Fiend Shifter

Chapters

Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7 pt1.
Chapter 7 pt2.
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 15
New World
Fighting then learning

Chapter 3

Over the next week I now supervised little Pipsqueak and was an official Royal Guard. Twilight was fairly self manageable, and when Luna was at work my main job was basically following Pip all day. He was a little sport. Full of energy and life. It was nice, it reminded me a lot of baby bro when he was oh so little. He was also so tiny too. He’s ten but looks almost six.

I couldn’t help but feel a little down though, even though Pipsqueak was super happy to be adopted by his favorite princess, and had a new ‘big sister’ to help look over him...I still missed my baby brother so much...

"Is something wrong miss Anna?" Pipsqueak asked me, breaking me out of my thoughts. He was doing homework at the dinner table, simple math and all that.

"Oh, sorry. Just...thinking about my little brother." I sighed out.

"Mama says you think about him a lot." Pip said. "What's he like? Does he look like you?"

"Well we have the same hair color." I said while brushing a bit of my brown hair out of my face. "But honestly, he's a lot like you when he was your age. Adventurous, energetic, happy and so much more."

"Oh, so he's human too? What's his name?"

"His name is Tommy, and yeah he's human." I said honestly.

"Hmm… is he just a tad shorter than you, wears sweatpants, a red hoodie and orange flip flops?"

I blinked. "I mean...replace the flip-flops with normal shoes and yeah kinda." I said slowly.

"Huh, weird. I've seen him with flip flops."

"Where did you see him?" I asked quickly, hoping to find my little brother and save him..

Pip looked a bit uncomfortable when I asked him. "Sometimes… in the corner of my vision, or a window, or in the mirror reflection even. It's been happening for a month and, at first it would scare me, but I kinda got used to it, was worried the others and adults would call me crazy."

"Oh…" I sighed out. "Sorry for making you uncomfortable...I just haven't seen my brother in over a month and...I'm worried about him…"

"I can understand that. Believe me, I just wish I knew what they wanted. Sometimes it's like they want something, and others he's just standing there."

"Well...do you see him now?" I asked curiously.

"No. It's typically random. But it's always at least once a day."

"Alright." I nodded. "Thanks Pip...it means a lot to know my little brother is still here…"

"I'm happy to help. I just wish I could help more."

“You’re still young, still have time to grow.” I said simply. “I know you’ll be a big help, but right now just enjoy your time with Luna and all your friends.”

"Heh… yeah."

Later that day, Spike gave me a note from Princess Celestia.

Dear Anna,

In returning to the underground vault we stored the artifacts in, we've discovered the old Crystal catacombs within Canterlot mountain Teeming with Fiends. On top of that, we discovered a crack here as well. The guards using magic have sealed it all for now, as our weapons are not particularly effective against them. Enclosed in the accompanying documents folder are images of some of these said fiends. If you recognize any of them please send back detailed information that can aid us. As of now Canterlot citizens remain unaware of the threat, as the shield spells are holding well and strong.

P.S: Your first payment will be arriving tomorrow morning.

-Princess Celestia.

“Cool, so what monsters are there?” I hummed while sifting through the pictures...and my heart sank a little. “Oh jesus, these things are there?” I muttered nervously, seeing Varuna, Master Tonberry, Black Elementals, Adamantoise, and even a fucking Behemoth King. “Well...I suppose mom’s area should be high level considering she was the third part of the quest…” I muttered while getting a quill and paper and writing down all I knew about the five monsters, even using my strategy guide to give even more exact details about the monsters and how powerful they are.

With all that in hand I placed them back in the documents folder and gave them to Spike to send to her. I checked to see if Pip was asleep. I gave a knock, no answer so I opened the door. Inside I saw… is that a Save Sphere? Pip was looking at the thing at the foot of his bed. “Do… you know what this is?” He asked me.

“Why...is the world a Save Sphere here?” I asked nervously, walking over and gently putting my hand on the glowing orb. “Hopefully I can save…”

The orb glowed. There was no save option… there was a teleport option. Here, back in the Everfree forest, and a new location. The throne room.

“Well...that’s interesting.” I muttered.

Looking it over, there was also a...challenge. Saving Tommy.

“Oh?” I hummed while checking what the Challenge was rather quickly, even if I was trying to stay outwardly calm, seeing a chance to save my little brother was making me really giddy.

Progress Lock! Requirements: Collect 15 forms.

“Jeez...that’s a lot of forms…” I muttered nervously. “Where the heck am I going to find ten more fiends?” I frowned, not swearing in front of Pip or Luna would get kind of pissed at me.

With a sigh I gave Pip a goodnight kiss, telling him the sphere was harmless as I headed off to bed.

Every night as I fell asleep I wound up back in this odd Zanarkand with Jecht. He’s been teaching me moves and blitzball.

“Too bad there’s no Blitzball in the world I’m in. Blitzball always looked fun.” I said honestly.

“Training for it takes many years of physical practice just to get your body in the proper shape.” Jecht said, stretching some. “I was ten when I played my first game, and to be honest, I only did it because my dad made me.”

“So it just runs in the family?” I asked curiously. “From father to son?”

“Heh...yeah.” Jecht said, dropping to his butt on the ground. “My father was a bigger bastard to me than I was to Tidus. To be honest, I was hard on him to make him hate the game, to never even wanna touch the ball. Hate me, and hate the sport, that’s all I wanted for him.”

“Why did you want him to hate you? Cause it had the opposite effect on him, where he wanted to beat you at your own game.” I said honestly, having explained to Jecht the first time we met how I knew him and a lot of other things.

“...Because I didn’t know what it meant to be a father. Heh, my dad would make me jog around the park throwing that ball at me and if I didn’t dodge, I’d get knocked over and he'd kick me back up to keep running. Every day all day for years. I didn’t have an example on how to be a dad. So, I tried to keep my distance. He would have been better off without me, or that’s what I figured. When I ended up in Spira, I regretted a lot, knowing I was never gonna see him again and if it wasn’t for Auron and Braska, I’d have never gotten back on my feet.”

“I mean, your first thought could have been ‘see what your dad did, and do the opposite’.” I said simply. “Instead of being a massive prick, how about actually being supportive. I know you didn’t really have much of a ‘role model’ when it comes to fathering, but you could have done it like...a Coach I suppose, but less strict.”

“I know that now, but can’t reclaim that time lost… Uh, what’s that?” Jecht and I looked up. We both saw what looked like a comet or something flying across and down to us.

“No idea, but it’s heading right towards us!” I panicked as I moved away from where the comet might hit.

Jecht and I hid around the corner, the thing hitting right where we were. “Ouch!” That voice? Wait, what? “Damn, wait… Zanarkand?!” Is that Tidus?!

“How in the nine hells is he here?” I asked worriedly, looking over at Jecht nervously.

“If I knew you think I’d be hiding it?!” Jecht asked, whispering yelling.

“Well...better figure out what the hell’s going on…” I muttered while taking a deep breath and getting out of our hiding spot. “Hello?” I asked Tidus carefully.

"Huh?" He said, turning and seeing me. "Oh. Hi. This is Zanarkand right? Please say yes."

“It is Zanarkand.” I nodded. “But how are you doing and...how did you get here?”

"Hmm… well I feel fine. As for how I got here… I have no idea. One moment I'm competing in a Blitz Ball game back in Spira, then suddenly, the lights went out. Next thing I know I'm crash landing here."

“Um...who was there with you if I may ask?” I asked curiously. “And what team were you playing with and against?”

"Believe it or not, it was a team of all Fiends. I was pretty sure it was all a dream… Now I'm wondering if this is a dream too. Cause one thing I remember about Zanarkand… it's never this quiet."

“Well...this is a dream world as far as I know.” I said honestly. “I mean, besides that.” I pointed to Jecht and Tidus’s symbol still floating in the center of the arena. “As well as your old man is here.”

"Wait, what?" Tidus asked.

At that moment Jecht walked out from around the corner, scratching the back of his head. "Well, uh, hey there-guah!" Tidus rushed in, delivering a firm punch to Jecht right in the jaw, and imbedding his head into the nearby wall.

"Been wanting to do that for ten LONG years." Tidus said, stretching the arm he punched his dad with.

“Well then…” I started. “That’s a nice family start.”

After all that I woke up and Tidus finally stopped punching his dad into walls. Hopefully those two can at least talk somewhat before I go back to bed. I got breakfast ready with Spike then took Pipsqueak to school. This part of the day was the longest as I mostly just had to stay still unless there were fiends about, and lately it's all been the same bunch of weaker ones.

“So far it’s mostly been Dingo’s and Condors...I need to find more of them to start getting closer to finding my brother…” I grumbled.

I sighed as I gazed over the playground and surrounding area of the school. Normally I'd read up on spells and such, but I wasn't in the mood today for that. I just leaned against the tree here as I looked up through the leaves. This place is beautiful, and once I get my family back, it really will be home.

“I’ll get you all back...I promise.” I muttered gently. “But after this...I’m gonna go monster hunting.” I muttered to myself, remembering there was a crack in the Everfree so there might be Fiends that I could beat and get there forms hopefully.

As I was about to relax a little, I heard this buzzing fly overhead, and a large Shadow over the ground, looking out from under my tree, I saw it. A Killer Bee. That's new.

“Good to know…” I muttered while shifting into a Condor and flying after the bastard.

The thing spotted me, immediately it tried to sting me, but I got really used to this form and dodged easily, latching to it's head where I blinded the beast. It buzzed about wildly as it was now blind. I cast fire once I got close and watched it burn to ashes. My hud gave me an alert.

[New form Unlocked: Killer Bee]

”Yay!| I thought to myself happily as I shifted back to my human form. “Five down, ten more to go.”

With that acquired I was in a bit better mood. Pip finished up school and I took him home where Luna was waiting, happily picking her son up into a hug. I was dismissed until later so this gave me the opportunity to rush into the Everfree to find some new fiends.

“Alright, so Spike mentioned Zecora, so I should probably find her hut soon, then there’s the crack which might have more Fiends…” I muttered.

I kept an eye out for both, but found Zecora first. She spoke in rhymes and all that, but she agreed to help make me some Mana potions if I help her get the harder ingredients. Everything else she had in overstock, save for two herbs. Moonlight lily's, a breed of highly magical flowers that grows only in the darkest of caves, and stoneroot. A root so tough and resilient, it grows into deposits of metal and even diamond to get harder. For that she gave me a special acid to harvest it with.

The Moonlight Lily's she last picked one from a cave a mile north of here, and the Stoneroot she suggested I ask Rarity for help, as she has a spell for locating gemstones and hopefully can stumble upon one of these roots.

“Alright, so back to Ponyville…” I muttered, double checking to see if there was a save sphere nearby to just teleport to the library and then head to Rarity’s place.

There was, actually, behind Zecora's hut. She swore it was not there this morning. I blame/thank Discord. I then went back to the Library and went back out to Rarity. Her shop was easy to spot. I entered. "One moment Darling." Rarity said from somewhere inside.

“Alright.” I nodded while waiting at her door. “Hopefully she’ll help me with this…”

When Rarity came out she was in a white shirt with a black skirt and heels. "Ah, Anna darling, come by for clothes?"

“Well, that’s going to be something I do later, cause so far I only have this.” I said while motioning to my simple final fantasy ten t-shirt and blue jeans. “But right now I need your help finding Stoneroot, given that they grow in metals and gems.” She said honestly. “Zecora mentioned you’d be the one to talk to about it.”

"Oh yes. A root that grows inside gems and ore? I have seen that, damaged the things dreadfully, if you require it I remember where they all were. Allow me to change and close up and we'll get going."

“Alright, mind if I come in?” I asked politely.

"Of course. I'll be back down in a few minutes." She said, rapidly climbing up some stairs. I was waiting, browsing all the fancy dresses that honestly just made my wallet hurt. Seriously dresses of this quality back on Earth would cost a fortune. She came back down in some kind of fancy overalls and we headed out.

Apparently Rarity had her own personal Gem mine she found out of sheer luck. The first Stoneroot she found for me was fairly small, but she then took me to the motherload. This root was easily my torso in length and width, and had many broken gems littered across it's body. Thankfully this acid is strong and it didn't take much. Oddly light weight for such tough things. She led me to five more, all my arm in length or so before we headed back out. "That was all the ones I've discovered so far dear, if I find more I shall let you know." Rarity said as we reached her shop.

“Thank you, Zecora will be super happy about this.” I said happily. “Oh uh...sorry Rarity, but I’m pretty sure I’ll never be able to buy any of your dresses...even if money is different here from what I’ve seen, I don’t have a small fortune.”

"Small fortune? Darling my most experienced dress is only sixty bits, and those are on the manikins, the ones on hangers are between ten and thirty."

I blinked. “Are...you sure you're not just letting people steal these things at those prices?” I asked slowly.

"Hardly darling. The price of the fabrics isn't that much and I know how to calculate our price. Even the ones with gemstones sewn in are only a hundred or more when custom ordered. These you see here while lovely are ones I make in my spare time, my real money makers are the Canterlot and Manehattan Nobles who all spend up to thousands of bits on custom sets of my attire, from the everyday pony to the royals I serve and dress all."

“Well...back where I’m from, your ‘cheap’ one’s would be top of the line that goes for thousands if not more...god only knows how much your gem set’s are worth back home…”

"Really? How strange? Even gemstone sets while fairly common are only worth that much if well designed and tailored. Granted I fit both qualities but still."

"I mean, where I come from prices are...weird to say the least." I said sheepishly.

"Huh. Well I'm any case, feel free to stop by, I give a friend's and family discount."

“Thank you.” I nodded. “But don’t expect me to ask for...this.” I said while motioning to the frilly dress. “More like asking for this.” I said while motioning to the clothes I already had on.

"Hmm. I'm sure I have something in my Casual collection. Have to fetch it from storage though."

“Just take your time.” I said with a raised hand. “I doubt I have enough money for it as is even if I’m technically a royal because of my job.”

With a wave I left Rarity's and headed to Zecora's to drop off the Stoneroot. She was impressed by all I had. Lastly was the Moonlight flower. Thankfully the cave was easy to find, what I wasn't expecting to see was the crack in the Everfree across the entrance.

“Well crap…” I muttered nervously. “But this is also a good thing, two birds with one stone.”

I ran back to the castle, telling Luna and Twilight about where I found the crack before having Spike send off a letter to Celestia. Within minutes Discord arrived and we went to the crack. "Did anything come out of it before you left?" He asked me as we ran through the trees.

“None that I saw...which is worrying.” I said nervously. “But it shouldn’t be anything too worrying...cause if we’re going by game logic, Ponyville is still the ‘starting area’...” I said, though if a Sinspawn was summoned then bad things might happen.

"I can control a lot of things, but what comes out of those cracks I can not."

“Alright so it’s gonna be a whole lot of ‘who knows what’ll appear’.” I said worriedly. “We better hurry before something comes out of it.”

We rushed to the crack. Four Killer Bees were flying around it.

“Okay, so it’s just four killer bees. It’s not too bad.” I said while bringing out my staff and casting a Fire spell at one of the bee’s.

Discord also blasted them with powerful fire magic. They were dealt with quickly and once they were gone he sealed the crack. That's when we heard something inside the cave roar… cause of course.

“Oh god damn it…” I grumbled while running after the roar.

A large appendage reached out, knocking me back. My eyes widened as it crawled itself out of the cave. The Geosgaeno.

“The fuck is that thing doing here!? That’s a water based monster!?” I panicked while getting up quickly.

"Water huh? So it hates lightning?" Discord asked.

“Nope, this thing doesn’t have any elemental weaknesses.” I said quickly. “It’s strength is in its arms, it’s not fast, but also watch out as it might try to eat you whole.” I said while motioning to the eyeless sea monster, the tendrils on it’s back glowing brightly, it’s strong curved and armored arms ready for a fight. “Right now we’re just gonna keep hitting it hard until it falls.”

"Hard huh? Well, might as well."

So given that this bastard was actually strong against magic attacks, I decided to shift into my Dingo form, fast and agile enough to hopefully dodge it’s attacks as I dodged one of it’s punches and jumped up and bit into the things flesh, which is gross as hell. I jumped away before it could smack me with it’s other fist and I growled. I dodged another punch and leaped on top of it and bit it again, this time followed by a blast of magic from Discord, a non-elemental spell since it looked like Magic Missle of all things causing it to stagger back.

“Well it’s a good thing it’s not immune to magic entirely.” Discord pointed out as he continued to pelt the damned thing with Magic Missile, it’s health draining at a consistent pace but was sadly slow because this bitch was tanky as hell. Discord was able to dodge any punches it threw by either teleporting, slipping past the thing with it’s snake-like body, or just turning into something that it physically couldn’t punch.

So it was like this for a good majority of the time, just me and Discord dodging the Fiend’s punches while we chipped away at its sizable healthpool.

"I have an idea for some heavy firepower, when I snap my fingers, run."

“That’s not foreboding.” I said out loud without thinking, blinking real quick that I just talked normally in a Fiend form.

Discord snapped his fingers, and we bolted. There was a hole appearing above the cave and suddenly, there was a heat radiating from it as I could see a red hot bolder falling through. It hit the boss monster, a loud roar and explosion followed as high force winds blew out in all directions.

“The fuck Discord!?” I panicked, having reverted back to my human form in the process.

"I can repair all this." He said, the wind dying down and finally stopping. The beast was still alive, but badly hurt. "Looks like a few hits will kill it then. Thank goodness."

"Good." I said while shifting into my Raldo form and ramming into it..

With a proper final bash, I slammed into the boss monster hard, letting out a somewhat pitiful cry as it fell over, dissolving into light.

[New Form Unlocked: Geosgaeno]

"Sweet." I said happily, seeing in my Hud I leveled up from that by quite a bit. “So that’s my first boss fight…”

Discord snapped his fingers, the damage all being undone. "So, what were you doing here anyway? Looking for the crack?"

“Well I was trying to collect Moonlight flowers for Zecora to make Ethers...but then the Crack was there.” I said honestly.

"Oh, Moonlight flowers? You could have asked Luna, she grows them as a hobby. Loves gardening but not many plants grow in the dark."

“Would have loved to know that…” I grumbled. “But nine more forms before I can start getting to my brother…”

We headed inside and I grabbed all the flowers that were here anyway. Discord left and Zecora thanked me, making four bottles for me and said she’d send more in a week. The leftovers of the ingredients she was going to grow to keep me in high supply.

“Well so far one successful crack was closed.” I muttered. “Thankfully nothing went wrong here…”

I hit the bed after dinner and went off to sleep.

Back in Zanarkand, Jecht and Tidus were at least talking, spending free time dueling and playing one V one Blitzball. At least it gave me something to watch.

“Well this is interesting.” I said, “Wish I had popcorn…” I grumbled while watching the two star blitzers go at it.

All in all there wasn’t anything that really happens here. Aside from Tidus and Jecht being here, and possibly others to arrive, who knows what this place is for exactly.

"God I'm bored!" I groaned loudly.

“Join the club!” Tidus yelled, throwing the Blitzball right at my head from my place in the seats.

“Good throw but not nice.” Jecht said.

I moved my head out of the way quickly. "First, rude." I said. " And second." I said before leaping into the blitzball field and turning into Geosgaeno. "I finally have an underwater form."

“Oh hell yes!” Tidus said, bringing out his sword.

“So, you killed one of those? Well, at least you’ll have quite the advantage.” Jecht said, pulling out his own sword.

“And apparently I can talk in my morphed forms.” I said honestly while preparing myself for a fight.

This battle between us three lasted shorter than I wanted. This new boss form was so different, and Shifting into something this massive actually tired me out. I had to shift back, the weight of that form's body was something that, even in water it was heavy. I'd just have to practice and get used to it.

“Well...that was slightly disappointing…” I panted heavily.

"The stronger the Fiend, the harder it must be for you to maintain." Jecht said, patting my back. "Makes sense all things considered."

"I'll just need to train more…" I said, trying to catch my breath.

"Just takes time is all."

"And a lot of hard work." Tidus added.

"Yeah, it's gonna take a while...also a weird thing, I fought that thing on dry land...it's an underwater creature, so what the hell?"

"Hm? They can live on land but only ever end up there if a high tide or something along those lines." Jecht said.

"Pain in the ass either way." Tidus said.

“Oh yeah, those things hit like a truck.” I said honestly.

"Take hits like one too."

“Only reason why it didn’t take forever is because a friend of mine kind of...dropped a massive molten rock on the thing.” I said simply.

"What kind of spell is that?!"

“No idea, I think he just opened a portal and dropped a massive rock on it.” I said honestly. “Doubt it was Meteor…”

"If I ever meet this spellcaster, I'll ask to learn that one." Jecht said.

“Don’t tempt him, cause from what I’ve learned he’s basically the embodiment of chaos magic, and while he's nice...whatever the hell he is, he can damn near do anything.”

"Sounds like quite the party animal." Tidus said with a laugh.

“Kind of.” I said honestly. “Which is a little surprising that he isn’t here...I know he said that he can’t really ‘go outside his world’ but still, this would technically be a part of his world because this is a dream I’m having.” I said, before looking at Tidus. “By the way, you said you were in Spira playing Blitzball with Fiends...mind if I ask who you were with besides them? Like any friends or loved ones?” I asked, wondering if Tidus was with Yuna and company.

"I was with Wakka and the team. We were in the semi finals when that random team of fiends came into play. Played good too."

“Alright...did you ever fight Sin?” I asked curiously,

"We were about to. Just enjoying a little peace and stocking up on supplies before we were going to face off against it."

“Alright.” I nodded. “Who...was Sin at the time?” I asked carefully.

"This old fart." Tidus said, pointing to Jecht.

"Wait what?!" Jecht said, standing back up in shock.

“You...don’t remember being Braska’s Final Aeon? Yu Yevon taking control of you and turning into the giant space whale shaped armor that is Sin?” I asked in confusion. “Cause...well from where I’m from and have learned the story, that’s how Yevon has kept up that cycle for over a thousand years.”

"Uh… no…" Jecht said worriedly.

I blinked. “Uh...that’s...not good.” I said worriedly. “Okay so...what did Auron tell you about Jecht’s situation?”

"Just that he was Sin. Said he would explain it all later, but never really did." Tidus said.

“Oh boy…” I sighed out. “I have a lot of explaining to do.” I sighed out. “If either of you care to know what a girl from another world knows.”

"Considering how much you do seem to know, yeah." Jecht said.

"If it's useful." Tidus added.

“Alright...so where to even start…” I sighed out before giving them a general run down of all the important things they needed to know, about Sin, Auron’s thing that happened after Jecht became Braska’s Final Aeon, Yu Yevon and a whole lot of other important things.

"Well… damn." Tidus said.

"That's...fucked up." Jecht said.

“I mean, it really is...it’s also a little funny that Zanarkand, a machine city that never sleeps, was a city full of Summoners while Bevelle, the place that’s the ‘Capital of Yevon’, used Machine’s to destroy the summoners and bring about Sin.” I said honestly. “Well...that’s in the ‘after years’ of your story...where Yuna becomes a Sphere Hunter, and gets a Gun.” I said, even though the dialogue of FFX-2 was cringy as hell it was still a fun game.

"Weird. Well, doubt any or most of that will happen now." Tidus said.

“Well considering the both of you are here and neither Jecht is possessed or Tidus is back in Spira preparing to kick Yu Yevon’s ass...there are a lot more problems than we might think…” I said nervously.

Waking up the next morning it was largely the same routine… save for one thing… Celestia sent me a letter saying she found an old sketch of the statues in question she remembered. One was the one I needed… but there was another. A statue of Jecht as well.

“The hell?” I questioned. “Why the hell is there a statue of Jecht here?”

"Hm?" Luna said, walking over and looking at the sketch Celestia sent me. "I remember this statue. So his name is Jecht? Is he a good person?"

“Well…” I started. “Not...entirely. He’s a decent guy but...he’s got plenty of problems…”

"Hm. This statue was always interesting. My sister and I knew the moment we saw it, it's no ordinary statue. It's an imprisonment." Luna said. "Equestria does not deliver capital punishment in the form of murdering the guilty. Rather we imprison them as stone. It can be reversed, but only Celestia, myself and Twilight can use that spell."

“Or...a specific event happens.” I said slowly.

"Possibly." Luna said. "In any case, I know for a fact he wasn't the only statue to arrive, just the only one in Canterlot. Actually…"

“Actually?” I asked curiously. “What’s up?”

"There was a fair amount of statues, or people, like Jecht there that arrived all those years ago like that. Many were sent back after the cracks were sealed, but a few, like Jecht, did not. One or two might be within the old castle my sister and I used to reside in within the Everfree. Perhaps you could investigate?"

“Sure, that would help.” I nodded. “What did the statue’s look like?”

"Hmm… Last I remember there were two. A rather large fellow, larger than Jecht here. Big hair and… I believe he was holding a ball. The other looked like a lion of sorts."

“Okay so...apparently Wakka and a Ronso are here…” I frowned. “What did this Lion person look like? Any distinct features that seemed...off?”

“Well, aside from being… quite the physical specimen he had this broken horn on his head, and a spear/halberd weapon."

“That’s Khimari…” I said nervously. “Okay so what the hell are statues of the main characters doing here?” I wondered. “But would you believe me if I were to say that he’s a Runt compared to other’s of his race but the strongest of the bunch?”

"If so I believe I know the race of my future husband~" Luna said with a longing tone.

“I didn’t need to know that…” I closed my eyes slowly and took a deep breath. “So let’s get off the topic of a Ronso between your legs, where have these statues appeared?”

"They first appeared by the Rainbow Falls, once we found them they were moved to the castle bunker."

“Well...at least they’re safe.” I shrugged. “So uh...where in the Everfree is your old castle?”

Luna quickly drew me a fairly detailed map. Starting from the library to Fluttershy's cottage, then the Everfree entrance. She drew landmarks of notice, like Zecora's hut and some other places I'll pass by til I reach the old castle seemingly in the middle of the Everfree. "Once there, the Bunker will be below the old dungeon. The fourth cell there is a loop where chains would go through but none are there. Push it in then pull it out and at the end of the hall the entrance will open."

“Alright, thank you.” I nodded. “Well I best be off to the castle to figure out more mysteries.”

"Please ask for help if you shall. I believe Twilight said her friend Rainbow Dash is free today, her speed and flight could prove useful."

“Yeah...I’m probably going to need some help…” I said honestly. “Uh...where’s Rainbow Dash?”

"Twilight should know, she's upstairs."

“Alright, thank you.” I nodded while heading upstairs to get told where Rainbow is.

Once I found Twilight and asked her where Dash would be about now. With that information I headed out. She was at Sugar Cube Corner, a bakery shop in town, same one where Pinkie Pie works at.

I caught Dash mid breakfast and once she agreed we headed out. "So once we find these statues, then what?" Rainbow Dash asked. She had the goggles Discord made her and the others, so she was in my hud display as an Ally.

“Well...I’m pretty sure we can get them out of those statues...not sure how, but I’m pretty sure that’s possible.” I said honestly. “Plus Luna...kind of wants to date one of them.”

"Really?" Dash asked.

“Yes.” I nodded.

We arrived at the front of the castle. The ruins seemed to hold a few Fiends. Dash was fast enough to deal lots of flight boosted kicks. Even killed one surprisingly. Then I looked up, Dash dodging an attack from a Bat Eye.

“Alright, cool.” I muttered while transforming into a Condor and immediately flying towards the thing and trying to peck at it’s eye.

"This is so cool!" Dash said. The two of us easily took the monster out.

New Form Unlocked: Bat Eye

“Sweet.” I said. “One more down…”

"So what is it like as one of these monsters? Being like, living water or a giant bird or a big nasty looking bee?" Dash asked me.

“Well...kind of weird.” I said honestly. “But natural. Not sure how to describe it really.”

"Hm." We activated the secret entrance in the dungeon like Luna said to and got in. Down the stairs I spotted Wakka, standing ready, Blitz Ball in hand as it took aim, and Khimari looking ready to thrust his weapon into someone or something. "Woah. That one guy looks like you. Kinda."

“Wakka is human...well from an Island.” I said honestly while looking over the two statues. “They both look like they were in a fight…”

"With who, or what? Also, what now? We can't use a spell to free them. Should I go get Twi?"

“There has to be something here…” I muttered while gently feeling against the stone, trying to see if there was anything I just couldn’t see.

"Well, I'll fly back and grab Twilight real fast. Won't take more than a few minutes."

Dash flew off and I kept looking them over. So much dust and some dead vines decorated them. I cleaned them off some best I could. After five minutes or so Twilight and Dash flew over here. "Oh my goodness." Twilight said, looking the two over. "Princess Celestia had told me there were some who arrived imprisoned in stone from the cracks, but to see two of them, they look so… alien… no offense Anna."

“I mean, technically you're using that word correctly.” I said honestly. “But do you have any idea how to help these two? I’ve been searching all over these statues to see if there was anything and couldn’t find anything.”

"Hmm." Twilight said, looking the two over. "This is definitely a petrification imprisonment spell. Powerful too. I can undo it, but stand back, they'll likely do whatever action they were doing when they were petrified."

“Then the three of us better stand back cause the two of them are going to swing.” I said nervously.

We stood back a good distance, Twilight started the spell. A large flow of magic spiraling around the two. Their stone forms shifting to flesh. Once they were completely skin again they both acted. Attacking and such, but then stopping once they looked around at their surroundings. "Where… are we?" Wakka asked.

“Hi.” I started while taking a step forward. “My name’s Anna...and you are currently in...Equestria?” I looked back at Twilight and Rainbow to see if I said their country right.

They nodded, Wakka and Khimari seeing them. "Huh…"

"Welcome to our kingdom. You two are, from what we understand, have been petrified for over two thousand years." Twilight said.

"Say what?!?"

“I didn’t expect that long, but that’s kind of what happens when you get sent to a different world as a stone statue.” I shrugged.

To be continued...

Chapter 4

So after giving the retired Blitzball Player and Ronso Leader a quick rundown on where they are and what the hell is going on we started heading back to Ponyville. “So...any questions?” I asked the two curiously.

"I doubt any I ask I'll like the answer too." Wakka said while Ronso just shook their head. "I guess odds are that Tidus, Yuna, and all the rest of them are stone statues too huh?"

"Um...Tidus is in a special place." I said nervously. "And...I don't know how to get you there since I normally get there through dreams.” I said honestly.

"Hm. Strange. So this place is linked to our world, and stuff from our world spills into this one, but what about the reverse?"

“I have no idea.” I shrugged. “You’ll have to ask Discord that...and even then…” I trailed off, even though I was given the run down something about that explanation irked me and I didn’t know why. “So what’s the last thing you two remember?”

"Hmm… we were fighting Sin, it was going bad. Real bad, then there were two of them, as if one was not enough for us to put up with, and there was a blinding light that appeared out of nowhere shortly after the second Sin showed up. Then we woke up here." Wakka explained.

I stopped mid step. “Uh...excuse me? Did I hear that right?” I asked nervously.

"Would I lie about there suddenly being two Sins?" Wakka asked defensively.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say anything wrong.” I responded quickly. “Just uh...that shouldn’t happen...like, that should be literally impossible.”

"No kidding. Actually…" Wakka said aloud in thought. "That second Sin… acted odd. It ignored us."

“What was it doing?” I asked curiously.

Wakka thought back. "Actually, nothing. Just kinda… showed up, Did nothing, then there was that light."

“That’s...really weird.” I said worriedly. “Did it look any different than the one you were fighting?”

"Hmmm… not that I can remember. Yuna got a better loot at it than I did."

“Khimari? Did you notice anything?” I asked the silent Ronso.

They shook their head.

I sighed. Mystery for later than. We left the old castle and headed back to town. Upon arrival Twilight was asking them questions, mostly about their world and all that and finally sent a letter to the princesses about this news. "I still can't believe they were encased in stone, like criminals or villans." Twilight huffed.

“I have no idea how or why they were encased, but it wasn’t because of someone thinking they were villains.” I said honestly. “It was...probably due to something, or someone, wanting to make sure they stayed alive to do something specific…”

"That's not very assuring either." She sighed, looking her notes over. "Still, at least everypony is preparing. Celestia is sending over some combat spells for myself and Rarity, and the girls all plan on picking on some helpful skill. Can't have you fighting these monsters all on your own."

“Well...would be nice for the help.” I shrugged. “But right now I need to find...nine more Fiends to start a boss fight to save my brother...oh uh, what the hell's up north?” I asked curiously.

"Wish we had a way of locating them or predicting their arrival."

“So do I…” I sighed out while bringing out my ‘Menu’ sphere and looking through it. “I mean...if I could find an upgrade for this maybe it could work like that, but I don’t know anyone, besides Discord and god only knows where he is, that can tinker with this thing.”

"Hmm…" Twilight hummed, looking it over, blinking then looked at it again. "Say, that's a crystal orb right?"

“Uh...maybe?” I said nervously. “I don’t actually know what it’s made out of. I mean, it’s most likely made out of crystal…”

"It's because you asked about the north. Passed Equestria's northern border and in the center of the Frozen North is the Crystal Empire, their magic and knowledge on anything crystal is older than Equestrian itself. If anyone can examine that orb and understand it's magic properly it's likely somepony up that way. My brother and sister in law act as it's rulers so they can help us find the best."

“That would help a lot.” I nodded. “Cause...well I’m gonna have to go up there to do some bad guy stopping after I save my brother.”

"I'll send a letter to them to let them know we'll be coming. Hopefully after some training so the girls can keep the fort here in Ponyville so you and I can head up there."

“That would be good. Let’s hope Khimari and Wakka are up for some traveling.” I said honestly.

The next day a pair of Royal guards arrived with a wagon of combat spells. Twilight and Rarity read over them while one of the guards taught the others combat. Save for Fluttershy who was firmly against violence. Instead they got Zecora to help the timid mare learn to brew healing potions and mana potions for the group.

I spent this time mastering my current forms while letting the ones fighting attack me in a Fiend form. Applejack took use of a sword and shield combo, Rainbow Dash a spear, and Pinkie Pie… was that a pink Blitz Ball?

“Okay first up, where did you find a Blitzball? And two...is Wakka your teacher?” I asked Pinkie.

"I made it and nope!" The pink mare declared, throwing the ball at me at high speed. It hit, exploded in a puff of confetti, glitter, and candy, and left me stunned as I watched her pull another from her very puffed out curly hair.

"It's Pinkie Pie, Don't question it." Applejack explained.

“I will indeed question it...like how the hell she knows what the hell a Blitzball is.” I frowned.

"It's a ball you use to blitz!" Pinkie stated matter of factly. "Duh? Isn't it obvious?" Pinkie said, her left ear twitching as suddenly she raised the ball in both hands to her right, a framilier Blue Blitz Ball hit hers and the impact sent it flying up into the air where Wakka jumped up to catch it. "Sneaky attacks!"

"Let's see how well you can use it little filly." Wakka teased as they landed.

"Bring it!" Pinkie said, she and Wakka now in their own duel off to the side of the field.

"Like AJ said… don't question it." Rainbow Dash said, she and Applejack shrugging.

I shook my head. “Well whatever…” I sighed out. “Let’s keep going then.”

At the day's end Aj, Pinkie and Dash all had a descent handle on combat with their respective weapons, Fluttershy knew the basics of potions and how to brew them, even made two while learning with Zecora and Rarity and Twilight each had a small library of combat spells at their use. Twilight's focusing on defence, based on her brother's own shield spells, and manipulation of the environment to deal impacts. Rarity took more of a classic mage approach, knowing two ice type spells, one fire, three lightning ones and a simple healing spell.

“Alright, that should be enough for today.” I said while taking a swig from my water bottle.

With a nod everyone went home, the guards who helped everyone learn to handle and swing their weapons returned to Canterlot. "Looks like we can head out for the Crystal Empire tomorrow." Twilight said with a yawn. "Rarity has a few copies of the company spell tomes and notes on my brother's shield spell so if anything happens while we are gone the girls can all handle it. With luck it won't take long for them to find someone to help figure out your orb."

“That would be for the best.” I nodded. “But I’m gonna have to also talk with Luna and Pipsqueak, cause I can’t really do my job as Pipsqueaks personal guard if I’m off doing other things.” I said honestly.

"I'm sure you can get him to tag along. I know Luna won't mind, as of his adoption he is now royalty so a visit to our neighbors in the north would be good for them."

“Alright, I’ll go give Luna a call and talk to her about some stuff...good thing those message mirrors work.” I sighed out thankfully.

"Yeah, just hope she is there to answer it." Twilight added.

“She should.” I shrugged. “Well, have a nice night Twilight, don’t keep yourself up...again.” I said, having seen her up at any time in the night when I decided to take a nightly stroll when I couldn’t get much sleep.

"Right back at you." She elbowed me lightly.

As night came I managed to get a hold of Princess Luna. "So those statues were people all along. That's quite concerning. Petrification as a punishment is typically reserved for the worst vial criminals, it has been that way ever since Celestia and I outlawed the death sentence. For two Hero's to have had it happen to them is disheartening to learn."”

“I have a feeling it wasn’t done as punishment...but more like keeping them ‘safe’ like a time capsule.” I explained. “Considering they did a dimension jump due to reasons...outside what I could imagine…”

"Which begs the question why you were not affected the same way they were? You yourself come from another reality so what was the difference between them and you?" Luna asked.

“I had someone hold the door open for me and let me in, the others were just kinda...thrown through the closed door as it were.” I said honestly.

"Hmm. Any being capable of doing that is also concerning, but yours seems to be of good will while whatever is making these cracks isn't. Also, why is it I can not seem to enter your dreamscape? I have attempted to do so many times and each time I am met with failure."

“It’s...a little strange honestly.” I said worriedly. “I’m...weirdly sent to a dream world, a shared one. I don’t know how you can’t get in…” I said, not sure how to explain Zanarkand to her. “Oh, but I don’t want to get side tracked, I’m gonna need to head to the Crystal Empire tomorrow to figure stuff out and get more forms since they seem to not spawn enough here. Want me to take Pip with me?”

Luna just seemed to be pondering her thoughts. "Yes. I shall accompany then. There is something I would like to test regarding this dream world you share and it requires an in person meeting. I shall meet you at the Ponyville train station tomorrow morning and we will depart for the Crystal Empire shortly after."

“Thank you Princess.” I nodded. “Hopefully I can solve some things in the meantime…”

"Yes. In the days to come I feel we will need more answers than we might want." With that, Luna cut the call and I sighed.

“Damn it…” I muttered while looking over at Pip, seeing the young colt sleeping soundly in his bed. “Why can’t things be simple for once?”

Nothing much happened in my dream world. Some practice blocking and dodging in my forms and that was about it. Morning came and I helped Pip and Twilight pack as we headed out for the train station. There Princess Luna awaited us, next to her was two guards and… a pure white coated unicorn stallion dressed in an equally white tux with a red tie and a long, well kept slightly curly blonde mane.

“And who’s tall, blond, and stereotyped?” I asked, trying to remember who that stallion was cause I did skim through this world's show when I was a bit younger.

"Blueblood." Twilight said with a sigh. "Princess Celestia and Luna's nephew, and a prince as well. Though I am wondering why he is here? He typically never leaves Canterlot." Twilight said with a mixed look of annoyed and confused.

“Alright Luna, what’s the deal with, who I can only guess, is called Prince Blueballs behind his back?” I asked curiously.

Luna sighed, looking back at her Nephew. "Asking him, he says he wants to meet his new cousin. Frankly I do not like it at all. He is a bad influence."

“Alright, so since it’s ‘rude’ to talk about someone right here.” I said while looking at Blueblood. “What’s the deal with you?”

"I am a royal, it's well within my rights to both travel to our neighbors up north, talk trade and get to know my new cousin." Blueblood said, his eyes falling on Pip. There was a moment of silence for a time as the two looked at one another before Blueblood gave the young Colt a smile. "Speaking of, hello there child."

"Hi." Pip replied quite casually, oblivious to the tension in the air.

"Quite younger than I expected, but then again I guess Cadence isn't the best to reference in terms of what age one can be adopted into the royal family." Blueblood shrugged.

“Luna can adopt a kid without ‘Royalty’ being apart of it you know that right?” I asked simply.

"Actually…" Luna started. "For any of the royals to claim a child or pony as family, they are immediately made a royal. Been that way since Equestria's founding, Pipsqueak as of my sighing the adoption papers is a Prince of Equestria just as Blueblood is."

"Seems your personal knight needs some educating in our lands history and politics, doesn't she cousin." Blueblood said. The insult didn't hurt, but Pip's small laugh did.

“That was an insult on me not knowing things Pip.” I said, looking at the stallion and could just tell this bastard tramples over whoever they want, whenever they want because they’re ‘Royalty’.

"The train will be arriving soon, and I do follow in good faith Anna," I cringed as he said my name. "I even brought you a present." He snapped his fingers, two royal guards heading behind the stations and walking back over with a covered cage, and a high pitched screeching coming from it. They took off the cover, and inside was a Floating Eye Fiend. "I do believe this is one variation you haven't yet acquired?"

I looked back through my summons, seeing that I got a Bat Eye from...way later in the game. “Yes, a much earlier variant than the one I have, but still one I need to collect.” I said while pulling out my staff as water surrounded the Floating Eye, the sphere turning more solid and drowning the damn thing. “But thank you for the new form.” I said, the Pyreflies flying towards me as I absorbed them, getting a new form and being one step closer to saving my brother.

"You may despise me, and I you, but I am no fool. These creatures have damaged Equestria in the past and have returned to do so again now. You're unique power likely holds means of ending it, at least, that's what Auntie Celestia believes." Blueblood said.

"And your own thoughts?" Luna asked, though her tone made it more of a demand.

Blueblood just kept his smile as he looked me over. "It takes a monster to deal with monsters." He said as the train for the Crystal Empire began arriving.

On the train ride Twilight did decide to help teach me some Equestrian history given I really didn't know anything. Frankly I was keeping an eye on Pip, who was sitting next to Blueblood… well, next to as in the seat across and Luna next to Pip glaring a look at the unicorn that should have set him on fire. Sadly despite that Blueblood and Pip kept talking.

My attention was brought back to Twilight as the mention of a war over cheese...

“Hold up hold up...a war on Cheese?” I started. “Luna I’m gonna need some context here.”

"I was banished at the time and had the same reaction." Luna said, not looking over at me when she spoke and keeping her glare on Blueblood. I decided to snack on some cheese nearby.

Twilight chuckled. "It really was rather silly. Didn't last longer than two months. Basically dairy was in high demand and the Nation of Cattledonia was placing high trade taxes on their dairy exports, mainly cheese. In the end though Cattledonia became part of Equestria, and these days thanks to Cattledonia's resources Equestria has dairy from every milkable creature from cows to, well, we ponies. A good 22% of Equestrian dairy products is made from mare milk."

At that, I stopped snacking on my cheese and just stared at it for a long while.

“I...can never look at cheese the same again…” I said sadly.

"Do they not milk mares in your world?" Twilight asked curiously, taking one of the cheese cubes I was eating before that little discovery. "Or your own?"

“Okay first up, I’m eighteen.” I started while covering my D-cup breasts protectively. “Secondly, we milk Cows and Goats, not every mammal gives milk suitable for human consumption. And even though...people weirdly started buying human breast milk for hundreds of dollars thinking it could make people get more fit…” I sighed out. “Also magic doesn’t exist on our world like here so that might explain it also."

"Huh." Was Twilight's only reply as she ate more cheese squares. "I guess magic does play a small part. Any other differences between our worlds?"

“So many things…” I sighed out. “Like species for example, while we do have ponies, cows, deer and horses...a lot of other things are just ‘myth’, like Minotaurs, Griffon’s, Unicorns and Pegasi.” I said honestly. “But then the races that do exist in my world are...well ‘Feral’ as it were here. Then there’s the fact that you’re technology is so wildly inconsistent on itself alone, ranging from middle ages farming and building to out of nowhere TV’s, Conveyor Belts and DJ systems, on my world technology has been a consistent trend, where we’ve gone to the moon, went to deeper parts of space, going down deeper into the deepest trenches, and being able to gain information from anywhere at anytime, and so much more.” I explained.

"Your species went to your world's moon?"

“Yep, cause that’s what tech can do.” I said honestly.

"Is it like our moon?"

“Um...yes, but no one controls it.” I said honestly. “It’s a big hunk of rock in the range of our planets gravity that messes with the tides and looks pretty when it’s full.”

“How’s the weather?” Luna asked, still not looking away from Blueblood. “Ours is normally pretty cold but never drops below forty five degrees.”

“Uh...Fahrenheit or Celsius?” I asked curiously. “And where would this weather be? Because from my...bad math, if it’s Fahrenheit that’s only thirteen degree’s above freezing, and Celsius it would be a hundred and thirteen degree’s Fahrenheit.”

“Was chilly but manageable. I was stuck there for a thousand years. If it was that hot or that cold I wouldn’t be here. Nightmare Moon or not.”

“Luna does have a point.” Twilight added. “Our moon might be cold but it can support life.”

“Oh, you mean living on the Moon?” I asked in confusion.

“Well, yeah.”

“You do know that the Moon is in the Vacuum of Space right?” I asked. “You either burn to a crisp because you’re too close to the Sun, which my planet revolves around instead of someone controlling it, or about negative four hundred and fifty five degrees Fahrenheit.” I said. “So unless you literally have a moon base up there, it ain’t happening.”

“We have magic and a natural flow of life energy between the moon, Equis and the sun that allows the moon to support life. Getting there requires a lot of magic but it’s safe to be up there.” Luna said, finally turning to look at me. “I know the celestial body I control well Anna.”

“Only magic can say ‘hey, you can live in a place that has no breathable air or protection from the Sun literally giving you cancer’.” I said honestly.

“Our moon does have an atmosphere you know.” Twilight said, giving me a raised eyebrow. “How… big is your world's moon?”

“Um…” I thought back. “I...heard it’s about a fourth the size of Earth...so it’s Radius would be over a thousand miles?” I said. “How big is your moon?”

"Just shy of four thousand miles on it's radius."

Their moon is the size of my old planet?! … but at night it looks no bigger than back on earth… how big is this planet?

"Uh...it looks no different than mine...how big is this planet?" I asked worriedly.

"980, 472 miles in Its radius." Twilight said.

That's… that's pretty fucking massive….

“That’s…” I started. “Uh...I’m not good at math, so can someone tell me how heavy this planet must weigh?” I asked nervously.

Luna shrugged. As did Twilight. "The gravity from your world compared to ours, you should be a pancake if not atoms under the gravitational pull. It seems whatever sent you here adapted either your body or your magic to automatically adjust to this world." Blueblood of all people I formed. "An interesting magical effect. We have something similar with our own internal passive magic but even so we'd still be moving around like birds in flight on the moon."

I blinked, my mind somehow rapidly telling me the calculations of this Planet. “You...do you know that the weight of this planet is somewhere in the Septe-decillion pounds right?”

Blueblood shrugged. "It keeps us alive and that is all that should matter."

“Which shouldn’t happen, cause even if Gravity was weird due to magic on the surface, literally anything in Space would have been pulled in by this planets gravitational force, I’m pretty sure Celestia and you aren’t actually controlling the Sun and Moon, but pushing them away so they don’t crash into this place!” I said, steam literally coming out of my head as I honestly couldn’t fathom how Magic and Magic alone could keep not only this planet safe from being destroyed because of Gravity, but it’s inhabitants safe as well.

Luna looked at me offended. "You think my moving of the moon is a lie?" She asked defensively.

“No, and your nights are beautiful, but magic can only go so far as to explain how...this hasn’t had meteor’s or other things rushing in from space.” I sighed out. “Sorry, I’m still...getting through more of the magic side of the planet here...it’s just so outlandishly different from my world where we had no magic…”

"I guess that would make our world even more of an adjustment." Twilight said.

“And a lot of other things…” I sighed out.

"Guess it just goes to show, there is always something bigger. Person, planet, monster." Blueblood said in a neutral tone. The windows began showing more white and snow that soon replaced the green entirely. "We're in the Frozen North now. Few more hours and we'll be in the Empire."

“Well...it’s certainly frozen that’s for sure.” I said honestly.

The snow outside seemed endless. It went so high that after maybe a mile or so the snow went well above the train's height but was kept at bay. Odds are by magic… hot beverages were given out as we all smacked and for the most part things relaxed. Luna and Pip napped next to one another, Twilight was reading a book and I noticed Blueblood looking at a single price of paper. The same one for the past half hour.

“Okay, so what are you reading?” I asked simply. “You’ve been looking at the same piece of paper for half an hour.”

He looked an eye over to me then back at the paper. "It's nothing of importance." They said bluntly.

“It must be if a ‘Prince’ has been looking at it for half an hour.” I countered simply.

"Royalty can't do anything of unimportance?" He countered.

“Is it a photo or something?” I asked.

"If it of importance to our security that you know?" They asked, almost bored.

“Is it of importance that you need to give me a roundabout on this when you’re obviously bored?” I asked honestly.

They rolled their eyes, single handedly filing the paper and placing it in their suits inside coat pocket. "Perhaps rather than trying to indulge yourself in my personal affairs, we can talk shop. Primarily, the relics arrive alongside these monsters."

“Relics?” I asked curiously.

"Oh! A lot of these monsters in the past alongside them arrived a lot of weird artifacts. You brought some?" Twilight asked Blueblood.

"Half the reason I am on this train is to compare some recently discovered ones up in the empire to the ones we've had since their earliest appearances." Blueblood stated. "If they are new or related I am to bring them back to Equestria for proper cataloguing and research." He stood. "Let's go see the ones I brought with."

A walk between the carts behind us and we got to the cargo cart. Here there were several crates with royal seals as Blueblood used their magic to open the lid off. Inside was… Machina, grenades and guns to be exact. Their designs were way different from my worlds but they are easily identifiable.

“Machina?” I frowned while picking up one of the guns. “Yeah...I know exactly what these are...question, did you find any weird bipedal ones, that had spear arms?” I asked, looking over the gun I picked up.

"In pieces." Blueblood said, taking out a folder from their coat pocket and inside showed pictures and sketches of the broken automatons.

“Sheesh, didn’t expect those to get here as well.” I said honestly. “I know what these are...and what they do if you ever want to ask.”

"Nothing good I can bet." Twilight said aloud looking at the photos. "Who could build such weapons? Were the Fiends even worse on their world that these things were used to fight them off?"

“Well...not entirely.” I said while putting the gun down. “But that’s not something you two should worry about.” I shook my head, not wanting to tell Blueblood or Twilight about what these weapons were used for. “Just know that they used to help fight against Fiends.”

"Then perhaps their purpose should be revived." The prince said, picking up the one I put down. "I know how they work, how they are built. Some improvements, enchantments, and we might not even need your aid Anna."

“At the moment...no.” I shook my head. “Believe me...as someone who’s lived in an age where these types of weapons are not only much better designed and used more widely…” I trailed off bitterly. “It’s better you don’t have these weapons...better to live in fantasy land anyway…” I muttered the last part, still hating those bastards back on Earth when the world ended.

"And when said world is covered in it's own blood?"

“Excuse me?” I asked curiously.

"You can't be everywhere at once Anna. How many guards, civilians, children, do you think have already died because of these fiends? This was well before you ever arrived and well before you began helping. Towns like Ponyville while small have had losses. A dozen or so. Cities like Canterlot, Manehattan, Trottingham, thousands are up and missing and only a few hundred are found as mangled corpses. Either we save ourselves." Blueblood then looked over at me. "Or let you save us and let hundreds to thousands more die in the wait."

“And then you start killing each other with these stupid things.” I frowned. “Protecting against Fiends? Sure, I’m all for that...I’d just rather not see a repeat of my world…” I sighed out.

"Oh trust me, there will be blood on all our hands, whether it's that if fiends or that of ponies, well, that's up to us."

"I'd like to think ponies are better than that…" Twilight said quietly.

"We aren't." Blueblood replied flatly.

“And that’s why I’d rather these not be used, cause when one murder happens with a gun, then another one will happen, and then it will continue to spiral into more pointless deaths cause ‘I have the power’.” I shook my head. “That’s why I said ‘better to live in fantasy land’...”

"We might be a 'fantasy' to you." Blueblood said, putting the machina pistol into his coat pocket. "But this is our reality, and it's far bloodier than you might be willing to accept."

“Trust me...this world is a lot cleaner than my world.” I said honestly. “And I’d rather not talk about brutality here…”

Blueblood gave me a quick look before leaving for the door. "Then you're a fool for thinking this world is clean." He said as he left back to the passenger carts.

“Did I not say that this world is cleaner and not completely clean?” I asked Twilight. “Or do people just like to ignore half the things I’m saying?”

"I think he means that looks are deceiving." Twilight shrugged. "I guess he would know though, Princess Celestia did make him head of Equestria's international security."

“Sounds about right.” I said honestly. “But yeah...I never once said that this world is clean of blood, just that it’s cleaner. Cause even your wars sounded a lot cleaner than my world's wars.” I said, wanting to say they sounded sillier but then my world had silly wars too.

"Not… all of them." Twilight said with a frown. "The last major bloody battle was… before Nightmare Moon was banished for a thousand years. I didn't bring a book on it but I'm pretty sure the crystal empire's library has some copies."

"Good to know." I nodded. "God...this isn't gonna be good…" I muttered while rubbing my temple.le.

"You do know he's going to put these weapons in the hands of the guard anyway, right?" Twilight said as she used her magic to put the lid back on and seal the box back up. "He's never trusted anyone's word on anything save Princess Celestia and even then she has to convince him."

“I know, but then the guard might do exactly what me and Blueblood fully expect they shouldn’t do.” I said honestly and sadly.

"All I can say for certain is that Princess Celestia will be on this project. She typically is on anything Blueblood oversees so she will make sure he doesn't go too far. As far as I know she is the only pony who can reel him in when he either is going overboard or is taking paranoia contingency planning too far."

“It’s not what Blueblood does that’s the issue.” I said simply while picking up one of the guns, a rifle, and putting it over my shoulder with a thankful sling that came with it. “It’s what the people with the guns will do to their fellow people. Can you say, with absolute certainty, that whoever is holding one of these won’t use it against someone for basically no reason?” I asked Celestia’s personal student as I had my staff and rifle across my back comfortably.

"No… at least not without the proper safety enchantments." Twilight sighed. "Huh, strange." Twilight said as she picked one of the other rifles up. On it was a small emblem. It was the symbol for Yevon. But, upside down. "I've seen this before."

“What do you mean?” I asked curiously, wondering why an upside down Yevon symbol would be on that gun.

"This is the logo of a Minotaur Blacksmith Guild. They are famous for their crafts in machines of metal. Huh, guess Blueblood has them making these things already."

That concerned me...a lot. “Oh sweet god no…” I muttered. “Question, has anyone ever...not died due to force of will?” I asked nervously. “Like, the person is dead but they keep going like nothing ever happened to them without the need of necromancy?”

"No." Twilight replied, looking at me with a raised brow.

“Alright…” I started. “I’m gonna have to talk to Blueblood about this...cause I know quite a bit about that symbol when it’s right side upl...and it can’t be good.”

"Care to know what that symbol means to the Minotaurs?" Twilight asked as she put the rifle back.

“Yes, I would like to know what the Minotaurs believe that symbol to be.” I said honestly.

"It's a really cool story. I wrote an essay on it once back in Celestia's school. So, basically about six thousand years ago, the Minotaurs were a race of nomadic warriors. Challenging any and all they crossed along their roads. Well, one day their lands were beginning to lose their water, lands dried up and plant life withered. A famine never before seen. The shaman of a more mystic tribe of the Minotaurs informed them a star had grown angery of their barbaric and violent ways, and out of spite, took the life away from their lands. Years passed and the once bountiful lands of the Minotaurs were barren desserts without a drop of water within their borders. Many left, but just as many stayed, and one day when the remnants of the once proud and powerful Minotaurs who stayed to die in their ancestral land felt the land shake, and in the distance a price of the heavens fell to our world. Turns out, that spiteful star angered another in their cruel deed, and had been in battle with another. The cruel star was slain, and it's corpse fell to Equis where upon impact it's foul curse was broken, and their lands spring up overnight with lush greens, water and life reborn. The star that saved them was named Braska."

I blinked dumbly at hearing that part.

"They said they were sent to save them on behalf of their god. In exchange for protection from the evils of the heavens, the Minotaurs were to live peacefully, abandoning their barbaric ways and fight only for sport, protection, and honor. The majority did just that, but a small tribe disregarded the star, and to insult them, took the symbol of their god and flipped it. This tribe remains within their lands but is often shunned by the rest of the people. They call themselves the Uor tribe, and mark everything of their craft with the flipped symbol of the star’s god. Very few of the Uor tribe are around these days, but some say a small cult exists in the capital city of Salvation, worshipping the corpse of the dead star in hopes of punishing the rest of their kind for leaving the path of the warrior, the path of the Berserker."

“Oh...so the Uor are the Al Bhed, got it.” I nodded. “Oh no...I’m scared for the Minotaurs now…” I said worriedly. “Oh god why did you have to do this to them, Braska?”

"So, at some point plan a trip to the Minotaur Kingdom?" Twilight asked.

“And make sure that they don’t accidentally turn into death worshiping crazies and get the Uor tribe to calm their tits? Yes.” I said honestly

"...what?"

The rest of the train ride I was worried. Finally though we arrived at the empire and… it was fucking gorgeous. Everything looked both old and sifi futuristic and magical and… damn. We were escorted to the throne room by guards and introduced to Princess Cadence, and Prince Shining Armor, Twilight’s older brother. Cadence and Twilight did this weird song and dance thing that was cute and embarrassing but neither seemed to care about that last part. "May I see this orb?" Cadence asked.

“Adorable.” I chuckled. “But it’s nice to meet you two, Twilight here told me very great things about the both of you.”

"I am happy to hear it." Cadence said with a smile, that quickly became a frown. "I only wish there was not such a dire state of affairs looming over us. It's actually good for us you arrived when you did."

“What, Fiends are causing trouble?” I asked curiously.

"Yes it seems. The crystal heart is keeping them at Bay but they are gathering by the eastern barriers wall." Cadence said, leading us to a balcony facing the east. At the edge of the kingdom against its borders I saw… a large mass of moving ice and black as fiends, earthbound and flying filled the east. "We've already evacuated the eastern area but if they circle around the barrier we'll have to secure my subjects inside the castle."

“I’ll start clearing them out as best I can.” I said while looking at all the fiends, thankfully there weren’t any bosses, but the Yeti’s were worrying at least, the rest were Snow Wolves, Murusu, Evil Eye’s and Ice Flan’s. “Who’s good with Fire spells here? Cause we’re going to need a lot of it.”

“I know more than my fair share.” Shining said.

“There’s one more thing.” Cadence aligned a nearby mounted telescope, and once whatever she was looking at was in sight she had me look. Inside the horde near the back was this… Pulsating black aura. “It’s clearly the source of all these monsters but we can not figure out what it is.”

“That’s...concerning…” I said worriedly.

“Well then, this will be interesting.” Blueblood said, leaning onto the balcony rails. “Time to see just what our resident monster can do against a brood so massive.”

“You and I are gonna need to have a talk later about how you know a certain ‘group of interest’.” I said while pointing at him with a look of accusatory knowing. “So I’ll be back, and if any of you want to help or send help that would be great.” I said while opening a window and jumping out, turning into a Bat Eye and flew off towards the hoard of Fiends and whatever was apparently controlling them.

When I arrived at the east barrier there was a mini barricade around a portion of it, guards ready to fight as they had their weapons and spells at the ready, and Shining Armor appearing near me in a flash of magic. “So, got a plan?” He asked me.

“You people support me by throwing as much fire as possible and I dive head first and act like this is Dynasty Warriors.” I said while cracking my knuckles.

“... Are you suicidal?” Shining asked.

“Maybe, but considering that I’ll have a few forms that are resistant to their own abilities, plus I can fly, it won’t be too hard right?” I asked simply. “The only problem being that dark spot over there...I have no idea what the hell that is and it’s concerning.”

"Anna, there are at minimum a thousand of those things outside the barrier there. We'd need a miracle for you to reach it and return safely. Charging in head first is not a viable option against forces like these."

“That’s why I said you start pelting them with Fire spells, cause all of those things are weak to Fire.” I said. “Why do you think I started with ‘you people support me by throwing as much fire as possible’?” I asked honestly.

"You still shouldn't be the only one out there fighting."

"If I may?" Blueblood said, walking up to Shining and I casually.

Shining Armor gave Blueblood a questioning look. "You have an idea?"

“Yes, I would also like to know what you have in mind prince. Cause right now I’m confused as to why no one is throwing fire at the things I said are obviously weak to fire.” I frowned.

"If you can't figure that out you clearly must have never seen war before." Blueblood said, pulling out the machina pistol. His horn glowed as did the gun, and in a flash of fire it shot out a high speed ball of fire the size of a minivan out the barrier and into the fiends, a good five of them died instantly. The black thing pulsated as their lights suddenly stopped floating, and began clustering together and reformed into the fiends they were. "If you want to get to that thing, you need to destroy most or all of them at once to at least reach it."

“And how many people do we have here?” I asked. “Cause if we have enough to make a big enough fire spell, then that would do the trick.”

"There's not enough talented mages in the guard to pull off a fire spell the size we'd need." Shining sighed. "If Twili and Cadence helped we'd get maybe a quarter of them but the recoil would be hell on them."

"Then perhaps it's time we discussed one of my reasons for being here." Blueblood said.

"Your trade talks can wait." Shining said.

"I doubt you'd want to pass on my best item." Blueblood replied.

“First up I’d like to know what you know about Yevon and the Uor.” I frowned. “Because the Minotaurs sound exactly like what Braska’s world was doing before...a lot of things happened.”

Shining looked at Blueblood then me. "What's a Yevon?" He asked, shaking his head before looking at Blueblood. "What item?"

Blueblood looked at me, smiling as they saw the rifle on my back. "Yevon is a bit fuzzy, but the Uor made the very weapon you and I currently carry. They are masters at building and crafting weapons and spells of mass destruction. They took the designs I gave and rebuilt them, improved them. Such as this little toy." Blueblood's horn lit up, shooting up a magic flare that was soon replied by another. By the train station there was a bright pulsation of magic soon broken by an explosion, a trail of fire and smoke in the air that went over us and at the horde outside the barrier. The impact shook the ground under us and a blinding light filled out eyes for a moment before it died, and showed a massive amount of fiends were up and gone. "The Uor call this an Artillery Cannon. Alone it was quite effective but some enchantments and spellwork make it even more so effective." Blueblood said with a small tone of pride. "Well, go on then, they won't stay dead for long."

“You and me are going to need a serious as hell talk Blueballs.” I growled before jumping over the barricade and turning into a Bat Eye and flying off towards the dark orb.

"Keep any stragglers at bay!" Shining ordered as I flew off.

Upon arrival at the pulsating black figure, I finally saw a figure. They were… a pony, unicorn. Horn that looked to be made of smoke itself and eyes a sickly green that flowed off a black and purple energy. Their body looked… fake. Like clay and cloth of an old unkept porcine doll standing before me. There horn glowed with green and black magic as they kept the fiends spirit orbs nearby and reforming them.

