Jeffrey paced back and forth, a creeping sense of dread sinking into his heart. The press conference had be put together in only a few days time, and now he was beginning to wonder if it was a good idea. Jason and Chrysalis had been very persuasive, but there was a lingering sense of doubt in his mind. Could the world handle it?
He cast a glance over at Jason, finding himself rather jealous of the man's calm. Jason had, much to Jeffrey’s annoyance, refused to wear anything formal. He had, thankfully, dressed himself in something a little less...scruffy. He still wore jeans, though this pair was much nicer, sporting a tri-diamond pattern on the right pocket. His hoodie had been replaced by a black shirt, covered by a hunting jacket.
Jason looked over at Jeffrey, giving a confident smile. He had been fiddling with the device on his watch. It was vaguely familiar, but Jeffrey couldn’t figure out why. “Just relax man, it’ll be fine.” He pushed away from the wall, running a hand through his hair. “It’s just a press conference.”
“Yeah, just a press conference,” Jeffrey repeated, giving Jason a glare. “We can’t all be as cool headed as you.”
“Cool headed?” Jason laughed, stepping up to the curtain. “Nah, I’ve just been in worse situations.” He parted it ever so slightly, peeking out at the crowd. “You gotta wonder, what do they think they’re gonna find out about? It’s not everyday a toy maker holds a press conference outside of a con.”
“If you’re asking what I said this was going to be about, I told them Hasbro had something planned that would shake up the world of toys.”
Jason snorted, looking over his shoulder. “Well, that's certainly one way of putting it. Things are gonna get pretty heated for a while.”
A pair of technicians walked into view, making a beeline for the men.“I think that's a vast understatement.” Jeffrey sighed, allowing one of them to equip him with a headset. “You're effectively going to piss off everyone with any sort of view on the planet.”
Jason shrugged, waving off the other technician. “They’ll get over it. Better we do it now, then having to learn the hard way.”
Jeffrey raised his eyebrow. “And what would that be?”
“Ever see Avengers? Picture that, but with a crazy woman putting the sun out.”
Once Jeffrey was outfitted with his headset, the technicians scurried off. The two men fell into a pregnant silence. Jeffrey incessantly checked his watch, the LED screen telling him they still had about five minutes before the conference began.
When they reached two minutes, a clipboard carrying woman sporting a headset strode over to them. Jason eyed her passively, noting the distracted look on her face.
“We have a minute until you go on.” The woman passed Jeffrey a bottle of water, almost snatching it away after he took a few sips. “Are you ready Mr.Parker?”
Jeffrey groaned internally, taking his place at the podium. “As I’ll ever be.” The woman nodded, hastily requesting Jason step back and out of sight. He begrudgingly complied, stepping off the stage and leaving Jeffrey alone at the podium.
Taking a deep breath, Jeffrey pushed down his doubts. All he had to do was introduce Jason, and he would do all the talking. He made a show of patting down his suit, using the banal task to clear his mind. The clipboard woman counted down, nodding as the curtains opened, exposing him to the audience.
A few camera flashes caught his eye and Jeffrey threw up his best smile. “Good evening everyone, it’s always nice to have such a turnout.” Someone dragged his attention to one of the TV cameras. “I know it’s odd for a toy company to hold a press conference, but I assure you, what we have tonight will more than explain our actions.” He turned towards the stage, clearing his throat. “I’d like to turn the stage over to my associate, a Mr. Jason Hughes.”
Jeffrey took a step back, the crowd giving a half hearted clap. Jason walked onto the stage, regarding the audience rather passively. A few strides brought him up to the vacated podium, though he did not speak. Jason placed his hands on the object in front of him and with a heave, pushed it off the stage.
Ignoring the startled gasps of the crowd, he moved to sit down, ice forming under him, taking the shape of a chair.
“So, I can only imagine what you think of me at the moment,” Jason spoke, his voice carrying across the room. “I can’t imagine any of you know who I am, maybe a few of you watching on T.V do, but that's not a lot.”
Jason scanned the faces in front of him, pleased to see that he had their attention. “My name is Jason Hughes, and eighteen years ago, I went missing at an anime convention.” He leaned back, crossing his legs. “As it stands, I was removed from this world and put into another. One we humans know as ‘Equestria.’”
“What?” A reporter heckled from the crowd. “As in ‘My Little Pony’?”
“Yes smartass.” Jason gave the man a flat look, tapping his fingers on his armrest. “That's exactly where I went. Now, may I continue or are you going to keep interrupting me?” This seemed to quiet the heckler down, and Jason resumed his speech. “But, I don’t expect you to believe me. I’m just a Living Man looking motherfucker, who am I to any of you?” He smirked, ignoring the glare clipboard woman was shooting him from off stage. “So, I brought someone with me to impress upon you the truth. Twilight, if you don’t mind.”
A burst of purple light exploded next to him, getting more than a few screams from those in attendance. Those frightened screams were soon replaced with gasps of awe. Standing next to Jason was Twilight Sparkle, in the flesh. It was noted by those who knew the show, however, that was very far removed from the mare they had watched years ago.
Twilight now stood at least six feet tall, her mane and tail waving as though in wind. Her eyes held much more experience, a glint of curiosity shining within. Her most distinguishing feature was a rather ugly scar running across her throat.
Princess Twilight Sparkle spread her wings, trotting to the edge of the stage. Dozens of cameras flashed, and suddenly, all eyes were trained on her. “Greetings humanity, I am Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship.” Her lips parted in a sincere smile. “It is a pleasure to finally speak to you, face to face.”
Jason rose up, placing his hand on Twilight’s side. “So, you’ll all be taking the pretty pony princess’ word for it.” He patted Twilight’s back, smirking at the heckler from before. “So yeah, My Little Pony. Deal with it.”
