around her to heal, she focused on creating another ice sword. As the item formed, she immediately grasped it. But for some reason, it felt just a bit heavier than normal and felt more comfortable in her hand than ever before.

Before she could check on the weapon in her hands, the wolf’s howling nabbed her attention. Glaring at the wolf, she saw it leap towards Troupe, its jaws wide open to swallow him. Speeding towards the two, Rainbow Dash quickly summoned a pillar of ice between the two, forcing the monster to crash into the pillar. The ice pillar broke apart around the beast, large chunks of ice falling on top of the creature’s head. Quickly grabbing Troupe, Rainbow left him near Valor before jumping back into the fight.

Seeing the wolf crouch down to leap at her again, Rainbow quickly froze the Heartless’ legs, binding him onto the ground and preventing it from leaping at her. Not giving the monster any chance to recover, she slashed the creature’s face as she was flying by it. Turning back around, she flew by it again, dragging her weapon across the monster’s face. She repeated this attack several times, causing the wolf to flinch every time.

Snarling, the wolf’s constant struggling finally managed to break through the ice keeping it trapped. Opening its jaw wide, Rainbow couldn’t help but find herself face to face with the inside of the beast’s mouth.

Quickly throwing her hands in front of her, Rainbow Dash filled the monster’s mouth with steam, causing it to flinch and gag. The Heartless wolf shook its head as it tried to get rid of the steam inside of it.

Gripping the weapon, Rainbow Dash darted towards the Heartless, raising her weapon over her head and stabbing the monster’s head. The wolf howled in pain and anger, shaking its head violently, trying to toss the pegasus and her weapon off of it.

The wolf’s movements slowed down with each passing moment, it’s struggling slowly becoming nonexistent as it fell onto the dirt road below it. The Heartless wolf’s body became pitch black before poofing away, leaving no trace of its existence behind.

Rainbow sighed as she shook her head. She looked over towards Troupe and Valor, spotting Troupe helping Valor back to her hooves. The pegasus still looked a bit out of it, with her leaning against her friend to continue standing. Rainbow Cloud Dashed towards the pair. "Hey, you guys okay?"

Troupe smiled, nodding his head. “Yeah, don’t worry about us, this isn’t our first time dealing with huge monsters.”

Valor sighed, grabbing her head. “I’m alright, thank you for your concern.” Narrowing her eyes, she turned towards Rainbow. “Never seen a weapon like that before… Did you have it custom made?”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What are you-" she then looked at the item in her hand and noticed it truly wasn't an ice sword. The weapon on her hand was odd and vaguely resembled Lycan Web in a way. Forming the guard was a pair of cyan wings seemingly circling the handle where her hand was. The sword’s blade was curved, and light blue, reminding her of a wave of water, with a few icicles on the side opposite to the blade. On the bottom of the weapon was a chain with an item that looked like a white snowflake with a pair of cyan wings on either side of it and Rainbow's cutie mark on the center.

After examining the weapon, Rainbow had a brief thought enter her mind. After a mere thought, the weapon disappeared in a mini flurry in Rainbow's hand. The Conduit then smirked. "Sweet, looks like Tito isn't the only one who can use those things now."

“Guessing that must be some kind of magic weapon?” Troupe asked.

Rainbow nodded. "Yeah. Tito said it's called a Keyblade. Technically me, and a few others, are able to use them, but this is the first time I was able to use mine."

Troupe’s eyes widened, “Keyblades…? Sounds rather important.” Turning back, he looked around at the damaged village. “Don’t suppose you know what the deal with those monsters is, do you?”

Rainbow shrugged. "Creatures of darkness, from what I was told. I don't know much more. Tito is the only one who knew anything."

“I see…” Troupe said, humming. Letting out a small sigh, he decided to shift the topic back to a lighter one. “So is the keyblade the reason you were able to use all that ice and water? I mean, as far as I know, those kinds of abilities aren’t possible for a non-unicorn.”

Rainbow shook her head with a grin. "Nope. Only got access to my Keyblade a week ago. The other thing has been a part of me for about two months." She then had her hands glow in blue light and steam. "I'm a Conduit."

“A conduit?” Troupe repeated in confusion.

“And being a conduit gives you powers?” Valor asked, “Is that something everypony can be, or is it just a few?”

Rainbow shrugged. "I was told that a special few ponies are born with a gene, and those ponies are known as Conduits. And when said gene is activated, the pony gains access to cool powers." She then frowned. "Besides the guy who told me that, and his "evil twin", I haven't seen anypony else with the gene so far."

“Huh…” Narrowing his eyes in thought, Troupe couldn’t help but feel curious about the subject. “And how does the gene activate? I have a feeling it isn’t easy, otherwise more ponies with powers would be around.”

"Even if it was easy, not everypony has it. As for how, he said it’s from great stress. Like being bullied constantly." Rainbow then looked away as she remembered how her gene activated. "Mine activated because someone I care a lot about almost died from that "evil twin". The bastard was gonna kill him and I likely would've been unable to stop him myself." She then clenched her fist and sighed. "Imagine seeing your best friend being held by the neck by some maniac and about to be stabbed with a sword."

The duo flinched, “That does sound terrible.” Valor said, sighing. “Sorry that we reminded you of something so unpleasant.”

Rainbow shook her head. "Nah, not your fault. It’s not my most unpleasant memory, but hey, not everypony can say they can fire ice at monsters or turn into clouds. And Tito is still alive, so it's all good."

“Turn into clouds? Say, you wouldn’t happen to be the cloud pony all those rumors are talking about?” Troupe asked. “I do remember hearing some rumors about a pony being made of clouds in Ponyville, along with some demons running around.”

Rainbow sighed as her ears lowered for a moment. "No surprise you heard of that. I mean, Tito told me they’ve heard about it in the Crystal Empire for crying out loud." With a shake of her head, she continued. "But yeah, that's me. As for the demons, that's Tito and that bastard Nisled. Nisled had the ability to make something like demons and used them to attack the town. As for Tito… Well, let's just say he can be very scary when mad. When the town saw it, they kept calling him a demon for a while until Twilight figured out how to stop it." She rubbed the back of her neck. "Tito doesn't like it to be honest. Can't say I blame him though. I mean, he lived here for months and was overall well-liked and even risked his life to save the town, but everypony just goes and treats him like a monster…" she then realized she was rambling and chuckled in embarrassment. "Sorry, it’s just that Tito is a close friend, and I don't like how he was treated after what he went through."

“It's alright, you don’t need to apologize.” Valor said, raising her hand. “I know I’d be upset if ponies started treating one of my friends like a monster.”

“Still, to have everyone turn on you after months of living here…” Troupe scowled, shaking his head. “The guy must be pretty forgiving to come back here. Don’t think I could forgive them so easily if it happened to me.”

Rainbow looked away. "Yeah. He's a very forgiving person. Heck, he'd even forgive you if you kick him in the back of the head and knock him out apparently…"

“Huh.” Valor said, sounding surprised. “Well, it says a lot about him to hear that he’s so forgiving.” Looking around, she couldn’t help but frown. “We should probably look around the town in case anypony needs any help. We may have dealt with all of the monsters here, but ponies could still be hurt.”

Rainbow nodded. "Yeah. This was a tad worse than usual incidents." She then spread her wings. "I'll check the town hall just in case. See ya later." With that, the three of them went their separate ways.

Just as Rainbow spread out her wings, she stumbled, taking a few steps forward and regaining her balance before falling down. Turning around to see what she tripped over, her eyes narrowed and she tilted her head in confusion. Bending over to pick the object, she inspected the yellow container on her hand, noticing the rather festive look it had, around the object were numerous moon and stars littered around it. “What’s this…?” She asked herself, noticing the spiked cap on top of the ball-like container, she debated with herself on whether or not she should open it before deciding to put it away. “Think it's best if I bring it over to Tito first.” Looking around, she spotted multiple yellow orbs littered across the town, along with it were a pair of crescent red gems. Making sure to pick up everything before leaving towards the town hall, she resolved to tell Tito about all of the strange items as soon as he got back.

Kaito sighed, reaching over to scratch the back of his head. “Well… that was something.” His shoulders drooped, as all of the adrenalin left his body. “We stayed here to investigate that Dark guy, and instead we were roped into fighting those Heartless.”

“Heartless?” Valor question, raising an eyebrow.

“The name of those monsters, I recognize them from back home.” He answered. “My sister is the one who knows about them, I only picked up a few things from watching her.” Reaching inside his coat, he pulled his cell phone and turned it on. “While I would love to stay and help, I’m worried about Garm. If these Heartless are here, then I’m sure that they’re likely also in the forest.”

Valor nodded, “If you'd like, you can go on ahead and look for him. I’m going to stay here for a bit to see if anypony needs any help.”

Kaito nodded, pressing the call button on his phone and raising it to his ear. “Alright, that works. I’ll call you once I find Garm so we can go.” Turning towards the direction of the Everfree, he began walking towards the forest. “Oh! And be careful, some of those monsters could still be around!” He called out towards her, watching her fly off towards the destroyed buildings. Letting out a sigh, he frowned, recalling the talk they had with the pegasus. “So Tito…” He chuckled. “That's the most normal-sounding name I’ve heard since I got here… Well, guess I found out more about the Spider than I thought I would.” Hearing the diamond dog pick up the phone on the other end, he smiled. “Hey Garm, it's great to hear from you! I was worried. Listen, I think it's time for us to go, I’ll brief you on the investigation as soon as we’re on board the train, alright? I’ll meet you right near the edge of the forest. Cool, see you there.” Ending the call, he pocketed the phone, a satisfied smile spread across his face.

Placing the phone back inside his vest, Garm sighed, trying to ignore the constant jingle of the rings now decorating his arms. Thinking about the short talk he had with Kaito, he couldn’t help but notice how much of a good mood his boss seemed to be in. “Guess he must’ve found something in that investigation of his.” He commented to himself, lazily turning his head back to the small ant-like creature squirming under his claw. The Shadow continued to scratch and pound on his arm, only managing to make the gold rings jingle and sway with every hit. Snorting, the diamond dog squeezed the Heartless’ neck, making the Shadow’s yellow eyes bulge before poofing away.

Seeing the small pest disappear, the diamond dog calmly walked towards the barrel next to the lake. Picking up the discarded lid next to it, he placed it on top of the filled barrel, the container was practically overflowing with Power Rings. Garm couldn’t help but smile as he fastened the straps of the barrel onto his back. “200 gold rings, the lake certainly was feeling generous today.” He said, bowing his head at the sparkling lake, ignoring the golden sparkles under the water. While he certainly would have tried to get those rings, he simply didn’t have any more room to carry them.

Shifting the barrel on his back, he began walking back towards the town. Ignoring the scurrying animals that passed by him on his way back. Stopping suddenly, the diamond dog frowned, his ears twitching as he heard branches snapping. Narrowing his eyes, he jumped into the tree next to him, climbing up as he heard something approaching.

He glared at the trio of Timberwolves arriving at the small clearing he was just at. Focusing his energy to his paws, he stopped charging his attack when he noticed a couple of black wolves appear just behind the wooden dogs.

The largest timberwolf snarled, turning around and placing itself between them and its two allies. The two wooden wolves behind the leader seemed to be cowering at the sight of the larger wolves, their leaf-like ears folding back as they tried to make themselves appear smaller.

The pack leader snarled, leaping towards the black wolves. Sinking its wooden claws into the beast’ shoulders, the timberwolf clamped its jaws on the Heartless’ neck. Right before the black wolf could poof away, the other two Heartless wolves forced the timberwolf off of their ally, and flung the wooden monster onto a nearby tree. The two cowering wolves darted towards their fallen leader, using their wooden snouts to pull their leader back onto its feet.

Panting heavily, the large timberwolf readied itself again to attack. It ignored the sap and branches falling off of its body as it focused on protecting the other two. Just before the large wolf could attack, a large grey body jumped down in between the two groups, catching the wolves all by surprise. The pack leader couldn’t help but snarl at the newcomer, it's branches and twigs all stiffening to make itself appear larger.

Garm ignored the timberwolf’s posturing in favor of glaring at the trio of Heartless. Hearing the timberwolf bark at him, the diamond dog huffed, refusing to give the wooden mutts any attention.

Hearing a loud thud, Garm looked behind the black wolves, spotting a giant version of the creature standing right behind them. A large crossed out red heart was on its forehead. The four wolves all snarled, moving closer to them. The Timberwolf pack leader couldn’t help but move back, feeling intimidated by the giant Heartless.

Garm couldn’t help but snort at the sight of the giant wolf. “Another one? Heh, that's fine by me, I have enough rings to take on more of ya.” He smirked when he saw the four wolves stop, their eyes narrowing at the sight of Garm’s fur turning red. “Having second thoughts?” He taunted. “Well, that makes you smarter than the ones I fought earlier. Unfortunately though, not smart enough.” The diamond dog growled, feeling his anger begin to bubble. Pulling all of the energy into his right hand, the elderly dog stretched his hand out towards the four wolves and snarled. All of the red energy transferring from his body into his right arm. “CHAOS BLAST!” He shouted, a red explosive wave of energy shooting out from his paws, completely consuming the four wolves in front of it, while also destroying some of the forest behind them.

Lowering his paw, he inspected the damage the blast did, narrowing his eyes at the large scar the forest now had, many of the trees behind around the Heartless were now gone as well. Shaking his head, he ignored the rings on his arms disappearing in favor of continuing his trip. Stopping for a moment, he spared the timberwolves behind him one final glance before shaking his head, turning away from them to leave the forest.

Seeing Kaito at the edge of the woods, Garm smiled, walking to the disguised human and greeting him with a simple wave.

Author's Note

And done. Apologies for how long it took to make this but we had issues on how to continue. But yeah, Rainbow met 2 of the Fenrir mercenaries, and Heartless attacked Ponyville. And Dash got her Keyblade. Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter. Until next time.

Goood morning readers! Its the most beautiful, extremely humble, and not to mention everyone's favorite gal, Star709! And we're here with a brand new chapter! Sorry for the wait everyone, but we had issues with just continuing it, not to mention long fight scenes can get a bit draining. Special shoutout to everyone who helped make this chapter possible, and special thanks to those who helped edit all of my mistakes when I started rushing through the fight. Anyways, please tell us your thoughts, really please, your comments fuel and feed us authors! Also if you have any questions, feel free to ask them! Hope you all have a good day!

-Dark
Star

62. Darkness Rising

Dark stared out the window of the moving train, watching as it started going up the mountain, heading towards the entrance to the capital. He ignored the beautiful scenery in front of him, his mind preoccupied with thoughts of Lightning’s story.

"Another Displaced, and a fellow Spider at that," Venom commented, his mental avatar sitting besides Dark. "And by the sounds of it-"

"It really is the Scarlet Spider from Ultimate Spider-Man," Dark finished.

"Toxin actually showed me the memories you had of that show," Lightning said. "You seriously must have enjoyed it for her to have those memories."

Dark shrugged. "It was a good show. At least in my opinion."

"Excuse me, but can either of you explain this Scarlet Spider to me?" Twilight asked. "Because I'm rather lost."

"Sorry Twi," Dark replied. "Simply put, the Scarlet Spider is a guy who had the same abilities as Spider-Man, save for a pair of stingers that can come out of his wrists and organic webs instead of artificial ones."

"Don't you have organic webs?"

"I became my OC. Spidey, outside of a trilogy of movies, doesn't have organic webs. He uses a special formula to make his, along with wearing a web-shooter at the same point my webs come out of."

Twilight hummed. "And what about these other two?" She asked Lightning. "You said one of them was familiar?"

"Well Toxin said that. According to her, the guy got angry and changed. Compared it to something called Super Sonic and Hulk. Hasn't really said much on either so far."

"Wait, Sonic? Didn't you say that's connected to Cece and the Emeralds?" The alicorn asked Dark.

The Displaced nodded. "Yeah. Super Sonic was a form he could take, usually for final bosses. But he needs all 7 Chaos Emeralds to do it and we have 2 of them."

"And we didn't see any gems," Lightning confirmed. "Though he did have those rings that just flew off after we hit him."

"I still can't believe those exist here…"

"Care to elaborate?" Twilight asked.

"They're a major thing with Sonic. Kinda the first object you think of when you think of him. Rings are used to get higher points as well as letting you live. In the games, Sonic dies simply by touching an enemy. The rings let him survive a hit, no matter how severe. Though you always lose all your rings when you take damage and have to try to collect them before they disappear. If those things really do exist in this universe, that can be very useful for us."

"And the Hulk?"

Dark winced. "A major Marvel hero. One of the strongest characters as far as I know. Even known as the strongest hero there is in Marvel. The short version is he's the transformation of a scientist named Bruce Banner. After an...incident, whenever Bruce got mad enough, for whatever reason, he'd turn into the Hulk who would destroy damn near anything in his path until he calmed down and reverted back to Banner. Though some cartoons have it that the 2 sides come to a sort of truce and Hulk stays in control so long as he proves he's not a monster." Dark sighed as he rested a hand on Bri's sleeping form on his lap. "The Hulk's strength is equivalent to his anger. The madder he is, the stronger he gets. So his strength is potentially limitless." Dark shook his head. "If this guy really is like either Super Sonic or the Hulk, I don't know any way to beat them. They're both incredibly powerful beings that can wipe the floor with damn near anyone who messes with them."

The 2 mares stared at him with shocked expressions as they processed that info. "Well, that's definitely bad for us…" Lightning said.

"Understatement," Venom commented.

"As for the mare?" Dark asked before shrugging. "Complete blank on that. Doesn't sound like anyone we know about from Marvel, though not really saying much because I don't know everything."

"So someone with your powers, another with the ability to transform into a strong and dangerous brute, and a pegasus mare who can fight alongside them," Twilight listed before sighing. "All that, combined with Eggman, Hydra, and the incoming Heartless… Why do all these things have to show up so soon from each other?"

"Eggman? Heartless?" Lightning asked, confused.

"Toxin, show Dust the memories you have on the doctor," Venom told his sister.

Dust stood silent for a few moments as she grabbed at her head, not in pain but due to still getting uncomfortable when shown memories that weren't hers.

"You okay Lightning Dust?" Twilight asked, unaware of what happened.

"Yeah, I'm fine," the pegasus replied before shaking her head. "So some fat bastard who's good with tech and chases around a blue rat? What's he got to do with anything?"

"Hedgehog," Dark corrected. "As for your question, we ran into a few of his "toys" a few days ago and almost died from it."

"What?!"

"Yeah." Dark pulled out the Chaos Emerald they got from the rock farm from his bag.

"A Chaos Emerald!" Toxin exclaimed.

"Wait, that's a Chaos Emerald?" Lightning asked, perplexed.

"Yeah. Long story short, a gem of infinite power, seven in total," Dark explained. "They're from Sonic too and Eggman is always trying to get his hands on them. Less than a week ago, we learned that they exist in this world, and like we said, we got 2 of them, but came across some Eggman bots, known as Badniks, and almost died if it wasn't for…something I have no idea how to repeat." He put the Emerald back in his bag. "Unfortunately, there's still 5 Emeralds left out there and we have no idea how to find them. As for Heartless, we'll explain later."

After that, everyone stood silent for a few minutes until they felt the train stop. Twilight looked out the window and saw the train station. "Looks like we're here."

Dark nodded before putting his scarf over his face and waking Bri. As the Riolu slowly woke up, Dark whispered, "Come on Bri. Time to get up." After she let out a small yawn and rubbed her eyes, she looked at Dark and gave a happy yip before hugging him. The human chuckled as he picked her up and had her hang on to him on his back over his bag before moving an arm to Peter, the quiet dragon jumping onto it and climbing to Dark's shoulder. Dark then turned to the mares. "Well, I'm all ready. Let's go."

Amy walked down the empty hallway, ignoring the small fox beside her. Her head was abuzz with so many distracting thoughts it made her head spin, while her stomach growled with a pain she wasn’t used to, she felt a cold sweat sticking her fur and to her skin. She just felt… empty inside. Emotionally.

‘I’m real…’ She told herself over and over again. ‘I’m me, nothing… nothing made me. I’m Amy Rose. Those weirdos must have done something to me! O-or something!’

“It's possible that you’re a product of a magic flower that pulls jokes on people.”

Screwball’s words echoed in her head, making her frown. ‘Jokes… is that all I am to them? Just a product of a bad prank?’

“It's very likely that you aren’t real.”

‘She’s wrong.’ Amy thought to herself, shaking her head. ‘My memories… my experiences… my feelings... They feel real to me. Magic can’t fake that, magic can’t fake what I feel!’ Amy scowled, ignoring the stinging sensation she felt in her eyes. ‘She’s crazy… she’s just a loon! She doesn’t know what she’s talking about.’ Her eyes twitched only faintly registering the yipping right beside her. ‘I’m me, I have to be me! ... Because... if I’m not really me… If I’m really just a fake… then, won’t that cure…’ She gulped, her face becoming somewhat pale. ‘Won’t the cure kill me?’

Amy jumped, feeling startled by the loud yip the fox let out. Slowly, she turned towards the small fox right next to her. She looked at Amy with her ears lowered and a concerned expression on her face. Amy blinked, just registering the fox’s presence, seeing her expression, Amy shook her head, not being able to muster up the strength to give her a smile. “I’m fine, just thinking. You don’t have to worry.”

Emily didn't seem convinced and let out a small whine, shaking her head. Seeing the troubled expression on her face, Emily decided to step in, stopping herself right in front of her. Emily smiled at the hedgehog, letting out a small yip to gain her attention. Seeing that she had the hedgehog’s attention, Emily bounced around in circles, trying to distract the pink hedgehog from her thoughts.

Seeing the cute display, Amy smiled softly. “What’s with you? You aren’t trying to tell me something are you?” She asked, crouching down to be more at eye level with the fox.

Before Emily could respond, the fox’s front paw slipped, causing the pokemon to roll onto her back and continue rolling around across the floor for a few seconds before finally stopping.

Amy gasped, quickly scooping up the fox. “Are you alright?” Emily shook her head, trying to clear the dizziness away before nodding. Amy sighed in relief, smiling down at the fox in her arms. “Well that's good.” She let out a small chuckle as a sudden thought came to mind. “You know, seeing you roll around like that reminded me of a friend I have back home.” Emily’s head tilted in curiosity. “Yeah, he’s always rolling around to get to places, and when he wasn’t rolling, he was usually running. “ She let out a longing sigh, her smile slowly fading. “Sonic never could sit still… and whenever there was something troubling him, he was always able to find a solution, even if it's something that no one else has thought up of before.” She frowned as a sudden thought began to intrude in her head.

‘Sonic wouldn’t have given up. No, even if no one wanted to help him, he would’ve ran off and found his own solution.’ Amy frowned, the thought echoing across her head a few times. ‘What would he do now, in my position? Probably run headfirst and find a solution for both him and Cece… somehow.’ Closing her eyes, she sighed, her heart feeling uneasy. ‘It's easy to think of what Sonic would do… but even if I wanted to follow in his footsteps, I have no idea where to begin, how to start…’ She felt her throat tightened, trying to ignore the stinging sensation she felt in her eyes. ‘But if I do nothing… then there’s a good chance that I might…’ Amy swallowed, trying her best to not let her fear show. ‘I might disappear… for good. Without any of my friends around… without ever saying goodbye…’

Emily let out a whine, raising a paw and placing it on her shoulder. She watched as the pink hedgehog’s facade crack, her eyes becoming misty as she tried to hold back tears. “Feenn…” She whined, nuzzling her cheek.

‘I knew there was always a risk of me dying when I was with the Freedom Fighters, but that was different. I was fighting for a cause, I was fighting to free everyone from Eggman’s tyranny. This… isn’t like that, there’s no bad guy, no villain, just… this.’ She sighed, placing a hand on the fox’s head and absent mindedly petting her. ‘Everything was so much simpler back home, all you needed to do to solve your problems was find the Chaos Emeralds, and then boom! Problem solved!’ “Everything was so much simpler…” Amy said, voicing her thoughts out loud. Making the fox’s ears perk up. As she started off into the distance, several thoughts began to echo in her head.

‘Chaos… Emeralds…’

‘Find his own way…’

‘Find… my own way…’

‘Find… the Chaos Emeralds…’

Blinking, she frowned, as she thought on the idea. ‘Find the emeralds… but for what? What can they do to help?’ She asked herself, unconsciously, she began to think back to all the times she’s seen the others use the emeralds. ‘Every time Sonic used it, it was to turn super, I doubt that will help.’ She huffed, continuing to walk as she carried the fox in her arms. As she walked, the idea bounced around in her head a few more times. ‘No… it wasn’t just to turn super… Shadow used it all the time, he used Chaos Control to teleport to places... Blaze too with her Sol Emeralds. When we were stuck in the Sol Dimension, she used her emeralds to send us back home.’ She blinked and came to an abrupt stop, her eyes slowly widening. ‘Chaos Control! I can use that to go back home! I can go back to my life, forget all this ever happened! I don’t need to die!’

‘All I need is a Chaos Emerald.’ She frowned as she thought about where to find one, tapping her foot. ‘Those two from before each have an emerald, but I doubt they’ll give it to me if I ask. I need to find my own emerald, and to do that…’ Amy raised her head, glaring at the castle around her. ‘I need to leave. They’ll try to stop me if I leave, and they already have, or at least know how to make that cure. I need to leave now!’

Looking down at the fox in her arms, she hummed. Suddenly giving the fox a smile, she set the pokemon down. “Hey, you wouldn’t happen to know where I can find the restroom right? This castle is pretty big, and I can’t seem to find anything here.”

Emily tilted her head before her expression brightened, happy that she was no longer being tormented by her thoughts. Letting out a happy bark, she turned around and started leading the hedgehog down one of the hallways. Half way through the hallway however, she suddenly jumped, being startled by the sound of glass breaking so suddenly. Quickly turning around, she let out a startled yip at the sight of the pink hedgehog jumping through a window, her large red hammer in hand.

Seeing herself approach the ground, Amy raised her hammer above her head before swinging it down. Amy smacked the ground with her hammer, catapulting her forwards, a trail of pink hearts following behind her. As soon as the hedgehog landed onto the ground she put her hammer back into its place, and darted towards the direction of the forest, having spotted the dense woods while falling. Raising her hands to her mouth, she began pooling her energy, creating a transverse flute from her magic. Placing her lips on the magic flute she began playing a song, ignoring the halo forming above her head.

‘I need to find a source of chaos energy. The biggest source of chaotic energy nearest to me! I find that, and I’ll find the emerald.’ As if responding to her wishes, several images began forming in her head. Images of the Everfree Forest she was heading to, the path to take, the animals and dangers to avoid, and finally her destination, a sparkling lake emitting a soft golden light. ‘A lake? Maybe the emerald is inside of it.’ She smiled, allowing herself to feel hope. ‘Just you wait Sonic, I’m coming home!’

Walking through the busy streets of the marketplace, Dark let his mind wander for a bit as they passed by the many vendors and ponies passing by. Besides him, Lightning and Twilight were talking amongst themselves, the pegasus retelling the various adventures she had since becoming a hero.

"-she told me that the names were familiar," Lightning finished before looking to Dark and Venom. "Hey guys, what about you? They mean anything to you?"

Venom nodded. "Yup. A pair of mutants from the same universe Spider-Man is from. But that isn't exactly reassuring. A Displaced with fire breathing and magnet powers, as well as Toad and Blob? As if the fact there's another Conduit wasn't bad enough, sounds like mutants are a thing."

"And Beetle just reminds me of an annoying boss from a video game," Dark added. "But from what I heard, your version is far more simple."

"How?" Lightning asked.

Dark adjusted his bag while Bri was inside it with her head sticking out, looking over his shoulder. "The one I know about has an armored suit that lets him fly and he has a bunch of tech. Yours was just some guy with discount wings."

Lightning frowned. "Wow. Way to make it sound boring."

"Oh please, it sounds like he was barely any harder than that treasure hunter I knocked out a few weeks ago."

"Wait what?"

"Don't worry about it," Venom said. "Anything else?"

Lightning sighed and crossed her arms. "Not really. Only thing worth saying is a villain named Prowler being seen more lately."

Dark immediately stopped. "Prowler?"

"You recognize the name?" Twilight asked, curious.

"Yeah…" Dark said before shaking his head and continued walking. "Unfortunately I don't know much beyond being another Spidey villain and focusing on tech rather than powers." He then took a glance at Lightning. "You know anything on the one in Manehattan?"

The pegasus shook her head. "No. We never came across him. For whatever reason, T's hero sense hasn't gone off where he's spotted."

Dark hummed. Immediately after, as if on cue, Dark and Lightning immediately stiffened as they suddenly felt their respective senses going off.

Twilight frowned. "Is something wro-" she started before hearing a scream, followed quickly by Dark rushing to the source with Lightning Dust flying just behind him, and Twilight immediately took flight to follow the pair.

Arriving at the market square, the trio spotted a number of destroyed stalls and panicking ponies running around, flying above them all were multiple red robed beings, all wearing twisted yellow hats on top of their heads. The red robed creatures were raining down fireballs at the ponies below them, one of the fireballs managing to hit a portly unicorn.

The unicorn let out a sharp pained cry as he tumbled down. The noble gritted his teeth as he struggled to get up, raising his head, he spotted the shocked trio in front of him. “Pl-please! Save me! These creatures, they came out of nowhere! I-I can pay you!” He reached into his suit and pulled out a bag of bits and reached his arm out to give to them. “Please! I can give you a title if you want, just save me from these-!” The unicorn suddenly let out a pain yell, clutching his chest.

Suddenly, a bright light started to emit from the nobleman, causing a bright red heart to float out of his body. The heart floated above the disappearing body for a second before being consumed by a black cloud. The cloud glowed in an eerie light briefly before leaving behind a short black humanoid. The humanoid knight's helmet rattled as it observed its new surroundings, flexing it's red claws, the creature stared at the trio in front of it. The Soldier shuffled its feet back and forth as it got used to its new body. A black crossed out heart symbol was on its chest.

The group were stunned speechless as they saw what looked like a pony dying right before their eyes. Before the ponies could react however, they heard growling and Twilight suddenly had Dark's bag shoved into her arms as he immediately ran towards the Soldier and impaled it with Lycan Web before it could do anything to defend itself. He then picked it up by the arm and threw it towards a wall with enough force that it immediately dissolved as soon as it impacted.

Dark then glanced towards his companions, his hood hiding his blood red irises. "Twilight, get the civilians and Bri to safety," he said, anger evident in his voice. He then dodged an incoming fireball before throwing his Keyblade at the Heartless that launched it. "Dust, are you able to fight without your partner showing herself?" He asked as he had Lycan Web materialize back in his hand.

Lightning smirked before flaring her wings back up. "Yup."

As if sensing the keyblade’s presence, all of the Heartless in the market square stopped and immediately began charging towards the trio. Several ant-like beings pulled themselves off the ground before joining their allies.

Seeing the horde of Heartless coming towards them, Twilight quickly fired a small blast to scatter them. Satisfied with that, Twilight quickly spread out her wings and took off into the air, “Everypony listen up! I give you my word as a princess of Equestria, that you will be saved, but I need you all to follow me to safety!” The remaining ponies didn’t hesitate before they rushed towards the alicorn, Twilight briefly turned back towards Dark, looking concerned. “Be careful Dark.”

Dark nodded, before quickly darting towards one of the dazed Shadows and slashing it with his weapon, causing it to poof away. Feeling his spider-sense warn him, Dark quickly jumped away from an incoming fireball, letting it hit the wall in front of him. Gripping Lycan Web tightly, he raised it above his head before chucking it at the Red Nocturne floating above him, the blade not only managed to stab the Heartless, but the force of the throw also caused it to continue arching back, impaling a lone Soldier behind the flying Heartless. Recalling his weapon, Dark quickly turned back and slashed at one of the Shadows leaping at him. He scowled when he saw a pair of Large Bodies lumbering towards him, their hands stretched out to grab him.

Before the pair could reach him, Lightning suddenly jumped in, kicking the one on the right in the head. The dazed Heartless stumbled backwards before falling onto the ground, crushing a couple of Shadows standing behind it. Lightning smirked at the sight, before turning back to Dark. “Any idea how many more of these things there are?”

Before Dark could answer her, the two were forced to split up as a pair of Red Nocturnes began firing at the spot they were standing in. The heroic duo jumped up towards the robed Heartless, with Lightning punching straight through the being while Dark simply stabbed it with his blade. As they landed back on the ground, Dark sighed, “Honestly not really sure right now. We just need to keep them busy until Twilight can get everyone to safety.” Just as he was about to rejoin the fight, Dark stopped, spotting something on the ground. Seeing a ton of yellow and blue orbs littered across the ground, Dark couldn’t help but stare in confusion. "What the heck…?" Dark rose a hand towards the nearest orbs and picked them up, unsure on what they were. He shook his head and immediately shoved them in his pocket. Before removing his hand from the pocket, he grabbed Mike's pokeball and let him out.

"Frogadier," the Water type said immediately after being released.

"Mike, I need you to help out with these Heartless. Think you can manage?"

Mike nodded with a determined look in his eyes. The frog pokemon let out a small croak as he turned around, glaring at a few of the Red Nocturnes flying towards them. Taking a deep breath, Mike let out a Bubble attack at the tiny wizards, the airborne Heartless all spasmed from the attack before poofing away.

Just as Mike was about to join Dark in his fight, the frog let out a startled croak, a small spiked ball landing just in front of his feet. Raising his head, he spotted multiple small black clouds leaving behind more Heartless. These Heartless all had small pudding-like bodies, their heads were the shape of a teardrop, with a small yellow ball floating above their heads. The small flying Heartless all had small beady yellow eyes staring down at everyone below them, on their backs were a pair of bat-like wings, and on their stomach was the crossed out heart symbol.

The small fairy-like Heartless all raised their stubby little arms before spawning a large spiked ball on their hands. “Mmmm!” They whined, chucking the spiked balls down at the Frogadier.

Mike scowled, doing his best to dodge the incoming attacks. Using his long tongue, he caught one of the spiked balls and chucked it back at the swarm of Heartless. The spike ball managed to cause quite a few of them to disappear. Seeing the remaining few drift away, Mike quickly formed a Water Pulse in his hands before firing it at the retreating fairy Heartless.

“Mmm!” The fairies all whined as one before poofing away.

Mike stared at the sky for a moment, waiting to see if any more airborne Heartless would appear. After a few seconds of waiting, he nodded and jumped back at Dark’s side, helping him take out the few remaining Heartless.