”What the hell?” I thought to myself. ”What, did Calcabrina want to jump from 4 to 10?” I thought to myself worriedly as I landed and shifted my form. “I challenge you to a fight you...uh...what are you?” I asked the weird puppet thing.

The closed doll like eyes shot open, looking over at me with an inhumane hollowness. It simply, yet quickly raised its arm up, and I was sent flying some feet at a giant black crystal shot from the ground and sucker punched me in the gut. "Begone." The doll spoke, sounding… as hollow as the eyes were. "You are not allowed to interrupt."

“You wish bitch.” I said while getting back up and turning into an Evil Eye, bringing my wings over my face as I opened them and sent out a bolt of energy to the doll.

It moved without the restrictions of flesh and bones, bending in what would and should be physically impossible and dodging the bolt as it's horn glowed brighter… or was that darker? And shot out a volley of those crystals again, but they all arched around with black lightning as they did.

I dodged out of the way quickly, landing on the ground as I switched back to my human form as I brought my staff out. “Fire!” I shouted while a ball of fire lashed out towards the doll.

It's mouth opened in a grotesque maw of cracks and chipped glass as it then ate my fire ball, then spat it back out, the ball now five times bigger, black, melting sbow all around it and shooting towards me fast.

“Shit!” I yelped as I transformed into a Dingo and ran around the ball of fire quickly, shifting back as I put my staff away. “Okay...so when magic and Fiend attacks don’t work...use a Gun.” I said while pulling out my rifle and firing at the damned doll.

Click. Click…

Are you kidding me they shoot spells not normal bullets?! How do you even… Damn it Blueblood!!!

“I’m going to fucking skin him.” I growled as the gun sensed my great rage as a Fire spell was being charged, the barrel glowing a bright red. “Okay you, you better give me something good.” I frowned as I fired off a Fire spell this time.

It ate one but before it could spit it out another fireball bullet hit it's face. It cracked and when it did it roared in unnatural scream as those black crystals erupted from the ground again, turning these snowy fields into a black cavern of these crystals. One of which it slipped into like it was water.

As I was looking around for where it was gonna come out of, I screamed, my foot impaled from underneath by a small but jagged crystal with curved ends so if I move my foot up I'll lose it and likely all my blood.

“Fucking whore!” I shouted in pain, shifting into a Condor which didn’t have any legs and freed me from the spike, before I moved and turned into a Raldo and started to move slowly and carefully through the cavern, given my armored state the crystals this bastard uses won’t do much. ”Alright assmunch, where are you hiding?” I swore in my head, given this guy has made me hurt a lot.

With each step I limped along, the injury was harsh but thankfully in this form the armor covered it so I wasn't at risk of bleeding out. As I walked around I began to hear snarls and flaps. Crap he's bringing them back- Oh shit!

I raised my arms to block as a black crystal Dingo slammed into me. We slid back for a ways til it stopped. Looking up I saw this crystal Dingo has teeth like ice and eyes that gave off a frost fog. He can adapt them?!

”You made new fiends!? Oh what the fuck!” I mentally shouted as I tried to go into a bash attack, my limp being a bitch and a half to deal with.

Thankfully this new variation didn't seem any tougher than the normal ones from Spira. A few head bashes and it fell. At least it seems to count towards getting my brother.

”Jeez, the hell is with these things?” I frowned while seeing the Pyreflies fly out of it’s corpse and towards me.

New Fiends Form Acquired.
Tainted Crystal Dingo.

Unlike the common Dingoes this variation is resistant to blade damage and all but faith based magics. Their howel can revive animal corpses that it can command. Their bites cause fifth degree freezer burn and their stare can frost over low level flame magics.

”Holy shit…” I thought to myself. ”Now if I didn’t have a gaping hole in my foot I would totally use this form.”

As I kept on moving I was keeping a clear ear out for more of these Crystal Fiends-

BOOM!!

I was blasted into the nearby wall as it seems Blueblood decided to launch another Artillery Shell that landed far enough away to not kill me but still close enough to knock me into the air and into the nearby black crystal wall. As I was crawling myself out of that hole, I saw many of the guards rushing up, their weapons also crystal but shined with a Divine light that when they hit the black crystal fiends caused them to die instantly. I watched thankful as Shining rushed over to help- wait why is he raising his- oh shit right I'm still in fiend form!

I went back into my human form and raised my hands. “Wait wait! It’s me! Don’t attack!” I panicked.

Shining stopped instantly, nearly tripping over as they did. "Sorry!" They yelped. "You looked just like the others." They reached out a hand and helped me up. "Cadence kept looking through her spyglass. When she saw it was Sombra out here she broke open the experimental weapons."

“And here I thought it was Blueblood getting impatient.” I said, trying to get up but wincing. “Ow...foot…”

Shining looked down at my now bleeding foot with a large hole in it. He winced. "You need a hospital now." He said, working some magic that filled the pain but it was still sharp. "And that second Artillery Fire was Blueblood, these are the experimental weapons." Shining said, holding up a see through glowing crystal sword. "They're powered by the opposite of Umbrum Magic so they are perfect for fighting him."

“Well...I’m going to need that to kill the bastard.” I said honestly. “Also uh...who’s Sombra? And why is he a Doll?”

"He's… wait a doll?" Shining asked. Emerging from a distance away was Sombra the Fiend, his body more broken now, an arm and leg shattered and the back of their head missing. Sadly, it was all replaced by black crystal limbs. "Oh… what in the name of all that is-"

"Hello Shining Armor." Sombra spoke their jagged cracked form of a mouth moving. "It's been a while."

"The hell happened to you?!" Shining asked, raising their weapon.

"Ascension." Sombra replied, their black crystal arm shifting into a jagged longsword.

“Yeah, that certainly looks ‘ascended’ their mister ‘broken stain glass window’.” I rolled my eyes as I transformed into an Evil Eye and floated near Shining, firing off another bolt of energy from my massive eye.

Sombra raised their crystal arm, the weaponized appendage arching the electricity from the spell and shooting it off to the side of them… into the head of a guard. Their body smoked, twitched, their head blackened, smelt of burned flesh, red embers decorated their hair, and eyes exploded as they then fell over. Limp and dead.

I had seen deaths when God took me away. I had almost forgotten what seeing one was like, and this brought it all back.

I dove down and transformed into Raldo mid flight, using the speed of my flying to increase the ramming power of my Bash attack as I rammed straight into the bastard.

I skidded across once I hit, the force of my impact cracking something on him and we rammed into a wall. I felt pain as Sombra slashed at my back. Armored as I was his blade cut the armored plating off my Raldo form with minimal resistance. "Break this body if you wish, my shards will learn and attack stronger." Sombra said, this slash at my arm, the blade getting stuck in the armor.

Raldo’s species may be slow and armored, but one thing I learned rather quickly during my training was that these things have a biting strength of an Alligator Snapping Turtle, and I reached over to Sombra’s head and bit down with more than a thousand pounds of force.

Their head broke in my jaws, their glass and crystal shards cutting my whole mouth. I spat glass, crystals and blood as their body limply raised their arm up, only to fall immediately lifeless. A single Pyrefly floated from the shell of a body and into me. I felt a twisted, horrid sensation flow through me and when it passed, everything went white.

"You're early." Tidus said, standing over me as I arrived back in Zanarkand.

“Because some douchebags soul just went into me.” I shivered. “Seriously...all evil and shadow and crap, and it felt horrid.” I shivered while looking around to see if anything changed here.

Nothing so far. That's good. "Hey, since when did the zoo open?" Jehct asked from the window of the apartment that was Tidus's place when he lived here. It had plenty of space for us.

“Excuse me?” I asked with a frown. “What do you mean by that?”

"We've basically explored all of Zanarkand. Most of the buildings we can enter and look around but there are a few that we, well, can't. The Zoo is one of them, Central Hospital is another, and the Train Hub is the third. Whenever we tried it's like there's a wall around it." Tidus explained.

"Yeah, but I walked over there on the way here and that barrier wasn't keeping the front door from me." Jehct explained.

“Well that’s...concerning.” I said while bringing out my Sphere and checking my status, wondering what the hell Sombra did to me. “Uh...has anyone or anything appeared here yet? Cause I managed to free Wakka and Khimari from Stone not too long ago.”

"Wakka and Khimari are good?" Tidus asked.

"Did that kitten finally grow up?" Jehct asked.

“They're both good and wait, you know about Khimari?” I asked Jecht. “Also uh...they both came from a different Spira just like you Tidus...only instead of getting sent away due to a Fiend Blitzball team...a Second Sin appeared, and sent them to Equis.”

"Woah. Freaky."

"Ah, the multiverse. That explains a lot actually." Jehct said in thought. "So these two are from one Spira, Tidus is from another… and hell if I know if I came from either of those two." Jehct sighed.

"How do you know so much about other world's?" Tidus asked.

"Si-Fi books, movies, TV shows, games. Always seemed cool to me." Jehct said with a shrug.

“I mean, I was going to bring up the fact that Jecht was Sin and possessed by an ageless being of immense power that...might have seen through some veil or another.” I said nervously. “But that sounds about right.”

"... Well shit."

"Come on." Tidus said with a groan. "Let's just figure out what's up with the zoo before I hear something else that I can't wrap my head around."

"I think Braska's thousand year old corpse is in Equis's Minotaur lands." I said while walking off to the zoo.

I received a whack to the head for that.

The zoo was….neat. All indoors and we'll kept. The exhibits all had…Fiends. Fiends I can shift into. Even that black crystal Dingo. "That's new." Tidus said. An elevator with the simple title of 'Dangerous Species'

“What, the elevator or the Crystal Dingo?” I asked. “Cause the bastard I killed...apparently infused ice and dark magic into the thing and made it really cool.”

"Both." He said.

“Well...I think if we take the elevator we might find the person responsible for it.” I said honestly.

Taking the elevator, it was a long ride down as Catchy Music Played.

"At least it's not boring music." Tidus commented.

"I've...never heard this before." I said honestly. "But wonder what's going to be up here….wonder if it's where the Monster arena stuff will go." I wondered.

Finally when the doors opened we were met with… it looked a lot like the other exhibits on the upper floors, only the glass was replaced by a blue energy that was see through and the inside the first one on the right was what looked like a mix between a bedroom and a study. Sitting at the desk to the right against the wall was a silhouette of an equine stallion, though parts of him showed what should be his body. The rest was the white silhouette of his body. The only parts that were him was the right eye, left arm and his knees.

“Okay...so what the actual hell.” I started.

"You fought that?" Jecht asked.

“It was possessing a doll, and it made dark Crystals from places and...well it ate fire magic and shot it back at me that was a lot bigger and stronger.” I said honestly.

"Shoot, and I thought fiends were bad on Spira." Tidus commented.

"How interesting." Sombra spoke, despite there being no mouth on them this time. They turned, their one eye falling on me. "You copy a fiends form by adsorbing the essence that makes them."

“And it seems, from this poster here.” I said while looking at a poster next to his cell. “Is that the more pieces I collect of you, the more buffs I get...but that’s besides the point, who the hell are you? I only heard your name Sombra.”

They laughed. "I am an Umbrum. Something between demon and pony. Not quite a half breed but not quite either species. I was the last of my kind, sent to free them from their prison. Clearly, I failed. I was a tyrant for a time, controlled the Empire and enslaved them all. My Necromancy terrified the very stars. It just all comes so naturally that I ended up inventing new means of twisting one's body and soul into grotesque husks of what they once were."

“And...why did you do any of that?” I asked honestly.

"Because I could, because I was able. Because I had the ability. We aren't alike but we have similarities Anna. I invented magics so twisted that I made the heavens themselves scream in terror, and you tried to jump head first into an army, inexperienced, barely armed, just because you have the ability. And what an interesting Ability you have."

I thought about what I have to do to save my dad...and sadly I have a feeling I know what I have to do. “Just know, if you ever escape, I will beat you.”

That earned another laugh. "Oh Anna, as much as the idea entertains me, I am very much trapped here. I've worked with souls for a long, long time and I know when I'm up and fucked." He sat up a bit more straight, and despite there being no mouth I could easily Envision a smile on his lips. "It might not be Necromancy but I can tell when one soul consumes another. I and those fiends up there are as much a part of you as your skin or your blood. You killed us, devoured our very beings and collected our powers. I at least seem to have retained my personality and memories. Which begs the obvious question… when did you eat those two?"

“I didn’t.” I said honestly. “Jecht was here originally due to...reasons outside his control, and Tidus here also came here out of nowhere.” I shrugged. “I don’t know how I’m here either, but we’re here.”

"Holes in one's memories tend to do just that. Whatever the case, I do wonder what events will play out over time. This city is empty, save for you three and the monsters you consumed Anna. It makes me wonder… is this all in your head, or is it something far greater than you could handle? I'd say I'm dying to find out but it's a little late for me on that part."

“As long as you’re staying in here…” I sighed out. “So, I suppose you can tell me where your other pieces are?”

"No idea." They said simply. "Once you absorbed this fragment of me into your own soul I lost all connection to them. I don't know where they are now, just where they once were."

“Well can you give me a general area for them?” I asked honestly.

"At least four are still in Equestria, the other five are scattered across the globe."

“Damn, there’s ten pieces of you?” I said with a frown. “That’s gonna take a while...but good to know.”

"And as I said, our link means they know of you and have learned. You won't kill them as easily as I."

“That’s what they think.” I said honestly. “They may be stronger, but I can also get stronger.”

"But can you get wiser?"

Tidus snorted at that, and thankfully Jecht gave them a thump to the head for it.

We left and I sighed. So much to do so… an unknown time table. "I hate to say it but Sombra does have a point." Jecht finally said as we sat in the park.

“To which part?” I frowned.

"You being inexperienced. You seriously jumped headfirst into a fiend army well outnumbered?"

"Even though I had backup that seemed to not listen to obvious advice." I frowned. "Only until some douche noble was like 'hey, let's use some new Al Bhed tech made by the Minotaur equivalent to get me to Sombra'." I rolled my eyes my.

Jecht winced a bit at hearing that. "Tech from those days is powerful, can't lie there. Still, even with back up and proper spells to counter them, you didn't know what Sombra was capable of when you first fought him. You got injured, are likely in a hospital out there right now, and might not be good to fight for a while after you wake up. Healing magic only goes so far."

"I'd hate to agree with my pops on this but even I've learned not to pick fights I don't know what I'm getting into with. Auron drilled that lesson Into me good. Still… there is something I don't quite get." Tidus said thoughtfully.

"What is that?" I asked curiously. "Also it was either I deal with the bastard then or have too many Fiends trying to rush the Crystal Empire."

"Well…" Tidus hummed, looking around before spotting something. They rushed over and picked up a Blitzball sitting near a pool. They kicked it a few times before kicking it right at me. I raised an arm and blocked, sending it off to the side and into a tree. "That. Remember when we were training you to block and dodge by pelting you with Blitzballs?"

"Yes?" I asked. "What, you think I gain skills here but it doesn't count out there?" I asked curiously.

"No, you did just that same block the first few times but then kinda… froze." Tidus ran back over and picked the ball up, kicking it back at me as I blocked but aimed for them to kick it back. We kept like this for a while but- Ouch… the Blitzball hit my gut and… my arm was just a bit too high. "Like that. You go on a roll like that for a good while then it's like you flinch or freeze and don't realize it."

"That's...concerning." I said nervously. "I have no idea why that's happening…"

"It didn't look subconscious." Jecht said, looking at me with an almost detective like look. "Or reactive. More like… it was moved… no, sorta? Hard to tell."

"I think Anna is missing time." Tidus spoke up. "Like my time between Sin swallowing me and ending up in Spira. It's all a fuzzy haze but one moment I'm in Zanarkand and the next I'm in Spira. Same world, different time."

"I remember what that was like… had quite the hangover the following month." Jecht said with a sigh.

"Anna has the muscle memory of a fighter, but can't utilize it nor properly use it without that weird freezing episode."

"So what? Anna is missing time when she learned how to fight but forgot and can't use it?" Jecht asked.

"Might not be too far fetched." Tidus shrugged.

"But...how am I missing time?" I asked worriedly. "I shouldn't just...blank on how I can do things when I'm in the middle of stuff."

"That's something else weird about this place." Jecht sighed.

"Yeah…" I said worriedly. "It's just… somethings not right here… something massively wrong."

"Well, hopefully those answers will come in time. Til then, how about a drink? Odds are you are gonna be stuck here a while if your injuries were bad." Jecht offered.

“My injuries weren’t at all bad. Some bumps and bruises, the worst one was a jagged crystal shoved through my foot, but that should be healed up soon enough.” I shrugged. “Why I’m here is because that bastard's soul went into me and...did weird things.”

"Gross." Tidus gagged. "Still, booze does sound nice right about now."

"All right, let's see if Anna can get drunk here and wake up drunk or hungover out there." Jecht laughed.

“I better not be hungover if I wake up…” I grumbled. “But a beer...well I’ve never had booze before.”

Ouch… ouch…

So my stay here was longer than I'd liked. Apparently here I don't need to sleep, any food or drinks we take from someplace once we leave the room are back as they were, untouched. And not needing to sleep plus binge drinking means I am conscious as it wears off and the hangover settles in… that is not fun. Not. At. All!

“You all suck…” I groaned in pain.

"Lightweight." Jecht laughed.

Tidus hit them with an empty scotch bottle.

After that ended about… not sure how much time passed but it was more than I was feeling comfortable with. On the even worse side… Zanarkand movies all suck! God they're like B or C movie quality.

“Jesus these movies suck!” I whined. “And like three of them were about you Jecht, the hell!?” I said, the three of them I could only describe as ‘if Shaolin Soccer had more water and brawling plus worse’.

"Yeah. Zanarkand is more focused on sports." Tidus shrugged. "Besides, more people read than watch movies. Or at least they used to."

"Hey, at least I got books and movies made about me." Jecht said proudly.

"The actors didn't even look like you!" Tidus countered. "I'm pretty sure they painted that last movies guy!"

"Don't care!"

The next few… day? Went about a lot like that. The books were definitely better and oh my God they hold nothing back… I am keeping these romance novels.

"Okay...so now the question is...if this is my dream world...can I bring things here?" I thought to myself. "Or is it just this?"

“Don’t know. Wish we knew.” Tidus said.

“Wish I could see what the world you’re in now is like.” Jecht sighed.

"I have no idea what's going on anymore…" I sighed out. "This is just getting really complicated really fast...and I can only guess on things from a game that...well it might not be fully true anymore given what people have told me."

“Given you’ve been here about a month now, guess you were hurt worse than you thought huh?” Jecht asked me.

"Which doesn't make any sense how I'm this hurt when it was just Sombra that knocked me out after I killed him." I huffed. "Also...have any of you seen Luna? She said she's been trying to get into my dreams but can't."

“That Princess you work for right? No, just Tidus and I. You when you’re here.” Jecht said.

"That's strange." I said honestly. "Luna said she can travel into other people's dreams...wonder why she can't do mine? Do I need to give her permission or something?"

“Well, how does she enter others' dreams?” Tidus asked me.

"No idea…" I said while looking around, staring at the train station. "You know...maybe Luna enters from the Train Station? It's one of the few places that's actually has some importance here, whatever that importance is I don't know." I said, just wanting to talk to someone else besides these two. "Wonder if it's open now." I started while walking over to the station, hoping it's not closed.

“I highly doubt it. I mean, the Zoo didn’t open until after you got that Sombra soul in you so, maybe something has to happen for you to open the Station and Hospital?” Jecht said as he and Tidus got up and followed.

The train hub was filled with stationed trains all waiting in an empty loading dock for passengers and cargo. It was quite weird. When I tried to enter a train, the doors would not open for anything. Not on a single train. Oddly though, the switch control room/communications room was open. “This is kinda neat.” Tidus said, looking at all the complex controles.

"This is...very complicated." I said honestly. "Wonder what all this does?"

"Hmm. Hey, check it out." Jecht said, a small panel with multiple key holes on them. All were empty. "Looks like all we gotta do is find the keys to get these trains started."

"So where are the keys?" Tidus asked. At that moment, the Blitzball arena lit up in the distance. "... Well, good to know."

“Oh for the love of god…” I muttered. “Please don’t tell me we have to play for the damned keys…”

"I wouldn't bet money on the answer being no." Jecht said with a smile, then frowned. "And I doubt we have enough for a fair team… unless we get a three on three match."

"And there's ten keys, so odds are there's ten tournaments. Each maybe three to five rounds each?" Tidus thought aloud.

“Oh sweet god…” I took a deep breath. “I’m getting Blitzball flashbacks...they're not fun...so many hours trying to get Wakka’s overdrives and the parts for World Champion…” I whined.

"Hey, you got a champ right here!" Jecht declared proudly. "And a skilled rookie."

"I will hit you again." Tidus hissed.

"Point is, we got this." Jecht waved Tidus off.

"Hey, Tidus perfected the Jecht Shot, and then made it better." I said honestly.

"Damn right." Tidus added.

"The MK 3?" Jecht asked, looking surprised. Then he smiled. "What about MK 1 and 2?"

"You told me you made those up, remember?" Tidus said with a roll of his eyes. Jecht crossed his arms, still smiling, more smugly now. "You… you told me that when I was a kid…" Still smiling, Jecht began walking out the room. "... You son of a bitch tell me!" Tidus yelled, chasing after Jecht who was now in a full run to the stadium. "You seriously lied to me?!"

I chuckled and shook my head. “Boys.” I said while running after the two.

The stadium was ready to go, but empty. Very creepy. However there was something new here… a self service ticket booth. There was one event up at the moment, the Qualifications round. A one round 3v3 match. Most points after five minutes wins. Our opponents were these… silhouettes of people. All white. Winners here get to continue onto better matches and receive the #7 train key. "Wait, the number 7 train?" Tidus questioned. "That's just a short distance train. Takes you to Zanarkand's borders at farthest and back."

“That’s weird.” I hummed. “But might as well try and get it...I doubt there’s anything against me being the Goalie in my Fiend Form right?”

"I think there is." Jecht said. Looking where they were there was a sign that read; 'Warning! Use of Magic, Shapeshifting, Summoning, Weapons, Items, and Combat aid equipment is an immediate elimination! Violators will be given a two week ban from all events!'

“Ah boo.” I huffed. “But that’s about right...so uh...this is gonna be quite a challenge.”

"It will be fun." Jecht stated.

I was set to guard the goal. Best spot for me given my inexperience actually playing this sport outside of a videogame.

”God help me if they get this far…” I thought to myself worriedly.

Thankfully I didn't worry too much. Tidus and Jecht owned these silhouette people and we were allowed to participate in upcoming events, which were to be announced at a later date cause of course, and we got the number seven train key.

We headed back to the train station, set the key into the panel and it roared to life… and went along the tracks at high speed, zooming out of sight for a bit and after a minute came back. We rushed to the station dock and I was surprised to see my boss, Princess Luna, standing by the train with a look of pure wonder.

“Welcome to Zanarkand Luna.” I nodded. “What do you think?”

"My word… Anna… you have an entire city in your mind scape." She said, looking at me. "An actual physical plane of reality somehow is existing as a mental plane of the mind… I've never seen anything like it before."

“That’s the weird part though...cause technically this is supposed to be inside something completely different though.” I said honestly. “I don’t know why I’m here, I don’t know why at least he’s here.” I pointed to Tidus. “And it’s all just a whole bunch of confusing…”

"Well, clearly there is a great many mysteries to solve. Thankfully we have time for these mental adventures given your condition in the physical world." Luna said.

“My condition really shouldn’t have been that bad.” I frowned. “I wasn’t too injured, only problem was when I absorbed a piece of Sombra’s soul.”

"...That is a question for later. But, the reason your condition is so bad is because Sombra's crystals contain Necromantic energies. The initial strikes open the injuries far worse than what it would be by a normal blades doing, decaying the flesh as well to minor degrees and when he sliced you with his blade arm, or even with the penetration of your foot, small razor sharp crystal shards entered your body and bloodstream, creating minor cuts their Necromancy expanded upon causing internal bleeding across most of your body." Luna explained. "The only reason you are even alive is because the Crystal Heart has thankfully negated the Necromancy and they've surgically implanted three healing talismans into your body."

“Jesus christ…” I groaned. “No wonder why I’ve been here for so long…”

"How long will she be here then?" Tidus asked.

"The talismans have healed the majority of her Injuries. It would have taken less time had we the means to give you a blood transfusion but Equestrian blood is incompatible with yours and Wakka was sadly not a match. With luck she will awaken in two weeks or less."

“Oh dear god no…” I groaned. “I’ve been here for so long, the books here are great but the movies here suck ass and I don’t know if I can bring things from my own memory into this dream world.” I frowned. “But what’s new in the waking world?”

"The fiends are still around but are at manageable numbers. Between the Heart and the Guard they are of no issue. Blueblood's… weapons have made it into Crystal Guards standard weapons lists with Civilian models in the works."

“God damn it…” I sighed out. “Alright, so I don’t know how much you know, but what do you know about Yevon?” I asked simply. “The religion that the Minotaurs worship?”

"Yevon? I know they follow Braska's teachings but they worship no gods." Luna said.

"Wait! Braska!?" Jecht yelped. "What happened to him?"

“From what Twilight told me is that thousands of Years ago, the Minotaurs were suffering a serious drought and didn’t have much food or water, but when Braska came in he taught them not to be barbarians and helped their drought problem...then I think they’ve been worshiping his teachings, as well as his corpse since then...and then the Uor are a splinter group that’s basically the Al Bhed.”

"You… misheard a lot Anna." Luna said. "The Uor may worship the star that caused their drought but the Minotaurs primary tribes simply follow Braska's teachings, Braska the star returned to the heavens."

"Braska gets to be a star while I became a world ending monster? Unfair!" Jecht huffed.

"Somehow I still think that's some form of karma." Tidus added with a smile.

“I mean, hopefully Braska didn’t know much about the fact his religion was basically a Death Cult and taught them right.” I said honestly.

"And just like that more crap I can't quite wrap my head around." Tidus sighed.

“It’s...weirdly more simple than you’d think.” I said honestly. “Just from the Death Cult stuff, basically they just gave false hope to the people by giving Sin more Hosts to have it piss off for an unknown amount of time while dead people basically ran the world.” I shrugged. “Cause when you’re an ageless squid thing that makes armor in the shape of a giant space whale, the Final Aeon just has to punch through the ‘armor’ and then take the previous hosts place when it begins to fail against it’s possessor.”

"Well, yet another reason I never bought into Braska's religion." Jecht said, looking not quite sure on how to process all that.

"In any case. Anna, how have you been while here?" Luna asked.

“I’ve…” I sighed out. “I’m bored, plain and simple, there isn’t much to do here, the movies are all god awful, and the books can only last so long. Sure Blitzball is back but...I wish I could bring something into this world because of dream logic so I can show these two some actual good stuff from my world.”

Luna looked around us for a time. "Sadly because this place is originally from the physical world I have a minimal effect on this reality of your mind scape."

"But you can do something?" Tidus asked.

"Indeed. I could craft objects from Anna's memories, but that would be the most I can do."

“Yes, please.” I said happily. “Hopefully I can show these two some great things.”

"Very well, anything specific? If so think hard on it and any memories associated with the item so I can craft a perfect mental copy."

“Oh god...there’s so much to think about…” I said honestly, my mind going to so many possibilities but for some reason it defaults to my always dreamed Final Fantasy X remaster.

"Keep in mind I can only make what is in your memories not your fantasies." Luna added.

“Curses…” I huffed. “Why must there be logic in dream land?” I frowned, trying to think of what I would want here. I had FFX on my mind and now I could think of the PAL version of FFX, the version of the game that was still in english but also had all the extra post game content and my gaming setup back home.

Luna worked her magic, crafting my gaming set up from home and we set it up in Tidus's apartment. Sadly my save data wasn't there so I had to start from the beginning.

"Hooray!" I cheered.

With the gaming setup time at least passed by much quicker. All in all when I woke up I woke up to pain. A whole body pain that made breathing only manageable because of the slight dull sensation of pain killers. Opening my eyes I was met with a stabbing bright light that fogged my vision before clearing after a minute or two of adjustment. The first thing I noticed aside from the pain I felt heavy… and didn’t feel something. Looking, I sighed in relief, my foot was still there, but it was heavily scarred up. “Good, you’re awake.” I turned, seeing Twilight sitting in a chair next to my bed. “Luna said she was finally able to enter your dreams and you were doing well.”

“Yeah...finally did a thing in my dream world..” I said honestly. “Ow…”

“Try not to move so much.” Twilight said. “They did a lot of work getting all those shards out and repairing the damage… There were some issues though…”

“Of course there were issues…” I groaned. “What were the issues?”

“Well, Luna told you about the healing Talismans they implemented in you to keep you alive, right?”

“Because apparently I don’t have a similar blood type.” I said, thinking that was more the problem here.

“Well, they were implanted in the most damaged areas… where after healing they can’t be removed. Which isn’t too bad those types of talismans are meant to stay within a body.” Twilight said. “The first talisman was implanted in your spine. When you reverted back to human the cuts along your back grew and… began to decay your spine. So there’s one embedded on your spine at the base of your ribcage.”

“That’s good to know…” I grumbled.

“The second is in your head… Some shards made it into your brain and well, thankfully that was all minimal since your bloodloss kept a lot from reaching up there, still it was bad so one was implemented in your frontal lobe. Once you’re fully healthy it will help in ways the doctors are just guessing at for the time.”

“Good lord...I don’t remember getting cut near my back though, so how did that happen? Only my arm and foot were hit by his attacks.” I frowned.

“When you were that armored fiend and tackled Sombra. He slammed that blade appendage he had on your back, cutting your armor plating a little, once you shifted back the damage got worse.” Twilight explained. “Lastly…” She said, looking around for a bit. “Your heart.”

“I wasn’t even close to getting hit there, must have been all the shards that magiced their way into my body, cause I’m sure as shit would have felt crystal shards ripping apart my insides.” I frowned.

“Yeah, between the blood loss and the Necromancy your heart was actually worse off than your foot and leg… Which leads me to telling you… they couldn’t save it.”

“You know...I was told that when I got hit by Sombra’s bladed weapons, shards of crystal entered my body, but that shouldn’t have happened cause if it did, I wouldn’t be alive right now.” I frowned. “Also, if I don’t have a heart, how am I alive?”

“You can actually thank Blueblood for that.” I groaned at that. “He worked with spare parts from some of those Machina devices and made you something that can act as a heart. With some magic and that talisman acting as a power source it works just like a heart. Since Equine anatomy isn’t compatible with you it was the only option so you could get off the Blood Oxidizer and get your chest closed up. I have to admit, I was surprised he was able to make it so fast.”

“I’m glad I’m alive but...how am I alive though?” I asked honestly. “Cause injuries here make no sense here on progression and where I was hit.”

“Well, when you were injured there were those… things kinda floating around you, you know, those lights that you absorb when you kill a fiend? Some went towards you after the guards killed some fiends and hung around your wounds. You by all accounts should be dead, but those lights slowed the effects long enough for you to pull through. Looks like those things really like you.”

“The...Pyreflies kept me alive?” I asked. “That’s...that should be impossible. I’ve never heard of Pyreflies being able to heal a person, let alone keep them alive…”

“If Shining didn’t see it happen we wouldn’t believe it. Whatever the case, it looks like those things want you alive. If I could I’d thank them but once you were sable you absorbed them.”

“Which doesn’t make sense...seriously what the hell is going on?” I muttered, feeling like I should be making a connection here...but I just can’t.

"Maybe ok nice you're better we can run some tests." Twilight offered. "It would help us better understand the full scope of your abilities in a controlled environment rather than finding out at random."

“Well...that’s kind of not an okay thing either.” I said. “Since I learned I kind of...zone out for some reason.”

"What do you mean?"

“So in my dream world I have two other people there that have been making sure I’m in top form...and what we noticed was that after I do something enough times, like say blocking or dodging a ball being flung at me, I kind of...space out and get hit...like I wasn’t really there for some reason.”

"Huh. Well, it won't hurt to try. You might even get over that with practice. Maybe with time you'll even learn to use magic without that wand. Or if not I can probably make you one better."

“Who knows.” I sighed out. “But when can I start moving around? Or am I still bedridden?”

"Some physical therapy will have you good as new in a week. I gotta find Blueblood though, he wanted to know when you woke up."”

“Goodie.” I rolled my eyes. “Can’t wait to hear what he has to say about this.”

Twilight left to find Blueballs and I was left with a few spell books to read. They explained the basics of magic but between the meds and my own body pains I wasn't really paying attention, just looking at all the really impressive symbols and pictures.

"Looks like the heart worked." Blueblood said as he entered.

“Yes it does.” I said. “And here I thought you would have just let me die.”

"You act as if I don't have an ulterior motive for keeping you alive." Blueblood stated bluntly, take a seat in the chair across my bed. "It's not everyday these fiends arrive with artifacts that are medical based. Mostly it's all weapons, some armor, broken automatons, but medical ones are rare and it's not everyday the perfect opportunity to study them in action presents itself."

“Or because I’m helping take care of the only person you seem to give a damn about?” I asked. “Which begs the question, how’s Pip been?”

"Traumatized." They said bluntly. "They saw you nearly dead, before and after every surgery. He's in child therapy at the moment."

“Well...he can come visit so I can tell him I’m okay.” I said while trying to get up, massive pain shooting through my body. “Ow…”

"You think that will fix everything for him? Ease him maybe, but the worries will persist and the nightmares linger."

“I’m supposed to keep him from being upset.” I growled while trying to get out of bed, doing my damndest to work through the pain.

I yipped as an unseen force pushed me down onto the bed. Looking I saw Blueblood's horn lit up. "It's best you wait for at least a nurse before trying to move. Besides, there are a few features about your new heart you'd best know about and something interesting about your old one that happened after it was removed."

“And what would those be?” I asked simply.

"To begin, this machina heart of yours seems to not just pump blood but can also filter it. Any toxins in your blood would get filtered out after a while. How long though is still unknown. It can also send signals to your body that as far as I can tell seem to be for triggering certain chemicals your body produces naturally to be produced in larger quantities. Most likely for Adrenaline. Lastly, thanks to the healing talisman powering it, your blood gets energized so more than likely things such as your stamina and endurance will be affected positively."

“Well...that’s at least a plus.” I said honestly. “And what about my heart that should be nothing but ground meat at this point?”

"Well, after it was removed and left as a decaying lump of flesh I decided to experiment a little." Blueblood said, snapping his fingers as someone who, despite being in a lab coat likely was not a doctor. At least not at this hospital. They held in their arms a large jar filled with some liquid that likely held magic, and inside that jar was a heart, beating as if pumping blood. "Seven fiends killed with it nearby undid all that Necromantic decay. Normally irreversible damage undone as it absorbed those Pyrelights."

"Pyreflies." I corrected. "And...how the fuck?"

"Unknown." Blueblood said as the 'doctor' left with my revived heart. "I'll be keeping it to conduct studies that I imagine you'd not participate in willingly. And if the need arises we can put it back into your chest."

"And...weirdly it might also be where I get blood from." I said honestly. "But...since we're in private and you're doing some shady shit with my body...what's the deal between you and Pip? He's literally the only person to make you show any emotion other than 'bitch'."

"Should I?" Blueblood asked bluntly. "He's a child, a newly declared prince. Adopted son of Princess Luna. As is, these will be the easiest days of his life. Keeping him in Ponyville was a smart move on aunt Luna's part, the children of Canterlot would belittle and ridicule him for lacking a truly royal bloodline and when he reaches the proper age noble whores will use every trick to bed him just to conceive a child to marry in and become a princess. Why make these days hard on him? I remember when I was his age, and I envy them for it, but even I know a childhood is to be enjoyed and treasured, not spent learning the ropes to avoid and the ropes to climb… and which to choose for a hanging. Your own or another's."

"That was an amazing speech for a sociopath." I frowned. "While you are correct in what you said for Pip...I've seen how you act to everyone else, you don't give a shit about them, even if their family, and what emotions you do show are fake as hell...don't really know how I know that but it's true."

Blueblood gave me a smile, standing. "Can't a sociopath have a concence? You're partly right, I don't give a shit about anyone… there are three people I care about. Aunt Celestia, my cousin Cadence, and now Pipsqueak. I couldn't care less about anybody else on this world, just them."

"If you say so." I rolled my eyes.

"In other news, I've been looking into the Uor on your behalf. Turns out there are two tribes of the Uor."

"Great, what are the two tribes?" I asked. "And how many Death Cults are around?"

"The first are the ones who made the Machina for me. Uor Bedi. The second and one we should focus on is the Uor Mour. They so far seem to have a few known members, most of which are on Equestrias terrorist watchlists. Thankfully, one of these Uor Mour's is already imprisoned at Altorium Maximum Security."

"I suppose that should be my next stop...but I need to find the Uor Bedi…" I sighed out. "But mind if I ask if there's any Death Cults around?"

"Depends. Domestic or international?"

"Yes. Anything about undead being their leaders preaching about the Cycle of Death." I said honestly. "The minotaurs are already worrying me with how close they are to how Spira is...Spira being where these Fiends came from and Wakka and Khimari."

"Hmm… Domestic, there are nine cults on our watchlists. International, there's two hundred and six."

"Fuck...but I better start with the domestic ones when I have the time…" I said honestly. "Hopefully they're not using Yevon symbols...that would only make it worse."

"I'll check with my contacts then." Blueblood said as they pulled out a small notebook and wrote down something. "I imagine most of these groups are going to have some means of utilizing the fiends as weapons. Not to the degree Sombra could but a control on them regardless."

“Or worse.” I said honestly. “Oh, also, there’s nine other pieces of Sombra roaming around, four in Equestria and five around the world...got that little tidbit from the bastard...oh, also, what other ‘bad guys’ has this planet faced? Cause considering this is ‘fantasy land’ as I’ve called it before, there’s probably a lot of bad guys.”

"Hmm… if you include Discord, and Aunt Luna's time as Nightmare Moon, as well as other various legends, the prisoners of Tartarus… just shy of twenty five thousand. Not including other legends and the stars above."

“Okay so...let’s narrow that down to who’s made the most noise in the most recent amount of time.” I said.

"I'll see what my contacts in the underworld know. Til then you can rest up. Aunt Luna will be here soon with Shining Armor and Cousin Cadence. They have some news for you that will help out a lot in the days to come."

"Alright…" I sighed, trying to get comfy as I checked my stat screen to see if anything changed with me given they did Pyrefly tests or some have been keeping me alive.

Oddly, not much. But I am closer to unlocking the ability to save my brother, as I got all the Fiends that Sombra summoned so I need three more Fiends. There were a few new tabs but they were just question marks at the moment. Like either they didn't know what they were or were not quite ready to be unlocked.

After some time Luna, Cadence and Shining Armor came in. "It is good to see you awake Anna." Luna said.

"The empire owes you a great deal for dealing with those fiends and Sombra." Cadence added.

"Which leads us to what Cadence, Princess Luna and Celestia decided on." Shining finished, reaching into their pocket and pulling out a badge. It had the symbol for Harmony on this world, that star formation thing with a picture of the planet under/within it. "Congrats, you're the first member of the newly founded Guardians of Equis."

“Huh...that’s...something.” I said honestly. “But...what about Pip?”

Luna sighed. "Doing okay. They still have nightmares but I take care of those."

“I’m sorry...I didn’t want Pip to...experience that…” I sighed out sadly. “I’m a terrible big sister…” I muttered absentmindedly.

"It happens." Shining said sadly. "I remember the first time Twilight saw me beat up from a fight back in royal guard school. It was just a bruise from an accident more than from the actual fight and she taught herself the bubble wrap spell and put it on all my armor."

"To be fair, that did spark her interest in magic, and popping all those bubbles off your armor was fun " Cadence added.

"Pip is young and you are strong. Thankfully he only saw the extent you were hurt and was kept away from details, so as far as he knows it was only bad visually." Luna offered to my concerns. "In the end you did your duty as his guard and more. Which brings us back to this new order we have crafted."

“And what’s this new order you have crafted for me?” I asked.

"Well, the goal of the Guardians of Equis, or the G.E, is basically dealing with global, international issues. Presently, the fiends. They are everywhere and every nation is dealing with them one way or another and if this Sombra incident means anything it's a step in a dark future." Shining started. "So far the only members are you, my sister and her friends, Blueblood and myself. Though we are going to need more members. You can't be everywhere and it being international means we need aid both in terms of finances and numbers from the other kingdoms, or at least most of them."

“Sounds about right.” I nodded. “Oh, so quick question, what are the most recent bad guy encounters? Cause Shining here made it sound like Sombra happened not too long ago.”

"The crystal empire emerged from a thousand years of imprisonment with Sombra about two years ago." Cadence said. "This little incident has sent everyone on edge. These are the same ponies he enslaved all those years ago so the scars are deep and still fresh." She sighed.

"In regards to incidents on a national scale… Sombra was the last issue. Not including Twilight with that spell back in Ponyville, that was localized and a test by Celestia that earned little sis her wings and crown." Shining thought aloud.

“You mean that the localized mess of OCD did a massively bad thing?” I asked curiously.

"It was an unfinished spell. Essentially it was meant to bring out the true potential of the elements of harmony, of which Twilight and her friends represent. There were issues when she cast it but thankfully she corrected them and earned her wings."

“Well that’s good to know.” I nodded. “Oh but uh...Sombra told me that there’s nine other pieces of him roaming around, four in Equestria still and five in other countries.”

The silence in the air could let you hear a Nat fly down the hall.

“What?”

To be continued...

Chapter 5

Apparently, the threat of nine more Sombra's, fragments of his soul or not, are a very bad thing. Given what this one did to me I can't fault them. My rehab went by quickly, I was out in a week. Cadence had them look over my sphere and only found out two things, it is linked to my soul and therefore me. The fact it can tell me info and such like that means it's made from most likely what Equestrians call Star Shards. Rare crystals pulled from shooting stars turn falling stars. The crystal heart is made of such crystal type also.

Back in Ponyville I took it a bit easy as Everyone was working on this new organization. The Guardians of Equis. Twilight, her brother Shining, Luna and Blueblood were all in this library Twilight called home deciding protocols, rules, other things that went a bit over my head. I sighed, turning back to the task at hand… Pip is too good at checkers.

“So...how have you been feeling Pip?” I asked while moving a piece.

"Okay I guess. The empire after all that was pretty neat. Got to try crystal fruits for the first time. Not as crunchy as you'd think." They said, moving their piece. "King me."

Damn it… “You’re really good at this Pip.” I said simply.

"Used to play all the time back at the orphanage. Checkers, chess, dominos, cards. I've just been good at them."

“Good to know.” I said honestly. “But...again, I’m sorry for scaring you…” I sighed out bitterly while looking over the board to see what I could do.

"I… just remembered when my mom passed. My birth mom." Pip sighed. "Old wounds, or so I hear."

“I’m sorry for asking...but who was your mother?” I asked carefully, not wanting to dredge up bad things for the little guy.

"I don't remember her name. Just that she and I looked basically the same. Same mane colors, coat colors/pattern. We lived in Trottingham and that's about all I remember." Pip sighed.

“And your father just...left you and your mother?” I asked sadly. “What a dick.”

"I never met him. Mom never talked about him, but I think she loved him. She kept this ring that was his and took good care of it. She was buried with it."

“Still a jerk move to have never met his son, especially when that son is a wonderful and adorable colt like you.” I said in a big sisterly tone I haven’t used in...a long time.

"Anna, mind hearing some of this out?" Shining asked, calling from the room next door..

“Fine fine.” I said while putting the next piece over and taking two of his and getting up. “I’ll be right back Pip, also King me.”

Heading to the next room I saw the group of royals surrounded by books, scrolls and documents as Blueblood seemed to be writing notes from papers into a blank book.

"Okay so the majority of the rules and regulations have been made, and so far we figure the organization should be in two sections. Scholars and Hunters. Hunters do the fieldwork and Scholars do the research and such. Keeps it simple." Shining said.

“So I do the hunting, while people like Twilight here do all the Scholar stuff.” I said as an example. “It would be weird if it was the other way around given...well Twilight lives in a Library that’s in a hollowed out Tree…”

"Basically." Twilight said.

"We've already decided on ranks. Given the nature of events and threats the Hunters and Scholars are both overseen by an Overseer, who runs and organized the two groups and together will basically run the organization." Shining stated.

"I am going to be Overseer of the Scholars and Shining will be Overseer of the Hunters. His prior rank as Captain of the Canterlot Guard puts him on the best authority for that." Blueblood said, still writing notes into that book.

"Under overseer for the hunters will be a few ranks. The lowest being Paladins, basically rookies. Above that there's General, then Commander and lastly Captain. They are as high as you can get below Overseer. For the Scholars it's Scribes, Apprentice, then Archiver, and lastly Elder." Shining added.

“Alrighty then.” I nodded. “Sounds like a plan, so who else is going to be apart of this group?”

"Currently Celestia has contacted the Minotaurs, Deer, Moose, Hippo, Hippogriff, Buffalo and Zebras." Luna stated.

“Huh, that’s a lot of races.” I said honestly.

“That’s not even a quarter of the races on Equis that built cities or tribes. There are other races that live as feral as their ancestors have, but their minds are intelligent enough to learn languages and speak them.” Blueblood stated. “Birds, cows, some groups of goats, sheep, rabbits, bunnies, mice and rats. Even some insects have the intelligence of children or even an adult pony.”

“Huh...that’s interesting.” I said honestly, not having moved outside of Equestria since I got here.

“The only real exception to that are fish.” Twilight said thoughtfully. “They’re about as dumb as rocks.”

“Sounds about right.” I nodded. “So, where do I go first? Cause I need three more fiends to get my brother back.”

“Well, until we get any news we must prepare as best as possible, that means setting up a main headquarters.” Shining said. “Plus setting up local locations in towns, major cities, ect.”

“Well...the Library seems like a good enough place to start, just needs some renovations and the like.” I said honestly.

If looks could kill, Twilight would have murdered me. “No, we need a properly built H.Q, both local and for the international uses.” Shining said, patting Twilight on the back to calm her ‘Die Anna Die’ death glare. “I’ll talk to the mayor about any land we can use.”

“And I will speak with my sister about setting up the international headquarters building in the neutral territories.” Luna added.

“Alright, and given Twilight here is wanting to complain hard, I’ll tell you why I said to renovate the place to make it here. It’s in a pretty busy section of the town, it’s a goddamn tree so it has the ability to grow even bigger than what it already is, and it’s the most noticeable outside of Sugar Cube Corner which would lead to others coming in to see what’s up.” I explained. “Plus I said ‘renovate’, not ‘tear down and replace the entire thing’, I’m not a savage.”

Twilight huffed, grossing her arms. “It’s a historic landmark. Has been a library since the town's founding, and it will stay one.”

“Yeah… and your lab in the basement?” Shining asked with a raised brow.

“Given they moved all the town records to town hall, and it’s underground, a better option than renting someplace.” She said. “Besides, I do live here.”

“What about growing it like Anna said?” Luna asked.

“It was grown by Earth Ponies and not Unicorn Magic. Even if I could, it wouldn’t be healthy for the tree. Earth Pony magic keeps them healthy when making buildings like this, something Unicorn magic isn’t easily able to do and not too many earth ponies these days practice making trees into buildings. Even in Applejack’s family, not a one knows how to grow a seed into a prehollowed house.”

“You...do know that you can do this exact thing without Earth Pony magic...right?” I asked slowly.

“Do you know this type of tree takes over two hundred years to grow naturally?” Twilight countered.

“And so do a lot of other trees.” I said simply. “But my point is, you don’t need Earth Pony magic to make things bigger, hell you didn’t even need Earth Pony magic to keep it alive, Nature can handle itself unlike what I’ve seen constantly around here.” I said honestly. “So mind explaining to me how you can’t make it bigger with magic when just reading several books on magic shows it’s done more impressive things?”

“Because nature is magic in it’s own right.” Blueblood stated, still transferring notes to that book. “Earth Ponies, Minotaurs, Yaks, and many similar races all evolved coexisting within the reaches of primal natural magics. Hence they all share a special bond with it. Unicorns like myself stowed away, our ancestors communing with gods and stars to learn magic, how to manipulate and control the natural forces, but in a more forceful, controlling way. Think of it as a unicorn's use of magic like a gust of wind. Oh nature yes it can make them grow fast and large, but a growth that rapid means it pulls either not enough nutrients or too much and weakens it’s soils or grows so fast it begins to age and decay. Earth Ponies and their magic can allow the plant to grow faster, larger and healthier while also keeping the soils rich and fertile by acting as a second source for the plant to feed from and the soil to to take less of a strain.”

“Thank you.” I said. “Now that gives Applejack and Pinkie less of a fucking excuse for being piss scared of Nature doing shit by itself.” I frowned. “But that’s a rant for another time, but now that I know that…” I thought for a moment. “How far is magic with ‘pocket dimensions’?” I asked curiously.

“The magic is possible but difficult to self sustain.” Luna said. “The only functioning pocket dimension spell was applied to Starswirl the Bearded’s personal laboratory, but that building has been magically sealed by the wizard himself before he vanished and my sister and I can not break it. The only one who could would be a living relative. Sadly, he had no children, at least none we knew of.”

“And no, he had no siblings either.” Twilight added before I could ask.

“So...enchant it?” I brought up. “A lot of my magical idea’s are from Dungeons and Dragons here...but wouldn’t enchanting the pocket dimension spell onto say, a bag, be super easy? It won’t need anything but the very air around us to sustain itself right?”

“Yes but it still won’t be as big as you think.” Luna said. “Enchanting it onto a bag is easy, but even so the inside size will be about the size of a barn at the biggest; and the larger the space both inside and outside the item, like a building, the more magic it does need to draw in, and so it needs a proper source of power to draw from. There in lies the issue of keeping the enchantment powered.”

“The ambient magic of this world can’t sustain it? Seems a bit weird don’t you think?” I asked honestly. “But I barely know magic, I barely know what my powers do…” I sighed out.

“Ambient, no, it takes active magic to power higher grade spells and enchantments. You can energize gemstones with mana but that is’t a permanent solution.” Twilight sighed.

“Then perhaps we build a converter.” Blueblood offered from their notes to book writing. Huh, nearing the end. Neat.

“Oh? Does it take the ambient magic and turn it into active magic?” I asked curiously.

“It takes electricity and raw energy and converts it into mana.” Twilight corrected. “But on large scales they’ve never worked. At least not as hoped.”

“True, but if that’s the case there are other options.” Blueblood shrugged.

“Dare I ask?” Luna sighed.

“Well, there’s the ley lines, the elements of harmony, Discord, and of course, Tartarus.”

“Risky and dangerous, no way in the nine hells, and I doubt Discord would enjoy life as a battery… Tartarus though… There might be something there we can use.” Luna pondered.

“You guys have electricity...build generators, don’t fuck with super prison that might also be a literal Embodiment of the Universe.” I said slowly and worriedly. “Seriously...is getting a water wheel too much here? Or is jumping straight to what sounds like ancient beings or artifacts?”

“While it is a prison it is also a vault, and it’s warden owes me a favor.” Luna said with a smile.

“Hades owes you a favor?” Twilight asked, surprised as I am. “For what?!”

“I hooked him up with Artemis.” She stated simply.

“I would have thought Persephone given my worlds mythology on that group.”

“I’ll head there to cash it in. Hopefully what I want is still there.”

“I have… so many questions…” Twilight said, almost twitching.

“So...if the Greek pantheon is here, does that mean I can tell Twilight how my worlds stories of Zeus banging a whole lot of women?” I asked, getting a stupid grin on my face as I could just imagine what Twilight would think of all those stories.

“How do you think the Minotaurs and Centaurs came into the world?” Twilight countered. “A lot of celestial beings bred with mortal beings and some became divine beings, others became some of the races we co-exist with, and others roam the badlands or just stay isolated.” She shrugged.

“Ah yes, in this episode of ‘Zeus couldn’t keep it in his Pants’, we have several civilizations that didn’t immediately get murdered by him because of their hubris or because he kept breeding monsters that were killing people.” I chuckled.

“Actually only about four of his children grew up to murder their sibling races, the rest either left to find worlds of their own or were mortal and became the races and such.”

“And don’t tempt that divine man whore, you are new and if he sees you he will try and breed you. I speak from experience, just stay under his radar.” Luna warned me.

“Listen, if anything I’ve learned about Greek stuff, is that Apollo really needs to catch a break on dating, Hades is a lovable dork who apparently named his dog Spot in the Greek language, and that everyone’s surprised Hera hasn’t either put a collar on Zeus or castrated him at this point.” I said honestly.

“Speaking of, think we can get some of them to help?” Shining asked.

Luna pondered that for a time. “Possibly. I’ll see what happens and call some old family friends.”

“So on this wonderful train of thought, do all the other ‘’Mythologies'’ exist here? Like Egyptian with Horus and co, Norse with Odin and the like, and so on and so forth?” I asked. “Cause honestly, I need to have a talk with at least some of them, why did they ditch Earth when they could have made it so much cooler with magic and monsters?” I huffed, Rick Riordan having spoiled me on that stuff as well as my brother.

“Sadly uncle Horus is retired. Odin should still be around, have to ask Discord if his father is up for parole. Discord’s power is grand but Loki can do so much more.”

“Okay so...I suppose Loki’s imprisonment story doesn’t exist here right?” I asked.

“He is, hence why I said Parole.” Luna added. “Get’s freedom so long as he is helping mortals and not either killing or trying to rule them.”

“That’s...a lot different from my world, cause he wasn’t allowed to escape his bindings and torture until Ragnarok happened...also he was chained up for being a dick and having basically killed Baldur if my norse mythology isn’t lying to me.”

Luna shrugged. “Equestria has always had more contact with our divines and the divines of other lands and worlds than most in the cosmos. Actually that reminds me I need to return Mojlner to Thor… I borrowed it before the Nightmare Moon thing happened and forgot to give it back… actually where did that hammer go?”

“Just...raise your hand up...and summon it?” I suggested, remembering that no it’s not like Marvel’s Thor and you just have to be stupidly strong to wield it.

“Now that would be a good enchantment for the weapon. Would help when he loses it after a drunken adventure.”

“Speaking of them did Auntie Celestia send a letter to the Dwarves and Asgard?” Blueblood asked.

“Dwarves yes, Asgard, not likely. She and Odin don’t often see eye to eye.” Luna sighed.

“Was that a joke?” Shining asked.

“Asgard’s a place...not a person…” I stated as my head started to hurt as all the Myth’s on my world were actually true. “Okay so uh...we derailed this conversation about as hard as a train colliding with another train.”

“You brought it up.” Twilight reminded me.

“In any case.” Blueblood said, the notes done and the book had all of whatever he was writing in it completed. “It gives her an idea of the people in this world. The monsters to expect, and those who are either our allies or enemies. Add these Fiends and Machina, and something tells me our world is about to get much, much more dangerous.”

“Considering there’s nine more fragments of Sombra…” I started. “But yeah...I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a whole lot worse.”

"Well, you know what they say, with war comes innovation and expansion. The years to come will be quite promising for our development as a race." Blueblood added, closing that book.

“Cause that’s what we need…” I sighed out. “War in general is just wrong…”

"War in general is unavoidable." Blueblood replied simply.

“It should be avoidable though…” I grumbled.

"Be them Gods or mortals, all life has war in various forms." Luna sighed. Her horn lit up and in a flash she was gone. Shortly, Blueblood did the same.

"I'm off to the Mayor's office then. You look after Pipsqueak." Shining said to me. "And as your Overseer, that's an order." He said, though his tone and smile was casual.

“Yeah yeah, not like it was my job anyways.” I chuckled with a smile. “I’ll make sure Pip’s okay.” I said while walking back to see Pip.

Walking in I saw Pip… are they talking to their reflection?

“Uh...who are you talking to Pip?” I asked curiously.

"Hm?" He said, turning from his reflection in the window. "Oh...uh… remember how I sometimes see your brother?" He said rather awkwardly.

“Yes...are you talking to him?” I asked curiously.

Pip nodded. "It started… when you got hurt. He can't talk for long, but he tells me stuff like what you were like before and stuff from your world."

“Hopefully he didn’t tell you anything too embarrassing, or else I’m gonna have to do the same to him.” I said honestly.

"He said if you said that, to tell you he still has your phone… what's a phone?"

My phone… my music! My movies!!... My porn!!!

“It’s not of your concern at the moment Pip...just that my brother is being a butt here.” I huffed. “But...if you still see him, tell him I’m almost there to save him…”

"He knows." Pip said with a nodd. I watched them as their ear twitched back over to the window. "What's a body pillow?"

I am going to kill that little...

“Don’t listen to him Pip, my brother is being a butt here.” I pouted. “Now I don’t even want to save him if he’s going to be telling you all this stuff.” I crossed my arms.

Pip's ear twitched again. "He says love you too and that you two are gonna fish when he's out and free."

“Alright.” I nodded, tearing up lightly. “Love you to bro...and hey, we can consider Pip here family as well right?”

Pip twitched their ear, then looked at the window reflection. "He's gone… sorry, it only ever lasts a few minutes at most."

“Damn it…” I muttered bitterly. “But...at least I got to talk to my brother a bit.”

The neutral territories were odd. Basically they were a large section of land and/or ocean between any kingdoms and functioned a lot like international waters back home. All over the place there were buildings ranging from simple yet well defended shacks to towers stretching higher into the sky than I can even see. And that’s just what’s built on the ground, the cloud made cities and buildings are fucking massive that it’s half cloudy all the time and I can only imagine what is under our feet. Why I was here with Blueblood though was… orders… orders I don’t like.

“I hate this, and I hate you.” I frowned, not liking this at all that I need to spend all this time with Blueballs here.

“Not surprised and mutual.” He replied, going over various maps of the area. “But Fiends are prowling about here, as well as other undesirables. So given making this area home of our primary headquarters I’d need a guard who can well handle both monsters and criminals.”

“Fine fine.” I said “This better be worth it though…”

“Once we find an adequate land area to begin construction we can head back.” Blueblood said, looking over the maps again. “Preferably someplace with some water access and near the overhead leylines.”

“I still feel like you’re going overboard with this.” I said honestly.

“Better to over prepare for a threat than to become overwhelmed by the unknowns.”

“I suppose...but is a water wheel too hard here? You people also have coal and electricity...you also control the weather so that’s natural lightning…” I pointed out.

“The water isn’t for power reasons, it’s for potions. Potions brewed with water that runs through the natural leylines produces potions almost triple the quality of those brewed with normal water.”

“I was meaning using a water wheel for power reasons.” I started. “In my world, we power entire cities with Hydro Power Plants inside Dams, which are basically massive water wheels.” I said honestly. “Just...don’t see why we literally need to poke at the planet's veins for something that’s easily solvable.”

“The leylines are for powering gems with enchantments. The building itself will be powered by a Storm Generator. Nine actually.”

“Then what about that converter you showed us before?” I asked. “That’s what I’ve been more focusing on with all of this.”

“That would be for powering a helpful large scale pocket dimension so we can make the outside large and the inside even larger. I have an idea but sadly the materials and spellcraft are still in development.”

“Just like with technology here, it feels weird that Progress seems to be either super advanced for the common tech, or at a stand still.” I said honestly.

“In a world dominated by science and magic advancing both at once it is difficult to advance one without desiring to advance the other at equal pace. That is sady where our world has been grounded while yours reached the stars and developed technology to much higher degrees.”

“While that is true, but given how many fields we had it was hard to keep some from falling behind.” I said honestly.

“Hmm... “ Blueblood hummed as they looked at the map. “This should do it.” I looked at the area they were focused on. It was half a large hill or small mountain where a waterfall falls into a large pond. I looked at the map’s measurements for each square. Each square is two thousand miles by two thousand miles… and that area has seven across… that’s pretty big.

“Jesus fuck this is huge…” I muttered.

“It’s an international base, if it can’t hold the volumes worth of a small city then it won’t meet the international agency code.”

Pretty sure that’s more than a small city on earth…”Uh...I’m pretty sure one of these Squares would be like...the fourth largest city in the country I lived in…” I started.

“Really? Four of those squares is the size of Ponyville. Granted it’s largely farmland.” Blueblood said as we began the hike over there.

“Well how many squares does the town actually make up? Cause it’s a sizable town but it’s not two thousand square miles worth of space.” I frowned, knowing full well I can go through the entire town in less than a day as many others have.

“Well no but like I said it’s mostly farmland. In terms of these squares it would be a two by two space. Barely half of one square makes up the town central but the rest is all various farmland with the largest being the Apple Families Apple Tree Orchards.”

“Alrighty then, good to know.” I nodded. “So, how’s the building going to be?”

“I have some blueprints made up but nothing is finished. It should take about… a month to build and a week to furnish so we can locate there. Local bases though, the Ponyville one should be about done and the Canterlot and other ones in each city and town will be ready before weeks end.”

“Sounds like a plan.” I nodded. “So want me to clear out any baddies here?”

“That would be useful if any happen to be there. Given the terrain it’s highly possible.”

“Doesn’t matter the terrain or anything, all that it depends on is how bad the world wants you to have a random encounter.” I rolled my eyes.

“There’s a theory about how that works in forests of magic with dangers.” Some hours passed as we hiked along the small path. We arrived at the area and Blueblood lit up their horn. “There’s two major groups… and one lone wolf running about here.” He said.

“Alright, so which one to worry about more?” I asked curiously.

“The lone one. Save them for last, I want to study them a bit.”

“That doesn’t sound creepy at all.” I shrugged. “So who’s the two groups of interest here?” I inquired.

“First is up in the mountain area. They seem to be similar to that Evil Eye type fiend but far more magical. The other is in the thick forest further west of here. Near as I can tell they also are flying but seem insect based. The last… it’s familiar but I can’t pinpoint it.”

“Alright, and what do you mean by ‘familiar’?” I asked curiously, having a feeling I know what those fiends are.

“It’s magic feels like something natural to Equis but… Different. I can’t quite place it.”

“That’s weird.” I said honestly. “Well, I suppose I’ll be off to do some monster hunting.”

I shifted into an Evil Eye and headed towards the mountains first. If these ones are akin to this form than might as well greet them as such. I reached the mountain top by the waterfall and saw a dozen Buer flying about.

”Alright, Buer’s are extremely frail physically so it should be easy enough.” I thought to myself while flying over to the group carefully.

Upon seeing me a small group began to fly after me and attack, casting lighting and bites towards me.

I dodged the attacks swiftly, moving slightly as I opened my mouth and a gust of energy rushed towards the Buers.

The attack hit one, but it lived and I had to dodge a volley of other attacks. Thankful a second killed the first one… now to deal with the rest. Best use those new toys of mine. I hit the rocks, shifting back to human form as I pulled out the machina rifle and shot off the magic bullets.

“Even though these things are more magically defensive, bullets are still bullets.” I muttered.

This thing did kill them in one shot, thankfully. I took their pyreflies in and the new form flowed into my abilities. Smirking I was about to shift into the new form when I noticed something… only maybe half are following me. The rest look like they're… ignoring me?

“Huh?” I wondered while moving quickly to where the other half were. “Why are you ignoring me?”

