Alex Rider: Universe Shift

It was late in England, very few people were driving home from work. One of these people was Alex Rider, however, he wasn't simply returning from a shift. It was never that easy with him. He was returning from his mission in New Zeland, thinking about it still sent chills down his spine.

The man's name was long since forgotten, Alex knew that it was for a good reason. He had attempted to take over the world -much like the other's Alex had faced- however, he was very different at the same time. This man had run an organization called Midnight, and he was absolutely insane -not nuclear warfare insane, start the next ice age insane. it had been a long mission, and at this point he was tired.

Alex was a handsome man with a light tan, messy blond hair that was just long enough for his comfort. A single strand of his boyish hair dangled in front of a pair dark brown eyes that had seen too much. His body was similar, scared in ways no one could really explain normally, but that no one questioned. Especially the one on the back of his right hand, which was an old burn from a old case.

Despite merely being nineteen, Alex had already lost his boyish appearance, however, he had gained one new look, courtesy of several long years of military training and his small time in Scorpia, Alex looked dangerous, allowing him to be used as a deep undercover agent. Alex's outfit was simple, consisting of a dark blue t-shirt, a black hoodie, grey jeans, and sneakers.

Alex shifted his car into gear and drove towards the Royal and General bank. Of course, the bank was a fake, it didn't really exist. It was simply a front for the agency that Alex worked for his entire life, the MI6.

Alex worked for them since he was fourteen when his uncle Ian Rider was killed after discovering the virus embedded in the Stormbreaker computers. It was left up to Alex to stop the madman himself, which he ultimately did. After only eleven days of military training and no gun training, with the Special Air Service (SAS).

Alex had signed himself up for a five-year course, using his connection to Commander Wolf. He had been top of the class and had learned to perfect his aim with most kinds of guns. Something he knew was extremely useful, and it had been. It had helped save his life a few times, and he had gotten one rule changed, he was now allowed weapons, but nothing that could kill a man.

Alex let out a small sigh as his phone began to ring, tapping the screen he rolled his eyes. The MI6, Mrs Jones to be exact. Groaning lightly, Alex allowed the call to go through, letting out a small sigh.

"Calling to check up on me Mrs Jones? Worried about your best agent?" Alex teased, sarcasm dripping from his words.

"Please Mr Rider, we simply have something we want to show you," Jones replied, voice nearly toneless. It had taken Alex's trained and familiar ears to hear the small little chuckle. It was likely that she knew he was on his way to report the success anyways, making the call slightly pointless.

"I just got home Mrs Jones. If it's Mr Blunt being insistent, tell him he's feeding me then." -Alex glanced at his watch quickly, shaking his head, -"I normally have dinner about now, so it's a bit of a late night."

"Dinner is part of the plan, Mr Rider. I will see you when you arrive." Mrs Jones reported, hanging up the phone.

It wasn't long before Alex pulled into the parking lot of the building, walking into the lift with a small sigh. He let out a small whimper as memories flooded his mind. Everything he had been through up to that point threatening to bring him to his knees. Alex forced himself to breathe, knowing that nothing would be accomplished if he broke.

"Mr B, why are you letting him hurt?" The young voice asked tugging on the business man's jacket.

The boy, who was merely six years old, would grow up to be handsome. His messy long ginger hair -which in the right lighting could appear quite blond- fell over his ice blue eyes and girlish eyelashes. However it wasn't just his eyes and pale skin that his hair covered, it also covered his true identity.

A long scar rested on his neck, so straight it could have been drawn with a ruler. Of course, this wasn't the case, he had been shot during an assignment in the tropical rainforest.

The young boy was in a bright red t-shirt with a large spider on the front, blue ripped jeans-from the boy playing 'Spy' in the air vents- and a pair of sneakers.

Alan Blunt glanced at the child, his face showing no emotion. The man was the complete opposite of the child beside him, everything about him was clean, grey and boring. "Look Yassen..."

"Yasha! Y-a-s-h-a! My name is not Yassen. I want my old name back." Yasha hissed glaring at the man, his eyes surprisingly dark. "And I don't want an excuse. I want to know why you let him get to the point that he's nearly crying, then send him out again!"

"Alex is a very strong man Yasha, but he needs to release," Mrs Jones soothed, gently placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. Her eyes held pure sympathy, something Yasha rarely saw from anyone at the MI6.

Yasha sighed lightly but nodded, placing a hand over his scar.

It wasn't long before Alex reached the office, but was surprised by the colourful toys scattered around the otherwise completely grey room. The trains and dolls contrasting against the otherwise boring office, as well as it's inhibitor. Looking around Alex found his eyes landing on the brightest thing in the room, Yasha.

"Mr Blunt. What is a six-year-old child doing in your office? I didn't think you had children." Alex asked a note of venom in his voice. The child in front of him froze, eyes growing wide in shock. Alex couldn't tell if he was afraid, but there was something familiar in the look, a darkness that he had seen somewhere before but couldn't quite place it.