The room exploded into a cacophony of noise, the reporters clamoring to have their voices heard.
“Mr. Hughes, how did you get sent to Equestria?”
“Are you declaring war?”
Jason whistled as loud as he could, quieting the room back down. “I realize this is a nuke as far as news goes, but let's have it sink in for a while ya?” Jason winked, his smirk growing. “I’ll give it about... a week. Then we’ll have another press conference. You guys can ask all the questions you want then.” Jason touched two fingers to his forehead, giving a salute before both he and Twilight blinked out of existence.
“The world is still reeling from Hasbro’s press conference...”
“Many are demanding answers, and some are even suggesting rather outlandish explanations...”
“I’m telling you it's all just holograms! It’s just another way for the liberals to push the transhumanist ideology!”
Jason studied the man on screen closely, turning to look at Jeffrey. “How the hell did Alex Jones get back on TV?” He turned back to the screen, stroking his beard. “Did Glenn Beck get back on TV too?”
Jeffrey promptly snatched the remote from him and turned off the TV. The two men shared a tense moment, both staring at the other. Jason rolled his eyes, shifting so his feet were on the couch.
“You just left me there!” Jeffrey snapped, tossing the remote onto the recliner. After pulling his houdini act, Jason had sequestered himself in a hotel room, leaving Jeffrey to deal with the mess. “You told me you were going to introduce Chrysalis, not Twilight Fucking Sparkle!”
Jason held up a finger, cutting off the rest of Jeffrey’s angry tirade. “I left to make things dramatic. It’s not like I disappeared on you, you knew this is where I was staying.” Jason closed his eyes, scratching his beard. “As for Chrysalis, as much as I love my wife, we all agreed that she’s kinda obscure to people outside of the fandom. Plus, putting up the Princess of Friendship as our mascot seemed like a good idea.”
Jeffrey dropped down into the recliner, an exaggerated sigh escaping his lips. Taking a page from his long abandoned yoga class, he performed a breathing exercise. It made him feel better, though it didn’t put his mind at ease.
“Okay, then, why the week?” he questioned, locking eyes with Jason.
“Gives them time to think up actual questions,” Jason replied. He certainly was the most nonchalant person Jeffrey had met. It was as much infuriating as it was endearing. “And, it has the added bonus of pissing a bunch of people off, which is always fun.”
Jeffrey studied Jason for a moment. “And you’re supposed to be a king?”
“Prince,” Jason corrected. “I’m a prince. And no, I’m not all that into formality or shit like that. That’s Caddy, Luna and Sunbutt’s thing. Everyone knows better than to come to my court with bullshit. Chrysalis doesn’t have time for petty nonsense.”
“I couldn’t tell...” Jeffrey grumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Will you at least tell me who's going with you to the press conference? Please?”
Jason held up a soothing hand. “Alright, alright. I promise, I’m not gonna pull anything else. It’ll be Luna, Twilight, Gilda, Chrysalis, and myself.”
“Gilda?” Jeffrey raised his eyebrow. “Wasn’t she some tertiary character or something?” With Jason’s mind blowing revelations, Jeffrey had pored over the show, wanting to be as prepared as possible.
Jason shook his head. “Yeah, don’t say that to her face. That’ll just piss her off. And then you’ll piss Dash off, and it’ll be a thing. It’s really not worth it.”
“Ponies are so high maintenance.” Chrysalis trotted in from the bedroom. She laid on the couch with Jason, laying her head down on his chest. “Half of their problems are over the stupidest things. Like that time Weighted Scales got pissy when those foals got mud on his shirt.”
Jeffrey thought for a moment. Given his knowledge of the subject matter, pony names almost always reflected their lot in life. Ergo, Weighted Scales was probably someone wealthy. “That seems like a reasonable thing to take to someone. Maybe not royalty but, you know.”
Chrysalis rolled her eyes. “We live in the Everfree, Jeffrey, there’s only so much we can do to tame the forest. It gets muddy, and young ones like to play in mud. If that idiot wanted to look ‘fancy’,” she said rather mockingly, “after a storm, it’s his own damn fault.”
Personally, Jeffrey couldn’t see why anyone would like Chrysalis, let alone marry her. Sure, she had that ‘queen bitch’ thing going on, and some people liked that, but in person she made him want to scream.
“Anyway Jeff,” Jason got the other man’s attention. “After the conference, a few other people are going to be joining us.” Reaching into his pocket, Jason retrieved a small pouch. He tossed it over to Jeffrey, who blinked in surprise. “I’ll need you to make some reservations.”
Curious, Jeffrey opened the pouch. He froze, staring down at a bag full of gold coins. “Jason... that's a lot of gold.”
“Maybe here.” Jason waved him off. “Stuff’s as common as tin back home. It’s the gems that are important.”
Dismissing it as more weirdness, Jeffrey placed the quite heavy bag into his jacket pocket. “Er, right. I might as well reserve the whole damn hotel for you.” As unorthodox as it was, he doubted the hotel would reject getting paid in gold.
“You do that,” Chrysalis agreed, buzzing her wings. “Don’t worry about security, we can do that ourselves.”
“Right...” Jeffrey cleared his throat. “I’ll be heading out then. I have a conference to set up.” Making his way over to the door, he paused. “How did you do that thing with the ice?”
Jason smirked, scratching Chrysalis’s ear. “Magic.”
The auditorium was packed to capacity, filled with reporters and their support teams. A hum of excitement hovered over the crowd. The faint chants of protesters was barely audible over the mutterings of those in attendance.
After a few more moments of tense silence, Jason stepped on stage. For the occasion, he had forgone his preferred look, instead wearing a formal outfit consisting of green and black. A black necklace hung around his neck, inlaid with emeralds, a similar crown resting on his head.