The Buer looked at me, then began flapping away.

“Oi! Get back here!” I huffed.

It stopped, turned around and flew back up to me where it flapped still in the air in front of me… okay?

"Took you this long to learn it?" I blinked, jumping as behind the Fiend was the Doll Sombra… but… no, not like before. This is an illusion? "Illusion, insanity, hard to tell with you."

“Okay so...the hell?” I asked while pointing to the thing flying near me. “Why is it not attacking me and just standing here?”

"When my soul was split so we're my powers and knowledge. This is my power, Enslavement. Any being weaker than I is filled with an unwavering fear and obeys my every order. But, when you took me in, it changed, and works on the lesser, weaker of these creatures. Passively they seem to ignore you if they are beneath you, but once you give them an order they obey."

“Uh…” I started while pointing at the more aggressive Buer. “Attack.” I said, trying to test this out.

The passive Buer seemed to perk up, then tackled the aggressive one as other passive ones joined in attacking the aggressive fiends.

“Well that’s...neat.” I said honestly. “Wonder if it grows in power?” I wondered.

"As more of my shards are taken in by you, yes. To what degrees though I am unsure. I'm interested to find out."

“Cool.” I nodded while watching the fighting go on. “And if one side kills the other, I finish them off. Basic logic...wait, do I get experience from commanding the Fiends?” I wondered while checking my stat screen and seeing the experience stat...wait, what do you mean I have seventy levels!?! “Uh...I don’t remember getting that level...uh...how do I…” I muttered, only to see the Sphere Grid was my leveling system. “Yeah...sounds about right.”

Sombra chuckled. "I didn't measure my progress by following a spheres within my vision, I measured it by the body count."

“And you sir need a better hobby.” I said bluntly. “Now...do I even have the spheres for these?” I wondered while looking at my Sphere Grid to see if it was like the game or if it was brand new.

Fifty two… sweet. Huh, what's this? Following a branching path I saw a small line of ten spheres, one already alight but glowing dark and… sickly.

Sombra's Power: Rank 1

Nine more along. Makes sense.

“Well this is good to know..” I muttered while trying to get as much out of this as I could with what I had. “This is certainly different than the normal sphere grid that’s for sure.”

"You shouldn't compare reality to the fantasies you idolized.

“I’m in a world filled with magical talking ponies, Fiends, and I was just explained that my worlds Mythology’s are real. So yes, I will indeed compare fantasies to reality.” I deadpanned.

"In any case, surprised to see me here?"

“Yes, I am. Why the hell are you here?” I asked worriedly.

"You're using my power, why shouldn't I be here?"

“I suppose…” I said. “But I better not become more evil because I’m doing this.” I huffed.

"The powers of the Umbrum Don't corrupt the mind, all it is is tapping into the ethers leylines from the mortal plane. It's the caster who allows the power to drunk them."

“Right…” I nodded. “So anyways, let’s see how things are going with the fight.” I said while looking back to the Fiends I commanded to fight.

So far a good amount of the strong ones were gone already but there was a lot of the ones I controlled that were dead already. Made sense they were weaker.

“Alright, at least a bunch of them were cleaned out.” I said while cracking my knuckles. “Let’s keep going then.”

"May I offer an alternative?" I did not like that tone he was using...

“I’m going to regret this...but what alternative do you have in mind?” I asked carefully.

"The means of how you absorb fiends, and my soul shard, makes them as part of your own. You should be able to perform even the most basic of the spells I am capable of. If you can pull it off then combat against most of these creatures can be reduced significantly."

“I know I can do the four basic elemental spells from Final Fantasy...and I don’t know if I can use your magic yet.” I said while bringing out my staff and, using the HUD that Discord gave me a while ago, checked to see what spells I can do.

"My magic doesn't work the same as yours or Equestrian. Visualize a hole, overflowing with an endless void in your heart. Reach into the endless pit and take that darkness, and when it fights you, fight back. Punch, kick, bite then command it. The magic of the ether listens to no mage unless you can overcome it's desire to be wild. Prove you are the master, and once you have a pathway to endless possibilities opens to you."

“Well...if you say so…” I said nervously, taking a deep breath as I closed my eyes, trying to figure out what ‘hole’ Sombra was talking about.

I opened them. This feeling… it's like when I'm in Zanarkand. I turned around, Sombra standing behind me… and behind him, a deep endless darkness that seemed to roar and hiss with primal rage. "This is the pit into the ether, the source of my magic. Where fallen stars and dead Eldritch beings fester and feast on those they drag in.” They said, turning and I saw along the edges nine other figures just like him in the distance. "Even in death they respect me, now, can you make them respect you?"

“Well I’m sure gonna try.” I said while cracking my knuckles. “Anything goes here?” I asked curiously.

"Reach in, and when they grab you, Don't get dragged in."

“Alrighty then.” I nodded while moving over and trying to reach into the darkness.

I got my arm elbow deep when a rough, rock like tendril the size of my body grabbed it… and damn that thing is strong! I kept pulling back, this thing weighs the size of a building! "To make it okay, you must pull it out of the hole Anna." Sombra instructed, the rough skin of this thing starting to cut my arm.

“Yeah, easy enough.” I grunted while grabbing it with my other arm and trying to pull. “Nothing like pulling a building out of a dark place, that’s just fine.” I growled.

"Oh trust me that is much bigger than any building."

Huffing I kept pulling back, thankfully, inches began getting pulled out slowly.

“Good...to know…” I growled, pulling on whatever the hell this thing is out of the darkness with all my might.

After maybe two feet of this thing's appendage was out it yanked, and I barely stopped at the edge of the hole. Looking down I saw darkness but could hear so many impossible monsters.

“Oh no you don’t assmunch.” I growled while starting to pull back again, thinking this is more a game of tug of war than a fight.

I kept pulling back but it wasn't budging, the fucker having me lean over to keep my balance and not fall in. "My my, this one is quite the fighter. I do wonder which one nabbed you?" Sombra pondered as I managed to get one step back.

“Bite me.” I growled while trying to get some footing for this. “Bastard’s being a douchebag…” I grunted.

"Well it is Eldridge, they do exist to destroy reality so, what else do you expect?" Sombra said, walking over to the edge and looking over. "Oh my. You got one of those. That explains it. Gave me trouble the first time around. A spawn of… what do they call it in your world? Starts with a C…"

“Oh go fuck yourself.” I growled. “Are you saying Chtulu exists here to!? What, is everything from my world real here?”

"Well we call it Agrothl but yes and that is it's spawn, trust me to reach their mama you'll have to dive in pretty deep."

“Christ, why the hell did I agree to this?” I groaned as I kept trying to pull this thing up.

"You want power? Then best learn that it all comes at costs." Sombra said as I slid in more. "Raw strength Alone won't pull it above Anna. Pull with your soul."

“Easier...said than done.” I growled, trying to figure out how to ‘pull with my soul’ on the fly here.

It yanked again, nearly I avoided falling in as Pyreflies began flowing around me, emerging out of my body and wrapping around the tendril and helping me pull… okay. "Not bad." Sombra said with a shrug.

“Um...alright, so far so good.” I said while trying to get more of the Pyreflies to help me pull this thing.

More flowed out, forming into gushing rapids as the Pyreflies descended down into the darkness, wrapping around this spawn of Lovcraftian horror and lifted it up. The thing was thrashing madly, it looked basically like Cathulu but… smaller I think? It's still the size of… Hawaii. And it's island’s. "Good… I wonder…" Sombra thought, a smile on their lips. "Why would it be so scared?"

“What do you mean it’s afraid?” I asked worriedly, which I heard several other beasts down their screeching in fear at me for some reason. “Wait...why are these things afraid? I’m just me?” I said nervously as I pulled the thing out of the Abyss.

Sombra's smile never left them as they looked between the spawn of Cthulhu and me. "Try and eat it." He said finally.

“Why would I do that?” I asked, looking at the creature as it looked like a scared child more than anything.

"The magic you need comes from their blood. Blood of the Eldritch is tied to their souls, eat it's soul and you'd have more than enough to last for all my spells you'll be learning.".”

“That’s...weird…” I said slowly, the Pyreflies seemingly acting on their own as they started to go into the Eldritch being and...cause it to start shriveling up like a grape in a dehumidifier. “I’m...not telling them to do that…” I said worriedly, seeing it thrash around in pain as it started to die, Pyreflies flying out of its body and back into me as I felt the power of this thing rush into me as well.

The rush felt like I was in a hurricane, the power was like the sun itself flowed down my throat, and it's Eldritch soul tasted like bile built over the course of eons, the wrongness and horror of this thing's very nature made my stomach lurch and my mind reel in disgust. It ended and I tried to hack up what wasn't in my stomach. I would have preferred taking Sombra's shard again. "Incredible." Sombra said, his tone sounding pleased.

“Go fuck yourself.” I coughed. “Fuck that was horrible, and if you get a new roommate it’s not my fault...also it’s not my fault if I can shapeshift into the thing…” I gagged. “God this was a mistake…”

"We'll see." They said, pulling me up.

I blinked and we were back in the Mountain lake. I felt… well, okay. That taste was gone and over all I felt really good and what the hell is poking my ass? I turned, seeing a Buer Fiend biting my rear… seriously?!

I brought up my staff and smacked it really hard, killing it in one hit. “My ass is not a chew toy damn it.” I growled, my face beat red in embarrassment.

I growled as the last seven stronger surviving Buer fiends circled me. Sombra's… illusion, stood next to me. "Tradite Devoratrix Animas Excitat. That's the spell you'll want to use."

“Whatever the hell that means…” I said while raising my staff. “Tradite Devoratrix Animas Excitat!” I chanted, hoping it would do something.

The fiends before being stopped, their bodies… they began to break down into the white orbs of Pyreflies and flowed towards me and down my mouth. Thankfully that did not taste horrid. Actually had no flavor at all. "Soul Consumption. Given how killing these monsters you passively consume their essence, this spell is the same but active." Sombra said.

“Um...I don’t know if I should be doing more of this…” I said worriedly.

"Why not?"

“It kind of...feel’s wrong? Also I might be seen as a criminal for using magic that you used.” I started.

"Against beasts like these? I doubt that, after all… if you want to talk about morals, ask Luna just how the Empire was banished for a thousand years. Ask Celestia the spell that banished Luna for a thousand years. Illegal spells, it's just a label on magic too potent for the common mage to cast without understanding the consequences."

“Either way.” I said honestly. “So onto the next group of monsters.”

"Good luck." Sombra said, their illusion form vanishing from my sight. Good riddance.

“Bastards gonna give me such a headache…” I groaned while rubbing my temples. “Well...onto the next thing…” I muttered while turning into an Evil Eye and flying off towards the next group.

The woods area was full of fruit trees. Some of these I've only ever heard about or seen online… And some that look native to Equis cause it sure as hell doesn't look like any tree or fruit from earth. I heard a high pitched buzzing and spotted them. There were Bug Bites all over, and a nest made from whole trees and large boulders… Can fiends even breed like that? I doubt it.

”An entire nest? Jesus…” I thought to myself while shifting back into my human form. “Well...let’s try some commanding…” I muttered while raising my staff. “Attack!”

A few froze up suddenly, and began tackling others but not many at all. I huffed, taking out my staff and casting fire magic.

“Well, when in doubt, set fire to the damned things.” I said honestly.

Blasting the nest and bugs around that seemed to do the trick. I shifted into the new forms and woah… these wings are crazy. Feels like paper on my back.

"URRRAAAAAHHHHHH!" A noise like a monsters roar echoed from northwest of here.

”Well...that’s not concerning at all.” I thought to myself worriedly as I flew off quickly towards the roaring.

As I flew over near the small river the waterfall flowed into, I spotted a Chimera… eating a Chimera? No, that one eating the other is different… that's a fiend. Wait, so Equestria has Chimeras naturally too? Christ, why am I surprised? I just ate a baby Cathulu. I spotted Blueblood on a treetop, taking photos from a camera and writing some notes

”Thank god I learned some Nul Spells from my Sphere Grid…” I thought to myself while landing on the ground and turning back into my human form. “Nul-water.” I muttered, a water orb surrounding me as I took a deep breath and turned into my Dark Crystal Dingo form ”If Blueblood want’s some notes, I’ll give him notes.” I thought as I pounced on it’s snake tail and bit down on it while it was distracted with its food.

The snake tail bit me. While it did break it's teeth and didn’t hurt me it's surprisingly strong Maw managed to lift and toss me up, the air, the goat head looking up and opening wide… a goat should not have teeth that sharp! Before I could shift there was gunfire, the goat head receiving a rather large hole where it's left eye used to be as the other heads all roared in joined agony. Shifting to an evil eye I flew up and out of reach. Okay, not passive and agro as all hell.

Another gunshot, and it's snake body tail was blown clean off. Shit, Blueball's got aim.

I fired off a bolt of energy towards the Chimera while it was distracted by it’s own pain, hitting it’s Falcon head in it’s lower jaw and hearing it crack. ”This isn’t like a normal Chimera from the game...it had a bull and an eagle heads, not goat and falcon.” I thought to myself nervously.

Blueblood shot off a magic bullet carrying some kind of ice magic as on impact the whole left side frosted over, then the frost became a shell of ice two inches thick.

”I almost feel sorry for this thi-whoa!” I mentally yelped while dodging a massive fire ball thrown at me. ”Alright, never mind. Fuck you.” I mentally frowned while firing off another energy bolt at the monster.

The impact of my attack broke the ice and a chunk of it's half frozen body off. Then I saw something different. It began bleeding, but along with the blood Pyreflies floated out. That's new...

I started to cast that spell Sombra taught me as I used it’s secondary shockwave attack against the new Fiend.

I managed to absorb in some of the Pyreflies, but not all. Interestingly enough the ones I did absorb once I did parts of its body began to decay somewhat. The thing was on it's last legs and with one final blast of lightning It went down, it's body glowing as Pyreflies flowed into my and I got my last form needed. I'm coming bro.

I landed back in human form and noticed the Chimeras bones were all that was left. Odd… pretty sure the whole body usually turns to Pyreflies.

"That's...not correct." I said nervously. "What Chimera was that?" I muttered while checking my forms.

"That's what I was wondering." Blueblood said as he walked up. He knelt down, looking the beast over. Well, it's bones. He then pulled a paper and pencil from his pocket, wrote something down, then, in a puff of magic, the letter was gone. "I'm going to have these examined."

"Well there's already a problem given that it had a Falcon and Goat head, they normal have a Bull and Eagle head." I said worriedly.

"Equestrian native ones have goat and tiger heads. The snake aspect was the only similarity. While versions do exist with other beasts heads they are rare." Blueblood said, looking over the broken goat skull he shot.

"Fiends aren't native to Equestria though, it had Pyreflies and everything...albeit the nest of Bug Bites was also weird…" I started.

"A nest?"

"Yes...they were in trees and rocks...its concerning." I said nervously.

"Hmm. Looks like the base itself might need to get delayed. Worst case scenario, they're changing… or breeding. Or both."

"Both most likely…" I said worriedly while checking my new Chimera form. "Also I need to find a save sphere...so I can save my brother."

"Not sure if one is around here. Guess it's back to Ponyville for you."

"Damn it…" I sighed out. "Wish I knew how to make those things...at least for me it would teleport me to another save sphere."

"Hmm. Useful."

Arriving back in Ponyville the save sphere was doing… something. No idea what but I guess I just have to wait for it to… finish whatever it's doing. In the mean time, Twilight, her friends and I are training with Twilight's brother Shining Armor.

"Alright, so let's try out my new form." I said while turning into my new Chimera form.

Fuck… fuck… fuck. Six pairs of eyes is extremely disorienting. God this feels so alien. All the heads and… oh… crap that's dizzying.

"Okay...uh…" I started, being the goat head.

"Dizzy…" 'I' said as well from the panther head.

"This is weird…" 'I' groaned from the falcon head.

"Why am I the tail?" 'I' complained, so says the snake tail.

After a few minutes It began to settle in and felt a bit more normal. I wasn't dizzy but moving was another taste entirely. Two heads, four pairs of eyes both facing the same way yet at different angles and my snake head looking behind me made moving forward confusing.

"God almighty…" I muttered. "Does anyone know if I'm moving forward?"

"Yes but you're leaning to the right a bit." Twilight informed.

"Thank you." My falcon head said while I tried correcting myself.

Walking was a bit more manageable over time but this form is gonna take a lot of practice to get used to. Especially the four heads thing. It feels like I’m both divided between all four and switching between each head.

“Can you cast spells in that form?” Shining asked.

"I can." Snake me said.

"I can make fire." My panther head said while raising a hand and fire appearing on it.

"I can't." My goat head said.

"I breath a stream of water." My falcon head started as it shot out an Aqua Breath at one of the targets, knocking it over from the force.

“Neat.” Shining said.

“Interesting this type has four heads over the normal three.” Twilight said. “And you said this fiend left behind bones?”

“Yes.” The snake nodded.

“But I’m different than the normal chimera.” The Panther said.

“I’m supposed to be a bull.” The goat said.

“And I’m supposed to be an Eagle.” The falcon said.

“So something’s not right here.” I said with all four heads.

“That’s creepy.” Rainbow said.

“Eyup.” Applejack agreed.

“So anyways.” My goat head started. “The plus side with this form is that I can actually talk.”

“On the negative...this form is a massive headache to try and function given I have four sets of eyes and I’m trying to fight myself on doing the same thing.” My falcon head sighed out.

“I can imagine.” Rarity said.

“In any case, best shift back to normal for now, I’m teaching swordsmanship now, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, you two up front.” Shining said, the two mares in question walking up next to me as I shifted back to normal.

“Okay...that’s gonna need some getting used to.” I shook my head, feeling weird going from four pairs to only one. “Alright...so sword training right?”

“Yes. It’s best to make sure you can utilize any weapon around you. The most basic is the sword.” Shining said, handing AJ, RD, and myself wooden training swords.

“Alright, sounds simple enough.” I nodded while taking the wooden sword and doing some practice swings to get used to the weight.

RD and AJ did the same as the two partnered up and I partnered with Shining. He made a stance and I copied it. “Ever worked with swords before?”

“Not much, but I did do some play fighting with my brother a few times with toy swords.” I shrugged.

Shining shrugged. "Close enough. The basics of your basic broadsword are swings and thrusts. Swings for heavy hitting momentum and force, and thrusts for accurate strikes to vital areas."

“Sounds simple enough.” I said honestly, getting into a ready stance.

"When making a swing attack, you need to Arch it just so it carries your body weight when the impact hits, armored opponents often have some weak spots in their armor you can aim for to disable them or if your weapon is better than their armor you can try and break through it, but that's only really viable when using heavy weapons like a Warhammer, poleaxe and halberd."

"Sounds about right." I nodded. "This should be easy enough." I said while swinging my wooden sword down in the arch Shining talked about.

It all felt pretty fluid, Shining and I exchanging practice blows as we put more force into each swing to test one another.

"Let's hope I don't-ow!" I yelped and I Shining knocked my sword out of my hand as I had another 'blank' moment. "Damn it…" I grumbled, picking up my sword again.

"That's not good."

"It's...a weird thing about me." I said. "Some others in my dream world already figured it out...somehow I can be good at things but then just...zone out…" I said nervously. "Like I...wake up from a dream or something…" I shook my head.

"Hmm. Does this happen in your fiend forms?"

"Um...yes. That's how I got injured when I fought Sombra." I said honestly.

"Huh. Maybe a familiar could help you there."

"Familiar? Like a magical pet or something?" I asked curiously.

"Yeah. Maybe they can help you out so when one of these freeze episodes hits, they can at least defend you."

"True...so how do I get or make one?" I asked curiously.

"Twilight would know, she used to have one when she was younger but she disbanded their contract seven years ago."

"Well I'm gonna go see Twilight after this then." I said honestly.

"Yeah. So, how much can you lift by the way?"

"No idea." I said honestly. "I've done some basic lifting helping my parents with groceries and stuff."

"Well let's test that. The Ponyville HQ has a small gym so we can test your physical limits there."

"Let's hope I'm not physically unfit. I can at least keep up with some of the track team back home." I huffed.

Equestrian physical fitness is unfair. Stupid horse people. “I’ll make you an exercise schedule to help boost your strength, endurance, speed and stamina.” Shining said, my limp noodle body flat on the floor in a puddle of sweat.

“Cause that’s fair, comparing my human physiology to that of a goddamn horse.” I groaned in sore pain.

“To be fair with our similar body structures it seems our physiology is dramatically different, but at a glance you’d think they were more similar.”

“You’re still a horse, and there’s a reason why, back in my world, we have engines rated in ‘HorsePower’.” I groaned.

Shining chuckled. “Weird.”

“It was because horses were the main pulling power outside of some other animals as far as I know.” I said while trying to get up. “Can...someone get me something to drink?”

Shining used their magic, levitating over to me a bottled water as I gulped it down fast. “Makes sense, we’ve always pulled out our weight and then sum back before the steam engine and electricity.”

“And...I think I heard ponies pull full trains as well…” I said, taking a moment to breath before going back and drinking my water slower so I can get hydrated.

“Only along flatlands and only when coal is in short supply. Some do it for sport and others do it cause the work pays well, all in all it’s up to the ponies if they wanna pull it or not.”

“Sounds about right.” I nodded. “Christ this is gonna be a nightmare…”

“We’ll start after you’ve rested up for about an hour.” Shining said as he pulled me up and sat me down onto a nearby chair. “We’ll start with curl ups.”

“Hate you…” I grumbled.

"Heard that a lot back when I trained the guards in Canterlot. Said it a lot too back as a trainee. Funny how it always comes full circle."

"Hate you so much…" I groaned. "Now...can I find Twilight so I can get that familiar?"?"

"Can you even stand?"

I tried to get up. “No idea...let’s try…”

Legs… nope. Arms… nope. Spine… feels fifty years older than the rest of me… neck… fuck…

"Take the hour break." Shining said, holding back a laugh at my inability to move. "Once you can at least stand and walk you'll be fine."

“Piss off…” I groaned. “Just...move me towards the Save Sphere, that’ll patch me up…hopefully…” I said.

With a sigh Shining lifted me up and carried me over his arm like luggage. "You're lighter than you look."

“Says the horse person that bench pressed two tonnes.” I rolled my eyes.

"Four. Though Applejack, if what Twilight says is true, she has done fifteen." My groan could be heard up in Canterlot.

“I hate all of you…” I complained.

Sadly because the save sphere is doing… a thing, regarding my brother most likely, I just fell asleep on the bed. Arriving in Zanarkand I mostly just stayed lazy, too tired to do anything in this 'dream' world.

“Fuck working out.” I groaned, too busy playing FFX right now.

"Lazy girl." Jecht laughed.

"How's that hip there Gramps?" Tidus joked.

"I am not that old!"

“One pony, a royal guard captain, can bench press four tonnes, and an apple farmer can bench press fourteen.” I frowned. “And the captain wants me to be ‘up to speed’ with them!”

"I could bench that easy." Jecht said, giving a flex.

"In your dreams." Tidus said, rolling their eyes. "The only thing I've ever seen you bench was mom and she only weighed a hundred and twenty pounds."

“Only thing he benched harder was his blitzball career.” I joked.

Jecht huffed. "Kids today- Oh God damn it! Now you're making me sound old!"

"You are old." Tidus stated.

“I mean, he’s probably only in his mid thirties.” I shrugged. “We never got definitive ages though in the game.”

"I'm only forty two." Jecht huffed.

"Old." Tidus said with a laugh. "Ouch!" He yelped after Jecht slugged Tidus on the head.

“Don’t hurt each other too much you two.” I said honestly. “So anything new in here?”

"Yeah, we got a new roommate." Tidus huffed. "Well, more a pet but still."

At that moment, a tiny Cthulu squid flew across us in the air as if they were swimming. It looked at us, hissed at me, then "flew" off into the bathroom. "I call him Skippy." Jecht said.

“I...don’t know why it’s scared of me though.” I said nervously. “When I pulled it out, it saw me and freaked the hell out like it’s seen me before or...what I was doing.”

"It more hissed at you. Maybe it just doesn't like you?" Tidus thought aloud.

"It likes me. And fish sticks." Jecht stated.

“I mean, I did...eat it to gain it’s powers.” I said nervously.

"Yeah that would do it." Tidus said with a sigh. "Not even phased by this shit anymore."

“But again, it seemed to panic when I started, not because I was beating it but...like it saw something else.”

"Whatever the case, we got a pet now." Jecht summarized bluntly.

“Which is a nice thing.” I said honestly. “So I should be saving my brother soon.”

"Sweet. What's he like?" Tidus asked.

“Well...he’s a sweet little thing.” I said gently. “Happy, energetic...pretty much like Pipsqueak to be honest.” I said honestly. “If you two haven’t seen what I’ve experienced in the movie theatre if that’s possible, or if Luna didn’t already talk about him a lot.”

"Often." Tidus and Jecht said in unison.

"I'd tell her cut the cord but she didn't birth him so… not exactly sure what to tell her." Jecht said.

"Not surprised given you were the most uncaring dad ever." Tidus huffed.

“From what Jecht said his father was worse.” I said honestly. “But there’s something weird between Blueblood and Pip...bastard couldn’t give two shits about literally anyone, but Pip is a special case…”

"Maybe he just has a soft spot for kids?" Tidus offered.

“No, I’ve seen him around literally everyone else, he does not give a shit.” I said. “He even agreed, and he’s being pretty evasive on answering my question...and then there’s that letter he keeps reading…” I wondered, not really sure what the connection is here.

"Is it old paper?" Jecht asked.

“Considering there’s magic in the world it might be kept fresh but...it looked old enough, certainly looks at it enough from what I’ve learned.” I said honestly, damn near seeing him looking at it before doing something or having a moment without much happening.

"Must be from family. Mom, dad maybe?" Jecht offered.

“Don’t know his parents, and he only said he cared about Celestia, Cadence, and now Pipsqueak.” I said honestly. “So it couldn’t be his parents…”

"Then maybe it's a letter from one of them? Celestia and Cadence I mean." Tidus thought aloud. "Like, orders from Celestia or some childhood sketch from Cadence?"

“He wouldn’t be so protective of it, cause if it was ordered from Celestia he would have probably showed me it already, and a childhood sketch...possibly, but I doubt it…” I said.

"Is it all that important? If everything about him pisses you off why bother investigating him?" Jecht asked.

“Because me knowing something he actively doesn’t want me to know will be a victory that will piss him off, a lot.” I said with a cheeky grin.

"You assume." Tidus sighed.

“He seems like the type.” I said simply.

"Even so, he is your boss. If I'm not mistaken, you sure you want to see what hell he can order you through?"

“My boss is Luna and Shining, Blueblood has nothing to do with what I’m doing.” I said honestly.

"Just saying." Tidus shrugged.

"Even so he is a Prince, liked or not he has royal authority so you don't know what he can do within the law." Jecht said.

“Either way.” I said. “I just...hope when I wake up my brother’s there.”

"Whatever that sphere is doing I'm sure it will all work out." Tidus said.

"Ten Gil says it leads you to a place with a powerful fiend you have to fight and kill to get him back." Jecht said.

“No bet, I’m pretty sure that’s going to happen when I wake up.” I said honestly. “Why wouldn’t there be a boss fight to save my brother?”

"If so will it be one we know or one that's new?" Tidus asked. "If it's new then cool but also yikes."

“It’s already concerning because Bite Bugs were making Nests in trees and boulders, and that Chimera you two probably saw...it was mixed between fiend and an actual creature from Equis.” I said honestly.

"Damn. Welp… guess the situation is worse than we figured."

“And it’s only going to get worse...either because of other hidden stuff I don’t know about, or one of the bastards that got chucked to Equis was Seymoure.” I shuddered.

"Better not be." Tidus huffed.

"I hated that little brat. Always gave me the creeps." Jecht added.

“Oh he’s like in his mid twenties when Tidus kills him like…” I went through my head how many times you needed to fight that bastard. “Four times...while he continuously wanted to save people from Sin...by becoming Sin and murdering everyone so they wouldn’t be killed by Sin.”

"... Does being a half breed screw with your brain?"

“I don’t know what you mean by ‘half breed’, but that is literally Seymour’s entire plan that he tells people when you’re half way up Mt. Gagazet.” I said honestly, only shaking my head and chuckling. “It’s such a hypocritical and retarded plan that it’s just hilarious.”

"Was disturbing to hear it though when you had to fight him multiple times." Tidus said.

“Yeah, and I really hope I don’t have to deal with that asshole.” I sighed out.

"Don't jinx it."

“Fingers crossed.” I said honestly.

"What do you mean he's gone?!" I woke up hearing Luna scream those words downstairs.

“Wha?” I groaned, looking around. “Where am I? What happened?” I asked while trying to get up, only to slip from where I was. “Shit!” I yelped only to hit the floor. “I’m okay…” I groaned.

"Anna!" Twilight yelled as she ran over to me. "Pipsqueak is missing!"!”

“Oh come on!” I shouted while getting up quickly. “Blame Shining for making me pass out, we need to talk later Twilight, and have there been any big rifts opening up out of nowhere?” I asked as I started to think of where Pip could have gone. “Was there any signs of where Pip wanted to go or something? What did I miss?”

"This was in his room, recently drawn too." Blueblood said as he entered, a colored sketch of an old castle in the woods drawn up. "It resembles the old Equestrian Capital Castle in the Everfree Forest quite well."

“Okay, so we know where to go.” I nodded. “But...we need to work fast, god only knows if something is going to appear where Pip is.”

"You go on ahead with Princess Luna, the rest of us will get there as fast as we can." Twilight said.

“Got it.” I nodded while opening the window and flying out as a Bite Bug, this thing being a lot faster than the Evil Eye as I rushed to the old castle.

I arrived in Minutes, Luna keeping up on those impressive wings as we arrived at the old castle ruins. Pip was there, sitting on the old half broken dusty throne. "Pip!" Luna yelled, running up only to hit an unseen barrier.

“Of fucking course.” I groaned while shifting into my new chimera form, thankfully getting more used to it as I looked around with the sight of a falcon from four different heads. “Alright, where’s the boss?” I growled. We watched as Pyreflies flowed from Pip, and formed in front of him into… Tommy!

“Tommy!” All four of my heads cheered as I reverted back to my human form and ran after Tommy, hoping he was okay.

He looked a little sluggish, Pip seeming to mimic this sensation as suddenly chains of magic wrapped the two boys.

"Pip!" Luna yelled.

"Tommy!" I yelled

The chains dragged the two off down a secret path behind the throne as black pulsating Pyreflies flowed around from all the castle walls and began forming into a shape. They were two armored knights, but that armor looked… strange. One was pure sky-blue and black and the other a gold and orange, the blue and black one bore a crescent moon and the other the image of the sun, both armor sets looked built for….

"My old armor." Luna gasped. "And Tia's. I haven't seen those in three thousand years."

“Well whatever the reason they're here, I’m going to rip them apart for taking my brothers!” I roared, shifting into my Chimera form and charging at them.

The Celestia armor stepped up, meeting my charge and wrapping their arms around my torso, stopping me dead where we impacted then tossed me into the nearby wall. Fuck…

“Anna! You… Shit.” Luna said, seeing her dodging her armor swing at her with was a very artistic and deadly looking lance made of a silver looking metal that seemed to vibrate on it’s own. I jumped out my small hole in time to avoid the massive one handed axe Celestia’s armor nearly slammed on me.

“Cause this is what we need right now.” I growled while my falcon head shot a bolt of water at the Celestia armor.

Celestia’s armor slashed upwards, the blade of their axe glowing a molten red as on contact the water turned to steam and filled the room. I felt something bump into me but thankfully it was just Luna. “This isn’t good, those armors were built by our father. And those weapons… they draw power directly from the moon and sun so long as we are bound to them as well.” Luna said, the metallic steps of the armor sounding around us but the steam still making seeing difficult.

“Fine.” I growled as my fur started to spark with magical power. “Flare!” I shouted as I leaned over as my snake tail channeled the spell, a roiling mass of powerful mana appearing below the solar armor before erupting like a volcano.

The armor was blasted high up, Luna raising a hand. “I sure hope this works.” Luna said, several seconds of nothing til the sky flashed with lightning and thunder echoed all around. Something crashed from the already falling apart ceiling. In her grip Luna caught a heavy looking hammer crackling in lightning. “Okay good it did. I’ll give this back to Thor later.” She said, swinging it around like a yoyo from the handles end strap and slapping it upside her own armor’s head.

“You are so lucky that it came back.” I said while rushing over and headbutting the armor with my Goat head straight into a wall.

With even footing Luna took on her own armor while I dealt with Celestia’s. As it was about to slam it’s giant war axe onto me again there was suddenly a purple shield around me, and looking to my side I saw Shining run up and smal that crystal war hammer into Celestia’s armor, sending it back some feet. “Living armor? Aren’t fiends animals or something?” He asked as the shield around me dropped.

“They can also be plants, stones forming symbols for elements, flans, and other things.” I said honestly. “Not all of them are animals...but how this shit is happening I have no clue, cause they are powered by Pyreflies…”

“Those things you absorb when you kill them? That’s concerning.” Shining said, Celestia and Luna’s armor standing before us as Applejack and Rainbow Dash arrived. Four against two, they are so done for.

“These assholes are holding my brothers hostage, and I’m going to bring them back.” I roared as I used Aqua Breath against both suits of armor.

Another slash and the Celestia armor created a veil of steam. I ignored it, charging forwards as suddenly pain erupted in my leg. Looking down that lance was in my… oh come on the same foot! Luna’s armor twisted as I roared, jumping back when I slashed at it but not without cutting my hand/paw wide open with a lucky slash to the air. Shining got a shield up over me as Celestia’s armor was about to slam it’s axe down, only for Luna to throw Mjolner into its torso. It landed on the ground, the hammer’s magic pinning it down as it tried to stand.

“Oh no you don’t!” I shouted as my panther side raised it’s fist up into the air, the fist bursting into flame as I rammed it down into its hollow helmet hard enough to crack the ground.

I then tried to pick up it’s own axe and YIPE! My attempt to lift the axe was met with an immovable object… oh now that’s just unfair. Pissed I kept stomping on the armor’s head, finally cracking. I was about to give one more hard stomp but I got a lance in the ass, thankfully Shining’s shield’s can shrink when they go around something, and Luna’s armor was trapped in there.

“How fucking dare you.” I growled angrily.

I smashed my good foot on Celestia’s armor, the helm cracked and shattered. Pyreflies followed into me and I felt massive relief as I saw before my eyes the injuries heal up as I absorbed them. Nothing was left of Celestia’s armor now, and turning Luna was slamming Mijlner across her own armor’s helm.

Crack. Crack. Break.

Once the helm broke, Shining dropped the shield, the Pyreflies flowing into me as well. With both of them absorbed I felt… different. Not like I had a new Fiend form but more like… a new power? Maybe?

“Well…” I turned back into my human form and tried to bring out that armor.

It was when I shifted back I noticed my new… hand tattoos… the sun on my left hand, and the moon on my right, both right there on the backs of my hands. I tapped the moon one, and suddenly I was in the armor, holding that lance and felt… woah. “Woah.” Applejack said.

“Well...this is cool.” I said while looking over myself. “Hmm...I wonder if I can use my forms with this?” I wondered.

“I’m wondering if you can fly with that armor on?” Rainbow Dash said.

“I’m wondering if you can use my magic with that armor on.” Luna added.

Confused, I looked up… I have a horn. I looked to my sides… I have wings… Holy fuck I have a horn and wings!?

“This suit of armor is awesome.” I said happily, trying to fly with my armors wings.

I lifted up about three feet… then crash sideways into the wall… flying is harder than it looks. At least with wings. Fuck as a fiend I can fly effortlessly, this is… different. “Ouch…” Shining winced as he picked me up.

“Alright, so I thought flying as a Fiend would give me a better feeling for flying…” I groaned. “But I can work on this later, where’s Pip and Tommy?”

“They were pulled down the secret fun slide behind the throne.” Luna said, rushing over to said throne and kicking it aside, showing there was a small hole that indeed did look like a long slide down. “It leads to a bunker, with luck the two are still there and waiting for us and didn’t wander off out the secret passage.”

“Let’s hope for the best.” I said while heading down the slide, wanting to see my little brothers again.

The slide was longer than I expected, but when I popped out I hit a large pile of pillows. And someone. “Ouch! I missed you to Anna but… I was gonna joke about your weight but why do you have wings and a horn and armor right out of Skyrim?” Tommy asked from under my back where I was unintentionally pinning him.

“I am so sorry.” I said while disbanding my armor and getting off of him, only to pick him up and hug the shit out of him. “But I missed you so much…” I said, tears filling my eyes as I finally got to hold my little brother after all this time.

“Missed you too… can I breath now?”

“No.” I said while at least letting up on the hug enough for him to breath. “I haven’t hugged you in months...let me have this...also where’s PIp? I need to hug him as well.”

“Over here.” Pip said, the young colt was standing next to an old bookshelf still full of books that looked surprisingly well.

I carried Tommy over and picked up the young colt and I hugged him as well. “You scared the crap out of me Pip…”

“I don’t even remember what happened.” He admitted. “One moment I was reading in my room… the next I was waking up with a splitting headache in the old castle here. Got dragged down that slide and,”

“After his and my headaches died down we talked, both of us were happy I was out of that place. It sucked, I was asleep for the majority of the time and the time I wasn’t asleep I was talking to pip there or watching him given it looked like he was the only one who could see me when I was awake.” Tommy huffed.

“Pip!” Luna yelled, grabbing Pip out of my hug and into one of her own.

“Mom! Air!” Pip cried.

I laughed. “Well...I’m just so glad you’re both okay...especially you Tommy...it’s been…a lot…” I said, still hugging my brother as much as I could as I started to cry in joy.

“I know Anna.” Tommy said, finally returning the hug. “I know.”

Back at Twilight’s place things were getting a bit packed, so Tommy and I shared a room. “Anna…” Tommy started. “Back in… that place… When I wasn’t watching Pip or the world around me I saw… other stuff.” He started.

“What other stuff?” I asked. “It better not be you peeping on anyone.”

“I saw mom and dad.” He said. “They were… different. Dad was… I don’t know, like, in a cage, and mom was tied to one of those… tower things, from that game you’re obsessed with, that one that Yuna character prays to to get Aeons. She was just… crying. I tried to reach them but that place was weird. No matter how much I walked or ran I never went anywhere.”

“I don’t know where Dad is and...mom is stuck in a Fayth…” I sighed out. “She’s underneath Canterlot Castle, in it’s Crystal Mines surrounded by some very powerful Fiends…”

“Dad’s must be in some kind of prison… know of any?”

“Tartarus?” I said nervously. “But that shouldn’t be right, my quest for saving dad said ‘Stop the Shadow Plaguing the North’, and Sombra has nine other pieces roaming around…”

“North is that Empire place, right?”

“Yep.” I nodded. “But I already dealt with the piece of Sombra that was up there so...no idea what I need to do next.”

“Maybe there’s something even more north of that place? Like a lost city of abandoned ruins or a portal to… someplace.” Tommy said with a sigh. “Oh, also I have this.” He said, tossing a small backpack. “And…” He handed me my phone and charger.

“Thank you.” I said while taking my phone away from him. “And the backpack?” I asked curiously while making sure my Phone was okay, even though it would have no internet I still wanted to make sure it wasn’t messed with.

He unzipped the backpack, turned it upside down, and I watched as about ten swords fell out, twenty of each FFX potion and item type, some various armors, and other stuff. “I have no idea.” He said, looking at it all as surprised as I was. “When I woke up in that place I had this and all this crap in there."

“Jesus christ…” I muttered at all the things. “So many things...how and why?”

"In total like a little over two hundred items of all kinds, and again no idea, I woke up there with it. And the ability to do this." He added, taking a quick run at the wall… then ran up it, tapped the ceiling, jumped from the corner then backflipped mid air onto his feet. "Again… no fucking idea."

“Look at you mister acrobat.” I chuckled. “I can do this.” I said while turning into my Chimera form. “I can turn into Fiends from the game.”

"... Huh…" Was all he said.

I turned back into my human form, and then hugged my brother again. "I'm still...so happy your back bro."

"Same." He said, hugging back. "So… what is there to do around a world of ponies and monsters?"

“A few things actually.” I said. “Like enjoying nature, traveling around, and being confused on how this world is in the middle ages but also has DJ level technology.”

"So… anything fun within town?"

“There’s an Arcade if memory serves.” I said honestly.

"Cool."

"Not so fast there." Luna said as she entered. "Anna, how old is young Tommy again?"

“He’s thirteen.” I said honestly. “Five years younger than me.”

"Then he needs school still."

"Oh come on!" Tommy whined. "School? Really?"

"You are a child, and I am royalty, plus you and Pip were bonded for a long time, I'm sure attending school with him will help you adjust and learn about the world you are in quicker than it took Anna." Luna said

“And I still barely know anything about this world because I've been busy being Pip’s bodyguard and fighting things.” I said honestly. “Also...figuring out a lot of other things that don’t pertain to this world...like how all those mythological gods are real and they abandoned earth like douchebags.” I huffed. “I don’t care, I wanted my world to be filled with magic and cool things darn it.”

"In any case, you'll start school in a few days Tommy, and good night." Luna said as she took her leave and Tommy sighed.

“Well...I’m sure you’ll at least meet some new friends.” I said sheepishly.

"Meh." He huffed, collapsing on my bed. "School in any world sucks."

“True.” I said while sitting down near the bed. “But at least you’ll be doing something good, I’m going to be having to run around all the time hunting Fiends.”

"Lucky~" He whined. "You get to have magical girl adventures while I'm stuck in school."

“Except these magical girl adventures are very dangerous and nearly…” I stopped myself before going too far. “Listen, I’ll try to ask Shining and some others if you can join me in my work...cause I don’t want to be too far from you bro.”

"Thanks. So, can you do magic?"

“Yes I can.” I said honestly. “Mostly spells from Final Fantasy but spells nonetheless.” I said with a proud smile.

"Outside of being a fiend also or only as a fiend?"

“Both.” I said while grabbing my staff as a small ball of fire appeared above it.

"Cool. Hope I can learn some. So, how are we gonna split the bed, it's not that big."

I gently moved my brother over so I could fit and got on the bed, cuddling up next to him. “This good?”

"Can you not press those watermelons you call boobs against me? It's very awkward."

“Don’t be grumpy with me.” I huffed. “But...I’ll probably need another bed though…’

"Bunk bed?"

“That would be amazing.” I chuckled.

Tommy yawned and I covered us with the blanket. "Night sis."

“Night little bro.” I said while gently kissing his forehead, just so happy to know my brothers here, safe and well.

With Tommy finally in school I was about to hit work again, til Luna and Shining both gave me paychecks. Luna for being Pip's personal guard and Shining for the work with the guardians… yeah I'm not short on cash at all… one bank account later and I now had a debit card and over nine grand in my account. Time for some shopping, as nice as sharing a bed with Tommy has been nice, he does move a lot in his sleep and we did wake up to some… awkward situations. So, off to find a bunk bed.

“Alright so...where the hell do I even start?” I frowned.

I looked around til I stopped by a small furniture store next to Quills and Sofas. Still the most odd store here. I found a surprisingly nice bunk bed ment for teenagers, so this was perfect for Tommy and I. After buying that and having it shipped to Twilight's place, I set up the thing pretty easily and looked it over.

The frame was solid oak, the space between the top and bottom bunk was about four and a half feet and the space between the top bunk and the ceiling was pretty much the same. With that done I set up the sheets on them and headed back out to train with Shining Armor, I was getting trained with the new recruits from Ponyville. Apparently there were a few aside from Applejack and Rainbow Dash that wanted to help us out in town.

“Alright, so who are the new recruits?” I wondered. “Cause I still need some shopping to do…”

"Over there." Shining said as I entered, pointing a finger to the door labeled Prep Room. "Get ready for the training with them, and get to know them."

“Sure.” I shrugged while heading to the prep room, wondering who might be the new recruits.

Entering the Prep Room I spotted four others here. One, to my surprise, was a griffon. The others were ponies.

The griffon was brown with white wings and Feathers along their head and neck that also kind of looked like hair. Her body type was actually pretty close to mine figure wise. The first pony I spotted was a large earth pony mare, an eggshell white coat with big red eyes and equally big and red curly hair. She looked really scary. The second pony was a stallion I've seen around town, caramel coat with a brown mane. The last pony was also a mare, much smaller than the first, but her figure was also bigger than mine… damn stupid sexy horse people. She had a cream colored coat with the same brown mane as the stallion, but so far she looked very out of place. Part of me thought it odd the only new recruits so far were earth ponies but I shrugged, this town was founded and is inhabited mostly by earth ponies so it did make some sense. Well, aside from the Griffon.

“Alright, welcome to orientations.” I said. “My name is Anna...who are you four?” I asked curiously.

“Gilda.” The griffon stated first.

“Peppermint.” The large earth pony mare said.

“Caramel.” The stallion said.

“Cream Heart.” The second mare said.

“It’s nice to meet you four.” I nodded. “So, what brings you to our humble organization today?”

“Kicking ass.” Gilda said.

“Work.” Peppermint said.

“Work.” Carmel also said.

“Work.” Cream Heart also said.

“Jeez you people need a hobby…” I muttered. “Alright, so what do you four know about our organization?”

“You travel the world and kill monsters.” Gilda stated bluntly. The others nodded or shrugged.

“I mean...yeah.” I shrugged. “So what can you four bring to the table?”

“I’m fast, and natural talons means I’m never unarmed.” Gilda said.

“I’m basically a living tank.” Peppermint said. Given her size yeah.

“Two years of navy experience.” Caramel said.

“Ten years of archery.” Cream Heart said.

“Cool…” I nodded. “Now...what are you all fighting for? I just want to know what you’re all here for besides ‘work’ or ‘thrill seeking’.”

“Keep my daughter safe.” Peppermint said.

“Keep my son safe.” Cream Heart said.

“Mostly for me I just… miss working for the government.” Caramel said.

“Personal.” Gilda said.

“Alrighty then.” I nodded. “Good start...always know what you're fighting for...cause from personal experience it’s what keeps you going during terrible times.”

“Are we getting this show on the road or not?” Gilda asked. “We’ve been here since six am.”

“Well I would have liked to know that, but I didn’t know you were here for that long.” I said. “But I want to see how capable you four are, so let’s go to the training area to see how good you four are.”

"I believe that's my job." Shining said as he entered. "Remember Anna, your training is the same as theirs."

“My training is more combat, not trying to do the impossible and be as physically fit as you people.” I frowned. “I can barely lift two hundred, you people can lift over four thousand without even trying.”

"Given your abilities I won't be surprised if you actually can and more." Shining deadpanned at me. "Alright! To the gym! I've got some basic physical exams set up!". He then ordered like the captain he was before becoming a prince and everyone headed off towards the gym.

“Oi vey…” I groaned. “Question, given that my powers are shapeshifting, when are you going to find me a trainer for that?”

"... I don't think we can. Shapeshifting is a Changeling ability but… we don't get along with the Changelings very well, not since they brainwashed me, nearly killed Cadence, nearly took over Canterlot and locked Celestia and Luna in cocoons."

“So I’m gonna have to look for one myself, got it.” I sighed out.

"Assuming they won't attack you on sight."

“They can’t all be bad right?” I asked. “But what are changelings?”

"Think beetles like bugs that can shapeshift via fire and feed on emotions."

“So...they were only following their queens orders?” I asked curiously. “And feed on emotions?”

"Probably, but we don't know a lot about them, they're a race that evolved to hide amongst other races to feed off their emotions, so not exactly easy to track down. And yes, they feed on emotions. Primarily, Love."

“That’s...strange.” I said slowly. “What do they look like?”

"Kinda like a pony, some have horns, wings, some have both, blue eyes, their wings are like fly wings, holes in their arms and legs, and their queen, Chrysalis, is about Celestia's height, green snake like eyes, large fangs, some green… hair I guess, and this green band around her waist that I think is part of her body."

“I mean, they sound more cursed than anything if the whole ‘holes in their body’ is anything to go by.” I shrugged. “Also if it’s a queen, then hive mind sounds about right…”

"Don't know and honestly I could care less about them."

“Gonna have to care when I have to find one of them to train me.” I said honestly. “But that’s neither here nor there right now.”

"Thank goodness. Now, gym." Shining said, pointing a thumb In the gym's direction.

“Fine.” I rolled my eyes while heading to the gym. “God this is going to be annoying…” I grumbled.

I headed to the gym. First up was a speed test. Two for Gilda as those with wings are tested both speed times on legs and wings. My time was seven minutes for ten laps. Cream Heart was six, Caramel was also six, Peppermint somehow did four minutes. For her size, she is fast. Lastly Gilda got ten laps in two minutes. "Okay, Peppermint, Gilda, good job, the rest of you will be taking speed boosting exercise." Shining said as he wrote our times down. "Take five then onto the endurance run."

“Hate you…” I muttered as I took a drink of water.

"You are not an athlete are you?" Gilda asked, walking up to me.

“Do I look like it?” I grumbled. “I’m not and never have. While I’m at least in decent shape...I’m not going to be as fit as you all given I’m different.”

"Maybe not." Gilda shrugged. "Play to your race advantages. Whatever those are."

“And that would be our brains and opposable thumbs.” I said honestly. “Both of which doesn’t mean much here...and even though I can shapeshift I can’t really do that when I’m supposed to make sure I stay in shape.”

"Well if brains are your talent along with those thumbs then think on how to work with it. If not, then hey, this training should get you stronger and faster in no time."

“Or kill me…” I groaned. “Seriously, Shining wants me to be able to keep up with you people, and that’s going to be functionally impossible unless I figure out how to add my Fiend’s strengths to my normal form...but can’t really do that when the queen of that race screwed the pooch.”

"Yeah. Remember hearing about that. Kinda feel bad I wasn't there, heard the ass kicking was too notch."

“And I need to find one of those bastards and force them to train me.” I sighed out. “That’s not going to be annoying at all.” I grumbled while drinking more water.

"Only place I think you can find one might be this town in the Badlands I've heard about. Junk City they call it. Supposedly it's a place where the freaks and the beasts live out in the open and nobody cares unless you stare."

“Sounds about right.” I nodded. “And...where’s the Badlands?”

"Head south til you reach a dessert that goes on forever. Junk City will be at the end of that next to the sea south east. Wonder if this job will send us there? Always wanted to visit."

“We could probably go damn near anywhere.” I said honestly. “All depends on where bad things are happening first.”

"Sounds like fun."

The endurance run was basically run til you can't anymore. I stopped after ten minutes. Peppermint after two hours, same as Gilda, Caramel after thirty and Cream Heart after fifteen. After a half hour break next was tests of strength. At this point I'm wondering if Peppermint is even a pony cause according to Shining, deadlifting two hundred tons is well past equine limits.

“Okay Pepper...what the fuck.” I panted heavily. “You’re deadlifting two hundred tons...how and why?”

"It's just my natural strength." She said simply with a smile. "Always been strong and when I got bigger so did my strength."

“That’s still weird though…” I said worriedly.

"Not entirely." Caramel said. "Some earth ponies are born with more innate magic than others. Around the time your cutie mark appears your innate magic begins to really mature and develop. For unicorns it's longer, thicker horns, Pegasus get larger wings with insane speed and for earth ponies it's typically size and strength."

"Yeah, my uncle was like that." Cream Heart added. "After he got his cutie mark grew nine feet tall and could punch boulders to gravel."

I blinked. “So...why am I on the hunting team instead of the scholar team if I’m this horribly outclassed?”

"Most likely your abilities and the fact that not many ponies are born like me." Peppermint said. "Take my daughter, when I was her age, I was already the size of a ten year old, and she's no bigger than a toddler despite she's five. It's just how the dice roll."

“Well...that’s something.” I said honestly. “Also because the only way for me to get stronger, and by extension save my family, is to kill Fiends...which I’m gonna have to give you a crash course through…”

"The combat evaluation will be last, and you'll be excused from that Anna." Shining said. "Once I have all this physical data on you all I'll make a proper training and combat course for you all."

“I’m still gonna have to talk about it...even if I’m going to just be sitting in a chair wondering why my bones turned into jelly.” I grumbled.

The rest of the tests thankfully weren't murder. And on the combat test I happily rested. When it was over I felt a shower was needed. Thankfully there are showers here.

“Oh the sweet beauty of showers, take me away from the pain.” I sighed out blissfully as I enjoyed a nice warm shower after a hard day’s work.

Everyone else save for Shining went home, he was in his office likely making up the training thing. Ugh.

With a sigh I finished up and grabbed my towel and headed out. Once I moved the curtains I spotted Gilda. Huh, didn't know she stayed to… umm, oh… okay, two things, one, that looks a lot like the Bad Dragon ones from back home… and two… Gilda's a dude!

I couldn't help but scream. In reaction Gilda turned, saw me, then screamed too.

So yeah… the end of my shower ended with… that. Gilda and I were just sitting awkwardly next to one another, fully clothed now, still in the locker rooms.

“So...uh…” I coughed. “That...happened…” I started. ”Gods why did it have to be that big…” I thought to myself worriedly.

"You tell anyone…"

“Why did you get tits?” I asked. “We’re alone right now...and I saw so might as well.”

Gilda sighed. "I've always been… I've always looked more female than male. When I was young every griffon figured I'd grow out of it… then puberty hit and, well, look." They patted their… rather large hips and thighs. "Face got smoother, hips and an ass that was every female griffon in school's envi, voice never got deep, host a bit gravely. Only thing I didn't have was the tits… got them after I moved to Griffonstone. Everyone back home used to call me Femboy, sissy… ect. Rather than keep getting called shit I figured, might as well look more girl than guy. Least then I was called nice things…"

“Considering magic is...well magic...are they…real?” I asked carefully.

Gilda rolled their eyes, but smiled. "Yeah. They are. Get fat like the real deal too if I gain weight. The novelty wore off fast though, and at some point I stopped paying much attention to them."

“Well they're not called ‘fun bags’ for nothing, especially for a guy.” I said while gently raising my own girls up.

Gilda rolled their eyes. "Yeah well not much fun when the only ones who wanna grab them are guys who wanna shove it in a hole I don't have. Not even into guys."

“I mean, I always thought…” I blushed lightly. “If you were flexible enough you could...stick your own between them?” I said nervously.

"... Well, I'd be lying if I said I didn't try but I didn't get these for sex I got them so I can fit in. Can't fit in with guys so might as well finish looking it and fit in with girls. That didn't even work, the only friend I ever had was Dash and we haven't talked in a while."

“I mean...who wouldn’t want to be friends with you?” I asked curiously. “Even if it’s not for a relationship, just hanging out with this,” I motioned to all of Gilda. “Would be wonderful.”

"Heh. If it were that easy. I'm too girly for the guys, too guyish for the girls. I'm basically between and can't fit in on either side. Dash and I at least we're friends competitively, but she picked her actual all girl friends over me."

“Why would she do that?” I asked, not really knowing the story here.

"I dunno. I mean, I guess I was being a jerk but, it had been years since I saw her and really… needed to talk, but that stupid pink… ugh. I couldn't get a word in with that pink pony jumping, literally, in every ten seconds."

”Now being a dick is one way to lose a friend.” I said honestly. “But maybe you could have told Pinkie that you needed to talk to her privately would have clued her in. Pinkie may be...whatever the hell that pink horse is, but getting in between people’s important business isn’t something she’d like, least of all knowing she was the cause of you and Dash not being friends anymore.”

"I Know it wasn't cool of me doing that… she just… kept getting real close to me and… I can't stand people getting close…"

“I’m pretty sure you can barely stand a good enough looking young adult, and two Milfs half the time.” I said honestly.

"Not… not like that…" Gilda said, her- HIS tone sounding… oh...

“Okay…” I started nervously. “Um...so…” I coughed, trying to figure out what to say in this awkward situation.

"Look… you seem, nice and cool but… I can't talk about… that or… just not yet. You seem cool, maybe someday but… I don't know you that well. I was supposed to talk to Dash about this…" As Gilda spoke, his breath was becoming a bit more rapid. As quickly as it became rapid, it slowed some. "Fuck, I hate looking vulnerable."”

I wanted to ask why they were breathing heavily...but something told me...no, I knew why they were breathing rapidly. “Are you...having a panic attack? Wh-” I stopped myself, my eyes widening as I thought back to the things he said. “Oh my god…I’m so sorry…”

"Heh… that obvious?" Gilda asked, now holding themselves. "I act tough and joined this so… I could forget it. Put this fear, this anger where… where it won't kill me."

I honestly couldn’t help myself as I hugged Gilda. “No one should ever go through that…” I said, not ever having experienced his pain but always having feared it.

Gilda jumped, shoving me off hard and I slammed into the lockers. "Sorry! Sorry…." Gilda breathed rapidly again. "I can't… don't…" They ran out the locker room door, and I heard wing flaps and they were gone.

“Way to go me…” I muttered, walking out of the room. “If I ever find those bullies...I’m going to make them pay.”

The next day Gilda apologized for the shove but I stopped them. One of the few things I remember from a short Psychology class I took was never touch or hug a rape victim when they are having an episode. Still, Gilda hated feeling so weak, and frankly, I can't blame him. Something like that… you don't get over. At least they are still talking to me.

“I should be sorry for hugging you...I didn’t mean to make you feel worse I just...I couldn’t help myself…” I sighed out. “You looked like you needed someone...but that’s the last thing you would need…”

"It's what I came to talk to Dash about… but… Pinkie Pie just… kept getting so close and… that whole party thing just…" He sighed. "Dash has always been my only friend, she's one of the few people who know I'm a guy, and always treated me like one. Heh, she used to tease and flirt with me all the time and it both embarrassed me and made me happy. Course then everyone began thinking she was a filly fooler when she isn't so I made her stop. I've been down that road enough to know you don't want the whole world thinking your something you're not… makes my whole deal about looking like a girl sound hypocritical but, it was this or hard core steroids and I was not taking drugs."

“Yeah, sounds about right.” I said honestly. “I...I’m still sorry though...but mind if I ask, given that Pinkie was being Pinkie...why didn’t you say anything sooner? I know telling it to people you don’t want to know isn’t really a good thing but...just getting it out there to your friend and their friends would have at least done something. Especially when one of her friends is pretty close to the princesses.”

"And just tell her 'mind if I talk to my childhood friend about my recent rape back home so I can ball my eyes out to someone I trust?'" Gilda asked. "Besides, there's nothing they can do about it. There's only one rule in the griffon kingdoms. Survive. Whole point of me moving to Griffonstone at all was because technically it's an Equestrian owned griffon city, so at least that place has some actual laws."

”I mean, you could have started with ‘mind if I talk to my childhood friend about something very important alone?’, or something like that.” I said honestly. “Or at least tell Rainbow that you needed to talk to her about something important, Rainbow would have gotten Pinkie off your back for a bit, but I suppose hindsight is twenty twenty as well as just getting a word in edgewise with Pinkie can be a hassle sometimes.”

"Yeah… something isn't right about that mare. Anyway, this whole… stuff aside what do you think the boss is gonna have us do today as part of this training?"

“I still have to talk to you four about Fiends and all that crap.” I said. “I’m pretty sure Twilight or Blueblood is gonna give me a bunch of slides about Fiend’s that are in more remote areas for me to explain.”

"Ugh, school." Gilda huffed.

“Except in this school you’ll actually be learning something important.” I said honestly.

Gilda thought about that, then shrugged. "I guess. Still, have you run into any you didn't expect?"

“That would be the Equis variants…” I sighed out. “Like the one Sombra was creating somehow and...the Chimera.” I sighed out. “It may have the same name between the two but...given that when it died not only did it die like a Fiend, but it also died like an actual living being on this planet…”

"Freaky. So you kill them and what? Take their souls or something?"

“I...guess?” I said nervously. “It’s honestly less ‘taking’ and more the Pyreflies going into me like I’m some conduit for it or something.”

"Huh. Does that happen around normal people dying too or just friends?" That… is a morbidly good question.

“So far it’s Fiends, and I’m fine knowing that it only works on them and I don’t want to know if it works on normal people.” I said worriedly.

"Just hope some mission we get won't have you find out." Gilda said, giving a bit of an awkward pat to my back.

“Listen, I’m pretty sure I’d figure it out after Blueblood finally said the wrong thing at the wrong time.” I said honestly.

"Won't that be more bad for you since he'll become like, part of you ?"permanently?”

“He would be locked up in a zoo in his own special pen.” I said honestly.

"...huh."

I then remembered that little Cthulhu I absorbed and Jecht keeps as a pet… wait why wasn't that thing in a cage?

I pondered that til we arrived at the office. There the devil himself was waiting for me. "Anna, there's some new recruits I'd like you to meet." Blueblood said as Gilda waved me off as they headed for the locker room

“Hooray for more new recruits.” I sighed out. “Who are the new recruits?”

"Agents Sweetie Drops, Set Charge, Sharp Cut and Mole."

“Um...I asked ‘new recruits’ not ‘here’s the secret service’.” I deadpanned.

“They were part of an old monster elimination team ten years ago. After an incident they were disbanded. Figured they could use the employment and the organization can use their skills. While they are new recruits they are also well experienced in dealing with monsters. Your task for today is to show them your current fiend forms and help them learn their weaknesses.”

“Okay, but I’m pretty sure they would probably already be asking me about the other fiends they got pictures of somehow.” I rolled my eyes while heading to the meeting room with the new ‘recruits’.

The room had the four ‘newbies’. One mare who… looks kinda familiar, and three stallions.

“Howdy, also uh...have we met before?” I asked the familiar looking mare.

The mare looked at me. Her mane was a pink and blue swirl, her coat this cream color. She was wearing this stealth jumpsuit and goggled. She turned away, writing something on her hand, then looked back at me. “No.” She said bluntly.

“No no, I think I’ve seen you with...a mint colored unicorn.” I said with some thought, having seen her next to that lyre unicorn a lot. “But that’s not why you're here. So I’m Anna as you four probably already know, but who are you four and what were your previous jobs?”

“Sweetie Drops, Recon, stealth, sniper, hacker, assassin.” She said, that last one coming with a finger trace along her neck with goggles covered eye contact at me.

“Mole.” Stood one of the three stallions. He was short, an earth pony and looked maybe in his sixties? Either the color of dirt or dirt covered with a mud brown mane. “Excavation and heavy machines.”

“Set Charge.” Stool the second of the three stallions. He was a pegasus, dressed in what looked like a modified Wonderbolts uniform. His hair was a fiery yellow and white, mane a bright yellow. “Demolitions expert and high power weapons.”

“Sharp Cut.” The last stallion said. He looked… hollow. Eyes that might be blind and missing his mane, his coat was sickly grey and eyes, skin… body in general looking sunken in. “Medic and Necromancer.”

“Alright...so I was going to say why some of you look the ways you do but your jobs kind of gave good enough explanations…” I said nervously. “Okay so...you're all experienced enough...why are you joining this humble organization?” I asked, feeling very unnerved about Sharp Cut and why he keeps staring at me like I just committed something terrible.

"My skills are needed." Sweetie Drops said.