"Alex, I would like you to meet Yasha Gregorovitch," Blunt responded, his voice still revealing nothing. "I believe you know him by another name, however."

"Yassen? You're saying this is Yassen Gregorovitch?" Alex gasped turning quickly to the man. hos breath hitched, as his eyes narrowed. "What kind of horrible joke is this? I saw what happened to Yassen, this boy can't be him!"

"I assure you this is no joke, the MI6 collected his body from air force one. Using some technology you don't need to know about we brought Yassen back in the only stable form we could."

"Yasha! I do not want to be called Yassen! I want my old name back! I know what I did! I know everything that I did! I don't want to be that man anymore!" Yasha snaped, English quickly slipping into Russian in his anger. Tears streamed down his face, a hand yanking his hair back from his neck. Both Alex and Mr Blunt went completely silent.

"Alex, all that we ask is that you assist us once more. You see, the reason we are introducing you to Yasha is that he's going with you." Mrs Jones cut the silence, gaining all three of there attention. "We have word from our friends at the UPED that they require some assistance, a spy."

A small screen dropped, revealing the picture of a young woman, with fair skin and bright blue, almond-shaped eyes. Her hair -which was striped with blond, pink and purple- reached her mid back in loose curls. A small tattoo was visible on her left shoulder, a blue heart of some sort, partially hidden by the pink sleeve of her top.

"This is Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, she resides in the Crystal Empire. Being the..."

"Hold up, what? The Crystal Empire? What the heck is the Crystal Empire?" Alex hissed, jaw-dropping as the slide changed revealing an entire town, not filled with people but pastel ponies. "What the hell is today?"

The Ponies were walking and Alex couldn't help but notice that they were behaving more like humans than equine. He also couldn't help but notice the pastel pink pony, a horn on her head, wings on her back. She looked familiar, almost like the girl. Her main was long -tri coloured just like the girls- with a tail to match, her wings were a gradient of pink to purple, her eyes were the exact same almond-shaped blue, and as the camera zoomed Alex noticed that she had a mark on her flank. It was a large blue crystal heart with two gold spirals underneath it.

"This is Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, more commonly called Princess Candace. She's the Princess of love if I remember correctly," Blunt responded, deciding to take over the debriefing, only to be interrupted as well.

"Mr B was talking to a nice weight pony, he looked silly in that world. But she said that she needed a young pair to investigate the pink one because she was acting a bit strangely." Yasha reported, however unlike Blunt or Jones, he was chuckling. "Apparently she's been investing a lot of money into technology research, which wouldn't be too suspicious if which wasn't acting like she had something to hide."

Yasha shook his head as he continued," I talked to her myself Alex, she seemed nice but jumpy. She didn't want to tell me why she was doing as much research as she was, just that she was researching a way to take something from here to there. I don't think she meant literally, I think she meant like information."

Alex was taken aback by the boy, who was dragging him from Blunt's office toward's Smythers. His was excited, Alex could tell and didn't blame him. Smythers was extremely kind and had always bent the no weapons rule. He was the gadget man of the MI6 and was also a genius.

Alex was pulled to a halt however when Mrs Jones grabbed both him and Yasha by the shoulder, shaking her head disapprovingly. Were they not getting gadgets? Alex couldn't believe it as they were both pulled back into Blunt's office, which seemed to have lost the toys in the few moments they were gone.

"Not so fast you two, as much as gadgets would be interesting, we cant really send them through the portal. They would malfunction and most likely explode, most things from this world would in fact." Jones informed the two pouting boys as she closed the door, a small smirk toying at the lips.

It didn't matter how old Alex got, he still got excited about the possibility of using gadgets. It was their own fault really for doubting his natural talent, but he was always pouty when he was told 'no gadgets' and she still found it adorable.

"Not to mention that you're not going to be human at all. The moment you pass through the portal, you will be a pony. We are not certain what species or what you will look like exactly." She reported pressing a small button, the filing cabinet in front of them splitting to reveal a large mirror.

Alex looked downright shocked, Yasha was smiling brightly. Their reflection wasn't right, where they should have been stood two ponies. The first one was a dark brown pony with wings, a messy blond main with an ice blue stripe, the tail matched his main. Alex took quick note of the long scar on his chest from where the sniper shot him and winced a bit. Beside it was a smaller brown pony with a fire red mane and tail. His eyes were grey with a touch of blue, with Yasha's girly eyelashes. Alex was quick to notice -once again- the scar that lined up perfectly with the child beside him.

"Alright, you two are going to walk into an entirely new world with entirely new laws. Be careful who you trust, you are going to meat Princes Luna, and she's going to show you around." Blunt reported as the two walked forward, thru the mirror and into the other world. "Equestria is counting on the both of you."

"Should we have told them what they were doing in more detail, sir?" Mrs Jones asked, turning to face Blunt. The man simply shook his head, sitting behind his desk as the cabinet returned to normal.

"Yassen actually summed it up pretty well Mrs Jones. I'm certain they will be perfectly capable of adapting to that world. they are going to have to if they are to succeed."