Stepping up to the podium, he cleared his throat. “Well, I see everyone's here. Had a good week I hope? I know the conspiracy idiots did.” Straightening up, he gazed out at the crowd. “Now, allow me to formally introduce myself. I am Jason Hughes, crown prince of Equestria, one of the ruling heptarchy.”
This sent up a murmur through the crowd. Jason ignored it, and continued on. “I would like to introduce a few of my fellow rulers.” He turned, holding his arm out behind him. “Princess Luna, Princess Twilight, Empress Gilda and my wife, Empress Chrysalis.”
Said royals appeared in a flash of pinkish light, complete with their own thrones. Luna appeared to be unchanged, except for a scar under her eye. Gilda was clad in ceremonial armor, and appeared a little uneasy. Chrysalis was as different as Twilight was. The holes in her legs were gone, and her crooked horn straightened.
“Now, let’s be clear on a few things.” Jason took the microphone, taking a seat in an empty throne next to Chrysalis. “We are not invading. Equestria doesn’t go to war lightly, and I doubt we could get our subjects to do it for conquest. It just wouldn’t happen.”
Twilight grabbed the other microphones in her magic, passing them out to the others. “I personally assure you all that we come in friendship, and nothing else.”
“Princess,” one reporter asked, raising her hand. “Why wait until now to make contact?”
Twilight smiled, not bothered by the sudden question. “Well, we had to get things in order first. It took a while to fine tune the portal between Earth and Equestria. Sure, Jason could just teleport us all here but, we agreed we wanted something more reliable before we arrived.”
“Aye,” Luna agreed. “You humans are as jumpy as ponies are. Only, you reach for weapons before running to safety.”
The conference continued like this, with the royals explaining their reasons for coming and a little about Equestria. The reporters took in every word, and the whole world watched in fascination.
Up on the second floor, intently watching the stage was a short, teenage girl. She stood at 5’4”, wearing a tank top that barely contained her rather generous breasts and a pair of shorts. Black hair rested on her head, reaching down to her shoulders. A few strands fell into bright red eyes, which she quickly brushed away. A familiar weight on her shoulder got her attention.
“Doesn’t look like anyone’s up to any trouble,” came the voice of her ever faithful companion. “If anybody is gonna try something, they haven’t started yet.”
Glancing over her shoulder, she was greeted by the sight of a pale gray, weasel like creature. It was bipedal, sporting a crown and collar of bright pink feathers. Two of these feathers grew from its ears and another two acted like a pair of tails. At the center of its forehead rested a yellow oval.
“Yeah, but, the conference just started.” Reaching down to the bag at her feet, the girl offered the weasel an enigma berry. Once he had taken it, she grabbed another for herself. “I hope someone tries something.” She took a bite of the berry, savoring the strange flavor. “I want to show off a bit.”
The weasel rolled his eyes. “Remember, your dad said to use False Swipes. Humans are squishier than ponies.”
“I know that, Chill,” the girl huffed indignantly. “I’m not gonna use Hyper Beam on anyone.” Glancing towards the side, she muttered. “Damn squishy people.”
The weasel poked her cheek, gesturing to the other side of the room. “I think Freya’s trying to get your attention.”
Blinking, the girl glanced across, seeing a girl of similar looks waving over at her. She waved back, adding a thumbs up. The other girl nodded, moving off out of sight.
“Bet she’s a bored as I am,” she commented, tossing the remains of the berry into the nearby trash can. “How do guards put up with all this boredom?”
“Money. Patriotism. Loyalty. Things like that.” Chill jumped off her shoulder, stretching out. “Come on, Rita, we gotta get back to our patrol.”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming.” Rita grabbed her bag off the floor, following after Chill. The pair walked through the building, looking for anyone suspicious. Not that there were a lot of people around. Almost everyone in the building was in the auditorium or peeking in from the doors. Sure there were staff, but, they appeared to just be doing their jobs.
Rita almost gave up hope of anything happening when she caught sight of a group of men standing around one of the bathrooms. Nudging Chill, she carefully made her way over. They spoke quietly, in a language neither of them understood.
“Would it kill them to say anything in English?” Rita complained in a harsh whisper. Not wanting to arouse suspicion, she pulled out her phone, tapping away at it. She shot Freya a quick text, letting her sister know she might have found something. Gazing back at the men, she caught another guy walking out of the bathroom.
He greeted his friends, zipping his fly. Rita started to look away, until she caught sight of a gun sticking out of his pants. Feeling a slight rush of adrenaline kick in, she gave the group another once over. They weren’t dressed like security, and she didn't think the place would let their guards carry their guns like that.
“Looks like we got some trouble,” she whispered down to Chill. Cracking her knuckles, Rita stepped up to the men, clearing her throat. “So, they just let people carry guns now huh?” Catching them off guard, Rita flicked her wrists, making white energy blades grow over her fingers.
Lunging forward, she slashed the closest man across the face, her claws drawing blood. Wheeling around, Rita leaped at the next man, tackling him to the floor. Drawing her arms back, she clawed him across the face before rolling off him.
“Get her!” one of them shouted in a thick accent, drawing his gun. He fired off a few shots, sending Rita scrambling behind a pillar. “She’s one of the freaks. Don’t let her out of your sight!”
“Oi! I am not a freak!” Rita growl. “Gee thanks dad.” Rita closed her eyes, letting out a long breath. Her body glowed a light pink as she used Calm Mind, focusing her abilities. She cringed, hearing more bullets pepper the other side of the pillar. “Rita, only use False Swipe. We don’t want you killing anyone,” Rita mocked, recalling her father's insistence.