"Odds are cults are involved, and they always hide out in old ruins. I'll make sure they don't topple down on us while we're in them." Mole said.

"This is the only job where I can use both my Necromancy and practice medicine." Sharp Cut said.

"I just wanna blow shit up." Set Charge said with a shrug.

“Okay so to answer some possible questions…” I sighed out. “Okay so yes, there are most likely Cults, Death Cults who believe that the ‘Unsent’ as it were are the most wisest and possible ‘shepherds of the circle of death’.” I sighed out. “So, now to answer one of mine since we’re all professional here...what happened? It feels like there should be a fifth person here.” I said carefully.

"Was twenty, actually." Set Charge started casually. "They all died. Eaten, killed, blown up, not my fault, mutated, mutilated, incinerated… did I miss anything?"

"Drowned, stabbed, shot and suicide." Sweetie Drops added.

"I miss Splinter Wood." Mole sighed. "Eh, what can you do?"

“I mean...not be so casual about it for starters?” I asked nervously.

"Kid, in case you haven't noticed, to do the shit we do, we have to be a certain level of… crazy." Set Charge said. "Medically speaking nobody here, save maybe you, has all their marbles in their place right. I'm certified insane."

"Sociopath." Sweetie Drops said.

"Psychopath." Sharp Cut said.

"Emotionally unstable." Mole added.

“Alright...so now why are you staring at me like that Sharp?” I asked. “The moment I walked in, you’ve been staring at me...how I noticed the moment I walked in I don’t fully know, but it’s creepy.”

"Just observation." Sharp Cut said.

"He does that, you get used to it." Mole said.

“That doesn’t explain the weird interest in his stare…” I said nervously.

"No experiments Sharp." Drops said. "That's what lead Splinter Wood to suicide."

"Not my fault he couldn't handle all those memories his soul held." Sharp grumbled.

“You’re all professional, and you’ve all been through this shit before.” I started. “But let me just get one thing straight. The moment any of you, and I mean any of you try any bullshit to those you’re working with or trying to protect, I will make you regret it.” I growled, Sharp seeing something very...concerning outlining myself that I didn’t know about. “You’re here to help the people, not dick around with the quirks you all have.”

"Big talk from someone of lower ranking." Drops said, sighing. "I take it the Prince didn't tell you, so here's the blunt of it. Mole, Charge and I were recruited and given the ranks of Captain, and Shard has a rank of Elder. In short, we are your bosses. But to ease your concerns, we'll keep an eye on Cut."

“Cause that makes sense.” I frowned. “I have the most knowledge and technically the most experience with dealing with the current problem, everyone else is higher rank than me for some reason.”

"We earned our ranks and put years of hard work and effort into the Equestrian government. It won't exactly be fair to make fresh meat like you on par with us, powers or not." Sharp said.

“Even though I was Pip’s personal guard for months on end, trusted by Princess Luna to do such a thing, and then helping stop a piece of Sombra from an attempted takeover of the Crystal Empire again apparently?” I asked, finding that pretty weird how my two most notable cases are being downplayed like this.

"Any rookie can be appointed a personal guard if placed there by a higher up and as for the empire, a baby dragon beat Sombra the first time and all he got was the fame of the empire. As have you most likely. If you want a promotion take it up with Armor." Drops said.

I rubbed my temples. “I’m just confused why, as I’ve proved before, being seen less like someone who can actually help with what I know and more ‘eh, she’s there, just let her do grunt work for the moment’.” I said honestly. “And yet I’m the one who’s doing the ‘welcome to the club, we have cookies and Fiend murder’.” I rolled my eyes. “Gotta start somewhere I suppose…” I sighed out.

"In any case you are to work with each of us at some point for one on one training. Mostly sharing information and testing combat capabilities." Charge said. "The basics."

“And by ‘the basics’, you mean something out of my league to start right?” I asked honestly.

All of them shrugged.

“Good to know…” I sighed out. “Alright, so any other questions you have for me?”

They didn't so I headed out, sighing as that was more exhausting than it should have been. I spent the rest of today training with Gilda and them, finishing with a shower that I thankfully didn't see anyone upon exiting. I did catch up with Gilda though. I want them to trust me, I want them to feel comfortable around me. What happened to them isn't right and They need a friend. The thing with Dash I can try and help them clear up on a later date.

“Hey Gilda.” I said to the griffon. “How are you doing today?”

"Good. Nothing like pushing yourself on a workout." They said with a stretch. "So, how was your meeting? You looked kinda off all day after that happened?"

“Four former government agents waltzed on in, immediately being higher ranked than everyone, including me when I’m the more knowledgeable and more experienced of the group, the necromancer of the bunch kept staring at me weirdly...and it’s almost like the things I’ve done so far is just shrugged off as nothing special and making me continue to wonder ‘why am I here when people think others are more qualified than the person who actually knows better’.” I frowned.

"To be fair, if these fiends are different from how you originally knew them, it could be more your point of reference? Either way it keeps you free from all the boring paperwork crap so hey, don't be so glum about it." Gilda said, taking a sudden jump in front of me. "By the way, is your race an omnivore? I saw your teeth when we uh, heh, yeah, and was just wondering."

“Yep.” I nodded. “We can eat most plants and animals to get the necessary nutrients to live.”

“Cool, so mind if we catch a meal? I know a good lake where the fish are big.”

Huh… actually… yeah come to think of it there’s not much meat since I’ve been here. Damn, has it been that long?

“I’ve barely had any meat, only what Luna could gather from small shipments.” I said honestly. “But it’s practically nothing...thank god Pinkie somehow magically made cupcakes that can be healthy for me.” I said honestly. “So onward to fishing?”

“Fishing Griffon style.” Gilda added as I followed them to this lake.

It wasn’t that far into the Everfree, and once there Gilda flew up high into the sky, then dived down. After a minute, they flew back out and had two large fish impaled on their claws. With a lifetime of practice they landed in front of me. “And the rest is already at my place.”

“That was fantastic.” I said while clapping my hands. “Say, how deep would you say that lake is?” I asked curiously.

“Thirty feet easy. Why?”

“Hmm…” I hummed while jumping into the pool and turned into a Geosgeano form, wondering if I was able to go underwater in this form or if I was too big.

I fit. Barely… and did flood the area around the lake.

”Right, bad idea.” I thought to myself while shifting into my Water Flan form quickly as I started using water magic to get the water back into the lake.

Gilda gave a bit of a laugh, but was using a long pointed stick to spear the fish still on land. “This is gonna keep my freezer full for a while.”

I came onto land with at least four fish inside my water flan body as I put them down onto solid ground out of me before turning back. “Okay, so thirty feet is a lot smaller than I thought.” I said nervously.

“Hey, was still neat. Maybe save that for an ocean or larger lake though.”

“Yeah, that would be for the best.” I said sheepishly. “But let’s get back to your place and start getting some food. I’m starving.”

We headed back to Gilda’s place, a small apartment in the downtown area of Ponyville. Her place had two rooms, Living Room/kitchen and Bedroom with a connected closet and bathroom. Gilda scaled and gutted the fish while I was cutting the veggies. “Fish is the only real meat you can get in Equestria, but in Griffonstone at least we could get steak, rabbit and pork. Gods I miss bacon.”

“I would kill for some bacon right now.” I sighed out.

“That’s Equestria’s issue. They don’t like to kill. I mean, yeah pigs can talk and such but even back where they are raised for, well, food it depends. In griffonstone they live till they die naturally. In the main territories, once they are fat enough they get killed.” Now I’m just… huh, they’re intelligent in this world, so… oh fuck this hurts to think about moraly.

“You all make me think this is weird morally considering their sapient and can talk like normal people...it would be a lot easier if they were just feral…” I sighed out.

"Aside from fish and bugs not many on this planet aren't sapient. Even then I once met a swarm of bees that learned to grow this nasty smelling mist around their hive to keep the bears from their hive. Still, it has it's perks. At least eggs aren't off any menus, at least regarding chickens and ducks."

“Alrighty then.” I nodded. “Now...time to start cooking some fish.”

What was made was something like soy sauce chicken but with fish cut into steaks. It was amazing. Meat came right off the bones with no issue at all. "Damn, feels good to share a meal again. Especially with someone who won't have either a mental break or moral debate over eating something not a plant." Gilda sighed from their side of the small dinning table.

“This is amazing.” I said happily, continuing to eat all the fish. “I haven’t had any meat in a long time, especially this good.”

"Fresh is always better than canned or frozen." Gilda replied with a chuckle. "Next time I eat at your place."”

“I live with Twilight, Spike, and now my little brother.” I said honestly.

"A dragon and another human huh? Then they'll enjoy the meal. Sparkle might need to go out to eat that night." Gilda said with a chuckle. "So, gotta get going soon or wanna hang for a bit?"

“I don’t have anything special to do today, so let’s hang.” I said honestly.

"Sweet. That gives us two options, getting drunk or taking a train to Canterlot where the real fun is."

“What’s Canterlot got that getting shit faced here won’t solve?” I asked curiously.

"Underground clubs, illegal gambling, higher grade booze, and info."

“Now Info is interesting.” I said honestly. “But you’d think doing illegal shit would be...well at least discouraged honestly.”

"Hence why we go to investigate. Trust me, Canterlot may be the capital of Equestria but I know for a fact most of those nobles have their hands dirty with something and these illegal hideouts are the best place to learn who is supplying who with what. One I know for a fact was dealing in drugs back in the Griffon territories."”

“Sounds like a grand time.” I said honestly. “Maybe this time I’ll actually learn something important about shit going on here…”

"And kick some ass." Gilda added.

“That to.” I said honestly. “If anyone dares try to mess with us.”

"Now, first things first, if we are gonna get into these places, we gotta look the part."

The hell am I wearing, the hell am I wearing, the hell am I wearing?! "Relax, you look good." Gilda said.

To look the part of this place we had to dress a certain way. So, Gilda and I are dressed in matching strapless dresses. Only held up by our knockers and hugs our bodies curves well. It still hides Gilda's manhood though. Gilda's color was red while mine was Violet.

I was also rather dolled up, matching Violet lipstick and eye shadow. I'd be lying if I said I didn't look nice but… oh gosh the looks I am getting. And Gilda… fuck he's beautiful in that. Really was born with a woman's body. But a man's genitals. A very gifted man's genitals. I shook my head. Not now Anna...

We were at the illegal gambling hideout. It was set up in a secret section of downtown Canterlot under a nice cream shop of all places and by God there was a lot of shady shit here.

“I’m going to strangle everyone that gives me a dirty look…” I muttered to myself. “So why are we here and why do I have to look like this?” I whispered to Gilda worreidly.

"A hot brod can get in anywhere with anyone if they look and act slutty enough. We just need to find that noble dick Top Hat and flirt our way to making him spill something." Gilda said, looking around then gesturing with her head towards one of the tables playing Blackjack. There was a rather well kept unicorn in a black tux, green eyes and coat with a jet black mane and, funny enough, no top hat, was gambling. "That's Top Hat. Legally his family owns the oldest hat shops in Canterlot and he recently bought up several grape vine orchards. Money says one or more of them is where he makes or stores his drugs."

“I feel lied to.” I frowned. “You said his name was Top Hat, where’s his top hat?”

Gilda just gave me a look. "That's… not the point. Point is he has a lot of connections, I know of one to the Griffon Territories but I'm betting he has some with other groups of interest."

“Cool.” I nodded. “So uh...I’ve...never flirted...like at all.”

Gilda thought for a moment. "Can you play airhead?"

“If it means I don’t have to say much then maybe.” I said nervously.

"That will have to do." Gilda said as we walked up over to Top Hat, Gilda taking his left side as I sat on his right.

"Ladies." Top Hat said, his voice oddly plesent sounding. "To what do I owe this little visit?"

"Can't two gal's still up to a stud in hopes for a few drinks and fun~" Gilda said, their voice a whole different tone, where he is normally rough he was now smooth and even more feminine than normal. Gilda then traced a talon along the stallion's arm. "After all, the thrill of cards only lasts so long."

I simply, stupidly, gave a smile, giggled, and twirled a hair in my first index finger stupidly. I am playing an air head but that was more my reaction to Gilda's flirting.

Top Hat looked between us, and gave his own smile. "Perhaps. If you two ladies seek entertainment I can provide, what pray tell will I be getting out of it?"

"Awh, our drunk and horny bodies not enough for you cutie?"

That got a blush out of Top Hat… me too. "Physical enjoyments aside, I am a man of business. Perhaps… some modeling will do. Yes, the hat business has been a tad slow."

"Just the two of us in hats Mr?" Gilda asked, giving a lustful smile and wink at Top Hat.

"T-Top Hat…" He stuttered.

”Jesus christ GIlda…” I thought to myself, wondering why they had to be so damn sexy.

"Well, my friend and I can definitely do that~ Some give and take, you take some photos and give us some fun and fame~"

"I-i'd be more than happy to set up the shoots tomorrow."

"Perfect. I'm sure my friend and I won't mind if we can stay the night to ensure you get everything you want from us~"

"I'll go get the carriage driver!" He said, getting up. "Wait here please. Ladies." He said, giving a bow and had the happiest grin ever as he left.

With Top Hat gone the only other person at this table, the dealer, left to attend another table that was gathering players. "Too easy." Gilda said with a sigh and a smile.

“Uh…” I started slowly, at a loss for words here.

Gilda chuckled. "Remember when I said Dash used to flirt with me to, ya know, make me feel better. Well I would flirt back and, well, we both got super good at it.".”

“I...can tell…” I started. “Why must you be so sexy?” I whined and pouted.

Now Gilda blushed, chuckled then sighed. "Well, like I said, was born with the body for it. Once I got the tits to complete the look I left home for Griffonstone I made sure to sell it, but also made sure to show them they can't mess with me… least til those assholes showed up." Gilda sighed.

“Sorry for bringing up something bad…” I sighed out. “So...what’s next?”

"Once he gets back we keep up the flirty sluts act and once we're at his place, knock him out and look for evidence. Has to be some kind of hidden records. Rich guys like him don't leave everything incriminating in one place so there has to be something."

“Sounds about right.” I nodded. “But uh...this wasn’t entirely the ‘info’ I was originally talking about here…” I said sheepishly.

"What were you expecting?"

“Something about the current problem instead of rich jack offs doing illegal shit?” I asked nervously.

"You mean the fiends?"

“That, or apparently the terrorist group that’s going to obviously become a problem in the near future...or any cults involved.” I said honestly.

"Sorry to disappoint."

“I mean, this is also just fun to be honest.” I said simply. “I suppose I’m more...used to the point or something?” I asked sheepishly.

"Well I doubt anyone here is part of terrorist cults. But… I might know someone who deals with them, back in the Griffon territories."

“Might as well get a second opinion from your source after I meet the actual minotaur terrorist in a prison Blueblood talked about.” I said simply.

"He's not a source… just someone I… know…"

“That’s good enough for now...you look uncomfortable talking about it.” I said, not wanting to push Gilda here.

"His name's Gunther… and that's all I wanna say for now." Gilda sighed, taking a cup of something off a passing waitresses platter and downing it in one go.

I carefully put a hand on his shoulder. “It’s going to be alright Gilda...trust me.”

"No, it won't." They sighed. "But doesn't mean I'll sit around doing nothing."

Top Hat arrived shortly after and we rode in his carriage to, would you guess it, one of his newly purchased grape vine orchards. "Fifty acres of the finest grapes within Equestria's lands and every season they are plucked, cleaned and pressed, mixed and fermented for a minimum of ten years to produce a high quality wine." He boasted.

"Sounds intoxicating~" Gilda said, back in flirt to persuade mode. "Are there any samples?"

"Oh yes, the prior owner left behind a few batches and they are quite pleasing."

"And for the… late night entertainment?"

"A personal bed chamber for yours truly, in case I need to stay for a night or two."

"Excellent."

”God help me…” I mentally groaned, gently leaning on Gilda to act like I’m super buddies with him and would totally have a steamy three way.

… I mean I would but not with this creep.

Once inside Gilda asked to be excused to 'freshen up' and thankfully came back quickly. "Now then," Gilda said, taking Top Hat by his head, and to my, and certainly his, surprise, shoved him nose first between his knockers. "Shall we start?"

Top Hat was starting to say something…Then slowed… then went limp. Gilda then tossed the limp stallion onto the couch nearby. Then, reached between their breasts and pulled out a wet looking rag. "Chlorine. The best way to trick a pervert into getting knocked out for four to six hours."

“Nice.” I nodded. “Now let’s go search the place before he wakes up...also where do you want to dump his unconscious body?”

"Eh, to sell it something happened let's strip him then dump him in the bed, drain/take some of the wine so it looks like we got super wasted and he can assume we left or something."

“Sounds like a plan.” I nodded. “Onwards to looting the place.”

Once the perv was stripped, tossed on the bed with a few empty bottles and just to make sure he believed something happened, Gilda left their bra on the bed. With that done we searched around, not finding much. We did, thankfully, find a shipment list with one labeled as heading for Griffonstone. We found the crates and inside were wine bottles… filled with something that was not wine at all. "I think this is Hydra Blood?" Gilda said, taking another sniff of the fowl liquid.

“Why would someone be peddling Hydra Blood?” I asked. “It’s just blood right? Why is it illegal?”

"Hydra Blood alone is more a poison than anything, but mixed into certain potions can be used in some magics and mind altering drugs." Gilda said, closing the bottle up. "Guess Top Hat is just shipping one of someone's ingredients."

“Well...that’s not good.” I said honestly. “That’s not good at all...want to call someone in about this?”

"Call?" Right… no phones here… shit.

“Message someone about this?” I asked. “There has to be some form of long distance communication isn’t there?”

"Only if you have one of a pair of linked journals in your bra." Gilda said. "Let's just take a bottle and the shipping paperwork and crate label and go. Shining Armor should be able to handle the rest."

“Alright, sounds like a plan.” I nodded. “Also good idea...I should really get one of those.”

With the papers and bottles in tow Gilda and I flew off back to Ponyville. We made it back to Gilda's around two in the morning and we were getting drunk on canned booze to celebrate. "To our first rogue mission!" Gilda cheered.

“Here here!” I cheered happily. “Nothing like getting shit faced after a job well done.”

"So, heh, so how drunk have you ever gotten before? Like, have any crazy drunk stories?"

“I’ve never been drunk before…” I said honestly. “Had to...take care of my brother more often than not...which I always enjoyed, he’s a sweet boy...I’m still so happy he’s back.” I said, completely forgetting that I’m like nineteen and never had a bear before.

"He old enough to drink?"

“He’s thirteen.” I said. “On my world you need to be twenty one to drink…”

"Hah! I got my first taste of bubblies when I was four. No rules in the griffon territories, so nobody cares." Gilda said, taking another swig.

“That’s not good.” I said nervously. “Also...I was told cheap booze, or just booze in general tastes like piss water, but this isn’t too bad.” I said, as it honestly had more of an apple juice flavor next to the alcohol.

"Ponies and those special talents. Even their cheap stuff can taste so good."

“Yeah.” I said honestly. “Uh...what’s the legal age here?”

"I think… fifteen? Somewhere around that."

“Cool.” I nodded while drinking more of my booze. “Hooray for getting shitfaced.”

"Agreed!"

… how in every form of the nine hells?

"Well, seems you and Gilda sure made quite the night for yourselves." Blueblood said, the four of us at the meeting room table. Gilda and I on one end, Blueblood in the middle section… and Top Hat at the other end. "At least it's beneficial."

"And just why is he here and not in prison?!" Gilda asked in a mix between confusion and rage.

"He made a full confession this morning. In exchange for amnesty of all crimes he has agreed to give us all information and massive fundings." Blueblood said simply.

"So in exchange for getting a slap on the wrist, he's free to keep doing what he was doing before?"

"I would never!" Top Hat said, standing up in a dramatic pose. "Not after the cruel twist of karma and fate I have suffered last night! Oh my memories of that night are but a black spot in my memories."

"We'd believe you more if you were less 'drama club' about it." I said simply. "So onto a good question of why you were shipping Hydra blood?"

Top Hat gave a nod, taking his seat again. "To put it simply, they were part of an order for someone in Griffonstone, goes by the alias Cracked Talon. He deals in hard to aquire supplies for illegal potions. Never met the griffon, just his representative."

"And who's his representative?" I asked curiously.?"

"Goes by Storm Frost. Yellow eyes, white feathers, dark grey fur."

"Right then…" I started. "Do you know anything about weird death cults going around talking about a 'circle' or 'spiral' or death?"

"It would be shorter to make a list of cults who don't talk about one or all three of those." Top Hat shrugged. "Anything more specific?"

"Do any of them have the Yevon symbol the Minotaurs are using?" I asked carefully. "Or any other weird symbol that seems out of place?"?"

"Yevon… hmm… that's the god the Minotaurs star worships… I did hear that name elsewhere… yes, back when I was meeting with Storm Frost last, one of his guards was in an argument with another and that name was said but I don't know much else."

“Good to know…” I sighed out. “So Blueblood said your going to help us, how are you going to help us besides money?”

"Publicity!" Top Hat declared with flamboyance. "As an organization dedicated to defending the people of the world it's important to have a proper relationship with the people! And my associates and I, the legal ones, can make that happen easily!"

“And when your illegal buddies figure out your gonna rat them out?” I asked honestly.

"The underground is a world of backstabbers and double crossers. Happens all the time." Top Hat shrugged.

I sighed out. “Alright, so anything else you want to tell us”

"Yes. I believe you two still owe me a photo shoot."

"Oh hell no." Gilda stated.

"It's part of our agreement, and after checking his memories of the events last night you both did agree." Blueblood stated. "In the end it's likely the fastest and best means to get you all in the public's eye as the soldiers you are."

“No.” I frowned. “We didn’t agree to shit, and we are most definitely not doing a photoshoot for some rich prick who’s basically only getting a slap on the wrist and allowed to do whatever the fuck he wants afterwards.” I glared at Top Hat.

"Despite that Shining Armor and Princess Luna agreed to it as well?" Blueblood asked with a raised brow.

“Ah, yes, I sure do love being forced into doing shit we never promised by people that aren’t us.” I started. “I’ll be right back, I have to go talk to Luna and Shining about this shit.” I growled while getting up and ready to leave to talk Luna and Shining about this.

"They agreed to it because you went on an unauthorized, uninformed and unsupervised mission with no agency authority, no back up, no recon, no assistance and no viable evidence other than a hunch and a prayer." Blueblood said cooly as I stopped at the door. "Your actions if failed would reflect poorly on the crown of Equestria and the Agency that is still building itself up. Yes you did a successful mission but it had no authority or proper legal channels behind it. You're lucky Top Hat wants to work with us over suing us. Your actions have consequences Anna, are the photos really that high a price to pay for your mistakes?"

"But it was my idea!" Gilda cut in. "Anna only went cause I convinced her. She shouldn't get shit for my stupidity!"

"The source doesn't matter, the actions do. You both did this so you both get punished. Normally the punishment for such actions is termination but Anna is a viable resource and your connections to old crime gangs in the Griffon Territories Gilda is why you both aren't fired."

“Mind if I interject here?” I asked. “I will concede that we didn’t have any ‘authorization’, but where did it say we needed authorization to deal with the painfully obvious black market and illegal shit?” I asked. “Also, mind if I ask how a criminal that had, oh I don’t know, a dozen cases of highly poisonous, and highly illegal, blood can sue us when he himself has more felonies on his head than I have headaches every time you talk Blueballs?”

"For starters we are the government. And without an active approved mission the bottles and documents you delivered would be classified not as evidence, they are now considered stolen property." He then looked at Gilda. "Sexual harassment…" Gilda blushed. "And drugging them."

“Anonymous tip to the first one.” I said. “And no, you can’t say it’s ‘stolen property’ when it’s highly illegal, that is not only counter productive but that let’s dipshits like him walk free.” I pointed to Top Hat. “Secondly, sexual harassment? That’s a massive lie for starters considering he was openly approving of that.” I countered. “And drugging them? That’s...basically the only thing he could be upset about” I said honestly. “So mind if I ask how the criminal underground hasn’t just taken over if your government’s justice system sucks as much as mine back on my world?” I asked honestly. “Oh wait no, you call them nobility.” I pinched the bridge of my nose, not believing that I need to have a legal argument with a prince here.

"I can't argue there." Blueblood said, surprising me. "But… the guilty party for the state of the kingdom sadly falls to Auntie Celestia. Her thousand years of rule was done through peace talks and lightening the court's actions on the guilty. Luna was always the one with the courage to do what needed to be done. Celestia's heart was just too soft to even pass a deserving punishment on the most vial of scum. So, until the rules can change, and they most certainly will, this is our current arrangement."

“So...just gonna...let him off scot free still?” I asked. “Even if he made a deal...there’s literally nothing you're going to do to make sure he doesn’t do it again?” I asked slowly, trying to get back to the main topic at hand.

"Aside from defying the deal on his part will result in a minimum sixty years prison in our own personal prison built just for the organization?"

“Thank you.” I sighed out, some of the tension flowing away with that. “We’re still not doing the photo shoot, we never actually promised that, and you can understand why the two of us are...really adamant on not doing it, especially for him.” I glared at Top Hat.

Blueblood raised a brow. "I am aware, however the ideas Top Hat here had were unbecoming of agents of this organization. So, I arranged for something more… appropriate."

Action shots baby! I was in Chimera form, 'slashing' at Gilda who blocked with a Shield.

Click!

"Fabulous!" Screamed the photographer, Photo Finish as she clicked away at every movement of this 'fight.'

”Okay, this is a lot better than what I originally feared.” I thought to myself, thankful that Blueblood got rid of both mine and GIlda’s fears about what ‘photoshoot’ Top Hat wanted.

Gilda, Shining, Peppermint, Caramel and Cream Heart all got action shots in all fighting me in fiend form. The photos I was in had me mostly in uniform along with the others or kneeling before Luna, stuff like that. When it was over I sighed and was taking a breather by the snack table.

“Okay, this is a lot better than what I originally feared.” I said while eating some pretty good apple slices.

“It will make good poster material.” Blueblood shrugged as he took a few grapes. “Once you’re done here we head off to the Deer kingdom to interrogate that Uor terrorist and hopefully learn something.”

“That would be great.” I nodded. “But first…” I started to look around real quick, and surprisingly I found a save sphere. “I’m gonna need to save first.” I said while moving over to the Save Sphere and starting to save all my progress. “Thank god I can save my progress…” I sighed out thankfully.

“And that does what exactly?”

“Uh...do you know what ‘save points’ are?” I asked curiously. “If not then it’s kind of...like bookmarking a page in a book to restart where you left off.” I started. “So...if I die, I can just...plop back here...hopefully…”

“You are unsure if it will work?”

“I know how it works in the world that this came from but...I haven’t actually tested it in real life and I would really like not dying right now.” I said nervously. “Or ever for that matter…”

“One can only hope for that outcome.”

“So anyways, how long until this is done and we can head off to the Deer Kingdom?” I inquired, checking to see what I needed to do to save my dad real quick.

“Just a few more hours.” Blueblood sighed. “These things take longer than they really should.”

“Didn’t she take enough photos?” I asked nervously.

“You clearly don’t know Photo Finish. She is infamous for taking hours worth of photos and later she only ever uses the ones she declares as the best.”

“I know she’s supposedly ‘the best’ but...did you really need to get her?” I asked worriedly, hoping this won’t take too long like Blueblood believes.

“If I don’t she’d be in my office demanding why I didn’t call her for the photo shoot for a day or two. Made that mistake once and for my own sanity, she’s always hired.”

“Goodie...one of those types…” I groaned. “Well...alrighty then...you might need to tell her that other people are allowed to do photo shoots sooner or later…”

“You’re welcome to try.” He motioned to the photography mare, her camera flashing so much so fast it looks like she’s just got a flashlight on that camera.

“Uh...should that camera be flashing that much?” I asked worriedly.

“That’s normal for her.” Blueblood sighed.

“I need my shapeshifter!” Photo Finished yelled. “Where is my shape shifter!?” Suddenly I was lifted up by her two… Goons… “Bring her here! Now!”

“Oi!” I snapped, trying to get out of the goons hold “Let go of me, we already took enough, and I’m not here at her beck and call.”

Ugh, I’m beginning to think Top Hat’s idea for a photoshoot would have been easier… “We’ll be arriving in a few hours. You’d best take a nap before we arrive.” Blueblood said from his side of the carriage.

“That was...annoying to say the least…” I grumbled. “So...what’s the deer kingdom like?” I asked, thinking I’ll need some conversation before I can get some rest.

“The deer have a form of magic similar to earth pony magic, they can speak with nature to help it’s growth and healing and in return it grows in ways that let the deer have homes and food.”

“So druids, got it.” I nodded. “Are they friendly to outsiders or what?”

“They can be skittish. Try not to make loud noises, they panic easier than the common pony.”

“Sounds about right.” I nodded. “And what, if you have a flashlight pointed at them they stand completely still?”

“That’s a hate crime and punishable by ten years prison time.”

That honestly startled a laugh from me. “Okay, I didn’t expect it to be a hate crime.” I tried to stifle my laughter considering it’s in poor taste, but just how the ‘deer in the headlights’ trope is a hate crime is just a little funny.

“It is rather hilarious. But laws are laws.”

"I know, and I don't mean to be rude but wow." I chuckled.

“Every nation has their laws and racist insults.”

“True.” I nodded. “Alright...so anything else I should know about them so I don’t screw up?”

“Nothing much. Mind the horns.”

“Cool.” I nodded. “So who’s the Uor in custody if I may ask?”

“Hugo Malthro. Before getting involved with the Uor cults, he was the grave digger. Suddenly one day he vanished, reappearing days later marked with the Uor Kracova cult marking tattooed across his body, soaked in the blood of a small minotaur village he slaughtered single handedly.”

“Oh...that is massively terrible.” I said in surprise at how much bloodshed this one minotaur did.

“Yes. The fact he was capable of this is still unknown. And the dramatic change of his personality has yet to be discovered as to why.”

“That’s still really weird…” I said worriedly. “I hope we can figure this out soon.”

“Well that’s why you’re here.” Blueblood said. “He hasn’t spoken a word since his capture, maybe your shifting abilities can spark something in him given the Kracova cult have been capturing fiends.”

My eyes widened. “Can we speed this carriage up?” I asked worriedly. “You just had to say that Blue…” I groaned, already having a bad feeling about this. “So remember those death cults I talked about before?”

“The ones you never shut up about, yes.” He said with a nod.

“When you mentioned capturing Fiends...I had this bad thought that we’re about to meet an ‘Unsent’...” I sighed out. “I wouldn’t know how considering how to become an Unsent is to have Pyreflies as your soul...god I hope I’m wrong…” I groaned.

“They aren’t the same thing?”

“What? Souls and Pyreflies?” I asked.

“Yes. From what I understood they were basically the same thing?”

“Well...maybe?” I asked nervously. “Honestly I don’t know anymore considering I saw something that shouldn’t have been possible with that Chimera…”

Arriving at the Deer Kingdom… It looked amazing. But I wasn’t able to enjoy the beauty as we arrived at the prison. It was dug deep into the ground surrounded by heavy stone and thick tree roots acting as bars. We arrived at Hugo’s cell. On top of found sets of tree bars, the branches held him bound to the wall by his arms, legs, torso and neck tightly. “Are you certain about this Prince Blueblood?” The deer guard asked.

“Yes. Let us in.”

“Stars have mercy.” The deer said, waving a hand as the tree bars moved aside for us to enter.

“Alright…” I stepped into the cell. “So, Hugo was it?” I asked the Minotaur.

Hugo sighed. “Jeym mejehk lnaydinac. Ku yfyo.”(Vial living creatures. Go away) He said.

“Oh are you fucking…” I took a deep breath. “Ruf tu oui ghuf Ym Prat?”(How do you know Al Bhed) I spoke in Al Bhed, which was a little rough since I haven’t practiced in a while. “And can you speak english for any good amount of time?”

Hugo looked at me, surprised, then smiled. "You speak my tongue, are you one of my sisters?"

“No, I’m just well traveled.” I said to Hugo. “So mind if I ask what your deal is? You don’t just become a bloodthirsty psychopath overnight.”

"Oh, but I did." He said with a shrug. "That night felt so long ago."

“Alright, so why the hell did you do it?” I asked.

"I was asked to, by my father."

"Both your parents have been dead for years." Blueblood stated.

"In my rebirth, I gained a new father. The one who awoke me from the eternal slumber." Hugo said, still smiling.

I transformed into my Chimera form and used my snake tail to bite his neck. “God damn it...this is not what I wanted today…” My panther head groaned.

Hugo smiled widder. "You are just like father, just like he said!" Hugo said while laughing.

"Another shifter?" Blueblood asked.

"Yes! Yes just like him." Hugo laughed madly, happily as one arm of his ripped free of its roots bindings. Rather than free himself fully, he grabbed his horn, pulled, and broke it right off in a loud echoing snap. "I have a gift for you from him." He then rammed his own horn deep into his eye. Blood and fluids flowed as my snake tail retreated and I shifted back. "Feast. Mother."

Pyreflies flowed from Hugo, and towards me. I panicked, trying to shove them away but the second they touched me they flowed into me. Soon they were gone, all within me as Hugo's body decayed rapidly before my and Blueblood's eyes. "Well, it seems your worries were warranted. There are undead among us…" He looked over at me. "And only you can keep them dead."

I was currently panicking at what the hell just happened. “What the fuck just happened? Why did he call me ‘mother’, fucking why…”

"It seems, once the Guardians get on our feet, we have quite the schedule to keep to. Guards! This corpse is coming with me, I plan to have it analyzed down to the cells. Come Anna, let's go."

“Yeah...let’s uh...let’s leave…” I said worriedly. “Just...gonna have to try and forget all of this…”

To be continued...

Chapter 6

“Alright so uh…” I started. “I’m still panicking...what the fuck was with that minotaur?”

"So he just… killed himself in front of you?" Tommy asked.

Today was my day off and Tommy didn't have school just yet so we were spending time together. We were in the park, sitting on a bench drinking some lemonade I bought.

“Yes, he did...and he sounded like I was some savior while doing it.” I said worriedly.

"So, your basic crazy cultist? Well, alright, maybe not so basic. Still crazy though."

“Beyond crazy…” I said worriedly. “And what’s worse is that...I absorbed his soul, his Pyreflies...this world doesn’t have Pyreflies from what I’ve read up so...how the heck does that work?”

"Don't ask me, you're the soul eater here."

“So how has your time been here while I was gone?” I asked, wanting to try and get my mind off of that...horrifying thing.

"Eh. School isn't that bad, most everything they teach is at least more practical than school back home."

"That's good." I nodded. "Glad it's going well for ya."

"There is this one brat. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon her little lackey. Do me a favor, if the school gets attacked, don't save them."

"Why is that?" I asked innocently, having actually met those two's parents a month back as part of Pinkie's overdo 'welcome to ponyville' party.

"Tiara is a bitch, Silver just does whatever Tiara says, no brain of her own." Tommy sighed. "Guess even in a world like this there's always the rotten bunch."

“I would give those two a chance honestly.” I said honestly. “Look past the pretty rich girl crap...I haven’t met the kids and I’ve only briefly met the parents...Diamond’s mother is terrible, and I only met her for like….twenty minutes in a party?”

"So she's basically as bad as her mom then?*

“Oh god no.” I said honestly. “Diamond is a petty bully, her mother is an abusive bitch that probably does worse things to her...sadly…”

"Eh. I'll believe it when I see it."

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out sooner or later.” I shrugged. “Anything else happening?”

"No, not really. It's pretty normal all things considered. Though the fact they still do recess at this age is kinda weird."

“Gotta have some fun in between all the boring work right?” I shrugged.

"I guess, still. So, you're dating a crossdresser then?"

I blushed brightly. “Oi, I never said that, and I never said they were a crossdresser...please keep it a massive secret please.”

"Maybe if you didn't mutter it in your sleep I wouldn't know about it." Tommy shrugged as they drank their lemonade.

“Crap…” I muttered. “Please don’t tell anyone...I don’t want Gilda in any worse situations please...he’s been through a lot.”

"I know, you talk a lot in your sleep. Relax, I haven't told anyone. So, how are you gonna help them?"

“However I can…” I sighed out. “My first chance is to get Gilda to talk to Dash about this crap…”

"How?"

“Today is an off day for me, Gilda and Dash, so I’ll help her get to Dash so they can finally talk it out, stopping anyone from getting in the way."

"Good luck with that then." Tommy said as he finished his lemonade and checked his watch. "I gotta get to school. Good luck with your day." Tommy ran off and I headed for Gilda's place.

“Hopefully this won’t be a nightmare…” I muttered to myself, getting closer to Gilda’s place and already trying to think of how to get Gilda to Dash.

I knocked on their door, Gilda opening it up. "Hey." They said with a wave.

“How are you doing Gilda?” I asked politely.

"Making breakfast, want some? I got bacon and egg cheese stuffed omelets."

I actually drooled a little hearing the sweet words of bacon and eggs. “Uh...yes please.”

"Heh, come in." Gilda said. The scent of bacon, eggs and cheese filled my nose instantly as Gilda quickly finished one omelet and began making another. "So, how's your morning?"

“Oh you know...panicking still about what happened back in that prison with the minotaur…”

"I heard. That's fucking nuts."

“I have no idea why that happened...I don’t know why he did that...and it’s still very worrying.” I said nervously.

"It does raise a question though… can you shift into a Minotaur now?"

“Oh god why did you have to say that…” I muttered to myself. “But...maybe? I haven’t tried and I’m honestly worried about doing it…”

"Well, are you expecting something different from shifting into a Minotaur over actual monsters?"

“I don’t know...it’s literally the first person’s soul I absorbed and...it’s worrying that it could happen to begin with.”

"Well… can't know for sure if it's bad or not unless you try."

“Yeah...I’m gonna have to try sooner or later…” I sighed out. “But after food, the smell of eggs and bacon is distracting me too much.”

"Heh, sure thing omnivore."

I had to admit, Gilda was a good cook. Sadly the meal didn't last and I was now to stave that test off. I am gonna try and get Gilda and Dash talking.

“And how do you plan on doing that?” Gilda asked as we walked through town. “Dash doesn’t even talk to me in training, you can forget in public.”

“Then it won’t be in public if you want. And we just need enough time for you to just tell her what you need. Besides, she’ll trust me when I say ‘it’s really important’ right?”

“You don’t know how stubborn she can be, do you?” Gilda asked with a raised brow. “Trust me, if Dash doesn’t wanna deal with something she bolts, and if you chase her she will fight you. But… I might know some pony’s who can help keep her still. I trust them about as much as you or Dash so worth a shot.”

“Alright, so time to start looking for those people to tie her down...that came out wrong.” I said nervously.

“Heh, yeah but we’ll have to fly over to them.” Gilda said, pointing a talon up to the sky and I looked at where we had to go. Cloudsdale. “She might not listen to me, but she will listen to her parents.”

“Oh boy, if they don’t stop her, nothing will.” I chuckled. “So what are her parents like before I meet them?”

“Hmm… Imagine the hyperactive overkill of Pinkie Pie with Fluttershy’s caring and loving personality. They idolize Rainbow, probably a little unhealthily but I didn’t even have caring parents so I can’t make comparisons on what is a healthy degree or not.”

“Oh boy, this is gonna be interesting.” I chuckled. “But uh...how the hell am I going to walk on clouds?”

“With this.” Gilda said, dropping a small gold and silver ring into my hand with a shining blue gemstone in it. “Enchanted ring with a cloud walking spell. Mimics Griffon, Pegasi, any race that can walk on clouds this ring mimics the passive magic for non winged races. Took it from the supply at work a few days ago.”

“Thank you.” I nodded while putting on the ring. “Looks fancy.”

“That’s Equestrian design for ya. Always fancy. Come on, shift into something that can fly and let’s get going.” Gilda said, opening their wings wide and taking a jump and flap up as they were now airborne and gaining speed and height.

I shifted into an Evil Eye and followed after Gilda quickly.

The fly to Cloudsdale was short and quick, the two of us arriving at the cloud city a short walk from the residential district. I noticed that the cloud walking spell was really cool, but I was quite disappointed to feel the clouds felt like normal dirt under my feet.

“I expected clouds to feel soft and fluffy...not like dirt.” I pouted.

Gilda snorted. "Every earth bound race does. It's a common misconception. These clouds are built into a city, so they are denser. Ones for houses and such are sturdy like wood."

"I still wanted to feel the fluffiness of clouds though…" I pouted.

We headed up to a fair sized, two story cloud house where I saw an older, well built stallion with a coat shade a bit darker than Rainbow Dash's and a mane that was spot on. "Hey there Bow." Gilda said to the stallion with a wave.

The stallion looked over at Gilda, and smiled. "Gilda! It's been forever, how ya been?" He is a very… loud stallion.

"I actually need to talk with you and Windy about something. Privately."

"Oh sure! Who's your friend?"

"This is Anna." Gilda said, introducing me to Dash's dad.

“Hello, I’m a friend of your daughter… kinda.” I said sheepishly. “I’m the one that shapeshifts if Rainbow said anything about me to you.”

"Shapeshifter? Nope, Dashie never mentioned you, then again she doesn't visit or talk much to us these days. Though I saw you on the news."

“The news?” I asked curiously. “And also that’s a little weird, why wouldn’t she keep in contact with her parents?”

"Oh yeah, you Guardians of Equis have been making regular rounds on TV, Radio, Newspapers. And yeah, but we don't ask, we just figure Dashie wants privacy."

“And how long has she...not talked to you?” I asked curiously. “Also didn’t know that there was news about us yet...besides that photo shoot…”

"She stops by once a month or so but usually we just eat and catch her up on what's going on here in Cloudsdale." Bow said as he let us inside his home. It looked nice, kinda reminds me of my old home on earth. "Honey, we have guests! Gilda and a friend of his!"

"Oh joy!" Came an equally energetic voice from upstairs. Flying down was a mare whose coat was an exact match for Rainbow Dash, but her mane was a two tones stripes of orange. "It's good to see you again Gilda. How have you been?" The mare asked as she took a hand of Gilda's.

"I've been good, Windy. Well… maybe not good but, well that's what I wanna talk to you and Bow about. You two and Dash have always treated me fairly, so I need your help to make up and talk to Dash."

"Of course, you know we're here for you. You're like the second child we always wanted." Windy said, giving Gilda a hug they returned.

I couldn’t help but smile softly at how these two acted with Gilda, treating them with love and affection that he rightfully deserved. “So I heard that Dash is stubborn when it comes to certain things...how stubborn?”

"Oh, Dashie has the hard head of a mule, takes an awful lot to get to her to deal with something she doesn't want to deal with." Bow said.

“Oh boy...so how good are you two with rope and tying her down to a chair? Cause I’m pretty sure we’re going to have to do that.” I said honestly.

"We can figure that out in a bit… right now…" Gilda said, taking a deep breath and shaking a bit. "I uh… need to tell you three something…"

“And what’s that thing?” I asked innocently.

"You know what Anna…" Gilda sighed as I stood next to them.

"What's wrong Gilda?" Windy asked, her face now covered in concern.

"Honey, maybe you should make some tea, I'll take Gilda and Abby to the living room." Bow said, looking at Gilda with sorrow and a sense of understanding.

Windy headed for the kitchen and Bow led Gilda and I to the living room. Once there Bow sat on the large type of chair that screamed 'dad's chair' as Gilda and I sat on the adjacent couch. There was science for a while before Bow spoke. "How long ago?"

"... Three years ago." Gilda said with a sigh, eyes looking down at the floor, and looking… hollow. "About a month or so before Dash and I got Into our fight. I came to Ponyville to tell her… but Pinkie Pie just… it was too fresh in my mind and…"

"It's alright." Bow said. Windy arrived with tea for all and sat next to Bow on his chair. "Did you know them?"

"Yeah… a few old bullies, their boss… and Gunther…"

Windy looked sick, and so did Bow at hearing that name. "He… how could he?" Windy said quietly from shock.

"He… was part of that gang so… I guess if he didn't he might have ended up joining but… I still hate him…" Gilda said, tears starting to fall now. "No such thing as family in the griffon kingdom…"

“But right now...you're not in the griffon kingdom.” I said gently. “Your in Equestria, where family does exist...and you have a family here from what Windy and Bow have been saying.”

"Anna…" Bow started, taking a deep breath. "Gunther… he is Gilda's family… his brother."

I blinked, not sure if I heard that right. “Oh...oh no…” I started, starting to clench my fists as I tried my best to contain my rage towards these bastards.

"His real name is Gilder." Windy said, looking too shocked to cry. "We… he was here a lot with Gilda when they were in Flight Camp. Their parents sometimes took weeks or months to finally pick them up so we looked after them til they did."

"He joined one of the bigger griffon gangs and I hardly saw him… til…" Gilda said, starting to shake again. "It was just supposed to be a simple job, drop off the package and take the money… it just had to be those assholes when I arrived…"

"How… how many?" Bow finally asked.

"... Including Gilder… twelve."

“Jesus hell…” I muttered.

"What happened… after?" Windy asked. "Did they let you go or did you run?"

"I… I managed to get away. They were all drunk and high so it was kinda easy once they were…. All done…"

"Do you… need help at all?" Bow asked.

"I need to tell Dash this… it's why I came here. I was hoping you two could help me tell her."

"Of course." Windy said.

"You take a rest first." Bow said. "You look stressed and… Windy and I need to process this…" With that, Bow and Windy got up, leaving Gilda and I alone.

“I...didn’t know it was that bad…” I muttered sadly.

"My story is a dime a dozen in the griffon kingdom." Gilda sighed. "Doesn't make it any easier to deal with… the only reason mine is unique is because of what happened after."

“And what happened after?” I asked. “Besides escaping and heading here?”

"Before I escaped, after all those hours those bastards… they were drunk, high and out cold. When I could finally stand I dug my talons into all of their necks. Each time I dropped one it became easier… became fun… til I got to Gilder. They had to get him drunk and high before he joined in… by then I had already cut his throat open like the rest… he woke up just in time to see me standing over him… then the lights started." Gilda said, looking over at me. "I've seen you absorb enough of them to know what they are now."

“Uh...two things…” I started. “One, I’m a little sad that I won’t get to murder the people that hurt you like that...and two...how many bodies spawned Pyreflies?”

"Anna, the Pyreflies healed the wounds, then they got back up. Most were still too high and drunk to move. Some got a second wind after those Pyreflies healed them. Gilder did. He grabbed me and threw me out the nearest open window… and that's how I escaped. I don't know if they were like that already or if me killing them did that, all I know is they are just like that Minotaur. Maybe not exactly the same. They were smuggling drugs, and he was a cultist."

“Jesus christ it’s even worse than I thought…” I sighed out. “Well looks like I’m going to get the chance of murdering those bastards for ya Gilda, and this time for good.”

"Yeah…" Gilda said, looking back down at the floor. "I can't forgive him… but I can't hate him, but I do and… I just want my brother back."

“I…” I sighed out. “I wish things could work like that...if there’s a way I can save your brother...I promise I’ll find one.”

Gilda didn't say anything, just nodded as I gave them a hug, and finally they started crying.

When Dash arrived it started off hectic til Bow and Windy started telling Dash what Gilda told us… about all that happened, and when Dash was calmed enough to listen, Bow and Windy giving us Privacy, Gilda told her everything, and when it was all said and done Dash looked worse than her mother when she heard.

“So...what’s everyone’s comfort food? Cause I think we’re going to need…a lot of it.” I said nervously.

"Think we'll need something harder than the usual." Gilda said.

"Y...yeah." Dash said, sighing. "Maybe… Rum Floats?" Dash asked, giving Gilda a weak smile.

Gilda returned it. "That would be perfect."

“I’ll be the designated ‘sober person’ if your parents don’t have a hidden stockpile of Rum Dash.” I said honestly. “Unless...your parents do have a hidden stockpile of good booze here…”

“What parents would we be if we didn’t have our children’s favorite stocked up for emergencies?” Windy asked like it was something every parent does.

“Uh...what?” I blinked.

"Heh, when Dash and Gilda were old enough the two of them went out on a few binge nights at bars." Bow said, walking in with a platter filled with five mugs filled with something foamy and sweet smelling. "Their favorite was Sugar Cube Corners Rum Floats. Basically a root beer float with way more than just a spike of rum mixed in."

“Sounds about right.” I nodded. “So...I’ve never actually had a rum float...is it good?”

“The perfect mix between drowning your sorrows and eating them away.” Gilda said as he took his mug, Dash hers, Bow and Windy and finally I took mine as they all began drinking.

I shrugged, taking a sip and… wow… that’s so sweet… There was a burn in the aftertaste that the sweetness strengthened and made me feel all warm and I felt it melt away my stress, anger, fears and worries. “Stars, I needed that.” Dash said with a sigh.

“This is actually pretty good.” I said honestly. “Especially after...a lot of things I’ve been learning so far.”

“Work needs a bar.” Gilda said.

“Or at least one close by.” Bow said with a nod.

“So… what will happen next, does… Do the bosses know this?” Dash asked.

“I’ll have to tell him. I won’t tell them all the details, doubt Blueblood would care and Shining, well I'd rather not know what he will put me through. Probably therapy and some other stuff like that.”

“To be honest you kind of need therapy.” I said honestly. “And it’s also true that Blueblood wouldn’t give a shit cause he’s a bastard who really needs to get put down a peg or twenty.”

“I’m with Anna.” Dash said. “You need more help than just good friends and better booze to really move on from that…”

“Agh, Talking about my life and shit to a stranger… yay…” Gilda huffed.

“What if they aren’t a stranger?” Bow asked.

“Hm?”

“Well, remember my sister?”

“Aunt Paper Book?” Dash asked.

“Yeah, she works in a mares shelter helping abused and hurt mares… I know Gilda isn’t a girl, but the same therapy is used for both, or so she tells me.”

“I think I remember her… Didn’t she get wasted and try and pole dance on your ceiling fan once?” Gilda asked.

“And she’s been sober since.” Windy said with a laugh.

“Okay, I kind of need to know the context on that whole thing. Pole dancing on your ceiling fan? That must have been one hell of a binge.”

"She was having a bit of a midlife crisis, just showed up wasted beyond possibility and just started making a mess of the place." Bow said with a laugh. "To this day she still apologies for it whenever she visits or whenever we meet up."

“Must have been one hell of a crisis if that’s what happened.” I chuckled.

"Well, being in your mid fifties with no kids, husband or even love interest did make her think… hard about her life at that point." Windy said with a sigh. "Course at least one good thing came out of that event."

“She got a date?” I guessed.

"Close." Bow said. "She got a daughter."

"Not in the way you're thinking." Rainbow said before I could speak. "My Cousin Blitz Strike was apparently adopted by my drunk aunt. How I have no idea but she's really nice and aunt Paper Book took to her really quick, especially after her two day long hangover was gone."

"She's such a sweet girl. There were only four at the time." Windy said with a smile. "She's working in the weather factory right now, Snowflakes department."

“That’s good.” I nodded. “Glad things can work out for her.”

"So you think she can help me?" Gilda asked.

"She knows you enough and her work basically has her helping those who went through what you did. She'll be more than willing." Windy said.

"Well… guess it can't hurt…" Gilda said with a sigh.

“It’s better than bottling it up more and more.” I shrugged.

"So, wanna find a means of getting more of this and our minds off all the shit?" Dash asked.

"Yeah. What you thinking about?" Gilda asked.

"A night out in Cloudsdale after hours."

"Sounds fun. I'll leave you two to it cause this seems more of a 'old friend hang out' thing." I said honestly.

"Hell no." Both said in unison.

"You are tagging with." Dash said.

"Cause remember, I ain't a girl, look aside, so this isn't some get drunk and party girls night." Gilda added.

"Well I'm still gonna be the designated sober person here just in case."

"That might actually help you given where we'll be going." Dash said with a smile Gilda matched.

"And where are we going?" I inquired.“And where will we be going?” I asked curiously.

My mind was blown. We were in what is basically the cloud version of a Blitzball Stadium, but there was no water, just strong high speed winds that can make even the wingless fly like their winged siblings. The ball was a ball of cloud filled with lightning, keep it too long and it goes off, an instant loss for the team who's member let it go off. Painful too.

They called this game, Shock Value.

"Cause of course it needed to be a pun…" I chuckled.

We sat in the stadium seats, food and drinks in hand as we watched the game. And there was booze. Ice cold beer. "Been a while since I've been to a game." Dash said.

"Same." Gilda added. "The service sure got better." He added, chugging a can of beer before calling for another that appeared in their grip magically.

"So...glad to know there's a flying version of Blitzball." I said honestly, enjoying some great popcorn.rn.

"Local teams and such compete here all the time." Dash said. "The only off season is Winter."

"Yeah." Gilda said with a shrug. "This game isn't as popular as the Wonderbolts shows or Hoof Ball, but it's got a good following."

“I mean...comparing a sport to what’s effectively a gymnastics demonstration with literal soldiers isn’t really a good thing.” I said honestly. “Also hoofball?”

"Later." Dash said as the game continued.

The game was pretty cool. Seeing that kinda game playing in a full stadium with a full set of teams.

While I was drunk I couldn't... could fly? Fuck heh, too drunk to tell.

Gilda and I crashed at Rainbow's parents place, her too I think, I don't remember much when I hit the couch. Don't drink and fly kids…

I woke up with a hangover again. It wasn't horrible but it sucked. No dry vomit, drool or any of that. Good so far.

“I said...I would be sober...damn it…” I muttered, still in pain because of this crap.

I got up, rubbing my head for a while and giving a long yawn. I shook myself til my hangover was a bit of a lighter headache than before. I looked up, seeing and smelling that lovely black brew held before me. "Had fun?" Bow asked as he sat next to my on the couch with his own coffee.

“Didn’t want to get drunk but...yes, and thank you sweet merciful lord for coffee…” I said while carefully taking the cup. “Uh...I hope we didn’t do anything stupid…”

"Heh, no. Dash crashed in her old room and Gilda made it halfway upstairs before Windy and I had to lift them over to the guest bed. Those two will probably still be out for another hour or two."

“Alright.” I nodded while taking a sip of the blessed drink. “Oh so good…”

"Heh. Glad you like it. I hope when you run into Gilder and that gang… that everything works out." Bow said with a sigh. "Windy and I tried to get those kids to move in with us so many times, but despite the hell, that place is still their home. You can try but you can't ever really abandon your home."

“I know...but I’m pretty sure I’m going to murder Gilder and all his ‘buddies’ when we meet...or they’ll do something worse to themselves.” I said while taking another sip of my coffee. “Cause no one hurts Gilda like that.”

"I know… just, be careful. The gang Gilder is a part of isn't some random group of punks. It's the Bloodline Gang. Griffon Kingdoms oldest gang, they aren't amateurs, or pushovers. Their kingdom is pretty much run by them."

“And considering what they are…” I muttered. “I think just me being there will end the Bloodline Gang...or somehow make me it’s boss if they act like that Minotaur did…”

"Doubtful." Bow said, taking a long sip of his coffee. "The Bloodline Gang are an interesting bunch. Back in the old days, about… seven hundred years ago I think, the King of the Griffons had three sons. One left and founded Griffonstone, where Gilda is from. The other traveled, set to inherit the throne he wanted to grow his knowledge and wisdom… the third son, however, wanted fortune and power. He journeyed, stealing and plundering from anyone in his path. Disgusted by his son's greed he outcast him from the kingdom, disowning them and banishing them. But sadly the third prince didn't just pack up and leave, he swore someday the kingdom would be his, if not his descendents. Today, his descendents run the Bloodline Gang, running the kingdom in the shadows and keeping the actual royalty in a choke hold for the last two hundred years or so. "

“And here I am...believing that the Third Prince is still alive due to that damned death cult…” I growled, taking a long sip of coffee myself.

"Heh, if he is I doubt he'd be lurking in the shadows. But who knows, there's a lot going mad in the world these days, not like there's many around anymore who can tell what really happened back in those days."

“The Minotaurs for starters.” I sighed out. “You’ve heard of the Minotaurs primary religion right? Yevon and all that?”

"Heh, that's a common misconception. They worship Braska, the star that saved them. He told them to follow and worship Yevon, his God, but they've always worshiped Braska. Trust me, History Professor." He said with a pat to his chest. "Heh, well retired, but still.”

“Good, then you’ll love to hear that the more radical of the defector’s figured out one of the tricks Yevon teaches their own...let me ask, who’s the current ‘Pope’ of that religion, and how long have they been going?”

"Pope huh? Well, their religious figure head is called the Star Watcher, and I believe the current one has been doing the job for about… six years or so?"

“How long was the previous one?” I asked curiously. “Sorry for asking these weird questions just...it’s important with what I know.”

"Well, typically they do it for about ten or twelve years before they step down, assuming in that time they don't die. They make a huge fuss about it when they die before the ten or twelve years are up."

“And how many of them are still alive?” I asked. “I might as well know as much as I can before heading there sooner or later right?”

"Prior ones? About six if I recall. But that was five years ago, last I heard anything."

“Alright, just making sure.” I nodded. “Cause...there’s sadly a connection between Yevon and...the Unsent that are now cropping up…”

"Huh. Well, I'm gonna help Windy in the kitchen. Be back with breakfast in a bit." With that, Bow downed the rest of his coffee and got up, leaving me to sip mine in thought.

”I shouldn’t be thinking too much of this…” I thought to myself while drinking some more of my coffee, looking around the room and spotting...a save sphere? “Uh...did either of you notice the Sphere in here?” I called out carefully, not wanting to spike my headache.

"Save what?" Windy asked as she entered. She spotted the Save Sphere in the corner of the room. "Huh. Well that wasn't there last night."

“Huh...that’s odd.” I said while getting up and shuffling to the save point, not wanting to agitate my headache with fast movements either as I went to save and check why the hell this is here.

Status: Saved
Location: 44 Breeze Way, Cloudsdale.
Profile: Anna.

“Thank you lord it works…” I sighed out thankfully.

"What's it do?" Windy asked as she poked the sphere.

New Signature Obtained.
Name: Windy Whistle
Race: Pegasus
Gender: Female
Generating Profile… Profile Generated
Status: Saved
Location: 44 Breeze Way, Cloudsdale.
Profile: Windy Whistle.

Wait… this shit works for everyone?!

“Uh...okay so you just showed me something I didn’t think would happen…” I said nervously. “Uh...you basically bookmarked your progress in life...I thought only me and maybe a few others could do that but...apparently anyone can…"

"So it's like a diary?"

“Except it’s so secret, it can technically bring you back from the dead.” I said honestly. “Like when you forget what page your on and the bookmark isn’t visible, you can still find something there to go back to.”

"That's amazing. Though I doubt I should just let myself fall off the clouds with my wings tied." Windy said with a look of weary. "Do Dash and Gilda have their own bookmarks?"

“Not that I know of...and also I think it’s more of a ‘Groundhogs day’ kind of bookmark, where you remember everything but you restart when you saved.”

"Groundhog day?" Windy asked. Right, other world. Either that movie never existed here or has a different name.

“Ever heard a movie where a guy relives the same day over and over again because of some weird holiday?” I asked. “Or story...cause I don’t know if you have movies here…”

"Hmm there is a play like that. The Dead Stallions Torment, where a pony who died went to Tartarus and had to relive the day they died for all eternity, and every time the pony tried to do something different to avoid death as he was told that was how to escape, but it never happened."

“That’s...a lot grimmer than what I’ve seen.” I said nervously.

"Eh, it's not for everyone but it is a classic."

“Sounds about right.” I nodded. “So when’s breakfast going to be done? It smells great.”

"Just need to get the waffle iron heated."

“Cool.” I nodded. “Might as well check something while I’m at it…” I muttered while walking over and sitting back on the couch and pulling out my Menu sphere, checking if anything changed with me that I didn’t notice.

I appointed spheres onto my sphere grid I needed to place and also noticed Gilda added to my party. Huh, I can put points for them too and help them get stronger? Neat.

“Alright...how many spheres do I have and how many levels does Gilda have?” I wondered to myself while checking that as well.

With a sigh I quickly scanned through Gilda’s stuff. Unlike mine theirs seemed more… race/personality based. Huh… Flying speed increased. Endurance increased by 2, Claws Damage increased by 3. Huh, these are really neat. HP increased by two hundred. Wow… Is this considered an invasion of privacy or… huh. Not really sure.

“I’m sure he’d be okay with getting stronger…” I muttered while seeing how many levels Gilda had.

Fourteen… Huh. More than I expected. I’ll talk to them about it when they wake up. Huh, Dash has some too. Twenty five?! How?!

“Alrighty then…” I muttered. “This is all good to know.”

Dash and Gilda both woke up looking pretty worse for wear. "Fuck, why does booze taste good but hurt so much?" Dash groaned.

"Moderation cupcake." Bow said, handing Dash and Gilda their own coffees. "Still, nowhere near as bad as your twenty second birthday."

"Don't remind me." Dash sighed, drinking the liquid.

"Heh, at least you managed to keep your liver and both kidneys." Gilda said, giving a chuckle that quickly turned into a groan as they rubbed their head.

“Uh…” I blinked. “What?”

"Don't ask…" Dash grumbled as she sat down next to me. "So, what's today's job?"

"I believe Anna and I have Patrol duty around the town limits in Ponyville…" Gilda said as they drank more coffee and rubbed their forehead. "I think you are scouting the Everfree…? I don't remember."

"Ugh…"

“Let’s at least get sober first before that…” I groaned while drinking more of my coffee.

"Think you'll need Granny Sky Falls Hangover cure?" Bow asked, both Dash and Gilda giving one another questioning looks filled with panic. They then winced as their migraines hit before sluggishly nodding. "Heh, how about you Anna?"

“I’m scared because they both looked like they were about to panic…” I said worriedly.

"That's a yes then, be right back." Bow left and Dash and Gilda both slumped back, looking worried but clearly having accepted a terrible fate.

“Should we start running?” I asked worriedly.

"With these migraines we'd not even make it to the corner of the room." Gilda groaned.

"And forget flying…" Dash added.

About seven minutes later Bow entered again carrying three shot glasses filled with… something and topped with an egg yoke on top of each. Dash and Gilda sighed, taking theirs as I took mine. It smelled… sour. Spicy? Sweet? Lemon…. The fuck is in this? "Chug it fast." Bow said.

I did such…

Here Lies Anna's Taste Buds. Killed in the consumption of a Hangover Cure. It worked, but at a great cost. They will be missed.

I scrawled out on paper from my place on the couch and put the note over my lips. Granny Sky Fall was a hard core sadistic bitch for inventing that.

“Hey God...if you can hear me…” I started. “Tell Sky Fall to go fuck herself…” I cried at the loss of my taste buds. “Uh...no offense…”

"None taken." Bow said. "Mom was… heh, she was my mom. That's about all I care to really say."

“So…” I started. “We good?” I asked, hoping Dash and Gilda were okay after that horror show.

"Way better." Gilda said with a small smile and shaking his head. "Just need to get the flavor out."

"That's the hard part." Dash sighed.

“I don’t think I can taste anymore...my taste buds were murdered…” I said sadly.

"They'll be fine. Trust me, the first time always sucks, but after getting the aftertaste out and the four to six hours of nothing tasting quite right is the hard part." Bow chuckled. "Food should be done. I'll be back with the plates."