“Everypony please enter in a calm and orderly fashion. The more you cooperate, the easier it’d be to get all of you to safety.” Twilight yelled, flapping her wings to stay above the school. Letting out a tired sigh, Twilight flew down onto the school’s roof, letting her wings droop to the side as she rested. “I didn’t think that there would be this many of them attacking, they seem almost endless.” She whispered to herself, keeping an eye out on the crowd for any Heartless trying to sneak in. A frown made its way onto her face, her chest tightening in worry. “I just hope Ponyville is okay…”

Hearing a small whine coming from the bag she had, she saw Bri poke her head out of the bag’s large pocket. The Riolu stared up at Twilight with a concerned expression, besides her, Peter’s scaly head poked out as well.

Twilight smiled at the pair hiding in the bag. “It must be getting pretty stuffy being in that bag the whole time.” She said, crouching down to open the zipper, allowing for the two to jump out, Peter crawling up Twilight's arm onto her shoulder. “Just stay close alright? Who knows where those creatures could come out of.” The two small creatures nodded, moving closer to Twilight’s side as they stared at the crowd below them.

Behind the trio, a small flat shadow slowly skittered towards them, the shadow would stop every few moments before resuming. Stopping right behind the distracted Riolu, the flat creature pulled itself off the ground, its two yellow eyes blinking as it adjusted to the light. The Heartless slowly stepped towards the jackal, flexing its claws.

Just as the Shadow leapt towards the pokemon, Bri’s ear twitched catching the sound of the Heartless leaping. The pokemon quickly turned around, her eyes widening at the sight of the Shadow’s claws almost reaching her.

Twilight’s eyes widened when she spotted the Heartless, her wings flaring up in panic. “Bri!” She yelled, her horn lightning up as she turned around to grab her.

Quickly raising her arms, Bri crossed them in front of her, trying her best to protect herself. Just as the Shadow’s claw was about to reach her, the Riolu was surrounded by a red aura, and once the claw made contact with her, the red aura glowed brightly and exploded outwards, flinging the Heartless off the roof. Bri gaped, lowering her arms slowly as she stared at where the Heartless had been just a few moments ago. “Rio..?”

Twilight immediately bent down, placing her hands onto the pokemon’s shoulders. “Bri, are you alright? Are you hurt?” She asked, filled with concern.

Bri just stared blankly at Twilight for a moment before looking down on her paws, wondering just what the red aura was. Realizing that her silence was making Twilight worried, she nodded, and let out a small bark.

Twilight sighed, placing her hand on top of her head, petting her. “That's good. Come on, we should go inside, who knows when more of those things will arrive.” She said, picking up Bri with her arms, just as she was spreading her wings out, she spotted a few more flat Shadows skittering across the rooftop. The flat Heartless soon pulled themselves off the ground, all of them glancing at the trio and moving towards them.

Twilight quickly pushed the small pokemon behind her, stepping in front of the Riolu to shield her from the Heartless. A small bead of sweat ran down the side of her face as she spotted a group of small black fairy Heartless flying towards them, between their arms were large spiked balls.

Seeing the Shadows all jump towards them, Twilight quickly summoned a round shield, repelling the Heartless’ attacks. Unperturbed by the bubble, the creatures continued their attack, the swarm crowded around the bubble shield, each of them striking at the shield with all of their might as they tried to get closer to the trio hiding inside of it.

Twilight gulped, eyeing the horde of black creatures. “Come on Dark… where are you?” She hissed, a bead of sweat going down from the side of her head as she struggled to keep the shield up.

Twilight let out a pained yell, her head throbbing in pain as the shield began to crack. Falling down to one knee she glared up at the monsters. Her ears twitched as a sudden scream began to sound out from below, causing her eyes to widen. 'Dark… No.' She hissed, pouring more energy into the shield before shaking her head in frustration.'I can’t keep relying on him. Ever since he came along, I’ve been leaving everything to him and Rainbow Dash, but these are my subjects.' She fixed a harsh glare at the Shadow in front of her. 'These are my ponies! And right now, they need me! I can’t afford to hide behind those two anymore, not when more threats are making themselves known everyday, and not when there are monsters like you killing my subjects!'Pouring her magic into the shield she expanded it, causing it to push back the Heartless crowding around them. Feeling a sudden weight on her right hand, she acted on instinct, and dropped the shield, darting towards the nearest Shadow and separating the being from its lower torso.

Upon noticing the being poof away with a heart-shaped object escaping it before disappearing, Twilight raised an eyebrow in confusion. Feeling the weight in her hand, she looked down and gaped at what she saw. In her hand was a strangely shaped weapon, with crystal-like branches surrounding a small gear on the guard that looped down on the bottom of the handle. The "blade", despite being as blunt as a club, was entirely made out of the same crystal from the guard, with the end of it possessing a gear with her cutie mark on it, and a small chain at the bottom, ending in a charm shaped like her mark.

Before she could spend any more time admiring the blade, she was pulled out of her thoughts when she noticed movement above her. Looking to her side, she spotted a Soldier crouching down to leap at her. As soon as the Soldier leapt towards her, she cut the creature down, glaring at the other Heartless beginning to crowd around her. “Peter, Bri! Get back inside the bag!” She called out to them. Seeing the Riolu hesitate, she gave her a smile. “Don’t worry about me, I’ll make sure these monsters don’t get past anypony.” Nodding reluctantly, the small baby pokemon quickly hid inside the bag on Twilight’s side along with Peter. Satisfied that they were safe, she brought her new weapon down and put both hands on the hilt, refusing to take her eyes away from the growing number of Heartless appearing in front of her.

Dark leapt towards the black Chao-like heartless, cutting through it with a single strike. The dark fairy couldn’t even let out a single whine before it poofed away, a small heart floating away from the destroyed body. Landing back on the ground, Dark sighed, looking around the now empty plaza. “I think that was the last of them.” He said, his shoulders dropping.

"Surprised there were so many," Venom commented, his avatar just behind Dark.

"That was a massive headache…" Dark muttered as Lightning Dust and Mike caught up to him.

"That all of them?" Lightning asked.

"I think so."

"Okay. So mind telling what in Tartarus those things were?"

"Heartless," Venom answered. "Creatures of darkness that prey on the "hearts" of others. Not the literal kind but something else. Tito never did learn the details."

"We were told about them a few nights ago. I didn't expect attacks to be this bad."

"Kinda wish you would've explained that earlier…" Lightning sighed.

"Our apologies," Venom said. "We didn't expect to fight them so soon."

A moment later, Dark and Lightning stiffened again as the hero sense went off and they took off to where it led, with Mike in hot pursuit.

Dark cursed as he darted towards the source of the trouble. Looking up at the sky, he spotted more heartless floating in the air, the group of them were slowly drifting towards the same direction. Growling, he quickly leapt towards the roof, hoping to spot wherever the danger was, webbing up the flying heartless as he made his way to the roof. As soon as he got on top the roof, his hero sense went off again, causing him to look to his left, spotting a white unicorn with a pink mane running from a Large Body.

Quickly jumping down from the small building, Dark leapt towards the big heartless, stabbing its small head with the Lycan Web. The Large Body stumbled backwards before poofing away, leaving him alone with the unicorn mare he rescued.

Dark immediately dismissed Lycan Web and dusted his hands. "You okay?" He asked the unicorn.

Fleur let out a relieved sigh, nodding her head. “I am now thanks to you.” Looking down, she uncrossed her arms, revealing a small blue fairy-like creature wearing a red bow tie. “It's safe now Cheese, those monsters are gone.”

The small Chao looked up cautiously, revealing its large blue eyes, a small yellow orb bounced around above it's head. Seeing no heartless around, the Chao flapped its small pink wings and raised its arms up in the air. “Chao-Chao!” The orb above it's head briefly turned into an explanation mark.

Dark couldn't stop himself from doing a double take at the sight of the familiar creature and blurting out, "A Chao?!" before covering his mouth.

Venom sighed. "First Sonata and now this…"

Fleur blinked in surprise. “You know what he is?” The Chao besides her floated closer, tilting his head in curiosity.

Dark cleared his throat. "Yeah. I'm familiar with Chao. But what is Cheese doing here…" he muttered before shaking his head. He then looked at Fleur. "Mind if I asked where you found him?"

“We found him together with a small rabbit girl.” She answered, raising an eyebrow. “She should be with my husband right now at the castle.”

"Rabbit girl?" Lightning Dust asked.

"Wait a minute…" Dark said. Before he can say anything however, the pair stiffened again as their hero sense went off. "Okay, that is starting to get annoying," he said as they looked to the castle.

"So we have to clear out the castle?" Lightning Dust asked. "Can't the guard handle it?"

Dark sighs. "Unfortunately the guard isn't much better in a crisis than a normal civilian. I wouldn't be surprised if they're getting their asses kicked if there are Heartless there."

"So just head there and beat up more Heartless?" Lightning asked, smacking the palm of her hand with her fist.

"Pretty much. Though I personally wish we could get there faster than my running." Dark sighed, feeling the situation weighing down on him. Raising his arm, he scratched the back of his head. “No use on complaining now, we should go.”

Just before he could leave, Cheese flew up to him, stopping the displaced. “Chao-chao!” He cried out, the floating orb turning into an explanation point. Before Dark can question the Chao, he quickly flew down to his arm, pushing the cloak back and pointing at the golden bracelet on his arm. “Chao! Chao Chao!” Cheese cried out, waving its small stubby arms.

"What do you want?" Dark asked, completely confused.

Venom narrowed his eyes at the Chao before looking at Dark. "Tito, give it to him."

'What?'

"Well come on. Besides Amy, he might know what to do with it better than any of us."

Dark hesitated for a moment before shrugging and placing a hand on the ring. It then expanded and he pulled it out of his wrist before tossing it to the small creature.

“Chao!” Catching the gold ring, Cheese closed his eyes, concentrating on the ring in front of it. Opening his eyes, he turned away from the group and tossed it in front of him. As soon as the ring touched the ground, it expanded in size, growing until it eventually became taller than the assembled group around it. Inside the hole of the ring an image of Canterlot Castle was shown, multiple black dots were crawling around the walls of the castle. The chao smiled, turning around to them and pointing at the portal. “Chao-chao!”

Everyone blinked in shock when they saw what happened.

"So that thing is basically a Hoopa ring?" Dark asked.

Venom shrugged. "Looks like it. Though you sure it's safe?"

"One way to find out," Lightning said before immediately flying through the portal.

Dark rolled his eyes. "I almost forgot she rivals Rainbow when it comes to recklessness…" he then turned to Mike. "You go on ahead, I'll be right there." The Frogadier nodded before jumping through the portal. Dark then looked at Fleur. "Go find Princess Twilight. She headed to a school. Tell her we went to the castle to deal with those things." He then jumped through the portal himself.

As soon as Dark jumped through the warp ring shrunk down until it disappeared, leaving Fleur alone. She stared at where the ring had been floating before sighing, “Let’s go Cheese, before any more of those monsters arrive.” She turned around, stopping herself when she didn’t hear anything. “Cheese?” The unicorn looked around, looking for the chao. “Cheese, where are you?!” She shouted, looking back at where the portal used to be. “Oh no.”

Author's Note

Finally done. This chapter was a pain to make. So, Amy has run off to find a way back "home", Dark's party has fought Heartless, Dark learned about Cheese being around and what his ring can do, and Twilight gained her Keyblade.

Hello reader's, it is I, the Great and Powerful Star709! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, cause it took us a lot of work to get it together. Please share any thoughts, reactions, or questions you have, we would love to see them, seriously, as author I can say that we thrive on comments. So until next time.

No idea when the next chapter will be made. All I know is my goal is by New Year's Eve. Until next time.

-Dark

Star

63. Shrouding Dark Cloud

At the edge of Canterlot Castle, a large golden ring expanded in size, floating above the ground before Dark and the others jumped out of the ring, causing it to shrink back down to its original size. Seeing the shrinking ring spin towards him, Dark raised his hand and caught the ring before quickly pocketing it.

"That'll definitely be useful," Dark muttered to himself before looking at his 2 companions. "Come on." Almost immediately after saying that, he saw a few Shadows behind Mike and immediately slashed them with Lycan Web.

"You sure the guard can't handle these things?" Lightning asked before tackling a few more. "I mean they're pretty pathetic."

Dark shook his head, glaring at the approaching Shadows. The flat creatures quickly pulled themselves off the ground before pouncing on him. "You don't know how incompetent the guard is.” He began, pausing for a moment to slash the Shadows trying to claw him. “Even if by some small chance it was just the Shadows, there's a pretty high chance the guard will be wiped out by sunset."

"What about the princesses?"

He shrugged. "They likely can handle the Shadows, but I honestly have no idea about their capabilities in a fight. I've seen them get defeated almost as much as the guard in the show, but not so sure whether or not that means they have no real experience here."

A moment after saying that, they both felt their respective spider-sense go off and charged into the castle, the Frogadier quickly leaped after the two to catch up. As the trio got closer to the castle’s front gate, they quickly spotted the numerous Shadows all crawling up the wall, trying to get to the two guards on top of the wall. While Dark couldn’t see any other guardsmen around, he noticed that the drawbridge was quickly rising to prevent some of the Heartless from getting through.

“Mike-” Before Dark could finish, the Frogadier quickly jumped up, firing a bubble beam attack to destroy the Shadows clinging onto the gate’s walls. While the frog pokemon dealt with the heartless scaling the wall, Lightning Dust and Dark quickly dispatched the Soldiers standing around where the bridge used to be.

Dark sighed, quickly looking around to make sure the heartless around the area are gone before turning towards the front gate. “Hey! All of the creatures in the area have been cleared! Make sure to sweep the area for any civilians, after that, get to safety! We can take it from here!” He called out, not bothering to wait for a response before leaping over the wall, Lightning Dust and Mike following soon after.

Dark’s sense flared again as multiple heartless began manifesting around them. Looking past a pair of Large Bodies trying to block his path, he narrowed his eyes at the sight of a guard being tackled down by a Soldier, the guardsman’s body was soon covered in a black cloud with a bright red heart flying out of him before being replaced by a brand new Soldier. Gritting his teeth, he gripped the Lycan Web tightly, glaring at the monsters around him. “We need to get rid of these guys fast, the longer we take, the more of them show up.”

As if in response to that, Dark felt something on his back. A moment later, a pair of tendrils impaled the Large Bodies in their faces, causing them to disappear a moment later. Dark gave a quick thanks to Venom before slicing up the 2 Soldiers and hurrying towards more Heartless.

“Everypony please remain calm!” Princess Celestia called out to everypony in the room. She eyed the nervous nobles, and the scared castle staff as they all crowded around in the throne room. “I assure you, that you’re all safe in this room, as we speak the invaders are already being dealt with. You can rest easy as your lives are in the hands of our capable guards.”

Behind the solar princess, Luna snorted. “That's reassuring.” She muttered sarcastically.

Celestia glared at her sister. “I am trying to keep them calm.” She turned back to the crowd and waved. “What about your guards? Have you alerted them?”

Luna nodded, “My guards have engaged the creatures. While I was still out there, I had noticed something rather...disturbing…”

Celestia frowned, “Disturbing how?”

“Whenever they would defeat one of our guards, or whenever they managed to hit one of our subjects, they would multiply.” Luna sighed. “The bodies of those defeated would melt away into shadows and more of those black monsters appear immediately after. Often the small helmeted ones.”

Celestia grimaced. “Do you have any ideas regarding where they came from?” Seeing her sister shake her head only caused her to sigh. “Then we better find out and quickly, I’m not comfortable sending the guards out there against a threat like this.”

Luna stepped towards Celestia, frowning. “Then let me go face them! The guards can’t do anything on their own, they’re just adding to their numbers.”

“Luna, this isn’t the time.” Celestia sighed.

“Then when is it time?!” She hissed. “Should we wait until they’re in the throne room? Maybe I’ll ask again after they’ve already cleared the castle of our subjects!”

She turned around and glared. “Luna, the guards are just trying to keep us safe.”

“They can’t even keep themselves safe!” She retorted, clenching her fist as she struggled to keep her voice low. “We’re both much stronger than the entire guard put together, which isn't really saying much anymore, in all honesty. We don’t need them to coddle us, and I rather not sit idly by while they throw away their lives when we can go out and stop this madness ourselves.”

“We are needed here to keep our subjects calm.”

Luna growled, rubbing her forehead. “Fine, we’ll stay for now. But the moment things start looking bad, I’m going in.”

Celestia sighed, no longer having the energy to continue fighting. Deciding to turn back to the crowd of ponies, she frowned, letting her gaze fall to the floor. ‘Perhaps I should send Valor a message after this, maybe ask her to come back. She might’ve not been in the guard for long, but if she’s anything like her father, I know she can make some serious improvements in the guard. I should also try to get into contact with Gero. Having Gallant’s old partner around can make our chances in the future even better for us.’ Before her thoughts could continue, the doors opened and a panting guard ran towards the rulers.

The guardsman took a deep breath before turning to address the eldest. “Princess Celestia, Lieutenant Dark has arrived and is approaching the castle to help dispose of the invaders.”

Celestia smiled, feeling a weight lift from her shoulders. “That's excellent news, and was Twilight with him?”

The guard frowned. “Forgive me Princess, but I didn’t see Princess Twilight with them. The lieutenant didn’t seem worried though. I believe she may be helping the civilians out in the city. I heard word that those things attacked the market not long before they appeared in the castle.”

“Them?” Luna questioned, stepping forward between the two. “There are others with Dark?”

“That frog creature, Mike I believe, and an unknown mare I couldn’t recognize. I just know she's a pegasus.” The guard answered hesitantly.

"If they're together, then it must mean she’s here to help." Luna reasoned, letting out a relieved sigh. “So how long do you think it’d take for them to dispatch the invaders?” She asked, turning towards her sister. “A shame I won’t be able to see it.”

Celestia frowned, worry weighing down on her. “I just hope they’re able to deal with them quickly. Their numbers are still growing, and if they take too long, they could get overwhelmed.”

Luna shrugged. "Considering what we've seen from Dark and heard regarding his capabilities, he might be able to handle it. Plus he isn't alone."

Just as the princess was about to answer, the throne room’s doors were thrown wide open again, allowing for multiple guardsmen to rush inside. Celestia quickly went to meet them, asking about what was going on. Luna stared at the group for a moment before slowly stepping back, making her way behind the throne, she quickly looked back at her sister as she lit up her horn and teleported away.

Dark scowled, dodging the spiked balls being thrown by the Chao-looking heartless. Raising his arms, he quickly webbed the group of heartless and brought them down to him, swinging Lycan Web as soon as they got close.

"Quite a few of those helmet ones," Venom says as his avatar stood next to Dark. "Behind you."

Dark immediately sliced his Keyblade upwards, tearing the attacking Soldier in 2 before it vanished like its brethren. Not sensing anymore Heartless, Dark dismissed Lycan Web and took a deep breath. "And if those kinds are made by the victims, that just proves that the guards were outclassed…" he shook his head. "Should seriously talk to the sisters about that."

"Add that to the list, along with those mercenaries."

Dark simply nodded before his spider-sense kicked in again and he ran down the hall, summoning Lycan Web back into his hand to keep fighting.

Seeing a pair of Large Bodies crowding around a group of guards, Dark quickly jumped up and impaled the first Large Body with the keyblade. Before Dark could move to the second heartless, he blinked in surprise, watching as the heartless poof into a black cloud without him doing anything. Turning his head towards the guards, his eyes widened in surprise when he noticed a certain blue maned stallion.

"Fancy Pants?" Dark asked, completely confused to see the noble with a blade in hand and being the most calm pony the human had seen since arriving at Canterlot.

The noble unicorn turned towards Dark and smiled, "Ah hello there Dark! Fancy meeting you here. Thank you for the intervention, I wasn't sure if I would be able to handle both of those things at the same time."

Dark nodded, still shocked. "You can fight?"

“Well of course,” Fancy answered, “After all, I was once a member of the Royal Guard. Couldn’t exactly stand by and do nothing while these monsters made a mess of things.”

Dark stared at the stallion for a couple of seconds before shaking his head. "Worry about that later…" he muttered before looking at Fancy. "Think you guys can get to the throne room okay?"

Fancy Pants nodded, turning towards the guardsmen behind him before stopping suddenly. “Oh Dark, I realize right now might not be the best time, but I must ask for your help.” He began, turning back towards Dark, “Before this invasion, I came to the castle with a young girl, I was trying to help her reunite with her family, but due to the attack, we got separated. If you happen to see a young rabbit-like girl, can you please bring her to safety? I’m incredibly worried about her.”

Dark immediately stiffened when he heard the description. "Sure… Uh, mind giving her name?"

“Her name is Gabriella, we found her a while ago along with a small fairy-like creature named Cheese.” He answered, frowning. “We tried searching for her family in Canterlot, but so far we had no luck, that's why we came to the castle, to ask for the Princesses’ help.”

Dark stood silent for a couple of moments until he shook his head again. "I'll keep an eye out for her. You best be getting to the throne room though. Stay safe." He then ran down the hall to look for more Heartless.

When he was outside of their seeing or hearing range he stopped for a moment and placed a hand on his head. "V. What do you think the chances-"

"Shares the same name, looking for her family, and from what you were told, the description of her appearance would fit," Venom said, his avatar standing beside Dark with his arms crossed. "Plus it'd explain why Cheese was with Fleur of all ponies. So I'd say pretty high."

Dark sighed. "She was in the same city as us this whole time and we never knew…"

Venom shrugged. "Well, it's not like you guys would think she'd be in Canterlot and not hear about it. Now you best hurry up. Better to find her before any Heartless get their hands on her."

That immediately made Dark mad as his irises changed color. "Those things will not touch her," he said before readying his Keyblade and resuming his hunt.

Gabby ran across the hallway, panting loudly as she pushed her new body to its limits to get away from the black creatures. Suddenly tripping, she whimpered as she fell face down onto the cold marble floor, her large ears twitched hearing the loud stomping from a Large Body running towards her. Turning around, she froze, paling at the sight of the Large Body now towering over her. Growing terrified, she buried her face into her knees, reluctantly accepting her fate.

Just as the Large Body raised its arms to crush her, it was suddenly blasted by a blue bolt of energy, the bolt managed to make it lose its balance as it stumbled backward. Before it could regain its balance, a second bolt of energy exploded on its face, causing it to fall back and poof away.

Gabby continued to keep her eyes shut, ignoring everything that was going on around her. She whimpered when she heard the sound of something walking towards her, she stiffened once the sound stopped in front of her, believing that the Large Body was giving her up to something much worse. Gabby closed her eyes tighter when she heard something shifting as it bent down, gulping, she tried to hold back the tears that were trying to escape.

“Don’t be afraid.” A soft voice called out, startling the poor rabbit girl. “It's okay, that monster is gone now.”

Gabby hesitated for a moment before slowly lifting her head and looking to the source of the voice, only to see a dark blue mare with a starry mane and both a horn on her head and a pair of wings on her back.

The young girl blink in shock. "W-who are you?"

“My name is Luna.” She answered, smiling at Gabby. “Was there anypony else here with you before the attack?”

Hesitantly she nodded, “I-I was here with Fancy Pants, but we got separated when the monsters attacked.” Gaby explained.

Luna frowned, nodding her head. “I see…” She stood silent for a second before nodding. “Alright, I’m going to teleport you to the throne room, don’t worry, you’ll be safe there while I go look for Fancy Pants.”

"O-okay…"

Nodding, Luna gently grabbed the rabbit’s hand and lit up her horn. There was a flash of bright light before the two of them disappeared, only to reappear in a large room full of ponies. Several ponies jumped in fright, a few guardsmen raised their weapons before visibly relaxing at the sight of the lunar princess.

“Luna?” Celestia asked, slowly walking towards them. “Where have you been?”

Wincing, Luna quickly bent down to Gabby’s eye level. “Don’t you worry now, you’ll be safe with them. I’m going to go now and find Fancy, don’t worry.” She quickly reassured her, only staying for a second longer before teleporting away, ignoring her sister’s protest.

Releasing an annoyed sigh, Celestia shook her head. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised you decided to help.” Turning towards Gabby, she stared at the rabbit, her eyes wide with surprise before she gave the girl a small smile. “You wouldn’t happen to be someone who used to be human now, are you?”

“I think…” Lightning began, watching as the small Shadow poof away. “That was the last of them.” She said, panting slightly. She looked around briefly, but seeing as how her “hero-sense” wasn’t going off, she relaxed slightly. "That was tiring."

"Yeah, even an athlete like you can't fight for so long without rest. And I can only do so much to help," Toxin commented. "Now come on. I'll lead us to my brother and daddy."

Lightning frowned. "You can do that?"

"Now that I know that Venom is bonded to him, I can get a read on him."

Lightning shrugged before spreading her wings and taking to flight again, having Toxin guide her. After a couple of minutes, she arrived at a hallway and saw Dark slicing the arm off of a Soldier before slamming its head to the ground, it immediately fading after that.

After landing, Lightning said, "Sheesh D, talk about overkill."

Dark sighed to calm himself down and dismissed Lycan Web. "I honestly don't care. Those things killed enough ponies. And with how mad that got me, I decided to vent my aggression on them."

"The most healthy way of doing that," Venom said, his arms crossed. He then shrugged. "Though at least you aren't holding it in…"

Ignoring the symbiote, Dark turned to Lightning. "So you get all the ones you found?"

The pegasus nodded. "Yup. And considering Toxin hasn't picked up on anything, I think that's the last of them." She looked around. "Where's Mike?"

"I sent him to look for any stragglers that we couldn't pick up on," he said, his voice revealing that he was distracted.

Lightning frowned at Dark's tone. "Something wrong?"

After a moment of hesitation, Dark asked, "Did you find a rabbit?"

Lightning blinked. "What?"

"A rabbit," Venom repeated. "We ran into Fancy Pants earlier. Not only is he apparently a former guard, but he asked if we can keep an eye out for a rabbit girl. Whose name is Gabriella."

While Lightning was confused, Toxin gasped. "Gabby?!"

Venom nodded. "Most likely. He said she is usually with Cheese. Which would explain why the Chao was with Fleur earlier."

"Okay, can any of you guys tell me who the hay you're talking about?" Lightning exclaimed.

Dark was the first to answer. "Gabby is my younger cousin. She and her sister Elizabeth were Displaced as the Sonic characters Cream the Rabbit and Blaze the Cat over a month ago. Cece and I met Eli a few weeks ago and learned about their Displacement but none of us had any idea where Gabby was. Until Fancy Pants mentioned her."

Lighting stared at Dark in shock before putting a hand on her hand. "So you're saying that not only were you and your sister Displaced, but so were 2 of your cousins? And you all ended up in the same world? Sheesh. I don't know whether to say you're lucky to all end up in the same place or incredibly unlucky that all of you ended up Displaced."

Dark shrugged. "I'd consider it lucky. And we're all lucky to have ended up found by ponies nice enough to give us each a roof over our heads."

Lightning thought about it for a moment before nodding. "Can't argue with that. I mean you've seen firsthand how bad ponies can be. Both in that show and in person." She then shook her head. "Getting way off-topic. To answer your question, no. We didn't see Gabby anywhere. Though my confusion on what you guys said should make that extremely obvious. Maybe she made it to the throne room with everypony else?"

Dark sighed. "I hope so. Come on."

Before any of them could go, however, Toxin spoke up. "Um, before we do that, can we rest up? Lightning is a bit winded from all the fighting."

Dark then looked to Lightning Dust. "Really?"

After a brief moment of hesitation, the cop sighed and nodded. "Yeah. Not exactly used to fighting nonstop for so long."

"Makes sense," Venom replied. "Not like any fights you ponies have been in for a while ever last that long. And you never would've handled anything to this scale before."

Dust rose an eyebrow. "And you have?"

Dark shrugged. "Not exactly. I fought 2 hordes of giant insects before, one time while protecting an egg, and a lot of robots just a few days ago. And with my luck, this is only the beginning. But if you really are tired, I guess we can stay put for a couple of minutes. Not like we're in any rush now."

"Thanks." With that said, Lightning sat down by a wall and closed her eyes, with Dark deciding to lean on a nearby pillar. The two stood in silence, merely resting after the long fight they had. After a couple of minutes, Lightning got up, taking a deep breath before sighing. “Okay, I think I’m good now. I’ll rest up some more after we make it to the throne room.” Dark nodded, getting up from his position as the two got ready to make their way to the throne room.

The two only took a few steps before suddenly stiffening, their senses going off again. Lightning cursed, “Really?! How many more are there?!” She cried out, making her frustration clear.

As if to answer her question, a giant armored fist crashed right through the castle wall. The armored gauntlet flew straight towards them, forcing the two to jump out of the way. With a loud crash, the purple gauntlet left behind a large crater right where it crashed.

The two heroes quickly raised their arms in anticipation as they watched as the armored gauntlet suddenly started floating upwards. Before the two could react, there was another crash as more floating armor pieces smashed through the castle wall to join the gauntlet. The armor pieces all floated around each other before they began to move to their proper position, with the two gauntlets floating in between a purple hourglass-shaped body, the heartless symbol right on the center of its chest. Below the floating body, a pair of armored legs hopped into position, while an armored knight-like helmet set itself above its body.

The Guard Armor stared at the two heroes below it before stomping towards them, the two gauntlets started spinning around the body as if it was a helicopter blade. Seeing the armor advanced towards them, the two heroes jumped out of the way, Dark quickly summoned his keyblade and leaped at the armor, slashing the floating helmet and causing it to crash onto the floor right behind it.

Feeling his spider-sense go off, Dark turned his head to see the pair of floating gauntlets reach out to grab him. Quickly twisting his body, he used the Lycan Web to swat one of the armored limbs away, while Lightning quickly used her webs to pull the other gauntlet away from him.

“Thanks for the save,” Dark said, safely landing on the ground and turning towards the heartless monster.

“Don’t mention it.” She gritted out, heaving the gauntlet towards her as she began to spin around, causing the armored limb to spin with her. With a loud shout, she tossed the gauntlet towards the main body, causing it to crash onto the ground. “Bullseye!” Lightning cried out, pumping a fist into the air.

Her eyes then widened, feeling her senses force her to jump away, looking back, she saw the armored legs stomp right on the ground she was standing on. “Thanks, Toxin.”

“Don’t thank me yet, focus on the fight!”

Nodding, Lightning raised her arms, preparing herself as the two limbs rose into the air and darted straight towards her.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the hallway, Dark continued to jump backwards, dodging all of the claw swipes from the armored gauntlets. As he jumped up in the air to dodge another swipe, he let out a cry of pain when the armored helmet crashed right onto his back, tossing him towards the two floating limbs. The armored claws quickly reached out and grabbed Dark’s arms, and without any warning, the two claws began to pull Dark’s arms on opposite sides, causing Dark’s eyes to snap wide open as he let out a pained yell. Gritting his teeth, he gathered his strength to pull back hard, managing to make the two gauntlets to collide with each other. Feeling his spider-sense go off again, he looked back to see the armored helmet dart towards him for another tackle.

As the helmet got closer, several black tendrils erupted from Dark’s body, wrapping themselves around the helmet before slamming it to the ground several times before slamming it on top of the two floating arms that were slowly getting up. Venom continued to slam the armored pieces against each other before all three of them glowed and poofed away, causing Dark to let out a relieved sigh as he rubbed his arms.

Turning towards Lightning, he couldn’t help but feel relieved when he saw the two legs poof away. “The head, arms, and legs… Now, where’s the body?”

As if on cue, his senses went off again, causing him to throw himself on the ground to dodge the giant floating body’s attempt to tackle him. Lightning quickly rushed towards Dark’s side, helping him up as she glared at the armored torso. “Just one left, and without its limbs, this will be easy!” She said with a cocky grin, missing Dark’s wince.

“I really don’t think you should’ve said that…” Dark muttered.

Suddenly the armored torso began to shake violently, a black mist slowly began to leak from it. Forming into clouds, the Guard Armor’s limbs all returned, much to the shock of the heroes. The Guard Armor raised its gauntlets above its body, but instead of using it to attack them, it flipped itself over, with its helmet floating to set itself on the torso’s bottom this time. As soon as the helmet made it to position, the grey faceplate snapped down, showing off a pitch-black void inside the helmet, with a pair of beady yellow eyes glaring down at them. The two legs raised up to replace the arms, the long feet then snapped into the shape of pincers.

With a low groan, all four of the armored limbs darted towards the heroes. While their spider-senses helped them dodge the first limbs, the second limbs managed to catch them while mid-air, squeezing down on the pair. The two couldn’t help but yell as the Reverse Armor used its new pincer-like arms to crush them.

The giant heartless brought the two closer, as if to get a better look at them as it squeezed the life out of them. Before it could continue though, a small blue blur crashed into the armored helmet, causing it to drop the heroes in surprise.

“What was that?” Lightning wheezed, nursing her bruised ribs as Toxin quickly worked to heal her.

Dark turned his head towards what hit the Reverse Armor and gaped in surprise. “Cheese?”

“He followed us?!” Lightning Dust asked in shock.

The small Chao floated back up, its tiny body swayed in the air as it rubbed its head. “Chao Chao.” It muttered, dazed from the impact. Just before it could regain its bearings, Dark quickly shot a web at the Chao and pulled it over to them, saving it from being crushed by one of the armored claws.

“Thanks for the save, Cheese,” Dark said, giving the Chao a slight smile behind his scarf before glaring up at the heartless. “Though you may want to sit this one out.”

The Chao’s cheeks puffed up, as it shook its head, getting out of Dark’s grip and waving its arms around. “Chao Chao!” It said, beating its chest with its small arm as it pointed at the Reverse Armor.

"Is he really volunteering to help against that thing?" Lightning asked.

"Well, he was able to stagger it," Venom answered. "Maybe the little guy is stronger than we thought. Certainly braver than expected. Not like we know anything about Chao besides the Sonic X version."

A low groan snapped their attention back to the Reversed Armor in time for them to dodge another attempt to grab them with its pincer-like limbs. Behind the floating armor, its two claws began to spin in place as if they were drills before shooting towards the airborne heroes, just as the two claws were coming close to impaling them, the two heroes were suddenly teleported away, with the two reappearing back in the ground near Cheese as a blue alicorn flew in.

“Hope you don’t mind if I step in.” Luna greeted, glaring at the armored monster as she landed, a pure black sword in her hand. “This thing is bigger than the others, I’m guessing this must be the leader. Am I correct to assume that destroying it will end the invasion?”

Dark shrugged. “Probably. Can’t hurt to try.”

Luna grinned, “Indeed it won’t.” Her grin then turned into a scowl as she blasted an incoming fist and raised a magic shield to stop the other three limbs from grabbing them. “But I’m certain it’ll hurt this creature a lot more than us to try.”