“Your dad doesn’t want to leave a bad impression,” Chill reprimanded, darting over to her. Looking up at her, he twitched his ears. “Come on, Rita. You have like sixty moves at your disposal, and you can’t take down a buncha mooks?”
“I can take them down just fine!” Rita clenched her fists, going over possibilities in her mind. “Aha!” she snapped her fingers, a big grin on her face. “Got it!” Focusing again, she winced as a bit of energy left her, forming into a strange little floating doll. She pushed it out into the open, letting it take the focus of the bullets. Rolling around the other side of the pillar, Rita flung her hands out, sending ghostly purple chains.
They wrapped around the men, who suddenly couldn’t use their guns anymore.”Yes!” Rita fist pumped, grinning cockily at the group. “There goes your toys.” She resummoned her claws, bouncing on her feet. “Looks like it’s just fists now.”
“She’s some kind of monster!”
Rita frowned, putting her hands on her hips. “Do I look like a monster to you?” She paused for a moment. “Well, I mean, technically Pokemon is short for Pocket Monsters...”
“Now is not the time for a tangent,” Chill scolded, dashing to the over side of the group, getting into an aggressive stance. “We should let Freya know we got these guys.”
“Right.” Keeping her eyes on her prey, she pulled her phone back out. Tapping a few buttons, she called up her sister. “Hey Frey, Chill and I got a buncha guys over here, had guns and everything.”
“I got a few guys too,” Freya’s voice informed, “Cocooned them to the ceiling.”
Rita stuck her tongue out. Her siblings had cocooned her in her sleep before. It was hilarious to them, but not to her. Not when she had to spend hours getting the damn gunk out of her hair. “Think you could come and get these guys? We don’t exactly have any rope over here.”
“Yeah, I’ll be over in a sec.”
“Awesome!” Rita ended the call, dropping the phone down her cleavage. “So! Before my sister gets here and wraps you losers up, you wanna spill your secrets?” She looked between them, noting their silence. “No? Come on guys, you’re not gonna get away, you might as well talk.”
“Doesn’t look like they’re gonna talk,” Chill tsked, shaking his head. “Your dad isn’t going to be happy when he finds out they tried to crash the conference.” Scratching his chin, Chill thought for a moment. “Bet Freya could scare them into talking.”
“Yeah, leave it to Freya to make a buncha grown dudes piss their pants,” Rita giggled, crossing her arms.
It took Freya a few minutes to arrive. By now, she had dropped her disguise. She still walked on two legs, but skin had been replaced by chitin, and a jagged horn rose from her forehead. Several of the men shouted in their native tongue, stepping back in fear.
Freya ignored their shouts, rounding them up with red magic. “You didn’t get shot did you?”
Rita shock her head. “Nah, just used Substitute.”
Freya nodded. She placed the men against the wave, proceeding to cocoon them. She ignored their panicked shouts, sealing them inside red, gooey sacks.
“Wait!” the last guy in line shouted, squirming in Freya’s magical grip. “I’ll tell you anything you want to know!”
Freya leaned down, looking into his eyes. “Nah, I already got what I wanted out of the other guys. Tough luck buddy.” Before he could go back to shouting, she covered his mouth. Once they were all sealed, she stepped over to Rita. She waved her hand, applying a dose of Cure to her.
“Ah~” Rita stretched out. “Much better!” Grinning at Freya, she brushed her thumb along her nose. “Thanks Freya, I’d have had to knock all those dudes out.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Freya smiled down at her, patting Rita’s head. “I gotta look out for my little sister.”
Rita huffed, pushing Freya’s hand away. “You’re only a year older than me. Don’t get all high and mighty.”
The trio stood quietly, taking in the damaged pillar.
“Dad’s gonna be pissed isn’t he?” Rita asked, kicking at a spent bullet casing.
“Oh yeah.” Freya nodded. “Dad’s gonna be so pissed these idiots showed up.” Red flames consumed her, and she redonned her disguise. “We should get out of here. The cops are going to get here soon, and we don’t want to be found out.”
“Right.” Rita scooped up her bag, letting Chill resume his spot on her shoulder. Following after Freya, the two of them left their prisoners to their fate.
Jason stepped into his hotel room, sighing to himself. The last day and a half had been a whirlwind of insanity. He had cancelled the conference halfway through once the gunshots had gone off. After that, he spent most of his time with the police. Lots of questions about who subdued the gunmen... and cocooned them to the walls. Jason had merely said he had his own security, and left it at that. It wasn’t like they could use fingerprints.
“That took forever...” He tossed his jacket onto the couch and kicked his shoes off haphazardly. Dropping onto a chair, a long sigh escaped his lips. “Alright. Meeting time.”
On cue, Twilight, Chrysalis and Luna trotted out of the bedrooms. They took positions around the room, with Twilight closing the blinds, and Luna casting a soundproofing spell. Once they were certain of their privacy, they began their discussion.
“What did you find out from the police?” Twilight asked, gazing across at Jason. She had dispensed with her regalia, laying on the loveseat.
Jason put his feet up on the table, leaning back in his chair. “Not a whole lot. Apparently, we pissed off a ton of groups. Religious people think we’re whatever bad thing is in their religion, and other people just don’t like us.”
Luna frowned. “You did say that would happen. Have the police figured out which group those would be attackers belong to?”
“Cops didn’t get a lot out of them.” Jason scratched his beard, working through what he had managed to get from the police. “They speak Ukrainian. Which is not something I speak. Not that they’d let me talk to them.”
Chrysalis buzzed her wings. “I think I can solve that, dear. Give me a few days, I’ll get something out of them.”
“Not gonna ask Chrissy, you just do your thing,” Jason agreed. “What we have to think about is, with that much security, how did they get guns in in the first place?”