“You say that like it’s a guarantee…” I complained, comical anime tears still flowing down my face as I missed my taste buds.

"It is. Trust me." With that Bow left the room.

"He's right. It's on the dot." Gilda chuckled. "No idea how."

"Bet Grandma was secretly an alchemist." Dash laughed.

“Only reason how she could concoct something so foul but workable.” I sighed out.

"Heh. Who knows."

Bored.

Fwoosh.

Bang.

Pop.

Bored.

"So you just shoot the disk mid air for target practice?" Gilda asked, tossing another large rock I shot as it flew across the air.

I have to admit, Patrol duty is… boring.

“Yeah, that’s basically Skeet Shooting.” I said while firing at the large rock and hitting it with my magi-rifle. “Also holy damn am I bored…”

"Heh, yup." Gilda said, hitting the ground and yawning. "We drank that sludge for this?"

“And I regret it massively…” I sighed out. “Oh, I forgot to bring this up, but you have a Sphere Grid for leveling your abilities.”

"A what with what for what?"

“Here, let me show you.” I said while putting my rifle down and bringing out my Menu Sphere to show him. “Can you see in the sphere?”

"Yeah… woah, so all those little circles around my face are… what?"

“All these are little nodes that can increase your abilities and stats, like how much damage your claws do, increase your flight speed, or give you new abilities that might be further down the line for you.” I explained.

"And… how many can you unlock for me?"

“As many as I have the sphere’s for, and how many times you can move around the Sphere Grid.” I said honestly.

"And you can get more? How?"

I shrugged. “The only way I know for right now is killing Fiends, I don’t know if doing quests in general would give experience but either way.”

"Huh… that's… wow. So that thing can basically let you give me superpowers?"

“I guess?” I said, a little uncertain on the ‘superpowers’ definition. “If you mean have super strength, speed, and endurance then in a sense yes.”

"Then fuck, what can I get better at right now?" Gilda said as they tried to look over the options.

“As many things as I can put in for fourteen movements on a sphere grid.” I said honestly. “Should have mentioned this to Rainbow, but she has twenty movements, or levels, on the board as well.”

"What? How?"

“She’s probably been in more fights than you.” I shrugged. “With me, I was at...seventy levels? Or more because I keep forgetting to level.”

"Heh. So let's see how strong this can make us." Gilda said as I was helping them select options.

“Alright, so let’s start with your defenses, cause your stats show you’re pretty strong, but you can’t really take a hit…” I said while starting to increase his flight speed, hp and defensive stats, Gilda having noticed from my explanation that his stat screen did show he was physically strong, but defensive wise he was kind of lacking.

When all was said and done Gilda definitely flew faster, and took more hits than before when we had a quick spar. And lastly I was actually able to give them magic spell on the last level movement. Fire… Claws.

"This is awesome!" Gilda cheered as they flew around, claws aflame as he broke apart makeshift targets and set them on fire on impact.

“Good job Gilda.” I clapped my hands, glad to see him enjoying himself with his new powers.

"I don't know how this is possible and I kinda don't care." Gilda smiled as he extinguished his fire Claws.

“That’s how leveling works.” I said honestly. “Like how me leveling could tell me that something’s approaching.” I said simply, the both of us hearing a branch cracking behind us.

I reacted, turning and aiming my gun and just as quickly dropped it. What I saw was… it was a Klikk, that was clear enough, but where it's middle back section was merged a… Minotaur from the mid torso up. "What the fuck…?" Gilda spokey mind as the… thing walked up to us.

“No...no what the fuck…” I muttered, taking a step back as I saw Pyreflies floating around the thing, not like a phantom but more like it was trying to keep itself together. “No...how the hell…”

“There you are…” The minotaur part said as they looked at me. “Right where Father said you’d be.”

“Oh the hell you don’t.” I said while bringing up my gun and firing at them.

The bullet passed through them, the hole rather than blood leaked Pyreflies as the orbs tried and half succeeded in flowing back inside. “Come now, there’s no need to struggle.”

“Fight now, scream later?” Gilda asked as they activated their flaming claws.

“Be...very careful.” I started as I shifted into my Solar Armor, raising up and readying my Molten Axe powered by the Sun, which was also good that it was still in the middle of the day.

“... When the fuck did you get that?!” Gilda shrieked as he looked me over in pure awe.

“It was when I saved my brother and Pip.” I said while raising my two handed axe and dashed towards the bastard and swung the axe.

The creature lunged, meeting my attack with the weight of it’s own body and we knocked each other back hard, Gilda catching me and putting me down before dashing off and stealing a swipe across the thing’s face. It’s face was missing the eyes entirely from the head and to my surprise he didn’t react. “Now why are you so scared?” They asked.

“So it can’t feel pain… great…” Gilda huffed.

“This isn’t right.” I said while shifting to my Lunar armor, dashing forward and thrusting my lunar lance at the damned thing.

I pierced it through it’s main body and cut a leg off, the thing didn’t fall over but was unbalanced. “Please, This is all unnecessary. Father has me bringing gifts.” The thing said, holding hands out as magic began flowing out from the thing. “All will be one with our Father.”

“Oh hell no.” I said while shifting into my Chimera Form, it being ever so slightly tankier than my Armored Forms and ramming into it with my Goat head hard enough to send it flying into a Tree.

The magic didn’t stop though, in fact it’s broken body and wounds seemed to add to the flow as soon it all swirled around into a form. A box, small and a bright blue. “Father looks forward to the day you two can… meet.” The thing said as its body cracked, shifting to floating Pyreflies and dust as it fell apart til all that was left was the dust and Pyreflies.

“What...the absolute hell…” I muttered, shifting back into my human form and looking at the Pyreflies, wondering why they didn’t immediately rush into me.

I tried touching one, and yelped as it burned me, the Pyrefly then promptly exploded. Not a massive one more like… those pop bags you throw at the ground. All of the ones still floating did the same soon after as the faint smell of ozone now filled the air. “That was… weird…” Gilda said as they picked up the small box the thing made. “Gonna open it?”

“Those...weren’t Pyreflies…” I said worriedly. “But...might as well.” I said while taking the box for myself and opening it, not wanting Gilda to get hurt if it was a trap.

Inside was… a ring? Huh… wait a minute… I pulled out my phone, looking through photos and found a picture of me wearing this same ring two years ago back on earth. I lost this ring forever ago… I did lose it right… “Huh.” Gilda said, looking the metal hoop over. “It’s just a ring made from cheap metal.”

“That’s...my ring…” I said, gently taking the ring. “I lost it two years ago back in my home world...but...how the hell did it get here? And why did that guy have it?”

“So… He’s also a stalker then?”

“No...he couldn’t have found this ring because this was on a completely different planet first of all...and secondly...their Father…” I started. “This is the second Minotaur that’s talked about ‘Father’ and how I share something with him...the Minotaurs respect Braska as their Saint of Yevon...but that squid bastard shouldn’t be here…” I said worriedly. “It’s probably just a coincidence right?”

“I highly doubt that.”

“It has to be though right?” I asked, Gilda seeing this weird glazed look in my eyes before I put the ring back on. “Well, that was an...interesting event right?” I asked simply.

“Yeah… ugh, we gotta report this don’t we?”

“Yes we do...which is gonna be a bitch…” I groaned, Gilda seeing my eyes go back to normal as the thought of doing paperwork was evil. “This was just freaky as hell...like how the hell did they make those Pyreflies?”

"Pretty sure that's above our paygrade." Gilda sighed.

The paperwork on that thing was immediately followed by a memory copying spell to record that memory from Gilda and I. It thankfully didn't hurt or even leave a migraine but was different. From there I had to train one on one with those four agents. First up was Sweetie Drops.

Crack!

"Sweet holy Jesus!"

That's about all I care to recall about her strength training exercises…

Next up was Mole, who was thankfully teaching me the importance of tactical trench building, the fastest methods to build them and what tools to use and which of my current fiend forms could build one out fastest.

“This is a lot better than Sweetie’s training…” I sighed out.

"Heh, yes. Miss Drops has always been hard on the newbies." Mole said as we were digging trenches out in a field outside of Sweet Apple Acres. "Even harder on herself."

“Why harder on herself?” I asked carefully.

"She hates being born an Earth Pony." Mole said simply, lifting and tossing a large rock before continuing digging. "She was born to Unicorn parents, up in Canterlot. Was a surprise to the family. They loved her still but she was always outcasted for not having a horn to perform magic. She resented herself and even spent years working towards somehow gaining a horn. Then one day in her studies she read up upon earth ponies from far across in other kingdoms who could perform Magic in other ways, Zebras and their unique abilities and potions. She traveled for years across the world and learned so much. Still though she hated never being able to reach the potential of her family with their spellcraft, so she began working her magic the way only an Earth Pony can. At full effort I once saw her kill an Ursa Major in one punch. Broke every bone in her arm and the next day she was doing push ups on it." Mole said with a laugh. "She couldn't become a Warlock like her family, so she would become the greatest warrior and has died trying several times."

“Sounds rough.” I said nervously.

"That's what made her who she is now. We all have our reasons for being as we are. Take me for instance. I used to be a Pegasus." I looked over at Mole, who lifted the back of their shirt and showed me two nasty old scars where wings would be. "Lost them in a mining accident. Despite everyone else mourning the loss of my wings, I didn't care. I was born on the ground, not up in the sky, I like to dig into the dirt and rocks of the world, not fly high above it like the others. I can still walk on and move clouds but they are so simple to move and form. The souls of the earth are tricky, a bad tunnel, one unfortified support beam, one shovel full in the wrong spot and squash! Buried alive! Any Pegasus can build a house or a city of clouds, but it takes a skilled genius to make a city under the soil."”

“If you ever need help going to the sky...I can try to figure something out.” I said honestly. “Even if your okay with digging...the feeling of flight must still be there right?”

"Hmm. Nope." They laughed. "I put the sky to my back long before my wings were gone. I have no regrets."

“Alright alright.” I nodded. “So how’s my digging so far?”

"Hmm. Not bad but you left several weak spots. Like here." Mole stated, simply putting the tip of their shovel into my wall and it collapsed, burying me up to my knees. "When dealing with softer soils like this, you'll need the larger rocks we have been gathering and mud to enforce it."

“Sounds about right.” I said while starting to dig myself out of the knee deep soil.

After Mole I was now training with Set Charge Began.

I sat at a table with various cups with bits of either liquid, powder, some dough looking stuff and a few books in front of me. "Lesson one." Set Charge said, picking up a cup with some powder in it. "Learning your explosive compounds."

“Okay so...are you sure you're not teaching me something really illegal with stuff that’s highly illegal?” I asked nervously.

"Maybe." He said with a smile before giving me the cup of powder. "That's your basic gunpowder. Simple and effective, aside from the look its smell and taste are also pretty distinct. Memorize all three."

“Should...should I?” I asked carefully, at least sniffing the gunpowder to see how it smelt since I’ve never known how it smelt.

It was… kinda reminded me of fireworks. "Yes. Some assholes cast sense nullification spells on their bombs and if you can't tell what it is from one of the three then you have to rely on the other two, that enchantment typically only works on smell but it can be used to block both taste and smell of it so you best hope to the stars above what you're looking it is what you think it is, cause then you can use a simple compound to make it just powder without explosive properties. And if you're wrong that compound likely will set off the thing you're trying to not explode. Explosives and their counter compounds are funny like that."

“Uh...yeah…” I said nervously. “So...I won’t have to taste half of this stuff right? And I won’t die because their stupid poisonous right?”

"Maybe." He said, still smiling.

Oddly enough… my tongue felt worse off after this morning's hangover cure. Though I was washing my mouth out like crazy before arriving at Sharp Cut's lab. Here I was seated across from him, our table holding the corpse of an elderly unicorn stallion. "First lesson. The anatomy of your patients."

“Okay, are you sure we’re not doing anything illegal here?” I asked. “Pyro back there said ‘maybe’ with his crap...this feels concerning and illegal.”

"Well, maybe. The body was obtained legally at least." Sharp said with a shrug as they then pulled a dagger out and jabbed the corpse with it. I promptly felt my breakfast making its way back up.

He sliced the torso open, and I saw the rib cage, organs and such of this person. Huh, nearly identical to humans. Nearly. Their hearts are much larger, and the muscles are also thicker. Bones look the same though. "Now then, in healing your magic is used in various ways to stitch up wounds, restart a heart, null pain and if you are skilled enough, perform an operation."

“I’ve...mostly seen the type of magic just instantly heal people...or bring them back from the dead…”

"Healing magic and Necromancy are two sides of the same coin. One keeps the body alive and repairs the damage, the other keeps the body working even after decay and rot set in. Both can heal but in different ways. For example, healing magic can not affect a corpse no matter how fresh, but Necromancy." Sharp showed me as he made a cut along the cadavers throat, then traced I along it with a finger as their horn glowed with dark magic, the injury vanishing but leaving a noticeable scar. "It can force the dead cells to work and act as they did when alive through powerful magics. With a proper magical core placed in, this stallion can walk again but their cells and body would still be dead, and continue to decay and rot til the bones are left, and in some cases they will keep rotting as bones til they erode away to ashes and dust."

“Sounds...really creepy.” I said honestly.

"That is dark magic. The opposite of natural magic. Everything exists in pairs at the core, they can fracture, split and divide, creating various other forms of what they are but they all have their roots in one or the other. Two sides of the same coin, often unaware of each other or constantly conflicting and harming the other. It is just how the world is, even when there is one, there is always two.".”

“Sounds...about right.” I said, thinking about all the few things those Minotaurs told me and fearing there was something about his words that might have something to do with it.

With my lessons done I went home and fell fast asleep, arriving in Zanarkand and seeing Tidus sitting across from me. "Hey, did you… kill someone?"

“No I didn’t.” I stated quickly. “Why do you ask?”

"It's something that appeared. Come on." Tidus said, the both of us getting up as I followed him.

We arrived at a building I haven't been in yet. Large, tall, all stone building with no windows. Inside were several isles with thick walls dividing them and on each wall evenly spaced were blank metal plates, each going across the aisle and four up on the wall. "This is the cemetery. The Dead are cremated and their remains placed here along with a few of their important valuables. They've been blank forever… til now." Tidus pointed to the metal slate to his right.

Hugo
Race: Minotaur
May he rest in peace.

"That was there the other day. It wasn't before.".”

“That’s...no that can’t be…” I said worriedly. “So uh...Unsent are a thing in Equestria...and I...absorbed this guy after he killed himself...calling me ‘Mother’ for some reason…”

Tidus's eyes went wide. "Tha… huh, that was not what I was expecting to hear. Unsent… how many?"

“No idea, all I know is that there’s a Cult of them, and right now from what I’ve heard there’s like...six more or so? I don’t know how many else and...what’s worse...they can replicate pyreflies and tried forcing one of their own into a fiend hybrid…” I said, looking at my ring and wondering how in the name of hell they got it.

"... Suddenly the shit I went through in Spira was so much easier."

“I know I’m dumping a lot on ya...but something is horribly wrong here…” I said, gently putting a hand on the gravestone. “What the hell is going on here?”

"Wish I knew." Tidus sighed. "Feels like those early days when I ended up in Spira. More questions than answers, and when I got answers I regretted hearing them."

“Yeah...I know I’m going to regret hearing a lot of these answers…” I sighed out. “So how have you and Jecht been doing?” I asked, wanting to change the subject on this worrying topic.

"Dad's showing off his MK 1 and 2 Jecht Shots." Tidus huffed, kicking a blank slate of metal on the wall. "Damn show off. So, what's been up with you in Equis? Fiend crap aside?"

“My taste buds died, I learned a lot more about Gilda, helped them through some emotional baggage with Rainbow Dash, met Rainbow’s Parents, and my taste buds were murdered by some psycho’s idea of a ‘hangover remedy’.” I sighed out.

"You said your taste buds died twice." Tidus pointed out.

“That’s how bad it was.” I replied with a shiver. “Literally tasting explosive materials left my taste buds in a better condition than that…’hangover remedy’.”

"Okay… what the heck are you learning in that organization?"

“Oh you know, the basics. How to build tunnels, necromancy, the smell and taste of explosive materials...my spine damn near breaking in half because someone needs to take a fucking chill pill about not being a pretty unicorn.” I frowned.

"Heh. You got some teachers huh?"

“Yeah, they are all good at their jobs and care enough about it.”

"Heh. So, that just leaves the museum then."

“Yeah...whatever the hell’s going to be in there.” I said honestly.

"Normally just history about Zanarkand, but now there is something new." Tidus said, taking leave as I followed.

“Something new?” I asked curiously.

I followed Tidus to the museum, and once there he showed me an elevator. "This. It was not here before, at least not in my Zanarkand."

“Wonder why there’s this elevator?” I wondered, moving over and pressing the button to call the elevator.

It opened in and inside was two buttons. Well, there was more but those were blank. The two labeled buttons were simply labeled Z and E. According to this we were on Floor Z… E… Equis? I pressed it. The doors closed and we went down. After a minute or so we exited, finding ourselves in the same museum layout as before… except it was empty, save for one area where a statue and display of Minotaurs were. Their history seems to modern Equis times… huh.

“Uh...I’ve never been to the Minotaur lands, why is that here?” I asked nervously.

"Maybe it's based on that Hugo guy's memories?" Tidus pondered.

“Well...let’s go check.” I said while moving towards the exhibit, hoping it was more than the memories of that dead cultist.

There was, infact, a lot about Minotaur history. Their origins being children of a god and an animal, born something between. The rise of their tribes, their warfare for glory, the star that cursed them, their years of famine and drought, Braska the star saving them, their unification into a single tribe, the split of the Uor.

“Damn…” I blinked. “This...is weirdly a lot like X-2’s history lesson on Zanarkand and Yevon…”

"X what?" Tidus asked.

“Remember when I talked about Yuna with a Gun?” I asked.

"I thought you were making a joke…"

“I wasn’t.” I started. “It’s was a serious thing.” I chuckled. “But it’s either that, or the whole Al bhed thing…”

"Huh… yeah I think I'd rather not know." Tidus said as they looked at the exhibits end. "Huh." He said, walking over where there was just a podium with a button in it. "That's random."

“Why is there a button?” I asked worriedly.

"You really need to stop asking me things like I know the answers." Tidus quipped as they walked over to it, looking it and the podium over. "So, should we push it?"

“You live here, so you might actually know things.” I said.

"Like it's fun going to all these places when it's empty and quiet? This place creeps me out. Dad and I only ever go out on the off chance something changed."

“That’s...interesting.” I said honestly while moving over and pressing the button, knowing we won’t learn anything unless I press it.

Everything went white for me for a quick second but I was still standing over the button. Huh, did it even do anything?

"Holy… oh!" I turned and saw Tidus turned around, hands over their face.

“Uh...what happened?” I asked worriedly.

"Uh, two things. First off, you're a Minotaur now." My eyes widened, looking at my arms, feeling my head now more like that of an ox with horns to boot. "Secondly… you're naked."

I looked down and I was indeed very naked. Birthday suit naked… damn this body looks good. I need a mirror. I headed off and found the bathrooms of this museum and entered the women's bathroom. Once in I got a good look at this body. My hair color was normal and so was my eye color. My coat color was a dirty blond that looked so pretty. I was only maybe a foot and a half taller, two if you include my slender, small horns that looked too danty to be a weapon. I had hooves for feet and… yet, these bad girls up top and that ass down bottom look way bigger than my human ones. Daw, my tail is cute, kinda small.

“Good lord do I look amazing.” I said, loving my new look. “Wonder how strong I am in this form?”

"Get some clothes on first!" I heard Tidus yell from outside the bathroom.

“Do you think I have clothes for this form?” I frowned. “Even if it’s a dream, I can’t just magic up clothes.”

"Then call Luna or something! That train can bring her here, why not someone else?" That… makes sense. Maybe she can get Rarity here to make me some clothes.

“Alright, I’ll try to give that a try.” I said, wondering for a bit as I tried to mentally call to Luna, hoping that would help.

After a good few minutes Luna entered the bathroom. "I received your message Anna, I must say I am quite surprised you could… contact… me…" She stopped, finally looking at my still nude minotaur body. "Anna…?"

“Hi Luna.” I said sheepishly, using one arm and my tail to cover my naughty bits. “Uh...mind helping a girl out with some clothes here? Just learned I can now shapeshift into a Minotaur after some...exploring, and I ended up naked.”

“...Huh…” Luna said, raising her hands as she snapped her fingers. I felt something suddenly drape my body and found myself in a lovely blue and pink sundress. “Mind explaining it to me? Blueblood’s report has yet to arrive regarding the recent missions.”

“So we have Unsent Death Cultists like I’ve been talking about.” I sighed out. “When me and Blueblood went to the Prison with that one terrorist Minotaur...he claimed I was ‘Mother’ and killed himself...and he spawned Pyreflies that I absorbed.” I explained. “And then...well the recently worrying thing involves what I can only guess are Artificial Pyreflies morphing a Minotaur partly into a Fiend...and he also wanted me to meet ‘Father’ and gave me this…” I said while showing Luna my ring. “I lost this back on earth years ago...but how he got it I have no idea.”

"Oh. Well then… this is more worrying that I first thought. I must speak to Tia about this and take faster action. If worst comes to worst this could be a war unlike anything Equis has ever seen."

“I hope to god it doesn’t go towards that…” I sighed out. “I’m also sorry for...being weirdly related to this Cult from what those Minotaurs said.”

"It makes sense given your abilities. But that does raise the question, this Father they speak of… is it possible they possess the same abilities as you do?"

“That’s what they said.” I shrugged helplessly. “But it doesn’t help that I have no idea who or what is able to shapeshift into Fiends…”

"Hmm… this is indeed something that requires a drastic act before it is too late."

“We really should.” I nodded. “I’ve been wanting to go to the Minotaur Lands for a while, but things kept cropping up that stopped me...oh, also, do either you or Celestia know who’s the oldest person in the Minotaur Lands that...kind of shouldn’t be alive?”

"Hm? Do you mean in terms of age? Well, I guess that would be Grimth, but he is half dragon so him being able to live two thousand years isn't that surprising."

“Alright, cause I’m just making sure if there wasn’t any suspicious people that have lived a little too long.” I sighed out.

"Not to my knowledge. Tia would know better though. With luck I can get us all in a meeting tomorrow hopefully."

“Hopefully.” I nodded. “Wonder what everyone will think when I show them this form.” I said honestly.

"Hmm… can make stealth easier for you."

“If I’m going to the Minotaur Kingdom soon then yeah, it would be good stealth.” I nodded in agreement.

"Depends. Tia wants to avoid a war, sadly Blueblood and I agree it is likely inevitable. It's why we are working on an agreement involving the Uor who made the weapons for us. As well as other warfare profiteers."”

“It’s sadly going to happen...and the Minotaurs are going to be the linchpin in all of this, I just know it…” I sighed out. “God damn it Braska…”

"There is a lot ahead of us. Hopefully, things will go well."

The next day I woke up to the save sphere in my room kinda… is that glitching or dancing? "Is it broken?" Tommy asked as he poked it.

“What did you do?” I asked worriedly. “Cause it’s not supposed to do that.”

"I didn't do anything. I woke up and saw it doing that just like you." Tommy replied.

The save sphere then did… a backflip, then displayed text on the wall behind it like a projector.

To save David, you must end the Shadow plaguing the North.

"David… that's dad's name…" Tommy said simply, looking shocked.

“That means we’re going to be saving dad next.” I said. “Now the main problem...the hell is this ‘Shadow plaguing the North’?”

"Wish I knew."

We sat there thinking for a while til a rapid hard pounding at our window broke us back to reality. Walking over to it and opening it I saw Gilda flying outside the window.

I went over and opened the window. “No need to break my window my furry feathered friend.” I started. “What’s up?”

"No time for pleasant banter Anna. Shining and Blueblood called all hands on deck. Another Sombra fiend surfaced. Whitetail Woods. The Deer Kingdom."

“Shit…” I muttered. “Sorry bro, it’s an emergency.” I said quickly, giving him a quick hug. “I’ll be back, I promise.”

"Go kick some ass." He replied as I shifted into an Evil Eye and flew off with Gilda back to HQ. Once there we got armored up and Blueblood began briefing us on the situation.

"So far the Sombra Fiend has already cleaved and butchered his way to the castle. Unlike the one of the Crystal Empire this one is fighting with weapons crafted from his own Necromancy rather than using fiends."

"So he's alone?" Sweetie Drops asked.

"No. That's where Anna comes in. Our scouts reported that he has an army, two hundred. A mix of Minotaurs, Ponies, Griffons, and most surprising of all, Yaks. All their reports say the same, they die, then get back up." Blueblood said as he eyed me. "Anna can make them stay dead. Consider this a chance to see how big her range of effect on these undead are."

“It’s even worse than I thought.” I rubbed my temples. “We have even less time, and all these cultists...oh god damn it…” I groaned while hitting my head against the meeting room table. “I’m gonna beat Sombra...then there’s going to be two hundred people following me and I don’t like it…” I whined.

"What makes you think they will?" Sharp Cut asked.

“Because it can’t be a coincidence…” I sighed out. “Two minotaurs believe I’m some ‘Mother’ figure in their cult, and now two hundred Unsent are following Sombra? And considering the first time I fought one of his pieces he was commanding Fiends, I’m pretty sure the Unsent believe he’s either a high ranking Cultist, or a piece of their ‘Father’.” I sighed out. “I’m just guessing here, I have no idea what the hell is going on, and I know more about the finer details than most of you…”

"Whatever the case, I expect you to execute every. Last. One." Blueblood said. "That is an order."

“Just...don’t act all weird when they start murdering themselves out of nowhere.” I sighed out. “So where near the Deer Kingdom is Whitetail Woods? I think I have a teleport spot the last time we were there.”

"The Deer Kingdom is inside the Whitetail Woods, right at the heart of the forest." Set Charge said. "If you can teleport us, how many at once?"

"We need more up to date data." Cut said. "We don't want to teleport right into an ambush."

“That depends on where Sombra’s forces are, because I have that warp point at the Capital, most likely the prison since that’s where I saved last.” I explained. “If your wondering what those blue sphere things that keep popping up everywhere are.”

"I have a spell that can aid in that." Sharp Cut said as their horn glowed and their eyes followed, glowing a sickly green and pale white. "Let's see… well now, this is quite the scene."

"How bad?" Blueblood asked.

"As far as I can tell this appears to be mindless carnage. Guards and civilians alike are dead in the streets. How pointless."

“Then we better hurry!” I snapped while getting up. “Instead of just sitting here claiming how it’s ‘pointless’ that innocent civilians are getting slaughtered.”

"It's pointless as in it makes no sense." Cut said, the spell disbanding as their normal dead looking eyes returned. "Why slaughter so many with no goal in mind?"

"... Two reasons." Blueblood said in thought. "Display of power… or a distraction. Anna, take Gilda, Set Charge, and Sharp Cut to Whitetail, gather all you'll need. Now."

We did as told and I gathered everyone around the sphere and we warped.

The dungeon looked incinerated, corpses of guards and prisoners alike sat and stood where the fires consumed them, flesh turned to charcoal and the scent of ashes filled the air heavily. "Stars above…" Gilda muttered.red.

I stared at all the death and destruction, reminded so much of back home...when the world was going to hell...when my family was hurt...when I was killed…”No…” I started, walking forward. “No no no…” I growled as I shifted into my Chimera form. “NO!” I roared as I charged ahead blindly, not caring if I got hurt, only knowing that I needed to stop these bastards from killing more.

The first thing I saw was a Pegasus mare. Her mane was an amber orange, coat Violet purple, eyes a deep great. Her left arm, right leg and stomach all glowed as Pyreflies leaked out that were slowly moving back inside her as she removed her spear tip from a maid's skull.

I rammed right into her at full speed, crushing her against a wall as as her Pyreflies began to flow into me. "Father… she has arrived…" She whimpered with a smile as the last of the Pyreflies left her and her body faded away.

Manic laughter suddenly seemed to fill the whole kingdom. I turned, seeing Minotaur, Pony, Yak, Griffon and even a few undead deer… no…

I looked down in horror as every dead deer around me began absorbing Pryeflies, and began moving again. "Father…" They began saying as they rose back to life. They weren't killing mindlessly… they were growing their numbers.

“No...no that’s impossible!” All four of my heads shouted in panic. “How the hell is this happening!? This shouldn’t be happening!?”

I felt something grab my leg, looking down I saw that maid that was speared through the head look up at me, her wound filled with Pyreflies as she smiled sickly at me. "Play with us Mother." She said, the whole of the room now chanting.

"Play. Play. Play." They said, a chorus of voices chanting that single word as the newly undead picked up whatever as a weapon and all walked towards me.

"Anna!" Gilda yelled, flying up to me in a blur and impaling the maid yet again in the head, her Pyreflies flowing into me as well. "The hell is happening?!"

I backed away, changing back into my human form as I backed up into one of the Unsent. “Play with us Mother.” A child said innocently.

“What the actual fuck!?” I jumped away, bringing out my Lunar Armor and impaling the child in fear. “This isn’t right...this isn’t right…” I muttered, my own fear and panic rising higher and higher. “We need to find Sombra, fast…” I panted, trying to calm myself down so I don’t have a full blown panic attack.

Smack!

Ouch! I rubbed my cheek from the slap Gilda gave me. "Better?" They asked, deflecting a strike from a griffon undead and then impaling them too, their Pyreflies all flowing into me.

“Not really...but thanks.” I sighed out. “But this is not right, Unsent are beings who will themselves to stay alive, not from this.” I said worriedly. “What the actual hell is going on?”

"Clearly, something fucked." They said, grabbing me by my arms and flying us out the broken roof. Now in the sky I saw how bad it just was. Hell has emerged, and the Whitetail Woods are burning in the hellfire that escaped. "Hopefully the evacuation is going well. Sharp Cut left to go check on that. Set Charge is dropping bombs on the Unsent in the streets, now where the hell is that Sombra Fiend?"

“No….why…” I muttered sadly. “Why is this happening again…”

"Keep it together Anna." Gilda grumbled. "Where is that asshole…"

After a while of flying, Gilda dodged an Unsent Griffon that did a flyby claw swipe at us. "Hey there crossdresser." I could feel Gilda freeze as he slowly turned us towards that Unsent Griffon.

He was larger, easily two feet taller than Gilda, well built and had a black and white feathers pattern with violet purple eyes. "Zer…" Gilda growled, they shook and their grip on me began to hurt as they squeezed harder… this is…

"Come all this way for another ass fuck? Ya know it's a shame you left. Was gonna give you that last surgery to make you a proper Griffoness."

I pulled out my gun and fired at the bastard, a large icicle spear rushing towards the griffon. “Just the asshole I wanted to find.”

With their claws they broke it before it touched them. "Ah yes, you're that bitch the boss is obsessed with. So, like his present?" Zer asked as he stretched his arms wide. "Boss man did all this for you. You're greatest wish he's trying to grant."

"Piss off! Like Anna would ever have wanted this massacre!" Gilda snapped.

"I'm just saying what I heard the boss say bubble butt. Boss promised this cunt a kingdom and I'm just one of the pawns working to deliver it. Course I can still get my piece of the pie." Suddenly, Zer was in front of us, Grabbing Gilda by the chin. He froze, wing flying only out of instinct. "I've met some wild people, and we can make you the woman you should have been born as."

Zer felt a spear in his gut as I shifted into my Lunar armor. “Don’t. You. Dare. Touch him!” I snapped, breaking out of Gilda’s hold and slamming the bastard griffon away from us.

He laughed, pulling the spear out and threw it back to me. I caught it and thanked God I could fly in this armor. "Neat trick, here's mine!" Their claws became cloaked in lightning as they circled me, their speed making a cyclone around us that spun me around as they slashed at me, their lightning shocking me but their claws couldn't peirce or cut the armor thankfully. They then tackled me as he fell for a but before he opened his wings, breaking our fall as he held me by the neck. "You think you're the only one to figure out those save spheres? Or the level grid?" He asked as he let go of me and did a rapid backflip he used to kick me away twenty feet before I caught myself.

“Who the hell is this ‘Father’ you keep blathering about?” I growled while raising my Lance. “Watera!” I shouted, a sphere of water rushing around the electrified griffon as I thanked the lord this armor let me use the second tier of spells.

He flew around it. "Not sure, but he's definitely got the hots for you. Anna this, Anna that. Never met him in person, just his lackey Seymour."

“Oh are you fucking kidding me?” I whined. “Why does that prick have to be here?” I whined as I switched to my Solar Armor and raised it into the air, a beam of sunlight shooting down towards the griffon.

Rapidly he dashed to the side, avoiding it. "So you do know him. Heh, sure sounded like he knew you."

“I know Seymour, Seymour is a dipshit.” I frowned. “Like seriously, have you heard him talk about his goals?” I said while bolting forward and swinging with my molten axe.

He spun right as I swung down, and gave me a hard elbow that sent me back some feet. "Not really. All I hear him talking about is what the boss orders. Eh, still. Immortality is always a good gig."

“Sounds about right.” I said. “Now where’s Sombra?” I started, going back to smack him as I prepared to transform if he dodged.

"Around." He said, take a quick jerk to the right as I transformed into my Chimera form, grabbing him by the wings and keeping him under me as we hit the ground.

“Gotcha bitch!” I shouted. “Now you're going to pay for what you did to Gilda!” I shouted as my falcon head used a more focused Aqua Breath straight into the bastards head.

"Heh. Nice hit. Here's mine." He said, somehow picking himself up from under my Chimera form's weight and knocking me off him. "You think I'm the same as these garden variety mindless fucks? Heh, not even close." Zer said with a crack to their neck. As I was about to charge him I stopped as a black bolt zipped passed me. Turning I saw the Sombra Fiend, holding a bow made from pure dark magic. "Guess that's my cue." Zer said as he flew off.

“Oh no you don’t!” I snapped while lashing my Snake tail out at the Griffon to keep him here as I threw a Megado Flame at the Sombra Fiend.

The Sombra friends bow shifted to a sheild, the Sheild reflecting my own magic back towards me as flocks of flying unsent got between my snake half and Zer. Fucking!

I turned to the Sombra Fiend, tanking the reflected hit as it swapped it's sheild for a sword.

“Okay you know what!?” I snapped. “I am sick of this bullshit! I wanted to live a new life with my family where I could escape the dangers of some assholes who think they can just kill people for fun! But no, that’s not what I’m gonna get!” I snapped, the Unsent shivering around me in my rage. “Now if you believe I’m your Lord and Savior, bring me that Zer and Sombra’s heads!” I commanded as hard as I could, hoping this would work on these bastards that believed I was their ‘Mother’ or some crap. “I just...want my family back…” I growled, tears falling from all four of my heads as I dug into the ground and charged at Sombra, the smell of burned bodies, the sight of death, all of this just getting too much as I just wanted to end this and get home and hide.

There was a long pause on the airs the lesser unsent all seemed to… process what I said. About half went back to trying to attack me. Others seemed to clench their heads as their eyes glowed brighter with Pyreflies that left and re entered their bodies rapidly, and the rest did chase after Zer and try and attack Sombra. Okay, progress… sorta.“Alright.” I nodded while fighting against the unsent that are still after me. “God, I wish Gilda was here...or at least someone was here to back me up.” I said while doing my best to deal with the hoard of Unsent here.

My prayers were answered… as myself and chunks of now blown up unsent were sent flying into the nearby building. I shifted back to human form. Pyreflies flowing around and into me like Minecraft exp orbs. Once my daze was over I saw Set Charge holding out a hand. "Survivors are clear." He said, pulling me back up. "Sorry for the blast off."

“It’s alright.” I nodded while getting up, feeling energized by more and more Pyreflies rushing into me. “Where’s Gilda?”

"I thought they were with you?"

“We met one of his rapists.” I started. “And you decided to not take stock as to where all your party members are in this clusterfuck are you kidding me?”

"I was a bit busy making sure getting the survivors out of this mess was done while Cut captured a few of these Unsent's for research."

“God damn it…” I grumbled. “Alright, so I’ll deal with Sombra, you handle all the Unsent that aren’t fighting or helping us.” I said while charging back towards Sombra.

I shifted into my Dingo form and Sombra promptly produced a whip he slashed my muzzle with… ouch, that's gonna leave a mark.

I then transformed into my Dark Crystal Dingo form and barked crystals towards the bastard and rushed towards him again.

His whip rapidly shifted into a short sword he used to deflect or break my crystal barks at him and when I got close enough I managed to bark a crystal projectile right into his torso, stunning him long enough for me to bark another off in his head before I shifted to the solar armor and brought down the axe through him.

His Pyreflies flowed into me and soon that one familiar black orb followed. I felt that same sickening, horrid feeling just like the first time. Thankfully this time I stayed conscience and shook it off. Now, where is Gilda… where's Zer… shit!

I transformed into my Evil Eye form and started to fly around the place, hoping to find Gilda or Zer. ”Damn it, I forgot to make sure where they were...please Gilda, please be okay…” I thought to myself worriedly.

As I flew around rapidly I found them… and my blood both ran cold and boiling all at once. Zer stood behind Gilda, one arm wrapped around his torso, another grouping their breast. Gilda looked hollow, shut down as Zer nuzzled their neck.

I flew right at them, Zer looking an eye over at me and smiling as I shifted to my Lunar armor form and was ready to impale them on impact. Right as I got closer they let Gilda go, still smiling at me as they took one step back, and vanished in a flash of magic. Teleportation.

I rammed my Halibird right where he was standing, roaring in rage as I kept stabbing at where he was.

“GOD DAMN IT!” I roared in rage. “That bastard! I’ll make him regret he was ever fucking born!”

After what felt like an eternity I finally calmed enough to check on Gilda. He was on his knees and hands, breathing slowly and looking like they were countless miles away. Carefully I touched them. No reaction. They were completely shut down mentally. I started to tear up as I kneeled down and hugged Gilda. “I’m sorry Gilda…” I cried, hating myself how I couldn’t have kept my best friend safe from that horrible bastard.

Some time later Set Charge found and got us out of there. The Whitetail Woods and therefore the Deer Kingdom was lost.

Gilda was admitted to the ER. No physical injuries aside from those got while fighting, mostly small cuts and bruises. Mentally though the doctors said it would take time for him to come out of his own mind.

Whatever Zer did to them, just his touch made Gilda shut down, and the nurses all said that they must have given him way more mental damage than I initially thought.

"I figured." Dr. Horse said looking over a full body X-ray of Gilda.

“What did you figure?” I asked nervously.

"Why Gilda most likely shuts down like this at his touch." He sighed. "Griffons are notorious for receiving injuries to their body and breaking bones either in fights or crash landings, but this… nine, no, twelve points of impact to the head that each cracked and spiderwebs out, minor spinal damage, every rib broken and reset, arms and legs too all in multiple places. Pelvis bone cracked along the… oh, well, you get it. Even the wing bones. Every time Gilda moves must be agony. Don't even know how they manage flight with wing damage this bad. Whatever these gang members and this Zer did to him, it left Gilda literally an inch from death."

“Jesus fuck…” I muttered. “Is...is there any way to help them? I know mentally it’ll take forever but...at least physically just to make sure they don’t suffer like that…”

"The fact they can move and fly means either they are muscling through the pain and are numb to it, which might be the minor spinal injuries doing. The only bright side to that event. In fact… yes, Gilda should have died but the skull and cracked bones all show signs of magical healing. A potion likely. The improper healing on Gilda's spine from the potion does seem to have made it possible for them to move but likely dulled their physical senses. We can repair all of this, but it will take a lot of time and work."

“I don’t care how long it takes.” I told the doctor. “Just please...please help Gilda…” I said, feeling massively responsible for him even though a lot of their trauma happened way before I even got here.

"Hmm." He hummed, looking over the X-ray again. "Spinal damage will have to be last, keeps them off painkillers longer and reduces dependency while under. Before we can even start though Gilda needs to come out of their own mind first and agree to the surgery."

“I...hope I can help them come back…” I said worriedly. “I’m their best friend...it’s the least I can do….”

"You can try. Sometimes a friendly voice or object can bring them out of it."

“Hopefully…” I sighed out. “Let’s hope for the best I suppose.” I started while heading off to see Gilda in their hospital room.

They were laid in a basic hospital bed, no machines or anything hooked up to them aside from a wrist strapped heartbeat monitor. I sighed as I sat in the chair next to their bed. Gilda's eyes were still so distant and away. Vacant and hollow like a doll's.

“Hey Gilda, it’s me.” I said gently to the griffon, taking a seat next to him. “It’s been awhile since we last talked…”

No response. Carefully I took hold of their hand. It was so different. Not like birds yet a lot like them. Thicker skin, rough palms and finger sections for holding onto places to perch on, fingers that ended in claws that extended from fingernail like spots. They were so sharp, just tracing my finger along it gave me a small cut.

“Still sharp as ever…” I muttered. “Gilda please...I’m here for you, don’t give up hope…” I said softly, not knowing what to say to him but thinking just saying something, anything, was better than just doing nothing.

“Quite the little trick is it?” I looked up, seeing Sombra, likely only I could see him, standing over Gilda. He had more of his face and body now, but still parts were missing. “To escape true horror and terror, your mind can literally trap itself within the depths that the consciousness should not be able to reach into. Both a salvation and a prison. Ironic really.”

“If you're going to tell me how to bring Gilda back, tell me now or figure out how to get me in his head.” I frowned. “I’m not in the mood right now for cryptic crap Sombra…”

"Straight to the point today. No fun but fine. That train Luna rides to get into your head does work two ways. Simply rest next to Gilda here and when you leave your Zanarkand for the dream realm their door should be next to yours. But without Luna's help you'll have to take the long way to Gilda's mental safehouse."

“Then I’ll go find Luna and go after Gilda...I can’t lose him…” I said, softly holding his rough talon.

"And do you have time to wait for her to finish whatever royal duties she has?"

“Then fuck it.” I said. “I don’t have time for Luna to get here...I need to hurry and get Gilda back before things start going to hell…”

"That's what I wanted to hear." Sombra said, taking my hand and placing it atop Gilda's head. I felt a sudden pulse of magic from me and Gilda fell asleep immediately. "You will need my help there." He said as I took my hand back.

“Alright...now to knock myself out...you know, I thought I would have done this with booze first before knocking myself out…” I chuckled.

"Sleeping spells are just as effective."

“Plus it saves the hangover.” I said honestly. “So...let’s get this over with.”

Once in Zanarkand I opened up Sombra's cell...cage… display? Whatever it was I opened it and a quick train ride out of Zanarkand we were in front of Gilda’s dream door. Funny, never imagined it looking so… sad. There were many doors around us, all kinds and types, and here Gilda’s was… basic wood, just two by fours nailed together to form a door. I mean, hell my way to Zanarkand is a freaking portal looking thing.

“Alright, first time entering someone else’s dreams...this is gonna be a little weird.” I said while trying to open the door.

It opened easily enough and inside we were met with a pitch black void all around us. Soon though, as we walked light began making shapes, sounds. Soon, we were in the Deer Kingdom Again. I looked around, seeing the fighting and seeing Zer kick off an unsent before landing in front of Gilda. “Quite the friend you have there, doll.” Zer said, his voice taking on a completely different tone as he spoke to Gilda, no longer snarky, proud or confident… more like when speaking to an idol.

Gilda, raised his sword up. “Don’t fucking call me that.”

“Most recent memories.” Sombra explained, waving a hand through Zer like he was a ghost. “Can’t interact with anything on this level.”

“I still want to murder him, and watch as he regrets his life.” I growled.

“Just watch and learn.” Sombra said.

“But Gilda, baby, you can’t hate me that much can you? After all after the boys had their fun I was the one who gave you that potion.”

“And you were also the one who kept smashing my head in everytime I so much as twitched wrong!” Gilda roared, flying fast and impaling Zer. He didn’t react. “You know my spine didn’t heal right… I can barely feel whatever touches me.”

“And yet.” Zer said, taking Gilda by the wrist and Gilda immediately froze. “You can always tell when I’m the one to touch you, love.”

Gilda was frozen for a bit, but wanked their arm free and backed away, their sword still in Zer’s chest. “I am not your love. I don’t fucking love you. I am not into guy’s you fucking retard!”

“Coming from you, that's hypocrisy. I know how often you flirted your way out of trouble with guys, passing for a girl, your adventure with Anna and that Top Hat guy proved you still got it. Loved that dress by the way.”

“You… you’re still stalking me!? I figured after I cut your head off you’d get the message!”

“Yeah, that was a new one.” Zer said, pulling out Gilda’s sword and tossing it aside. “Were you surprised?”

“That you let someone turn you into an undead freak? Sadly not.”

“I got the power I need to claim the Griffon Kingdom back for my family Gilda. My ancestral right will be within my claws in a few short months. And when that happens I want you there with me Gilda. You’ll be my queen.”

Gilda roared, charging at Zer. “I. AM. NOT. A. CHICK!”

As Gilda got within punching distance of him, Zer vanished, appearing behind Gilda and grabbing an arm around their Torso and another on a breast. Gilda immediately froze, and turned a bright red. “But you want me to. I’ve watched you our whole lives Gilda. Your looks, walk, attitude, the way you always buy womens clothes. You WANT to be female. You had the change for surgery, and rather than look more make, you got these.” Zer stated, squeezing a breast of Gilda’s as their eyes began to sink.

“I… I just wanted to-”

“Be told you’re beautiful. Be admired, be loved.” Zer cooed, now nuzzling Gilda’s neck. “And I do, Gilda. I love you like no one else in this world can. When I take the crown, I’ll find you again. Some of these Unsent used to be great Zebra shamans. Their skills in potions can make you the woman you always should have been, the woman you want to be… When you become my bride, my wife, you can become a real woman, and have my children.”

Gilda’s eyes went like how I saw them when I arrived, the quietest question escaping their mouth. “... Promise?”

Zer looked up, seeing me as I began to rush in. “Promise.”

With that, everything went back to that empty void again.

I stared blankly into the empty void, my fists clenched tightly. “GILDA!” I shouted into the empty void. “You better get your furry ass out here and explain yourself!” I barked while running off anywhere in his dream, tears streaming down my face as I weirdly felt...betrayed by Gilda believing this asshole, ready and willing to just accept what he says. “I’m going to find Zer, and I’m going to make him BEG FOR DEATH!” I roared.

Sombra saw a strange outline around me, like waves of grey that looked like the shape of whale fins around my arms.

“Gilda!? Where are you?” I called out, my mind at war between absolute bloodthirsty rage towards Zer, and honest to god fear and worry for my best friend, even if my heart ached when thinking that we were only friends for some reason.

Light, sounds, images. I was in a warehouse. It was dark as hell here. There was a flash of lightning and I fell on my knees. Gilda looked… They looked like they got hit by a truck, blood and… other liquids oozed from their beak and dripped through their shorts that were once pants but were cut up into revealing shorts. Shirt was gone entirely and they looked dead already. The only sign he was alive was a slow, uneven breathing.

“Jesus christ…” I muttered.

For what felt like forever til I heard footsteps. Looking I grit my teeth and fists as Zer walked over to them. He sighed as he kneeled down over Gilda, taking out a small glowing purple vial from his pocket. “It didn’t have to be this way babe. We could have been like we were before.” He said, actually crying as he popped the bottles lid open and had Gilda carefully drink from it.

I tried to take a swing at the memory of Zer, knowing it won’t do anything but just hating him so much. “I will find you and fucking murder you Zer.”

Zer simply nursed the potion down Gilda’s throat. Once it was gone he waited til his breathing was more deep and regular. He let out a long sigh and carefully laid their head back down and got up. “Soon Gilda… everything will be perfect.”

The Void again. I began running again into the next memory.

This was a nicer looking building of… no, this is an apartment. The decor was basic, and the building was made from wood and clay.

“I’m not going to feel sympathy for Zer Gilda.” I frowned, looking around the apartment for where I’m supposed to go next.

I wandered around until I spotted Gilda at a dinner table and… woah! They were much younger here. Maybe a teenager even… and flat chested! So this is before that then. His head feathers were way shorter, likely an attempt to look more male… it wasn’t working, they looked so… cute!

“Fucking hangovers.” They muttered, drinking some coffee.

“I know this probably won’t help...but I’m gonna tease the shit out of Gilda when they wake up about how adorable they looked as a teen.” I chuckled.

“You know you’re working today.” A male voice spoke. For a moment I huffed, then realized that wasn’t Zer’s voice.

Entering the kitchen/dinning room. He was a well built male griffon easily twice Gilda’s size, and had all the same colors. “It helps me cope, Gilder.” Gilda huffed. “I hate my fucking job… and for Zer! For fucks sake can I just not have that guy in my life for ten minutes!”

“He practically runs all the media in Highstone, so no.” Gilder replied, taking a seat across from Gilda with his own coffee.

So this is Gilder...

“Where did you go wrong I wonder…” I started. “Cause...Gilder is someone I might want to save but...all things considered he didn’t help Gilda until after he was killed…”

“So what’s the boss man got you doing today?” Gilder asked as he sipped his drink.

“You know what. More photos with that outfit… Why is it so popular!?” Gilder just chuckled. “Shut up!”

“I didn’t say anything.” Gilder said with a chuckle. He looked at a wall clock and quickly downed his coffee. “Come on bro, we gotta go.”

“Do I have to?”

“You like getting paid and eating, paying rent, drinking water and booze? Then yes.”

“Fuck…” Gilda signed as they chugged their coffee and headed out.

I followed the two through this place. Highstone, hmm… This must be the capital of the griffon territories. We headed off into a larger metal building. I followed Gilda into a… dressing room… no way.

I watched as Gilda put on… no way no way no way!

“I hate this outfit…” Gilda growled as they finished adorning a pair of cat ears on their head, the fluffy lion paw gloves covering their claws and a poofy short skirt dress, cat tail and lace stockings in high heels.

“Oh my god…” I blinked. “That’s adorable as hell...and I’m hating Zer more because he’s forcing Gilda into a brothel situation…”

Gilda gave out a long, pissed off sigh before heading out. Once outside he stood in front of… This is a photo shoot? “You ready Gilda?” The camera griffon asked.

“No but I gotta do it anyway.” They sighed, taking a long deep breath and then- Ach! My heart!

Gilda gave the largest pair of puppy dog eyes, holding their paw gloved up to their face while looking adorably lovingly at the camera, all while giving the cutest smile!

Gilda… the hell were you… I walked over to where I spotted several magazines. Griffon Style Monthly, Pop Idol Weekly, Sexy Felines Monthly… all had Gilda on the cover in various outfits ranging from adorable like his current one to making me drool like when we went undercover. Gilda was a model… and very, very popular.

“Jesus lord Gilda…” I muttered. “Why must you be so sexy?”

I watched while holding my chest at the display of complete and total cuteness before me that seemed to last a few hours. “And that’s it. See you tomorrow then Gilda.” The Camera Griffon said.

“Regretfully.” Gilda sighed, rubbing their cheeks. “All that smiling fucking hurts.” They huffed as I followed them to their dressing room and of course there’s Zer.

“Bravo, Bravo! These new issues will fly like dead leaves in a hurricane Gilda.”

“Bite me.” Gilda huffed at them.

“Well, If I remember…” Zer started with a smile and received a cat paw glove thrown at their head. “Hey, hey, no need to hate on remembering old times.”

“Key words being old times, as in the past, as in leave it there perv.”

“More reasons to hate Zer.” I growled. “He kept ruining my time enjoying how adorable Gilda is.”

“It wasn’t that long ago Gilda love.” Zer said simply.

“Not your love, whatever… that was, was a mistake, got it.” Gilda snapped.

“You did enjoy it though, right?”

“Piss off, I have another shitty shoot tomorrow and another outfit I am positive you hand picked.”

“Guilty as charged.” Zer said with a laugh.

“Physically, emotionally, and sexually abusing him till he became so numb that he could only agree...even this long ago…” I muttered.

The void came back and I immediately walked into the next memory. I was in a warehouse, an area built to be more of a living space than storage or machine work… and I just stood staring at what I saw… Zer… and Gilda… Spooning in a bed… and Gilda was the little spoon…

“Only I can spoon Gilda damn it.” I frowned, blinking as I felt my cheeks heat up. “Why did I say that…”

After a moment Gilda began to stir, yawning as they got up, only stopping because Zer’s arm’s didn’t let go. “Zer, let go of my ass.”

“Noooo~ It’s so squishy.” Zer laughed as Gilda blushed and ripped his hands off. “Hey, it’s a complement.”

“I know… still…” Gilda looked… conflicted. He looked both genuinely happy… and conflicted and confused. “So, what’s today’s schedule?”

Zer yawned, getting up. “For me, gotta meet with my supplier coming over from the Zebra lands, and you are meeting with that photographer I set up for you.”

“I don’t wanna model…”

“You have the bod for it, dick or not.” Again, Zer got a blush from Gilda and I kept trying to strangle his neck. Curse you inability to interact with memories!

“Fair enough but still. Will I always be wearing womens clothes?”

“Probably, but so what? You look good in them, plus they don’t make men’s pants in your ass size.” Gilda whacked Zer’s head. “Ow!”

“Jerk…” Gilda sighed. “I’m just so over people seeing me as either gay, crossdresser…”

“And us and your wardrobe are…?”

“I know, I know I just…”

“Hey, you are a guy, so what if you dress and look like a woman. You know what’s in your pants, so do I, who cares what the others all think?”

“So what? Embrace my body but keep my genitals?”

“Sure, and besides, if you ever wanna try out the full female experience the sex shops do sell those gender swap potions.”

Gilda laughed. “Yeah, I remember…” Gilda said, looking hollow again for a moment before shaking it off. “Guess I better start heading out then.”

“Gilda.” Zer said.

“Hm- hm?!” Gilda asked, turning and getting a kiss on the beak from Zer.

Zer smiled looking at Gilda’s blushing red face. “Love you.” He cooed.

“Heh, yeah…” Gilda said, standing up and trying to leave, tripped, hit the floor, then got up quickly and ran off.

The void again now…

“I’m going to fucking Murder Zer.” I growled.

“Careful.” Sombra said, has he just been waiting here in this void the whole time? “You’re getting close, just remember once you reach the mental bunker, you could be trapped too.”

“As long as I’m with Gilda...as long as I can help them through this, I don’t care.” I said while continuing forward. “Gilda shouldn’t have to go through this….not alone at least…”

I walked into the next memory. I was in… a house. It was shabby, unkept and disgusting.

“Worthless!” I turned, seeing an older female griffon kick a younger child griffon into the nearby wall. “Twenty bits won’t buy shit Gilda.”

My eyes widened, looking at the small child… Gilda.

The young Gilda winced in pain as they stood up, holding their stomach where that woman kicked them. “That’s all they paid me mom.” They cried.

Mom… this bitch is Gilda’s mom?!

“You can’t steal for shit Gilda.” She huffed, grabbing Gilda by the chin hard. “But you got a face that perverts would love to pay for.”

Both Gilda and my own eyes went wide. “W-what are you gonna do?”

“You got a cute face Gilda, you have a face that screams female and I imagine when you grow up you’ll have a body to match.” She said, taking out a bottle with a pink liquid that had two opposit pointing crossed arrows on it. “This will just be temporary, but the perverted fucks will pay top bit for you when you have the parts they want.”

“P-Parts?”

I was shaking. The void was around me again and… Not even his… His own mother…

I couldn't believe any of this...I truly couldn't…so I kept moving forward, knowing Gilda needed me more than ever. "I'm coming for you Gilda…"”

Light, sounds, shapes, and… Rainbow Dash’s house… The one place Gilda felt safe. Where he belonged… Gilda’s here!

"Gilda!" I called out, rushing towards the house, hoping they were there.

I about knocked the door down entering, hearing crying upstairs. I ran up and inside the guest Bedroom I finally found him. Gilda was laid belly down on the bed, cries of a life of pain and suffering was the only sound that could be heard.

“Gilda…” I started, softly moving over to Gilda’s crying form. “Gilda it’s me, Anna.”

They didn’t answer, just kept crying. I sighed, sitting next to them on the bed.

“So…” I started, not entirely sure what to say right now, but knowing I had to say something drastic enough to get them to notice me. “You did modeling?” I asked, hoping that would have surprised Gilda enough to notice me.

“I… Did everything…” Gilda whimpered. “Everything in my life I’ve done, I did because my body was useful. Nobody ever cared about me, just my ass…”

“I care about you.” I told him. “And not because of your ass, but because your a wonderful person.”

“Says the girl who eyes it about as much as my chest.” I blushed a bit… yeah I could have been way more subtle about that…

“I will...admit I do stare a bit…” I sighed. “But that doesn’t stop me from liking you for you. You’re my best friend, someone I want to protect, and keep away from that dip shit Zer.”

“Zer…” Gilda said sadly, shifting on the bed a bit. “My whole life… He genuinely loved me. He’s cruel, twisted, but he loves me…” Gilda said, sounding hollow in his voice as I noticed outside was getting… darker. “I was a real girl once…” I jumped, the window cracking. “Mom said the potion would last a day, and I made her so much money that day. It was the first time she smiled and said she was proud of me.” The window shattered as outside became pitch black, the paint looking more dull by the second. “Two days and I was still a girl. I cried to her and she knew the issue. She had me lay down on the floor and relax as she stomped on my stomach. Said she had to abort that baby for me to change back.” The ceiling cracked open, debris and dust falling on us. “And It kept happening for years. Each time I was a day over, another punch or kick to turn me back… At least with Zer I can keep them…”

“He doesn’t fucking love you!” I snapped. “He is a manipulative, sadistic waste of life! No amount of ‘true love’ can excuse all the physical, mental, and sexual abuse and literal fucking torture he puts you through!” I snapped. “I love you! I don’t care about what you look like! I don’t care if you want to be a woman! I care about you Gilda! The one that’s had my back since I started being a hero! If you want to have a kid, have one with me! Have a child with someone that actually gives a shit about you as a person instead of as a piece of fucking meat!” I shouted as I grabbed Gilda’s shoulders. “Please…” I cried. “I don’t want to lose you…”

Gilda held me tight, about as tight as I was holding them. “I just want to be loved… I just want to be worth something to someone…” They cried into my neck.

“You’re worth something to me.” I said softly. “You’re worth a whole lot of something to me. You’re very important to me Gilda.” I cried. “I love you.”

“How… Why?”

“How? Because you’re an amazing person that...kind of checks off several of my ‘must date’ boxes...and why? Because you’re my best friend that I’ve fought and trained with for months… you’re amazing Gilda.”

“How can you like someone like me? I’m so… feminine.”

“And?” I asked. “You’ve proven to me that I don’t have to care about you being ‘feminine’, cause you’re amazing my man. Also...seriously, have you looked down there? I’d say that’s anything but feminine.” I blushed brightly. “Sorry, I shouldn’t think about that right now. Cause your actions speak a lot louder than your looks.”

“Heh… I just… can’t see anyone in a relationship with me where I’m the guy…”

“Not even me?” I asked. “Cause I’m pretty sure I’d make a wonderful girlfriend...even if I’ve never been on a date.” I blushed.

“You’ve never been on a date?” Gilda said with a chuckle, it turned into laughter as I blushed but joined in. The place became more… safe looking again. “Well, so long as you weren’t me. The few relationships I have been in I was the girlfriend, I wouldn’t even know how to be the man in the relationship.”

“Just be you, you adorable dork.” I giggled. “And just so you know...I have so much teasing material on you now.” I said with a sly grin.

“Ugh… If you ever find those photos I will kill you.”

“I didn’t know anything about photos, but I do know about the magazines.” I teased. “And I’m sure Rarity would just love to have a known professional model for her outfits.”

Gilda blushed, but grew his own sly smile and hugged me tight from my waist, making me blush. “Only if my mate is there to dress up next to me~” Gilda teased. “I still have that dress from our undercover night out.”

“Well...it was interesting to wear a dress…” I said sheepishly. “But you’re more pretty, and just want to point out that lion costume you had was just being adorable.”

“Heh, it was a cat outfit.” Gilda laughed. “Some weird thing the more eastern kingdoms are into.”

“It was just plain adorable.” I chuckled. “But...just know that your not alone, Gilda...not anymore.” I said gently. “If you want to talk about anything, your…” I blinked. “Wait, did you just call me your mate? What about being boyfriend girlfriend thing first?” I asked quickly, my face as red as a tomato as that finally processed in my brain.

Gilda blushed also. “Heh, well… I mean, there’s not really dating in the Griffon culture, just mostly… selection and approval… and you did say that you… wanted kids… with me...”

“It’s better than letting that bastard Zer have kids with you.” I said. “Cause if anyone’s going to call you bubble butt, it’s me.” I said protectively.

“If you’re calling me Bubble Butt then I’m calling you Milk Tank.”

Tommy you ass! That was one time on a dare!

“It was one time, and it was a dare.” I frowned. “Damn it Tommy…” I grumbled.

“I still don’t get it all, just that a pet monster you had couldn’t beat some other guy’s monster cow thing?”

“Okay so basically I bet someone I could beat my brother in a game called ‘Pokemon’, and his strongest pokemon was a Miltank, and like an idiot I forgot that it was still early in the game and...well I lost the bet and had to dress up as...a more ‘humanized’ version of it at a convention...it was embarrassing as hell…” I blushed in embarrassment at remembering that horrible time.

“So… like a minotaur then?”

“… Huh, sorta, less furry and more sexy but kinda.” I said with some thought.

“Heh… So, is this the part where I wake up… and if so how?”

“I don’t know actually, we’re kind of inside your ‘mental bunker’ as it were.” I said honestly.

“Huh… and how do we get out then? Will I just wake up or something?”

“Well we can either do two cheesy things, walk out the front door hand in hand as we both wake up...or have a ‘true love's kiss’ and wake up.” I blushed.

“Probably hold hands… cause how are we gonna kiss? I have a beak and you got those… lips.”

“I...don’t know, and that sucks.” I huffed. “I want to kiss you damn it...but beaks are not good for kissing.” I pouted.

“Well a griffon can kiss another griffon it’s just more of a keep the beaks open and use tongue over how you just press lips together.”

“Alright.” I nodded. “Well, let’s get going my mate.” I said while kissing his beak lovingly.

“Let’s, mate.” Gilda said, taking my hand as we got off that bed and walked down the stairs, and out the door.

To be continued...

Chapter 7 pt1.

After Gilda woke up, agreeing to the surgery they spent a lot of time after the fact in the hospital and even more bedridden once out. During that whole time I basically stayed with him at all times. I was so happy to see Gilda able to properly feel things again now that their body is properly healed. “I’ll be fine babe.” Gilda told me as they got dressed. Today is their first day back at work and it’s my day off. Did I mention that every time Gilda has called me babe I instantly become happy?

“Well excuse me for still being worried.” I pouted cutely. “Today’s your first day back to work after recovering and I’ll be busy waiting for you to get back.”

“Well I haven’t had any atrophy in my muscles so that’s good at least- Eep!” Gilda yelped as I used a feather to tickle their neck. “You are having way too much fun with all those new forms.”