The Reversed Armor’s helmet shook as it raised all four of its limbs and struck at the barrier, its groans becoming louder and deeper as it continued to strike at it. Suddenly throwing its entire body towards the shield, a purple light flashed in front of it, revealing Twilight. The alicorn scowled as she raised her new keyblade struck the body of the heartless, knocking it back.

"Twilight?" Dark exclaimed, surprised to not only see the alicorn fighting but also having a Keyblade in hand.

After teleporting into the shield and putting one of her own over it, the purple pony sighed and looked at the others with a tired smile. "Hello everyone. Glad to see you're all okay." Only then did the group notice that Twilight's mane was disheveled and a bit messy and Dark's bag was strapped to her shoulders.

A moment later, Dark's bag started to stir and Bri stuck her head out and shook it. As soon as she saw Dark, she let out a yip and jumped out of the bag to hug him.

Lightning stared at the pair for a couple of seconds before saying, "Is now really the best time for that?" As if to prove her point, the Heartless had started attacking Twilight's shield.

After that, Dark immediately put Bri down. "Bri, you stay here. We'll handle this." He then looked at Twilight. "And you are gonna explain that when we're done," he said, pointing at the Keyblade in her hand. He then looked at Luna. "You still able to fight?"

Luna nodded, “I am. I only just joined the fight not too long ago, so I still have more than enough energy to defeat this thing.”

Dark hummed before looking at Twilight. "Twi, when I give the word I want you to open the shield enough to let me and Luna through to deal with this thing."

"What about me?" Lightning asked, confused.

"You are gonna stay here."

"What?!"

"You're too tired to keep fighting that thing right now and I don't want to risk you getting anymore hurt than you already are."

"You've been fighting for as long as me. And according to you, you were sparring this morning before I arrived. Shouldn't you be just as tired?"

Dark shook his head. "Nope. Still have enough energy to keep fighting like I have been all day." When he said that, Lightning stared at him in shock. "Now are we gonna keep arguing or are you done thinking of excuses to try and get yourself hurt?"

At that moment, they all heard a crash and Twilight winced. Looking at the source of the noise, they saw the Reverse Armor beginning to leave cracks on the shield. "Can you please make it quick?"

Lightning glared at Dark for a few seconds before sighing. "Fine."

"Good." Dark then looked at the Reverse Armor and prepared himself. When the Armor reeled back all its limbs to hit the shield again, Dark shouted, "Now!"

The shield opened in front of him and he immediately ran straight to the Reverse Armor to punch it in the torso before it could defend itself, sending it flying a few yards.

As if enraged by the sudden attack, the other four limbs snapped towards Dark, only for a blue aura to take a hold of them and keep them in place. Smirking, Luna raised her arm, raising the four armored limbs at the same time, and launched them towards the torso, causing them all to crash into each other.

Undeterred by the attacks, the floating helmet darted behind the two, trying to take one of them by surprise. Before it could attack however it was sucked into a small blue twister, the helmet spun around inside the twister before being launched onto a wall. Destroying the wall behind it, the floating helmet glowed briefly before poofing away.

“Chao Chao!” Cheese cheered, stopping the twister it created and pumping its arm.

"Okay, we are definitely gonna need to ask Amy about what Chao are capable of," Dark muttered to himself.

Rising from their pile, the floating armor pieces all split up, with the pair of gauntlets going after Dark, while the pincers tried to pluck Luna. Cheese let out a panicked cry as it tried to get away from the torso trying to crush it. Seeing the panicked Chao, Luna teleported over to Cheese and summoned a shield, protecting the two from the hopping torso.

As the armored torso continued to stomp on the magic barrier, the other two pincer-like claws shot at the barrier, managing to hit it at the same time as the torso, the force of the attack shattering the shield.

Luna let out a pained shriek as she felt the backlash from the sudden destruction of her shield, collapsing next to Cheese, she gripped her head as she felt a migraine form. The Chao besides her panicked, lowering itself to try to drag Luna away from the Reverse Armor’s next attack.

Hearing the shriek, Dark looked back, his eyes widening when he saw the armored torso about to crush the downed princess and Chao. Before he could do anything, one of the armored claws grabbed him and quickly slammed him against the wall, the armored limb continued to slam him repeatedly before the final one managed to destroy the section of the wall it was slamming Dark against. Letting go of the hero, it let the rumble of the crumbling wall bury him before turning its attention to the other two.

Just as the two limbs were floating to rejoin the rest of its body parts, the armored torso flew down, trying to crush the two under it, only for it to be stopped by the small blue fairy. Cheese groan as it tried to keep the hollowed armor piece from crushing the two. “C-Chao…”

Dark groaned as he got up, his hood having gotten off. When he looked back at the Heartless, seeing Cheese barely managing to hold it off. Immediately, Dark started growling and his irises changed into blood red again. "I am sick of these things…" he said, not noticing the black substance slowly enveloping his body until it reached his face.

"Then let's end this now," he heard Venom say in his head.

Nodding, Dark looked down at the debris around him before shooting a web at the biggest one and throwing it right at the Heartless. Knocking the torso to the floor, all four of the other limbs turned their claws towards Dark before the torso picked itself up and floated beside its limbs.

The Heartless immediately shot both of its pincers at Dark, who immediately jumped over them before a pair of tendrils shot out of him and pulled him to the ground, immediately crushing one of the pincers before he impaled it with his Keyblade, causing it to fade away. The other pincer lunged at him again and tried to get a hold of him but he dismissed Lycan Web and grabbed the pincer by its sides and kept them from closing on him. A single tendril shot out of his chest and went straight through the arm, causing it to go limp before fading away too.

The Reverse Armor then tried to come at him with its torso and claws, with Dark immediately jumping to the closest wall to dodge. Before the Armor can continue its onslaught, Dark shot a web to the opposite wall, barely missing the Heartless, and quickly pulled himself towards it, landing a kick to the torso that had it crashing through the wall.

Dark then webbed one of the claws to the wall he was previously on and quickly grabbed the ends of the other one before pulling it apart as hard as he can, tearing the claw in half before it faded. After that, he resummoned Lycan Web slashed at the webbed claw a few times until it faded too from too much damage.

When he was finished he immediately flipped over the torso trying to tackle him from behind. With a pair of tendrils shooting out again, landing on the floor barely avoiding the Armor, they pulled Dark in as he lifted his Keyblade and stabbed the Heartless right in its emblem as hard as he could. The blow was the last of the punishment the torso could take, with it quickly fading away like the rest of the Heartless.

With no more armor pieces to fight and no more Heartless detected, Dark exhaled and started walking to Luna and Cheese as Venom returned back inside of Dark.

As Cheese helped Luna get back up, the princess glanced at Dark, still rubbing her head as her migraine began to lessen. She muttered a quick thanks to the Chao as she shakingly tried to regain her balance, looking around, she noticed the absence of the heartless. “Where did the armored creature go? Did you already take care of it?”

"That's an understatement," they heard before seeing Twilight, Lightning Dust, and Bri coming to them, Twilight's Keyblade gone. Dust then continued, saying, "Dark completely destroyed that thing in moments."

“Really?” Luna asked, her eyes widening slightly. “Well, it's good to hear that that beast was finally dealt with.”

"Are you okay princess?" Twilight asked, concerned for the alicorn.

Luna nodded, “Just some magical backlash, I’ll be fine.”

Twilight then looked at Cheese and blinked, as if only now noticing the Chao's appearance. "What in the world is this creature?"

Before Dark could respond, Luna spoke up first. “It's a Chao,” She answered, giving the small fairy a smile. “A rather strong one too, whoever raised you did a good job.” She patted the Chao’s head, causing the floating yellow orb above its head to briefly turn into a heart.

Dark did a double-take at that. "Wait. Princess, you know what a Chao is?"

Luna nodded, “I’ve met a few a long time ago, even been to one of their gardens.” She said, giving a wistful smile. Shaking her head, she focused her thoughts back on the present, “Right now probably isn’t the best time to talk about this though, we should get back to the throne room and make sure everything is alright.”

Dark nodded before putting his hood back on. With that, everyone started walking to the throne room, Dark retrieving his bag from Twilight before Peter exited it and perched himself on Dark's shoulder and Bri was picked up in his arms. As they were walking, Twilight leaned closer to Dark. "Why is it a surprise that Princess Luna knew what a Chao was," she whispered to him.

"Chao are creatures from Sonic," Dark whispered back. "They aren't connected to MLP. But I guess like Chaos Emeralds and Conduits, they're something native to this world."

Twilight nodded and they resumed their walk in silence.

Upon reaching the doors to the throne room, the group spotted Mike, the Frogadier was waiting patiently near the two doors. When the frog pokemon spotted them, he let out a small croak and hopped over to their side.

Dark smiled at the frog pokemon. “Hey Mike, guessing you didn’t encounter anymore of those monsters around?” The frog nodded.

After that, the group entered the throne room. Almost immediately after entering, they heard someone exclaimed, "Cheese?!"

Upon hearing that, the small Chao flew up and darted towards the source of the yell, tackling the small rabbit girl with a hug. “Chao Chao!”

Before Dark could follow the Chao, his spider-sense flared, causing him to take a step back from a rather sudden punch.

“What in tartarus are you doing here?!” The attacker yelled. Looking at him, Dark saw it was a brown-furred earth pony with a short white mane, the pony’s eyes were two different colors, being orange and green, he was also wearing a beige colored prison warden’s uniform, and a pair of white gloves. “Filthy traitor! Breaking out all those prisoners wasn’t enough for you was it? I bet you’re the one leading these black creatures attacking the city aren’t you?!” He yelled, catching the attention of many of the ponies around them, causing them to step back and whisper to each other.

"What in the world are you talking about?" Dark asked, completely confused.

“Drop the act!” The prison warden hissed. “Last night you and your lackeys attacked Ryker’s Island! And as soon as the three of you left with Shocker, all of those monsters attacked the prison! I’ve lost a lot of good ponies because of you!” He said, scowling as he took out his baton.

Deciding she has seen enough, Luna stepped in between the two and, while holding them with her magic, teleported the two into an empty part of the castle. After looking around to make sure they were alone, Luna turned towards the warden, “Now, why are you accusing Dark of orchestrating this invasion and a prison break?”

The warden scowled, “Because your highness, I saw him, even spoke to him, yesterday before he broke all of the prisoners out. I even told him to take off his mask so I could make sure it really was the Spider that was in my prison.” He then stepped towards Dark, his hands gripping the baton tightly, “And along with those other two guardsmen, the three broke everypony out, and sent those monsters after us to cover up their tracks!”

At this point, Bri had started growling at the warden and even Peter was glaring at him. Dark shook his head. "Sorry to break this to you, but I haven't been in Manehattan since Hearts & Hooves Day. Been a bit too busy to visit the past couple of weeks." It was then that Dark properly processed something. "Wait a minute… Was the person you're talking about dressed in red and black?"

“What, are you going to tell me it was somepony else?” Tower rolled his eyes. “I saw your face, you’re the only one of your kind around in all of Equestria.”

"Apparently not," Dark said with a shake of his head. He then used one of his hands to remove his hood and lower his scarf. "Is this really what the person looked like?"

Stone Tower’s eyes widened when he saw Dark’s face, his arms lowering as he stared at him. “You… you’re actually not the same pony?”

"No, and the term is "person" when it's humans. But I got into contact with Toxin earlier today and she informed me about the Scarlet Spider. I figured he was human but if he actually was able to impersonate me by showing his face, that just proves that he is. That's actually why Twilight and I came to Canterlot. To inform the Sisters."

Luna sighed, shaking her head. “So another human has appeared. A shame this one seems to be just as troublesome as that other one, even seems to be trying to drag your name into the mud.”

"Other one?" Tower asked.

Dark shook his head. "I found out a week ago that another human is here and he is nothing but trouble. But trust me, this guy can't disguise as me. Too tall, too fat, too bald, and way too egotistical to even hide the fact it's really him." Dark put his cover back on. "What can you tell me about this guy who pretended to be me?"

Tower blinked before shaking his head, “Right… Well, he had peach skin, a brown mane, and eyes. He was calm, collected, he did crack a few jokes to lighten the mood.” He then frowned, thinking back to the previous night. “I can never seem to surprise him or catch him off guard. He’s very confident, and an excellent actor. Oh, and he was rather scrawny, in fact, he was offended when I pointed that out.”

"Scrawny?" Dark asked. He then hummed. "A perk to the spider powers seems to be a better physique, if me and the original are anything to go by, so if he's scrawny despite the powers that might mean he either hasn't eaten much lately or hasn't done any training or physical stuff in a while." He then looked at Tower. "One more thing. You said monsters attacked you?"

“After the riot they did.” He nodded, “They were the same type of creatures that attacked Canterlot today.” Tower scowled, “I lost a lot of my colleagues last night, a good amount of the prisoners were even taken by them.”

Dark's eyes widened. "Heartless attacked Manehattan too?"

“Heartless?” Luna questioned, “I remember we got a warning about them a week ago. These creatures are the Heartless?”

Dark nodded. "Yeah. They are. I don't remember much, even with V's help, but I can say they are Heartless. The emblem on some of them proves that. Plus the fact many of them came straight at me as soon as they saw Lycan Web."

“This Keyblade is supposed to be their weakness right?” Luna asked, “Is it possible that the Heartless are also drawn to it? You did say they came straight towards you as soon as they saw it.”

Dark shrugged. "If I had to hazard a guess, maybe they wanted to take out the biggest threat to them as soon as they saw it."

“We should return to the throne room now, no doubt everyone is wondering where we disappeared to,” Luna said, lighting up her horn. “My sister should also be around to hear this, we’ll need everypony available to come up with a solution.” She then sighed, turning away from the two. “I just know that Celestia is going to have a lecture ready for running off again.”

"Why?"

Luna shook her head. "She wanted me to stay in the throne room to help calm down our subjects rather than join the fight. So while she was distracted talking to some guards you sent there, I teleported out so I could help." She then shrugged. "I understand that everypony needed to calm down, but I've never been very comfortable sitting on the sidelines while you all deal with everything."

Before Dark can respond, she teleported all of them back to the throne room. While all the nobles were confused about what happened, Luna immediately spoke up. "Fear not everypony. This was all a misunderstanding. No one here is responsible for the invasion, nor the prison break that occurred at Ryker's. And for now, it'd probably be best that you all return to your homes. The guard will escort you all out."

Celestia spoke up, coming to Luna’s side as she gave the nobles a smile. “As my sister said, the worst has passed, thanks to the efforts of the guards and these heroes the invasion has been stopped. I suggest that you all head home and check on your loved ones, court will be canceled for today and tomorrow while we assess the damage.”

While more than a few of the nobles were hesitant, they slowly made their way out of the throne room, the guards all around the room followed soon after.

As the ponies all exited the room, Fancy Pants began to walk towards the two sisters, a small rabbit girl, and Chao by his side. Once in front of the lunar princess, he bowed, “Princess Luna, I just wanted to thank you for saving the life of my ward, I have been worried sick when we were separated.” He then rosed up, clasping his hands. “If there’s any way I can repay you, please do not hesitate to ask.”

“Well…” Celestia began, glancing back at Dark, who was in the middle of talking to his companions about something, before giving her full attention to the two. "I believe it'd be best for the young one to meet someone special. They may even be able to help you with that problem you told me about.”

Fancy Pants blinked in surprise, “Really? Well, that’d be wonderful!” He said, smiling widely. “Just who did you have in mind, your highness?”

The solar princess smiled. "Dark, would you please come here?"

Hearing his name, Dark excused himself and walked towards the Sisters and noble. "Yes?"

Celestia then looked at the small rabbit. "Gabriella, I'd like you to meet Dark. From what I've heard, he could help you find your family."

Realizing who she was talking to, Dark briefly stopped breathing as he saw the Displaced before him, whose eyes widened from what the princess had said.

"Really?!"

Dark cleared his throat before looking at Celestia, who gave him a silent nod, knowing the question on his mind. He then looked at Gabby and nodded in return. "Yeah, don't worry. I can reunite you with Eli."

Gabby got excited for a couple of seconds before she caught a certain detail. "Wait. How do you know her name?"

Dark smiled behind his cover, with that comment truly confirming his thoughts. He then let out a chuckle. "Hard to forget someone I grew up with, Gabby. Though I guess that isn't the same for you since you apparently don't remember me."

Gabby frowned at that comment as Fancy Pants and Cheese were confused. But after having a good look at Dark, Gabby finally noticed the necklace that was hanging loosely off his neck.

'Wait, that's… And the colors… The voice…'

Gabby's eyes widened in shock as she finally processed who it was she was talking to. She took a hesitant step forward, afraid of being wrong. "Tito?"

Dark chuckled again before taking a knee as he put his daughter down so he'd be eye level with his cousin and removed his cover, smiling at the younger Displaced. "Nice to see you again Gabby."

Gabby's mouth dropped at seeing her older cousin, before she immediately started tearing up and hugged him. "I thought you were dead!"

Dark wrapped his arms around Gabby and patted her back. "Nope. Still alive. And so is Cece."

Gabby gasped and moved so she was face to face with Dark. "Cece's okay?"

Dark nodded. "Yeah. Though a small mishap happened to her. But don't worry. It's something that can be easily fixed." He then put a hand on her head. "And before you ask, yes. Eli's perfectly fine. We saw her a few weeks ago and she's very worried about you. But now that I found you, we can take you to her."

“You two know each other?” Fancy asked, looking between the two.

Dark smiled before letting go of Gabby and standing up. "Yeah. Gabby and her sister Elizabeth are my cousins. Eli came here a few weeks ago due to those demon rumors from Ponyville and she told us about how she and Gabby were together before she ended up here. And considering it's very similar to how my sister and I came to Equestria, we were hoping she ended up here too. Never would've guessed she was in Canterlot though."

"Do you know what happened to us?" Gabby asked him. "And why I became Cream?"

Dark nodded. "Yeah. It's a long story. I'll tell you later."

“So you’re family…?” Fancy Pants said, his eyes with surprise. Smiling, he then spread his arms wide in joy. “How marvelous! This is truly wonderful news, we’ve spent weeks trying to find her family, and now we have!” As he celebrated, the Chao beside him tilted his head in confusion. “Dark, would you be willing to let her stay with you? I feel as though she would want to be with family now that she’s found them.”

"It'll be fine," Twilight said, joining the conversation. "My castle is big enough to house another occupant."

“Excellent!” Fancy Pants turned towards the young rabbit. “Well then Gabriella, we should head back to the estate and pack your things. Should we meet you back here, or at the train station after we’re done packing?” He asked.

"If you could, try to get to Ponyville," Dark said. "We'll be heading there after a talk with the princesses and no idea how long said talk will take. Plus we have a way to be there rather quickly, without the train."

Twilight frowned. "We do? I mean sure we could teleport there but-"

"No Twilight. I recently found a new mode of transportation. At least I'm hoping that's what it is."

Twilight simply shrugged. "If you say so." She then looked at the noble. "If you don't see us at the station by the time you arrive, you can head straight to my castle and we'll meet you there.

Fancy Pants nodded. "Very well. We'll see you later today." With that said, he began to leave, with Gabby and Cheese close behind, the former waving goodbye to her cousin.

After they left, Celestia looked to Dark. "So I take it you heard of the break out that happened last night?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"It's why I called you here. Considering you were the one responsible for Shocker being put behind bars. Plus I wanted you to know about Stone Tower's belief that you were the one responsible."

Dark sighed. "Yeah. That's a bit of a long story."

"I'm already planning to have Raven clear out my schedule for the rest of the day. We'll need to work on fixing the damage those creatures caused as well as plan out many funerals…" she shook her head. "For now, I think it best that we discuss what happened at Ryker's and that attack. Considering those creatures were apparently seen in Manehattan, it's probably best to believe that the attack here is not the last time they'll show up."

Dark nodded before beginning to tell the story of what he and his current companions know about the break out.

Author's Note

And finally done. Very sorry for the wait. This one was a massive pain to do. So, Tito and company dealt with the rest of the Heartless in Canterlot, fought a boss Heartless, and he was reunited with another cousin. I'm pretty sure some of you guys could've already guessed that Gabby was related to him in some way. Anyway, next chapter will hopefully be easier for us. Also, I'd like to thank the friends who helped Star and I with this chapter, even if most of that help was just proofreading. Until next time. And I hope everyone has a happy Valentine's Day.

Hello everyone and happy valentines day! Everyone's favorite and most beautiful gal here, Star709, with a new chapter! Sorry it took so long, but work and college makes it hard for us to find a good time to continue, plus we did get stuck a few times. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please share your thoughts on it!

-Dark

Star

Chapter 64

Around the throne room, the royals listened in silence, waiting for Dark to finish before speaking their mind. As his explanation came to a close, Luna sighed, “First that secret cabal, then that mad scientist, and now mercenaries and invaders?” She shook her head and growled. “At this rate, Equestria may end up in ruin with all these threats…"

"Well that's reassuring," Lightning Dust muttered sarcastically.

“We should send a warning all over Equestria about these Heartless, not to mention we’ll need to warn other prisons of a human running around pretending to be the Spider in case he tries the same thing again,” Celestia said.

"And according to that Tower guy, the faker doesn't even look like me," Dark said.

"There anything we can do?" Twilight asked her fellow rulers.

“For now, try to gather more information on all of these factions.” Celestia began. “If possible, try to find a way to prevent more of these Heartless attacks from happening. While we may have seen what these invaders are capable of, I fear that this is only the beginning, and their attacks will grow in ferocity and numbers.”

Luna turned towards Dark. “Dark, out of all of us, you have the biggest understanding of these new foes. And while I doubt that the mercenaries hold much of a candle to all the others, which one would you say is the biggest threat? If possible, I would like to shift our focus on the most pressing issue, rather than splitting it.”

Dark took a deep breath. "If I'm being honest, it's between Eggman and the Heartless. Those mercs may be strong but at the moment they sound like small fry compared to everything else. And while Hydra is dangerous, I can remember a number of major issues Eggman has caused. Trying to use the power of gods being among them. Unfortunately, I don't know too much on how he operates besides being a major enemy of nature." Dark then frowned for a second before he did a double-take. "Wait a minute!"

"What?" Twilight asked, confused by the sudden outburst.

"I may not know too much about Eggman, but I know someone who does."

"Really? Who?"

"Amy."

Luna frowned, “Amy? I don’t believe you’ve introduced us to anypony named that.”

Dark shook his head. "She isn't a pony. She's the character that Cece was Displaced as. Amy Rose."

“But if Cece is Amy Rose, then how can she help us?” Celestia asked, tilting her head slightly.

Dark exhaled. "Last night, Cece ended up exposed to some poison joke and woke up this morning with the memories and personality of Amy."

Luna frowned. “Poison Joke? If Poison Joke caused Amy Rose’s personality to manifest, then where is she, and who’s looking over her?” She asked, “I don’t think leaving someone alone in an entirely new environment is a wise decision.”

Dark sighed. "She's back in Ponyville. I offered her to come with us, but she turned it down. Should still be in the castle."

"And when were you planning to share this information?" Twilight asked him with a raised eyebrow.

Dark cleared his throat. "Tonight. At the latest. With everything that's happened, it almost slipped my mind really. What with Lightning and Toxin, Gabby, learning about that prison break and those mercs, then the Heartless?"

Twilight sighed. "Fair enough…"

"Do you think she'll be willing to help us?" Celestia asked.

Dark nodded. "I believe so. Eggman is someone she hates after all."

Luna nodded before looking at everyone. "So is that all?"

After a few moments of silence, Dark said, "I guess so."

"Very well, we’ll be leaving that to you then." Luna nodded, “In the meantime, we have other matters to attend.”

Celestia sighed, “Indeed, just calming down the citizens will be a task in itself. Be sure to report any information Ms. Rose gives in a letter. We can’t guarantee a quick response however. I have the feeling we’ll be quite busy for the next few days.”

"Okay then," Twilight nodded as the Sisters exited the room. She then turned to her group. "Come on. We might be able to catch the next train." As she and most of the group began to leave, she noticed that Dark hadn't moved from his spot, staring at the golden ring in his hand. "Dark? You okay?"

Dark shook his head. "Sorry. Just… thinking."

"About?"

Dark closed his palm. "Your castle." He then threw the ring. A moment later, it stopped and expanded, a swirling mass of colors appearing in the gap. "Well, glad to know that it works…"

Twilight stepped back in shock. "What is that?"

Dark shrugged. "A portal. And if I'm right, it should lead us to your castle."

"And if you're not?"

Dark shrugged. "I'll find out in a minute." After that, he immediately jumped through, with Bri following him without hesitation.

Twilight paused for a second until she saw Lightning Dust and Mike approach it. "Are you sure it's safe?"

Lightning shrugged. "That fairy thing used it earlier and it brought us to the front gate. Pretty sure it's fine." With that said, the pair then jumped through as well. After another moment of hesitation, Twilight went through the portal herself.

When she stepped through, she saw that she was in the main entrance to her castle with the others standing around, waiting for her. She blinked in surprise. "It really worked?"

Dark nodded before walking behind her and picking up the shrunk ring from the floor. He looked at it for a moment before saying, "Reminds me of a certain pokemon. But Cheese recognizing it implies it's a Sonic thing. Hopefully, Amy can shed some light on it. Just need to find-"

The door slammed open, making everyone in the room jump as they turned to see the small fox pokemon running in with a cloak in its mouth. Dropping it on the floor in front of Dark, the Pokemon let out a series of panicked barks.

"What the…?" Lightning asked, confused about the strange fox as Mike stepped forward and tried to calm Emily down.

Dark ignored the pegasus and placed Peter on the ground before quickly grabbing Link's token, then shaking off his fur as he stood in his wolf form and looked at the small fire fox. "What's wrong Emily? I thought you were staying with Amy?"

“She’s gone!” She yelled out in complete panic, hopping around in place. “I took my eyes off of her for a few seconds and then I heard a crashing sound, when I looked back, all I saw was a busted window and an empty hallway!”

Dark immediately stiffened. Taking a quick breath, he asked, "Do you know where she went?"

She shook her head, “The window was too high for me to see where she went, but I brought this cloak if that helps.”

Dark nodded. He then came closer and lowered his head towards the cloak before smelling it. A moment later, a pink aura appeared, leaving a trail leading outside.

Before Dark could follow it, Lightning Dust spoke. "Okay, can anyone explain what's going on?"

Venom's mental avatar appeared next to Dark and said, "Amy made a break for it and we're about to go look for her. Do us a favor and watch over Brianna and Peter."

Immediately after that, a pair of tendrils came out of Dark's body and slammed the front doors open, with Dark taking that as his cue to follow the trail to the hedgehog.

It was the sight of a large lake that lifted the weight on Amy’s shoulders. The pink hedgehog couldn’t help but break into a sprint towards the body of water, a smile on her face. The halo around her head flickered for a few moments before disappearing.

“I did it.” She whispered to herself, “I can put this all behind me now…” Looking over the lake, she stared at her reflection, raising a gloved hand and touching her cheek. “I’m still me, and I’m real... Very soon, I’ll be back home with Sonic, and this will be nothing but a bad dream.” Psyching herself up, she smiled, and dived right in, swimming towards the sparkling center of the lake.

Under the water, Amy couldn’t help but be in awe of the lake’s beauty, the sparkling effect was all over the water, making it seem like she was swimming among the stars. Staring at the sparkles, her hand reached over, grabbing one of the small “stars”, she blinked in surprise when it turned out to be a gold ring, blinking, she looked around and saw that the stars were actually rings.

‘This is… this is the Lake of Rings!’

Swimming up to the surface, Amy took a lungful of air before looking down at the ring in her hand. “This isn’t an emerald…” She stared at the ring, frustration briefly fueling her as she clenched her hands around it. Raising her hand, she was about to fling the ring before she stopped herself. “No… it's not the emerald, but it can still get me home…” She muttered to herself, remembering about Knuckles’ favorite method of travel. “I just need to find a Warp Ring.”

With a heart filled with determination, Amy dove back down into the lake, collecting as many rings as she could, hoping that one of them could take her back home.

"So what exactly is the plan?" Dark heard Venom ask.

'What do you mean?'

"Well, she clearly ran away for a reason. Doubt jumping out a window and running into the Everfree was just something she thought would be fun. So what exactly do you plan to do when we find her? Ask her to come back?" After a couple of seconds, Venom sighed. "You didn't even think that far ahead, did you?"

'In case you haven't noticed, I've been busy thinking about the chance of losing my sister because of Amy deciding to run off.'

"Don't you wonder why she ran off?"

Dark stopped for a moment and took a deep breath. "Why?"

Venom's avatar then appeared in front of Dark with his arms crossed. "Well if we understand why she ran, we might have a good idea on how to get her back. And I have a pretty good idea on why."

Dark tilted his head. "And that is?"

Venom rolled his eyes. "Maybe because the only 2 people she met, who she can understand at least, straight up called her fake and the product of a joke, and tried to tell her to essentially be erased in order to prove she's not real?"

Dark blinked, then lowered his ears and looked down before shaking his head and looking back at Venom. "Well, how else were we supposed to explain? If she really is a product of poison joke, then the only way to get Cece back is the cure. Did you want me to just lead her on and trick her into taking it?"

Venom shrugged. "Probably would've been better. At least she wouldn't think she'd essentially die. Not like you would've been lying about anything. Don't ask, don't tell, remember?"

Dark stood silent from that, unsure how to respond to that.

Venom sighed. "Come on. The scent is getting stronger. She can't be that much farther." With that said, his avatar vanished and Dark resumed his hunt.

With a loud gasp, Amy’s head popped out of the lake’s water. Swimming towards the lake’s edge, she pulled herself out of the water, and lazily tossed the rings in her hand onto the small pile she had. Sitting down next to the pile, Amy took a deep breath as she eyed the rings beside her.

Sighing, she picked up one of the new rings she found, lazily turning it over as she eyed the golden piece of jewelry at every side. “This one doesn’t feel like the Warp Ring…” She mumbled, “Then again, they all look the same to me.” She huffed, tossing it back into the pile as she turned towards the glistening lake and stared.

Seeing the reflection of the sun, she frowned, “It's already so late…” She mumbled, raising her head to look at the setting sun. “I guess even in a different dimension the sunsets are always the same…” Amy smiled, “And the reflection of the lake really makes things seem more romantic,” She gave a dreamy sigh, “If only Sonic was here.” She swayed for a moment, letting herself get lost in her thoughts.

“But… I won’t be able to get back to my Sonic if I don’t find that Warp Ring.” She said, pausing her swaying. “I already collected so many rings, one of these has got to be it.” Turning back to the pile of rings, she began to shift through them, picking them up one at a time and inspecting them before setting them aside.

Barely two seconds later, she heard a couple of loud barks before a large wolf with dark fur came to the lake, growling at her. A moment later, the wolf was surrounded by a dark cloud and when it faded, Dark was standing in its place.

"Rose…" the human said, his expression hidden behind his hood and scarf. "What are you doing?"

His words snapped her out of her shock, shaking her head, she took a step back and glared, “I’m heading home! Since all of you refuse to help, I’m going to find my own way back!”

Dark sighed. "And how exactly do you plan to do that?"

She looked back at the small pile of rings beside her and stepped in front of them. “I don’t have to tell you anything! Just go back to your castle, and leave me alone.”

"You know pretty well why I can't do that Amy," Dark said, crossing his arms.

Amy scowled, “And why’s that, cause I’m not real? Cause I’m just some product of a stupid plant? Well I know I’m real, and I’m not going to let you or that insane little girl get rid of me that easily!”

Dark started to growl. "Amy, I've had a very long day. Please just come with me peacefully and we can talk this out."

Amy snorted, “You’re not the only one. Ever since this day started, you and that girl have given me every single reason to not trust you two. I’m not going back, I’m going back home, to Mobius.”

A slight bit of red appeared under Dark's hood but too obscure for her to make out what it was. "And how are you gonna do that? Make a wish upon a star? Give it up Rose. There's no way for us to get home. Not me, not Cece, and certainly not you."

“But I could if I just had an emerald!” She blurts out, “Any one of them fueling a Warp Ring can take me back home!”

"Well, now I'm glad I didn't leave mine in the castle…" Dark muttered, not noticing the way Amy’s ear twitched as she took a step back.

Her eyes widened as she recalled the two emeralds Dark and Screwball took out earlier. She clenched her fist as she trembled, looking down, she steeled herself and yelled, “The Emerald!” She started, catching his attention, “Give it to me… now!”

Dark stepped back in shock and cursed under his breath. He then looked at her and said, "Sorry Amy, but that isn't an option…"

“If you won’t give it to me, then I’ll take it by force.” Amy gritted out, her hammer appearing in her hands.

Dark took a combat stance himself. "You can try."

Gritting her teeth, the pink hedgehog made the first move, darting towards him, she swung her mallet at Dark, causing him to sidestep away from the blow. Growling she continued to swing at him widely, her swings gradually getting faster and faster.

Seeing her momentum increase, Dark quickly kicked the hammer out of her hands, causing it to fly back, not giving her time to react, he quickly shot a string of webs at her, however, just before he could proceed to wrap her around them, the pink hedgehog started running at surprising speeds. Looking around, he saw the pink blur run around him in circles, and with a warning from his spider-sense, he jumped out of the circle when he noticed the hedgehog wrapping his legs in the thick webbing. Summoning Lycan Web, he cut the webbing that had trapped his legs together.

With another warning, Dark sidestepped an incoming spin dash, the rolling hedgehog quickly turned back around and proceeded to try to ram into him again. Planting his feet on the ground, Dark used the broadside of the blade to knock Amy back, the pinkette impacting a tree behind her and causing it to collapse onto the ground.

Waiting for her to come out, he raised an eyebrow when she didn’t. Lowering the blade, he carefully stepped towards where he had tossed Amy, only to quickly pull his head back when he felt his senses warn him. Feeling the displacement of air in front of him, his eyes widened as he dodged another invisible attack, being forced to continue to dodge, he noticed the shoe printsshoeprints on the ground in front of him, realizing that the hedgehog had turned invisible.

Seeing that her strategy was no longer working, Amy abruptly stopped, turning herself visible once again. Before Dark could do anything she jumped high in the air, her body twirling vertically as she came down. Smashing the ground in front of Dark with her mallet, a dome of pink energy exploded outwards, enveloping the two and blasting the human away.

Seeing the distance she created between the two, Amy closed her eyes, allowing her mind to drift towards Sonic. A small smile appeared on her face as she thought of the blue blur, the hammer in her hand also began emitting a pink glow as the air began to pick up, surrounding her hammer. Planting her feet firmly on the ground, she pulled the hammer back and swung it with all of her strength in Dark’s direction, summoning a pink tornado to fly towards him.