Twilight adjusted her wings. “Do you suspect something?”
Jason twiddled his thumbs. “Maybe I should have a talk with the president...”
Luna snorted, stamping her hoof. “Jason. I understand your desire to show your strength, but, just appearing in a world leader’s office is not going to do us any favors.” She gestured to Chrysalis. “We should tread carefully. More so than we planned.”
“I agree with Luna,” Twilight added.
Chrysalis hummed, resting her hand on her head. “As much as I like you showing off, I’d like to get things done for once.”
Jason sighed, throwing his hands up. “Fine, fine. Chrissy can handle it.” He rose up, cracking his back. “I’m gonna get a beer, you all just chat about whatever.”
The mares watched him walk out into the kitchen, already beginning to discuss their next course of action.
Author's Note
A crossover with Displacedwriters story https://www.fimfiction.net/story/376788/displaced-guardian-child
Before anyone asks, crossovers in this story will have far more impact, and be nowhere near as numerous.
Lingering Grudges
Jason tossed the token up and down, eyeing it intently. It was a delicate situation, the world was just getting over the idea that Equestria existed. They knew it was going to be a rough road, and the subsequent riots and social upheaval occurring around the world didn’t surprise anyone. Introducing the concept of the Displaced was going to be insane. Hell, he hadn’t even told them about the rest of the realms yet.
“If you keep playing with that thing, I’m going to confiscate it.”
Jason glanced over, seeing Celestia giving him a bemused look. Sitting up, he set the token next to himself. “I’m trying to think, Sunbutt. We are in a delicate situation here.” He adjusted his position, putting his feet up on the arm of the couch. “‘Sides, aren’t you supposed to be back home?”
Taking a seat across from him, Celestia settled down. “Luna and I switched shifts. I thought it would do you good to bounce ideas around with the one with the most experience.”
Rolling his eyes, Jason nodded. “Right, right. Well, we’re only a week out from the announcement, and we’ve had one attempted attack.”
“Which your daughters thwarted,” Celestia pointed out. “They did well to restrain themselves.”
“Did you think they wouldn’t?” Jason questioned.
“No, I had complete faith in them, even if their method of subduing them made things complicated.” She gestured with a hoof. “Cocooning people didn’t do much to settle the population's minds.”
“Better than leaving them tied up.” Jason rose up from his seat, walking to the kitchen. Grabbing a beer from the fridge, he retook his seat. “This stuff barely does anything anymore...” He complained, pulling the cap off.
“And yet you drink it.” Celestia moved her wing, levitating some papers from under it. “I had Chrysalis speak to Mr.Parker. A rather popular ‘talk show’ wants to interview Twilight.”
Jason took the papers, looking them over. “I didn’t watch talk shows all that much, but, Twilight’s the most open of us. Might as well say yes.” He lifted the token up again, weighing it quietly. “An idea occurs to me...” He focused on it, sending out the summoning call.
A portal opened up above the two of them and a girl soon fell out.”Why do I always have to fall out of a portal?” she groaned out as she got up off the ground. She began dusting her clothes off, then turns around and spots Jason. “Oh hey, so are you the guy who summoned me?” Chara asked before pulling out a bar of chocolate from nowhere and starting to nibble on it.
Jason and Celestia shared a look. “Yeah that would be me. I’m Jason.” He stood up, holding his hand out.
“Wait, did you say Jason? As in Jason the half Frost Giant and wielder of the Omnitrix!?” she asked, shaking his hand and looking at him with awe.
“Uh... yes?” Jason frowned, looking down at her.
“Awesome, I finally get to meet one of my favorite Displaced, I mean I know that displaced are real and not just stories now, but I always loved reading the fanfics of you before I was Displaced!” she said as she looked up at him with a smile rivaling Pinkie Pie.
Jason’s eye twitched and he glared at a snickering Celestia. “Right... okay... and you are?”
“Oh, I'm Chara Dreemurr. It's an honor to meet you,” Chara said, a bit embarrassed that she forgot to introduce herself.
“A pleasure to meet you, Chara,” Celestia spoke, getting her attention. “I am Princess Celestia, though, you might already know that.”
“Oh... um... hey Sunbutt,” Chara said as she shifted awkwardly and tried to look everywhere but at her.
Jason rubbed his neck, not sure how to proceed with this. “So... you old enough to drink or...?”
“Well, I would physically be eighteen if I actually aged, I would be older if I had not gotten displaced in the first place, why do you ask?” Chara asks.
“Because I got beer.” Jason gestured to the kitchen. “And beer helps get shit off your chest.”
“Sure, give me a few please.” Chara says pulling a chair out of nowhere and sitting down in it.
“I protest giving a child alcohol,” Celestia spoke up, frowning after Jason. “Perhaps you can ‘age her up’?”
“Fuck off Sunburn I need this, you have no idea the kind of shit I've had to go through!” Chara said as she held up her hand, a blue energy string shooting out of it and into the kitchen, grabbing hold of a beer and pulling it back to her.
Jason pinched his nose, grabbing the beer with his free hand. “Look, I know how easy it is to be a jackass. I do it a lot myself, but when people are trying to be nice, it’s usually a good idea not to insult them.”
“Sorry, I had a fight with Discord a few days ago and he literally gave my conscience a physical body while giving me a shadow like Link’s and then after that, I had to face one of the only two beings in existence that I actually feared, so sorry if I'm a bit of a jackass.”
“It’s fine.” Jason looked down at her. “I do think you should consider the ‘age up’ bit. Not that I’m not cool with sharing, just the thought of being trapped as a kid bothers me.”
“If it bothers you just put a illusion over me, I'm not chancing my immortality for some beer.” Chara said as she finished off the beer before getting another one.