Since the Deer Kingdom event all those Unsent that were killed around me, I got so many new forms. Earth, unicorn and pegasus pony versions. Those are all basically the same save for having horns, wings, or none. I got a deer form too, and best of all, a griffon form that I have happily teased Gilda with at every opportunity. I’m about Gilda’s height, body type is pretty much the same as my human one, just feathers for hair and on the entirety of the head, fur and such from the upper torso down, a lions tail, wings, and beak. Colors are the same as my Minotaur form, seems all my sentient race forms share the same color patterns.

“Listen, I can do that, or be a minotaur and keep you in a hug between my even bigger tits.” I said honestly. “And tickling you gives me adorable little squeaks.” I giggled.

“I’d rather not have my tombstone read ‘suffocated between tits’ thank you.” Gilda said, sighing but smiled. “But I have missed a lot and you told me yourself it’s mostly just catching me up to speed on the information we got while I was out and some warm up training. I’ll be fine, you just relax and when I get home I’ll likely have just finished the warm up exercises, so I’ll still have plenty of energy to burn. Think you’d be willing to help there?”

… Sex, finally? Actual sex?! My first time getting laid in this world!

“Uh…” I blushed brightly as my imagination ran wild as I thought of how my virginity would be taken. “Sure! I can help you burn off energy any way you want.”

Gilda chuckled, leaning down and giving me a kiss. Griffon style kissing is all tongue, and I love it. “I’ll see you tonight then.”

“I’ll see you tonight.” I said breathlessly, so excited for tonight. “Stay safe, and don’t do anything you wouldn’t normally do.”

“You mean stick it in rather than taking it at bottom?” Gilda asked. I have a half chuckle at that. “Everything will be fine. Been thinking about this a lot and with my therapist, lot of… embarrassing talks and questions but I think I’m ready for it.”

“Alright.” I nodded, giving them another hug. “I’ll make sure tonight is extra special for ya.”

“Okay then.” Gilda said as they returned my hug then headed out. Once out the door they flew off. I sighed happily, shifting back to my normal human form and began thinking. How to make tonight special?

“How...how…” I tried to think about it. “Fuck…” I sighed out, my shoulders sagging as I legitimately had no idea what the hell I was doing. “Okay...so people that would know Gilda best...Rainbow should have the day off right?” I asked myself while taking my Pegasus form and flying off towards town first, thinking Rainbow would just be sleeping on a cloud around there.

I was close, apple tree. I landed next to her. Still snoring. Damn, what can’t she sleep through? I remember Gilda told me she slept through a snowstorm once.

I frowned and brought up my staff, lightly spilling water onto her head to wake her up. “Wakey Wakey sleepy head!”

“Ah! That raincloud hit me I swear!” She said upon waking up, looking up at me. She seemed confused for a moment then shook her head. “Anna… right, forgot you have pony forms now. Did something happen?” Dash asked as they shook off more of the water.

“I need to make tonight super special for Gilda and I don’t know how.” I said nervously

“Special how?”

“Gilda wants to…’burn off energy’ if you catch my drift…” I said nervously, blushing brightly at the thought again.

“Uh… Oh! About time. Heh, and for the longest time I figured if Gilda was gonna get between someone’s legs it was with me after a few too many drinks.” Dash said with a laugh. “So… aside from being the one to take Gilda’s penis virginity, what do you wanna make so special about it?”

“Everything.” I said honestly. “I want this to be special for him as much as I can...he’s worked hard to get to this point, and I want my mate to feel fantastic about everything.”

“Hmm… True, and given their life, and issues… It would be best to make sure they feel like a, well, male. Hmm… I mean, an orgy is always typically a top of any males bucket list.”

“Oh uh...about that.” I said nervously. “Uh...what’s the ‘standard’ on dating in this world?”

“Depends on things, but all in all it’s the same anywhere I guess, a male and a female meet, they feel a strong bond, they date, and if the female and male want to they add to the group for better protection, breeding, income, ect, and marry. Even after marriage they can add to their herd. Though Griffons and some Pegasi call it a flock, so it depends on the region.”

“So...people can have multiple wives?” I asked curiously.

“Husbands too, I mean, a single male can only do so much and if they are either good friends or lovers also then it all works out.”

“So...I’m gonna get my boyfriend a harem...always wondered how that would work…” I said sheepishly.

“Wait… seriously? Huh… well, that would definitely give Gilda a confidence boost. So, uh… how big? Cause typically the larger the herd the more ‘worthy’ the male/males in it are seen. It’s basically a power status thing.”

“Hey, if it means Gilda can show he’s more of a man than that rapist cockhole than I’m all for it.” I said honestly.

“True… So, as their mate I guess you have to pick who’s joining huh?”

“Well, I’m going to need your help the most given...you know more about Gilda than me.” I said honestly.

“So I’m in?” Dash asked, sounding a bit eager.

“Yep.” I nodded. “Know anyone else that would love to join?”

“I mean… Not really. I can think of a few people we can give the offer too but as a whole, no. There is one pony I can ask for help in this, she knows almost everything about everypony so, being a matchmaker should be easy for her.”

“Pinkie?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yup. Though I haven’t told her about Gilda, I wouldn't be surprised if she knows about Gilda being a male but she doesn’t know about Gilda’s past. Guess I’ll have to tell her then… at least it will clear a lot up.”

“I’ll have to be there as well...since I have a bit more details on this stuff.” I said nervously.

“Well then, this is gonna involve a lot of tears from her once she hears. Should probably have ice cream ready. Pinkie is the only mare I know who can out eat Rarity on ice cream when she’s upset.”

“How can anypony live through that?!” Pinkie yelled in tears. We arrived, told Gilda’s story and for the past half hour she’s been crying. My shirt is soaked in her tears. Literally, feels like I was in the rain.

“Gilda is stubborn, strong, and now my boyfriend.” I said honestly.

“And… soon to be mine as well…” Dash added, Pinkie looking up. “Anna, is gonna make sure Gilda is top male, so, she’s gathering up a herd. I’m joined so-”

“So you need my help to gather more girls that can treat Gilda right, not care about their more female look and be more than happy in a large interspecies herd? Right, I’m on it.” Pinkie said, her tears stopped as if on command and pulled a nearby lamp down, opening a trap door she jumped down that closed behind her. Several moments later Pinkie fell from a trap door above us. “Alright, I know only a little about Gilda but the information you two gave me will help broaden my potential mates list.” I noticed she was not holding a rather large folder simply titled, Gilda.

“I mean...you can also join if your interested...might as well help apologize to him all things considered.” I brought up.

“Oh! Perfect! I was already on the candidates list.” Pinkie said happily. “Now then, you two need to get Peppermint, Cream Heart, and Caramel in on this herd.”

“Our coworkers? Also, Caramel is a, well, male.” Dash asked.

“He also gets along with Gilda a lot and from what you two have told me it seems Gilda is more Bisexual than you’re thinking, plus Caramel being bi as well would also give Gilda some confidence in their sexuality and help them out bedroom wise given this is gonna get very big. Okay see you two at Gilda’s apartment!” And with that Pinkie jumped out the window.

“Why...did she jump out the window?” I asked slowly.

“It’s Pinkie Pie, don’t question it.” Dash said as she got up. “Come on, you should change your shirt then let’s do what she said.”

“She could have at least used something other than my shirt.” I frowned. “But alright, I’ll see you in a bit.” I said while flying back to my place to change.

After a quick change I flew back and met up with Dash at work, where the others would be. Thankfully Gilda was still inside the meeting. Now we just gotta find those three.

“Alright, now where would those three be?” I wondered. “God, should have payed attention to where everyone was normally.”

“I think Cream Heart might have some ranged practice today? Not sure at the moment. Maybe Caramel has patrol?”

“You check if Caramel is on patrol and I’ll check if Cream is at the shooting range.” I said. “You’re faster than I am most of the time so you can find Caramel sooner than me.”

“Alright, see you in a bit then.” Rainbow said as she headed off.

I found myself in the shooting range, Cream Heart was taking aim with what was a rifle, single shot. Guess they don’t have bolt action just yet.

“Yo.” I waved to the mare. “Got a moment?”

“Hey Anna. Isn’t it your day off?” She asked me, taking out the bullet and placing the rifle down.

“Yes, but I have an...important question to ask.” I said, my cheeks turning a little red as I tried to think of how to say this properly. “Uh...do you want to join mine and Gilda’s herd?”

“Uh, sure who’s the male?” Wow that was quick… also right, she doesn’t know Gilda’s a guy.

“Gilda.” I said. “He’s uh...he’s packing down there even if he looks like a very sexy lady.”

“Wait, seriously? Are they a cross dresser? Or a femboy? Or… a herm?” Now she’s looking into it… is that what she’s into?

“Femboy from what I’ve come to gather.” I said honestly. “Got the boobs cause they were more female due to...bad things.” I said nervously. “But I’m the head wife just so you know.”

“I’m fine with that, but are you okay about my son? Not many herds are all that willing to accept a mare who has kids.”

“Button Mash is your son right?” I asked curiously. “Just making sure I remember correctly, and I’m sure it’s okay, my little brother would probably be happy to have another brother.”

“Yes, that’s right. So, Gilda is a male then… Hmm… do they prefer dressing female or do they do both?”

I mean, since getting out of the hospital they did get some guy clothes but they do still need a bra and most of their clothing is female.

“Either or honestly, he’ll still need a bra for his love puppies though.” I blushed. “And...we’ll have an experienced Milf here to...show us how it’s done.” I think steam came out of my head.

“How what’s done?”

“You’ll figure it out tonight.” I said quickly. “So are you cool with being in our herd?”

“Well, it helps a lot to be honest. A father figure, possibly two for Button. He never got to know his dad, died when he was just a month old. I think it could be good, and if your brother is gonna be there then that might help him socialize more. I love him, but he’s an eight year old hermit.”

“I mean...my brother might accidentally help with his hermit tendencies...but I’m sure he’ll help him get out more.” I shrugged.

“Heh, so long as he talks with someone his own age I’ll take it.” Cream Heart said with a smile. “So,” She started, suddenly next to me… hot… hot… hot milf bod right against me! “Is Gilda the only one I’ll get to enjoy the company of?” EEP! Hand on my ass! Wow she knows where to grab!

“You’ll have me, Gilda, Rainbow, Pinkie, and a few others Pinkie and RD are looking for.” I told her quickly, one of my hands betraying my embarrassed mind and grabbing big milf butt...I feel my fingers sinking into it...

“Good, I haven’t been with another in bed since Button was two, so I have six years of sexual needs I just have to fill.” She then licked the back of my ear…

I don’t know when I got outside… All I know is, that mare, is gonna fuck me… and I will love every nanosecond of it.

“Calm down there Anna…” I panted. “Save it for later...only one orgasm for the day...jeez this is gonna be a rough night…”

As I was shaking off my hormones I spotted Peppermint, kinda impossible not to see the giant mare, walking with her daughter along the road. Huh, must be her day off too. Wow…

I’d only ever seen Peppermint at work, and she was always a tough looking giant of a mare, but in that nice butter yellow sundress, blue eyeshadow, eyelashes done, lipstick and hair brushed straight and flat… she’s pretty hot. Still almost three times my size but hot.

Her daughter, Hope if I remember, had the same mane color, red but poofy like Pinkie Pie’s and her coat was charcoal black with emerald green eyes.

“Hey Pepper, and I believe your Hope right?” I asked the two, tring to get my mind off of Cream and how hot Peppermint was.

“Oh, hey Anna. Surprised to see you in town.” Peppermint said. “Surprised you aren’t face deep in Gilda’s chest.”

“I can do that any other time.” I said sheepishly. “So uh...I know this is out of the blue...but do you think you can be apart of mine and Gilda’s herd? Also...Gilda’s a guy just as a quick fyi.”

“I know. Boss has me help out on background checks sometimes. Saw their file. Was surprised but eh, everyone has their thing. But, why me if I may ask?”

“Pinkie gave you as a good suggestion for Gilda and me...tall, strong, reliable.” I said honestly. “Plus...Cream Heart is already on board, as well as Pinkie and Rainbow...and uh...I really want to make today special for Gilda, and I was told herds help with that.”

“Well, can’t lie it’s tempting.”

“So, I could get siblings?” Hope asked.

“Probably. Lots, especially if they use those kinky zebra potions. Old friend of mine took one for fertility cause she and her husband were having issues conceiving, that potion got her sextuplets.”

“Wow…” Hope said, looking happy.

“Uh...what other…’kinky potions’ we talking about here?” I asked carefully, honestly curious about what other things those potions could do. “Wait no, we’re in front of your daughter, we shouldn’t be talking about...sensitive topics like that.”

“Bitch please my daughter knows her way around when adults are talking about sex. Actually, why not tell Anna about all those potions yourself sweetie.”

I looked down in horror as the little filly smiled up at Peppermint and then turned to me. “There’s genderbending, elesticidy, hyper growth and endowment, enhanced sensitivity, lactation, body swapping, and of course the ever classic gender swap potion.”

…

“But that’s the basic ones, then there-” Peppermint gave Hope a pat.

“I think that’s enough sweetheart, pretty sure her brain fried a few wires while you were talking.” Peppermint said.

I blinked as I tried to form words. "I'm a virgin...stop dangling some of my fetishes in front of me…" I whined.

Peppermint just laughed. “Girl you have got to get out more. Still, think that little twig of a griffon can handle me? Last guy I was with was Hope’s dad, he was nice, handled me nice… ended up gay. Eh, to be young and drunk.”

"I know he can, and he's no twig...damn near has a third leg down there…" I blushed at the memory.

“Well, that’s good… and for you?” She asked, picking me up in her hand… one hand, and lifted me up by the waist. “I might not prefer females, but I have needs and I know the male can’t take on all of us at once.”

“Not unless he takes an endurance potion and an adrenaline potion.” Hope said.

“True, but those potions get pricey.”

"Oh boy…" I muttered. "So...I take it your in?"

“On one condition. See, my cousin has an abusive ass for a husband and I’ve been trying to get her out of that mess. Thing is, she’s scared he’ll come after her, and he likely will. That’s where you come in. You are gonna deal with him when the asshole shows his no good head around here.”

“Who’s the jackass I need to beat?” I frowned.

“His name is Anchor Weight, and only when he shows his ass around town. Trust me, you’ll know him when he shows up, can’t miss him.”

“Good to know.” I nodded. “So send her over, I’ll make sure your cousin stays safe.”

“Thanks. I’ll head to the post office to send the letter to her. So, where do I meet you two tonight?”

“Gilda’s apartment.” I answered. “There will be several others...uh...where do I find endurance potions for Gilda? Cause...I think he’s gonna need them to keep his hips from breaking.”

“I have a few at my place, few times I’ve had a date come over it’s been the only way they can keep up with me.” Peppermint said, putting me down. “See you tonight then.”

“So I get to spend tonight with a babysitter?” Hope asked her mom.

“Yeah.” Peppermint said.

“Yay! Ice cream for dinner!”

Peppermint just laughed as she and Hope walked off.

Well, that went well. Best go find Dash then.

“Alright, so Dash should have found Caramel by now…” I muttered while searching for the pair, hoping they were okay and not fighting something.

I shifted into my griffon form and headed up into the air, seeing Dash flying back towards Gilda’s apartment. Quickly I made my way there. “Oh, good you got here. So, how’d Peppermint and Cream Heart go?”

“Peppermint is getting the durability potions.” I shuddered. “And Cream...a Cougar is about to jump on all of us…”

To pair with her blush, Rainbows wings instantly proofed open. Now having two different winged forms, I know the struggle of a Wing Boner, or Pomfing, when they jump open in response to a fright. "Huh… well, Caramel is in, says it's a good idea for Gilda and plus they apparently often use the gender swap potion so they'll be in their 'night time' outfit when they arrive."

"That sounds good." I nodded. "So uh...how are we going to make this special along with getting Gilda a herd?"

"Well, Pinkie Pie should have that all covered. She's got skills like that." Rainbow said as she opens the door.

Inside Gilda's apartment was normal, save for Pinkie Pie, her sisters Marble and Limestone, and to my surprise, Luna. There were sexy cakes being made and a box simply labeled "Not for foals Parties" in the corner.

"Hi Anna." Luna said, giving me a smile and a wave.

"You're joining us Luna?" I asked in surprise. "You sure about this?"

"Well, miss Pie talked the idea into my head and frankly it does make sense, a reward for you for all your services to the kingdom and the world, and after hearing what horrors Gilda went through in life, well, he deserves a hero's reward just for even being alive after all that."

"And our hero's reward is the very sexy princess?" I asked.

"My hand in marriage, sister too if Pinkie convinces her."

"That sounds good...but what does Pip think about this?" I inquired.

"His reaction was simply, 'so you and Anna will be my mom's?' and once I said yes he went and told your brother who then called you a horny harem anime protagonist… the anime part I don't know what that means."

I chuckled a bit. I mean, technically he isn't wrong. "Do you know about animation?" I asked curiously. "Cause it's basically animation from...uh, is there a country called Japan here?" I asked.

"No." Luna said.

"Well it's basically an animated version of certain comic books." I shrugged. "A little hard to explain given the medium doesn't exist here yet."

"In any case, when's this griffon supposed to arrive here?" Limestone Pie asked. The mare had a body a lot like her sister Pinkie but all in a size one down.

Marble on the other hand… was a size one up from Pinkie and showed all the hotness despite the covering full body dress she wore. "Um, I was wondering that too?" Sweet God...gods? Eh, she is the earth pony Fluttershy. That voice and tone match hers almost to a T.

"He's at work right now catching up on things and working out " I said honestly. "But...thank you for joining…" I said sheepishly, not sure how to word my thanks for the wanting to help Gilda like this..

"Eh, I'm doing it mostly for myself." Limestone said with a shrug. "Once we're hitched mom and dad are gonna give me the family farm and from what Pinkie tells you you all earn, add the Princess here, I can turn it into a nice ranch house for us and ma and pa can retire without worry."

"So more for mom and dad than yourself?" Marble asked.

Limestone huffed. "Yeah, sure whatever. Either way it means the rock farm can retire with mom and dad."

"And your parents are okay with it?" I inquired, wondering if her entire plan was okay with their parents.

"They're more happy I'm gonna marry, same for Marble and Pinkie. They always said when I marry the farm was mine to run, convert or even sell, but turning into a home just sounds better given the circumstances. Besides, I could never sell the place, it's been in the family since Equestria's founding and it's been home since my sister's and I were all born, same for dad and mom years later." Limestone said.

"So is the house gonna be torn down?" Marble asked.

"Nah, probably just expand upon it, it's already fairly big but it will need to be bigger so we can just add onto what's already there. And if we have to, we can dig under for space, heck maybe even convert the old mine for storage or something."

"I'm certain most of that space will be for when their grandkids visit." I joked..

"In that case we might consider building a palace." Luna said half jokingly.

"Speaking of, how much you wanna Bet Blueblood will use this as some political card?" Dash asked.

"No doubt he will find a use for this to aid in the GoE." Luna said thoughtfully.

"I will stab him if he tries any of that bullshit." I growled. "I'm not going to let another dipshit abuse Gilda because it benefits them." said, getting rather defensive of Gilda being seen as nothing more than a tool or a sack of meat.

"Actually, it might be good both for Gilda and everyone." Luna said, taking me back. "If Celestia joins in, a royal herd could path the way for peace globally given the chaos we will be facing. The GoE already has the backing of just about all the kingdoms, but paper only does so much. A pact of peace bound by marriage though… that's merging Kingdoms together, creating a new empire. As is, we need to fight these Fiends and Unsent as one, less their kingdoms fall like the Deer Kingdom did. Plus." Luna turned an eye to look at me. "It will help ensure Gilda is out of reach of that Zer griffon."

"As long as I get to skin Zer alive I don't care." I said honestly. "But...what does everyone else think of that?"

"Honestly I could care less." Limestone shrugged.

"It sounds like it would be very beneficial." Marble said.

"Sounds fun." Pinkie said happily.

"Hmm… Princess Rainbow Dash. Kinda girly, but I can make it work." Dash said with a grin.

"Gilda is gonna flip when they learn about this." I chuckled.

A short while later, Peppermint arrived, still looking quite sexy in their attire with a bag filled with potions. "Wow, you really plan on spoiling that griffon huh?" Peppermint said with a laugh after we got her up to speed.

"Yes, cause he deserves it." I replied readily.ly.

"Heh. Well in any case this just comes out as better for all involved too, but given tonight's significance and the extra members involved, perhaps a change is called for?" Peppermint suggested.

"Like what?" Pinkie asked.

"Well, tonight Gilda and Anna can be alone together, and the rest of us can go out and have a proper date."

"A group date while Anna and Gilda bang? Actually, that would work out since I don't know most of you." Limestone said.

"True." Luna added.

“That’s better, cause even if Gilda would be super happy to know he has a herd...one step at a time is for the best.” I said sheepishly. “But I’m honestly more surprised all of you agreed so quickly…”

"Well, gender ratios and all." Limestone said.

“Still seems rather quick to be honest.” I said honestly. “And...what’s the gender ratio if I may ask? I know there’s less men around but...by how much?”

"Depends on race really." Luna said. "According to my sister, the current gender ratio of males to females for Equestrians is fifteen females for every one male. By far we are one of the worse off race. Other races are more around five to one."

"Those numbers are only from the most recent generation or two though." Rainbow stated.

“Good lord.” I gasped, honestly shocked by this. “How the hell is there still a population with that much of a gap?”

Peppermint shook a bottle, one I remember seeing in a memory… Gilda's memory. A pink glowing vial with two overlapping arrows. Luna tapped her horn.

"As Peppermint shows, some mares take those potions, becoming males to give needed aid for the population, or a unicorn can simply cast a pregnancy spell, giving two mares a child related to both."

“Is there a way to make someone immune to it?” I asked quickly. “Please...Zer can’t win like that…” I said, clenching my fists as I tried not to remember those horrid memories.

"I am unsure." Luna sighed.

"Maybe Zecora would know, these potions are made in the zebra lands." Pinkie said.

“Hopefully…” I muttered, taking a deep breath. “Alright, thank you...and sorry for being a little...defensive about Gilda and stuff like that…” I said bitterly, not wanting to ruin this momentous thing for Gilda because of what I know.

"Either way, with luck Caramel and Cream Heart will be here soon." Peppermint sighed. "Once they do we surprise Gilda, let them know, the girls all get to go out and get to know one another and Gilda can show off this third leg Anna always goes on about."

“Oi!” I blushed brightly. “You wanted to know how big he was, it’s not my fault…” I pouted and crossed my arms in a huff.

That just got a laugh out of everyone. Soon Cream Heart showed up and… thank God I wasn't a race with wings. She wore a flirtatious skin tight red dress, black eyeshadow and lipstick with her hair brushed flat in a ponytail. "Oh, that does sound more fun." Cream said happily. I kept trying to keep the blood from gushing out my nose.

"I think Anna's one tease away from a heart attack." Peppermint laughed.

“I’m feeling a bit...underwhelming now…” I looked down at my own body, and even though I was in more shape because of all the training, I didn’t entirely feel ‘comparable’ to the sexy women here.

"It's all in presentation Anna, natural beauty only goes so far." Cream Heart said with a smile.

"Rarity would agree." Rainbow laughed.

"Sorry I'm late." We all turned to the door…

B-b-b-Babe!

She was Caramel, I could tell from the hair, coat and eye color. Her body put all ours to shame. Her clothes were like Cream Hearts but looked ready to fall off at a light tug and… woah!

"Slut!" Peppermint yelled out.

"Hey, this is just how I look after taking the gender swap potion." Caramel huffed. "Figured Gilda would prefer to be the only male to start off."

"Huh." Limestone said simply. "How long does that last?"

"The new ones they make only last for about four hours and you're completely infertile while under the effects. The ones that make you fertile are usually only used by Doctors who swap a mare into a stallion to help with population." Caramel said with a shrug.

“So...about the ‘it’s all in presentation’?” I asked with a frown.

"Hey, some girls just get all the luck." Cream Heart said with a laugh.

After a while Gilda finally arrived. Their reaction was complete awkward silence. Before, during and after the explanation. After they snapped out of that they gave everyone a thanks and said he looks forward to the dates. They were probably on auto pilot, but their cherry red face and nose bleed told me they were quite excited. Finally it was just us. "Heh… wow…" Gilda said, still so cherry red. "I can't believe you did that… got all them… wow…"

“And there’s still room for more if you want.” I said. “But...am I...still appealing even after...seeing all that?” I asked worriedly.

Gilda wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me close. "Doesn't matter how hot they all look or how many they join, you'll always be the most precious to me. Next to dragons, griffons are notorious for hoarding treasure and valuables. You, Anna, will always be the most precious one in my hoard."

I teared up with a smile. “That means so much to me.” I said happily, hugging my boyfriend happily. “You’re the best Gilda.”

Gilda hugged me back, kissing Gilda while I am human is a bit odd but manageable, and those kisses walked us to the bedroom, removed our clothes and closed the blinds. Tonight, it was just us in the entire world.

I'd always dreamed of how my first time would go. The passion, the sensations, the, heh, other things. It was all that and more.

I woke up kinda sore, sticky and sweaty, but I didn't care. It was all bearable, cause Gilda had their arms wrapped around me, my smaller human body in their protective grasp as I was the little spoon and Gilda the big spoon. I didn't want this to end. I would happily stay here in Gilda's arms, their prized and first possession of their beginning hoard.

”This is amazing.” I thought to myself happily, beyond happy to be here with Gilda as I cuddled up more into them.

Time seemed to last forever as we laid there like this, just us two and no problems or worries. Sadly, all good things come to an end and after Gilda woke up we both got up, giving one another a good morning kiss and shortly after I began to shower.

When I got out I smelled eggs and toast and was greeted by such at the bed. I sat down and ate next to Gilda and when the food was gone they left to shower next. Everything feels so perfect.

I was tempted to join Gilda but sadly we both work today and time is an issue. Still, I borrowed some of their smaller clothes, mine were all, heh, I'd need to bring them back to Twilight's for a wash in a bag.

We walked down the road next to each other, holding hands as Gilda kept a wing around me partly. I remember that is a griffon, and Pegasus way of showing claim. Their wing around me means I'm his and everyone shall know it.

“Last night was amazing.” I sighed out happily, there being a slight limp in my step given our escapades.

"Heh, guess we should thank the others for those potions. Definitely made it more memorable." Gilda nodded as they let go of my hand, took me by the waist and pulled me close against them. "So, guess all that's next is the dates with the others. Will it be us two with one of them at a time or one on one?"

“We’ll have to figure that out, but I need them to know that I’m the head mate.” I said as I wrapped my arm around Gilda. “But...I’d say both of us and one of them would be good.”

"Guess that would work out best. Heh, back home, Flock marriages are only done by the super rich."

“Well for you, your flock marriage will be because you’re a wonderful guy, a hero, and honestly deserve the joy of love after all the shit you’ve been through…” I sighed out.

"Heh, part of me still can't believe last night happened. I… feel fine with myself for the first time ever." Gilda kept walking, but looked down at the ground for a bit. "I'd be lying if I said a lot of me wasn't still messed up, and so far a lot has become more clear… I'm still asking questions and looking for answers, and I just hope you'll be there with me when I finally find all those answers. In the short time I've known you Anna you've basically become my rock. I'll need you with me if I'm ever gonna really figure myself out and sort out all my issues."

"And I'll always be your rock." I said happily. "No matter what."

When we arrived at work Blueblood asked to see us. I huffed but expected it. We arrived in his office, he had a smile on his face, and I didn't like it. "There's the happy couple." He said as we each took a seat. "Soon to be royals as well. Part of the family, and as Aunt Luna said last night, soon to be so much more."

"And how much is that smile hurting you?" I asked skeptically. "Thank you though for caring about our relationship."

"So, what's going on, Cause Luna told us stuff about where this can lead but, what's your take?" Gilda asked.

"I'm still sure he wants to use this for his own personal gain." I frowned. "And then frame it as helping the GoE."

"Half right." Blueblood admitted. "GoE, even with the aid of the other kingdoms, can only do so much as an international agency. As a world government though. Possibilities are all on the table. The only thing is, a world government can only exist if a single entity, a single empire rules all corners of the land. That's where you two come in."

"Don't you think that's asking too much?" I asked. "And isn't this fueling your ego as well?" I asked, knowing this guy was an opportunist to gain something for himself as he showed at the Crystal Empire.

"In time. I've already sent out letters about this unique opportunity, half so far have already replied and agreed. The deer survivors especially. Their king and his daughter were among the survivors."

"Oh that's good." I said honestly, glad the deers king and princess were alive to help the people. "But thank you for giving us literally zero heads up on this and just going behind our backs on really big and important shit." I rolled my eyes.

"So you're telling me you know the proper way of addressing and formatting letters of importance to foreign royalty in their native language while being persuasive enough on paper to have them consider the idea rather than become outraged by the letters contents?"

"Or, and hear me out here, tell them me and Gilda are dating Luna and not declare GoE it's own Sovereign Nation?" I asked simply. "Without either of our consent I must add."

"I had Luna's, and until the wedding that's all I require. Also, Auntie Celestia agreed, informed me this morning. Was surprised but she will do anything for widespread peace."

"And you decided to not warn either of us about this until after the fact?" I asked.

"Yes." He nodded, opening the folder in front of him and handing us the papers inside. "You'll also need to sign these."

"What's this?" Gilda asked.

"Sexual harassment forms. Basic paperwork when coworkers are dating or married."

"That...should have been before we started dating, and so we're just going to skip the fact you're forcing us into becoming rulers of a Sovereign Nation out of the blue?"

"You can say this or that about it, but truth of the matter is, better you than the Unsent and their leaders. The deer kingdom falling tells us one truth, this is a battle of the living against the dead. Who better to rule the living than the one person who can keep the dead, dead?"

"Would have still liked to have some heads up before this shit " I frowned. "But looks like nobody has a say in anything cause this shit is already in motion no matter what we say or do." I frowned.

"I get Anna, but why me?" Gilda asked.

"Because you are an Underdog. Your life has been one hell after another and to reach where you are now, well, the people are often suckers for a hero story of that magnitude. Which is why there is a lot to be done before and after this wedding."

"Like?" Gilda asked.

"Gaining the aid of Kingdoms we can't reach by mail."

"Hold on, two things. One, what is this about a wedding? We just started dating, and two...you do know that neither of us are objectively qualified for this shit right?" I asked bluntly.

"Hence the other royals joining. Luna and Celestia, the deer princess Anamonal, and more to come."

“And where are we getting this marriage stuff when we just started to date?” I asked, pushing back my rage against Blueblood, yet again, doing what he wants with my life behind my back.

"Do you two not plan on getting married then?"

“Later on yes.” I said. “But not day two like you're implying.” I said honestly.

"You can have your time, but in that time the others to make this empire will be gathered."

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I think you’re missing the point where neither of us asked for this, and at least I didn’t want to be some ruler out of nowhere because you deemed, yet again, what I should do with my life.”

"Aside from finding the remainders of your family, what plans do you have for your life? Did you even have any before arriving in our world?"

… ass.

“I would have figured something out.” I frowned. "So...what do you think Gilda?" I asked, knowing me arguing with Blue balls here would take forever.

"I mean… it's surprising. And you aren't wrong, we aren't exactly qualified, but we can learn and hey, maybe by the end of this we can take it easy, enjoy life after all this mess is over."

"You do know we'll never have it when we're running a country right?" I asked sadly. "And again...something I didn't ask for getting in the way of something great…" I muttered bitterly.

"Well, think of it this way then. Once you are crowned, I can't order you, but you can order me." Blueblood said.

"That would be grand…" I said, having a sneaking suspicion I couldn't because of something Blueblood would do. "Still would have liked to know before you made decisions for us."

"Until you're crowned, I'm not obligated to tell you anything. That aside, in a few days you, Gilda and Sweetie Drops will be sent to a mission in the badlands."

"Why is that?" I inquired. "Seems strange we're going to a barrel wasteland if my geography classes here taught me anything."

"We need to know just how far the influence of these Unsent reach, the Badlands is home to all Manor of beast and scum that hide under the sun baked earth, you three will be sent to scout out the area we believe a Changeling Hive to be located and see if they are with or against the Unsent."

"That sounds about right." I nodded. "Anything of importance other than checking on the changelings?"

"Watch out if this hive does belong to Queen Chrysalis. She invaded Canterlot some years back and is still on our watch list. If she is aiding the unsent, we might just have to invade her hive to be rid of an issue before it gets worse."

“Uh...question, given you happen to know a lot of things...is there an Elder Changeling around there? It might help me considering I can shapeshift, and these people’s species is literally a shapeshifter.”

"No idea." Blueblood shrugged. "Fact is we didn't even know Changelings existed outside legend til she invaded. We know very little about them, just that they feed off love and the more they feed the stronger their magic becomes."

“That’s good to know.” I nodded. “So me and Gilda are more bait given how they feed.” I frowned.

"Thankfully, since the Changelings feed off emotions this means their magic is also powered by it, and it just so happens the Crystal Empire specializes in emotion based magic. Cadence believes her anti emotion amulets should convince any changeling that detects you that you're just another mindless Badlands creature. They will arrive in three days."

“At least we’ll have protection against these bastards.” I nodded. “Anything else we should know about?”

"Cut's research on the captured Unsent is bearing fruit."

“How so?” I asked curiously.

"For starters, any corpse, recently dead, will revive into an Unsent within twenty feet of an Unsent. We can blow their bodies to ash and the Pyreflies rebuild it. Takes two hours and if more than one Unsent is blown up they rebuild…" Blueblood handed me a photo and I tossed my breakfast… that… that thing came right out of hell. "We call them Amalgams, they can do… quite terrifying things with bodies like this."

“What the actual hell…” I muttered. "Can this not be a thing please? Cause this shouldn't be possible."

"Agreed. Sadly after the bombing Set Charge said these things are everywhere in that Kingdom right now. Sharp Cut says they are similar to the Necromantic Corpse Rebirth spell Sombra invented. Physically they are similar to the abominations we see now, save for how they function. Their bodies differ greatly. Sombra's spell just links dead limbs and parts together and uses the dark magic to have the corpse mimic life, but it's a mindless decaying husk. These ones are powered by Pyreflies, and seem to breath, eat… bleed, and other stuff."

"I've heard of an unsent fusing with a Fiend but...not this." I said worriedly, finding this much worse than what Seymore did.

"So only Anna can kill them, and we can just, what, knock them down for a while?" Gilda asked.

"Sharp Cut believes he may be able to produce a viable weapon to use on them, he just needs Anna there for when it is created." Blueblood said.

"And what would that weapon be?" I asked carefully..

"A soul gem, bound into weapons. These are typically illegal, but he believes by crafting one utilizing your blood for it's foundation should make sure it only attracts Pyreflies."

"So...when do you start twirling your super villain moustache?" I asked bluntly.

"Please. Not even Discord used that trope. Would you prefer you be the only one capable of keeping these Unsent down and risk casualties on the battlefield, higher than they would if we can't make and deploy these weapons?"

"No." I responded quickly. "But come on man, do you want to sound more evil than using illegal equipment and using me as blood cattle?"

"Unless you can convince the gods to help us, I'll accept my fate of sounding like a two bit comic villain."

"Why aren't they helping?" Gilda asked.

"While they do interact with Equis it is not under their protection. It was under Aunt Celestia and Luna's parents before they passed. Now it's under theirs."

“And because some of them would immediately fuck up the people’s good faith...whole lot of Greek stories about that…” I muttered the last bit.

"So, gods are out then?" Gilda asked.

"Possibly. At the very least we can possibly commission some arms from the dwarves but without access to the different lands the ores they'd need are from, well it wont be worth the effort."

"Cause the gods oversee their own lands and we can't enter without their say so." Gilda huffed. "Entitled pricks."

“Oh you have no idea.” I said with a laugh.

"That being said, it could be possible by utilizing back doors." Blueblood said. "You'll have to speak to Discord about those however, given it was his father who invented all the secret passageways between all the realms of the gods."

“Who is Discord's dad anyway?” I asked curiously.

"Loki."

“Yeah that makes sense.” I said honestly. “Surprised he wasn’t the mother this time…”

"Both, actually. Story goes Loki expelled his desire for small mischief and torment on others in an effort to ascend in power by removing all his emotions. The result was Discord. Loki got what he wanted and is currently imprisoned in Tartarus."

“That...weirdly sounds like a reverse Sheogorath from Oblivion…” I pointed out. “If...anyone knows who or what Daedra are or what Elder Scrolls is…”

They shook their heads. Eh, fair enough.

“Alright, so anyways, back to the new problem where you want to take my blood to fuel illegal shit.” I started. “Do Luna and Celestia know about this?”

"Of course. Soul magic is illegal but as I stated, by using your blood as the foundation for the gem it should only attract Pyreflies. With luck they can safely hold and store them."

“And...how much blood is needed?” I asked carefully, not wanting other people to die because of the Unsent but not wanting to basically be nothing but a blood cow for him.

"Sharp Cut says for the trials he will need a hundred milliliters of blood to make fifty prototype gems. It will be no different than when you donate blood."

“But when it becomes fully tested and you want to mass produce the damn things is when we get to the real problem.” I frowned.

"Sadly. Hence why if we can get the aid of the gods then we can certainly produce just as effective gems and/or weapons without relying on you heavily or at all. Thankfully Luna is going to speak with her old associate Thor about changing his father's mind. If the Asgardians are at least on our side then we might actually have some hope."

“Considering that this can easily spill over into other worlds I’d say the gods should really take this seriously.” I frowned.

"They won't unless one of their own becomes Unsent or the Unsent invades. Both are undesirable probabilities. Well, this has been all for now. Your assignments for the days until the amulets arrive are posted in the locker room and if something of urgency comes up, you will be contacted."

“Alright.” I nodded. “Good talk for...a lot of things that I’d rather not have happened…” I grumbled.

With that, Gilda and I got up. We were scheduled for patrol for the entirety of the time. Eh, kinda boring but not horrible. We got into our work gear and headed out. Once we reached our area I shifted into a Griffon and flew up and sat on a tree branch. "Well, that happened." Gilda said, perching next to me. Heh, that looks really cool when he does it.

“It’s bullshit.” I growled. “‘Hey guys, I heard you literally just started dating, and had Luna along for the ride, so you’re going to rule a sovereign nation so I don’t get yelled at, also we’re going to need all of Anna’s blood for illegal shit because I’m totally not evil’.” I said in a mock of Bluebloods voice summarizing the entire thing.

Gilda just laughed. "Hey, if I could do what you do, I'd happily give them an arm and a wing. That'd tied their blood needs for a while. In all seriousness though, it could have been worse."

“You’re right, I could have stabbed Blueblood like I said I would.” I rolled my eyes. “Seriously, sooner or later I’m going to kick Bluebloods ass…”

"Well, I was thinking he could have put himself in the herd but that works too." That idea sent a cold, horrifying chill down my spine.

“No.” I stated bluntly. “I’m not letting him anywhere near us. I’m not letting that psychopath get anywhere near what we have damn it!” I growled. “He’s already trying to run my life as is, I don’t want him running my love life either.”

"Then let's just be glad he didn't. Besides… our Patrol area is pretty isolated, think we can get away with some consensual groping and making out?"

“I’m pretty sure we can get some full blown sex in if nothing interupts us.” I said honestly. “But that’s up to you.”

"Well… let's see where it goes, cause I am quite curious to find out how you feel as a Griffon." Gilda said flirtatiously.

“Let’s.” I said, taking the initiative and groping Gilda’s breast sneakily and happily.

Gilda replied happily by taking my butt and moving me onto their lap.

As fun as that was it left me quite sticky and wet between the legs and when you wear pants that's not good. Thankfully Fluttershy's place was nearby and she let me borrow her shower. I have to admit, showering as a Griffon is not that bad, the wings are a bit hard so… "And once you rub the shampoo on you take the spray nozzle and wash it out, or try and let the shower head wash it out." Fluttershy said, teaching me how to shwash my newfound wings.

“Thanks Fluttershy.” I said warmly. “It would be a nightmare if I had to figure this out...and I don’t think Gilda would help with ‘cleaning’ in the shower…” I blushed a little at the thought of the two of us alone in the shower, either finding it cute and wholesome or more steamier than the hot shower I was taking.

"It's alright. Oh, and, um… Rainbow Dash offered me an invite for your… herd. She was going to run it by you, given you are the head female, but, well… since you're here and all…" Fluttershy said, looking adorably shy.

“You are just adorable.” I chuckled. “But I would love it if you joined in Fluttershy, would help give a third point of view on parenting given you’re a natural caretaker.”

"Thank you!" Fluttershy said, surprising me with a hug and...woah. heh, yes I have been hugged by another girl before, but never while naked in the shower and with the girl hugging me in a thin shirt that lets me feel all their… softness from her chest. "I've always been so worried about ending up in a relationship."

“Seem rather enthusiastic for ‘being so worried’ Flutters.” I giggled, hugging back and giving some extra squeeze to our soft places.

"Well, Rainbow promised when we were little if her mate was up for it she'd try and bring me into their relationship. I've never had much luck dating."

“I don’t see how considering you’re just a beautiful mare with a kind and loving heart.” I said honestly.

"Well… it was more when a stallion or mare would flirt with me I… kinda… sorta… panic."

“Well, I’ll be here to help you get some confidence.” I said honestly. “Cause there’s gonna be a lot of flirting...probably a lot from me cause…” I looked down at our squishing breasts. “Damn.”

Fluttershy looked down too, seeing what was happening and turned a bright red and jumped back, covering her chest and her face in her hair. "I'm sorry, that's so embarrassing."

“Don’t be sorry, and don’t be embarrassed.” I said softly. “It felt nice.” I said while gently getting out of the shower and taking a step towards Fluttershy. “Just trust me okay?” I asked gently as I softly put a hand under her chin and stared into her big, and honestly very pretty eyes.

"I, uh… okay…" She squeaked, looking at my eyes. I blinked as she gave a kiss on my still Griffon beak, squeaked again then rapidly flew out.

“Still adorable…” I chuckled as I stepped back into the shower and finished washing myself off. “Big tits...bubble butt...thighs I want to crush my head...damn it why do all the women have to be so sexy?” I complained to myself. “I know I’m the head mate but...fuck do I feel a little small…” I grumbled, knowing it really shouldn’t, and doesn’t, matter but it’s hard not to compare.

With my shower done I dried off and desired to have a bit of tea with Shy before heading back with snacks for Gilda. I mean, Fluttershy's cottage is within the area we have to patrol, so not really slacking here. It was then I began wondering if my question earlier might get answered?

“Fluttershy? Are you still here?” I called out carefully, wondering if she’s still in the house or if she immediately bolted out of the building.

"Over here." She answered. Following her call I found her feeding a small foot of mice various crackers. "Everything okay Anna?" She asked, still blushing a bit from earlier.

“Just making sure you didn’t leave the building.” I said sheepishly. “But mind if I have some tea real quick?”

"Oh, sure. Any preference?"

“Not really.” I shrugged. “Haven’t really had tea in a while, so I’m not too picky.”

"Alright then." Fluttershy said, after a bit we both had some tea and were seated in her living room. "So, what questions did you have in mind?"

“Well…” I sighed out. “For starters, why is every woman here so damn sexy? I know it shouldn’t matter what I look like, and Gilda made sure it doesn’t, but…” I huffed, going back to my human form and motioning to it. “I can’t help but compare and feel small…”

"How come?"

“How come I’m comparing myself to others or…?” I asked

"I mean, you look good… do… not all females on your world have body types like yours?"

“Some people have the same body type as mine, others are smaller, some are bigger, it’s different to everyone but…” I sighed out. “Most of the women here have been on the ‘bigger’ spectrum from where I’m from.”

"Hmm…" Fluttershy thought the question over.

“I know I shouldn’t care, GIlda proved that to me in several ways.” I blushed lightly at the memory. “Just...sometimes ‘self image’ keeps cropping up...and seriously, when the only woman I’ve met so far that’s smaller than me in proportions is Dash, who is an athlete but still sexy as hell, we’ve got a problem.”

"I believe I might be able to answer that." A voice said from nowhere as suddenly Discord appeared from the air. "Long time no see Anna."

“Howdy Discord, where have you been?” I asked curiously.

"Here, there, everywhere." He shrugged. "So, about your question regarding the differences between yourself and Equis females. The answer is quite simple. Biology and Evolution."

“Well...biology and evolution is obvious but how so?” I asked curiously.

"Well, those two things and magic. Now then." Discord started, snapping their paw hand and a large white board with a human outline and a pony outline appeared. "On your world, there was no magic whatsoever, so as your race evolved overtime to what you are now you went the most for adaptation to the environment and after your kind began modifying the land to suit your needs, this marked the day your race cut primal ties to both your ancestors and nature itself. In short your race defied the expectations of so many worlds where magic and nature exist by even surviving, but to control your worlds nature as you have, it's really an impressive feat.

"Now then, for Equis evolution was similar for most races, a god came here and had kids with an animal, creating the Minotaurs, Griffons, Centaurs and other various monster races here, but Ponies, Deer, Yaks, ect all evolved alongside magic. You see, magic here can force a race to evolve as it feels It needs based on the balance of the world and the race. Now, for the million bit question of yours, why does Equis females look so larger compared to yourself, especially in recent generations is actually because the natural magic of the world that flows through all knows that their is an imbalance among the Equines, a gender imbalance. So, magic did what it does best and evolved not just Equines but all races to correct this over time. Females became more larger, larger breasts to hold and produce more milk, wider hips for easier birthing and figures males would find most attractive, and for males, well, you've seen what Gilda is packing, same goes for just about every male. Logger, bigger, and much faster refill rate."

"So, that means Magic made it so herds would also be more… logical, given the changes it made because of the gender imbalance?" Fluttershy asked.

"Indeed it did Fluttershy, back in the old days herds were also a way to ensure the population prospered in the harsh times. So if they're making a comeback cause magic sees it's needed again then that means the harsh times are just beginning."

"Uh huh...and...will magic suddenly start effecting me or is that not possible given what I am and...what I can do?" I asked curiously.

"I have absolutely no idea." Discord said, snapping his fingers and the board vanished. "Maybe if you spend enough time in an Equis race form but if I'm being honest I really have no idea."

“Good to know either way.” I shrugged.

"So, are you ready for something interesting Anna?"

“Well that depends on the ‘interesting’ bits.” I said honestly.

"Remember when we first talked and we told you about Rifts between the world the fiends come from and Equis. Well your's truly has been napping where they are all across the globe and the moon and even a few in the nearby vacuum of space interestingly enough. I believe I have mapped them all out now, and there are a lot."

“Jesus christ…” I muttered. “That’s not ‘interesting’, that’s terrifying! Especially when the Deer Kingdom just got sacked.”

"But, having them mapped means we can close them. So go get your boyfriend, cause the nearest rift is about two miles from here."

“Alright.” I nodded while drinking the rest of my tea. “Let’s hope it’s not too big of a rift…” I muttered while getting up. “Thanks for the tea Fluttershy.” I said politely as I headed off to find Gilda.

Once out I shifted to a Griffon again. I really want to see if this world's magic can affect me. Once I reached them I gave them their snacks from Fluttershy's and we headed off. Thankfully Discord was waiting for us by where the rift was. It was hard to see the rift at first, I had to look for distortions in the air to find it. Kinda hoped they'd be a bit more flashy. Easier to find. "So, how do we close it?" Gilda asked.

“Last time me and Discord killed the boss and it was sealed.” I said honestly. “But I don’t know if that’s going to be the same each time…”

"Hard to tell, the very energy they emit is different now." Discord said. "Well, ladies first?"

“Cause of course these things are different…” I grumbled, taking a deep breath and moving towards the portal, prepping my claws for whatever might come through.

I entered first, followed by Gilda and Discord behind them. Looking around where we were it was like space itself was… broken. The scent of sea water and oil filled my nose and I realized we were on a massive ship. Is this an Al bhed ship?

No… no this isn't right… I thought as I turned and saw cargo crates, big metallic ones. The kind they use… back home.

“This...this isn’t right…” I said worriedly. “These cargo containers...they’re from my world, but why in the world would we be here?”

"What's in them?" Gilda asked, breaking a lock off one and opening the door. "What's a Hostess?"

I walked over and saw many boxes all stacked from wall to ceiling of Hostess brand snack cakes.

I am so gonna get fat...

“Hostess is the name of a company that makes snack cakes...like Twinkies…” I said slowly, trying not to drool at the mountain of snack cakes in front of me.

"Are they good?" Gilda asked, using a claw to cut open a box of said twinkies. He took a single bite. "Huh. Kinda taste like the Custard logs at Sugar Cube Corner. Only with vanilla frosting inside."

"I take it you'll be wanting these comfort foods Anna?" Discord asked simply.

“Yes…” I said while grabbing a twinkie and started eating my own twinkie. “Oh sweet merciful lord they’re still good.” I sighed out happily, so glad all the stuff at SugarCube Corner didn’t ruin me on these gifts from god.

Discord snapped a paw, a duffle bag appearing in it as he opened it towards the cargo crate… and I watched as the cargo crate was emptied of all boxes. Then watched as the crate itself was sucked into the duffle bag. With that, Discord zipped it up and handed it to me. "Every RPG has a bag of holding, right?"

“Yes they do.” I nodded. “And now for Pinkie to make them like...ten times better.” I said honestly, knowing full well Pinkie can make some stupid good pastries. “So why the hell are we here besides finding Twinkies?”

"Maybe it's a dud?" Gilda pondered, finishing their twinkie and opening another crate up. Inside were boxes and boxes of canned beer. I did what Discord did with the bag and let it suck in all the beer and crate cause Why not. Next one was more food. All these crates seemed to have food or drinks of some kind from home. After a while the deck was cleared. "So, now we go below deck or something?"

"Possibly. You two do that, I will fly around and see if there is something we're missing." Discord said as he took off into the sky.

“This is really weird that we’re on a random cargo ship from my world…” I said, finding this really strange all around.

"Well, maybe it's not from your world?" Gilda said as we started heading down below deck. "This Father person all those Al Bhed and Zer talked about, said he seems obsessed with you. Maybe he made this or something? Like a perfect replica."

“That would be impossible given I’ve never met this person.” I said honestly. “I have no idea who this person is, I don’t know what I have to do with them given two minotaurs acted like I was connected to their ‘Father’ in some way, and even though Yevon exists in Equis, none of the major repercussions from that are real there.” I said. “I know the Unsent is a problem, but the major one is something completely different…”

"Not if he was from your world too. Is that a possibility?"

“While it’s possible, it can’t because the minotaur that killed himself in his jail cell acted like I was related to Father after I turned into a Fiend, which implies that Father can also shapeshift into Fiends, and I don’t know anyone back on my world that knows much about Final Fantasy X unless it’s my one friend Ben, or my family because I...talk about it a lot…” I said sheepishly.

"Ben? Huh, weird name."

Anna felt like someone very far away just said ‘rude’, but shrugged off that out of nowhere feeling. “Well either way, it’s still really weird...also this has been happening a lot longer than I’ve been here from what I’ve learned.”

"Fair enough."

Below deck was more crates.of food but there was also built in massive freezers filled with frozen meat, foods and ice creams. Hmm… I reached into the bag, thinking about a manual or something for it and pulled out a flyer about the backpack. Heh, surprised that worked.

Let's see… oh, the pocket dimension this bag has does not have time pass within it. All items in it, be them food or not are frozen in time. So… all the meats, foods and ice cream. This is gonna be useful when that massage herd thing starts happening.

As we walked around Gilda and I stopped, seeing bullet holes along this hall and what looked like dry blood. "Well that's never a good sign." Gilda huffed, taking out their pistol.

“Just what we needed…” I grumbled while prepping my rifle.

As we walked along the blood and bullet holes became more, bullet cases littered the floor too. These are definitely cases from back home. The ones Machina guns use are bigger.

We followed the carnage to a cafeteria, where everything was red and filled with holes. "What could even do damage this bad?"

“Uh…” I tried to think of what could cause all this damage...all this murder…”Oh no…” I muttered as I took a step back. “It’s not ‘what’...but ‘who’...”

"Huh?"

Tap.

Gilda and I turned to the doorway, the sound of footsteps echoing form elsewhere down the hall filled the room.

Which one of them is it?

“We need to move.” I whispered to Gilda urgently. “Now!” I whisper yelled as I grabbed Gilda’s hand and tried to rush to a hiding spot away from whoever that might be if my guess was right.

We hid in the kitchen, peeking out a window on the door. "So, what are we hiding from?" Gilda asked, the footsteps getting closer.

“A person who is fully capable of doing this amount of killing...and much more given their family history…” I whispered in fear. “Please don’t be who I think it is…”

"What kind of person?" Gilda asked, the footsteps stopping.

We peaked through the window, seeing a small girl no older than eleven or twelve, clothes stained in blood and skin flowing in and out with Pyreflies. Jenny Ventral.

“Oh god damn it…” I whisper whined as I hid in fear. “Of course it had to be a Ventral...and powered by Pyreflies? How the hell?” I whispered in panic.

"What's a Ventral, she's just a kid." Gilda asked, keeping their voice extra low.

“It’s Ventral, and it’s the family name of a group of monsters, able to murder dozens of armed military soldiers, in body armor I must add, with their bare hands somehow.” I whispered. “They are the single biggest crime family in known history, having committed every known crime there is...and what’s even more scary is their rumored ‘killing mood’...where they somehow become superhuman after killing someone and going on a blood fueled rampage…”

"Damn." Gilda said.

"Anna." I froze. That Ventral, Jenny, said my name. "I know you're here. I felt you enter. Did you enjoy the prizes? The food is exactly as it was made on earth."

“How? What?” I muttered in sheer panic. “No no no….how did she know my name? I’ve only met the one...wait…” I muttered. “Fuck, she was with her damned cousin Zeke…”

"Do I terrify you? I was hoping this body would."

Body… wait… is that… what?

“Hold up.” I started, my fear having simmered down with absolute confusion. “What?”

Before I could think more the door was kicked open, Gilda and I getting knocked to the other end of the kitchen. "I guess you don't recognize me, I expected as much." Jenny Ventral said, walking towards us now.

“Piss off!” I shouted as I pushed the door to the side and fired an ice bullet from my rifle at the damned person.

The spike hit them right in the neck, but they kept walking, and then kneeled down over me. "My sweet, sweet Anna. Your fear is so beautiful. Tell me, how afraid are you?"

“Not anymore given you’re not a Ventral.” I said while clawing at their face.

No reaction. "I am not, but this body, and her memories are an exact replica. The best means of learning how to scare you."

"You're this Father aren't you?" Gilda coughed, getting up. "You're the big bad here?"

"It is what the children call me, I am their father, and Anna is their mother."

“Hell no!” I snapped as I kicked the stupid bastard away from us. “I don’t know who you are, I’m not anyone’s mother, let alone with you you sick fuck!” I snapped.

"Heh. Not that you can remember." Father said, standing back up. "But I know much about you, including how you lost that ring I had our son return to you." I flinched. " Yes, even thinking about him, your fear is Divine. Not just him, you fear the whole of his family. My copies are exact and now, I shall let our newest daughter play with her mother."

The Jenny Ventral Unsent went limp for a bit then got back up. "Fuck that sucks. Well, a griffon and a shapeshifter… fun." She smiled. I do not like her smile!

“Oh no you don’t.” I growled as I fired a fireball at her this time.

She ducked like the matrix and stood back up, throwing something that his my arm. Needles? She jumped back and… oh shit!

I barely ran Gilda out of that place before the grenade exploded, the blast knocking us over. "I can see why you are scared of these Ventrals." Gilda said as we got up.

“That’s not really a Ventral.” I said nervously. “That’s just a copy that demented fuck created somehow...also that bastard gave her Cactaur powers which also isn’t fair.” I frowned.

"She's gone now, but she's small so this won't be easy."

“It’s also worse cause Cactaur’s are naturally fast and agile...and they can shoot anywhere from hundreds...to thousands...to a max of ninety nine thousand nine hundred and ninety nine depending on if this asshole gave her Cactuar King’s abilities…”

"So, we're fucked?"

"No actually." I said. "She's going to be frail as shit, both from her abilities and her being a child, plus she's already weakened by the neck would and face scratch I landed on her, so she shouldn't be too far away from dying." I explained. "Plus, were not confined to turn based combat."

"Okay… but you're assuming she's frail cause she's a kid."

“Ventral’s have been killed by a bullet before, plus it’s just a copy from my limited knowledge on them.” I shrugged. “Gonna show this asshole I’m not scared of his games.”

"And I thought my issues with Zer were bad. At this point should we get matching shirts for the 'caught the fancy of a psychopath' club."

"I haven't had any children Gilda." I told him as I put a hand on my stomach gently. "And I can't wait for the day you make me a mother."

That made him blush. "Heh, well, I can only hope… does make me wonder though, you give birth with an umbilical cord and all that, right?"

"From what I know about biology, yes." I nodded. "Why do you ask?" I questioned, looking around to see where Jenny was.

"Well, it's that griffons typically lay eggs after they've formed in the womb for two months and lay that, so… are you gonna lay an egg or not cause I've heard some stories of Pony or Minotaur females mating with a griffon and they lay an egg."

"God that's gonna be a bitch." I groaned. "Am I also gonna have to sit on it to keep it warm?"

"Well, most griffons keep the egg in this special cloth strap so it stays between the breasts to keep warm."

"That works." I nodded. "Still gonna hurt, human hips aren't meant to lay eggs."

"Well, if you're still able to shapeshift while pregnant, then you can birth it as a griffon easily enough."

“Hopefully it won’t affect the kid if I do.” I said nervously while ducking some needles.

The copy dropped from an above vent that shot off dozens of needles at us. I shifted into Murussu, tanking the needles and defending Gilda who got a shot off around me. It missed her but the copy jumped back into the vents. "Let's head above deck, no place she can hide in up there." Gilda suggested.

“Good enough, plus Discord can chip in on the help.” I said while going back to my Griffon form and running towards the stairs to get above deck.

We dodged a lot more sneak attacks and once we made it up there the copy was standing up there. "Pop quiz. What was my specialty back on earth?" She asked.

“No idea.” I said honestly. “So neither do you.”

"Sadly I do." She said, Pyreflies floating from her hand and forming… oh fuck that's an anti tank rifle… Oh fuck that's an anti-

BOOM!!

I shifted to my Murussu form, the bullet blasting my armor off and a chunk of flesh off. "I was a sniper." She said, vanishing and I saw her appear above us in the air, taking aim.

“You’re a clone from my memories, how the fuck do you know half this garbage?” I asked, my injury so blisteringly in pain that I could actually ignore it as it went full circle as I used a Thunder Spell on the bitch.

She spun in the air, dodging the spell and shooting, missing me thankfully. "No, but your dad knows this." I looked up, dodging another bullet. "Father never said My family and I were made from only your memories."

“Oh you sack of shit!” I shouted as I fired a massive fireball towards Jenny. “How dare you hurt my family!”

I shifted back into a griffon, flying up fast as I summoned my solar armor form. I got close, she fired, and the bullet bounced off. I grabbed her and my claws ignited, burning her with fire fueled by my rage.

She took hold of my wrists, laughing. "Yes, Yes! Rage, fear, obsession! Direct them all at me and feed fa-"

Bang!

Gilda flew next to me, shooting a hole through the copies head and it finally went limp. "Shit… if we ever run into the real one, I am so not taking her on."

I got rid of my armor and hugged Gilda, shuddering as I tried to reign in my emotions. “Why...why is this happening?”

Gilda hugged me, the two of us landing on the deck. "Hey, you're my rock when I need you. I'll be yours when you need me." Gilda said as I cried more into their chest. The whole while he just rubbed my head.

“It’s not fair…” I muttered. “To anyone...you shouldn’t have to go through any of what you’ve done...and now I have to deal with the big bad thinking I’m his wife?”

"Hey." Gilda said, moving so I was looking into their eyes. "When we get married, let's shove some devorce papers down this Father's throat. Sound like a plan?"

“I’m also gonna kick him in the balls if that also works.” I said, smiling warmly as I stared deeply into Gilda’s beautiful eyes.

"We can do both." He said, giving me a kiss. We both turned to the mass of black and grey Pyreflies. "So… I'm assuming you have to absorb that?"

“I...don’t like the look of those pyreflies.” I said nervously, floating over. “It better not be those fake pyreflies again…” I muttered while trying to absorb one of the pyreflies.

They flowed in easy enough… huh. So far so good. I feel- wah!

To be continued...

Chapter 7 pt2.

The sky around us shook and then became the normal sky back on Equis… wait… I ran to the edge of the ship...yup. Equis, We're in Fluttershy's back yard… huh.

“How in the hell?” I frowned. “Discord!” I called out.

"Hello." He said, appearing next to me. "My, that was quite the unexpected event. How interesting."

“So there’s a lot of things wrong here, and you know something about it.” I frowned. “But let’s start with how are we in Fluttershy’s backyard on a massive ship?”

"That is what I was wondering. The only thing that makes sense to me is that this rift isn't like the ones from before, this was made. Since the source of its creation is gone it dumped whatever was inside it through the rift." Discord then looked over the edge of the boat. "Good news Fluttershy! You get a huge boat!"

"Uhh… thanks?" Her distant voice from below replied.

“Alright, so who the hell is Father? You know something important about that rat bastard I just know it.” I frowned.

He snapped his fingers, dawning an Abraham Lincoln look. "I can not tell a lie. I have no idea." He replied, a flash and he was back to normal. "Honestly, I'm the lord of chaos not the god of knowledge. I only know what doesn't make sense and even then I can get stumped."

“Goodie…” I frowned. “Can’t wait to never get answers ever...why did this have to happen?”

"Well, think of it this way Anna, you have a pretty good stress relief option now." Discord elbowed me, making me nudge into Gilda.

"I mean...that's true." I blushed. "And stress relief is something I need after… that."

"We'll have to file the report first, but after that we can get a quickie in on lunch." Gilda said with a shrug and a smile.

"That would be great." I sighed out happily. "But do we head back now or deal with another rift close by?"

We did just that, flying back over to HQ and filling out the report. After that Gilda and I had our quickie. At this rate I am so ending up pregnant… not that I'd mind, though having to fight while pregnant would be worrying…

When the day was over Blueblood, ugh, needed to speak with us. "I'm reassigning you two. From now on you two deal with these Rifts as you can. I know Discord gave you a map of their locations so take them out as you go." He said plainly.

"And what about our other assignment to the badlands? Is that not happening?"put I asked, given he told us we were reassigned.

He sighed. "Aunt Luna made a suggestion and frankly while I'm opposed to it, she ordered for this to be the case. Arrived shortly after you left for patrol to inform me of it in person even. Starting tomorrow you two will operate more along the lines of freelance agents. Your primary mission is to travel and locate the rifts and close them, while I can also assign you two on missions that could require your skills. So no, the Badlands mission isn't off, it's still planned just now you two have more free time to either focus on the rifts, personal affairs and the like."

"What does that mean for pay?" Gilda asked.

"For every rift you close it's a months pay upfront after completion and for every mission I place you two on it's half a months worth, per day."

"How are you able to afford that? As is we get paid a crap ton."