Amy smirked when Dark dodged the first tornado, focusing her thoughts, she swung the hammer two more times, sending two more tornadoes to the human. Satisfied with the distraction, she reached into her hammerspace and pulled out a deck of cards from it, shuffling the deck, Amy quickly drew the first three cards and pocketed the rest. Seeing Dark dart towards her, she threw the first card towards him, the tarot card began to emit a sinister purple aura as it flew.

Dark twisted his body to avoid the card, letting it fly by him, only for the sinister aura to shift and cling onto him anyways. Reaching the hedgehog, Dark swung the Lycan-Web, aiming to hit Amy with the broadside of the sword.

With a smirk, Amy allowed the magic of her prediction to take control, allowing her to dodge the swipe. Holding the second card between her fingers, she placed the card on Dark’s forehead, taking him by surprise at the seemingly harmless gesture. The card suddenly went ablaze with a sinister red aura, mixing with the purple one and disappearing. Grinning maliciously, Amy raised her hammer and smacked Dark on the side, launching towards the trees, and with a loud crash, the tree that Dark collided with splintered apart.

Smiling victoriously, Amy glanced at the final tarot in her hand, the bright yellow star in the card seemingly to glisten. Planting a kiss on the card, it glowed with a soft yellow aura that covered her body and disappeared. Putting away the card, Amy sped towards Dark’s fallen form, raising a hammer and swinging it down on him. The human was only barely able to roll out of the way, and quickly jumping back up, the two swung their weapons at each other, only for Dark’s blade to be pushed back by Amy’s hammer every time. With one final swing coming from below, Amy knocked Lycan Web out of Dark’s hand. Pressing the advantage, Amy twisted her body and smacked Dark straight in the stomach, knocking all of the air inside him out and launching him towards the lake.

“Now.” She began, grinning at Dark’s soaked form as he was pulling himself out of the water. “Why don’t you surrender that Emerald now? It's obvious that you’re no match for me.”

Dark stood silent for a moment before chuckling to himself, seemingly having enough energy to keep going. "I might not be able to. But luckily for me, I'm not alone. And you gave us the opening we needed."

Before she could question what he meant, she saw a black substance go down her hammer and attach itself to her hand before immediately expanding and surrounding her body despite her efforts to pull it off. As it reached her face, she grabbed her head in slight pain as flashes of events went through her mind. Dark creatures attacking ponies, Cream and Cheese, and a human girl with long brown hair being the only things she can understand from the flashes.

"And with that, this fight is over," she heard a voice say in her head before her body was completely covered by the substance and she suddenly stopped moving.

“Wha..? What did you do?” She muttered, feeling rather dazed before her eyes went wide with disbelief, “No. No no no no!” Amy said, panic building up as she tried trashing around. “NO! But- That- But that should be impossible! My curse would’ve warned me of anything you did!”

"Yes…" the voice said, its voice sounding much like Dark. "I must say, you're more skilled than we anticipated. Then again, my father never paid much attention to the games, much less the comics. Unfortunately for you, that curse of yours only affected him. I am a separate being. A wild card I guess you can say."

Her heart plummeted, “No… I” Her voice wavered as she began to struggle anew, “I can still fight! I faced worse than you two!” She gritted her teeth as she tried to will herself to move, “I have to go back!”

"Amy, you must understand that you've lost. But I can assure you that despite your fears, we're not gonna kill you."

She let out a sharp panicked laugh, “Right, you just want to ‘cure’ me to get that other girl back right?!” Amy’s panicked laughter became more strangled, as her eyes became misty behind the "mask". “Because I’m just a fake! So who cares if that cure you guys use makes me disappear right?” She tried shaking her head, trying to blink away the tears that were forming. “Well guess what? I’m not fake okay! I can’t be, I have all these memories, good and bad, I have so many things I need to do, things I never got to do!” Her throat felt tighter, “I-I can’t go yet…” She uttered, her heart hammering inside her chest.

Her thoughts drifted, she thought of Cream, the sweet rabbit girl that she thought of as a sister, and Big, the kind and loveable lug. She thought of Sally, and how she never did apologize for how much of a brat she was when she first joined. Of her cousin Rob and his family, all of which got erased from existence by Eggman’s Super Genesis Wave. And Sonic… her hero, her crush.

She wasn’t as strong as he was. “I… I don’t want to go yet.” Her voice cracked. Fighting Eggman, she knew that anything could happen… that she can die. But this… being erased? Like her family? Erased from existence like Julie? And being told that she didn’t matter because she wasn’t even real? It reminded her too much of the Genesis Waves. “I just want to go home…”

After a couple of seconds, Amy heard the voice say "I'm sorry Amy…" With that, her world went black.

Dark was looking away while he waited for Venom to handle the hedgehog. When Amy suddenly went silent, Dark looked over and saw her walking towards the shore. Once she reached the grass, the black substance on her started to leave as she collapsed onto the ground unconscious and Venom started heading towards Dark.

Dark reached a hand towards the symbiote and when it got close enough, it reached for Dark's hand and attached itself to him. As Dark felt the sensation of having Venom return to him, he quickly had to grab his head in shock as he saw flashes of images in his head of people, very few recognizable, but the rest completely foreign to him. But what truly shocked him was the wave of total fear and despair that came with it, causing Dark to tear up.

"What the hell was that?" Dark asked, shocked by the feeling.

Venom's avatar appeared before him, with a confused expression. "What?"

"Those images. And that feeling…"

Venom looked at the sleeping Amy. "Those were the last memories and emotions she had before I knocked her out. Must've given it to you by accident."

"She was really that terrified…?"

"She thought we were gonna kill her. That we were gonna erase her from existence. Something she apparently has some experience with. I ask you, how would you react if you were in her shoes?"

Dark sighed and put his hand onto his face. "Well, what can we do then? Even I don't want to just cure her right now. Especially after all that. But I'm not exactly willing to leave my sister gone forever. Not yet at least…"

Venom stood silent for a few seconds before looking at Dark. "Separate them?"

Dark frowned in confusion. "What?"

"Separate them. Give one of them a new body. That way Amy can still "live" and Cece won't be trapped in her own mind."

"And how in the world are we going to do that? I doubt we can just open a book and find a way to cause split personalities to gain their own bodies."

"We're in a world full of magic and there might be stuff that Twilight or the Princesses know about that can help. And if they don't, we have another option to go to."

"And what's that?"

Venom raised an eyebrow before pointing at Dark's necklace. "Displaced. There are countless Displaced across the multiverse with different kinds of tech, magic, and abilities. There's bound to be at least one out there that can help us."

Dark considered the idea for a bit before sighing. "Fine. Hope this works… For both their sakes." Dark walked towards Amy when a flash of light caught his eye. Looking towards it, he saw a pile of rings nearby and walked towards it. "Where did these come from?"

"This place is known as the Lake of Rings," Venom explained.

"And how do you know that?"

Venom gestured towards the unconscious Mobian. "Got a look through Amy's mind when I bonded to her. Learned a good number of things." He then looked at the rings. "Take them."

"Huh?"

"Take the rings. They can be pretty useful for us. And remember this place. We can try to get more later."

Dark shrugged before grabbing the rings and putting a couple on his wrists and the rest in his bag. He then went to Amy and put her over his shoulder before he used his Warp Ring to make a portal to castle and went through it.

"I'm sorry, you want to what?!" Twilight asked Dark in the throne room.

He had placed Amy's unconscious form onto Cece's bed and left Emily to stay with her with Mike staying near the room in case she woke up and made another escape attempt. After that, Dark gathered the others he had been with and explained the fight and talk he had with both Amy and Venom.

"We want to separate Amy and Cece without the cure," Dark repeated, sitting on Rainbow's throne with Bri in his lap and Peter on his shoulder.

"You're serious?" Lightning asked, leaning against Pinkie's throne. "Won't it just be easier to just get the cure ready and dump her in it? I know you feel bad, but isn't it your sister that's on the line?"

Dark winced at that before taking a deep breath. "I know it'd be easy, but… it doesn't feel right to do that. I didn't know just how terrified she was of the whole thing. At the very least, I wanna try and help her if there's even a chance."

Twilight sighed. "I understand that Dark, but what you're asking is pretty big. I don't think I've seen anything capable of that in my books, outside of fictional stories. It's gonna take a while to look. Maybe ask the princesses if they're aware of anything that can help us. But you do know that we may not see Cece for a while as a result, right?"

Dark sighed. "Believe me, I'm aware. I'm willing to wait. But if we just went with curing her without even trying to help Amy, I think it'd haunt my mind for a long time."

Twilight nodded her head. "Okay. I'll look into it. But first, I need to go to City Hall. Spike told me of an attack that happened earlier before you came back."

"Sounded like Heartless attacked here at the same time as Canterlot," Lightning added. "Apparently Dash and two other ponies managed to take care of it."

Dark immediately stiffened. "Is everyone okay?"

"Rainbow and the ponies who helped her are," Twilight said. "I'm heading to City Hall to see if there were any… casualties…" she finished, looking away with her ears folded.

Dark clenched his fist before getting up and putting Bri on his shoulders, Peter moving a little to the side to fit. "I'm gonna go somewhere to clear my head."

"Where?" Lightning asked.

"Earth," Dark said, before leaving the room.

Author's Note

And finally posted. In all honesty, we finished this months ago but I kept forgetting to upload it due to work taking up my mind a lot. Don't have much to say at the moment. Just hope you like the chapter. Absolutely no idea when the next will be cause we have some plans and work takes up a lot of time for both of us.

-Dark

65. City Escape

Pressing her boot on the brakes, Valor slowly stopped in front of one of many of Canterlot City's alleyways. Around it were two other police vehicles, the officers already taking notes as they surveyed the area.

"Corporal Heart." An older looking officer called out to her, his gray, unkempt hair standing out amongst the younger officers. “Nice of you to join us.”

Snapping to attention, she saluted. “Sergeant Garm!”

He snorted, “At ease.” Jerking his head back towards the crime scene, she followed. “You remember that convenience store robbery that happened last week, right?”

“Right, we kept hitting dead ends with it. Do you think this mugging has something to do with that case?” She couldn’t help but lean in closer, trying to see his face.

He grunted, coming to a stop before pointing ahead. “You tell me.”

Her eyes widening, Valor stopped, spotting the trio of masked men wrapped up in what looked to be webbing. “According to the victim, some costumed man showed up right when the mugging started, saved her before they could hurt her and webbed these clowns up before leaving.” Garm said, sighing as his shoulders drooped. “I just know the media is gonna eat this up.”

Facing the aging man, she looked him in the eyes with a determined expression, “Can I speak to the victim?” Knowing her mind was made up, he shrugged, pointing towards one of the police cars; with a blue-haired girl. She wore a purple turtleneck sweater and had a purple beret on. “Excuse me miss,” She said, startling her from her thoughts. “I'm OfficerValor Heart, I was hoping I could ask you some questions.”

“I already told the others everything that happened though?” She said in a confused tone.

“I just want to see if you remembered any new details now that you had a moment to recollect your thoughts.”

Pouting, she gave a small sigh., “I was walking home from work before these three masked guys pulled me into the alleyway from the streets. They were pointing knives at me and were taking my things, before suddenly this other guy showed up wearing a costume.” The young teen hummed, “He was wearing some skin tight black suit with large white eyes, I didn’t get to see too much though since he immediately went off on those three, he was jumping around and never staying still, it was all kind of a blur really. Afterwards he just webbed them up before he zipped up to the roof and disappeared."

"Zipped up?" She repeated, tilting her head.

The blue teen nodded, jerking her arm as she made an odd gesture. "Just did that, and zipped up to the rooftops. Didn't see him again so I figured he left."

Valor sighed, "I see. Thank you for your time." Leaving the teen, she returned to the aging officer. "Well, it seems like your hunch is right. These two cases have to be connected. An athletic costume figure saving people, the webs being used, there's no way it's a coincidence."

He nodded, "I figured they were when I got here, doesn't hurt to get a second opinion though."

"So what's the plan?"

Garm grunted, "He may have done a good deed, but vigilantism is still illegal last I checked." Crossing his arms, he hummed to himself, "The mugging happened not too long ago. We'll double the patrols tonight and be on the lookout for any costumed individuals. Hope you're up to the task."

Valor saluted, giving him a grin. "I won't let you down sir!"

"I'm still surprised how quick that was."

Dark jumped across the rooftops with his daughter in his bag before stopping at a ledge and sitting down, letting the Riolu peek out as the symbiote retreated back inside Dark, leaving him in his casual clothes. With a deep breath, he said, "Why? Those guys weren't anything special."

Venom's avatar appeared, sitting beside Dark. "I know. But you didn't even say anything to them. That's unlike you."

Dark sighed. "V, after all of the insanity I've dealt with today, I'm exhausted. Even I have my limits. As you'd well know…"

Venom shrugged. "True. It has been a very long day. The spar with Rainbow, all the way to the fight at the lake. If I wasn't attached to you, I'd be surprised how you still have the energy to move."

Dark simply nodded before having Bri return to the bag and zipping it up. He then slid forward off the ledge and landed in the alley. "And my life isn't slowing down anytime soon…" After pulling his hood up, Dark immediately started to smell something. "What the…" Taking a few sniffs, he started to feel it was familiar. One smelled a bit like sea water, albeit faint, while the other smelled more strongly of fish. Going off on instinct, he left the alley and started following the smell as it got stronger.

Barely paying attention to anything beyond his nose for a few moments, he took a turn and immediately bumped into someone. Letting out a groan, he placed a hand on his head. "Seriously?! Again?!"

"Tito?" He heard an all too familiar voice say.

Looking forward, Dark had seen that he had once again bumped into Sunset Shimmer, dressed in her winter clothes for the cold. And standing beside her was Sonata Dusk, her own hood being up and hiding her head.

"Oh. Hey Sunset. Sorry about that…"

Sunset waved him off. "It's fine. Though we really should stop meeting like this."

"I agree." He then looked at the blue siren. "Hi Sonata."

Sonata gave an unsure wave. "Um, hello."

"So what brings you back into town?" Sunset asked Dark.

Dark let out a deep sigh. "Let's just say a lot of stuff has been happening for me the past week. Especially today. I wanted some peace before I go to bed."

"Wait, this city is peaceful for you?" Sonata asked, shocked. "What happens in your town that makes you think that?"

Dark paused for a moment before saying, "Well today alone I had a spar with my friend, learned a new trick I need to figure out how to use more, lost my sister and got someone who looks exactly like her, met a new family member, learned a ring I have is more special than I had originally thought, got mistaken for a fugitive briefly, reunited with one of my cousins I haven't seen in almost a year, had a fight with that doppelganger from earlier, and got my ass kicked and was utterly soaked by her."

Both the girls stared at him in both shock and confusion.

"That's… a lot…" Sunset said.

"And you said that's today?" Sonata asked.

Dark nodded. "Yeah. So you can see why I want some peace."

They nodded before Sunset noticed Dark's bag shifting. "Hey, is something in your bag?"

Dark nodded before unzipping his bag a bit and Bri's head immediately popped out. "This is Brianna."

Sonata's head tilted in confusion while Sunset's eyes immediately widened in alarm. Before she could react however, the Riolu saw her and let out a quick yip before jumping out of the bag and hugginged her.

While the 2 girls were shocked by the action, Dark simply chuckled. "Yeah, she does that a lot."

"What is she?" Sonata asked.

Before Dark could respond, Sunset immediately said, "Don't worry about it, Sonata. They aren't native to this country." She then chuckled nervously before grabbing the pup and gently giving her back to Dark. "Hey, how about you meet me at Sugarcube Corner?. I wanna talk to Tito for a second."

"Are you sure?"

Sunset nodded. "It's okay Sonata. I'll catch up." After a moment of hesitation, Sonata started to walk away. When she was out of earshot, Sunset looked at Dark in mild panic. "Are you crazy?!" She asked, in a barely contained whisper.

"What?" Dark asked, completely confused.

"Why did you bring a Riolu here?"

"She wanted to- wait," Dark said with a blink. "How do you know what she is?"

"Why wouldn't I know? Platinum was a pretty good game and Rainbow likes Maylene."

Dark blinked a moment before shaking his head. "Wait a minute. Are you telling me that Pokémon is a thing here?"

"Not the creatures, but the franchise? Yeah."

Dark blinked for a moment before placing Bri back into his bag and turning back to Sunset. "Why didn't you say anything when I first came here then?" He said in a stressed whisper.

"I was a little distracted by the hooded figure who had just dropped from the ceiling and shot webs from his hands and told me and my friends we were characters from a cartoon," she stated with her arms crossed.

"And Fluttershy not recognizing what Emily was?"

"From what I heard, she hasn't played the games after Black & White," she answered.

Dark sighed and placed his face into his hands. After a minute, he lifted his face. "Well guess I got to be careful with Bri or Mike…" He then looked at Sunset. "So, how have you been the past week?"

Sunset shrugged. "Fine. Nowhere near as bad as you. Things have been slow lately."

"Lucky you." Adjusting the straps on his bag, he looked at the night sky in silence.

"Hey. You want anything from Sugarcube Corner?"

Dark looked at her and stood silent for a moment before saying, "Anything chocolate I guess. We're fond of that."

"We?" Dark gestured to his bag. "Ah. Okay." She looked around to make sure nobody was within earshot before saying, "So what exactly happened today?"

Before Dark could say anything, he suddenly felt his hand grab Sunset's wrist and pressing her hand onto his forehead as her eyes suddenly turned white. After a couple of seconds, he felt himself let go of her wrist as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Well. That really was insane."

"Venom!" Dark barely stopped himself from actually shouting, looking at the mental projection of the symbiote.

"Hey, that saved us several minutes of explaining."

Dark sighed. "Sorry Sunset."

Sunset waved him off. "Don't worry about it. A little warning would've been nice but I can understand why it happened." She then looked at him. "So Cece actually became Amy because of some plant?"

"Unfortunately…"

"I can see why you would want to take a breather after all of that…" After a minute of silence, she nodded to herself. "Come on." She then started to walk in the direction Sonata went.

"Wait, where are you going?" He asked, walking to her side.

"We're going to Sugarcube Corner. Think you need some snacks after all of that. And maybe some company."

"Well that'd be appreciated," Dark said with a nod.

After a minute of silent walking, Sunset suddenly said, "You might be wrong, you know."

"Huh?"

"She might not actually hate you."

Dark's eyes widened under his hood. "How do you-" Sunset gestured to her necklace, with her geode in full view. "Oh. Right…"

"I won't lie, it makes sense that she wouldn't like you right now. Especially with how you acted at first. But that doesn't necessarily mean that she actually hates you."

Dark winced. "I told her to her face that she wasn't real and just the product of a plant to play a cruel joke on my sister. And almost forced her to go through something that would essentially erase her from existence, all without showing any sympathy."

"Well, do you actually know her? Maybe she doesn't hold a grudge?"

"She has a point there," Venom said. "Besides her crush on Sonic, and some abilities, we clearly knew nothing about Amy. And from what I've seen in her head after bonding to her, she is actually quite… interesting."

"What do you mean?" Dark asked.

"For one thing, she lived through two lifetimes, as the result of Eggman and a certain other doctor trying to rewrite reality. Many people she knew, including family, ended up erased from existence."

"That would explain why you said she's experienced with that…"

"Also she was technically royalty."

It took a second for Dark to process what his companion said, to which he immediately stopped his walking and did a double take. "She's what now?!"

"Her cousin in the old world was apparently a king so technically she was part of a royal family," Venom said, completely unphased.

"Since when was that a thing?"

"Oh believe me, there's far more to Miss Rose than even that. For example, she was seriously holding back against you."

"What do you mean?"

"As her kicking your ass and placing some sort of curse on you already shows, Amy Rose, or at the very least the one you met, is quite different than what we've believed." Venom used his connection to Dark to get him to start moving again. "She's faced a good amount of enemies, not just Eggman and his forces. She's dealt with an evil wizard, a close friend turned evil robot, and many, many more."

"Turned what now?" Dark said, not at all expecting that last one.

"Long story. The point is that Amy isn't what we've come to expect. She truly is far more than just her crush and weapon. If things were different, I can see you two getting along quite well."

"Doubt it…" Dark muttered.

"You know, we're really lucky there aren't that many people out tonight," Sunset said, causing Dark to remember that only he can see and hear the symbiote.

"Sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it. Just be glad you stopped now," she said, as he just noticed they reached their destination. "Come on."

The rhythmic chugging of the train reverberated through the cabin as the odd trio of creatures settled into their seats. Their bodies sagged as they felt the effects of the chaotic battle crashing down onto them. With a lazy groan, the sole human threw his head back and stared at the ceiling. “Why is it that breaking in and out of a prison and causing a riot was so much easier than that chaotic mess?”

Stretching out his massive frame, the diamond dog’s thick fur shimmered in the soft light of the carriage. “Was it really that bad?” Garm asked, “There was a good number of those black creatures in the forest too, but they were kinda just pushovers.”

Valor leaned back into her seat, closing her eyes as she savored the comforting motion of the train, “It was more that they just didn’t seem to have an end. We would destroy one, and two more would immediately replace them.”

The dog snorted, “So like a hydra then?”

“Those exist here?!” Kaito nearly shouted, he then shook his head, raising his hand before they could answer him. “You know what, nevermind. So, Garm, how’d the fishing trip go?”

Raising an eyebrow at the sudden change of topic, he shrugged. “I picked up a good haul, over a hundred rings, and kept some extras in here.” He said, patting the barrel next to him. “With no one picking them up, the lake was overflowing with them. I had to leave some behind too since I ran out of space in the barrel. Speaking of which…” Reaching inside the barrel he began pawing at the rings. “Catch.” With that, the diamond dog tossed the two of them a pair of rings. “Ain’t much, but even just one is enough to save your life.”

Catching the thrown ring, the pegasus looked it over, raising an eyebrow in confusion. “And how does this work? Do we need to activate it, or just put it on?”

Garm shook his head. “Nothing special to it, you can wear it if you want, I like to do so for the extra protection. But it also responds to thoughts, just by thinking it you can absorb it, and when you’re hit, it’ll protect you.”

“Huh,” Kaito smiled, twirling the ring with his finger, “And when you’re hit, they scatter, right?” Clenching his fist, the ring in his hand sparkled before disappearing as it was absorbed into his body.

He nodded. “After that, you only have a few seconds to gather them before they disappear. They were the most useful tools for our tribe, saved the lives of many dogs, nothing can compare to the power of chaos.”

Valor’s brow furrowed, “Chaos?”

“The servers are the seven chaos. Chaos is power…” The diamond dog began, closing his eyes and joining his claws as if he was saying a prayer. “Power enriched by the heart. The controller is the one that unifies the chaos.”

Turning to stare at Garm, Kaito’s eyes widened as he took in the prayer. “That’s Tikal’s prayer...” He whispered, “Is that a prayer that’s always been with your people?”

The diamond dog nodded, “For hundreds of years in fact. You seem familiar with it, have you heard of it before?”

“Just once, a long time ago.” He hummed, “Chaos… if we had that kind of power, those black creatures wouldn’t be able to come near us… Let alone the ‘Spider’...”

“What… other rings are there, Garm?” Valor asked.

The dog hummed, stroking his graying chin. “Many. And I’m sure that there are some that even my tribe has yet to discover… But from what I recall, there are the Power Rings.” He gestured towards the golden rings covering his arms. “They protect, but they also empower. With them, your power increases, you become stronger and faster. But by far the most useful thing about them is that they can be used as fuel to tap into the powers of Chaos.

“Space, time, reality, all of it can be molded should you have the energy needed.” He growled, closing his eyes. “The Red Star Rings are incredibly rare, to the point where I have never seen one before. But I’ve heard stories, they have much more potential for power, but I’ve also heard that those who cling onto the power for too long end up at risk of destroying themselves. Warp Rings can allow for instantaneous travel so long as you have an idea of where it is you want to go. I’ve even heard legends of rings that grant wishes, but no records of it exist in our people’s history, so it's likely just that, legends.”

Kaito clung onto every word from the elder’s mouth, closing his eyes as he thought deeply about the variations. “These rings… they aren’t the only source of Chaos are they?”

With a blank expression, the dog raised his head to look at him. “I’m not sure what you mean?”

“The prayer you just said, the seven servers are the seven chaos, those refer to the emeralds.” He sat upright from his seat, staring straight into the dog’s eyes. “Do the Chaos Emeralds exist?”

Garm’s eyes widened, wordlessly opening his mouth a few times, he then sighed, his shoulders sagging before he stared at Kaito. Letting out a small sigh, he nodded. “The Chaos Emeralds are sacred to my kind, their existence a well guarded secret. I would not tell you if you were anyone else, but yes, the Chaos Emeralds do exist.”

His eyes lighting up, Kaito jumped off his seat. “Well then that settles it.” He started with an excited grin, “We have our next mission team, we’re going after the Chaos Emeralds!”

Landing on the rooftop, Dark sighed, walking towards the edge of the building as he peered down to the empty alleyway between two buildings, inside his bag, a furry blue head poked out to look down below as well. Letting out a hum, Dark watched as the last patrol car drove off, the group of muggers he had left webbed up for them being nowhere in sight. “Guess there’s nothing to worry about here…” He muttered, absentmindedly stroking Bri’s furry head when she let out a small yip of agreement. Craning his head to look around the street, he didn’t spot the blue-skinned teen either, “She must be home by now too… still…”

Taking a few steps back, he then ran forward, leaping towards the next building as Bri ducked back inside the bag. Firing a web, he swung from the side of the building to the next as he looked around the surrounding area before coming to a stop again on top of another lone rooftop.

“It's getting pretty late, shouldn’t we have headed back by now?” Venom’s voice echoed in his head.

“Just want to get the layout of the city, who knows how often we’ll be coming back here,” Dark answered, peering off the rooftop to look around.

“Well, you're probably going to be needing a lot of “quiet time”,” Venom stated, his mental avatar standing on the edge. “Especially with Heartless on the list. So it makes sense you'd come back more.”

Dark sighed before sitting down on the roof and letting Bri out of his bag as she quickly laid on his lap. “Be honest. You think I'm in over my head?”

Venom shrugged. “Probably. You have all kinds of enemies gunning for ya, and you barely know what you can do. I'd say if you were fighting alone, you'd have no chance.”

“So you're saying I do have a chance?”

“Only because you have help. Twilight, Rainbow, Lightning, Mike, plus me and Toxin. We can watch your back. Alone? You'd have died from that Hydra guy the night we met.”

Dark looked down. “And now I'm without one of my allies…”

Venom rolled his eyes. “Oh calm down. If anything, Amy is a far better ally in a fight than Cece. As her actually being able to beat you proves. Despite her beef with you, I'm certain she won't just stand by and let people be hurt. So think of it as her, unknowingly, protecting Cece until we separate them.”

Before Dark could respond, Bri hugged him to try to comfort her father. He just sighed again and returned her hug. “Thanks Bri.”

Bri let out a small smile towards him before letting out a yawn. Seeing that, Dark yawned himself before he grabbed her and placed her back in the bag.

“I guess we might as well go to bed. Come on, it shouldn't take too long to swing back to CHS.”

“Or, you can use your new tool,” Venom suggested.

“New tool?”

“The Warp Ring. Use that to go back.”

Dark blinked behind his hood. “Wait, will it even work? It's another universe.”

“Well, you could try it just in case. If it works, we can come and go with total ease without needing to be seen near the highschool. If it doesn't, who cares.” With that said, the symbiote’s avatar vanished.

Dark hesitated for a moment before reaching to his wrist and pulling the ring off. He then closed his eyes and pictured his room back in Twilight's castle, and then threw the ring. It immediately grew and opened a portal. Dark stepped through it, and saw he truly was back in his room, with both Shoto and Peter sound asleep in their respective beds. The ring shrunk down and Dark caught it before it hit the ground.

“Well, that's good to know,” Dark thought to himself. He let out another yawn as he took Bri out of his bag and placed her on the bed as she soon fell asleep. He then quickly changed his clothes and laid down before drifting off to sleep himself.

A few minutes after Dark was unconscious, and making sure nobody would notice, the symbiote emerged from his chest, removed itself from him and made its way to the hallway, squeezing under the door. After a couple of minutes, it found its destination, with a resting Mike just across the hall from the room he was headed. Venom squeezed through the gap of the door and made his way to the unconscious Amy, before attaching to her.

Author's Note

Welp, this is finally done. In all honesty, it's been done for a little while but I caught the flu as soon as the year started so been unable to actually post it til now. Many apologies for the long wait. Both Star and I have had some scheduling problems due to life. Hopefully we'll be able to have the next chapter up before 2025. She had nothing specific to say so just me. Hopefully you enjoy the chapter. Until next time.
-Dark

66. Plucked Rose

As the first rays of sunlight gently filtered through the curtains, the sleeping pink hedgehog’s eyes fluttered, the sunlight stirring Amy from her slumber. Slowly, she picked herself up from the bed, letting her eyes wander around the room, she recognized the crystal architecture and decorations.

Amy sighed, her expression downcast as she stared at the bedsheets before her. Her hands clenched as her eyes began to sting from unshed tears. “I guess it wasn’t a dream after all…” She quickly rubbed her eyes as her vision blurred, clearing the tears away. Suppressing a shiver, she shakingly sighed, “But why… why am I still here then?”

“We couldn't bring ourselves to do it yet,” she heard a very familiar voice say to her.

Amy’s eyes widened in surprise as her head snapped to her side, spotting the human waiting by the closed door with his hood on, concealing his face. Seeing him wait for her, Amy’s ears flattened against her head as she hastily looked down, “O-oh.” She said in a small voice. Sighing, she brought her knees closer to her chest wrapping her arms around them, “So… why didn’t you do it then? Is it… something that you need me to be awake for?” She asked apprehensively.

The guy tilted his head. “Huh. You know, while I knew he was wrong about how you actually felt about him, I didn't expect fear of all things.” He then shook his head. “But no. The whole curing thing is simple. And even if there was a risk, I could've taken care of it myself while you were unconscious. It's like I said. We, or more specifically my “father”, couldn't bring ourselves to do it. Especially when he learned how scared you are about possibly being erased.”

Amy raised an eyebrow in confusion, “Father?”

“Ah. Right. Never did introduce myself, did I?” After a moment, he did a double take. “Wait, I… I don't think you were ever actually told his name. I guess yesterday was more hectic than we thought…” He shook his head again. “Sorry about that. Simply put, my name is Venom. I'm something known as a symbiote. I'm the “sentient slime” made by Dark's DNA that he mentioned yesterday.” After a moment, he then continued. “Dark is the…chosen name for the human you interacted with yesterday.”

“Sentient slime?” Amy tilted her head, looking at him more closely. “So you’re not the same guy from yesterday?” Her eyes suddenly widened. “Wait, are you that black goop that trapped me at the lake?”

Venom nodded. “Yeah. Must say, it was actually a clever move he thought up, considering how thoroughly you were kicking his ass. We knew, at his current level at least, there was no other way to put you down. So I bonded to you and knocked you out. And ended up sharing your thoughts with him when I returned.”

Amy sighed, recalling the events of the night before. Suddenly realizing what the goop had said, she gave him a rather apprehensive look, “Shared my thoughts?” Amy repeated, leaning forward.

“The reason you're still here now? I ended up accidentally sharing your last thoughts with Dark when I returned to him. Your fear of being erased from existence, like your friends from the Super Genesis Wave. When he felt that, he decided to postpone his original plans and chose to help you.”

Wincing at the reminder of the reality warp, she shook off the shiver that was threatening to show. Taking a deep breath, she held onto the last words the symbiote said, looking up at him with a cautious look, “You mean it?” She asked. “He’s really not going to erase me, he’s going to help?”

“Well yeah.” Venom shrugged. “Why else would you still be here? The cure is simply taking a bath with special herbs. So if he truly wanted to just ignore your feelings and cure you, he'd have done it last night.”

“So I would’ve been gone by now if the cure was going to be used…” Amy looked down, as a sigh of relief escaped her, while her smile didn’t return, she was noticeably less tense to the symbiote. “I could get to go home after all…” She whispered to herself.

Venom winced at that, but since his face was underneath the identical cover of his original host, Amy failed to notice. “For now, I believe we should focus on what he has planned. Dark asked Twi… He asked a friend of his if we could separate you and Cece. That way, when we cure her, you won't be affected at all and can go your separate ways.”

“How would your friend be able to separate us in the first place?” Amy asked, tilting her head. “That doesn’t sound like something simple.”

“I wouldn't think it is. But we have magic and the multiverse at our disposal. So I'm certain we'll manage to find something to help.” He then looked towards the door. ”Come on. I believe it's about time you get a tour and actually meet the others.”

Amy winced, “Are you sure that's a good idea?” She said, looking away from Venom. “I mean, this is the body of their friend, wouldn’t they react badly about me taking their friend’s body?”

“Twilight and Screwball already know, and they've certainly informed Spike and Starlight. So it should be fine.”

Pushing her hesitation aside, Amy gave a small sigh before pulling the bed sheets away. “Well, if you say so.” Getting off the bed, she was careful not to wake the sleeping fox curled at the foot of the bed. Upon spotting a long mirror at the side of the room, she walked towards it, narrowing her eyes as she took in her messy appearance, her quills were sticking out in every direction and had a sheen of sweat that clung onto it, her dress was wrinkled and messy. Frowning, she placed her hands on her hips and turned toward Venom. “You wouldn’t happen to know where the shower is, would you?”

Amy smiled to herself, patting down her quills, as she walked down the crystal hallways, besides her, Venom’s avatar guided her along the castle’s paths. “You know, I wasn’t sure what I would find in Cece’s wardrobe, but I’m so glad I was able to find copies of my favorite dress!” She said rather chipperly, her mood having improved from the morning.

“She apparently doesn't care to switch things up,” Venom said, walking beside her. “So she only has 2 kinds of outfits, and she’s barely ever used the other one. Though I'm sure most ponies would be more surprised you aren't wearing the cloak.”

“Cloaks aren’t really my thing.” She answered, shrugging her shoulders as the two walked. After a moment of silence, Amy’s lips thinned as she looked to the side, “Hey,” She started, gaining the symbiote’s attention. “Just thought I should ask, but did you guys do anything to my memories?” At Venom’s confused look, she continued. “Ever since I woke up here, all of my memories have returned, including memories that I’ve forgotten about regarding…” She paused, looking away, “The old world, of how Mobius used to be. Those memories faded away a while ago, and I completely forgot about how much things had changed.”

Venom shook his head. “Can’t say we did. We didn't know about your situation until you told us your name yesterday. And before I bonded with you at the lake, I knew the same amount of things about you as Dark. And that is to say, almost nothing. I didn't know about the Freedom Fighters, about the two different worlds, or about your cousin,” he finished, in a sympathetic tone. After a second, he said, “While my sister and I are capable of sharing memories with our hosts, I'm not entirely sure if I can revive lost ones like you have.”