“I can alter reality, your immortality will be fine.” Jason rolled his eyes.
“And I said no,” Chara said just as she popped open another beer. “Besides this isn't the first time I've got shit-faced.”
Celestia put a little barrier around the beer. “That doesn’t mean you should.”
Chara surrounded her finger in pure black energy before she started melting the barrier around the beer. “Yeah, that's not going to work because of my little ability called the black soul energy!” Chara said in a overly happy voice as the barrier melted around her touch.
Jason dropped onto the couch, pinching his nose. “It’s like listening to a younger me,” he grumbled. “May I ask why you want to stay a child?”
“Probably because I don't want to have to deal with being a female adult, I can ignore it as a child but as an adult that would be downright impossible,” Chara said as she finally pulled the beer out of the barrier and started drinking it, despite Celestia's effort.
“So you’re afraid of responsibility?” Jason asked, leaning forward.
“Oh it's not that at all, I'm not afraid of responsibility, I just don't want to deal with being a ‘female’ adult,” Chara said as she finished the beer, using her soul strings to grab yet another.
Jason leaned back. “Honestly? I think you’re missing out.”
“So Jason I see you're back on Earth and Celestia's with you, what's up with that?” Chara said as she was starting to get drunk.
“We decided humanity had spent long enough living in ignorance,” Celestia spoke, doing her best to remain polite.
“Me, I don't trust Humanity, they're a corrupt species that if I had it my way I would wipe out,” Chara slurred out as she started drinking her fifth bottle, grumbling something under her breath that sounds like ‘ungrateful bitch’.
Jason sagged in his seat, putting his head in his hands. “Great. Just what we needed, another Ben.”
“Oh I'm nothing like that bastard, I have a reason for hating Humanity and I don't mind the Displaced as my token says I'll help any displaced whether they be good or evil,” Chara slurred out, tossing her empty beer bottle away before grabbing another.
Jason caught it. “No That was your last one.”
“Oh, but still I'll help any displaced because most of them are in a Equestria where they would need help,” Chara slurred.”Besides, when a mother can honestly say to her son that she hates him, all because he doesn't do everything she says without question, that's when I say a species is too damn corrupt and needs to die.” Tears started dripping down Chara’s face as she pulled out another chocolate bar to start munching on.
“No, it’s really not, that just means you had a shitty mom,” Jason replied, watching her closely.
“That's just an example off the top of my head, there’s also the family that abandoned him and the friends that either betrayed him, used him or abandoned him,” Chara said as she pulled her legs up to herself. “What did I ever do to them to deserve to be treated like that?” The last part was spoken barely above a whisper.
“Sometimes bad things happen. The whole shouldn’t be blamed for what the few do.” Jason got up, sitting down next to her. He opened his arm, offering her a hug.
Chara latched onto him and started crying into his shirt. “Why can't things ever be simple like in the first Equestria when it was all too easy, all I had to do was kill the slavers and topple the government, but now I have to deal with these weird feelings every time I'm near my new Equestria and Celestia. Why does she make me feel safe and warm whenever I'm near her and why do I feel like I never want to leave whenever she hugs me?” Chara slurred as she looked up at Jason.
Jason leaned down, looking into her eyes. “Because part of you wants what you never had.” He gestured to Celestia. “Celestia is kinda like Superman, always trying to do the right thing, make people happy. She comes off like a mom to a lot of people, she seems to be coming off like one to you.”
“But I've never had a parent that didn't either abandon me, die, or hate me!” Chara said, wiping her eyes.
“So? That doesn’t mean you don’t want someone to give you the love you didn’t get the first time.” He grabbed her gently, setting her on his lap. “Listen I can’t tell you what to do but I think you should grow up, not all at once but slowly. Have a better childhood. Maybe let Celestia be the mom you should have had before?”
“Ok,” Chara says softly. “Thanks, you're a lot better in person then reading your fanfiction.”
“Yeah, well, I had a lot of time to grow up.” Jason wiped a few tears away. “Now, hold still.” His eyes turned yellow and he touched her head. “There. You’ll stop aging around 23.”
“Nooooo, I don't want to age, I don't want to have to go through puberty again!” Chara whined.
“Eh it’s really not that bad.” Jason patted her head. “‘Sides, you might regret it later if you don’t.”
“But if I want to age I can always get my Celestia to do it, plus I don't want to have to deal with experiencing having my first period.” Chara shuddered violently.
“You’re exaggerating.” Jason rolled his eyes. “Being a woman is not that bad.”
“You don't get it, I was a man before I was displaced, I got fucking TGed by the merchant!” Chara said, looking at him with a glare.
“And I carried a child to term,” Jason shot back.
“But then you should know why I don't want to have to deal with it!” Chara said, her glare doubling in intensity.
“And I’m telling you, it’s not that bad. What? You think I’m gonna lie to you?”
“Just please undo it and I'll get my Celestia to age me up when she feels like it,” Chara said as her head dropped.
“Chara.” Jason lifted her her up, looking into her eyes. “You’re not going to get comfortable with your body like this. That's what puberty is good for. If it really bothers you that much, I can just make you male again.”
“But, I don't want to go through puberty again, either puberty, I have a hard enough time keeping a lid on my emotions as it is, I don't want to accidentally kill someone when I lose control,” Chara said, turning away from him.
“That’s also something I can help with.” Jason snapped his fingers, conjuring up a bracelet. When Chara looked closer, she noticed it had various runes carved on it. “This will help you keep a clear head. If you ever start getting overwhelmed, just take a breath and say ‘logn’.”
“Huh, these are some runes I've never seen before. Thanks for the bracelet,” Chara says as she looks it over.