"Income from all the crowns and soon, once their unification marriage is done with, funds will be a nonexistent issue at all."

"Sounds about right." I shrugged. "And damn, Luna ordering this in person? Wish I could have seen it."

With that done I was heading back with Gilda to their apartment, ready to just crash and sleep. "Pssst. Anna." I turned, Gilda and I halfway to the apartment when a nearby bush began calling me.

"I must be more tired than I thought, cause that bush is talking to me." I said, honestly exhausted from today.

"It is." Gilda said.

At that moment Tommy popped their head out. "Yo, you see any of my classmates around?"

"No." I started. "Why are you in the bushes? Cause I'm honestly stupid tired from work today and thought the bush itself was talking…"

He sighed in relief and got out of there. "I swear the whole class has gone crazy. Mind if I crash here, like six of them were prowling around Twilight's so."

"Prowling?" Gilda asked.

“And you called me a harem protagonist.” I chuckled. “Who’s chasing after you?”

"Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, Scootaloo, Twist, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. I mean, fuck Tiara and Spoon don't even like the other four yet for some reason they all band together to stalk me."

“So while I’m the harem protagonist that actively tries to get a harem for my boyfriend here, you’re the oblivious harem protagonist.” I chuckled. “But uh...considering their stalking...uh Gilda, what’s the legal age for sex?” I asked nervously, having a feeling it’s at least eighteen or something but wanting to make sure my baby brother isn’t going to have problems walking for a while.

"How old is he now?" Gilda asked.

“He’s fourteen, the same as the rest of his classmates.” I said honestly.

"Equestrian laws last I remember… well he's an adult at sixteen according to Equestrian laws." Gilda said.

"Wait, seriously?" Tommy asked.

"Yup." Gilda nodded. "If we were in the griffon territories you'd be an adult in just one more year."

"Cool."

“So start dating them and wait two years.” I shrugged. “They all like you if they're stalking you.”

"Why?"

"Why do they like you or why should you date them?" Gilda asked.

"Both. I mean, I guess I'm a furry to a degree but not like Anna is." I bonked his head. "Ow!"

“First up, rude.” I frowned. “And secondly, what would make them like you? What did you do?”

He rubbed his head, both to think and to ease the bonk I gave him. "No idea for Twist and Spoon, didn't talk to those two much. All I can think of for Applebloom is that I helped her with some chores."

"What chores?" Gilda asked.

"Those apples. Kicking the trees to make them drop the apples."

"How many trees?"

"I dunno. She made it a game and I didn't bother counting. Sweetie Belle I helped her sew, like how we used it sew with mom. She's bad but can be taught apparently, her sister sure seemed surprised. Scootaloo… not sure, I mean, I guess I helped her with some stunts she wanted to try out but that was it, and I'm surprised Tiara is there considering I cursed her mom out and made her run away crying."

“My dude…” I sighed out. “You’re proving to them that you are dependable, strong, caring, and willing to defend them. Also with Tiara, her mother is a deplorable bitch from what I’ve heard her say about me and everyone else in the GoE.” I rolled my eyes. “Women find those things very attractive, plus you always were a handsome little man.” I teased as I ruffled Tommy’s hair like I used to back on Earth.

"I still don't see how it was impressive."

I groaned and looked over at Gilda who shrugged. "Well, we have time. How about we ask them and Translate it into Tommy?" Gilda suggested.

“Alright.” I nodded while picking up and putting Tommy over my shoulder, thanking my Griffon strength for making this a lot easier. “No use running Tommy, we’re going to get you six girlfriends.”

"Coming from you that's probably gonna double." I pouted, Gilda trying to suppress a snort.

“It’s not my fault that this world literally demands herds through magic.” I frowned.

"Is… that actually a thing?" Tommy asked as Gilda and I nodded. "Magic is a pervert then. Good to know.

“I mean...when the gender ratio is fifteen females to one male in Equestria, they have to fix it somehow.” I shrugged. “Haven’t you noticed how you’re like...one of four guys in a group of twenty?” I asked.

"Five. Myself, Button Mash, Tender Taps, Pipsqueak and Rumble." Tommy said.

Huh, funny since half of them will be his brothers soon.

We first headed for Twilight's place, where indeed six small teen fillies were all standing around failing to act all casual. Upon seeing Tommy they all perked up a bit. Tommy just groaned.

"Hey girls, why do you want to date my little brother?" I asked curiously.

They all blushed to various degrees. After a bit of adorable contemplation, Applebloom stepped forward. "He uh, he's really good at hard work."

"I just helped you with chores." Tommy said.

"Ya kicked over two hundred apple trees clean in under an hour." She replied. "Planted just as many in two and beat my brother in arm wrestling."

“Good lord little bro when did you become Superman?” I asked in surprise.

"You are a shapeshifter with monster forms and other race forms, and two armored forms based on the sun and moon. Why do you sound surprised?" Tommy asked.

“I can shapeshift, yes, but you don’t need to be super strong and fast.” I said honestly. “Big Mac is one of the biggest earth ponies I know, and you beat him in arm wrestling when I'm pretty sure I couldn’t in my human form.”

"It just happens, like instinct." Tommy shrugged.

“My point hasn’t been disproven.” I said honestly. “Next, Sweetie Belle.” I started. “Cause AB here really likes how hardworking and strong you are.”

"Well, he's patient." She started, twirling a finger in her hair. "When he saw me trying to sew he showed me each step to get it right, how to plan before I cut and how to thread the needle. Rarity and I have been spending so much more time together since then."

“Still have to thank grandma for the sewing lessons.” I said honestly. “Always told us we’d need to sew, either for our own belongings, hobby, or for our kids, and apparently now for your new girlfriends Tommy.” I teased at the end.

"He helped me to fly!" Scootaloo said, flapping her wings and flying up two feet.

"You're a Pegasus, that's normal." Tommy pointed out.

"Not for me. It just never clicked. Not until you threw me into the air like that! I landed on a cloud and once the wind hit it just clicked for me."

“Huh...I’ve heard of picking up chicks but I didn’t think throwing them would help.” I said honestly.

"When he yelled and called out my mom, she broke. Went into a full on midlife crisis and left for a week, came back a whole different mare, and with Grandma. I've never met my grandma before, she's so…. The milk version of her anyway, apparently mom came from Milk farmers, something I never knew and has been so nice and… different. Heck we made butter last night, and I had fun. With my mother! I've never had fun with her before." Tiara said.

“Honestly if it wasn’t my little brother here calling her out on her bullshit, it was gonna be me.” I shrugged. “But good to know he helped solve that massive problem.”

"I was the one who suggested we all try and make a herd with Tommy." Silver said proudly. "Twist here knows as much as I do on herd gathering."

"Yes, we were hoping for Tommy to pick one of us for the head female." Twist said simply. "Once he picks one for the head female the rest of us join in and marry once we graduate."

"Am I the only one having to deal with this?" Tommy asked.

"Nope." They all replied happily.

“Listen Tommy, you have six cute girls, and most likely more, all wanting to date you because they see great things about you.” I said honestly. “Can you at least give them a chance? I promise, when you graduate, I’ll have medical staff on hand.”

"Medical staff? Why?" Tommy asked.

"Think about it." Gilda said.

Tommy pondered it for a while then turned a bright red while mouthing an 'oh'. He sighed. "Fine." He said getting off me and walking over to them. "How does this picking a head female work?"

"Just choose one of us for the head female role and she and the rest of us will take care of the rest." Silver said.

"Fine…" Tommy said, looking between them and placing a hand on Twist's head.

The small white and red filly squeed happily, tackling Tommy hugging him.

Pop. Crack.

"Owe…" Tommy wheezed from.the small earth pony filly's hug.

Wow, she's small but really strong… huh, she actually looks a lot like Peppermint now that I think about it. Same coat and mane colors.

“Uh...you’re mom wouldn’t happen to be Peppermint would it Twist? Also I...think we need to get Tommy to a doctor...I actually heard him snap, crackle and popping…”

"Hm? Peppermint isn't my mom silly. She's my big sister, and Hope is my niece." Twist stated.

That makes sense… wait… does that mean Twist could grow up to be as big as Peppermint? Oh I might have just given my bro a death by snu snu in a few years… eh, he'll survive.

“Ah, alright.” I nodded. “Just making sure given the same color scheme for you and your big sister...uh...does being that big run in the family or something Twist?” I asked, honestly curious if Peppermint was just a special case for being really big or if it runs in the family.

"Yeah. At least for the fillies in the family, which is weird cause that only started happening with my grandma Cinnamon. Before that we were all pretty average sized, but since Grandma, my mom, sis and all my aunt's all got way bigger."

"This more of that magic stuff you talked about?" Tommy asked, still alive it seems.

“Just...don’t be surprised if she looks like Peppermint with glasses in two years.” I said sheepishly. “I’m sure you’ll enjoy it either way.”

“But...I like my hips…” Tommy said in aroused fear.

“I know you’ll work through it.” I chuckled, gently patting my little brother's head. “But glad to have worked that out...is there anyone else that you six think will tag along on this love train?”

"The other fillies in class are trying to figure out who they'll group with and which colt." Applebloom said.

“Alright.” I nodded. “But...how many others are there in your school? I only know about as much as Tommy tells me about his day.”

"Well, for our class there's five colts, and twenty five fillies. The other schools though I'm not sure."

"Other schools? Swore Cheerlie was the only teacher and school here." Gilda said

"Nah, she teaches you if you're nine to fourteen. Next year we all gotta move to the school in the town square so we know how to function in the adult world. Taxes, job applications, things of that nature for the last year before we're adults."

Wow… why the fuck didn't my world ever teach us that stuff? I'd have killed for a class on how to pay my taxes!

“You kids are very lucky.” I said. “Cause where me and Tommy come from...we don’t have ‘adulting’ classes as it were.”

"Why?"

“Because.” I answered.

"Our race was very retarded." Tommy said simply.

“But also really smart at times, like when we went to the moon for instance.” I shrugged. “Without magic.”

"That's not that impressive." Tommy replied.

“For this world yes it is.” I said honestly. “Plus I didn’t disagree that most of the people on earth are raging dipshits.”

After some more banter Tommy accepted his fate and the group of girls followed him around the rest of the day, but I ended up heading inside to speak with Twilight. I need to ask just how many people Pinkie invited into this herd.

“Twilight...how many people did Pinkie invite to mine and Gilda’s herd?” I asked Twilight, even though I am so ready to go home and crash I need answers.

"Well… I got an invite, so did Rarity and AJ, and Fluttershy… so the six of us I know for certain but not sure who else." Twilight said.

“Fluttershy joined in just so you know.” I brought up. “Me and her talked about it while she taught me how to wash my wings.”

"Oh, good. I've been thinking about it and I'm waiting for some advice from Cadence. I'm actually surprised she hasn't replied sooner. I've never actually given romance a thought before and…Well…"

"We didn't exactly have the best terms of a relationship last time." Gilda sighed.

"Yeah. I already know… what happened, but yeah, last time we interacted wasn't the best first impression."

“But it really wasn’t Gilda’s fault...they were under a lot of stress that no one was willing to listen to.” I pointed out. “Right now...we can make amends, fix a troubled start with a good one.”

"That's what I'm hoping to do… I was actually curious on what the griffon lands are like. I've never been and I've only ever read about it in history books."

"I guess I can talk about my old home, sure."

With that I took a nap In my bed here while Twilight and Gilda talked and made peace.

"Good, you're up." Tidus said as I woke up in Zanarkand. "What did you do? There was this grey Pyreflies that flew around the place for a while then into the hospital. It's unlocked now."

“A lot has happened since I was last here, please don’t get on my back about it right now.” I said worriedly. “If you need, check the graveyard...it’ll explain enough…” I muttered bitterly as I started walking towards the Hospital.

Once inside it I saw… tubes. Well, more like giant glass cases, filled with some liquid and a fiend inside each… and my Minotaur, Pony, Griffon forms too… creepy. "Well, this was remodeled." Tidus said.

“Uh...huh…” I blinked. “That’s… concerning.” I started. “Why the hell is this a thing?”

"Heck if I know, this is supposed to be the lobby." Tidus said, walking over to the Dingo display. He tapped the glass and it lit up into a circle.

“Oh?” I questioned, seeing the circle and looking to see what was in it.

Maximize Form Potential of Dingo.
45,000 Pyreflies required.
Current Pyreflies, 5,487,250

“Excuse me what?” I started. “Maximize form potential? And also christ that’s a lot of Pyreflies in me.”

"Maybe it's like upgrading gear?" Tidus suggested.

“That...would make sense.” I said while deciding to press the ‘okay’ button on maximizing Potential on the Dingo.

I looked at the Dingo form change. It's fur going from a matted blond color to a pure white, grew to be easily ten feet, claws looked like they were made from metal, same as the teeth, tail covered in barbs and an armored underside. "Yeah I'm Glad I never fought that Dingo." Tidus said.

“The actual hell.” I blinked several times at seeing that. “That’s...not a Dingo...the hell is that?” I asked while checking the things name, never seeing this thing before and only knowing the max it could go was Fenrir in the Monster Arena, but it was black and red, not pure white.

Maximum Dingo.
Nickname: Ethereal Dire Wolf

“An Ethereal Dire Wolf…” I started. “Also, Maximum Dingo? What, did it grow up from stealing baby’s to stealing mothers?”

"Probably." Tidus said.

“So...I have a shit ton of Pyreflies left, and bunch more races to max out...and then I have all the rest of the Fiends to capture and max out...and I still have no idea who or what those Grey and Black Pyreflies belonged to.”

"So, more questions. Sounds like your typically Monday "

“Sadly.” I sighed out. “Okay, so time to start maxing these things out...god this is gonna take a while.”

I spent about an hour maxing out all the forms and then testing them all out. Oddly enough the Equis forms, Griffon, Pony, ect, don't upgrade like the fiend ones do. While the fiend ones upgrade all to max at once the Equis ones increase speed, strength, things like that. Even my armored forms are here which is really cool.

“This is very interesting, and very cool.” I smiled at all the massive buffs.

With all that done I headed off to find Jecht. He's been practicing in the Blitzball Stadium since it opened and has rarely left. I got to watch him try out his moves and it was pretty cool.

When I finally woke up back on Equis it was night already. Getting up and heading down I saw Twilight and Gilda still talking, something about Griffonstone culture or something like that. "Hey Anna." Gilda said as I happily took a seat on their comfy lap. "Have a good nap." He asked while giving me a hug.ug.

“Well I certainly learned a bit from my sleep...like I can upgrade all my Fiend forms surprisingly.” I said honestly.

"How so?" Twilight asked.

“Well…” I started nervously, as I turned into Murussu given it was small enough that I wouldn’t break something. So about Murussu, it’s the same species as Raldo, but it was adapted to the cold and had ice covering it’s hide and crystal’s mostly growing from it’s back.

The Maximum Murussu is about Gilda's height, far more streamlined, fast, and still retains it's tank factor. Its nickname is called The Crystal Assassin.

"Damn." Gilda said.

“Yeah, gets rid of the slowness and short stature, for more speed, agility, and ice magic without sacrificing any of its durability.” I said happily. “Plus, with all that I did, I learned how to talk in Fiend form so yay.”

"That is amazing." Twilight said, looking my firm over. "Are you still capable of shifting into the earlier variation or is that not possible?"

“I don’t know actually.” I said as I focused and tried to turn into my unmaximum form.

I shrunk, finding myself in the normal form. Sadly in this form I still can't talk. Eh, should have guessed. I shifted back to human and sat down. "That's a lot of new tricks." Gilda said.

“Yes they are.” I said honestly. “And all it cost me was a few...million pyreflies.” I said nervously.

"You used Pyreflies to upgrade them? Hmm… well, that would make the most sense. Is there a limit to how many you can hold?" Twilight asked.

“I had close to five and a half million Pyreflies to spend...which I don’t remember getting that many but...I blame the Deer Kingdom…”

"That would explain the high number." Gilda nodded. "Plus that Rift we just closed had who knows how much in it."

"Well, that talk aside, would you two care to stay for dinner? It's pretty late, Spike and Tommy are both already asleep."

“Sorry for just...passing out on you two.” I said sheepishly. “Just...it’s been a trying day.”

"Heh, it's fine Anna. Gilda and I actually got along pretty well. Gilda taught me a lot about the modern griffon kingdoms and I taught him about the past."

"Still find it funny the father of all Griffons is Poseidon." Gilda laughed.

“I thought Poseidon was the father of all horses?” I asked curiously.

"Maybe on your world, but not here on Equis." Twilight said.

“I mean...myths back on earth are pretty wild sometimes.” I said sheepishly.

"Eh, gods can never keep their families in order." Gilda shrugged.

"So, about that dinner? I hope you two aren't opposed to a pot pie. No meat though." Twilight said a bit awkwardly.

“I’m starving, I can’t be picky.” I said honestly.

"Eh, I can make up the protein with breakfast." Gilda said.

The veggie pot pie was amazing. After that Gilda was ready to crash but I was still very much awake. Damn nap threw my sleep clock off.

"So, care if I crash on your bed here Anna?" Gilda asked.

"Umm…" Twilight started, gaining our attention. "I mean… you two can… sleep in mine. It's pretty big and… can be good practice for… since I decided I will… join…"

"Oh, heh, thanks Twilight." Gilda said, standing up and patting Twilight's head.

“I don’t know if we won’t…’have fun’ as it were, but probably crashing into a cuddle pile is probably gonna happen.”

"Let's save the adult fun with the others till after we've gotten to know them better. Night then you two." Gilda said as they headed off.

"N-night." Twilight said. Once Gilda was gone and upstairs she dropped her head against the table with enough force to shake all the dishes.

“You okay there Twilight?” I asked curiously.

"I invited a male… to my bed…" She raised her head up. "I know there's nothing… sexual going to happen, but I mean… I've never shared a bed with anyone before, let alone a male! And what if his…" She blushed. "Anna, how do you sleep in the same bed as Gilda, and please don't say it's naked."

“Have you ever slept with a stuffed animal?” I asked gently.

"... I've slept with a book but only cause I've passed out reading it…"

“You are just adorable.” I chuckled. “But it’s basically like that...but you’re the book in this scenario.”

"I have to sleep on Gilda's chest?!"

“Have you felt his chest? It’s like two wonderful fluffy pillows.” I sighed out dreamily. “But no...uh...have you ever had to have Spike sleep with you because of a nightmare or a thunderstorm or something? You said you raised him since he hatched right?” I asked.

"Yeah but Spike sleeps like a brick, especially when he was a baby. Only ever cried when he needed food or a diaper change."

“Looks like you’re going to need some first hand lesson’s in cuddling young lady.” I put a hand on her shoulder. “Cause cuddles are amazing.”

"Okay… I can do this." She said, taking a deep breath. "So… is there a book on it I can read or are we… jumping right into hands on learning." Saying that part about hands on turned her face from purple to red.

“Oh my god…” I muttered before picking up Twilight. “Come on you, stop being adorkable and let’s get to cuddling.” I said while carrying the cute librarian up to her room we’re all going to share.

"What, already, but I didn't study! I didn't get to practice!" She yelped, panicking now.

“We’re going to practice cuddles, and you don’t study hugging Twilight jeez.” I chuckled. “Please, just calm down. It’s not the end of the world ya dork.” I told her playfully.

We made it up to her room, Gilda was already under the sheets when I arrived. "What…?" Gilda asked, half asleep seeing my holding Twilight like a princess.

“It’s cuddle time.” I said playfully. “And we have an adorkable mare here who needs to learn about them.”

"Oh. Heh, toss her over then." Gilda said, pulling the sheet off to let me drop Twilight into Gilda's ready arms. Immediately he wrapped arms around her and pressed himself close against her.

Twilight was steaming from the contact and I climbed in too, pressing myself up against Twilight's front and wrapping arms around both her and onto Gilda. "This is cozy. Feels a little odd cuddling someone between you and I though but it's not bad." Gilda said.

“This does feel nice.” I said warmly. “Wonder how it’ll feel when we have everyone else join in.”

"Crowded I imagine." Gilda laughed. "That bed is gonna have to be custom made if we all plan on sleeping in the same bed."

“Well...it’s gonna be interesting and nice either way.” I said honestly. “So how do you like cuddling Twilight?”

Gilda and I looked down between us at the purple mare, who was unconscious. She fainted… that's hilarious. Gilda and I reflected that fact by chuckling softly. "Guess we should get some sleep. I'm tired and while you did nap, that pie was filling."

“Yeah, and sleeping with you is so much better than alone.” I said softly, moving a hand over and gently taking Gilda’s. “Love you Gilda.”

"Love you too Anna. Night."

“Night.” I smiled, cuddling up closer as I drifted off to wondrous sleep after a long day.

The next morning Gilda and I woke up to a blushing, bubbling Twilight and it was adorable. All morning she made little squeaks and eeps and it was just cute. She was somewhere between pure bliss and complete embarrassment. Might have something to do with Gilda's morning wood poking her in the butt and getting a face full of both of our fun bags squishing her face.

“So how was your first cuddle session Twilight?” I asked curiously.

"Aih… hehehe." Was her reply.

“Spike, uh...I think we broke her.” I said nervously to the young dragon cooking heavenly smelling breakfast.

"Probably. Twilight's typical idea of a good time and warm feelings involve tea, a long book and total silence. I guess you put her into a sensory overload and overdosed her with endorphins." Spike said casually. At least he seemed to be okay cooking the meat we got from that Rift with Twilight here not quite right in her mind.

“Yeah...that sounds about right.” I agreed. “But mind if I ask how good you are at cooking Spike? I normally cook my own food or had whatever the GoE made.” I said, never actually having seen or had Spike’s cooking.

"Celestia and Twilight Velvet actually taught me. I can survive off of pony food and gems fine but for my magic and fire to work I need more protein plants alone can't give. So they taught me to cook with meat and without. Apparently Velvet learned under a major griffon cook while she traveled to those lands in her youth and Celestia had a few friends with some Minotaur land chef's." Spike said.

“Sounds like we’ve got a professional in the house.” I chuckled.

"I had a lot of good teachers. And I'm glad Twilight is joining you guys in this herd, she deserves someone, or a lot of someones, she can love."

"You talk highly of her." Gilda said.

"I do owe Twilight my life." Spike said.

“I heard she hatched the little guy and got her Cutie Mark the same day.” I said honestly. “So Twilight would be Spike’s mother at that point.”

"Did way more than hatch me." Spike said, flipping the bacon over. "My egg was dead. Two thousand years ago I was laid, and never hatched. Too cold and I was frozen in ice, and when that melted I sunk in the mud and was fossilized. Twilight's magic surge revived me then hatched me."

"She actually brought you back from a dead egg?!" Gilda said, surprised.

"Celestia told me the story of my egg. You can ask her if you want more details."

“Jesus hell, Twilight’s a lot stronger than I thought.”

"Well, a unicorn surge is raw, uncontrolled magic from what Dash told me." Gilda said. "Typically the surge and what it does can reflect what the unicorn is best at when it comes to magic."

“And that’s reviving a dragon long since dead and hatched it all in one go?” I asked.

"Among other stuff. Transfiguration, transformation, thunderstorm, ect." Spike said.

“So is that why her special talent is just ‘magic’ from what I’ve been told?” I asked curiously.

"I guess." Spike shrugged.

"So when will she come down from her self intoxicated state?" Gilda asked, giving a poke to Twilight.

“I hope it’s soon. But do you have any ideas on how to fix this Spike?” I asked curiously.

"I have an idea…" Spike said thoughtfully. "Can one of you go get the book on the podium over in the library?"

“Uh, sure.” I said while getting up and heading to the book on the podium. “Wonder what book would be on a podium?”

Finding the book I picked it up and looked at the cover title. Archeology and You, A Beginners Guide To Digging Up The Past. Huh. I brought it over to Spike.

“So an Archeology book will help?” I asked curiously.

"Sorta." Spike opened the book, and then dogeared a page.

"Noooo!" Twilight was suddenly between spike and I, trying to undo the fold. "That will ruin the paper!"

"And she's back." Spike said with a shrug.

“Welcome back to the land of the living Twilight. How you feeling?” I asked teasingly.

"Annoyed. This crease isn't coming out. I have a spell for this somewh- Spike are you cooking bacon! I need some air!" With that, Twilight ran off.

Gilda gave a laugh. "Wow, and I thought Grandpa Gruff was a hound when it came to his bits."

“Well that solved that.” I chuckled. “But hooray for the majesty that is bacon.”

Once Breakfast was done Gilda and I headed back out again. "So, what's on today's agenda?" Gilda asked as we began heading for their apartment.

“I don’t know if we have work today.” I started. “Er...well because we’re freelance now...we could work whenever we want?” I questioned, not really sure how that’s gonna work.

“Yeah. That kind of work is common in the griffon lands. Basically whenever we close one of those rifts we show where it was on the map Discord gave us and file some paperwork and we leave with our pay once the boss clears it all. So, we have free time. At least until we decide to work.” Gilda laughed.

“Hooray! Lazy time!” I cheered happily. “Or dating time given we have so many other girls to talk to.”

"That would be the most proactive use of our time to be honest. Ten bits says Pinkie has a checklist for what order we should take… or She gave an invite to all her friends, maybe we should check on the last two. Rarity and Applejack, right?"

“Yeah, those are the last two.” I nodded. “Wonder what those two will think about dating us...even if in some cases I’d rather stay at home and snuggle the day away.”

"We can do that after. Plus for as long as you've been able to shift into a Griffon, you don't actually know what it means to be a griffon huh?"

“I...technically have the memories of the people I’ve absorbed but...I haven’t looked at any of them given...the Graveyard isn’t a good spot I’d go to normally…” I said nervously. “So how do I be a Griffon?”

"After we talk to those two, I'll school you." Gilda said.

With a nod we both walked our way to Rarity's shop. It was closed. Weird, she should be open at this hour, is she out or something?

I walked up and knocked on the front door. “Hello? Anyone home?” I called out, hoping there would be someone in there.

After a little bit, Sweetie Bell opened the door. "Hi Gilda, Hi Anna." She said. "What are you two doing here?"

“We came to talk to Rarity about some important things. Is she here?” I asked politely.

"Yeah. She's been muzzle deep in some new magazines she bought about… two days ago I think? She's in her room, you two are welcome to go in there."

“Oh boy, can’t wait to figure out what she’s looking at.” I chuckled. “Thanks Sweetie.”

Gilda and I headed up and into Rarity's room where. "Gah!" I yelped, getting a cuteness overload and massive arousal.

Gilda was a shade of red. The Magazines Gilda posed for. Rarity somehow got them all.

“Oh no…” I muttered nervously. “Where...where did you find these Rarity?”

"Hm?" She asked, looking through magazine with… woah… "oh, well when Pinkie Pie gave me an invite into your herd I wanted to do a little research, cause Gilda's name kept ringing a bell, so I made a few calls to a friend of mine who works in photography and they mailed me all these magazines. Gilda, you are quite the idol!"

“And that is a very touchy subject on Gilda’s past.” I started bluntly. “You could have at least asked first instead of just...doing this, even if I was to be giddy as hell talking about most of what Gilda wore.” I said nervously, blushing a little at some of Gilda’s memories on their idoldom.

"Actually, while it was annoying it wasn't that bad." Gilda said. "I was more embarrassed than anything."

“And I can see why considering you are absolutely adorable in some of those pictures.” I said honestly. “But...I didn’t want to assume you were all better considering...who was ‘helping’ you with those photos.”

Gilda sighed, shifting to a sorta self huffing pose. "I know. And I have to accept that Zer was a large part of my life, my past… While Zer did basically torment me, I did make my own fun. And I'd be lying if I said they were all bad, it was mostly that cat outfit I hated." Gilda said, knocking over a magazine showing off said outfit. "Seriously, we're already part cat, so why with the ears and paws?"

“Because the ears and paws make you look adorable.” I chuckled.

"Eh, they seem a bit much… so this is how many magazines I posed for?" Gilda asked as they looked around. "Wow… I did not get paid enough for this many magazines."

“And you look fantastic in all of them.” I said honestly as I casually picked up one of the magazines to see what Gilda was posed as.

Oh my! Lingerie! Woah…

"You're drooling babe." Gilda said.

“No I’m not!” I yelped as I quickly wiped away my drool. “I totally wasn’t drooling over you in lingerie…”

"Relax… I still have that outfit~" Gilda teased.

"Oh my." Rarity said with a blush matching mine. "Well, in any case, what brings you two here?"

“We wanted to ask you about joining the herd.” I said, a tad too quickly as I wanted to get away from the train of thought that was making me weak in the knees.

"Oh. Well, I was researching Gilda before I decided, but I will say yes on one condition."

"Being?" Gilda asked.

Rarity was suddenly right up in front of Gilda. "Model my clothes please!" She begged. "Your style, your body, your attitude is perfect! Your action shots for the GoE are wasted on you and your beauty."

“Jeez Rarity, while all those things are true, does modeling help you that much?” I asked curiously, wondering how much Gilda would be helping her business.

"Manikins can only display so much, especially when sending sample photographs. A proper model, aside from yours truly, I could publish my own fashion magazine."

“Sounds about right.” I shrugged. “So what do you think Gilda?”

"I mean… so long as I'm not the only one dressing up. That can work." Gilda said.

"Oh thank you!" Rarity said, giving Gilda a tight hug.

“Well...I hope I can compare to Gilda’s modeling if I ever have to help out with it.” I said in hope to help Gilda look amazing.

"Yeah, with some makeup Anna looks amazing. Course, even without it she's pretty damn hot." Gilda said to my pleasure and embarrassment.

"Well, if that's the case I really will be able to make my own magazine sooner than expected." Rarity said happily.

“Good to know.” I nodded. “Plus, another way for revenue is always good.”

"So, we should stop by later then?" Gilda asked.

"Next Monday should be fine." Rarity said. She then grinned at the both of us. "But a date Sunday night would be fabulous."

“That sounds great.” I nodded. “We’re gonna need to set up...a lot of dates the coming weeks.”

"I can imagine." Rarity said with a nod. "So, I'll be seeing you both Sunday night, eight?"

"That works." Gilda said.

“Works for me.” I said honestly. “Hopefully we don’t get interrupted before then.”

With that settled Gilda and I headed out for Sweet Apple Acres. "That went easier than expected." Gilda said.

“A lot easier than I thought.” I shrugged. “Albeit becoming models wasn’t entirely the first thought I would have had when dating Rarity, but if I see you in sexy outfits that’s a plus.” I chuckled.

"So that mean I get to see you in Lingerie too or just me tonight?"

“Uh...I’ve...never worn Lingerie…” I blushed brightly.

"Relax, I'm an expert in dressing in them." That made me blush brighter.

Making it to Sweet Apple Acres we were met by Granny Smith. I've never met her before in person, just heard about her. "Well I'll be damned, the young'uns who are getting my granddaughter inta a herd." She said. "Get in then."

“Oh, thank you ma’am.” I said politely. “You seem...rather happy about this.”

"Of course." She said, taking a seat over at the table she led us to. "I love my granddaughter but she's so focused on work she never makes time for herself, I had up and given up on her finding someone to love, then her Pink friend came by and gave her that herd invite. Happiest day of my life."

“Well, considering there’s only...what, three people to work the farm before my little brother came along, that might have at least been a reason.” I shrugged.

"Nah, it's not any of that. Applejack just has a workaholic complex. Can't relax even when she's asleep, counts apples in her dreams."

“Sounds about right.” I said honestly. “So where’s AJ right now?”

"Let me guess, working?" Gilda asked.

Granny Smith nodded. "Eyup. She already told me she's join, but as expected she's too busy working herself to death to inform any pony else. It's why I have a favor to ask of you two."

"Kidnap her and try to make her relax for more than five seconds?" I joked.

"That's plan B." She said, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a folded paper. She then gave it to us. "That there is a joint ownership document. So long as you two have it, you're half owners of the farm. Use that authority to do what Applejack is too proud to do, and hire help. This farm was meant to be run by a minimum of thirty ponies, and Big mac, Applebloom and AJ have been splitting that workload, AJ taking on most of it out of pride and stubbornness. I've tried hiring folks before but she always finds a way t'a either make them quit or hides the resumes from me."

"Definitely a workaholic. And after she's basically been replaced in terms of the farm's labor?" Gilda asked.

"Date her, marry her then have some kids with her." Granny said with a laugh. "Trust me, that would be a perfect retirement for her."

"Gonna need to learn Equestrian Labor laws first." I sighed out. "But we'll try, I know my little brother wouldn't mind the work given he doesn't have much to do besides school." I said honestly. "Or if fourteen years olds aren't allowed to work…"

"Maybe, but good luck. AJ won't be happy about this, but it's fer her own good. She needs a life. As for your brother we can't hire him til he's sixteen."

"She can argue all she wants, not our problem she's damn near working herself to death." I frowned. "Oh, also, you do the bookkeeping? Like all the finance and supply checking? I kind of doubt AJ would also do that while busy on the trees."."

"Big Mac and I, yes. Why?"

"Just checking." I said honestly. "Cause we're also going to need to know all that to see if hiring help won't start hurting the farm more than helping." and more."

"Fair enough."

"Looks like we got a lot to cover. Heh, I'm surprised Pinkie didn't invite Big Mac to our herd." Gilda said.

"She did but he denied." Granny shrugged.

“That’s fair.” I shrugged. “Don’t expect everyone to join.”

"Yeah, and I don't worry about Mac, he can get himself a life whenever he wishes, and hopefully once the farm gets help he can. Used to be so smooth with the fillies when he was younger so I'm not worried about his love life." Granny said with a laugh.

“Honestly surprised he doesn’t already have a herd himself to be honest.” I shrugged.

"Put the family and the farm first, not to the degree of AJ but at least he keeps a social life going."

"Heh, sounds like Big Mac has his life together." Gilda said.

"Well, you can come back later to check the paperwork. Big Mac and I can walk you through the fancy numbers and all that."

“Alright, we might as well go find AJ if she’s not busy doing ten times the amount of work she’s supposed to.” I said simply.

"She is." Granny sighed. "You can come by after seven, she should be done by then. Can even whip up some dinner for you two."

“That would be nice.” I nodded. “Uh...what time is it?” I asked, not really knowing what time it is at the moment.

"It's about five by now. So still two hours away."

"We can kill two hours easily." Gilda said. "Gives me time to teach Anna about being a Griffon if she's gonna be shapeshifting into one a lot of the time."

“That’s good.” I nodded. “Can’t wait to learn about griffons from the best griffon in the world.” I said happily.

]

With a goodbye to Granny Smith we left for the Everfree, Gilda said it would be the best place for us to start. Once there I shifted into my Griffon form. "Alright, so first up, what can you tell me about being a griffon?" Gilda asked me.

"Well…" I started. "Not much besides what earth history has on them. Either them being great protectors and symbols of strength, greedy assholes that hate horses...or something else that I can't remember."

"A bit of both really." Gilda said with a laugh. "As you can guess our earliest ancestors were children of Zeus with an eagle. He took the form of a lion at the time and tada, griffons. Being related to two top tier predators, our instincts are above those of most other races. Take a deep breath and tell me, what do you smell?"

I sniffed the air, taking in the farm land. "I smell a lot, the trees, the...ripeness of apples what?" I blinked in surprise. "That's weird...also jesus AJ needs a shower." I wrinkled my nose at that.

Gilda chuckled at that. "You learn to block some scents out. But take a deeper breath, process all the smells and see if you can link them to scents you didn't even know you could pick up before."

"Alright…" I nodded while taking another deep breath, trying to see all the new smells I wouldn't normally know.

… I smell… Water, at least a mile away… brews… magic brews. Zecora must be making something. A squirrel that ran up a tree… and down again… it's faint, kinda old… maybe a day?

"How can I tell what people and animals are doing by smell alone?" I asked, honestly shocked at how detailed this was.

"Think of it like a memory of the air when something walks through it. With our advanced sense of smell we can process when And where someone or something went and for how long. A lot like a dog's sense of smell actually."

“Except this seems a lot better than a goddamn Bloodhounds sense of smell.” I said honestly. “I mean jeez...this would be amazing for tracking stuff.”

"Which brings me to our next lesson. Tracking. There's a wild boar we can make all kinds of yummy from." He sidestepped a tree he was next to. Scratches were all along the lower end of it. "It dug for truffles here, catch it's scent and go hunt it."

I nodded and stepped towards the tree, trying to catch the scent of what scratched the tree as I looked to see if there was any other signs it was here, like smushed grass or moved soil.

I caught the whiff of… pork. Live pork. My mind filled with images of this boar digging up truffles, eating then running off. Without thinking I followed the mental map my brain built from scent. It stopped at this pond to drink then… this way. I was flying now. My eyes stayed closed but I could perfectly see the surrounding thanks to my head and nose working to build a map of the area. Finally I smelled the boar strongest…

I opened my eyes, seeing the boar below me, unaware as it ate at a blueberry bush.

"Good job." Gilda said, flying up to me quietly. "Normally a hatchling can't pick that up til they're ten, you mastered it in seconds."

“It felt...so natural…” I said quietly, keeping my voice low so the boar didn’t hear us but Gilda could. “Like...a mental map appeared in my head…”

Gilda nodded. "Yeah. So, care for the next lesson or you think you got it?" Gilda asked, flashing their talons.

“I think I got it.” I said, preparing my talons as I flapped up a little more before diving down like a bullet.

In a rapid eye blink I had both talons all the way down into the boar. It roared and tried to bite at me, and on instinct I did something That surprised me. I slammed my beak right Into its head. It fell limp as blood and brain matter hit my tongue…

It was… good. I've tasted blood before my own from a cut, but this was… different. More intense like a strong wine that told me this Boar's state of health. It was a strong healthy male, good breeding. The brain matter was like a meaty jelly slime that was like candy.

“Huh…” I started. “This...tastes good...not as good as cooked, not by a long shot, but still…”

"That's a Predator's taste buds, but don't indulge them too much. Eating too much raw meat can be unhealthy. Physically and mentally."

“Yeah, I can imagine.” I said honestly.

I got up, cleaning off the blood from my beak and feathers. Gilda brought out a knife and began skinning, cutting and cutting the boar up. "You did surprisingly well Anna. You're a natural."

“Well...I suppose I also absorb their experience?” I asked nervously, not sure why this felt so natural to me.

"Maybe." Gilda said the boar now just sliced up meat he placed in the bag of holding. Thankfully nothing food related goes bad while it's in their so it works out. "Well, that went by faster than I expected. Onto a new lesson then. How good are you at swimming?"

"I know how to swim if that means anything." I said simply. "Also helped teach Tommy how to swim."

"Good. Now, remember when I dive bombed into a lake and came out with lots of fish? That's your next lesson. Learning how surprisingly hydrodynamic Griffons are."

“You just want to see me naked don’t you?” I teased, knowing my clothes will get wet enough that I’d need to take them all off.

"I'd be lying if I said the thought didn't cross my mind, but that's just a bonus." Gilda said with a laugh. "If it helps, I'll be naked too~"

"Things are gonna get pretty steamy with our hunting." I giggled happily.

We flew back over to that pond from before and once we both were nude Gilda flew me up above the water some feet. "They key with this one is your eyes, but once in the water, it's a different ball park." Gilda explained as I tried really hard not to look down and keep eye contact with him. "Once below the water you'll be relying on your hearing."

"Wouldn't my ears not fully work underwater?" I asked curiously. "Given water would be rushing into my ears?"

"Maybe for your human form, but griffon ears are built differently. They have a thin but strong cover over the drum that we can use to hear sounds underwater. By using our beaks to make clicks and taps, we can emulate sea animals that use echolocation. Same applies when in the dark."

“I thought we were half lion half eagle, not half those and half dolphin and bat?” I joked a little.

"Heh, yeah it's a lot but when you grow up doing this it's not that big of a deal. Now then, eyes at the water, look for a fish."

I nodded while turning around and looking at the lake instead of looking straight down cause something just as big as the fish I’m hunting would distract me a lot.

Looking at the water my eyes first spotted our reflections. A blushed but focusing more the reflections seemed to fade away, as it removing layers of the water til I spotted the first fish. Then another, and another, all the way to the bottom of the pond where I saw turtles, moss and such all down there. Woah…

"That is actually one of a Griffons magical abilities. Earth ponies make plants grow, Pegasus controls weather, unicorns have sorcery, Griffons see, smell, taste and hear on a level that makes us a top predator."

"That's great." I said honestly. "This is really cool." I said as I enjoyed the sights that was not Gilda's reflection.

"No, find your target, ready your claws, take a deep breath, and fly right at it."

"Alright." I nodded as I looked back to the lake, seeing a particularly good sized fish. "We're gonna be eating good tonight." I smiled as I took a deep breath and dived down like lightning towards the fish.

In a flash I was in the water, the fish stuck on my talons like large hooks as it bled out. I could… hear the other fish, swimming around, the turtles under me walk along the bottom and swim around. It was amazing. Instinctually I flapped my wings, rocketing myself up and emerging from the water and back into the air.

"Amazing!" I said happily, holding up the fish I caught in triumph.

Gilda laughed. "Guess given you've never been a griffon before, it would be."

"Being a Griffin is really cool." I said happily.

"Well, let's get that fish in your bag and get our clothes back on."

"Uh...yeah…" I said, still trying not to stare at Gilda's junk and blushing brighter.

Gilda just laughed as we flew down and got redressed. Once we were and the fish was put away we still had an hour to kill. "Well that went by much quicker than expected." Gilda said as now we just sat around the pond.

"Sorry, didn't expect to be so natural at it." I said sheepishly.

"It's alright. So, since we got time to kill what else was on that cargo ship? I know you put a lot of stuff in your bag while we were on it and not all of it was food."

"Hmm…" I started while pulling out my bag of holding and searching through that cargo container to see what else was there.

Let's see here… first non food item out is
… a machete. It was sealed in a plastic package with a sleeve for it too.

"Uh...huh, that's weird." I said nervously. "Don't know why this was the first thing there."

“Eh, either way.” Gilda said, taking the packaged tool/weapon and using a claw to cut it open. “Huh, pretty light.”

"Well, that's what a machete is, light and made for cutting." I said honestly .

“Not bad.” Gilda says, giving it a few swings. “Can I keep it?”

"You can if you want." I shrugged while digging into the bag again to find something else that isn't good or drinks.

As Gilda put the machete away I pulled out… Shampoo? Oh wow and this brand is expensive! Next to come out was notebooks. Huh, was this going to a Walmart or something? Actually that would make sense. Hmm… Okay, are you in here and yup, Walmart brand soda. That explains a lot.

“So how much do you think you got in there anyway?” Gilda asked.

“Price tag wise?” I asked curiously. “Or something else? Cause the cargo container we got was actually filled with stuff being sent to a pretty big supermarket chain back on my world.”

“I mean in terms of quantity. Cause I know those metal crates held a lot, I’m just wondering is all.”

“It...depends, but with the size of the container it would fit at least a few...tens of thousands of pounds of stuff.” I said sheepishly.

“Damn. Your world made a lot of stuff didn’t it?”

“Anything we could with the resources we had.” I said honestly. “Sadly...money blinds people easily…”

“Yeah that’s true anywhere.” Gilda sighed. “So, any other weapons besides the blades?”

Hmm… Well, depending on the walmart…

“Well…” I started as I started to dig deeper. “Depending on the Walmart there...could be more…”

Let’s see, bow and arrows, pellet guns, slingshots, hatchet, a shotgun… oh fuck!

“Is that one of the Machina guns?” Gilda asked, looking the twenty gauge shotgun in my hands over.

“Except if it wasn’t built from scrap metal.” I said nervously while taking the gun away from Gilda. “Like...this is a Shotgun, it’s made for hunting anything from birds, to full grown animals like deer, bears, and the like.” I said honestly while looking over the thing carefully.

“This one of those ‘don’t let Blueballs get his hands on it at all costs’ things?”

“Kind of yeah.” I said honestly. “While the Machina guns can shoot magic out...this shoots hot lead at basically the speed of sound. I know you can heal cuts, and magical damage...but how does hot lead punching a bigger hole out of you from it’s exit wound sound?”

“Kinda like a handheld cannon.” Gilda sighed. “Which is what I imagine that is, more or less. You’re home… your race knew war huh?”

“When this is used for small game and practice, while a twelve gauge is used for bigger and stronger things...but human’s know war too well...they even know world wars.” I sighed out sadly.

“Sounds like stories I heard about when the God’s enter wars against monsters. Did you fight Monsters… or each other?”

“Each other…” I sighed out. “And I don’t know how bad God’s fighting wars against monsters are...but humans have killed hundreds of millions of each other for reasons ranging from petty as shit like bananas, not joking, to actually important things, like gaining independence from a bunch of assholes or stopping literal world domination because some douche bag doesn’t like a group of people.”

“Huh. I know some of the races have been at war before, Griffons against Lions, the three tribes of ponies, but casualties were never that high.”

“That’s why I told Blueblood he doesn’t know much about this...cause when one war equaled seventy million people dying…” I shuddered. “That’s why I don’t want war happening in this world...it’s too clean...it’s too happy for any of that…” I said sadly, not wanting to lose this world to that horrid crap.

“Tell that to ‘father’.” Gilda sighed. “Hopefully once he’s gone, whatever he is, this will all calm down.”

“Yeah...it’ll all calm down.” I said as I hugged Gilda. “And we’ll raise our kids in peace.”

“Heh, guess we better start practicing safe sex til then. Would suck to have kids while the world is at war.”

“I hope there’s a contraceptive spell, cause I don’t want plastic to get in the way of our fun times.” I said honestly.

“Well, we could also give anal a try.”

I gulped… I have no idea if it will stretch that big… maybe my Minotaur form but the other’s…

“I uh...would it even fit back there?” I asked nervously, curling my tail up around that sensitive area.

“Talking from experience… it gets easier over time.” Gilda said, laughing at my blush.

“Well...let’s hope so.” I said honestly. “But we’re going to be starting with my Minotaur form cause...that’s the one I know for a fact can fit all of it.” I said sheepishly.

Gilda just laughed again. “Fair enough. Guess that would also be different, you’d be taller than me for a while.”

“And a lot...plumper in area’s.” I blushed brighter at remembering how big I am in my Minotaur form.

Gilda just rolled their eyes. “Stars help us if you get your hands on body enhancement potions.”

“You know you’ll love it.” I teased.

“While true, just try not to turn yourself into a bimbo bod, pretty sure Caramel would take offence.”

“There’s no way in hell I would go that far.” I said honestly. “And Caramel...jeez, why is his female form so big?” I huffed.

“Eh, it varies from person to person. You… already know that it basically only changes what’s between my legs for me, for others it alters them to appear as they would if they were born that way. Might be that whole magic altering the generations to rebalance the genders amplified a bit, guess Twilight would know better.”

“Maybe, but we’ll ask her later.” I shrugged.

“Yeah.” Gilda said, looking up at the sky. “Still about thirty minutes to kill. Should start heading back. If we walk and walk it will better kill time.”

“Sure.” I nodded. “Haven’t really been walking much because flight is a lot better.”

With a nod Gilda and I started heading off. For a while we just enjoyed the sounds and smells. It was nice, peaceful. “Anna.” Gilda started.

“Yeah Gilda?” I asked curiously. “What’s up?”

"Is it okay if we try that tonight? Ya know, back door stuff."

"Sure, I don't see why not." I said honestly. "As long as it's you Gilda." I said lovingly and giving them a quick nuzzle.

"I'll make it special. Promise."

I smiled. "Can't wait." I said happily. "Now, where's our work pony?"

"If what Granny Smith said is true, probably blowing a fuse about now." Gilda said with a laugh. "And they say Dragons are prideful."

"If she learned about what happened." I shrugged. "But let's go see if she didn't accidentally table flip the entire house."

We got back to the apple family home and saw AJ sitting on the couch. She had that million mile stare you get when you hear news that breaks your brain. "How long has she been like that?" Gilda asked.

"About ten minutes." Applebloom answered, poking her immobile sister. "Granny told her the news, and while Big Mac and I were happy and began planning some actual fun with the soon to acquire free time, AJ just kinda… shut down."

"Are...are you serious?" I blinked. "Her life is so revolved around work, being told 'no' makes her break?"

"Considering she's worked the farm since she was younger than AB, it's not that surprising." Big Mac said with a chuckle. "Working the farm is all she knows, all she's done. Yeah she makes time for her friends, goes with them when there's some threat and even helps with that GoE business, but she always comes back to the farm and works."

“That’s...a little sad to be honest.” I said nervously.

"Eyup." Big Mac said with a nod.

"She's just being silly." Granny Smith said as she came into the living room with a plate full of glassed iced tea. "I've told her this farm needs at least thirty ponies to be run properly but she never listened. Honestly, we never needed help like this before because we had thirty ponies working the farm back in my youth."

"You did?" Applebloom asked.

"Eyup. I grew up in a herd. I had seven mothers and two father's, fifteen sisters and twelve brothers."

"No wonder we have so many cousins." Big Mac chuckled.

“Damn.” I said in surprise. “Quite a family you got there.” I said while taking a step towards AJ and starting to poke her along with AB. “Yo, Applejack, you there?”

No response.

"Eyup. And when I grew up me and a few of my sister's made a herd with a nice stallion who was your grandfather. It was just myself, my two sisters and him. Never had as many kids as my ma and pa, but we were family. Sadly though as time passed the kids, save for your father, left to pursue their dreams and talents. My sister's passed and so did my husband. My other siblings did too." She said, her smile falling to a sad frown. "I'm the last of two herds, last of the herd I was born into and last of a herd I was in. I even outlived my own son and daughter in law."

“Jeez...that sounds really sad…” I said bitterly.

"Was worse for Big Mac and Applejack."

Big Mac nodded. "When Ma and Pa passed, AJ and I had to do all the work. Granny did what she could but Applebloom was barely a year old, so AJ and I did all the work, and missed some days of school too. Was hard but we got by."

"What… happened, to your parents I mean?" Gilda asked.

Big Mac took a deep breath. "Honestly. No idea. They left on a delivery to Drift Water. Swamp town, they've done it a lot before, I even went with them once, but they just… never came back. Town sheriff and the store owner who ordered the apples said they never even arrived in town, just that their wagon was found abandoned. No sign of them, just a cart full of apples."

“Is...there any legends about the surrounding area?” I asked curiously. “Like some swamp monsters or something along those lines?”

"No. It's a well used pathway. Still used to this day." Big Mac said with a shake of his head. "That's what makes it even more strange."

"Well...looks like we got a mystery on our hands." I said honestly.

"Think you can find something the police and royal guard couldn't?"

"There's a lot of things I wish weren't found right now all things considered." I sighed out. "But it's worth a shot...and even if I don't find the bodies...if they had Pyreflies for whatever reason...I can at least get their last thoughts and prayers."

“Well, if you find anything that would be nice.” Granny Smith said. “So anyone here got any ideas on how to snap AJ out of that?”

“Um…” I started as I just decided to grab her breast and give a little squeeze, wondering if that’ll snap her out of it.

Nope, but damn that’s firm. “Just don’t go between the legs while Applebloom’s here.” Big Mac said.

“I wasn’t planning on that, but kind of expected something to happen.” I frowned. “Uh...hey, want a job?” I asked AJ nervously.

Still nope. Huh…

“Oh, let me try.” Applebloom said. “Hey AJ, I found a pear in your bedroom.” Still nothing. “Huh, that usually gets a rouse out of her.”

Big Mac Shrugged, knocking her hat off. Still nothing. “Wow, she’s really busted up in there.”

“Anyone know how to knock her out? I’m gonna need to go dream hopping again to help another person.” I frowned.

“I got it.” Granny Smith- THUNK! I jumped when I saw Granny Smith produce a cast iron pan and whack Applejack on the back of her head. The mare in question immediately went limp and fell over snoring. “What?” She asked as I just stared at her.

“Uh...is she gonna be okay given you just clocked her upside the head that hard with cast iron?” I asked nervously. “I mean...she might have a brick instead of a skull for how stubborn she is but damn lady.”

“She’ll be fine, it’s not the first time I’ve had to use the old frying pan on her noggin when she’s having a freak out.”

“Well...alrighty then.” I nodded as I put my hand on the unconscious Applejack. “It might take me awhile, but just gonna take a quick nap and make sure our Workaholic here doesn’t have some deeper rooted issues than just ‘work is my life’.”

“On it!” Granny- No wait!

Ouch… Ow… ow… Fuck she hit’s hard. I woke back up in Zanarkand with the mother of the mother of all headaches and slightly dizzy.

“Christ that fucking hurts…” I groaned in pain. “Damn Granny Smith…” I grumbled as I rubbed my head. “Okay...so onto the train station to find AJ’s mental state…”

As I shook off the dizzy and headed out I ran into Jecht. “The hell, was that an earthquake? Er, Annaquake?” He asked, looking like he was tossed around a bit.

“Don’t worry...just got hit really hard upside the head by a grandmother with a cast iron frying pan.” I said, still holding a hand up to my head. “I didn’t want that to happen but it did...fuck that hurt…”

“Damn. Guess that makes some sense. So, where you headed?”

“To another person’s head.” I said honestly. “Such an absolute workaholic that the moment she was told she doesn’t need to work so much she kind of...shut off.”

That made Jecht laugh. "Wow, she sounds kinda sad."

“I mean...considering she’s been working her ass off since she was a child and...ever since her parent’s magically disappeared…” I said nervously.

"Ah. Still, sad. Well, good luck with that. I'm gonna go find Tidus and make sure he's alright."

“Hopefully he’s alright after that.” I said nervously. “Well have fun making sure nothing broke, I’m off.” I said while jogging off to the train station.

I headed over there and once I was out in the dream realm found AJ's door. It was a barn door. Makes sense. I walked in and unlike with Gilda's mindscape I was immediately someplace. The farm, as expected, and look, there's AJ working… and there's AJ in a fancy dress looking fine as hell at a selling cart… and a sad looking young AJ… and an AJ hiding behind a tree… naked… looking very… needy… the actual hell?

“Okay AJ, the hell is going on?” I called out to all the AJ’s, not knowing if this is some metaphor for multiple personalities or if she’s really mentally scarred.

The one at the seller booth called me over. "Hello Anna." Southern belle voice… damn! "Sorry for the mess, as you can see Darling I'm quite… not well processing the news Granny gave me."

“Seems less ‘not well processing’ and more ‘my brain shattered’.” I said nervously.

"Sweetie, please. A mind is more than just one representation. We are all Applejack, but we all represent her different traits. You know Workaholic AJ over there." She pointed at the AJ who was kicking the apples off the tree… the same tree that gave neverending apples with each kick. "And over there is our Inner Child." She motioned to the sad child. "And there's our Physical needs and desires." She pointed to the AJ naked behind a tree with a bad case of bedroom eyes. "And I am our femininity. The least suppressed of us all, second to the busy bee head trait there."

“Alright, so right now I’m here to make sure you don’t just end up comatose because worker bee over there can’t take a chill pill.” I said while pointing my thumb at the worker AJ.

"She's been the head trait for years darling, are you that surprised that now she's retiring that title we couldn't decide who will take over next? Yes we share and switch off and on as needed, but a head trait is what defines someone. We just need a new head trait and everything will settle itself afterwards."

“Then why the hell did I do this once before and Gilda only had the one being?” I asked bluntly. “This...seems like a personality problem rather than a ‘head trait’ thing from my point of view.”

"Because darling, Gilda went into hiding inside themselves. All their traits and emotions, personality, came together in a collective desire to hide. One thought, one goal, so there was just the one Gilda."

“So anyways, how the hell do I help get AJ back to being a functional person and not a vegetable?” I asked, still finding it weird how there’s multiple persona’s of AJ here but just letting it slide cause I don’t know much about magical pony psyche’s.

"Like I said darling, with Workaholic retiring/taking the back seat, a new head trait is needed."

“So any of you have an idea as to who might lead?” I asked curiously.

"That's what led us here. We'd all like the spot but it was a rush. You see, we were actually quite happy, and so we rushed, then Pride blew a fuse and, well, you saw what happened. While we'd all like a chance for the head trait, frankly I think none of us are actually qualified for it. We'd change how AJ interacts with the world outside too much."

“And this is why I think there’s a deeper problem here than just AJ being a workaholic.” I frowned. “I don’t know much about psychology, but what I do know is that this...seems more like you’re all separate personalities.” I said. “You’re all AJ, I agree...but you’re all separate with wildly different personalities...god I wish Luna were here to help explain this…” I groaned as the headache I had earlier is flaring up because of this confusing thing.

"I don't understand it fully either, be us representations of her traits or just parts of her personality as a whole, hard to say. Perhaps one of the others can be of better help? Though… be warey of Desires there, she hasn't looked away from you this whole conversation."

“Trust me, I noticed.” I said honestly. “But who should I talk to first in your opinion?”

"Well, Child knows most all of the traits, same as Pride and Worker, but I guess I'd start with Worker given she was the head trait for so long."

“Right...the one that might be a tad pissed at me…” I said sheepishly. “Good place to start.”

With a deep breath and a sigh I walked over to Workaholic. When I got next to her she turned her head to look at me. "Well howdy Anna." She greeted me warmly.

“You seem...a lot happier than I thought to see me.” I said sheepishly. “But how are you doing?”

"Good. Like the tree?" She asked, kicking it as more apples fell from it. "Never ends. Always some work. Figured it's a good way to pass the time now that I'm not gonna be the head trait anymore."

“Alright, so were you once a whole person at one point?” I asked honestly.

"We are a whole person Anna, we're just representations of Applejack's traits given a form and personality that you can interact with while in our head."

“Alright, that makes...a bit more sense with more knowledge.” I nodded. “So anyways, who would be a good ‘head trait’ at this point?”

"Anyone who can help keep Pride under control. Honestly, I know it's not nice to talk bad about yourself, but Pride can be a real bitch at times. Caused more trouble than it was ever worth for us most of the time and is so bossy. Only other trait able to keep her in check aside from me was Ma, and she ain't been around that much since Applebloom turned ten."

“Uh...huh…” I started. “Where was the last place she was seen?”

"Pretty sure she hangs around the eastern part of the orchard, hanging out with our memories. Poor thing, misses the days when Bloom was a little baby. Can't say I blame her, Bloom was so cute."

“So...she wants to be a mother?” I asked honestly.

"Well she ain't called Ma for nothin. Came around after, well, after our Ma and Pa vanished. We needed to care for Applebloom, so we stepped up and Ma came into existence here. Got along well with all of us, even pride, butted heads with Sister a lot but that's to be expected. We're Bloom's sister, but we raised her like our daughter, so those two conflicted a lot."

“Right…” I said nervously. “Well...AJ agreed to be apart of Gilda’s herd so that’s a plus.”

"Oh yeah, we did agree to that didn't we? Well, best go get her over here then, odds are she'll be back in the saddle again soon. Especially if Desires takes controls for a spell." She chuckled.

“Thank you, should I get any second opinions before I go and find Ma?” I inquired to the work horse.

"Well, you can ask Child for any, but she ain't much of a talker. Not since Mom and Dad vanished. Rarely smiles anymore either. Darn shame too."

“Oh yeah, I was also going to bring up that I’m going to be looking for your parents.” I said honestly.

"I know, we heard. Might not have been responding but we heard."

“Honestly expected at least one of you to at least scream ‘what’.” I said honestly.

"I mean, Surprise sure did." She chuckled, kicking the tree again to make more apples fall. "But, yeah, Ma should be in the eastern part of the orchard. Just walk east from here til ya see her, can't miss her. Looks like, well, us but her hair is all poofy."

“Cute.” I chuckled. “Thank you, and I shall be back with a Milf…” I trailed off with what I just said. “Uh...didn’t...mean for it to come out like that.”

"Nah, give it a year, that'll be true."

“Oh yeah.” I chuckled. “Gilda will make sure of that.”

"Don't count yourself out of that either partner. I know them unicorns have spells that can make ya the father of a baby, and I'll bet you anything Twi knows it."

“I mean…” I blushed brightly at the thought. “Don’t...don’t give me more ideas, darn it.” I huffed as steam puffed out of my head as the steamy thoughts tried to rush on in.

"Yeah~ that's my job." I went stiff as a pair off hands grabbed my knockers from behind, and a pair of firm, shirtless, braless ones pressed into my back as a very lusty AJ began nibbling at my ear… oh damn that feels amazing~

“Whoa there, don’t get frisky here.” I said, even though it felt amazing I needed to help AJ.

"Why not?" She asked, still groping me and began moving a hand down my tors- OH!

“Whoa whoa hold up.” I said quickly, grabbing the wandering hand quickly. “N-need to...help a herd mate first...I haven’t even taken you on a date…”

"I'm the pure physical needs and desires baby, dates are for the emotions." She cooed at me, then received a punch to the face by Workaholic AJ, knocking the horny AJ flat on her back.

"You best get before she gets back up. But yeah, she's that bad cause she's been largely repressed all our life. Well, since we got our first heat anyway."

“Oh boy…” I started nervously. “Yeah I’m just...gonna go…” I said before bolting to the east end of the orchard really quickly.

Once the barn and house were well out of sight I slowed down to a jog. Christ AJ is gonna be something akin to Twilight come the time we're all ready for sex.

As I jogged along I spotted another AJ. No poofy hair but she was sleeping under a tree.

“Probably her laziness or something…” I muttered as I walked over and walked over, kneeling down and softly shaking the sleeping person. “Yo.”

"Hm?" The sleeping AJ said, eyes opening, looking quite relaxed as they saw me. "Howdy Anna. What brings ya this far into the orchard?"

“You know, looking for Ma to get AJ to stop acting like it’s the end of the world.” I shrugged.

"Ah. Saw her a bit ago." She yawned. "Went that way." She pointed a bit north east. "Went right for The Pitt."

“Uh...why do you have something called ‘The Pitt’ here?” I asked nervously.

"It's where we toss memories we'd rather forget. Like seeing Granny naked in the shower, walking in on Big Mac giving himself a wank, a pear in Applebloom's trash. Things like that."

“What’s the deal with Pears?” I asked in confusion.

"Used to be a pear farm next to ours. Farmers moved away before we were born, Granny just kept the rivalry alive I guess."

“How soon before you were born?” I asked carefully, finding that a tad convenient a rival farm moved just before they were born.

"About… five years before Big Mac came along I believe, not too sure. Granny doesn't like talkin about it."

“Hmm…” I started. “I have an idea...but I don’t know if it’s true…” I muttered. “So anyways, which way is the pitt?”

"North east, maybe a mile distance? Can't miss it, big hole in the ground."

“That sounds like the start of a joke...but I don’t know why…” I muttered to myself. “Well, thank you my laid back friend.”

"You're welcome." She said.

With that I rushed off, finding The Pitt, it was indeed a big hole in the ground, and Ma, a poofy haired… AJ? She looks like AJ, same face and body, same mane color but her coat color was a more… tan white I guess? Well, eh. Colors are hard. She wore a nice and simple long blue blouse. She sat by a tree, looking at a glowing white orb I almost mistook for a Pyrefly, but it's core glowed out with a rainbow of colors.

“Hello?” I asked carefully. “Also...you’re actually AJ’s mother huh?”

She looked up at me, smiled but shook her head. "Based on her. When I was made, we only knew how to be a mother from watching mom. So, my foundation was based around her. Hence why look more like her than the other traits."