“Oh, I see.” She sighed, “I guess it was that plants doing too.” She said with a frown, “These memories… I guess you wouldn’t know if they’ll disappear like they did for me before? As much as it may hurt… I don’t think I want to forget all about it like the others did.”

Venom shrugged. “I'm unsure. I'm no fortune teller, as much as people think spider-sense gives us that. So I have no idea what will happen once you gain your own body and leave.”

“So they could disappear… Well, even if it's only for a bit, I’m glad I was able to remember Rob and the others again.” She had a bittersweet smile, coming to a stop as she faced a large double-sided door, pushing it open she found herself in a dining hall. On the other side of the room was a purple dragon setting down plates, and a purple-ish pink unicorn already biting down on her pancakes.

Upon noticing the hedgehog, Starlight hesitantly waved her over. “Hey, so you’re Amy, right?” Noticing the surprised look, she gave her a gentle smile, “Twilight filled us in. Sorry about the rough day you had. Name’s Starlight.”

“Amy.” She replied, sitting down across from her. “And thanks. Yesterday was…” She paused as she mulled over her words, “A lot, to say the least.” Amy ended with a weak chuckle. She leaned back as a scaly arm placed a plate of pancakes in front of her, Amy’s smile came back as she noticed the strawberries and whipped cream on top.

“I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I thought I’d play it safe and go for pancakes!” The drake said, offering his claw to the hedgehog, “Name’s Spike!”

“Word of advice, don't mention Rarity around him,” Venom said, appearing to sit on an empty chair, his hand rubbing his temple. “I'd rather we just get along with the tour after you’re done and he'd probably spend an hour talking about her…”

Raising an eyebrow at Venom’s annoyance, Amy turned away from the symbiote and gave Spike a small smile, shaking his claw. “Amy Rose, it's nice to meet you! And thank you so much for the pancakes!”

Spike smiled at her enthusiasm, “Well if you ever want more, there’s plenty to go around, so don’t be afraid to ask for seconds.” He said, placing a syrup bottle down near her. “By the way, when you’re done, Twilight wanted me to tell you that she’ll be at the library if you want to talk to her.”

“Twilight?” Amy asked.

Besides the drake, Starlight nodded, swallowing the bit of food in her mouth. “She’s looking for a way to solve your…” She hesitated, waving her fork at her for a second, “Problem. Though she also said that it can wait till after you get a tour of our town. After all, if you’re gonna be staying with us for a bit, you should at least get to know the place.”

Venom looked at Amy. “To further explain, Twilight Sparkle is the friend that I said Dark had asked for help regarding separating you. She's one of several princesses of this kingdom and a brilliant magic user. Only Starlight here has been known to match her, despite Twilight being an alicorn.” After a moment, he added, “Don't ask. I'll explain what those are when you see her. But anyway, this is her castle. And she and her friends are basically the closest thing this world has to the Freedom Fighters. Minus the combat skills. I'd say only Rainbow and maybe Applejack actually have that.”

Amy blinked before giving a small smile, just as she was about to speak, the dining room’s large doors creaked open, allowing a blonde pegasus to walk in. “I still don't know why you talked me into this…” she said, not actually looking at any of the occupants in the room.

Following behind her was what appeared to be a small human girl, half her size, with medium-length red hair, that shifted to black halfway, wearing a red jacket and black jeans. Even her eyes matched, with one being blood red, the other black. “Well come on. I always wanted to see how large this place truly is.”

“Can't you just ask your brother or-” the mare then noticed the others in the room. “Oh. Hey guys. Mind if I join? Toxin won't stop bugging me about that tour the princess offered.”

Spike nodded, “Go ahead and take a seat, I’ll have some more pancakes out in a second!” The drake said, rushing back towards the kitchen.

“Add chocolate please,” the pegasus requested. “She loves the stuff…”

Amy tilted her head at the sight of another human, "Who are those two?" She asked, turning towards Venom.

Before he could respond, the pegasus’ ears perked up at the voice and she turned to Amy. “So you're that chick who's possessing his sister's body?”

Amy winced, her ears drooping. "Yeah, I guess that's me. It's not like it's on purpose, though. I'm not really sure how it all even works."

The girl sighed. “You could've said that nicer, Lightning…”

“What, that's literally what they said. Not my fault.”

Placing a plate in front of the pegasus, Spike shrugged. "There's a bit more to it than that. From what I heard, it was poison joke that caused that mess. I didn't even know it could do that."

“Yeah yeah, a magic plant that plays jokes on people, yada yada,” Lightning said, waving her arm. She then looked at Amy. “Anyway, name’s Lightning Dust. I'm a… friend of Dark's. We've worked together a couple of times now and I decided to pay him a visit yesterday. Apparently, while he was in the middle of his chat with you.”

"I'm Amy," She replied with a wavy smile, hesitantly bringing her hand up to wave, "Sorry that I got in the way between you two, yesterday really hasn't been my day."

“Just be happy you didn't have to fight a ton of Heartless like we did. That was exhausting…”

"Heartless?" She tilted her head.

“Long story. Just be happy the biggest workout you apparently had yesterday was wiping the floor with Dark. We had to deal with a bucking army and a set of living armor.”

Amy winced in sympathy, "Those type of days always are the worse. Especially when you wake up sore and exhausted." Looking to Lightning's side, she smiled at the human girl, "Hey there, don't think I got your name."

The girl blinked before looking behind her. She then looked at Amy. “Wait. Are you talking to me?”

Tilting her head, the pink hedgehog was confused by the reaction. "Well of course. Who else would I be talking to?"

The girl stared at her with wide eyes for a moment before looking at the cloaked figure beside Amy. “Venom?! Is that you?”

Venom chuckled. “Surprised it took you so long to notice me again.”

“Well with the hood and scarf on, you look exactly like our dad!”

“Oh trust me, sis, he won't be so comfortable around this one for some time,” Venom stated, gesturing towards Amy.

Amy looked between the two in confusion before her eyes lit up, “Oh! So this must be your sister?” She asked Venom. “Guessing that means the others don’t see her either?”

“I can,” Lightning stated. “I'm her host. Have been since we saved these 2 from some crazy cult a couple of weeks ago. Apparently, they have some kind of hive mind thing that allows us to see and hear the other when within range.”

“It can be weird at times to see,” Spike spoke up, sitting down. “Sometimes we see Dark talking to himself even though we know he’s actually talking to Venom directly.”

Venom chuckled. “Yeah, he sometimes forgets that only he can see and hear me. Hell, last night he was straight-up talking to me in front of a friend. And yes Amy, this here is my younger sister, Toxin. We were being transported by some loons when Dark, Lightning, and a third pegasus saved us. I bonded to Dark, Toxin bonded to Lightning.”

“Huh,” Amy tilted her head, “So is she a blob of slime too?”

“We're called symbiotes, Miss Rose,” Venom said with a sigh. “While what you said is an accurate enough description, it's the same as if I called you a small mutated hedgehog.” He then looked at the clock. “Anyway, you and Lightning should get to finishing your breakfast so we can have that tour.” With that, his avatar vanished.

Lightning shrugged. “He isn't wrong. So come on, let's eat.” With that, her symbiote’s avatar vanished too as she started to eat her pancakes.

Amy hummed, turning away from the spot Venom had disappeared from, glancing down at her pancakes, she couldn’t help but sigh, cutting a piece and eating. ‘Well, at least the food is good,’ She thought to herself.

Author's Note

Howdy everyone. Finally managed to finish a chapter.

Hello loyal minions! Star709 here, short chapter for you all, we originally planned for it to be longer, but decided to cut it in half so that people will have less wait time. Please let us know what you think so we can improve! Your feedback fuels us!

Nothing much to recap. Any met Venom and a few of the others and now knows she's not going to be erased. Next up is her having a tour of the town.

-Dark

Star

PS: This was done about a week ago but I kept forgetting to upload it. So... Happy Halloween 🎃

1. My First Convention

"Tito, wake up!" Came a voice. "We're here."

I open my eyes and smile out the window. My family and I are going to a convention in Florida while we're visiting some family. Oh, I should probably introduce myself. Most call me Tito. I'm just some 17 year old who loves superheroes, video games, and the like. I'm about five-foot-eight, peach skin, brown eyes and black hair. The one who woke me up is my younger sister Cece. She's about my height, despite being 13. She has similar features to me mostly, except for her brown hair. My mom is driving and listening to the radio. She has blonde hair right now, but the rest of her notable features are identical to me and Cece. Peach skin, brown eyes, and the occasionally acts of randomness.

I turned to my sister. "I was awake Cece. Just resting."

"Yeah. That's what you always say. Anyways, what's with that suit of yours? Why aren't you wearing a mask?"

She was talking about my costume. We were all dressed for the con. Cece was dress as Amy Rose from Sonic, and my mom was dressed as Princess Peach from Mario. But I was wearing something different. I was wearing a darker version of a Spider-Man costume, with black instead of red and no web design. It was something I made myself for the "DarkSpider". Some fantasy I had for years that's practically Spider-Man, but with my favorite colors blue and black. I had almost everything done in time for our trip, but I couldn't finish the mask. It was back home, unfinished.

I sighed. "Didn't finish it sis. So I'm stuck like this. But at least I can finish it for next year."

Cece nodded and went back to texting her friend. I turn back to the window and put on my headphones and put on a few songs I enjoy, starting with "Dominoes" by Tryhardninja. I loved his songs, especially the FNAF ones.

Our mom parked the car and said, "Okay you two, you know what you're going to do?"

I took off a headphone and turned to my mom. "Yeah. We'll walk around the place, take a few pictures and maybe buy some memoirs. You got your money, right sis?"

Cece nodded. "This will be fun. And while we're there, maybe you can actually make a friend Tito," she said with a smirk.

I glared at her. "Screw you. Anyway, other than that, we'll go see a few panels, and meet back with you."

"Well then, let's go," my mom said before we all exited the car and went inside. Cece and I did what we told our mom, and bought some things with the money we got from babysitting a bunch of kids over the years. Then we found a booth that was different. It had stuff from a lot a various franchises, from Pokémon to DBZ.

"You interested in my products?" A cloaked man asked as he came from behind a curtain in the booth. His black cloak completely covered his face and his voice was rather raspy. "Ah, a young lady dressed as Amy Rose. And a man who looks like he's dressed as the Spider-Man. I hope I have what you seek."

I look at the man and said, "Not Spider-Man exactly, but not like anyone will be able to tell."

"Then who are you supposed to be, may I ask?"

I shrugged. "Just called it the DarkSpider. Practically identical in abilities and appearance as Spider-Man, except decent with a blade, and, as you can tell, black instead of red. Oh, and organic webs. I liked that from the movies."

The man stroked his chin a bit. "A swordsman, eh? And I see you're missing a mask. Hmmm....I believe I have some items you'll both like." He went to the back, possibly looking for those items.

Cece leaned closer to me. "Looks creepy."

I just adjusted my backpack and rolled my eyes. "Well that's obvious. Wonder why he even cared about my costume though. Anyway, let our mom know that we're here so she can come over. I'd say we're done for today."

She just nodded and texted our mom our location. A couple of minutes later, the merchant came back with 3 items in his hands.

"I believe these will suffice."

What he had was a hammer that look a lot like Amy's, a sword, and a mask that was perfect for my costume.

I stared at him for a moment before I asked, "How much?"

"Hmm. I'd say 35 bucks in total."

I looked at my sister and she just shrugged. We split the cost and got our new items. Cece shouldered her new hammer while I put my new sword on my back. Right when I put on my mask however, I suddenly heard a scream. When I looked to where Cece was, she was gone. Before I could call out to her, I suddenly fell and blacked out.

Author's Note

Well, there it is. My first chapter of my first story. I hope you all enjoyed. Time for the next.

4. Answering Questions, and A New Place To Call Home

We were all walking down the halls to the dining room. Twilight in front leading the way, Rainbow behind me, no doubt to keep an eye on me, and Fluttershy a few feet behind, most likely because she was still afraid of me. Not that I blame her. She might be able to stand up to a dragon and a cockatrice when her friends were in danger, but 95% of the time, she's probably the most timid thing there is. Now, some may be wondering how the heck I know about these girls if this is my first time meeting them. If you are, it's obvious. I'm a brony. I've seen just about every episode and all the EqG movies. I even downloaded a few videos of bronies like Silver Quill on my laptop in case I'm away from internet. Come to think of it, I still need to get my stuff back from them. No doubt they'll be hesitant on giving me back my sword, but I should at least get my bag back.

We soon made it to the dining room and saw the whole table filled to the brim with sweets from cookies to cakes. Pinkie was jumping around, humming some song to herself. We all sat down and picked up some sweets. I quickly grabbed a bunch of chocolate chip cookies, and looked at all of them.

“Okay. No doubt you all got a bunch of questions for me, and I have a few myself. But just know this: just because I'm willing to answer some things, doesn't mean I have to answer all of them.”

“Why not?” Rainbow asked, annoyed.

“Hey, I don't have to tell you anything, but I will. And If you want to find out more, you'll have to gain my trust, because there's no way I'm letting you know everything about me just because you ask,” I said, before lifting my mask up to just below my nose and ate a cookie.

“Okay,” Twilight said, with her hand on Dash’s shoulder. “First off what exactly are you? You said you had spider DNA, so are you part spider?”

I finished the cookie, then said, “To answer the second question, I'm not actually part spider, just have trace bits of spider DNA in me that gives me powers, like the whole web shooting thing.”

“What else can you do?”

I thought about that for a second. I didn't want them to know about my spider-sense, at least not yet. Not a good idea telling someone who doesn't trust you, and is either faster than you, or can lift you up and smash you to a wall, that you have something that not only acts as a way of detecting danger, but can be used to know where just about everything in a general area is. Everything else though, seemed okay.

“Well first off, I'm much stronger, faster, can jump higher, and have faster reflexes than the average person, and I could stick to just about any surface easily. You'll be more likely to blow up the moon than pull me out of something I'm stuck to.”

“Okay, and how strong are your webs?”

“Strong enough to hold up falling debris, and with enough, able to stop a speeding train.”

“Hmm. No wonder you were able to hold your own against a pack of timberwolves. Though, I've never heard of anypony with any of those abilities.”

“Of course not. I'm not a pony. I'm a human.”

That made them all stop. Well, except Pinkie, who just kept chowing down on her cake.

“A human? That's not possible. Humans don't exist in Equestria.”

“Well I do, so I guess you're wrong.”

“But how? Any human who comes to Equestria turns into a pony. And you couldn't have came through the portal because I believe I'd notice something.”

“Like I said earlier, I don't know how I got here. I was in a convention, got knocked out, and woke up in that forest.”

Rainbow narrowed her eyes. “If you're a human, prove it.”

That actually surprised me. “How? You all look similar to humans, so how can you tell the difference?”

Pinkie immediately raised her hand. “Ooo! You can take off your mask. If what Twilight said is true, humans don't have fur, so if you don't, that might prove it.”

I thought about it and figured why not? Not like I'll be able to blend in with a crowd anyway, so who cares? “Okay then.” I just took off my mask and showed them my face. “Believe me now?” I asked, before eating another cookie. God, these things can rival my mom’s.

Twilight seemed to be at a lost for words, while Rainbow looked shocked. Pinkie was, well, still eating and Fluttershy just stayed quiet. Then, Rainbow leaned closer to Twilight and asked, “So is he a human, Twi?”

Twilight just nodded her head, still trying to figure out what to say. I decided to hurry things along and said, “So, any more questions?”

Fluttershy was actually the one who asked the next one, “Um, what do humans eat? If you don't mind me asking.”

“Simple. Humans are omnivores, meaning we eat both plants and meats, though I don't usually eat meat. I mostly stick to other things. Though we can't eat flowers or hay.”

Rainbow then looked at me with a frown. “You eat meat?”

“Just because I eat meat, doesn't mean I'll eat a pony. I already told you, I don't eat ponies, or anything that can actually think for itself. And I'm not going to kill animals just for a snack. I rather not kill anything that's innocent.”

“So you WOULD kill something?”

I hesitated on that for a second, then, lowering my head, I said, “If I have to.” That definitely darkened the mood. I just put back on my mask, leaving my mouth free, grabbed a few more cookies, and ate them quietly for a few minutes. Then, I decided to ask a few questions of my own. “Okay, my turn. First, where did you put my stuff? Second, can I please get them back? Third, what's the most recent event worth mentioning? And finally, where the hell did you learn to make these cookies?” I said that last one looking at the party pony.

Pinkie just giggled and said, “Mrs. Cake taught me a few recipes. I'm glad you like them.”

“Understatement,” I said under my breath.

Twilight then chose now to finally fix herself after finding out I was a human. I mean, sure it'll be surprising, but why would it take this long to come to an understanding? Not like I'm the weirdest thing she's ever seen, what with being friends with Discord and Pinkie. Anyway, after she composed herself, she said, “ Your items are safe in my room. Though whether or not you can get them back is yet to be seen. As for your third question, what do you mean?”

Knew they wouldn’t give me back my stuff just like that.

“I mean, what is the latest thing that's worth mentioning, like, say, you became an aunt, or you traveled through time, or were frame for a crime you didn't commit, or you opened up a shop somewhere important.”

Wow, Tito. Very subtle. Come to think of it, I wonder if I show up in Manehatten, that Jameson pony would see me as a menace. Well, that's something I should check out one day.

Once again, it was Pinkie that answered. “Oh, me and Rarity went to Manehatten the other day to see my sister Maud and for Rarity to find a shop to have there.”

Huh, so A Gift For Maud Pie is the most recent episode? Interesting. I wonder if the other episodes will happen in the future. Well, gotta wait to see if that's the case. I believe On Your Marks was the one after it. So that means-

“You know,” Rainbow said, “that's weirdly specific what you said.”

Aw crap

“What do you mean?” I asked, thankful I had a mask covering my eyes.

“I mean, what you said happened to me and my friends one point or another. It's like you knew about it.”

Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. I can't let them know they're part of a show back home. That'll raise WAY too many questions that I don't want to answer

“Well, it seems like a proper set of events that could happen to some people.”

Rainbow just frowned at me, clearly not believing me whatsoever.

Sheesh. Wonder how long it'll take for her to at least trust me. Probably a while.

Pinkie luckily rose her hand again, changing the subject. “What's your favorite flavor of cake and ice cream?”

Now, if anyone else, pony or otherwise, that I just met asked me that, I'd stare at them wondering why they'd care about such a random question. But since this is Pinkie Pie, I'd decided to answer her truthfully.

“Vanilla cake and cookies and cream ice cream. Gotta love. Oh,” I picked up another cookie, “and chocolate chip cookies. Can never have too many of those. Though, why do you ask?” I said, then started eating the cookie.

Pinkie smiled and said, “Why, for your ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party of course.”

I immediately started choking on my cookie and grabbed a cup of milk and drain it down to help. Then I turned to Pinkie. “My what?”

“Your ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party, silly. I throw one for everypony who comes here to Ponyville.”

I just shook my head. “I don't think that'll be necessary Pinkie.”

Pinkie actually frowned when I said that. “But why? Everypony loves my parties.”

It made me sad seeing her like that. I put my mask back down and said, “Well it's not like I have a place to stay. Heck, I was just going to find a high enough tree and sleep on it.”

“Well,” Twilight said, “you can stay here with me and the others. It'll be nice to have one more person here, and that way you have a place to stay.”

Rainbow stared in shock at Twilight, I stared at her for a moment, knowing there was something up. “What's the catch?”

“Huh?”

“Not that I don't trust you, somewhat, but I doubt you'll let some random guy, who you just met, and has the ability to harm you, stay in your large castle, where there are no guards, with you and a few of your friends just cause. So tell me. What's the catch?”

Rainbow looked like she wanted to throttle me then and there, but Twilight sighed. “Fine. If you want to know, it's so I can keep an eye on you. You're right, with your abilities, you can harm anypony, but you promised to not do that. Also, you said that if we gain your trust, you'll tell us more. Not only that, but you're in need of help, and what better way to do all that than to be your friend and let you stay here?”

Friend? She actually wants- I shook that thought away.

“Why tell me this? You could've just pretend it was nothing, lie, or just not say anything. Why tell me any of that?”

Twilight just smiled and said, “Friends don't keep secrets from each other. So, will you stay?”

That statement left me shocked. After a minute of thinking, I decided to just give in. “Okay. I guess I'll stay here.”

Twilight smiled at that, while Rainbow just stared at the two of us in shock. Before anything else happened though, I heard something.

“Twilight. Spike and I just got back with groceries and…” said a female voice that came from the direction of the door. Turning, I noticed 2 more creatures. One was a unicorn mare with a sort of purple-ish pink fur, a curled mane that, along with her tail, was purple, but had a cyan streak on it. Her eyes were purple, and her mark was a 4-pointed star with a strange mist by it. Next to her was a small dragon, about up to her thigh, with purple scales, green underbelly and spines, and green eyes.

“Um, Twilight,” Starlight Glimmer said, staring at me, “who's that?”

“Spike, Starlight, I like you to meet Dark. He'll be staying with us from now on.”

Author's Note

Wow. Only 2 days and already I have another chapter. Hmm. Well, anyway, I hope you all enjoyed it, and once again, if you have any ideas on how to make it better, let me know. Until next time.
-Dark

27. A Link To New Potential

‘What to do, what to do…’

I was currently wandering around the archery range in the castle grounds, pretty bored. Bri was with Screwball, Cece and Mike were training, and I figured the guards had enough bruises for the week to fight any of them.

‘Maybe I should watch some more Death Battle. Been a little while since I-’

My thoughts were interrupted when I noticed I step on something. Looking down and lifting my foot, I saw a strange, oval stone with a hole in the center and a much smaller hole on one of the edges. I picked it up and examined it closer, seeing that there were three small triangles above the center hole, pointing outward.

A moment later, I heard an eerie, but interesting little song. After a few moments of listening to it, I started humming the song to myself.

Suddenly, a strange tone echoes throughout the area, and it sounded like someone playing a piano, which sounded familiar to me, and actually gave me a slight chill. Soon after, a wolf’s howl filled the air. I jumped slightly and looked around for the source. The hole in the stone started to swirl with green energy, and something leaped out of it and over my head.

I turned around and saw a transparent red, green, and gray wolf standing a couple of feet in front of me, glaring at me. I took a step back before closing my hands in a fists in case that thing attacked. What made this even more strange was that I noticed blue earrings in its ears and a strange symbol on its forehead, and the thing appeared to also have a damaged right ear and a scar along its left cheek.

It suddenly crouched low to the ground, causing me to take a fighting stance in return. But before I could do anything, it leaped toward me before my vision was filled with a blinding light.

When my vision cleared, All I saw was open skies. Looking down, it looked like I was standing on a cloud somehow, and I was able to barely see Canterlot from where I was.

“What the hell happen?” I asked myself.

A glimmer of light from behind me drew my attention, causing me to turn around. There that stood before me was a humanoid wearing a red cloak that covered most of his head. I tried to look at his face but all I was were shadows inside the hood. As my eyes traveled down, I notice he was wearing some sort of green tunic.

“A token summon is what happened,” The cloaked being answered.

“Seriously? So your token just causes some wolf ghost to appear and have it attack the person who activated it?” I sighed. “Okay then. So, who are you?”

“I wouldn’t exactly say ‘attack’...” The man said before he spread out his arms. “More like a precaution. What we’re currently in is a temporary mindscape created by linking our minds. I made my token this way so I may speak with you in private. I need to make sure that whoever summons me doesn’t intend to abuse my token.”

“Abuse how? By throwing it at a monster? Because someone used mines like that a little while ago. I ended up fighting a bunch of giant angry bees afterwards.”

“Not all Displaced are good and by having this mindscape, I can speak with them alone and see if they’re good or bad. It’s a small test of trust. Pass and you’ll keep my token. Fail, and you’ll see it crumble in your hand and I’ll be sent back to my world,” The man explained. He reached up to lower the hood and reveal his face. He had long pointed ears with the right one damaged, even had a scar on his left cheek, much like the wolf. He looked like Link, except I don’t recall any version of him having a mustache and a goatee...

I blinked in surprise. “So, you're a Link Displaced? Shouldn't be surprised that someone will be one. Nice beard though.”

“Of course, considering the multiverse.” Link said with slight amusement in his voice. “And you’re...” He paused for a moment then scratches his head. “Ok, I have no idea.” he said. His eyes gleam for a moment.

I shrugged. “Basically a Spiderman OC. Think Spidey, but replace red with black, darker blue, and take away the web design and chest emblem. That's my costume at least.”

He blinked a couple of times. “Lucky, compared to me. You at least got to keep what you originally looked like,” Link commented.

“Yeah. But at least you're still human. My sister became a pink hedgehog.”

“Well, almost human.” Link said with a joking chuckle. “So, would you like my real name, or the name I’m forced to use when I’m not in front of a Displaced?” he asked.

I shrugged again. “Either one you're more comfortable with.” The hylian held out his leather gloved hand.

“I’m comfortable with both, Jeff or Link will do.” He said with a smile.

I shook his hand with my own gloved hand. “Well nice to meetcha Link. The name's Tito. But most call me Dark now.”

“They don’t call you Spiderman in your Equestria?” Link asked as he let go of my hand.

I shook my head. “I said I became a Spidey OC. One I called DarkSpider. When I don't wear the mask, I’m called Dark, since I figured it'd fit better for a pony name than Tito. When I wear my mask, the ponies know me as just Spider. Or at least, in Manehatten. No other civilian has seen me in that costume since I got here besides Apple Bloom and Scootaloo.”

“Multiple identities can be a good thing. It can confuse villains much like I do when it comes to being in my wolf form, or the mask of a unicorn named Protective Shield,” Link said.

I nodded for a moment before I did a double take. “Wait what?” The cloaked man chuckled.

“The token allows people to turn into a wolf by using the void’s copy of Twili magic. It was a small mistake on my part when I made it and didn’t think that others could use it too,” he explained.

I blinked. “What?!”

“...What part didn’t you get?” Link asked with a raised eyebrow.

“It's not that I don't understand it. Just...surprised,” I said, placing my hand on my forehead. A moment later, I put it down. “Are you serious?”

“Yes I am. Your token can be anything you want, however its a bit draining if you were to give it a certain power,” Link said as he shook his head softly of the memory.

“My token is just a copy of my medallion,” I said, pointing at my necklace. “And all it does is summon me when you throw it.”

“As long as you know what you’re doing,” Link said as he raised his hand. “I’ve seen enough, I believe I can trust you,” He said, just as the surrounding area started to brighten. Before I knew it, I was back in the archery ranch, except now Link was there.

I shook my head before putting my hand on it. “Okay, that's just weird.”

“And the best thing about it, is that only three seconds has past while we were there,” Link pointed out as he was looking around the area. “Tell me something, Dark. Is this world anthro or pony? I’d also like to know their opinions of other Displaced.”

“Anthro. It's kinda the reason I bother covering my face. With my clothes, anyone who doesn't know me thinks I'm just an earth pony. As for the Displaced thing, kinda. So far the only ones who actually know about Displaced are the Elements, Discord, and the princesses. And Screwball. And the only Displaced here are me and my sister Cece. Word of advice, never talk about her height. She's okay most of the time, but that's a berserk button for her, and she'll try hard to hurt anyone who presses it if I don't stop her.”

Link placed his hand to his chin. “If this Equestria’s harmony magic works like the others, hopefully my unicorn mask will change anthro as well,” he commented. “I mean if I need to go outside of here.”

“Well, you can just go with the hood. So long as your skin and face are hidden, nopony tends to know. I mean, I've been here for about three months, and the only way anyone found out I was human is because they saw me without my hood and scarf on.”

“Just wanted to be careful,” Link said as he took another look around.

“Well, welcome to the Canterlot of this dimension. Cece and I have been staying here for the past month after an incident in Ponyville. One I rather not talk about right now.”

The hylian nodded in understandable. “I also forgot to mention something else I’m concerned about: Your world’s Celestia and Luna, surely they would've sensed the summoning,” Link said.

“I doubt that. Not counting you, there's been four times Displaced has been summoned to this dimension and they only learned about one because of the trouble it caused the next day. And another because it happened here. Though, it may be a good idea to introduce you to them.”

“That would be for the best,” Link said with a relieved sigh.

“Follow me,” I said as I placed his token in my pocket before I started walking towards the castle. With Link following me, we entered the castle and approached the corridor outside the throne room and stopped. I told the guards that I wanted to talk to the princess and they went in to tell her.

“...Did something happen recently?” Link asked as he took notice of the bruised guards and their dented armor.

“Hmm? Oh, the look. Remember when I warned you not to mention my sister's height? That's kinda why. Those idiots didn't listen and they paid the price.”

After that, the door opened and one of the guards came out. “You may now speak to the princess, lieutenant.”

I nodded and entered the throne room with Link. When the door closed behind us, I saw that Celestia had set down a small stack of papers beside her throne. “Hello Dark. I'm quite surprised that you wanted to speak to me.” She then noticed Link. “And who are you?”

“My name is Link," Link said before giving a short respective bow to her. “Dark’s newest friend.”

“Is that so?”

“He's a Displaced I met a couple of minutes ago.”

Celestia nodded before looking back at Link. “So you're another human?”

“Hylian to be more accurate. Almost the same except for my pointed ears, among other things.” Link explained.

“I see. Well then, I would like to welcome you to my home, and I hope you enjoy your time here.”

“Indeed I will as long as nothing bad happens, I’ve got enough of that back home,” Link said.

“Same,” I replied. “So far I've fought a pack timberwolves on my first day, then a gang of ponies a couple weeks later, then a horde of Beedrill and a living Venus flytrap, then a Conduit who can't die, and then a pony version of Shocker. And that's just the fights I feel worth mentioning. And again, I've only been here for three months.”

Link blinked at my words. “..Sounds like you’ve got your hands full.” he said as he took a moment to think.

“Mind you, the Beedrill and flytrap was the first time I was summoned. And the Conduit…” I growled. “The only good thing that came from that day is that my best friend ending up getting powers and saved me from being stabbed by my own sword.”

“At least you don’t have a healing factor, then you would know how Dante felt.” Link said

“I have a healing factor. Just nowhere near as good as Dante or Deadpool. Or a Conduit’s. At least their healing factors allow them to be stabbed through the chest and live. Really, mines just makes it that I can heal broken bones in just a matter of days and I can get out of a hospital and fight just fine after nearly bleeding out not 24 hours prior.” I clenched my fist again, thinking about my fight with Nisled. “That day is the worst I've experienced since becoming a Displaced.”

“A hero’s job is never done.” Link said as he placed a hand on my shoulder. “So of course you will getting hurt a lot.” he said.

“Oh trust me, I know. But it's not just the near death that makes it so bad. That fight made it that I had to leave the closest thing I have to a home in this dimension.”

The hylian went into a moment of silence. “Perhaps I can help with that so if you ever leave Ponyville, you can always return there quickly.” Link said.

I blinked at him again. “What?”

Link looked toward Celestia. “Sorry to cut this meeting short, but I’d like to teach Dark here a few tricks, so if you don’t mind, Princess Celestia.” Link said as he bowed slightly before looking at me. “Lead me to an open area, I’m going to teach you a few new things.”

“Okay…” I looked to Celestia and nodded to her. “See you around dinner, Princess.” After she nodded back to me, I headed outside with Link. After a few minutes, we made it to one of the training grounds outside of the castle. “So what did you want to do?”

“First things first. Would you like a teleport spell, or a song that allows you to fly?” Link asked as he turned to reach for his pouch.

“I'm sorry, what?”

Link pulled out a blue ocarina. “I can teach you the Farore’s Wind spell so you’ll be able return to ponyville quickly, or I can teach you the Song Of Soaring, which will give get your own pair of temporary wings made of magic that will allow you to fly long distances quickly.” Link explained.

I stood silent for a minute. “Again, what?”

“...What part don’t you understand?” Link asked with a questioning stare.

“Again, it's not that I don't understand, it's that I'm surprised. I mean, I'm not like you. I can't use magic or any of that. Just shoot webs and stick to walls. And hit things really hard.”

The hylian held out his hand. “Until now. Take my hand and I’ll share some of my Triforce’s void energy with you.”

“Seriously?” I asked, a bit skeptical.

“No joke.” Link said, confirming that he really meant it.

“And what will that do?”

“Simple, I’m just going to make it so that magic can be stored within your body. It’s rather small though, so use it wisely. It’s not going to regenerate unless you either sleep, drink a potion, or find another means to refill it,” Link explained.

“So shaking your hand right now will just make it that I can do magic? How the hell did you learn that?”

“Well, when I learned that my Triforce wasn’t the original, I knew it was useless to me except that it gave me courage to do things. Now, when I met Sans The Batter. He taught me about the Displaced, the void between worlds, how alot of our powers came from there. Seeing as my Triforce is just a copy made from the void, I’ve learned how to control its energy, thus allowing me to give others small amount of my powers if they’re unable to learn my powers It’s pretty much like making a token, except it saps my energy a lot more,” Link further explained.

“Then why are you willing to do that now?”

“Because seeing as you chose to be a hero, I’m going to help you out a bit so it's not as frustrating to keep fighting to protect the ones you love.” Link said as he crossed his arms. “You’re not the first I’ve helped out.”

I hesitated for a bit before sighing. “Okay then.”

Link held out his hand again, and I shook it. I saw a golden glow travel from his hand and into my arm, then I felt a strange rush of energy run through me, mostly in my arms and chest. After a moment, I noticed an exhausted on Link's face as he let go of my hand, him looking like he had just ran for his life.

“Are you okay?” I asked, concerned.

“Just give me a moment, I’ll be fine,” Link said as the glow from his hand faded away. “N-now, your body can hold a small amount until you can find a way to grow your pool,” he explained.

“And now I'm getting Skyrim flashbacks.”

Link chuckled. “Experiment a bit and see how your body reacts.” He said before holding up his ocarina again. “So, which would you like to learn?”

I thought about it for a moment before shrugging. “Probably the former right now. Not very good with instruments. Not to mention I'd take web swinging over flying, anyday. Though Rainbow may think that's blasphemy,” I said with a chuckle, before having that strange feeling in my chest again.

“Wait till you surprise her with what I’m going to teach you,” Link said as he put away the ocarina. “Farore’s wind is pretty much a one-way point, although with practice, you should learn how to cast more than one,” he said as he held up his hand as green energy started to gather around in his palm of his hand. “I’ve always done this with my mind by picturing the energy flowing out of my heart and into where I want to direct it, I also need to keep a picture of the spell’s in my mind and focus on the image” he explained.