“Do you still want me to take back the other thing?”
“Yeah, well, my Celestia is a literal goddess and she's had to watch the ponies she saw as her kids die over and over again,” Chara said, looking down.
“You’ll still be immortal, you know.”
“Oh I know I'm immortal, it's just... I don't know, I just can't think of a single thing that I could do as an adult that I can't do now,” Chara said as she pulled out another chocolate bar before trying to pull up the load button. “Damnit, I'm too drunk to actually reload.”
“Well there's being taken seriously,” Jason began. “Having kids, smoking, driving...”
“Why would I want any brats and I can already smoke, besides there's no motor vehicles in Equestria, so there are those out of the way,” Chara said as she kept trying to pull up the load button and failing miserably.
Celestia giggled a little. “While having children isn’t for everyone, it’s something to take pride in. To say, I helped create a life and helped them be a good person.”
“Yeah, but I would be the worst mother in existence. Besides, I've got the blood of millions on my hands,” Chara said before pulling up a screen that said [LV 60]
“I’ve killed a lot of people too,” Jason shrugged. “You should have some faith in yourself.”
“You don't get it, I caused genocide to an entire species, man, woman, and child destroyed, entire cities, I literally blew my universe’s Canterlot off of the fucking mountain out of spite,” Chara said, looking down in shame.
Jason sighed. “That doesn’t mean you can’t redeem yourself. You did bad things, now it’s time to forgive yourself and start doing good things. The time has come to say farewell to your blood stained past.”
“How can I just put it past me when I can feel all the power that I gained from all the lives I have taken?” Chara said, avoiding both of their gazes.
Jason didn’t miss a beat. “Give it up.”
“But I can't give it up, I don't know how, plus I don't think I'd want to, even if I could there are still tons of Zelda monsters that attack Link’s Ponyville on a daily basis.”
“Chara, I’m only going to give you this choice once. Do you want to start over, to cast off your bloody past, and start over? Or are you going to let what you have now consume you?”
“I would just gain more because monsters attack Ponyville I reside in every day and every time I kill something I gain [execution points], so what's the point of getting rid of it?”
“Then don’t kill anyone.”
“Then the ponies would get hurt or killed by all the monsters. Link is not always there, he is sent out on missions by Celestia.”
“Listen, I don’t know a lot about Undertale, I wasn’t here when the craze happened. What I do know is, there's always a way to solve your problems without killing anyone.”
“I'll think about it, but I most likely won't be the one to give Mercy-”
“No, Chara,” Jason interrupted. “This isn’t an ‘I’ll think about it’ moment. You need to make a choice, right here, right now. Are you going to be strong enough to throw away the bloodshed, or are you going to keep going down this path?”
“But I don't want to be weak again,” Chara said, her voice so low that they almost didn't hear it.
“No one does, Chara,” Jason agreed. He tightened his hug around her. “Giving this up means you’ll give up a lot, but that doesn’t mean you can’t replace it with better things.”
“I'm scared, what if I have to fight someone and if I gave up my LV, i’ll too weak to even hold them off, I barely held my own against Nightmare Moon at a LV of 40.”
“Then, you’ll just have to be a true pacifist. Honestly? That seems a lot harder to me. Knowing someone is trying to hurt you, but having the courage to refuse to hurt them back.”
“But what if I have to fight someone like Betty, someone who has the power to negate my save and load ability?” Chara asked, looking up into his eyes.
“Chara. I would rather die than yield. If I lost to someone stronger than me, I’d die knowing I fought my hardest and never gave up, that I died an honorable death.”
“Why do I have to choose though, it's not as if I go out of my way to kill Innocents like the real Chara does, usually they're just collateral and I've been going out of my way to try and save innocence now, so why do I have to choose!?” Chara said as a fresh set of tears started running down her face.
“Because it’s destroying you.” Jason leaned in close. “Look at you. The guilt is eating away at you. Deep down, I know you hate what you’ve become, but you're so used to it, you’re afraid of changing. Afraid of being anywhere but where you are now.”
“But Shadow is supposed to eat my guilt and pain, that's why I let her stay!” Chara slurred out.
“That’s running away from the problem and you know it.”
“Hey, it worked for the doctor, it can work for me!” Chara said.
“And he didn’t fix his problem either!” Jason glared at her. “Stop running, Chara. Face your fears.”
“Why should I have to face being mortal, weak, and dying when I don't have to, I can stay immortal, keep getting stronger and give the finger to death on a regular basis!” Chara snaps, glaring back at him, tears still in her eyes.
“Because you shouldn’t let fear control you.” Jason held her gaze. “Listen. I have more important things to do than waste my time on someone who doesn’t want to change. You want to stay where you are, fine. I’m not going to keep pushing.” Setting her on the ground, he stood up. “I think you should go home.”
“I don't let fear control me, I don't let anything control me!” Chara says loudly before whispering “Not anymore.”
Jason shook his head. “Look, I’m not a psychiatrist, nor do I have the time to be. You don’t want me to help, fine. It was nice meeting you.”
Chara sigh and looks down for a bit. “Look, I'm sorry if I'm being a bit of a brat, it's just I've worked so hard to get my power to where it is, doing countless things that I'm not proud of, literally killing millions and I don't want all of my efforts to be pointless.”
Jason shrugged. “That’s really your hang up. Like I said, I have more important things to worry about.”
“Like introducing the ponies to Earth, Anyways when are you going to introduce the Displaced to the humans?” Chara asks, finally getting her emotions back under control.
Jason fixed her with a hard look. “Not now.”
“Could you at least summon me when you do? It's always fun going to a new universe,” Chara says with a shrug.
“Yeah, when you get your shit together.”