“Sounds about right for a teleport.”

“Once you’ve gathered enough, you can either let it fly on its own,” Link said as the ball of bright green quickly flew over to the exit of the castle. “Or, you can picture where you want to go in your mind. A little warning though, you can’t go where you’ve never been too and you can’t go extremely long distances unless you have the focus to do it. Once you’ve got a clear picture in your mind, you should vanish in a burst of light and appear wherever the ball was floating.” Link said before vanishing where he was and appearing on top of the castle roof.

“Wait, doesn’t Zelda have that ability in Smash Bros?”

“Yes, but...” Link said as he leaped down, his boots suddenly changing golden for a split second, I could of sworn I saw gold wings at the back them. Link hovers to land safely down to the ground, the boots quickly return to their leathery appearance. “The merchant chose the Ocarina Of Time’s version of how the spell is used and I had to push it past its original design.” he explained.

“Okay…” I said, a little confused.

Link shrugged. “All of my powers started off on how the original Link used them and I managed to change them throughout the years,” he said as leaned against the castle’s wall. “Now, I want you to try doing what I did, you are however free to try doing it differently.”

I hesitated for a moment before realising something. “You explained how to perform the spell, but not exactly how to use my new magic.”

“You need to feel it within yourself...” Link said as he rubbed the back of his head. “...Yea, you might want to ask somepony to explain it to you. The other Displaced I taught my spells to learned it quickly without me needing to get technical about it.”

“I figured…” I muttered. “Thing is, only ponies I know who can help with that are either busy with paperwork, sleeping, or in Ponyville right now.”

“If you had chosen to learn the Song Of Soaring, all you had to do was hum the tone and the magic within the song would do the rest. The only time you would need to give more magic for song,is if it was for more than one person.” Link said

“Duly noted,” I said with a shake of my head.

“Whatcha doing?” I heard a few feet to my left. Turning to the voice, I saw Screwball lounging in the air, watching me.

“Oh, hey Screwball,” I said with a small wave.

“Hi Tito,” she said with a smile. She then looked at Link. “And who are you? Some Link Displaced?”

“Do I really need to answer that when you already guessed it?” Link asked jokingly.

“True, but Tito doesn't look like a Spiderman copy right now, does he?” She said.

“Hey, I didn’t choose to be like this,” Link pointed out.

“Neither did Cece, what's your point?”

“I meant I didn’t go to a comicon and meet the merchant, he actually left the chest holding the triforce at my doorstep and my own curiosity got the best of me.” Link explained.

“Huh…”

“Um, Screwball, where's Brianna?” I asked.

“Oh, she's with her aunt,” Screwball replied. “I figured those two should spend some time together since they're basically family.”

Link was silent for a moment as he took a gentle breath to calm down. “So...” Link began as he looked at the screwy looking pony. “What exactly are you?” he asked Screwball.

“Name's Screwball. The princess of chaos, daughter of Discord.”

“Before or after his reformation?” Link asked with concern.

“We're in season 6 territory, so after,” I explained.

Screwball nodded. “Yup. My daddy made me a few weeks ago after being inspired by two other Screwballs Tito met. After that, he had Tito and Cece watch over me.”

“Who’s your mother then?” Link asked.

“I'm not a version who has one,” Screwball said with a simple shrug. “My daddy just made me using his chaos magic.” Link merely nodded, choosing to not comment any further. “So again, whatcha doing?” Screwball asked, in an all too familiar voice.

“Well, Dark can use magic now, but I haven’t figured out another way he can use it since he can’t understand my first method.” Link explained.

“Wait, Tito can use magic now?” Screwball said in surprised.

“Yeah, once he learns how to channel it inside of him. Perhaps you could help him out in that category,” Link said.

“I'm afraid I'm not the best for that. My chaos magic is different to regular magic. I just think of something and it happens. Not to mention I'm made of magic, so that probably helps.” She then rubbed her finger on her chin. “Really the best ones to ask would be the princesses or Twilight. Mostly because then you don't have to make up a story on how a grown stallion doesn't know how to use magic. Or how someone who's presumably an earth pony can use a kind of magic outside of strength and farming.”

“Huh, that would raise a few questions from Twilight since earth ponies can only use strength...” Link said as he rubbed the back of his head again.

“Actually, Twilight knows about me being human and about Displaced,” I told Link. “She offered for me to stay in her castle on my first day Displaced and even hired me and Cece as her personal guards a while later. Really, she'll be more surprised that I can now use magic than anything else. Though she may want to learn a bit about you.”

“Understandable as long as she doesn’t go overboard with the questions. Naryu knows how she’d react if she saw some of my items or spells in action.” Link said.

“She's seemed to be able to control herself. Then again, most Displaced we've met have some bad luck, so that may be why she hasn't gone overboard.”

Screwball nodded. “Yeah, there's Seb’s group, whose world was in a massive war, Tomas and Sarah, whose version of me was a spoiled brat that lashed out on anyone for messing with her ego, and Delsin, who has an evil counterpart that nearly killed you.”

“...right…” I muttered.

Link began shuffling through his pouch, appearing to be checking for something. He turns his head back toward me. “We should head to her place if you’d like to further advance the lessons,” he suggested.

I chuckled nervously. “Um...I'd rather not go anywhere near Ponyville right now. Nearly everyone there hates and fears me right now…”

Screwball shrugged. “I can send Twilight a letter to come visit tomorrow if you're willing to stay for the night,” she told Link.

“I don’t mind,” Link said with a smile. “It'll be a nice change of scenery than the usual four-legged kind. Uh...Spike isn’t female, right?” Link asked nervously.

Screwball started laughing like crazy. “Wait, you ended up in a dimension that has Barb or something? I don't know why, but I find that almost as funny as that picture of the male version of Celestia in a dress.”

“To answer your question, no,” I told him. “Everyone's the same gender as in the show.”

“Yes, Screwball, I did. But it wasn’t a bad meet, it was actually a rather interesting” Link said with a smile. “But I won’t tell you the details though.” he said.

“I have a feeling that's for the best,” I said, feeling a little uncomfortable.

“So…” Screwball said, looking at Link. “You're a fairy?” The hylian groaned in annoyance at that, to which Screwball snickered. “Kidding. Just wanted to see how you'd react to that. But in all seriousness, what exactly can you do? I doubt you're exactly the same as your namesake.”

“Well, you’re not far off the mark on that guess, but I have other things since I've been a Displaced for twenty years. Like the unicorn mask I mentioned earlier to Dark.” Link said.

“Unicorn mask?” Screwball asked, looking at me.

“Apparently it's a mask that allows him to turn into a unicorn when he puts it on,” I explained.

“Oooh.” She looked at Link. “So who died?”

“No one, it was a gift given to me by a special someone.” Link explained as he took the mask out of his back pouch. The face itself looked like Links, except as a red and green faced unicorn with a gold mane.

“I asked because if I recall correctly, the only time Link has masks like that, they're of deceased characters.”

“You are right about the masks and I do have them all. I will tell you something though, seeing as you already seem to know. I actually have access to three different Link inventories, not counting duplicates. All of my magic though I’ve managed to change.”

“Oh? Which ones?”

“Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess, Majora’s Mask, and A Link to the Past. Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask are the same Link.”

“Wait, isn't Twilight Princess the one where Link can turned into a wolf?” Screwball asked.

“Yea thanks to Midna in that game. Me, however, I had improvise since she doesn't exist in my Equestria.” Link said as he reached up to take a hold of his necklace, where I saw a familiar stone.

“Hey, that's like your token,” I said, taking out the token from my pocket.

“The void makes copies of our tokens and spreads them across the multiverse. This one is the original copy and the one I keep when I want to turn into a wolf,” Link explained as he fiddled with it.

“Neat,” Screwball commented. She then blinked. “Wait, your token allows you to turn into a wolf?”

“I did explain this earlier before that it contains void copies of Twili magic, the same kind that Midna used.” As Link explained, I could see small black particles in the stone’s “eye”.

“So, all the copies of your token has Twilight magic in them?” She asked.

“By accident,” Link pointed out before letting out a sigh. “So far, I’ve taught it to one displaced named Scott who was wearing some kind of Nanosuit.”

“Taught what?” I asked.

“How to turn into a wolf using my token.” Link said as he looked at me.

“Wait, so you were serious about the copies of your token being able to do that?” Link showed a smirk on his face as black particles started to swirl around him, causing him to kneel down and push against the ground with his hands. When it surrounds and consumes his form, it leaves as quickly as it appeared, revealing a shaggy red and green wolf whose fur faded to grey near the end of his legs. He looked like the ghostial wolf, except more whole this time.

Screwball let out a low whistle. “Impressive.”

“Yeah,” I said in a slow nod. I then looked at the token in my hand for a moment before turning back to Link. “Not gonna lie though, the earring is a bit weird to see on a wolf.” When I said that, it made his right ear flick.

With the same token as before, he returns to his original hylian form. “If you decide to try it out, just remember that your form will look different depending on your body, clothes, and its colors. As you saw of my form, my red cloak and green tunic became the fur’s colors, except with Din’s symbol on my forehead” Link said before pointing at the stone in my hand. “Just concentrate on it, be calm, and let it happen.”

“Will this hurt?”

“Only on the first transformation since the twili needs to adjust to your dna structure. Afterwards, it’ll be swift just like you saw me do before.” Link explained.

I sighed, shaking my head. “First getting spider DNA, then giving myself magic, and now this. My DNA is gonna be a puzzle in a few months at this point.” I then looked at Link. “Okay, so just concentrate? On what exactly?” After a moment of silent, Link reached over and took the token from me. He closes his hand for a moment before opening it back up, he gives it back to me.

“Alright, I changed it a little bit, so just close your eyes, hold it in your hand with a firm grip and it’ll do the rest. No concentrating needed, but you should try it once Twilight teaches you how to manifest your magic.” Link explained.

“Convenient,” Screwball said.

“So just clench it in my hand and that's it?” I asked.

“Yea, saves time rather than focusing on its energy like I do.” Link said before letting out a gentle sigh. “I can’t do the same Farore’s Wind.”

“Saw that coming,” I say with a shrug. “So...should I do that now?”

“If you want to try it out, yeah.” Link said.

I hesitated before shrugging and closing my fist around the token. I was forced to fall over onto my hands as black pixels started spinning around me. I closed my eyes in pain as I felt my bones pop and crack, shift and move, I could feel my hair forcing itself to grow down my back.

About a minute or two later, when the pain finally subsided, I opened my eyes and noticed my hands and feet were now paws, causing me to blink in surprise.

“Wow,” Screwball said, floating around me. “Not bad Tito. A little taller than I expected, but pretty good. Take a look.” She then spawned large mirror, and I looked at myself.

I saw that I about five feet tall with blue and black fur all over my body. I looked down and saw that I still had my necklace on, with my medallion on my chest.

Screwball then caused the mirror to disappear before looking at Link. “So he has enhance hearing and smell, right?”

“That, and he can see spirits, ‘see’ scents, leap higher, move and dig faster, understand animal speech and speak it, and he can rip out the souls out of poes, though I’m not sure if it also applies to normal ghosts,” Link explained, causing me to do a double take.

‘See spirits? See scents? What is he talking about?’

I then started to wish I paid more attention to the Zelda games before getting Displaced.

“Oookay…” Screwball said, before she turned to me and picked up the token that was in front of me. “So how can he change back? Can't exactly grip the token with his paws. And using his mouth has the risk of him swallowing it.”

“Place it on the ground, then place a paw on it. He’ll return to normal, minus the pain.” Link said. He then looked at both me and Screwball. “Why not give Dark’s back a ride?” he suggested with an amused smile.

I glared at him and Screwball snickered at my reaction. “Maybe later. I think he should get more comfortable with this before I do that.” She then put the token down in front of me and I placed my right forepaw on it. The progress wasn’t as painful as before and it happened a lot quicker. The black stuff clinged to me and I returned back to normal in only a couple of seconds, with the token in my hand.

I shook my head and placed a hand on my head. “Okay, that was weird…”

“With time, you’ll get used to that body’s abilities. Experiencing it is a lot better than me explaining it.” Link said as he stretched his arms above his head.

“I believe that,” I muttered as I put the token back in my pocket.

“Let's focus on that later,” Screwball said. “For now, let’s go back to the castle. It's almost time for dinner.”

After she said that, I noticed that the sky was orange and the sun was touching the horizon. “Huh. Guess we were here longer than we thought…” I shrugged before looking at Link. “You wanna join us for dinner? You can meet the others then.”

“Sure, lead the way, Dark.” Link said he got off the castle’s wall. “I wonder why none of the soldiers have visited the grounds.”

“A lot of them are recovering from the “training” they go through from Tito and Cece,” Screwball said. “It'll be a few days before they can move without feeling sore.”

“At least they don’t have a drill sergeant like Captain Silver Bullet. That guy is serious when it comes to training” Link said.

“Yeah, but I'm sure that person will be able to make them competent,” I said. “I mean, none of the day guard can't even last thirty seconds against any of of us. And reminder, Cece and I are technically novices.”

“Pony, Dark. He’s a pony, not a person.” Link corrected me.

“Same difference,” I said, rolling my eyes under my hood.

“So, who are the others? Well, besides Luna and Celestia that live in the castle.” Link asked as he reached up to get ready to lower his red hood.

“Tito's sister Cece, their partners Mike and Emily, and Tito's daughter Brianna,” Screwball said, floating beside us.

“They sound like humans, so it should be alright to keep my hood down.” Link said as he let go of it.

Screwball shook her head. “Nope. Tito's the only human in this entire dimension. Cece became an anthropomorphic pink hedgehog, and the other three are pokemon.”

“I've mentioned Cece being a hedgehog earlier,” I commented. “Though you don't need the hood. Everyone in the castle knows that I'm human.”

“Ah, I can relax then.” Link said with a smile.

We continued walking in silence for a couple of moments. When we were halfway to the dining room though, I was immediately tackled by a small blue blur. When I looked down, I saw Brianna hugging me and nuzzling my chest. Link chuckled softly at the sight while I sighed before returning the hug and getting up. “This, Link, is my daughter Brianna. She's quite the hugger…”

“It's kinda surreal seeing a pokemon,” Link commented as he reached over to pet the Riolu.

Bri stopped nuzzling me when she heard him talk. She then looked towards him and twitched her nose. When he reached out to her, she yipped and jumped at him, tackling him into a hug.

“Oh yeah, forgot to mention she does that to those who peak her interest,” I said, chuckling softly. Link laughed along with me as he reached up to rub along her head.

“Its nice to meet you, Brianna.” Link said to her, he holds up her as she continued to hug him. “Are the rest of them going to tackle hug me too?” he asked.

“No, she just does that since she's basically just a toddler,” I heard behind me. Turning around, I saw Cece approaching us with her cover off and Emily and Mike with her. When she reached us, she crossed her arms and looked at Link. “So what's with the Lord Of The Rings guy here?”

“And I’ll tell you the same thing I told the other guy who compared me to them. Hylian ears are longer an elf’s ears” Link explained.

Cece shrugged. “Meh, I wouldn't know. Never paid too much attention to those movies. That weird pale thing always creeped me out.”

“Forgive me, but it has been a very long time since I watch one, but what do you mean by ‘weird pale thing’?” Link asked with a raised eyebrow.

“She's talking about Gollum,” I explained, with Cece nodding. “She never liked him.”

“Be glad you haven’t met a Displaced Gollum,” Link said jokingly.

“Oh, if I do, I wouldn't hesitate in playing whack-a-mole, with him as the mole…” Cece muttered. She then shook her head. “But seriously, who are you?”

“Link, Dark’s newest friend and recent summoning.” Link said.

“So Tito summoned another Displaced? Do you have an evil counterpart that'll attack this city and make it that we have to move again?”

Link blinked at what she said. “No. At least so far I don’t, but you never know with the multiverse.”

Cece sighed. “We've got enough of that a month ago, and it caused quite a few problems for us.”

“Dark mentioned that to me before. Don’t worry. I don’t have an evil twin. The closest thing to that is if I were to put on one of my masks.”

“What can masks do?”

“Long story,” Screwball said. “Short version is that he has masks that allow him to transform into different things. Including a unicorn apparently.”

“Oh.” Cece then shook her head before looking at Link. “Wait, you still never told me who you actually are. Just who you became.”

“My real name is Jeff, but I’m forced under the name Link when talking to non-displaced.” Link said as he shrugged with his free arm while the other still held the Riolu. “Don’t ask why, I haven’t figured it out.” Link said as he pointed a thumb at me. “He’s lucky to at least say his name out in the open.”

Cece shrugged. “I still use my real name. Heck, the only time I didn't use my real name for something is when I fought some gang in Manehatten within my first week.” She then shrugged. “The name's Cece, by the way. The Hammer of the Guard, and the best fighter in this city next to Tito.”

“I’ve been called many things back in my world. The last name I was called, was ‘warrior of many shapes’ by a buffalo chief when I helped them out with a few problems.”

“Neat name,” I said.

“So exactly what have you two done today?” Cece asked Link.

“I’ve given him magic, a wolf form, and I tried to teach him Farore’s Wind, but he doesn’t understand my method.” Link explained.

Cece, Mike, and Emily all stared at him and blinked. “I'm sorry, what?” Cece asked.

“I think it's best that we continue this during dinner,” I said. “That way we can explain it to the princesses as well.”

“How many Displaced have all of you met? So far, you guys sound surprised on what I can do.” Link asked in minor confusion.

“Me? About...eight I think, plus that weird group of living legos. Tito though met about 10. We've met Sebaste, Sasha, Alex, Tomas, Sarah, Jack, Delsin, and Viktor.” She then tapped her chin. “Tito mentioned something about two assassin Displaced, but he didn't say much about it.

“So why the confusion?” Link asked.

“We've never heard of anyone being able to give someone stuff like that,” Cece told him. “Delsin just taught Rainbow how to use powers she was apparently born with, Jack just told me about an ability I didn't know I had, Seb, Sasha, Alex and Viktor just gave us weapons in the forms of their tokens, and Tomas and Sarah just gave us the pokeballs to catch our partners. You, on the other hand, apparently gave Tito all new powers. So yeah, we're surprised.”

“I can teach him a lot more once Twilight or someone teaches him how to manipulate and manifest the magic within him.” Link explained to Cece.

Cece shrugged. “Okay, but you better explain what's going on.” She then turned around and headed to the dining hall with Emily walking next to her.

“Well, that went well,” I said, turning to Link.

“I’m guessing Cece thinks she can only use powers she was Displaced as?” Link asked.

“Well, yeah. Why you ask?” I asked.

“Just how she reacted to the news about what I gave you.” Link said as he took a seat on the ground.

“Well, can you blame her?” Screwball asked. “Again, you're the first Displaced they've met who gave people abilities that aren't related to who they were Displaced of.”

“So in short, Cece discovered the same thing I did when I started experimenting, such as when I turned Din’s fire into an explosion projectile.” Link said.

“Wait what?” I asked. Link frowned at my reaction.

“Din’s fire is a spell that release a dome-like explosion. I’ve altered it so it can be much more. You can do the same thing with your webbings if you try.” Link explained.

“How? My webs are organic, not artificial. I can't just modify them whenever I want.”

“Fists encased in webbing, a web shield, or a second layer of webbing like armor.” Link placed his hand on my shoulder. “Experiment a bit.”

“Web fist and web shield? Those are moves I can do. They're moves you can do in games and I tried them out. Of course, web fist is much easier to do.” Link placed his hand to his chin to think a bit.

“Like I said, try something new outside of what the games has shown. I don’t really know enough about Spiderman to help you out in creating more web attacks. Well, except the arrow spells I could teach you some other day.” Link said.

“Duly noted…” I said, rolling my eyes. A moment later, I felt a tug on my cloak. When I looked down, I saw Bri looking at me with her arms up. I smiled behind my scarf and picked her up and she nuzzled me.

“Well, let's just go to the dining hall and you can meet Luna and explain this, Link,” Screwball said. Link nodded in agreement as he got up from the ground.

We continued to the dining hall for a couple more minutes. When we got there, we saw Luna and Celestia sitting down in their respective seats, and Cece close by. I took a seat next to Cece with Mike sitting beside me and Screwball to Cece’s other side, while Link chose to sit on the opposite side of us. I lowered my scarf began to eat.

“So you are the Displaced my sister told me about?” Luna asked Link.

The hylian turned to look at Luna. “Yeah,” Link answered, he looked a little nervous.

“So you were someone who was taken by their home and became a being who you saw as fictional, correct?”

“Yes” Link answered.

“What exactly did you become? Or rather, who?”

“Link. He’s a hylian who is known throughout Hyrule as a legend, a hero. Each generation has a different Link but same name, and he’s gained a lot of titles through each of his incarnations, like hero of time, twilight, winds, seasons, ages, hero of the gods, the list goes on.” Link explained to the best of his memories.

“Yeah, but they can't speak,” I mentioned. “Only versions I know that do actually talk suck.”

“Let's not go into that right now,” Screwball suggested.

“So exactly what can you do Link?” Celestia asked. “From what we've learned, every Displaced are unique in their abilities.”

“I’ll give you the short version: Weapons both normal and magical, Magic, Transformation Masks, magic gear, and a few other abilities I’ve gained from other fellow displaced. There might be a few things in my pouch I might of forgotten... ” Link explained as he opened the pouch that was tied to his waist and he started shuffling through it.

“And he somehow gave Tito the ability to use magic and turn into a wolf,” Cece commented, giving Emily a twig from her hammerspace.

The princesses eyes widened a bit when they heard that, Luna’s more than Celestia’s. “And how in Equestria did you do that?” Luna asked him.

Link raised his right hand, then proceeded to remove the leather gauntlet. There on his right-hand was a formation of triangles with only the bottom right glowly faintly.” The Triforce of Courage. It’s only a void copy of the original. So far, it has given me courage to do what I need to do, including granting others magic by sharing its energy. Now, the wolf form is actually granted by my token as you can see around my neck, Dark here has a copy of my token and can also access the form.” Link explained.

“I was unaware that tokens were capable of that,” Celestia said.

“So was I, Princess,” I told her. “But his actually does. Actually changed a few minutes ago. Hurt like hell though…”

“Doesn't seem wise to do it then,” Luna said.

“As I explained to Dark, it's only for the first transformation as the Twili magic contained within my token, had to adapt to his DNA in order to make it possible,” Link explained.

“Wait, so Tito's DNA now changes to that of a wolf when he uses your token?” Cece asked, with Link nodding to her in response. “So first he gets spider DNA, now wolf. What's next, a shark?”

“Well... “ Link chuckled softly.” I could possibly do that for him if we came across any dying sharks who have regrets or shark souls who have yet to go to the afterall life and they still remain in the mortal plain for some reason, I can just play the song of healing and it would turn into a mask that allows him to turn into a shark.”

“I was kidding,” Cece said with a deadpan expression.

“Should we be warned of anything with this wolf form?” Luna asked.

“Other than heightened smell and hearing, his behavior will be altered a little bit where he acts more like a wolf due instinct,” Link explained before giving it some thought. “Like if he gets cornered, he will be scared and lash out in self-defence.”

“I'd do that now anyway,” I said.

“Also, according to Link, that form gives Tito the ability to see ghosts and understand animals,” Screwball said.

“Wait, see ghosts?” Cece asked. “Seriously?”

“I'm just as confused as you,” I said, shaking my head.

“It’s how it works in the original game and has served its purpose many times. It will help Dark just as much as it’s helped me.” Link said.

“Seeing dead people or ponies,” Screwball said with a deadpan expression. “Don't see how that's exactly useful. From what I've seen, ghosts are more trouble than help.”

“Do ghosts even exists in this Equestria?” Cece asked.

“That is something that even we don't know,” Celestia said. “Then again, any magic that involves spirits is usually associated with dark magic. And that's not something that many can learn how to use without the proper material.”

Link gave Screwball a minor look of annoyance. “There are spirits who haven’t left the mortal realm. They stay behind for a reason, either due to things they haven’t finished in life, or they want to watch over others as guardians,” he explained as he reached into his pouch to pull out strange purple object with a purple eye in the center, it looked alot like the image on his token. “I can offer to see if there any of them here by looking through the lens of truth.”

“What does that do?” Cece asked. Link focused his magic into it, causing the eye to glow red softly.

“It allows the user to see the truth, what’s real and what’s fake, see through illusions, see spirits, see through fake walls, containers, and last, allows you to see what is invisible to the naked eye.” Link explained as he looked through it to see if there is anything in the room that others couldn’t see.

“So that thing allows you to see through disguises, illusions, and even see ghosts?”

“Exactly.” Link explained as he looked around the room through the eye. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he cuts off the flow of magic and places the artifact back into the pouch.

“Knew that was a waste of time,” Cece said before taking a sip of water.

“This is one of many of my magical items, I would show them all but it would take all day if I did.” Link said.

“So exactly how long are you staying, anyway?”

“Ask Dark, he holds my token. Only he can send me back to my world.”

“So you don’t have a way of going back unless he dismisses you or someone else summons you?” Screwball asked.

“You hit the nail on the head there, Screwball.” Link said jokingly.

“Huh. Surprised you haven’t found a way to get back on your own after doing this for so long.”

“I have tried though, sadly the void is just too big for me to make a proper recall point,” Link said with a sigh.

“You should find someone to help. I can take others to different Equestrias by using tokens, and Seb’s group can just open boom tubes to go back to their Equestra.”

“Wrong franchise,” I told her.

“Doesn’t matter.”

Cece cleared her throat. “Can someone answer my question?”

“At the earliest, tomorrow, if I can learn how to activate my magic and he teaches me some spells,” I told her. “Latest? Let’s say a week or two.”

“Are there any other questions for me?” Link asked as he looked at everyone.

“Yeah, how is it you can give people magic but can’t tell them how to turn it on?” Cece asked.

“I learned how to use my powers through practice and experimenting, eventually thinking and focusing on the thought of the spell is what allowed me to use the spell. This is why I suggested for Dark to try creating his own way of manipulating the magic within him. Like using arm-motions, muscle reflex, chant, anything he is comfortable with. Magic does not have a right or wrong way of doing it, not unless you were trying something complicated, like Chaos Magic since it tends to have a will of its own. ” Link explained.

Screwball shrugged. “My chaos magic isn’t like that. It does whatever I want.”

“But if someone else tried to use it that isn’t you or Discord. It may not do what they want it to do.” Link said.

“Well they shouldn’t even try. We’re beings of chaos. Our bodies are made of the stuff. Others, not so much.”

“Exactly.” Link said before looking over at me. “The reason why I said there’s no right or wrong way, is that there are a lot of ways it can be used considering the multiverse and the many Displaced within it.”

“From what I’ve learn, that’s an understatement,” I told him before lifting my scarf up.

“So exactly how do you plan to turn on your magic?” Cece asked me.

“Don’t say it like that…” I muttered.

“And to answer your question, we were hoping we can ask Twilight to come tomorrow to help him,” Screwball told her.

“Well then, I’ll send her a letter before I go to bed, and hopefully she can,” Celestia said. “For now, I believe that’s everything we need to discuss.” She then stood up and looked at Link. “You can stay in the room beside Dark and Cece’s. Goodnight everyone.” With that, she left the room.

“What about you, Luna?” Link asked as he turned toward her.

“I may as well start my nightly duties,” the lunar princess said before she got up. “Until tomorrow.” She then left too.

“If there is nothing you’d like to do, Dark, we’d best head to bed too.” Link said.

I shrugged. “Sure. Just follow me.” We all got up from our seats and headed to our rooms. When we got there, we all wished each other a good night before going to sleep.

Author's Note

Wow. This was done in less than a week. Been over a year since that's happened. So, onto details. This is a crossover with a friend I made in the summer called Displaced Writer, otherwise known as Drakoal on Discord. Or as I like to call him, Drak. One of his stories is on the "Also Liked" stories that's connected to SiE. This takes place during a sequel to a story of his, called A Forced Hero. Or the future of the sequel. Or the future of Forced Hero but before the sequel. One of them. So yeah, Tito can now turn into a wolf. I do not care what any of you say, I'm keeping that. I've been planning this crossover with Drak since summer and it's finally made. So if you don't like it, too bad. At least Tito needs an item to do it and he doesn't have his normal powers in that form, so be happy it's not that OP. On another note, he can now use magic. Once he finds out how to activate it. I honestly found it unrealistic that someone who's never used magic and wasn't turned into a character with magic, will be able to use magic immediately after getting the ability. And, as Link said, he only has a small amount of magic until I find a way for him to expand it, and he can only replenish it by sleep or until I find another way for that too. Know that Tito won't be able to do things like shoot lasers with his magic, because I doubt that's a good idea. What he WILL be able to do, that I don't know yet. We'll see. Well, that's about it for now. Until next time.
-Dark

P.S. Once again, thanks Star for the title suggestion.

39. Toxic Heist

"I'm home!" Lightning Dust called out, closing the open door behind her and locking it. Dragging herself towards the living room couch, she threw herself onto it and laid down, raising an arm to cover her eyes from the living room's light.

"Welcome back," Indigo Zap called out, walking into the room and looking down at her with a curious expression. "Isn't today your day off? Why are you so tired?" The peach furred pegasus questioned.

Lightning sighed. “Ran into the Spider and a friend of his earlier and dealt with some cult or something.”

“The Spider?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“What was he doing here today?”

“Hay if I know. Might've been on a date with that friend of his, though they denied it. Without actually seeing their faces, couldn't tell if they were lying or not.”

Indigo shrugged. “Well I gotta go to bed. Night cos.” With that said she went to her room.

Lightning sighed as she laid on the couch. After a few minutes, she sat up and looked at a nearby picture which showed her and Indigo as young fillies, in the arms of an aged stallion in a WonderBolt outfit, a green coat, light green eyes, and a mane and tail that was a dark blonde and white. Lightning sighed again as she looked at the picture, the memory of the day coming back to her.

“Sorry Grandpa…” she muttered.

“Oh, you look adorable in that picture,” Lightning suddenly heard the voice of a filly say.

She immediately stood up and looked around. “Who said that?”

“Sorry,” the voice said, its source nowhere in sight. “You seemed like you needed some cheering up.”

Lightning paused as she started to realize that the voice wasn't being heard from her ears, but inside her head. Tensing up a bit, she asked, “Where are you?”

“Um...inside your body I guess.”

“How?” Lightning asked, trying not to be too loud in case her cousin woke up.

“I...don't know how to explain it. Best I can understand is that I bonded to you and now you can hear me.”

“Bonded to me?”

“Yeah. Back on the street. Thanks for saving me by the way.”

“Saving you? When did I save you?”

“You don't remember? It was only a couple hours ago. You had that pegasus break the container holding me.”

Lightning's eyes widened in shock. “Wait, you mean you were that weird slime that got out?”

“Yup. And while my daddy seem to like the other mare a lot, you were closer and you seemed nice enough so I bonded to you.”

“What are you, some kind of parasite?” Lightning asked. “Wait, your “daddy”?”

She suddenly felt a small amount of sadness, though it wasn't her own. “I'm not a parasite. My...older brother Carnage is more a parasite than me and Venom. I'm a symbiote. I help my host. Which you are now.”

Lightning blinked, slowly calming down. “So...you're not gonna eat up my body or force me to go nuts?”

What? No!” The voice said, sounding horrified. “Why would I do that?”

Lightning shrugged. “I don't know a thing about you. Not even your name.”

“Oh, my name is Toxin,” the voice said, Lightning feeling its happiness towards said name.

“Okay…” Lightning said, unsure how to react to that name. “I'm-”

“Lightning Dust. I know. Daddy seems to like you quite a bit.”

“There you go again. Who's this dad of yours?”

“You call him the Spider.”

Lightning did a double take. “What? How did he have a weird slime thing as a kid?”

Toxin chuckled. “He's not my actual dad. I just come from his blood and have some of his memories.”

Lightning blinked. “What do you mean?”

“Somehow some ponies got his blood and made me and my brothers. And somehow we all have some of his memories. Though I don't have much compared to the others.”

Lightning paused for a moment. “What kind of memories?”

“From what I can understand, I have all his good memories. Not a single bad feeling from any memory of his I have. Carnage seems to have all his bad ones, always talking about how much he hates Rainbow…”

Lightning did another double take on that. “Wait, Rainbow? As in Rainbow Dash?”

“Yup. No idea why Carnage hates her though. I have so many memories of her and daddy having a great time together.”

“So the Spider and Dash are friends?”

“Well yeah. Heck, you saw them together earlier.”

“What? When?”

“When you freed me. Rainbow froze that guy behind you and tackled the other one.”

“Wait wait wait, so you're saying that Frost Vapor is really Rainbow Dash?”

“Yeah. Surprised you didn't know. I mean, she doesn't hide it very well. How many mares do you know with that voice, who can keep up with you in speed, and who would know about the events at the WonderBolt Academy and be bitter about it?”

Lightning's eyes widened in realization when she started connecting the dots, before she sat back down on the couch and looked at the floor. “Well...that explains why she was so hostile to me…”

Toxin stood silent for a few moments. “You really do feel bad about that, huh?”

“Yeah…”

“Well...how about I help you make up for it?”

Lightning blinked. “How?”

“My brothers and I are a special kind of symbiote. We can give our hosts power. And with my help, you can be a hero!”

Lightning hesitated. “You're serious?”

“Yup! I just need to come out.”

“Um...how?”

Toxin didn't respond. Before Lightning can ask again, however, a slime-like substance appeared on her back and started enveloping Lightning's body. Within seconds, Lightning was completely covered in the substance and looked a lot like the Spider, but a more orange red color at the upper half of her body and a bluish black color for the lower half.

Lightning's eyes widened as she looked at herself, before turning over and seeing that wings were gone.

“What happened to my wings?” Lightning asked, her voice at a different tone, which sounded a bit like a combination of her and Toxin's.

“Don't worry, you still have them,” Toxin said. As if to prove her point, a pair of wings suddenly sprung out of Lightning's back and flapped a couple times before returning into her back. “Figured we should have them hidden. Makes it harder for others to find out our secret.”

Before Lightning can react any further, she immediately heard Indigo groaning nearby and started to mentally freak out. The next thing she knew, she immediately jumped into the ceiling and stuck to it. She saw Indigo walk into the room, tired, and look around before shrugging and leaving. When she heard the door to Indigo's room close, Lightning dropped from the ceiling and landed perfectly on her feet easily.

It was then that Lightning processed what happened and looked at her hands. “How did I do that?”

“Sorry about that. You were worried about your cousin seeing you so I had us jump to the ceiling. You'd be surprised how often no one looks up.”

Lightning blinked again. “You said you can give me powers... What powers are we talking about?”

“Same as my daddy. Wall crawling, web shooting, super strength, and a few others.”

“And you know how to use them?”

“Completely!”

Lightning took a deep breath. “Okay. Let's give this a shot.”

“Great!” Toxin said excitedly. “Just jump out a window.”

Lightning immediately stood up straight. “Seriously?” She asked in a strained whisper.

“Just trust me.”

Lightning hesitated before approaching the closest window. After opening it, she climbed onto it and looked down. She took a deep breath and jumped forward. When she nearly reached the ground and started to fear she'd die, she felt a strange sensation in her head and her arm immediately pointed towards a nearby building, a web coming from the back of her wrist straight towards the building. The web struck the side of the building and stayed there, somehow being able to support her weight, Lightning Dust bit back a scream as her arms started to shoot out more webs on their own, causing her to swing from building to building. Slowly the fear she’s been feeling started to go away, seeing as she how the symbiote hadn’t killed her yet, slowly being replaced by excitement as she was swinging, and jumping around the city.

“Well this is certainly different from flying,” The pegasus whispered to herself, looking down at the ponies and shops below her.

Suddenly she begun to feel an emotion that wasn’t hers again. Slightly confused she realized that it was the emotion of the symbiote creature, she felt joy and smugness emitting from the creature. “Isn’t it exciting!? And you can’t say it's not, I know you agree!”

Lightning chuckled slightly. “Yeah it is… kinda scary at first though, you had me worried for a second there.”

“Sorry about that,” She felt the symbiote’s guilt at the apology, “Didn’t mean to scare you like that, I just wanted to surprise you… I wouldn’t hurt you, really.”

Finally shooting one last web at the closest building next to them, the two landed on the side of a three story building. Lightning Dust felt her body start to crawl up the wall of the building until they reached the roof. Once on the roof and jumping onto the top of a water tower, she regained full control of her body.

She then took another look at herself. “Celestia, this is actually pretty fun.” She then looked down at the streets far below her, before her mind started to wander to other things. “Well now that that's done with, I have a few questions.”

She felt the creature’s anxiety spike up. “Alright then… I’ll try my best to answer any questions you may have.” The symbiote said, a bit unsure.

“What exactly can you tell me about the Spider beside his connection to Dash?”

Toxin hummed, “Well… he’s not a pony for one, he’s actually a human.” She answered, Lightning felt a bit of confusion emit from the symbiote.

Lightning did a double take. “I'm sorry, what? A human? You're kidding right?”

She felt confusion again, “Why would I be kidding? Daddy’s a human from the planet known as Earth!”She explained happily, “He also calls himself Dark, but that’s not his real name, it's actually Tito. His favorite color is also blue!”

Lightning immediately waved both her hands as if she was talking to someone in front of her. “Hold up. So the Spider is some alien from another world? And really? Blue? I'd have guessed black since that's what color most of his costume is.”

“Black is his second favorite color.” Toxin answered, before feeling a sense of smugness and excitement again. “And he’s totally an alien! Earth is the name of his planet… it's actually a bit similar to this place… only without the magic and monsters.”

Lightning flipped off the water tower and landed on the roof before folding her arms and pacing. “Then how the hay did he get here?”

Toxin hummed. “Well it's a bit blurry… but I remember that daddy was sent here because of some items he got from someone.” Lightning felt Toxin’s confusion. “I really only remember him getting the items and saving a bunch of fillies from some Timberwolves. After that it's a bit of a blank for a little while. I can only remember the positive memories, so I guess what happened after wasn’t so good.”

“When did he first end up here?” Lightning asked.

“About three to four months ago... Two weeks after showing up in this world, he met you.” She answered.

“Wait, then...how did he know about me and the academy? Sure he's friends with Dash but I doubt she'd be so willing to bring that up.”

“I’m not so sure I should answer that one…” Lightning felt Toxin’s anxiety spike up again. “Not sure if it's something you’ll be able to handle…”

Lightning Dust frowned, “Hey don’t worry, I’ll be fine just tell me.”

“...If you say so…” Toxin answered her reluctantly. “Just… try to stay calm, okay?”

Suddenly Lightning Dust’s mind was filled with images and sound, all of it relating to the events of that day. Lightning saw what looked like Rainbow Dash in the Wonderbolts Academy, as well as herself in creating the tornado as well, everything looked so different yet similar. Her legs gave out as she knelt down onto the floor, her hands grasping her head. “Wha-what was that?”

“I… showed you some of his memories… of how he knows…” Toxin felt concern for the pegasus, “Are you okay..? I promise the headaches will go away soon! After the first time it shouldn’t hurt to view his memories anymore.”

“What...what was that?” Lightning asked as the pain subsided. “That...thing. And why did we look...different?”

“The thing he used to see you? It’s something called a television… doubt you guys have something like that here.” Toxin commented, seeming to be a bit confused. “And the reason why you all looked so different is because… well… that’s just how you guys look like in that TV show.”

“TV show?”

She felt nervous, “Well… its kinda complicated… but basically think of it as a play, or a comic book that moves on its own.”

“Wait, like a movie?”

“Right! Just like a movie!” Toxin yelled excitedly. “I forgot you guys had those… Except shorter and many more.”

“So, let me get this straight. The Spider is not only an alien, but his world has something that shows him stuff about me and others?”

“Actually it's more about Rainbow and her friends, but yeah basically that's it!” Toxin let out a nervous giggle. “It sounds really weird and crazy saying it all out loud, but it's the truth!”

“If I didn't see it, I wouldn't believe you. But...this is insane.”

“Wait til you learn about Displaced…” Toxin muttered.

“Dis-what?”

“Not important right now. Let's just say he can meet people from other universes and go back to that later.”

“That sounds crazy.”

“Meh. If we end up with half as crazy as a life as his hero, you haven't seen nothing yet.” The symbiote said with a small giggle.

Before Lightning Dust could say anything in response, she froze, her head buzzing in alarm. The strange sensation didn’t hurt but it did take over all of her senses, Lightning Dust looked everywhere around her trying to figure out just why she was feeling this way.

“Hey Dust! Calm down! You’re not in trouble! Nothing bad is gonna happen!” Toxin cried out in alarm.

Lightning Dust took a few calming breaths, the feeling was still there but it wasn’t filling her entire head like in the beginning. “What was that?!”

Toxin stood silent for a few seconds before finally replying, “That was your, or rather my, Spider-Sense. Daddy has it too and since I came from him, I have it as well, and since we’re bonded I guess you can feel it too.” She went silent again, Lightning Dust could feel her anxiety again. “Something is happening… It usually warns us of danger, but sometimes it can warn us when someone else is in danger or try to urge us to go somewhere with danger.”

“So it went off right now because something is happening somewhere else?” She questioned.

“Yeah… I’m not gonna force you to go, if you don’t want to go we can just go back to your home and ignore it.” The symbiote offered.

Lightning Dust stood silent for a moment before shaking her head. “Thanks, but I’m a cop. If someone’s in trouble then I have to go. Doesn’t matter how dangerous it is.”

Lightning Dust then felt another emotion come off the symbiote bonded to her, pride, joy, and of course a small amount of fear. “Alright then! Hope you don’t mind, but I’ll take over a bit!” With that, Lightning Dust felt all control of her body disappear as Toxin took over again. The duo ran towards the edge of the building and jumped off, just like before, Lightning’s arm raised by itself before shooting out a web to allow her to swing towards their destination.

Finally, after a few minutes of swinging across the city, the duo landed in front of a large six story building, there was a large sign next to the entrance of the building. Feeling control return back to her, Lightning Dust slowly walked towards the entrance of the building, stopping to take a look at the sign next to her, eyes widening as she read it. “Fortress Constructions? Who’d be crazy enough to cause trouble in his building?” She shook her head briefly, and looked around the front of the building, not finding anything odd about it.

“Whatever caused our Spider-Senses to go off must’ve come from inside…” The symbiote said, feeling a rather large amount of anxiety. “Be careful Dust.”

“Don’t worry, I will be.” The pegasus slowly opened the door in front of her, noting how the building seemed to be unlocked. Stepping inside, Lightning immediately saw a group of security guards tied up in the middle of the room, all of them blindfolded. Lightning Dust felt her throat tighten when she noticed how none of them seemed to be moving, quickly running up to the group, she sighed in relief when she noticed that they were all just unconscious. “Thank goodness.” She whispered to herself.

“Hey Dust, what’s that in front of them?”

The pegasus pony took a step back and saw the item Toxin found. “It's a card…” Picking the card up she flipped the card to the front and frowned at what she saw. “A tarot card… ‘The Fool’.” She read, scowling.

“What’s wrong? It's just a card, isn’t it?”

Lightning Dust shook her head, “It's not just any card, it's a Tarot card depicting ‘The Fool’.” She answered. “There isn’t a single pony in Manehatten who hasn’t heard of him by now. He’s a thief who breaks into ponies’ homes and businesses and empties them out, not leaving a single bit behind. No one has ever seen him, but he always leaves behind these calling cards.”

Lightning Dust felt a smirk slowly form on her lips. “Well… no one’s seen him… till now that is, and with you by my side, we’ll finally be able to catch this thief!” She said, pumping her fist up in the air.

“Yeah! That fool won’t know what hit him!” Toxin yelled, feeling excited.

Feeling encouraged by her partner’s words, Lightning Dust walked towards the next room, leaving behind the group of unconscious ponies. Upon reaching the next room, she saw that it was a trophy room, all around the walls she saw framed photographs of Manehatten’s personal hero in front of one the many buildings he helped build. Next to the photographs were several display cases of model buildings and future projects.

“Huh… hey that guy kinda looks familiar… just can’t put my finger on it.” Toxin commented, looking closely at the pictures.

Lightning was about to answer Toxin until a new voice suddenly interrupted her thoughts. “Ugh, awful photos, aren't they?”

Taken by surprise, Lightning spun around and jumped away from the source of the voice. Her eyes widen when she saw just exactly who addressed her. It was a stallion, a unicorn to be specific. The violet furred unicorn wore a baggy orange and yellow jester outfit, the outfit had small yellow and orange stars littered across it. His hands were covered by a pair of similarly colored gloves. Covering most of his orange mane was an orange and yellow jester’s caps with two tails, complete with small bells at the end of the tails. Covering the upper half of his face was a white mask, the eyes of the mask was curved upwards, with two black stars under the eyes.

“Fool…?” Lightning Dust said, a bit uncertain as this was the first time anypony has seen him.

The stallion gave her a large grin, jumping up onto the display case, and somehow not breaking it. He then gave her an exaggerated bow. “Greetings!” He called out, excitedly. “Are you perhaps a fan?” He asked, leaning forwards to get a better look at her. Raising a finger, he pouted. “But your costume is all wrong! That’s not the costume of The Fool! That’s more similar to that new upstart! The Spider!” He sat down on the display case and folded his legs, resting his head on his hand as he continued to stare at her. “I swear ever since that little insect appeared, ponies all around the city has forgotten all about me!” He jumped down from the display case and raised an arm to cover his forehead in despair. “Not only that, but the streets have become littered with silly little fillies and colts playing dress up! Why, just the other day I saw a toad-like creature fighting against the leader of the Black Hound gang; Prowler!”

Lightning had heard about that too. Apparently the gangs of the city were being attacked by some newbie with frog powers trying to make a name for themselves, and according to some of the reports it's another villain. A shame, really. From what she’s heard, they could’ve been a great hero. Well at least Shocker’s still in prison.

Lightning Dust shook her head, glaring at the clown in front of her, she took a step forward. “Fool I am placing you under arrest! You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to consult-!” She was caught off as the Fool groaned.

“Oh come on now! Don’t give me that!” He said, frowning at her as he wagged his finger side to side. “Besides I don’t think you can even arrest me!” He leaned forward and pointed at her chest. “Just look at you, you’re not even a cop! Unless…” He stood up straight and smirked at her. “You actually are a cop.” Fool gasped, slapping his face with both hands. “But officer don’t you know? Vigilantism is a illegal! Just what kind of example do you think you’re setting here?! Just think of the children!” He bemoaned.

Lightning Dust gritted her teeth in anger and annoyance. While it was a mistake to reveal that part of her, she didn’t quite like the way Fool was talking to her. “Now you listen here-!” She was cut off again when Fool put a finger right on her covered lips.

“Now now deputy, getting angry won’t solve anything!” The jester said, wagging his other finger. “Why I have half a mind to take away your badge right now! Honestly officers promoting illegal activities, what is this city coming into?” He said sadly, covering his forehead with his hand as he shook his head.

“He sure does like to talk…” Toxin commented.

‘No kidding…’ Lightning thought to herself, getting annoyed at how much the jester was talking. “Look, I’m really not in the mood right now. I found out there’s some evil cult out there that wants to take over Equestria, ran into somepony I had a falling out with a couple years ago, and learned more about the Spider than I probably should. So are you gonna surrender or do I have to kick your flank? Please pick the second option because I’m sure beating you up will make me feel much better.”

The jester threw his head back and let out a booming laugh. Fool had his arms spread out as he laughed, acting as if he had heard Lightning say something hilarious. Finally calming down, he leaned forward again with a large smirk. “My my, how generous of you! Offering me a chance to surrender?” He suddenly jumped backwards, landing, and somehow balancing on the head of the horned statue of Manehatten’s dragon-like hero. The Fool bowed, “My little pony, the Fool does not surrender! Especially when he has the winning hand!” He took out a pair of dice and rolled them around the palm of his hand. “Tell me little filly, are you ready to take such a gamble with your life?”

Lightning's eyes narrowed in a deadpan expression behind her “mask”. “You getting tired of this too?”

“Yup.”

“Okay then,” Dust said before firing a web at Fool's face.

The masked jester grinned, raising his glowing left hand towards the path of the web. Glowing brightly, the web disappeared into the palm of Fool’s hand. “I’ll be taking this if you don’t mind.” He said, much to the dou’s shock. Jumping high up in the air, he tossed the pair of dice at the pegasus.

“Duck!” Toxin cried out.

Lightning Dust tilted her head in confusion. “It's just dice…?” She said before suddenly having their ‘spider-sense’ go off. Acting on pure instinct, Lightning Dust dropped to the floor to avoid the pair of dice. Her eyes widen in shock as the dice exploded in size, suddenly becoming even bigger than her body, the die flew passed her, just barely missing her. Getting up from the floor, she looked back and gulped when she saw the die crush the displays without any effort.

“Eyes on me, silly filly!” The Fool yelled, rushing at her with a pair of daggers on each hand.

Acting on the spider-senses again, Lightning Dust dodged the incoming knives. Continuing to step away from the Fool’s attacks, the pegasus shot a web at the statue behind the clown and yanked it towards them, intending to hit him with it.

The jester chuckled, his horn glowed brightly and suddenly the incoming statue shrunk into the size of a chess piece. Catching the statue with the palm of his hand, he jumped backwards and toss the tiny statue at her. Seeing that Lightning Dust was gonna dodge again, Fool right hand glowed as he toss out the web he stole right at the pegasus’ feet.

Lightning Dust cursed as she now found herself stuck by her own web, seeing as she wasn’t able to dodge she raised both of her arms to protect herself from the incoming attack. The small statue suddenly exploded in size, somehow becoming even bigger than it originally was. Lightning Dust yelled in pain as she was pushed back and crushed by the giant heavy statue.

“Lightning Dust!” Toxin yelled out in concern.

“I’m... fine!” The pegasus gritted out, using the symbiote’s super strength to push the statue off of her. She was panting heavily as she got up, she glared angrily at the laughing clown.

The Fool clapped his hands, howling in laughter. “I have to admit, you’re doing better than I thought you’d be!” Reaching into his satchel, he took out a fist full of marbles. “I must say you simply must do something about your anger issues, it wouldn’t be good for anyone if you suddenly lost your marbles!” He yelled, tossing the marbles her way. Already over half of the marbles became huge.

Lighnting Dust gritted her teeth, feeling the spider senses try to guide her, she followed her instincts and jumped into the incoming wave of marbles. The pegasus jumped on top of the closest marble before jumping off of it, midair she spread out her wings and flew towards the clown, making sure to dodge any of the marbles coming her way. “I got you now!” She cried out, tackling the panicking Fool onto the ground.

The two rolled around for a second before stopping. Lightning Dust quickly fired off a bunch of webs on the downed Fool, covering his entire body in webs. She got up to admire her work, “Looks like today’s your last heist Fool, you lose.”

Lightning Dust’s smile went away when she heard the jester laugh. “Darling, you celebrate much to early! After all…” His smile turned sinister, “I can do anything!”

Feeling her spider senses go off, Lightning Dust’s jumped into the air, spreading her wings to keep her airborne. Her eyes narrowed when she saw dagger fly past the spot she was in earlier, turning towards the source of the dagger, her jaw dropped when she saw another Fool waving at her. “There’s two of you?!”

She heard laughter all around her. “Two?! Little pony, didn’t you hear me?” Lightning Dust paled at what she saw. “I can do anything!” Surrounding her was an army of Fools, all of them brandishing their knives.

“Where did they all come from?!” Toxin yelled out in panic. “I didn’t even hear or sense any of them!!”

“REALITY BENDS AT OUR WHIM!” The army yelled, all of them throwing their knives straight at her. Lightning Dust flailed around, trying her best to dodge the wave of knives, her spidersenses being surprisingly unhelpful as it tried to get to her to only dodge the ones in front of her and jump into the ones behind her.

“Toxin! Any ideas?!” Lightning Dust yelled, her eyes wide in fear as her fist went through one of the Fools, the Fool then disappeared, only to be replaced by two others. Toxin stayed silent, serving to fuel Lightning Dust’s panic. “Hey don’t go quiet on me now! Toxin!” She screamed when she saw a wave of knives come at her again.

Without a single word, control of her body was seized once again. Lightning Dust screamed louder when she saw her body run towards the knives, she closed her eyes shut. “Lightning Dust! Look!”

“I’m not opening my eyes you psycho!”

“I’m gonna ignore that for now, but seriously look!” The pegasus’ eyes opened on their own, only to see a knife coming straight at her, before she could scream the knife flew right through her. “The knives aren’t real! Heck the Fool clones aren’t real either! They’re an illusion!”

“They’re… not real?” Lightning Dust whispered.

“That’s why your spider-senses was trying to get you to jump into the knives behind you! None of this is real!”

“None of this is real…” The words soon began to sink into the pegasus. Suddenly being filled with anger at being tricked, she seized control of her body back. “That bucker! I bet he’s laughing at me right now!” She looked around the area, ignoring the knives and Fools impaling her. “Toxin where is he?!”

“He’s trying to escape! He must be going to the front entrance! I heard the door open a few seconds ago but I wasn’t sure if that was a part of the illusion or not!”

Nodding, Lightning Dust immediately took off towards the entrance. Slamming the door open, her eyes narrowed at the shocked Fool making his way to the exit. “YOU!” She shouted, her voice sounding different, but she didn't care. She bolted at the clown and grabbed the front of his costume.

“N-now now darling, let’s not do anything hasty!” The Fool stuttered, suddenly becoming scared. “It was just a joke! You know how we fools are, we just love a good joke!”

“That wasn’t funny!” She yelled, throwing the costumed stallion at the wall next to them. Just as the Fool was about to run away, Lightning Dust wrapped his legs and the rest of his lower in a cocoon made from her webs. Grabbing the cocoon, she hung the Fool upside down, using her webs to hang him from the ceiling.

“Lightning are you okay?” Toxin asked, feeling concerned about how angry her friend was.

“I’m fine!” She snapped. She frowned when she saw the Fool pale even further when he looked at her. Turning towards the mirror next to them, she stepped back in surprise when she saw a mouth with strange teeth forming on her “mask”.

“What the… What's going on?” Lightning asked.

“All of your anger, I was feeling it too… and I guess because I was feeling angry too, I just sort of unconsciously made us look like this...”

After Lightning took a few deep breaths, the mouth returned to the mask she had earlier. She then looked at Fool and glared at him.

“W-what are you?” He asked, scared.

Lightning hesitated for a moment before saying, “Call me...Toxin,” she said, her voice back to the way it was before. “And you're going away for a long time.”

It took Fool a few seconds longer to react to her words, likely still shaken up from seeing Toxin’s more monstrous appearance. “G-going away?” The Fool gulped, shaking slightly. “Now now doll, this isn’t how you play the game!”

Lightning raised an eyebrow. “What are you talking about? I’m not going to kill… you?” She whispered the last part as her eyes narrowed at the sight of red smoke coming out of his hands.

“Get down now!” Toxin yelled. Feeling their shared senses go off again, Lightning Dust quickly dropped to the floor, putting her hands on her head, Toxin shifting their hands to completely cover them.

Suddenly, to everyone’s shock, both Fool and the cocoon exploded into nothing more than red smoke, small flaming webs scattering all over the place. Lightning Dust slowly got up and turned towards the spot Fool was in, her throat dry. “What… what just happened?!”

Before Toxin could respond, all of the smoke and flames in the area began to gather and merge into a large ball of smoke. Slowly all of the smoke began to disappear, leaving Fool in its place. The unicorn looked terrified at what just happened, his face pale and covered in sweat, his eyes darted around all over the room until they finally settled on Dust. Fool stared at her for only a second before turning into a smoke cloud. Before Dust could do anything, the cloud of smoke dashed away, disappearing inside the air vents.

Lightning stared at the vent for a second, processing what just happened.

“So guess she's not the only one…” Toxin muttered.

Lightning blinked. “What are you talking about?”

“Later. We need to go before the cops come.”

“Why? We did nothing wrong.”

“We are in a building that was broken into with the security tied up and the culprit escaped. Plus we don't exactly look that friendly, even if we're not angry anymore.”

Lightning blinked. “Touche…” Dust went to the guards and ripped off the bindings before she ran out the door and swung away. After a few minutes of swinging, she landed on a roof and crossed her arms. “Now, you seem to know what the deal with that was. Spill.”

“Well first off, his fighting, using illusions to fool you, is a lot like a villain my dad knows about.”

“Who?” She was then exposed to a memory of a guy in green with a cape and a fish bowl looking helmet over his head, fighting someone that looked a lot like the Spider, but a few differences such as being red instead of black. When the memory was done, Dust blinked. “Okay, I see what you mean. Maybe with those memories, we can beat him next time. But what did you mean “she's not the only one”?”

“You remember when Rainbow said she had a gene that let's her control water?”

“Yeah…?”

“Seems that Fool has the same gene. I remember what a smoke Conduit's abilities look like.”

“Mind telling me what he can do then?”

“Shoot smoke from his arms in blasts, turn into smoke to travel, throw smoke bombs that leave the victims in coughing fits, and...the Orbital Drop…” Toxin finished, sounding worried.

“Huh?” The next moment, she saw a strange hairless creature in a vest and red hat flying into the air before diving to the ground and exploding upon impact, the creature reassembling from the smoke similar to Fool earlier, but far calmer. Dust's eyes then widened in shock. “O~kay, I see why that worries you.”

“Yeah… And that's just someone who had the power for a week. And he was unconscious during most of that week.”

Lightning took a deep breath. “Any good news?”

Toxin paused for a moment before saying, “Well, he only had that much power thanks to absorbing some materials that was scattered around the city. And the only ones who know that those things are useful for Conduits are my daddy and his friends.”

Dust sighed. “Well, that's something…”

“Plus, we have a way to cancel out his powers.”

Lightning immediately stood up straight. “Wait, we do?”

“Yup. If my memory is right, a Conduit is powerless when their arms are completely covered.”

Lightning blinked in confusion. “Seriously? That's it?”

Lightning felt herself shrug. “Meh, not like anyone can guess that. And besides, not as ridiculous as an alien being weak to a rock from his world.”

Lightning nodded in response before a thought came up. “Wait, speaking of weaknesses, you have any?”

“Yeah. I'm weak to 3 things. Loud noises, which can make me separate from you, same with electricity. The third thing is fire, which straight up hurts.”

“So we just have to avoid that.” Lightning then stood by the edge of the cliff.

“So...how was your first night as a hero?” Toxin asked, worry evident in her voice.

Lightning shrugged. “Nuts. But I believe we'll get used to it.”

“Wait, so...you want to continue?”

“Well yeah. While our first night was far from the best, I say we make a pretty good team. And besides, since “Tito” isn't around, somepony needs to watch over this city in his absence. Now come on, let's go home. Celestia knows I need some sleep.” With that said, she began swinging to her apartment, feeling Toxin's joy.

Author's Note

And this is done. Thank you very much Star for helping write for Toxin.

Hello readers, it is I! The charming co-writer; Star! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, if you did or didn't please let us know why as it will help us improve. I hope you were all paying attention to what's been happening here, a lot of what the Fool and Dust rambled on about might come up in a later chapter. Stay tuned for the next chapter, I promise it's coming out soon!

So yeah. This chapter has Lightning officially meet Toxin and get used to her, as well as learning more about Tito. Also introduces Fool, who Star wrote for and had a lot of fun with. I don't know if she meant for him to be like Mysterio at first, but he did by the time she wrote the fight, telling me she was looking up Mysterio's fighting style.

And on another note, yeah Fool's a Conduit. Smoke to be exact. And just a heads up, there are more Conduits out there. Whether they're active or not, I'm not saying. Anyway, next chapter is another Star one and should be done soon. Until next time.

42. Return To Ponyville

Dark groaned, setting a hand on his head as he slowly lifted his head up. He hissed when the light hit his eyes, closing them again on reflex. Trying to lift himself up, he stopped when he noticed an unfamiliar weight on his stomach. Dark slowly opened his eyes to look at whatever it was on his stomach, seeing the small blue baby dragon curled up on his chest, resting peacefully.

With a shake of his head, he muttered, “What happened?”

“You touched the dragon, felt a lot of pain, and knocked out,” Venom told him.

“How long was I out?”

“Only a few minutes. Though...you may wanna look at your hand.”

“Why? What's wro-” Dark started before immediately stopping when he saw his right hand. The glove was charred black from burns and the palm of of his hand was exposed. In the center of it was a strange mark curved like an S with a silver color.

“How did that happen by touching it?”

“No idea. Though your chest seems to be fine with it laying on you.”

Dark looked back on the dragon. When he did, he noticed something. “Wait, is that...fur?” He asked as he saw the dragon had something similar to a mane on its head and hair on the tip of its tail, both of which being a lighter shade than its scales.

“You just noticed that?”

“I thought it was its scales at first. How was I supposed to know it had hair?”

Before Venom can respond, the door opened and Twilight walked in. “Morning Dark. Hope you're doing well…” she paused as she saw the small reptile on his chest. “Is that a dragon?”

“Um...yes?”

“Why do you have a dragon on you? And why does it have fur. Wait, are those feathers?” She asked.

“Long story short, I got summoned earlier and was given a dragon egg. The dragon hatched soon after I got back. As for why it has hair and feathers...I honestly have no idea,” Dark finished with a shrug.

Twilight hummed. “Well then. Do you know anything specific about that world?”

“Dragons are the main species, Equestria doesn't exist, and I think I met the Celestia of that world.”

Twilight blinked. “What?”

Dark sighed before activating his magic to bring his laptop to him and set it to his side. He then gestured at the book. “That there has a history of the world. Should help you understand it better than I can.”

Twilight nodded before grabbing said book. She then gave Dark a worried look. “Dark? Why is your glove burned?”

He looked at his hand again. “I don't really know. I just touch this guy and the next thing I know, I feel so much pain that I black out. When I woke up, it was like that.”

At that point, the dragon started to stir and yawned before shaking itself and opening its eyes. When it did, it looked at Twilight for a moment before looking at Dark for a bit. On instinct Dark just ran a few fingers down its neck a few times, noticing a moment after that he didn't get hurt.

“So does it have a name?” Twilight asked.

“What?”

“For the dragon.”

Dark stayed silent for a moment as he stared at the dragon before shrugging and saying, “How about Peter?”

The dragon simply tilted its head but didn’t seem to reject the name.

“Peter it is.”

“Naming it after Parker huh?” Venom asked. “Can’t say I’m surprised.”

“Shut up,” Dark muttered before lifting Peter off of him so he can get up. After he put the dragon back on the bed, it leapt onto his arm and climbed to his shoulder.

“Well he certainly seems attached to you,” Twilight commented, smiling softly at the sight. Turning towards the hallway, she waved towards Dark to follow her. “Come on. The others are waiting.”

With a nod, the two walked out of the door, making their way further in the castle, waving and greeting the stationary guards as they passed by. Reaching a pair of large doors, Twilight used her magic to open the giant doors, allowing for the two to enter a new room, the room’s windows were all decorated with accomplishments of Twilight and her friend’s past deeds.

In the middle of the room, Screwball stood with Cece, the two of them waiting patiently while staring up at the several stained glass windows. Seeing the two enter the room, the pink filly smiled and waved at them, walking up to them with a smile. “Hey guys! Ready to go back?” She asked excitedly.

Cece walked up behind Screwball, stopping when she spotted the dragon in Dark’s shoulder, her eyes widen in surprise. “Oh wow, where did that dragon come from?”

Dark raised the small dragon up. “I got him as an egg during my latest adventure, was summoned to an Equestria filled with dragons and they let me take this little guy with me. Hatched when I got back.”

Screwball took a small step closer to get a better look at the small blue dragon. Smiling softly, she raised an hand and pet him. “He seems friendly.” She commented before turning her attention towards the other two. “So you guys ready to go?” Both Dark and Twilight nodded. “Great! Now this will just take a second.” Raising her hand, she snapped her fingers, teleporting the five of them into Twilight’s Castle.

Dark raised his head to look around their new surroundings, taking in the familiar crystal castle. “It's good to see nothing’s changed since we’ve left.” He commented.

“Hey guys! It's been a while.” Everyone turned around to see Spike running up towards them, the small drake eyes widen when he saw the blue dragon on Dark’s shoulders. “Wow, who’s the new guy?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

“He’s a dragon Dark found during one of his adventures. He just hatched today, so it's best not to overwhelm him with attention.” Twilight said with a small smile.

“He just hatched?!” Spike exclaimed, staring up at the dragon with shock and awe. Smiling, he tugged at the red sleeves of his hoodie nervously. “Hey there little guy,” He said catching the attention of the baby dragon. “Name’s Spike!” Spike introduced himself staring at the dragon with great interest.

Smiling softly, Twilight patted Spike. “There’ll be time for you two to bond later Spike, we need to prepare for the meeting after all.”

Spike’s eyes snapped towards Twilight as his eyes widen. “Ah that’s right! Starlight told to me find you guys!” Turning around, he motioned them to follow him. “Everyone is waiting in the throne room, so come on!”

With that the five of them followed the short dragon, until they finally reached a pair of a crystal doors. Using her magic, Twilight opened the doors and greeted their six friends.

Each of the mares, save Starlight, sat in their respective thrones. Rainbow was absently shaping some clouds, Fluttershy was petting a cat she had with her, Rarity was reading a book, Pinkie was humming to herself, and Applejack was finishing an apple while Starlight was reading a book herself by the wall.

“Hey everyone,” Screwball said, getting their attention.

“About time,” Rainbow said, swiping the cloud away.

“I was only gone a few minutes,” Twilight said.

“Didn't feel like it.”

Twilight sighed before going to her throne with Spike following her to sit on his.

Dark and Cece walked to the table, when everyone seemed to notice the drake on Dark's shoulder.

Rarity blinked. “Is that-”

“Yes, it's a dragon,” Dark answered. “Got him today, his name is Peter, and no I don't know why his wings are feathered or why he has hair. Now can we move on to more pressing matters?”

The group nodded, seeming to be fine with moving the conversation along. Fluttershy seemed to be staring longingly at the new creature, wanting to at least be able to hold him, while Pinkie had her eyes narrowed at him, trying to come up with new party plans and possible new recipes for the dragon to try out once they were done.

“So, do you guys have any idea what you’re going to say to the townsponies?” Starlight began, drawing some attention to her.

Twilight hummed, crossing her arms. “I think it’d be best if we just went with the truth. We tell what Dark and Cece are, we tell them some things about where they’re from, why they’re here, and we should be good, right?”

“And avoid mentioning the show,” Dark muttered.

“What about how they came from a different world?” Pinkie asked.

Twilight looked to Dark and Cece, who just shrugged. “They already know we aren't ponies and saw our abilities. Might as well inform them that,” Dark said.

“And maybe about Displaced,” Screwball added. “If more are gonna show up, we should at least let the town know so they can be prepared.”

Rarity nodded, agreeing with Screwball’s suggestion. “That would be for the best. That way we could avoid something like Nisled from happening again.”

Starlight frowned suddenly, her eyes narrowing in thought. “Do you think we should spread this announcement? Like to other cities and different parts of Equestria.” The others turned to look towards her in confusion. “Not the whole speech, but maybe tell the ponies about humans, after all we already know Dark and Cece aren’t the only ones, we met their cousin a few days back.”

The rest of the ponies, sans Screwball and Twilight, blinked in surprise. “Wait, you're saying one of your cousins got Displaced too?” Applejack asked Dark and Cece.

Dark nodded. “Elizabeth. She ended up in the Crystal Empire and was taken in by Shining Armor and Cadance. Turned into a cat with fire powers. As for your suggestion Starlight...I'm not sure. I still rather keep the human thing a secret for now. This whole thing with Nisled showed how xenophobic ponies can be. Besides, I just know some of the more racist ones will do something bad if they knew. Plus it's more likely for outside Displaced to end up here or the Crystal Empire since those are the only places with Displaced.”

“If you think that’s best.” Starlight shrugged.

Fluttershy suddenly spoke up, bringing the attention to her, she briefly flinched before taking a small breathe. “But what if a new displaced shows up somewhere else? You said Elizabeth showed up in the Crystal Empire, what if there are others like her around Equestria, all lost and confused in a new environment without anyone to help.” She shuddered.

“We could always just tell the guards to keep an eye out.” Twilight suggested.

“Or just the princesses,” Cece said with a shrug. “Not like the guard can do anything to a Displaced from what I've seen.”

“Besides, if a new displaced does show up and they’re causing trouble, the princesses can just call us to deal with them!” Rainbow Dash boasted, hitting the palm of her hand with her fist as they started glowing. “With Tito and I working together, we’ll be able to deal with them in ten seconds flat!”

“Well seeing as how Dark wants to keep things a secret, we should probably do that for now.” Twilight said, “We won’t spread the message outside of Ponyville, and I’ll be sure to ask the princesses and guardsponies to keep an eye out for anything that might seem to be Displaced related.”

“Sounds good,” Dark said with a nod.

Spike raised a claw. “Um, Twilight.” He called out, catching the alicorn’s attention. “It's almost time for the meeting to start.” He said, pointing at the clock in the corner of the room.