“Hey I'm usually more in control of my emotions than this,” Chara says indignantly, putting her hands on her hips.
“I gave up caring five minutes ago.” Jason grabbed Chara’s token. “I’ve had a long week and I didn’t need this.”
“Well anyways thanks for the help, also could I take some beer back with me and could you take that thing off that will make me age?” Chara asks putting her chair back in her inventory.
“I’m not giving you any beer.” Jason crossed his arms. He looked increasingly annoyed, glaring down at her.
“What about in doing that thing that makes me age?” Chara said not really caring about the beer as it was more of an afterthought.
“Hodgepodge doesn’t want to.” Jason shrugged. “And if he doesn’t want to, you’re shit out of luck.”
“Hey do you still do that thing where you splice a summoned displaced with DNA from your Omnitrix?” Chara couldn't help but ask.
Jason sighed, pinching his nose. “Yes, I still have that. I suppose you want something?”
“Do you have Princess Celestia's DNA in there? Because if you do that's what I want?” Chara said excitedly.
Letting out a long sigh, Jason shook his head. “No Chara, I do not have Princess Celestia’s DNA in the Omnitrix.”
“Do you at least have...?” Chara said disappointed that can't get Celestia's DNA.
“At least have what?”
“Damn it I can't remember what all you had that wasn't from the show!” Chara exclaimed, angry at herself for forgetting crucial information.
“Just tell me what you want,” Jason snapped, “You’re trying my patience.”
“I want to be able to protect my mind because that is the only weakness I have,” Chara said remembering how she was defeated by both Nightmare Moon and Discord.
Celestia spoke up, looking between them. “There has to be something in your watch that could help her.” She gestured to the watch. “You do have a lot to choose from.”
“Actually I want to be able to fly, it will definitely make fighting the changelings easier!” Chara said excitedly.
Jason sighed. “Fine. Splice her ass with dragon DNA.” The watch chirped, slamming a blast of green energy into Chara.
When the green light died down, Chara was standing there looking mostly the same as before, except for the demon looking black wings with red undersides sticking out of her back. “So how do I look?” Chara said, looking at Jason with anticipation.
Jason couldn’t help but crack a smile. “Like a little hell raiser. Anyway, I think you should get going, Chara.”
“Okay, see you Jason, but if you ever need any help though always feel free to call me!” Chara said with a genuine smile.
Jason nodded. “Chara, our contract is complete.”
The portal opened up and they saw it was above the throne room looking straight down. Chara took one look and dove backwards into it before it closed behind her.
Celestia watched as Jason dropped back into his seat. She had been around him long enough to know to tread lightly when he was like this. “That was...”
“Pointless?” Jason asked, tossing the token across the room. “That accomplished nothing but pissing me off.” Letting out a long sigh, Jason stared up at the ceiling. “All I did was yell at a child and look like a hypocrite.”
Clucking her tongue, Celestia retrieved the token with her magic, placing it on the table. “I think you tried to help someone and your temper, mixed with the stress of our situation, got the best of you. Why did you summon her anyway?”
Jason thought for a moment before sitting up. He held his watch arm up, giving it a light shake. “Even with this thing on my wrist, even with Rita and Chill, and Zed, getting people to believe in the Displaced isn’t going to be all that easy. I figure, finding a Displaced that isn’t a mental case, who would help us out and go on TV, would be a good idea.”
Celestia hummed, giving the idea some thought. He did have a point, finding a friendly Displaced who didn’t mind being used as a mascot would help smooth out acceptance of the idea. “Why don’t we call on someone you know?”
Jason waved her off. “Who am I going to call? Gilgamesh is too damn goofy, Vash is... somewhere. I haven’t talked to Team Rocket in decades.” Standing up, Jason moved over to the window, placing his hand out. “I’ll just keep an eye out for tokens. See if I can find anyone who can fit the bill.”
Rising up, Celestia moved to join him. “I just want you to know, I think you’re a good man, Jason.” She placed a hoof on his arm. “You can’t make people change, Jason, you can only show them the way, and trust them to make their own path.”
Chuckling, Jason turned to look at her. “Thanks Sunbutt, that certainly works as a generic pick me up.”
Celestia scoffed, socking him in the arm. “Well, if you’re going to be like that, I’ll let you sulk.” She gave her head an exaggerated toss trotting into one of the bedrooms.
Finding himself staring out of the window, Jason watched the cars below. “Honestly, I can’t help but feel like we’ve kicked the hornet's nest.” Jason pulled himself away from the window, glancing at the beer cans littering the floor. “Right, let’s get that cleaned up.” He pushed the nagging feeling out of his mind, moving to clean up the slight mess.
The top floors of Norn tower were off limits to all but the highest members of the company. Said high rollers gathered around a glass covered table. Like some kind of tablet, the table displayed a variety of images, mostly centered around Jason.
“We knew this day would come,” a gruff, older man spoke. He sported a well kept beard and deep blue eyes. “When that failure of a hitman slept with his target. If he had done his job, we wouldn’t be here now.”
A blonde woman across from him spoke up. “None of us expected the boy to amount to anything. Don’t pretend like you did.”
“Enough bickering,” the man at the end of the table spoke, his voice having a musical quality. His eyes were an icy blue, and his hair a light blonde. His white suit was immaculate, a trademark, it seemed. An unnatural radiance clung to him, gifting him with otherworldly beauty. “Placing blame gets us nowhere. ‘Jason Hughes’ is nothing but an annoyance. A child that should have stayed in his little cartoon.” The others responded in agreement. “I doubt it’ll take us long to show him just how enormous his mistake was.”
The blonde woman from before took the floor. “And what if Hel decides to get involved?”
The man frowned at the mention of the death goddess’s name. “Then we’ll just have to make things personal.”