Twilight bolted up from her seat with a panicked expression. “Already?!” She cried out, out of nervousness she started to pull on her own mane. “I thought we had more time…”

Applejack reached out towards her and patted her shoulder. “Settle down Twi, there ain’t anything to worry about, you’ve got this.” All the others agreed, letting out words of encouragement. “Just remember what we discussed and everything will be alright.”

Twilight smiled nervously, slowly nodding her head. “Yeah, you’re right. There isn’t any need for me to be worried, we got this.” She said, slowly taking some deep calming breaths. Turning towards Dark, she smiled softly. “Well we might as well get this over with.”

Pinkie Pie smiled and spread out her arms, “Don’t worry guys! I’m sure everything will turn out a-okay!” Her smile grew wider as she clapped her hands and bounced on her seat. “And once they accept you back, I’m gonna throw you guys the biggest “Welcome back” party ever!” She yelled, pumping her fist in the air.

“Quite right.” Rarity said, smiling at Pinkie’s cheerful attitude. “While most of us won’t really be saying anything, just know you have our support.” The others nodded.

“Thanks girls, that means a lot to us.” Dark said, smiling. “Well we should get going now, we don’t want to be late.”

With those words everyone began getting up from their seats, making their way out the door.

“Good luck kid.”

Dark turned back, his eyes wide. He looked around the room, trying to find the source of the masculine voice.

“Uhh, you okay there Dark?” Applejack asked, giving him a concerned look.

He gave the room one more look before shaking his head. “Yeah… just thought I heard something.”

'You heard that?’ Dark asked mentally.

“Yes,” Venom replied. “But to be fair I hear everything you do. But I don't know who said it. Never heard that voice before and the only other male who can speak in here is Spike.”

Dark sighed. “Well, let's get this over with,” he said as he put on his cover.

Twilight peeked her head through the door, she looked around the front entrance, looking at all various ponies gathered for the meeting. She frowned when she noticed that the princesses haven’t arrived yet. “Where are they? They said they’ll be here.” She hissed out, her fears beginning to overwhelm her. After waiting a few more seconds she stuck her head back inside, a panicked expression over her face.

“Maybe they’ve just been held up with something?” Starlight suggested, putting a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sure they’ll be here soon.”

Twilight frowned. “Maybe you’re right, do you think we should postpone the meeting until they arrive?” She asked, turning towards everyone.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea Twi.” Applejack said, stepping forward. “These ponies aren’t going to want to wait forever, and who knows how long they’ll have to wait.”

“You’re right, we’ll have to start without them.” Taking a few moments to prepare herself before confronting the crowd. “Alright everyone, let’s do this.” She gave the others a somewhat shaky grin before opening the doors and stepping into the main entrance, immediately everypony’s attention was on her. “Good afternoon everypony, and thank you all for attending this meeting.” She greeted everyone, making her way to the podium that was set up earlier. Grabbing the microphone, she quickly fixed it before returning her attention to the crowd.

“Now I gathered you all here today because of an incident that happened a few months back.” She took a small breath. “The incident I’m talking about is the “demon attacks” that occurred in the middle of Ponyville.” Immediately everypony in the room started whisper amongst themselves. Clearing her throat, everypony gave her their undivided attention. “A few months ago, I wasn’t able to really make a proper announcement. Everypony was too afraid, and too wrapped around a mob mentality to really allow me to say anything. Now that everypony has finally settled down, I feel that now would be the best time to discuss it.” Twilight sighed. “The demon attack wasn’t caused by demons, in fact there never were any demons in Ponyville.”

As soon as she said those words an uproar had sparked, all of the ponies in the room were shouting, yelling, and demanding explanations, their voices were so loud that it was impossible for her to tell what was being said. One particular voice in the back of the room made their voices heard. “What do you mean there weren’t any demons?! Everypony here saw the two of them fighting in the middle of the town destroying everything!” A shrill feminine voice shouted louder than all the others.

Twilight tried to find the source of the shout, but was unable to really tell who it was from the sea of ponies in front of her. “If you would just allow me to explain-” She was cut off by more shouts. “Please just listen-” She gritted her teeth as the shouting continued, finally deciding she had enough of being interrupted, she shouted. “BE QUIET!” She yelled into the microphone, cutting off everyone’s yelling. Seeing that the room was completely quiet, she smiled. “Thank you. Now to answer your question, those creatures that were fighting aren’t demons, they’re humans.” Whispers began to make themselves known again as everypony was turning towards each other. “Yes, these are the same humans from legends, and no, not all of the humans are hostile, and not all are here to attack us, or to take over Equestria.” She explained, raising her hands in a calming gesture. “They’re just like ponies, not every single one of them are bad, and not everyone of them is good.”

“Is Nisled really a human?” Dark muttered asked to no one in particular.

“Hard to say,” Venom replied. “Are Conduits considered a different species or just another race?”

Dark shook his head and resumed listening to Twilight.

“Think back to the day of the attack, there was only one human who was attacking the town, trying to hurt ponies. During the fight, two more humans appeared to stop the first one.” She said. “If they were demons who wanted to destroy this town, then why were the other two trying to stop the first one? Shouldn’t they have been working together?” She shook her head, deciding to answer some questions before they were asked. “And no that wasn’t some attempt to gain our trust only to backstab us later, they were trying to protect us.”

“And how do we know that they weren’t just trying to get rid of the competition?” The shrill voice from earlier asked again. Twilight quickly turned towards the source and saw the pink earth pony who said it, Spoiled Rich. “After all, villains are selfish and greedy, they can’t work together. Any partnership that is formed is doomed to fail, as soon as they see a chance they’d try to off their “partners” in hopes of hoarding all of the rewards.” Twilight saw some of the ponies near her nod their heads in agreement.

Dark couldn't help but growl in anger when he saw the pony that was apparently responsible for why he was still an outcast, causing Rarity to look at him in shock.

“Dark, are you growling?” She asked.

The question surprised him enough for his anger to subside and shake his head as he placed a hand on it. “Sorry. Don't know what came over me…”

Twilight frowned slightly. “They weren’t rivals, nor are they evil. We know this because before the attack happened we had a human living here in Ponyville for quite a while now, and he’s never caused us any trouble before.” She saw a few of the citizens look confused, while another few’s eyes lit up in recognition. From the back of the room, she saw two familiar figures enter the room, Cadance smiled at her, Eli entered only a second after her the princess. Twilight smiled, feeling a boost of confidence surge within her. “And right now I’d like to invite the human who’s been with us from before the incident.” She took a small breathe. “Please welcome, Dark.” Twilight moved out of the way, making room for Dark to stand behind the podium.

Dark took a deep breath before he gave Peter to Screwball and entered the room, very happy his face was covered.

“Oh calm down. This is nothing compared to what you've dealt with since you got here.”

‘You should know that I'm not a fan of crowds.’

Dark ignored the whispering going in the room, quickly making his way behind the podium. Turning towards the crowd, he was met with complete silence, some of the ponies in the room were staring at him with fear or caution. Looking around, he saw Lyra waving slightly, giving him an encouraging smile. “Hello everypony, my name is Dark and I am here today to stop all of the rumors that have been going around.” He took a small breath, trying to calm his nerves that threaten to overwhelm him. “What Twilight said was true, I am a human, and I have been living here in Ponyville for quite some time.” Dark removed the hood and scarf that covered his face, revealing himself to the citizens, now there were some harsh whispers going around, deciding to speak before his nerves can get the best of him he continued. “Before the incident I was living here in Ponyville with the rest of you, some of you may recognize me as I always tried to cover myself up completely to avoid any unnecessary attention.”

“Before the incident with the other human, I had friends here, if you can’t trust the words of your princess then you could ask them, I’m not evil. I’m not here to disrupt your way of life, if I was the villain one of you said I was, then why didn’t I just rampage earlier before more humans arrived? Why did I choose to step in and nearly get myself killed trying to protect this town?” Dark reasoned. “I’ve been staying with the princesses for a long time now, if I really was an evil demon, wouldn’t the princesses have tried to get rid of me by now? I wouldn’t really be here to talk to you if they thought I was evil.”

“And how would we know that the Princesses really do trust you?” Spoiled called again, crossing her arms. “What proof do you have that shows the Princesses support you?”

“I trust that us appearing for this meeting is proof enough?”

Everypony immediately turned around, seeing the two princesses come in through the front door. Celestia raised her hand when she saw some of the ponies about to bow. “Please there is no need to bow, we’re here to discuss a few important matters and that can’t be done if you’re facing the floor.” Celestia said, smiling softly at the citizens. The two alicorn’s horns glowed, in a flash of light they disappeared and reappeared at Dark’s side.

Princess Luna stepped up to the podium, she briefly smiled sheepishly. “Sorry for being late, somethings came up back in Canterlot. Now if you excuse us.” The human only nodded, grateful for their intervention, he quickly stepped out of the way to allow the two of them to step forward. “Citizens of Ponyville, I am Princess Luna, ruler of the night!” She announced, briefly yelling before speaking in a lower voice when she noticed a few of the ponies wince. She coughed. “We have come here today to offer our support to a dear friend of ours during his time of need.”

Celestia nodded. “Indeed, it saddens me to see my ponies quickly turning on those who only sought to do the right thing. Of course I understand completely why you all did so. You were clouded by fear, having just suffered an attack from a member of the same species.” Celestia smiled softly, her eyes didn’t show any sort of disappointment nor anger, her eyes were understanding. “But it is just as my pupil said, humans are just like ponies, not all of them are good and not all of them are evil. I have seen many evil ponies in my life time, most of them are unicorns seeking power, but just because a few unicorns decided to go down a dark path does not mean we shun all of them now do we?” A few ponies in the crowd shook their heads, understanding what she was saying. “The human who attacked your town was evil, but Dark and his companions are not. As Dark has mentioned before, he has been living with us for some time now, and can say without a shadow of a doubt, that we trust him completely. He means you no harm.”

Celestia stayed silent for a minute, allowing for the audience to register her words. Once she was satisfied, she continued with her speech. “Of course Dark is not the only human who has been living here in this town, along with him is his sister, Cece.”

Upon hearing her name she quickly made her way to the front of the podium, removing her hood. The ponies in the audience began to whisper amongst themselves, this time they were confused.

Celestia raised a hand to calm them. “I understand your confusion. Cece and Dark look completely different, but there is a reason for that. Dark and Cece are what is known as Displaced.” She went silent allowing the audience to digest her words. “A displaced is a human who has transported from their world into ours, often times their bodies undergo a type of mutation. Sometimes this mutation only grants them powers, other times they become completely different creatures, gaining a new body that is completely different from their original ones.” A few ponies were still looking at her confused, others were sceptical. “You have heard me right, humans are not from this world, they’ve been brought here against their will.”

“Princesses you can’t serious?!” Spoiled cried out. “Different worlds? That sounds completely insane!”

“While it may seem hard to believe it is the truth.” Luna answered. “We are only telling you this so that you may not be caught off guard when and if more humans appear.”

Celestia nodded. “Displaced often attract other displaced, so it might become a common sight to see a couple of new humans appear from time to time, however most of the time they are usually gone by the end of the day.” The royal explained, trying to calm any fears that might’ve been growing.

“Princess Celestia I don’t mean to question your authority.” Spoiled began, looking concerned. “But if they attract these “displaced”, then shouldn’t they be kept away or isolated? What if a repeat of the attack happens again because they were attracted to those two?”

“I understand your concerns, but there isn’t any need to worry. The human who attacked was a special case, I can assure you something like this won’t happen again.” Celestia answered. “And even if a displaced choose to attack, the elements and the two humans are more than capable of dealing with them.”

“Ahem?” Eli said with her arms crossed.

Celestia blinked before smiling sheepishly. “Not to mention there is a third human here with us right now, one that is also capable of dealing with anything that comes her way.” She announced, gesturing to Eli. “Elizabeth here is a relative of these two humans and a displaced herself, she has been living in the Crystal Empire working as a member of their Crystal Guard.”

“In training,” Dark heard Cece mutter next to him.

Luna stepped up to the podium, taking the microphone. “In fact should you need anymore proof of their innocence, just consider this; Dark and Cece are considered members of the Royal Guard.” She waited a moment, letting her words settle in the minds of ponies. “Not only that, but those of you who keep up with the news outside Ponyville may even recognize Dark, after all he is after all a hero who’s fought against ne’er-do-wells such as the Shocker in Manehatten and the Vulture in Canterlot.” Some of ponies eyes’ lit up. “He is known as the Spider, a hero who’s appeared in Manehatten and Canterlot.” Luna turned towards Dark. “Why don’t you show them some proof of your abilities?”

Dark took a deep breath before crouching down. The next moment, he jumped over the crowd and shot webs all over the room until they all connected into a giant web above the ponies. He then went underneath the web and lowered himself down until he was just above the ponies.

“This proof enough for ya?”

“Can't tell whether I should call you a show off or not…” Venom muttered.

‘Not like there was much else to prove it,’ Dark responded before jumping up and zipping back to his friends, the webs disappearing as he landed.

Like before the ponies in the audience began talking amongst themselves, this time the whispers were all somewhat excited, there were still a few who still had worried and concerned looks, but they were a minority now.

“Of course, we’re only telling you this so that your fears may be discarded.” Luna said, bringing all the attention back to her. “We must ask of you now to not spread this information elsewhere, do not tell your relatives outside Ponyville about displaced, do not tell your pen pals about humans, and don’t tell anyone about Dark being the Spider. Not everypony is ready to receive this information and they may get hurt should this information get into the wrong hands.”

Celestia was handed the microphone as she stepped forward again. “With this I hope that you will all welcome Dark and Cece back into Ponyville with open arms. Should any of you still feel some apprehension, please feel free to talk to Twilight, or even my sister and I as we will be here until the end of the day.”

“We thank you all for taking time off your busy schedules to attend this meeting, please fill out the forms and cast your vote before you leave.” Luna instructed the ponies as they were all getting up from their seats.

As Dark put back on his cover and turned around to leave the room, they all heard somepony in the crowd randomly say, “Wait, does that mean that Rainbow is dating a superhero?”

As Dark immediately felt his face heat up, he turned towards whoever said that and said, “WE'RE NOT DATING!” Right after he said that, he sighed and left the room, passing his friends and not noticing the blush on Rainbow's face or the snickers of everyone else.

After the rest of the Displaced and the princesses left the room, Luna sighed, her shoulders sagging. “Finally, I hate public speaking.” She whined.

“I don’t see what’s the issue, it's rather easy.” Celestia commented with a smile, catching up behind her sister.

Luna frowned. “For you maybe, you were always more involved in these types of things.”

“Princess Celestia, Princess Luna!” Twilight called out, running up towards them. “Thank you both so much for coming!” She said with a bright smile, which quickly turned into a confused frown. “But how did you know we were going to reveal Dark’s status as a displaced?”

Celestia smiled. “Why Spike told us of course. He took the time to inform us before we came in.”

Twilight nodded before turning to the other princess and the Displaced with her. “And not that I'm complaining, but why are you two here?”

Eli shrugged. “Screwball told us about the meeting and we came here in case you needed help.”

“Yeah,” the pink filly said. “Wish I could've went there and introduce myself.”

“Why didn't you?” Rainbow asked.

Screwball shrugged. “Star couldn't think of anything to do with me or completely forgot about me,” she said, much to everyone's confusion until a few of them noticed what was in her arms.

“Wait, is-” Cadance started.

“Yes, he's Tito's, no idea, and his name is Peter,” Screwball said. “We been through his introduction over 3 times now, time to move on.”

The princesses blinked before nodding slowly. Luna then said, “Well we do have more important matters to discuss now.”

“We do?” Cece asked.

“Yes. A troubling issue that came to our attention a couple nights ago.”

“Well, see ya in the throne room then,” Cece said as she started leaving.

Twilight then looked around. “Wait, where's Dark?”

Rainbow shrugged. “If not the throne room, probably in his room. I'll go check.” With that, she Cloud Dashed away.

After she left, Rarity said, “So did anyone else notice that she has been calling him by his real name?”

The rest of the ones present to the earlier meeting nodded. “She started doing that since that convention,” Screwball said.

Rarity beamed. “Oh, this is just perfect.”

Screwball rolled her eyes but still smiled nonetheless. “Well I'm gonna go to return Peter to him.”

“Mind if I join?” Elizabeth asked.

Screwball shrugged. “Sure.” With that, Screwball snapped her fingers and the 3 of them disappeared in a flash of light.

When they arrived, they saw Dark on his bed with his cover still on, Mike resting at his mini bed near the window, and Rainbow standing nearby with Bri in her arms.

“Hey guys,” Dark said as Peter leapt out of Screwball's arms into Dark's lap.

“Hey cos, how you been?” Elizabeth asked.

“Decent. As you heard, I fought this world's version of Vulture not too long ago. As well as beat up a guy who regularly deals with a mare version of Indiana Jones, and got a dragon.”

“I see that.”

Right after that, Bri got out of Rainbow's arms and walked towards Dark before looking at Peter with a confused look on her face, with the young dragon tilting its head in response.

“Oh right. Never introduced you two. Bri, this is Peter. He's a new friend I made earlier. Peter, this is my daughter Brianna.”

After she heard that, Bri smiled before placing a paw on Peter's snout, causing the small reptile to pull it back in surprise but otherwise seemed okay.

Before anyone can say anything else, Twilight entered the room as well. “Hey. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna said they wanted all of us present in the throne room for something important.”

Dark sighed. “Yeah, I think I know what it is. And it is important. Come on Mike.” With a nod, the water type got up and exited the room. As Dark stood up from his bed with Peter perched on his left shoulder again, he felt a familiar pull for the second time that day. “Oh boy…” he muttered. The next moment, he was pulled through a portal, along with everyone else in the room.

Author's Note

Finally it's done. This chapter was a real pain to go through. To the point I had to ask Star to take over a majority of it.

Hello yello everyone! Its Star709 here with a new chapter! Of course I didn't write all of it, just a portion while Dark wrote the other half. Anyways you know the drill, please comment on the chapter, what do you like, what you don't, what you thought, and what you hope to see next. Also thanks to Dark for spotting my errors and fixing them, I tend to ignore them and type fast.

So yeah, thank you very much Star for your help. As for the chapter itself, Tito gave his new dragon a name, Tito and Cece are now back in Ponyville, with the town now knowing about Displaced, and Tito being the Spider. And Tito got summoned in the end with his friends pulled alongside him. Next chapter won't take so long. Already done, just need to edit it. Until next time.

-Dark

-Star

56. Dog Days Part 2: Tinkering With Fate

Toy’s hands clenched tightly in frustration as he glared down at the trio of thugs standing in front of him. The tall, brown furred, earth pony carefully looked around the store, checking to see if anymore civilians were still around the store, thankfully they had all already cleared out the moment the three gang members pulled out their weapons.

The shortest, and most likely the youngest, pegasus pony stepped forward, raising his dagger into the air and bringing it down to stab the wooden counter. “Alright big guy, here’s what's gonna happen!” The short yellow furred pegasus yelled, scowling at Toy. “We know this shop is the Tinkerer’s hideout! So you’re gonna bring the old man out here right now and make us some gadgets so we can break the boss out! You got that?”

“And don’t try anything funny!” The large green earth pony spoke up from behind the pegasus. He took out a baseball bat and pointed it at him. “The moment you try something, we’ll trash the whole place and just take everything! Got that?” The unicorn in the middle laughed, also brandishing his weapon.

Toy resisted the urge to bash their heads in. He knew that the Thunderbolts had a reputation for being idiots, but he didn’t think that they were this bad. Taking one last look around the store, he glared back at them once he was sure they were alone. “I will give you one chance, leave the store now and I promise that I will not hurt you.” He leaned forwards, intimidating the young pegasus in front of him. “If you refuse, just know that I will not be held responsible for any broken bones, bleeding, punctured organs, or untimely deaths that may occur as I proceed to remove you from the premises.”

The pegasus gritted his teeth in anger, glaring hatefully at the stallion. “Fine then! Have it your way!” Spreading his wings, the pony tried to leap towards the tall earth pony, only to be stopped when the earth pony grabbed his neck, choking the teen.

“I did warn you.” The stallion said, jumping over the wooden counter and throwing the pegasus at the unicorn thug. Concentrating on the large earth pony, Toy reached back and grabbed the dagger that was stuck to the counter, using it to stab the earth pony thug’s hand. He ignored the screams, as he grabbed the pony’s head and lifted him up. Seeing the two thugs behind him get up, Toy proceeded to use the large pony as a makeshift club, hitting the other two thugs with their friend.

As soon as Toy felt the pony in his hands go limp, he tossed him away, raising his foot and stomping down at the unicorn’s stomach, causing the thin pony spit out a concerning amount of blood.

The pegasus paled at the sight of his two allies and cowered. The teen raised his hands and shouted at the brown furred pony. “Wait! Please stop! We’re sorry, we’ll leave, please!” He pleaded.

Toy paused for a moment, lowering his foot. After a moment of silence, the pony finally responded, his voice carrying a cold metallic echo in it. “I’m sorry, but I already gave you the chance to surrender earlier.” Raising his fist, his eyes shined brightly. “I did warn you.” The pegasus’ scream was cut short as he was knocked unconscious by the punch.

Taking a moment to survey the area, Toy tsked at the damage they caused around the counter. “What a mess, I had just finished cleaning earlier.” Looking down at the three unconscious ponies, he frowned.

“Toy?” An elderly voice called out from the back, “Is everything alright there? Have the guests arrived?”

He turned towards the voice and called out. “No sir, just a couple of thugs making trouble.” He said, picking one of them up and tossing them over his shoulder. “They did make quite a mess though.”

The elder growled. “Let me guess, more Thunderbolts?” He scoffed. “If they want me to build something for them all they have to do is just pay me! None of this prancing around with their tiny, insignificant weapons and peacocking!” The elderly man grumbled, turning back to his work. “Make sure to clean up the mess! I want to make a good first impression with the new clients!”

“Yes sir.” Toy said, calmly picking up the other two with his free hands and making his way to the back of the store with the three ponies, intending to leave them at the dumpster outside.

Upon hearing the bell chime at the front, Toy stopped sweeping and looked up, his eyes narrowing at the odd costumed group.

The leader, he assumed, wore a beige trench coat, obscuring most of the costume, and only showing a small amount of red that colored said costume, his face was covered by a black mask with a pair of red lens. Taking a step forward, the man gave him a friendly wave, “Hello there, are you the owner of this establishment?”

Toy frowned, pausing to take a look at the other two behind him. The one standing to his left was a mare wearing a trench coat, covering her face was a plain grey bandana. He could see the white fur that wasn’t covered by the bandana, and a small amount of curly red hair sticking out from her hat.

While he was confident that he could take on the two of them, it was the third member of their group that worried him. Standing to the masked man’s right was a diamond dog, the canine wearing a metal wolf shaped helmet that obscured the upper half of his face. The dog wore a ragged green vest, and a black spiked collar, its paws covered by a pair of metal gauntlets, which ended with two large spikes. Unlike the other two, he didn’t bother obscuring his features, allowing Toy to see his grey fur, most of which was already turning white, indicating his advanced age.

Realizing that he was taking too long to answer, he stood straight up and turned to answer. “No, I am not.” He said, shaking his head. “May I ask what is your business with him?”

The leader raised his arm and scratched the back of his head, humming in thought. Shrugging his shoulders, he answered the earth pony. “Well you see… I got a radio that just can’t carry a tune.”

The earth pony stood straighter, and gave the three a smile. “Ah, you must be the guests.” Walking towards the backdoor, he opened it and stepped aside to allow them to walk through. “Please forgive my rudeness, it wasn’t long ago that we had a couple of thugs trying to strong arm Mr. Gus into making them weapons. I was just worried that you were trying to do the same.”

The masked man waved his hand. “Don’t worry about it, I get it, really.” The three then made their way past the pony, heading downstairs to enter the workshop. As soon as the costumed trio stepped through the door, the pony walked towards the front door and locked it, making sure to flip the open sign to close before following the three into the workshop.

Unlocking the last door, Toy stepped through the doorway, holding the door open for the trio to step through. Turning his head towards the workshop, he called out to his employer. “Mr. Gus, the guests have arrived!” He yelled, closing the door and locking it once the diamond dog walked through. Walking through the trio, the earth pony raised his hand and pressed down on the left side of his chest. The trio jumped back in surprise when a blue light washed over the pony, before leaving behind a towering machine in his place.

The silver colored machine was humanoid in design, and towered over all of them, easily being around 7 feet tall. its head was somewhat oval-shaped, and his face had a small plate with vents for a mouth. The robot had a single glowing, red visor for eyes. Its torso was out-thrust and had a rectangular blank screen in the middle. Raising its three fingered hand up, it spoke up, its faceplate moving as it spoke. “Would any of you like some tea?” It asked.

Seeing the three of them stay silent, the machine lowered its hand and bowed its head slightly. “I see, I must've startled you. Forgive me, that was not my intention.” The robot raised its head and continued to look down on them. “I had assumed you three had been warned about me, clearly I was mistaken.” Raising its claws, it placed its claw on its chest and gave a deep bow. “I am T-04, you may however call me Toy.”

The masked man was the first to recover, cautiously taking a step forward, his eyes roamed, taking in every single detail of the towering machine. “Didn’t think Equestria was advanced enough to produce robots…” He murmured, his gaze meeting the robot’s own. “T-04, right? Does that mean there are three more of you around?”

The robot shook its head. “There were. T-Series automatons 1 through 3, and T-05, are unfortunately all terminated. I am the last of Mr. Gus’ greatest creations.” The automaton then leaned down a bit, looking at the human at eye level. “Your word choice however concerns me… you make it sound as if there are others like me around outside of Equestria. You must be mistaken.” It said, shaking its head. “There are no other automatons in Equis. Mr. Gus is the one who created the concept of automatons, and through much trial and error perfected his work with us T-Series units.” It rose up and turned away, heading towards the stove. “I believe you may be thinking about golems. It's a common mistake, and unfortunately, one that I am used to.” Turning on the stove, it picked the grey kettle and it down on the burner.

He shook his head, “No wasn’t talking about golems, though it's good to know that there are some, will have to see if I can get or make one myself.” The masked man murmured to himself. “I was talking about robots, or automatons as you call them.” The machine turned its head to look back at him. “I’m not from here. Back in my homeland, robots are something that is rather popular. And just by looking at you, I can tell that you’re a robot. A machine made to resemble a creature and able to replicate their actions automatically.”

The machine was silent for a while, staring at the masked man as the kettle began to whistle. “Interesting. That is similar to the definition Mr. Gus made of the automatons upon the creation of its concept.” Turning off the stove, Toy grabbed a teapot and began pouring the water into it.

“Is it now?” An elderly voice called out, startling the two. Walking into the workshop was a short, elderly griffon, the griffon only barely reached the masked man’s chest. His head possessed many features similar to that of an owl, and underneath his hook shaped beak was a long white beard. The old bird wore a plain white shirt with a pair of overalls over it, making him seem rather harmless, especially with the large, thick glasses over his eyes. “I was not aware that there are other automatons around.” He said, raising his claw, he offered it to the trio. “My name is Gus, though you may also know me as the Tinkerer.”

Taking his claw, the masked man shook it. “Scarlet Spider, no relation to the Spider besides us having similar powers.” Nodding his head towards the other two he introduced them. “And this is my team, Valkyrie and Sköll. We’re the Fenrir Mercenaries.”

The old man hummed. “Yes, Kingpin told me about you, and told me about what you were looking for in your weapons.” He said turning around and walking towards the table, the griffon leaned towards his cane as he walked. “I was surprised at first when I heard about your request. It's not often that I get asked to make something with a non-lethal option. Usually I just add that in myself.” The bird grinned and waved his cane at Scarlet. “But unlike the rest, I can tell you have a good head on those shoulders of yours. Someone with a body count is going to get a lot of attention, and depending on how high that body count is, you will soon find yourself with enemies on all sides. Worst of all is that if someone figures out that I’ve been the one supplying them with their weaponry, they’ll come after me next!” He squawked, his large brown wings flapping, causing a lot of brown feathers to fly around the room. “It's a good thing that I won’t have to worry about you.” He settled down, accepting the cup of tea Toy presented him.

Seeing a cup being offered to him, Scarlet took it from the robot’s claws and uttered a quick thanks. “My team and I aren’t in the business of killing people. We’re mercenaries, not assassins or hitmen. Besides, it's just as you said, it’ll bring too much attention towards us, and not the kind of attention I like.” Upon handing the others their cups, the machine walked towards the back of the room, looking through one of the boxes.

The bird nodded, stroking his beard. “That's good to hear, I was right about you being smarter than most.” Reaching under the table, he brought up a large briefcase and set it down on the table. “Anyways, the weapons you asked for.” Opening the briefcase, he revealed three metal rods with a yellow grip, with the tip of the rods forked. Next to them were a dozen spheres, all of them having a pin at the top. Bringing another briefcase, Gus revealed to them six blasters, a dozen blue cells laying next to them. “And this one I’m assuming is for you my furry friend.” He said, gesturing to Sköll as he opened the final briefcase. Inside of it was a single metal club, on the grip were few small colorful buttons. “I do suggest reading the manual for how to operate these delicate tools.” Gus suggested, stroking his beard.

Hearing a metal clanking sound, Scarlet looked up and spotted the robot walking towards them, in his claws were a pair of flip phones. “You will need these.” He said, handing them to Sköll and Valkyrie. “I was told that Scarlet already had one, but you do not. They are already activated, and already have our numbers, and the Kingpin’s, in your contact’s list. Should you have any questions, please read the manuals.” Without waiting for a response, Toy walked away from them and stood behind Gus protectively.

Pocketing the new phone, Valkyrie walked towards the table and carefully examined the baton. Seeing that there were two buttons, she spoke up. “What do these buttons do?”

“The bottom one is to extend and retract it, the big one on the top is to turn it on.” Gus answered, scratching his beard.

Picking up his metal club, Sköll gave a few test swings. “It's got a nice weight to it.” He grunted. “What's the buttons for?”

Gus frowned. “They are to activate the functions your leader wanted. Retractable spikes, turning it into a flail, and turning on the anti-theft protocols. You can find more details in the manual.”

Sköll grunted, swinging the club a few more times before shrugging. “Can’t read.”

The griffon’s eyes widened in surprise. “O-oh, I see. Well I suppose you could get one of your friends here to read it for you and explain the functions.”

Scarlet nodded, waving the griffon’s concerns. “Yeah, I’ll be sure to read it with Sköll, don’t you worry about it.”

The griffon nodded slowly, accepting his answer. Turning towards the human, he cleared his throat and repositioned his glasses. “So tell me, I’m assuming you’re satisfied with the gadgets I’ve presented to you?”

Giving the weapons one last look, he nodded. “They all look great so far. Can’t wait to test them out. And if they work just like how I asked them to, I don’t doubt they’ll be perfect for the job.”

Gus clapped his hands and smiled. “Excellent, I’m glad to hear it!” Seeing the watch on Scarlet’s wrist, he hummed. “Tell me, how’s the holowatch working for you? I assume it's working just as intended?”

Scarlet nodded, smiling behind his mask. “It's perfect. Should’ve known you were the one who made it. For the first time in a long time, I’m able to walk outside without any fear or getting any stares from anybody.”

“Glad to hear it.” Gus said, stepping away from the table. “I originally made it for my T-Series Automatons, so that they could blend in with the ponies and experience life for themselves. Of course with all but one gone, I didn’t mind selling them to the Kingpin.” He tilted his head in confusion. “I didn’t think he would however just give one of them away for free, he must be quite invested in you.”

The three mercenaries shared a look, glancing at each other nervously. “Any idea why he’s giving us these weapons for free?” Valkyrie asked, carefully putting the shock baton down.

The griffon shrugged. “Who knows? I’ve known him for about six years now, yet his actions still confuses me at times.” He stroked his beard and hummed. “If anything, I bet it's so that you’d all become indebted to him. But surely you must've suspected that.”

The pegasus sighed. “Yeah, I was afraid of that.”

Gus hummed, glancing carefully at the three of them. “Might I suggest that you practice caution when dealing with the Kingpin?” He said, tapping the floor with his cane. “His gifts are grand and often seem too good to be true, and that's usually because it is.” Turning around, the old bird began walking towards the next room, waving the three of them to follow him. “Come along now, if I remember right, your mission is to take place later tonight. Not a lot of time to practice with your new tools, so we shouldn’t waste too much time now.”

Scarlet nodded, following the griffon into the other room, the others doing the same. Upon entering the large, spacious room, he immediately took notice of the five training dummies set up near the end of the room, along with some punching bags, and a large mat set up in the middle of the room. Looking to his right, he saw a number of used targets, most of them containing scorch marks, at his left was just another long, empty table. Overall, the training room wasn’t that impressive, it seemed rather normal really. “Honestly I was expecting to be made to practice against some robots, or automatons as you call them.” Scarlet said, frowning behind his mask in disappointment.

Setting down the briefcases on top of the empty table, the griffon snorted. “As if it's so easy to just create a new automaton. Though if I only had the time and materials, I would be able to create some automations for you and everyone else to fight against.” Opening the briefcases, he moved away from the table and began walking out towards the door. “Well, I’ll leave you to it. Toy here will supervise your training and make sure none of you hurt yourselves doing something stupid.” Upon reaching the doorway, Gus stopped, turning back for a second and pointing at them with his cane. “Oh, and do me a favor, when you break Shocker out of prison, tell him to keep his gang under control! Or else next time I won’t have Toy be so gentle when kicking them out of my store!” With that said, Gus grabbed the door knob and closed it hard, almost slamming it.

The trio looked between themselves for a second before walking towards the table and picking up their weapons. Upon being satisfied with their choices, the trio began walking towards the various training equipment, intending to make the most of their limited time before the mission began.

Author's Note

AN: Hello our wonderful readers! Its me again, Star709, the great Co-writer of SiE with a new chapter! As always please tell us your thoughts on it, if you liked it or not, and why, any and all forms of criticism helps. Sorry for the long wait, unfortunately life happens, and not to mention we do tend to get stuck from time to time. Also I'm being swamped with school work, with the winter semester ending next week, I'm finding myself to be really stressed out with all the work i'm given. Well hopefully you all enjoyed the chapter! At last we meet the Tinkerer, the creator of Prowler's and Shocker's special gadgets, and the creator of the holographic watch Kaito used in the previous chapter. Will the Fenrir Mercenaries succeed in breaking Shocker out of prison in their first job as a team? Or will they fail and get captured? All of these questions will be answered soon.

I personally don't see why she ends her sections like an old Adam West Batman show, but I do agree with her on letting us know your opinion on the chapter. Until next time.

Star

-Dark