“Alright.” I nodded. “So AJ kind of...broke, and we need your help and what is in that orb?”

"Memories. Of Applebloom, bathing, changing, feeding her. I owe my existence to her. It's only fair I carry them with me. But, she's grown up. Making her own herd. She's not a baby, nor much of a child either. Heh, most of the time. It's why I was so happy when we decided to join in on your herd, finally, I could have purpose again."

“Then why are you at the pitt?” I asked the blatantly obvious.

"Take a look. It's the top most memory right now. I always make sure it is."

Confused, I carefully walked over to the Pitt, looking in. Dozens of white, rainbow orbs floating about til one began playing.

"Another one?" A young Applejack asked.

"Yes Applejack, I'm pregnant again. I know it's soon, but I promised your Granny a family that can run this farm like her old herd did, and I plan on keeping it.

I looked back over at Ma. "She told us that a few days before she and dad left and never came back. Applebloom is a big sister, or was going to be."

“Oh no…” I muttered sadly. “So...good thing I’m going to go find her then.”

"It's been twelve years. I'm not sure how much there is to find."

“There has to be something, people don’t just disappear without rhyme or reason.” I said honestly.

"Maybe. So, I guess we'll head off then?"

“Yes.” I nodded. “And trust me...I’ll find your parents, and however many siblings you have gotten wherever they went. Cause I’m certain they're still alive, and you have a wonderful family in waiting.”

“One can hope, sugarcube.”

“True.” I shrugged. “Now come on, you need to help get AJ back to functioning like a normal person again.”

“Heh, fair enough.” She said, getting back up and the two of us walked back.

Waking up, my headache hurt TWENTY times worse… ouch… fuck… Oh thank god for that ice pack~ “You fix AJ?” Gilda’s low, gentile voice asked.

“Maybe...also go to hell Granny...that fucking hurt…” I groaned.

Gilda laughed a bit. “She’s making you some food to help the headache. Apparently she thinks the best way to take medicine is in a meal where you don’t even taste it.”

“That’s what Dash’s parents said.” I groaned. “I lost too many good taste buds that day, I don’t want to lose more.”

“Yeah, but this is just food with some pain meds mixed in. Not a hangover cure.”

“It better…” I grumbled. “But...does anyone know anything about a person’s psyche? Cause I’m confused on something…”

“You’d probably have to ask Twilight.”

“Yeah...that would make sense…” I sighed out as I just let the soothing bag of ice deal with my pain. “But she should be waking up soon…”

“She actually woke up before you. She seems… happy. Do I wanna know what you did in there or for a later date?”

“AJ kept telling me that ‘she’s whole’...with multiple personalities in the farm from what I experienced.” I said. “And what’s at the forefront right now...is the motherly personality, which looks like her mother.”

“Huh… yeah best to talk to someone smarter than me on that.”

“Gonna have to happen…” I muttered. “I hope the food she’s cooking is good...haven’t actually had any apple family stuff besides just a plain apple once in a while…”

“Well, given they’ll be family sooner or later, guess we’ll enjoy it more often.”

“Oh yeah.” I sighed out. “Let’s hope they also got strong pain meds…”

My food finally came and… woah… it rivals Pinkie’s baking. The cooked in pain killers helped a lot. Finally most of the Apples went to bed, Gilda went out for a quick fly before we headed off and I was left alone with AJ. She seemed normal all day, happy and… content, in a word. We sat next to one another. I was reading a book about proper tree health care when she leaned onto me.

“So...how are you feeling AJ?” I asked the apple farmer curiously.

“A’h feel… good. Sorry for makin ya have ta’ fix my head. I just… got so overwhelmed. Working the farm is all I’ve ever done that, I realized I’ve never even thought about what else in my life I could do with myself.”

“You’ve been on enough adventures to know there’s more to life than work though right?” I asked.

“Well, yeah but, that’s working on the Princess’s orders, or somethin along those lines. I’ve never wanted to do anything for myself is what I mean.”

“And that is a very unhealthy thing for you to have done...especially when you were doing ten times the work.” I said honestly.

“A’h know. Which is why, this is for me.” AJ sat up, hopped herself onto my lap, took my face, and kissed me.

I blushed… the darkest shade of red. I mean, I’m bi yes, but I’ve never kissed a girl before! And now, shortly after just making a sex life, kissed the other side of the gender coin!

After a while I melted into it a bit, and at some point I stopped thinking about it, and we don't stop til she pulled away… My first kiss on a girl… and my first makeout session with one too!

“Did ya’ like it?”

“Whoa…” I muttered in amazement. “That...was great…”

She giggled, still holding my face. “A’d be lien if A’h said I was joining cause I liked Gilda.” She admitted, now blushing. “I’m not against the idea of bein with him, but I’ve always prefered mares. A’h know time will come where I’ll embrace Gilda, but for now, I just wanna stay right here with ya.” With that, AJ leaned in, giving me a hug that rested her head on my neck.

“Glad to hear that.” I said, giving the farm mare a loving hug in return. “Things are going to get better...I know it.”

I sat there with AJ for hours til she fell fast asleep. When Gilda returned we got her up to her bed, and decided to spend the night there. Might as well, it was late. I happily snuggled between AJ and Gilda. Two people who love me. Well, one who definitely loves me, and another who really likes me.

To be continued...

Chapter 8

Gilda and I arrived in Canterlot early in the morning. Luna told us both last night about Fiends leaking out from the old Canterlot catacombs within the mountain it's built into. They're mostly medium to low level fiends so it's a quick job worth a couple grand and such. "Never actually been to Canterlot before, well, the main districts anyway." Gilda said, looking around at the shops as some began opening. "Have to admit, does look nice."

"Does look nice I will agree." I nodded. "Glad the more higher level shits are staying...where my mother is." I said nervously.

"We'll get all your family babe. For now, we need to get stronger, and to do that we gotta fight and work with that sphere grid you can access."

"Yep." I nodded. "And...I'm pretty sure we have a lot of sphere levels from our previous adventures." I shrugged. "Now, where would those fiends be?"

"Probably somewhere behind them." Gilda pointed up the road where a small crowd stood trying to look behind a row of royal guards blocking the path.

"Sounds about right." I nodded. "Can't wait to show we're more important than a bunch of rich assholes."

We walked through the nobles and upon seeing us the guards let us pass. We were escorted to a large hole in the road where some Pyreflies that were floating about immediately flowed at and into me when I got near. "There you two are." The guard, a captain if that star on his helmet means anything, said to us. He was a unicorn, blue mane, green coat and orange eyes. "I'm captain Point Perfection, you're those GoE mercs we were told about, Gilda and Anna, right?"

"Yes we are." I nodded. "What's the situation?"

"At eleven forty two last night this hole in the street formed, falling inwards and several flying fiends flew off, others since began crawling out. We've been able to kill them but as you saw those lights kept hanging around and then they'd be back in half an hour." He said, opening a map that seemed to display a section of the caverns below. "Below us are the old upper north caverns of the Canterlot Catacombs. Back when we mined down there this was more a tunnel made for air over transport so it won't be too big or even, at least not for about thirty feet. We need you two to go in, clear out any that are around the area, then plant some explosives to cut the tunnel off. There will be some damage to the street and buildings as a result but that will all be easily repaired."

"Sounds fair enough." I nodded. "Well, let's look at what's been spawning." I said as I stepped towards the hole and absorbed the Pyreflies, wanting to figure out what we're going to be dealing with.

What I've absorbed showed a few things, ranging from Larva, a strange creature that looks more like a totem with gills and a mean face than a bug, a Garuda, a massive flying Fiend made of pure muscle more than what normal bird types are, a Basilisk, a massive tricloptic snake with two strong mantis like claws, and it’s big middle eye being able to inflict stone on creatures, and a Funguar, a spell casting mushroom creature. "Seems to be around Mushroom Rock and the Thunder Plains...hmm…"

"So we go in, clear the place, blow it closed." Gilda summarized.

"That's the basic version, yes." Captain Point said with a nod. "If you need it we did bring a small selection of weapons from the royal Armory. You can take what you need."

“Might as well check out the weapons just in case.” I said honestly, thinking maybe there might be better than either my staff or my rifle at this point.

"This way then. We did bring a small selection of Griffon arms. They're largely confiscations but a few are military grade." Captain Point lead us over to a large wagon and woah!

There was a lot more here than I expected. As well as the new Machina arms there was all kinds of crossbows that show up to three bolts at once, bows that shook up to five arrows, enchanted arrows and bolts, flaming swords, ice swords, lightning swords. Spears, halberds, greatswords- is that a chainsaw?!

"Oh shit, a moter sword!" Gilda said, picking it up. "These things are illegal everywhere outside the griffon kingdoms."

“That’s a Chainsaw...why the hell is there a chainsaw?” I asked nervously.

"It's a moter sword." Gilda said with a raised brow. "Griffon Kingdom made and built. See?" He pointed to the small symbol of griffon claws holding a feather. "Made thirty years ago, saw use for a week in a small civil war, the other kingdoms immediately banned it from their lands."

“It’s...supposed to be used for cutting down trees...not people.” I frowned.

Gilda looked the chainsaw, or Moter Sword, over then back to me. "Why use a sword to cut trees? Wouldn't an axe be better?" I face palmed. This is one of those things...

“It’s not a sword.” I started. “Whoever thought it was a sword doesn’t actually know what a fucking sword is.” I said while raising one of the swords here. “This is a sword.” I started. “That is a serrated chain stuck to a motorized conveyor belt. They are two completely different things.”

"Maybe on your world." Gilda shrugged, turning to Captain Point. "Mind if I take this?"

"You'll have to return that when this is done." Captain Point said.

"Fair enough." Gilda said with a nod.

“Alright.” I nodded while looking over the rest of the gear, just to make sure I’m not missing anything.

I took this… semi auto crossbow that shot explosive bolts, an upgraded machina pistol and… potion bottles? That doesn't look like a healing potion.

“Uh...what’s in these bottles?” I asked the Captain while raising up one of the potion bottles. “Cause these don’t look like healing potions.”

"That's an explosive potion." He said plainly. Oh so a grenade basically. "There's also flash potions, smoke potions, poison potions, and a sonic potion."

“So grenades, got it.” I nodded. “Good to know...gonna pocket some of these…” I muttered while taking at least three of each potion I could find, except for the poison one...poisons just suck all around.

With gear in tow Gilda and I headed down the hole and through the small tunnel. Finally through we entered a larger chamber where giant glowing crystals were all over the place. "Huh, so this is the legendary Canterlot Catacombs." Gilda said, looking around.

“Looks beautiful with all the giant crystals everywhere.” I said honestly, paying close attention to everything. “But I still have to wonder, how the hell the massive hole happened...and who caused it.”

"My money is on a Dingo, those fiends are dogs so, they should be able to dig. Especially if they are either being altered or evolving."

“Considering what I can do, and the fact that a piece of Sombra was able to mutate a Dingo...than yeah, most likely.” I sighed out. “Uh...question, have you met any Diamond Dogs? I’ve heard about them but haven’t really seen them or gotten anything more than just ‘they love to dig and hoard gems about as much as dragon’s’.”

"Well, yeah that's kinda it. They mine and trade ores for gems. Any gems they find they keep."

“Wonder why though?” I pondered. “There has to be something more to it…”

"Spells." Gilda said simply. "Gems hold in magic like a battery, something metals like gold and silver can't without engraving runes into it. Gems are how most other races utilize magic, aside from potions. The diamond dog territories are abnormally lacking in gems, but rich in raw ores, so they trade."

“Sounds about right.” I shrugged.

"Yeah. Dragon's actually get most of their magic from eating gems. Spike's ability to send letters to and from Celestia is because he takes in the magic from gems he eats to power that spell into his fire."

“I mean, besides them being so intrinsically magic that the only people more magical by race are Alicorns from what I’ve just come to accept in fantasy settings.” I said honestly.

"All races have some form of attunement with magic, but for dragons it's just in their scales, and heat resistance. Their fire breathing is just that, fire. Without a steady diet of gems they can't alter it to use spells. But, of all the races Equines are the most magical, especially the unicorn tribe. In the past other races paid top bit for pony slaves, and unicorns were a gold mine. Few other races can actually control magic without the use of gems or potions, it's how ponies survived before Celestia and Luna. Unicorn spells, Pegasus speed and weather manipulation, earth ponies ability to grow and tame all plants rival the deer if not surpasses it."

“Damn.” I blinked. “Didn’t...think that was a thing…”

"There's a lot of stories they don't tell you in history classes. Like the story of how Ponies first started getting Cutie Marks." Gilda said. We turned the corner, seeing clear signs of recent tunneling but no fiends in the area so far. "Story goes that back in the early years of the ponies' existence, the three tribes were still one. Pegasus, unicorn and earth ponies alike all lived in a valley, wild and free. One day, a young foal tried to buck apples from a tree and was failing, so, he willed the magic that, back then was wild, from his horn to grab one for him. The apple floated to him and he then glowed with blinding lights. Story says that foal invented the first unicorn spell, telekinesis, and on his flanks was an image of his horn, sparking with magic. From there, everyone began discovering how to unlock and acquire those marks. Their special talents were discovered and the marked named Cutie Marks some generations later."

“And what, is there a secret village in the Everfree filled with blank flank ghouls or something?” I asked. “Cause my world is...very imaginative with the dark places here…”

"No. But sadly the discovery of Cutie Marks and special talents eventually lead to the disagreements, and separation of ponies into the three tribes. They believed two ponies of similar talent would produce a child with an even better skill for said talent, and mixed borns were shunned. It didn't help that their points were proven, the time if the three tribes produced some of the strongest, fastest and most magically gifted ponies Equis had ever seen."

“Sounds about right.” I nodded. “Should...I even bother with the sickening train of thought other races might have had when they figured that out?”

"If you mean did they make their enslaved ponies breed with their own sisters, mother's, ect, yeah that happened. A lot. That makes an odd phenomenon though. Incest born ponies come in two verieties, physically healthy but weak magically, or powerful magically but weak physically. It's always been one or the other as far as records show."

“I meant crossbreeding but that also works sadly.” I said nervously. “And by ‘crossbreeding’...I mean hybrid kids if that’s at all possible.”

"Yeah, they are and it's… it varies really. Each half breed is born pretty different from the other. An example is Dalgorta, a half dragon, half unicorn kid. His father was a dragon, mom a unicorn and he was born mostly covered in scales covering normally vulnerable areas like the neck, back and torso, fingers ended in claws, small but sharp and powerful and could swim in Lava and all that like dragon. Wasn't able to breathe fire but his pyromancy earned him the nickname 'Celestia's Sun' when he was alive, serving her as a royal guard."”

“So it’s damn near positive for hybrids?” I asked curiously.

"Not entirely. He wasn't born with the lifespan of a dragon so he died of old age when he was eighty five. Did still look half that age though. But an example of a bad outcome is a half griffon half minotaur named Kapas. She was born with all the best traits of both races, but her mind was unstable. She had uncontrollable fits of rage where she'd go on a week long rampage, never sleeping, eating or even drinking till she snapped out of it. In the end they learned her magic was unstable, predatory griffon instincts and such didn't mix well with the typical anger and rage of the minotaurs. She died being hunted like a monster during one of her uncontrollable rampages."

“Damn.” I blinked. “So...when do we meet the crazy biologist who’s trying to fix those problems?” I joked.

"Never. None exist cause no hybrids have existed for the last hundred years. A lot of kingdoms outlawed inter racial marriages and have orders to abort or… kill children on the spot. Equestria and the Zebra Lands are the only places where inter racial relationships and children can be safe."

“But...what about our kids?” I asked nervously.

"Like I said, Equestria and the zebra lands are safe for them. Equines are so pro life that abortions are illegal here, you don't want your baby you can let someone adopt them after birth or preform a serogusy spell to give the unborn fetus to another willing mother. And the Zebras were always fascinated by the potential of hybrid races."

“Cool.” I nodded. “So...how does that stop some crazy people from trying to figure out how that whole thing works?”

"Well, Zebras did study them back when they were a bit more common, both when they were alive and after death. Some Actually did have halfbreed children to further the research but in the end most of their works are kept to themselves."

“That’s fair.” I nodded. “How much you want to bet they’ll come to us and ask questions about our future kids?”

"Probably, accompanied by a small… ish, group of willing Zebras wanting to help produce the hybrid children. I remember reading that when two Zebra nobles are to be wed the wife's side of the family gifts either some of the other daughters or selects some females to build a herd for the male. Even the non-nobles do that, just to a much smaller scale."

“Interesting.” I said honestly as I looked around the caverns carefully, even though I was completely enthralled by our current conversation.

We had to jump a small gap that appeared but overall still nothing… weird… "Dragons were the first to act on the zero tolerance for hybrids and inter race laws. After the Stone incident."

“Two things...one, nothing’s happening, which is extremely weird and concerning.” I started. “And two...the ‘stone’ incident?”

Gilda took a look around, even took a long smell. "I can smell them. Deeper in. The ones that broke open must have been walking for a really long time. And the Stone incident… About four thousand years ago, the current Dragon King received a gift from his mother, a younger brother, born of her, and a griffon. They named him Stone when he hatched. His feathers were as tough and durable as scales, talons were more like claws, breathed fire and could eat gems to perform fire breath spells. Stone and his brother Torch were as close as you could be for siblings, and despite that Stone never got any bigger than the largest griffon, not even the largest of dragons could best him in combat.”

"Stone was lonely though, he wondered and wished to meet other hybrids like himself. Stone and Torch set off and actually found another half dragon, half griffon child. Her name was Insoma, and she was identical to Stone in abilities and physical traits. As you can imagine, Stone fell head over wing for her, but Torch saw her for what she was. A manipulative little leech. He never had the heart to tell Stone though, it would either destroy Stone or end their brotherhood. Torch held his tongue… then, one day, Insoma was with egg, Stone was so happy, never before had two hybrids ever had an opportunity for a child before… Insoma though… when the egg was laid, she killed Stone. After all, she just birthed all she needed to keep herself in power as a royal in the dragon lands. Torch knew she killed Stone, and when he confronted her, he demanded she leave the lands and leave her egg. Enraged, Insoma destroyed her own egg, and Stone's only child. Torch made his first kill that day, and became the new dragon lord. To this day Hybrids are outlawed in the dragon lands, because Torch can't trust another outsider Hybrid again, not after the only one like his brother, did that to them both."

“Jesus christ…” I muttered. “But...how deep are they?”

Gilda took another deep smell. "Two more miles." He said. "Dragon's law states that if a female conceive a hybrid she is to either be banished if she chooses to keep the egg, or deliver the egg to Equestria or Zebra Lands if she chooses to not keep it, and if a male impregnates a none female dragon, if he chooses to be with her and the child he is banished so long as his mate and child live, or stays in the dragon lands and is forbidden from ever seeing the mother and child for their natural lives."

“Well...at least he doesn’t have a ‘kill on sight’ thing for them.” I said sheepishly. “But how many are there?”

"Can't tell. Fiends scent is… weird. I can't tell what kind of fiend it is or how many, it's like… stale air, sorta."

“Hmm...we should be careful then.” I started, preparing for the oncoming fight. “Let’s get moving then.”

We sprinted til we reached a dead end, Gilda sniffing the air here. "They should be here… is it just me or is that wall rippling a bit?"

I looked over to the wall… it was. I pulled out the map of rifts Discord gave us, and yeah… one rift here, Canterlot Catacombs, Northern chambers. No wonder this place was full. In total there are five rifts in the entirety of the catacombs.

“Well...here’s a rift.” I said honestly. “Want to see what’s inside?”

"Better now than later. If they're coming in from this rift then whatever, and possibly whoever is inside it needs to be dealt with. Plus might find more neat stuff from your world."

“Alright.” I nodded while shifting into my Celestial Armor just in case. “Let’s get going.” I said while entering the portal first, battle axe at the ready.

Gilda followed. The sky above was like it was on the rift with the ship. We stood on a dirt road that ended in a cliff drop some feet behind us. Over the cliff and floating below us was… lava, bright red, heat emmeting lava that just floated there. A ways down the road trees reaching the sky stood tall and and proud and old as a standing wood archway over the road said simply a single name. Yellowstone.

“Yellowstone? Why the hell would we be here and...why the hell is this thing active?” I asked nervously.

"Yellowstone? Is that a volcanic forest or something?" Gilda asked, looking at all the lava below.

“Yellowstone is…a Super Volcano.” I said nervously. “It hasn’t been active on my world for a really long time...and everyone is thanking god it hasn’t blown yet cause not only would it take half of a continent with it, it would plunge the world into the next ice age when all the smoke and ash covers the sky and blocks out the sun."

"... Well shit… does that mean… it will end up on Equis when we beat whatever is keeping this rift here?" Gilda asked worriedly.

My eyes widened. “Uh...that’s not good, that’s not good at all.” I started to honestly panic, cause if this thing was starting to act up and it got sent to Equestria...god only knows the damage that would happen.

"What's a good phrase on earth for 'oh shit'?" Gilda asked.

“Well...there’s a lot...but ‘oh shit’ is apparently universal here.” I answered.

"Good… Oh shit! So… we gonna hope to the stars that the volcano isn't gonna blow when it appears in Equis when this is all over?"

“Pretty much yeah.” I said nervously. “Or someone might tell us how to solve the problem before it goes kaboom.”

"Hopefully… so, this is a forest in your world? Didn't think it had trees this big." Gilda said as we began walking down the premade dirt road.

“And as far as I know, oh so long ago in prehistoric times the trees were even bigger.” I said honestly.

"Damn. Wonder if it looks at all like The Snow Mountains?" Gilda said thoughtfully.

“How so?” I inquired. “What does The Snow Mountains look like?”

"I've only ever seen old pictures of paintings but according to the story some thousand years or so ago, when the three tribes were almost at war a sudden and magic winter befell their lands. Wind so wild Pegasi were tossed like leaves in it. Soil so cold no fire could melt the ice, and snow so high the towers of the unicorns looked to be at ground level. Some ponies believe the Snow Mountains are actually the snow buried ancestral home of their race. The reason being is that one crazy unicorn managed to dig deep enough through the foot of all that snow and found a frozen tree, grown with earth pony magic. No one really knows for sure since it's a complete sub zero death trap."

“Wait, isn’t that because of the Wendigoes I heard about from the ‘Hearths Warming Play’?”

"Yeah, and those things must still be there for the snow and ice to do that."

“Or because of natural things, not some mystical bullshit.” I shrugged. “Cause higher elevations means it’s colder, and any moisture would start condensing into ice and snow.”

“Kinda doubt that.” Gilda shrugged. There was a large crack above us and we both looked up, seeing large monkey looking fiends, and yes those are fiends cause they also have lightning sparking from their teeth. “Oh fuck!” They yelped as we pulled out machina guns and began shooting.

“I don’t know any fiends like that!” I panicked as I brought up my rifle and fired at the weird looking bastards.

Most began scattering but others dropped down and we both began hacking at them. They. Are. Tough. They took shots like sponges and even in my Solar Armor form and Chimera form they did not want to go down without a fight. Gilda’s… sword, did good damage. Apparently after pulling the cord to turn it on it roared to life, the chains stretched and flew out and formed the shape of a massive bastard sword as the sharp teeth spun rapidly and tore through the monkey’s limbs. No wonder that thing is illegal.

“These things just don’t know when to give up.” I said as, in my Chimera form, used my Falcon head and used it’s sharp beak to rip out it’s throat.

“If that Father fuck made these just to piss us off, it’s fucking working!” Gilda roared as he hacked off an arm of the thing then kept momentum to spin and get at the neck, decapitating it.

“I kind of doubt it.” I said while Megado Flaming one of their heads off. “Cause if the bastard tries to do this shit to fuck with me with my memories, then he’s just going off to imagination land with these things.”

After finally about twenty minutes of fighting the last of them was killed and all their pyreflies absorbed by me. Gilda and I found a convenient park bench and sat down to rest. “Shit… So those were new?” He asked while panting.

“Yes...yes they are…” I panted heavily. “So...what...were those things…” I muttered as I checked to see what the hell I absorbed.

Name: Jangles Jango
HP:450,980

Highly agile and strong, these large monkeys are difficult to deal with and often travel in large packs. They are weak to poison.

I face palmed… I left the poison… because I thought it would be useless…

“Well! Good thing I’m so close to learning Bio…” I grumbled as I immediately went to the Sphere Grid to start learning Bio, the Poison spell as well as anything else on the way.

WIth that and a new spell, Necro Bio, basically an upgraded Bio spell, in tow I got us some snacks and water before we kept on. As we walked and we kept looking up, looking out for more of those fucks. Thankfully the next bunch of fiends we came across was Dingo’s and Evil Eyes. We dealt with them easily and came across a ranger station camp.

“Alright, let’s see if anyone’s home.” I said while walking over to the ranger camp carefully.

I opened the door… and regretted it immediately. There was a man here, his badge said Ranger Carson. He was seated at the desk, hat on the table, and a gun in hand, with a hole through his head… I felt Gilda grab my hand. “Are you going to be okay?”

“I...I hope so…” I gulped. “God...why is this happening?”

“If you need to, get some air. I’ll search.” Gilda said as he slowly walked over to the decaying corpse. I did walk outside, taking a deep breath. I stood out there for about five minutes before Gilda game back out. He had the rangers gun, a map of the park and an old notebook. “Doubt you want Blueblood finding this.” He said, putting it into my bag. He then lifted the notebook. “This was his journal, check the last date.” He said, flipping the pages.

April 9th, 2013.

“So...this showed a world that didn’t immediately go to shit.” I said honestly.

“Doubt it. Check the first date.” He flipped to the first date.

December 12, 2012.

December 12, 2012.

God the whole of the park has gone to shit. I’m lucky there aren’t many crazies outside, just some rednecks trying to hunt the wildlife and some dumbass trying to use dynamite to cut a tree down. All in all they’re leaving me alone. Any that do get a bit too close I take pop shots at their feet and they go running.

All in all things should blow over in a day or more, then I’ll just be left on cleanup and helping the police wrangle up stragglers from today. This years Christmas is gonna be fun

“Well...that sucks…” I frowned.

“My guess from skimming it is that your world did go on after that day, then sometime later chunks of the world would vanish overnight, and one day he ended up here. Lasted some time but between food running low and the fiends showing up… he took the easy out.”

“Jesus christ…” I muttered.

“So, all these rifts hold parts from your world… Anna, he survived for a while here… do you think… in other rifts… there are survivors?”

“Let’s hope...cause others need a second chance after what happened on Earth...and not to have this shit happen…”

“When this place is free and on Equis, we can bury him.” Gilda said.

“And...god knows how ever many others because of this crap…” I sighed out.

"Here." Gilda said, putting the journal away and taking out the map. Various areas on the park were circled with some saying Danger, others said Tower, a few said safe and one area simply said Avoid. "If we fly over we can see what these Towers are and this Avoid area."

"Sounds good to me." I nodded. "Let's start flying." I said happily, always enjoying a nice flight ever since I got wings.

I shifted to my griffon form and we flew up. From where we were the first ‘Tower’ was a short fly away. I have to admit, flying through all these tall trees is pretty fun. Like an obstacle course. Soon we arrived at the first ‘Tower’ and… what the?

The tower was a Fayth. It’s body was cracked into three, chunks floating in a bubble of what looked like water that covered half of it, Pyreflies flowing in and out of it and we watched as a cluster of Pyreflies flowed out of the water bubble around it, and took form of a Chimera Fiend, more like the one I knew than the Equestrian one.

“Holy shit…” Gilda said.

"How…" I muttered in disbelief.

“Better question, how do we break it. If that thing is making fiends, then it also has to be one of the things keeping this rift here.” Gilda said.

"We can't." I said. "That is a Fayth...I don't know how their formed, but their basically petrified humans fuzed with God knows what to spawn Aeons...not fiends…"

"Well clearly someone cannablized them."

"Which is even more worrying." I said nervously. "So...let's try to get close, and maybe I can talk to the Fayths spirit if it's still there."

Gilda was dealing with the newly formed Chimera, classic Chimera, and I flew over to the Fayth. I had no idea what I am doing so… I placed a hand on the bubble. Immediately the Pyreflies began flowing into me. I tried pulling away but couldn't. Soon there was no more Pyreflies. The bubble of water fell in a splash and the stones of the Fayth crumbled to dust.

Fragment of Ifrit Obtained, 1 of 5.

"Excuse me!?!" I yelled in panic, wondering how the fuck this either got here, or why it was in fragments!

"You okay?" Gilda asked, the Chimera dead and Pyreflies floating to me. "What happened?"

"So uh...the Fayth I just...so happened to absorb...it's a fragment, which is very bad, and it's of an Aeon, Ifrit to be precise...which is also very scary."

"Whole details babe."

"Where do you want me to start?" I asked, still super nervous about this whole thing.

"Start from where you can summarize it in the basic description and a scale of one to ten on how bad this is."

“So...basically, Aeon’s are extremely powerful monsters born from Fayth’s...the only thing that could have shattered these is a world ending machine the size of a mountain that is powered by the worlds spirit world...and on a scale of one to ten on ‘how bad this is’...twenty.” I explained worriedly.

"Okay. So, let's see." Gilda said, looking the map over. "There's four more of these Towers so, let's just get these things shut down, fiends slain and inform the princess of this once out."

“Yeah...but...on a brighter note, I might either be able to transform into him, or be able to summon him, which is just a plus all around.” I said honestly.

"Is it a form I can cuddle you in?"

“Uh…” I thought about Ifrit and if he could be cuddlable. “Depends on what you would find cuddlable...I know there’s at least one you wouldn’t want to…” I said sheepishly.

"If I can't cuddle you in it, leave it on the battlefield babe."

“Then you can cuddle with all the aeons but one...Anima is a special case.” I said nervously.

"Weird. Anywho, let's get going." Gilda said, the two of us taking flight again and heading to the next tower. We came across another ranger station. No corpse here but we did find a gun and ammo we stashed away and a few knives and a hunting bow.

The next tower was flooded with fiends. "Yeah that's not good…" Gilda huffed as we stood perched above on a tree. "You still have those explosive potions?"

“Yes I do.” I nodded while bringing them out. “Want to start blowing things up?”

"If this place had one, I'd say blow them to the moon." Gilda said with a nod and smile. "This will at least take out the small fry, bigger shits I'll worry about, you just take out the tower so more of them don't reappear."

“Sounds like a plan.” I nodded. “Call for help if you need it dealing with the big fiends.”

I dropped the three purely explosive potions. The light show looked like something out of an action movie and once the smoke settled Gilda flew in to fight off the larger tanks in their weakened state. I dived in, making contact with the water bubble and absorbing the Pyreflies.

Thankfully the draining process didn't take long and once that was done I got my second fragment and helped Gilda kill off the last of the tanker fiends.

On our way to the third tower we found a small log cabin where we took a breather. Nothing was here so it was likely empty from before. "This is nice. Ya know, take away the monsters, crazy sky and all that, I'd vacation here." Gilda said from the couch.

“I’ve...always wanted to visit here.” I said honestly. “It’s always been a beautiful place...even if it’s one of the most dangerous places on the planet.”

"Heh, how is it that most places are like that?" Gilda said as they got up, looking through the dressers. "Huh?" He said, pulling up a box. I walked over, the card on it said 'Compliments of the Yellowstone Honeymoon Cabin'. "Honeymoon cabin huh? Not married yet but… wanna treat ourselves like we are?" Gilda asked me, making me yip and blush as they spanked my butt.

“Cheeky little…” I pouted. “But you know I would love to.”

"I know it's not the most ideal place, but odds are, there won't ever be ideal times while we're on missions and dealing with this. Even if it's just cuddling, making out, or… a good rutting, we need to enjoy ourselves. You especially." He said, putting a hand to my face gently. "I know this isn't easy for you, this is a piece of your world, your home. It's best you keep happy when we're dealing with this Anna."

“Yeah.” I nodded in agreement. “And as long as your here with me, it’s worth it.” I said warmly as I gave Gilda a quick peck on the cheek.

"So, you're choice, we take turns wearing whatever is in this box and taking it off one another, make out, or just nap as close as we can get with our clothes on?"

“Well...no matter what, I’m going to enjoy having fun with you.” I chuckled. “So let’s start with the outfits.”

We opened the box. These did not qualify as outfits, but we didn't care. We didn't even need to take them off when it got steamy.

Not sure when we fell asleep but when I woke up I was a Pegasus and happily in a full body and wing wrapped hug with Gilda with EVERYTHING against each other. I happily enjoyed it while it lasted before we got up and cleaned off best we can, since there isn't any water.

"I still can't believe you did that in your Chimera form. I think I found my new favorite trick you can do~" Gilda cooed at me as they got dressed.

“Glad you enjoyed it.” I said lovingly. “Didn’t think I could do that but...damn was it good.”

"Now if only that form had genitals and breasts I could fondle." Gilda chuckled as they finished dressing. "We are keeping those outfits."

“Yes we are...and I’m sure if I upgrade that form it can work.” I said honestly. “Just...probably need to unlock it with whatever those Grey Pyreflies were.”

"It will be my new personal quest then." Gilda said with a laugh.

With our clothes on we took back to the skies. I wasn't sure how long we spent there but I'm happy. Thankfully only one of those monkey ones was here so now with the bio spell we easily finished it off and got the third Ifirit fragment.

The forth tower was inside another ranger station, sticking out halfway from the building. We were going to bomb it to clear out the fiends… til I saw him.

He is… he was a Ranger, no he looked like those other Unsent, his rifle in hand and keeping watch around the Tower. "So, how do we deal with him?"

“I...kind of want to see if I can control him.” I said honestly. “Just to try and not fight this thing.”

"Just be careful." Gilda said.

I nodded and tried to reach out to them… maybe if I-

The fuck… am I?

I was… this is the park… but, this feels like when I was in Gilda's mindscape. The ranger station was before me, whole and lacking that Tower.

“What the hell is going on here?” I frowned.

"Well, did I finally go crazy?" I looked behind me, sitting against one of the trees was the Ranger guy. He looked… normal. "Haven't seen anybody here in the last few months. Save for those monsters."

“No, you didn’t finally go crazy...sorta.” I said nervously. “It’s a long story...so who are you if I may ask?”

"Ranger Carver. Jack Carver. Or, used to be? Not sure. Wound up here after this strange looking fella showed up and… I think he stabbed me? I can't remember fully. All I do remember is a lot of floating lights, a lot of pain and then I woke up here."

“Well…” I started nervously. “Have you ever heard of Final Fantasy ten?”

"Think my nephew played that game, but I've never actually played them. More of a gambling man myself."

“Well...the monsters you’ve been seeing are Fiends from that game...and because of...your current condition…” I trailed off, not sure how to really word this.

"So I am dead then? So, this purgatory then?"

“Not...really.” I said nervously. “You’re actually undead, and this is a pocket dimension that douche bag made after he killed you.” I said honestly. “And...I’m somehow in your mind because of magic.”

"... Well, makes more sense than anything else. So, what now?"

“Well, currently you're the guard of a thing I need to get rid of…” I said honestly. “But I’m here to bring you back to your senses so you don’t follow that asshole blindly.”

"That would be nice. So… how? Only other thing here is that cabin and the guy inside."

“I have no idea…” I said nervously. “But I’ll figure it out maybe...but who else is here?”

"Guy who stabbed me. I think? I doubt it's actually him but he's been there since I showed up here."

“Gonna kick his ass if he’s still here.” I said as I cracked my knuckles. “Want to help me with that?”

"Nope. Tried once, did not end well."

“How badly?” I asked nervously.

He lifted his shirt, showing there was a sword impaling him to the end of the hilt to the tree. "Can't pull it out for the… unlife of me."

“Huh...right then.” I nodded. “Well, I’m still gonna kick his ass.” I said while heading to the cabin to beat his ass.

With a huff I kicked the door open… and almost let my jaw drop. I'd recognize that hair and outfit anywhere. "So, we finally meet, Anna." Seymour said as he turned to look at me. "You look well."

“Oh come on!” I flailed my arms in the air. “Why the fuck are you here you hyproctitical asshole?”

"I am within all the Unsent Father control, I am his link to their minds. Much like you are now."

“I’m going to fucking murder you.” I told him bluntly.

"You can try, it doesn't matter to me one way or the other."

“Sure.” I said while pulling out my gun and shooting at him.

He rapidly raised a hand, just using his hand he grabbed each bullet I shot. "Impressive. Magic over metal or lead, potent, but far less lethal. Infusing the two together would create far stronger weapons."

“That’s none of your concern.” I said as I transformed into my Equestrian Chimera form and tried to bite him with my snake tail.

He dodged, kicking my snake head into the wall, punching my tiger head in the nose and then kicking me out the door, making a hole in the cabin. "Your powers are strong, but not enough. Not alone. Why not bring out the other two? Jecht and Tidus, I know they reside within you."

“I barely know my own powers as is, also how the fuck are you this strong?” I growled while getting back up quickly.

"The Father lets me draw from him, let's me utilize a percentage of his abilities. You and he share all your powers, all save one."

“And...what would that be?” I asked nervously. “And hey, look at that, you’re still being a little bitch that can’t fight his own battles, always needs someone, or something, else to fight for him.”

"Maybe, but at least I know who I am… , and what I am." He said, taking a step towards me as Pyreflies flowed from him. They lined the walls of the cabin, and showed images… of that day… of that family… of him! "Father draws power from fear, and yours empowers him the most. But you… you draw power from Pyreflies, souls, memories… connections to others. So many sources, yet so little control. Perhaps, one day, that shall change."

“Like hell it will.” I stated bluntly. “I’m going to take you down, and whatever that half assed Full Metal Alchemist rip off is as well.” I stated bluntly as I shifted into my upgraded Murrussu form. “And there’s one thing that’s true, is that I get stronger with Pyreflies, a whole lot stronger.” I growled as I dashed forward and tried punching the bastard hard.

He side stepped me, an image reaching out and grabbing my hand. I froze… those… his eyes… I jumped back… and found myself in… I got myself up, why did Seymour catch me. "Stronger, yes, smarter… yet to be seen." He said plainly.

“What the hell is going on?” I started as I punched the ground, one of my new nifty abilities in this upgraded form was its ability to literally send a wave of sharp crystals at an opponent. “Why did you try to catch me?”

"Because you fell?" He said, side stepping the crystal spike sent at him. "Is it that hard to believe?"

“There’s more to this than you let on.” I said while shifting into my Water Flan form, holding onto the Crystal as I used the Crystal as a supercharger to fire off a super powered Water spell at Seymoure.

He stood there, the spell hitting him as he took the hit. He didn't seem affected much. "Despite my works, and my alliance, I don't consider you an enemy."

“Yeah, that makes about as much sense as you wanting to kill everyone as Sin to save everyone from Sin.” I frowned. “Okay, since your here...the fuck was that logic? You’re just like ‘Hey guys, I know you don’t like getting stabbed, so I’m just gonna stab you with this knife I found so you won’t get stabbed’...the fuck dude.”

"In your world, the medical term would have been diagnosed as Schizophrenia accompanied by being a sociopath."

“I mean...to be honest, your mother is kind of to blame for starting that ball rolling into train wreck city.”

"Regardless, since Father took me in my schizophrenia has subsided, and while I'm still a sociopath, I find myself on a more logical path of thinking. In my thoughts I came to the conclusion of, I don't consider you an enemy, but you can consider me one. Frankly I'm indifferent to your opinions of me. I'm just here to do as I'm told, nothing more and nothing less."

“So after all the shit you’ve done to not only people on Equestria, and Spira, you’re just following another evil bastard because you feel like it?” I frowned.

“No, I’m following him cause if I don’t I go back to being dead.”

“Like you should for all the bullshit you’ve caused.” I frowned. “Or you could follow me and start repenting for all the deaths you’ve caused.”

“Why would I repent for actions I don’t regret. My only regrets are my illogical thinking, the stupidity of it all. I could care less about the lives I’ve taken and the lives I’m still killing. For now, so long as I can live, I could care less who dies.”

“Cause of course you would…” I growled as I rushed at him in my upgraded Dingo Form, it being a dire wolf helping make it faster and stronger than he could anticipate as I managed to finally claw the bastard.

He delivered several swift punches to me before getting me off him. He backed up enough and raised a hand as he summoned forth an Aeon. Thankfully it wasn’t his main one, it was Valefor. The aeon began blasting powerful wind gusts at me.

“Well this isn’t fair at all.” I growled as I kept dodging the wind blast. “But how the hell did you get those Fayth fragments?”

“Father’s work. He crafted those Fayths from the locals of your world, and turned them into something more useful to his goals.” Seymour said, having his Aeon charge in at me.

“Sorry Valefor, but I’ve had enough of this shit.” I said while shifting into my Celestial Armor and raising my axe up. “Solar Flare!” I shouted as I swung my Axe down towards the charging aeon, the axe reacting as white hot fire immediately burst forth from the blade ready to turn anything it cuts to ash.

The Aeon fell and almost hit Seymour but that fucker can dodge and I hate he can dodge that well.

“Quit dodging damn it!” I shouted as I swung my axe hard enough to literally send a wave of fire towards him.

He got hit, getting slammed into a tree. “Heh, you are stronger than I anticipated. Still, I wonder why Father is so infatuated with you. Such obsession is pointless… unless I’m missing something.”

“No idea, but all I know is that I’m going to rip his head off if he keeps going for me.” I growled, my Axe glowing brighter as I dashed forward again to hit him.

I hit him, cleaving the axe into his torso. “My only question is, what makes you so special?” He asked. His body looked like shit but he spoke like he was unphased.

“How are you not reacting?” I asked, using that scan ability Discord gave me a while ago to see what his health is like cause there’s no way he should still be unphased by this.

42 out of 4,000 HP.

“I’m an unsent, still. I feel no pain.” He stated plainly. “This fragment of me is not one you can absorb either, though I imagine that’s a positive for you.”

“Good for me.” I started. “Now get out of here!” I shouted, sparta kicking Seymoure as hard as I could with the aid of this very awesome armor to get him out of this guys mind.

With that kick Seymour faded into Pyreflies that floated up into the air. “Well, that’s something.” I turned, seeing the Ranger still against the tree. “So, is he dead?”

“No sadly.” I sighed out. “That was just a piece of him...I’ll need to find where he really is to actually kill him.”

“Huh… so, can you pull this out then?” He asked, lifting his shirt again. “I’d like very much to stand again.”

“I think I can do it now.” I said while grabbing the sword and tried to pull it out carefully.

Thankfully I got it out easily enough and once it was he stood back up. “God it feels good to stand again, and get off of that tree. Was wondering if it was gonna start growing around me.”

“Special news bulletin, Ranger becomes Tree and ranges park even harder, more at eleven.” I joked in a mock news broadcast.

“Har har.” He said. “So, how do I take control of my body again? He’s gone but… what now?”

“Well, I need to go back out of your mind, cause hopefully you are you now.” I said honestly.

"Alright then. Guess I'll see you outside then."

I blinked a few times. I was back in The rift and the unsent ranger below blinked, shook his head and took a look around. The fiends seemed to ignore him, so he walked back slowly into the mostly broken cabin.

"So it worked?" Gilda asked.

“Yes...and I met a guy I really hoped wasn’t here.” I sighed out. “Blue haired bastard…”

"So, that means we have an Unsent on our side?"

“That isn’t mind controlled, yes.” I nodded. “Which now tells us that there’s a massive amount of mind control on the Unsent, which I’m glad at least something is being consistent.”

"Well, let's clear this place out and see how our new Allie is holding up being his own undead."

With that, we went to work, the fiends here were all largely basic ones and were taken out easily. Once the fiends were gone and the tower destroyed Gilda and Ranger Jack Carver. "You don't look entirely like Griffins I've seen in movies and tv." Jack said.

"Is it because I wear clothes, stand on two legs and have boobs?"

"Yeah pretty much. Still, it's awesome to meet a Griffin. Have to admit, you lay eggs right?"

"Yeah."

"So… why the breasts?"

"Female Griffins actually produce milk to feed the hatchling duffing the first month or so and before hatching use them to keep it warm, even after hatching the cub gets a ride between them for a mix of warmth and ease of carrying."

"Ah. Have you… ever had eggs yourself?"

"I'm a guy."

"... But… then why with…"

"A lot of personal issues but I can safely sum it up now as I'm a confused trans more or less."

"Oh… hope that gets better."

"That's what my therapist is for."

“And that’s why I’m here.” I said while wrapping my arm around Gilda. “His loving girlfriend, and head female in his growing herd.”

"Herd?" Jack asked.

“Harem.” I corrected myself.

"... Huh. Well, thanks for the save. Wish it could have been much sooner but, it's better late than never."

"You're welcome. Also we need your gun and ammo." Gilda said.

"What? Why?"

"Anna doesn't want our prick of a boss learning about your world's weapons. I mean, imagine the damage a magic infused, what was it, nuke, being made and going off can do."

"I… see your point." He said, handing the rifle over. "All the ammo should still be on the desk."

“Thank you and thank you...oh and also...why has there been a lot of lava around as of late?” I asked nervously.

"Pretty sure that's the lava that's normally been under the park for all these years. Before I got stabbed and all that I did take a look and see it's pretty stagnant. Just sitting there, must mean the old volcano is still asleep. I hope at least."

“Let’s hope to god it stays asleep...especially with what’s going to happen sooner or later…” I said nervously.

"In the meantime Anna and I only have one more Tower to destroy and then this place, and yourself, will be free."

"Oh, that's probably the best news I've heard in a long time. But if you don't want this boss of yours learning about guns then you should go out and raid Station Fox and Station Pine. Pine is our general Armory and holding cells for troublemaker's, and Fox is where we kept spare ammo and guns. Mostly overflow. Used to rent them out to hunters when the season was right so long as they renew their yearly hunting license."

“Alright, good to know.“ I nodded. “Those two might be on the way to finding the last tower.”

"Well, one is nearby." Gilda said, looking the map over. "But Pine is dead center in the avoid area on this map. Something tells me there's a nasty strong fiend or two there."

“Sounds like fun.” I said honestly. “Wonder what boss could be there?”

"Probably nothing good. You sit tight here, alright?"

"Not going anywhere." Jack said with a nod.

Gilda and I took off for the avoid area. From above it seemed fine til… Holy shit, that's the chocobo eater!

“Okay yeah, that’s a Chocobo Eater.” I said honestly.

"A what eater- ah!" Gilda yelped, barely dodging the thing jumping up and trying to grab him… does it think Gilda is a Chocobo?

“This thing better not be thinking your a chocobo.” I frowned as I shot at it with my gun. “But Chocobo’s...are really adorable, giant bird creatures...you have to see one, their just adorable.”

"Neat and I am not it's fucking lunch!" Gilda roared out as he took out his moter sword and turned it on, and sent it flying at the beasts and impaling it in the eye. I rushed in and finished it off with a Chimera form body slam. The Pyreflies flowed into me and I got a new form. Neat.

“Well, even though it shouldn’t work, shoving a chainsaw in its eye always works.” I said honestly.

"That's the first new boss form you've gotten in a while. Wanna take it for a quick spin before we finish this place off?"

“Sure.” I said while transforming into my new boss form. ”Sadly I won’t be able to talk given this isn’t upgraded…”

Woah… this thing sees in like, photo negative and… woah I can see the scent trails around me. This is weird…

I shifted back, a bit disoriented but overall fine. "How's it feel?" Gilda asked, picking their chainsaw back up.

“Felt a little weird given I could see in photo negative and literally see scent trails.” I said honestly.

"Huh. That can be very useful later on. Well, let's clear the guns out then deal with that Fox one, and then finish this."

“Alright.” I nodded. “Should we just blow up the place or throw it in the lava?”

"I was thinking just use your bag and put the whole building in there."

“That is also true.” I said honestly. “Well, better start nabbing all the gear before something dumb happens.”

We entered the building and I used my bag's Vacuum feature to get everything inside it. Guns, furniture, everything that isn't nailed down. Once we tripped checked everything here was good we let off an incendiary potion for good measure and were off.

The Fox station was by far the smallest, almost the size of a small snack shop than a ranger building. We repeated the process of the Pine station and also set it on fire.

We flew off and over the final tower, this one was halfway up the mountain and had lots of flying enemies around. Also those fucking monkeys were back! "You ready for this?" Gilda asked me.

“I will make sure they all die from poison.” I stated simply.

With the aid of Bio the Monkies went down fairly easily and Gilda cut down almost all the flying fiends by the time I finished off the last ape. With that we now stood in front of the final tower as I was absorbing the Pyreflies from it. "We are getting good at this." Gilda said.

“We make a really good team.” I said happily.

"Wonder how we will work out with the others. I have a feeling Peppermint and probably Celestia, Luna and most of the others will want to team up with us on missions."

“Well...we still need to take them all out on a date.” I said honestly.

"I know, I'm just saying what I'll be expecting in the future."

“True.” I nodded. “Let’s hope the others don’t mind all the fighting here...or whatever the hell’s going on with me and the big bad…”

"So… you and Applejack seem to have hit it off really well. If we hadn't promised Rarity the first date I'd say we should have given it to her."

“Well considering I had to go in and literally get her shit together for her to function as a person, I’d say we’re pretty close.” I shrugged. “And yeah kind of.”

"You two did kiss for a long time before I got back. I'm just saying when it gets to that point with us you're more than free to be with her first."

“True.” I said sheepishly, blushing at remembering how long AJ kissed me. “But...you know, she also had a lot of pent up lust...and I need to talk to Luna about the psyche because I still doubt it’s normal to have multiple personalities as ‘one whole person’.”

Gilda shrugged as I finished absorbing the Pyreflies from the Tower.

Ifrit Aeon Form, Obtained.
Ifrit Aeon Summon, Learned.
New Branching Grid Unlocked.

My Scan Ability told me. Wait I can summon AND transform into Ifrit?! Sweet!

“Awesome!” I cheered happily. “Now how do I transform into Ifrit?”

I tried but it wasn't working. Must be because Ifrit is an Aeon, not a fiend. Still, I am able, just don't know how.

"Gonna have to figure that out later." I muttered. "So let's see what that new sphere grid section is." I said while checking my sphere grid, and planning on leveling Gilda up as well.

The new section litteraly branched off, and was simply all about summon and Aeons.

Ah, here we go. Summon Aeons. Shifting Aeons. And… wait, what?

Summon Tidus.
Summon Jecht.

"Huh...that's new." I said honestly. "Khimari and Wakka are gonna be happy with that...and whoever else I'll find.""

I activated them all and managed to shift into Ifrit… only something was… different. "Well… not what I was expecting." Gilda said.

I was partly on fire. Mainly, my hair. My hands ended in five thick, sharp claws, horns bigger than my minotaur form was on my head, feral, dog like legs and I was just a half foot taller than my minotaur form. Also I still heavily resembled a human. Mainly, me, just with… Ifirit features.

"Thought I would have turned fully into Ifrit, not half and half." I said, noticing my voice was more...deep and powerful, but still feminine. "What do you think?"

"I think…" Gilda reached out, putting a hand to my fire hair. "Warm but not hot." He then grabbed my hand. "Also not burning hot… now, awkward question, do you have… genitals, in this form?"

"Well…" I moved a hand down to check if I got the goods. And to my surprise, embarrassment, and excitement, I did indeed have the goods. "Yep, both holes are there."

"Then we are doing things. Bedroom things. Cause you look amazing like that."

"And it's going to be fantastic." I said happily.

With a nod from Gilda I shifted back for now and in a flash the sky above was back in Equis again. And the Yellowstone volcano was now half inside the Canterlot mountain. And… it's shaking… Oh fuck!

“Oh come on!” I panicked. “I didn’t think this would cause Yellowstone to start erupting!”

“I was unaware these rifts could release a whole forest and volcano.” Gilda and I looked up, seeing Luna fly down to us. “Greetings Herd mates.”

“Okay, so first up, hi Luna.” I started. “Second, we have a Super Volcano about to erupt, I don’t know how to stop that, please help.” I practically pleaded.

“You can still dawn my armor and lance, correct?”

“Yes and Yes.” I said while donning her old Royal Armor. “How does it work? I don’t know how much time we have.”

She looked around on the ground and once she found a spot, stomped at it til it spewed out lava. We all back up a bit. “Would you kindly stab my lance into the lava.” She asked.

“Uh...sure?” I started while stabbing the lance into the lava. “I...never got around to asking how powerful your armor and weapon is.”

“Seeing is more fun for me than telling.” Luna said with a smile.

Confused, I looked back at the… frosted rock the lance was jabbed into. The shaking stopped abruptly and I saw the ground begin to frost over heavily. Luna took my wrists and helped me pull it out of the frozen stone that was lava just a moment ago. “There. That should have cooled off all the lava, this Volcano is now just a mountain.”

“How in the newly frosted hell.” I asked in shock.

“My lance and armor were forged by Dwarves within a comet so cold, the frostbite burned all but the strongest of the gods who came near it. While wearing it, you will never feel cold and all but the strongest of pyromancies will not affect you. The halberd itself when used properly, or improperly, can actually freeze the core of the planet.”

“Oh…” I started, keeping it away from the ground. “And...Celestia’s armor?”

“Forged by the same dwarves within the same dying star Thor’s hammer was crafted in. The armor is the reverse of mine, no heat will harm you and all but the strongest of frost and ice magics will hurt you. The axe itself holds a fragment of Sister’s sun and can burn with the heat of it’s core.”

“Oh boy...that’s rather powerful that I just have at my disposal.” I said nervously.

“Oh you should have seen our late Friend Amora’s armor, or our mother’s. We’d have commissioned a set of Cadence and Twilight but sadly we lack the materials.”

“I mean….considering how things are going, I might find them to be honest.” I shrugged.

“Interesting. Well, let me know if you do, oh, and if you come across materials the Dwarves could use to make armors for Cadence and Twilight, let me know so I can commission them.”

“Uh...that depends on the materials.” I said honestly.

“You can find a book or two on them. I’m certain Twilight should have the books for the topic.”

“Yeah, I think Twilight might have something.” I said honestly. “So...does this whole thing affect Canterlot or...a lot of other things too much?”

Luna took a look around. "This rift was within the catacombs, correct?"

"Yeah." Gilda replied.

"Was there more?"

"Four I believe."

"Well, most likely the catacombs are also filled with lava, and now all that Lava is solid rocks. We will have to mine the ones now under the lava rocks. As for the new mountain, if anything the nobles will just wish to expand the city. The trees… my word, I haven't seen trees this tall in over five thousand years. It reminds me of my foalhood home."

“Would you believe me if I said they were bigger a long time ago on my planet?” I asked. “But yeah, there’s also like...thirteen hundred different types of trees in Yellowstone if memory serves.”

"Such variety. I just know the Earth Pony Nature Alliance will have a field day with this."

“Oh I’m sure they will, considering they also might not have seen things grown by a volcano before.” I said honestly.

"They have but never to such a size." Luna said, gazing over the former park. "I think I'll build a small private cabin down there."

We still had a few days before having to leave for that Changeling Hive mission, so we started our first date. Gilda and I were getting ready and by that I mean Gilda was helping me get ready while they were already dressed and looking sexy. "You really need to learn how to put your own makeup on." Gilda said as he fixed my eye liner.

“I’m sorry putting on makeup sucks.” I huffed. “But do I really need the makeup?”

"It's Rarity we're going on a date with babe, it would be offensive to her if we didn't." Gilda said with a chuckle, starting to work on my lipstick. "Plus that dress looks amazing on you."

I was dressed in a strapless midnight blue dress that went to my legs, almost touching the ground and was held up by the tight way it hugged my back and boobs when zipped up. I also had on heels.

I huffed, taking a look at Gilda's own strapless dress in rose red, held up just like mine with matching heels. The way they we're leaning over to work on my makeup gave me a good view of their cleavage.

“Can’t I just wear normal shoes? Heels suck.” I grumbled.

"They won't look good with the dress. And if I can wear heels, you can learn to wear them too. It's all about balance really, put your weight when walking in the front and only put weight on the heel when standing. You don't wanna break the heel, trust Me, the fall hurts."

“Considering how long this dress is it really doesn’t matter what my shoes look like.” I pouted. “But fine, whatever...so where did you book us on our date Gilda? Cause this seems rather fancy when we could have just went to a normal restaurant.”

"Rarity booked it, Ponyville's only five star restaurant. Dusk till Dawn. It's a pretty fancy place and she usually books it for meetings with clients. Tonight will be her first time booking a personal dinner."

"That's cool." I nodded. "Didn't know there was a five star at Ponyville."

"Yeah. So, ready in about…" Gilda applied some make up to my cheeks and gave my hair a fast brushing. "Now. What do you think?"

I looked in the mirror and… is that seriously me?! No, no I look okay but this mirror has to be enchanted, no way that model is me.

"Gilda, can I get a regular mirror and not an enchanted one?" I asked him simply. "Cause there's no way I look this good."

"It's all you babe. Normal mirror, dolled up you." Gilda said, booping my nose. "So, shall we?"

"We shall." I nodded with a smile. "I...didn't think I could look this good though…"

"If working as a model taught me anything it's that the right dress, makeup and hair style can completely change someone's appearance, or enhance what's there."

"Now that we can agree on." I chuckled, Gilda being a prime example of it.

With that we headed out, picking up Rarity at her place. I did a double take to make sure she wasn't actually naked. Her dress was the same white as her coat and while it was held up by two straps it was hard to see them without really looking. Her mane was brushed completely flat rather than her typical curls and her lipstick, eyeliner and all that was the same shade of purple as her mane.

From there we walked, myself leaving a small trail of drool, to the restaurant and took our seats. The place looked real nice. Almost like a mini Canterlot. "So, what was your world like Anna?" Rarity asked. "Normally I'd ask how you two met but, I already know that."

"Uh...how do I start…" I started nervously. "Well firstly...there's no magic on my world, which I solely blame the Gods for leaving it before it could get all magicky and cool.""

"I can't imagine a world without magic. How vast are our worlds differences then?"

"Extremely vast." I said honestly. "Without magic, we had to compensate with technology. And how drastic that difference is...imagine Manehatten and Los Pegasus, but vastly more commonplace."

"That is impressive. Manehatten is the way it is because it's been a major trade hub, the doc on the ocean, ports for flying transport and many train hubs for land travel. Los Pegasus was built for the sole purpose of entertainment. To see those being common place is such an interesting concept. Pray tell, if you don't have magic then what did your world use gems for?"

"Jewelry, and for Diamonds specifically, used for drill bits and saw blades because they were the best materials for getting through tougher things." I said honestly.

"That makes sense. Without magic to enchant a blade to be sharper and stronger, use what nature crafted. And fashion?"

"Remember when I talked about how egregiously low your prices are Rarity?" I asked. "I mean, fashion is subjective and I will argue function is better than form...but with your work and stupidly low prices, you'd effectively have a monopoly in my world."

"Really? Do tell."

"Stupidly cheap with insane quality and specially fitted to each person, take a guess how many people would rush to you instead of other, more expensive name brands?"

"How flattering. Your world doesn't tailor fit your clothings?"

"You can get tailor fit, just costs extra." I shrugged. "But they mostly just mass produce multiple sized versions of the same clothing for both genders and...that's it really." I shrugged.

"Really? How dull. I know there are a few mass produced brands for clothing but they're mostly popular for underwear and shoes. Here almost every arrival of clothing a pony owns is made custom by a tailor like myself."

"Yeah, and I suppose that's why prices are so inexpensive." I said honestly. "Any other differences you want to know about?"

"Hmm… that massive metal ship that appeared behind Fluttershy's home the other day, is that really used to transport cargo?"

"Yes it is." I nodded. "A massive cargo ship used to transport thousands of tonnes of goods across oceans."

"Amazing. Equis cargo ships are not even half that, and even then larger goods are transported either with dragons or their fire breath. Teleported even if able."

"Ingenuity can do a lot." I said honestly. "Then there's cargo planes, which carry less than a ship but still quite a bit at...I think seventy percent the speed of sound?"

"So Rainbow Dash's average speed while flying?" Rarity said with a laugh that Gilda joined.

"That's accurate. So, Rarity, mind if I ask how browsing through my modeling career went?" Gilda asked.

"Darling, your figure plus the style and sass in every photo was simply Divine. I do have to ask, how did you manage the… underwear editions?"

"That… they had me take those gender potions." Gilda said with a sigh and a huff. "By then they changed you but at least it was shorter and you were infertal, plus Zer was thankfully never there for those so, I just made sure they paid double my normal price for those. Hence why there's only about four magazines with me in underwear only."

"Ah, I see. Fair enough. Well you won't have to worry about that with me darling, male or female clothing I won't make you do anything you aren't comfortable with."

"Thanks to Anna that list has actually shrunk quite a bit." Gilda said, making Rarity and I blush. Me more than her.

"So back to another topic." I said quickly. "Anything else you want to know?"

"Well, how have you two been as of late? Being more freelance than company bound."

"It's been good. Having more free time and less Blueballs bitching at us." I shrugged. "But how's Sweetie been with my little brother?"

"Honestly I'd be more worried if your brother was more… active. Thankfully he actually seems quite… reluctant to repay her, and the others, advances. I can tell he wants too but is too young and too much of a child to repay it properly. Though I wish Sweetie didn't get ideas from my romance novels."

I couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Tommy is a good kid, I helped make sure he was raised right when our parents weren't around. I really should spend more time with Tommy...just work keeps us pretty busy."

"I understand. I wish I could spend more time with Sweetie, Mother and Father, but I'm often busy between my profession, mission from the princess and now this, finding time with our loved ones can be challenging. At least I take comfort in knowing they aren't lonely. Our siblings have each other, as friends now, and as lovers in the future."

"Just...prepare some soundproofing if my brother is as 'energetic' as he normally is when the time comes." I said sheepishly.

"Now there's a scary thought. I only hope I can get the chance to… make some very unlady like loud noises before my sister."

"Pretty sure that will come soon, especially after Marble and Limestone get their house set up for us all." Gilda said.

"True. It will be a pain to travel between the shop and there… then again maybe Twilight can set up a form of teleportation for me."

“Is it weird that I fully expected there to be a ‘portal station’ here? Like a controlled area filled with portals to different cities and the like?”

"Mana requirements for such a station would be beyond what a simple unicorn can produce. For a personal one like I'm thinking it would be expensive to build but can be used daily with Mana charged gems or by pulling Mana from the horn directly."

“Couldn’t you just have it on a leyline or something? Make the entire place out of crystal or use some specialty crystal platforms for it?” I asked curiously. “I know I should be asking Twilight about all this magical mumbo jumbo, but just curious.”

"None of the leylines run over or near Ponyville, Crystals like from the Crystal Empire might work but the secrets to craft such artifacts with them sadly died with the former Crystal Princess Amora." Rarity sighed.

"I heard about that, Sombra killed her when he began his conquest." Gilda said. "Petrified her in stone alive, then shattered her to the winds."

“Well...if she’s powerful enough she might have Pyreflies I can find.” I said honestly.

"That was well before Fiends appeared Anna darling. But, who knows. I know Celestia would be overjoyed if she can somehow be revived."

“But at the moment she’s probably super confused as to why there’s another mountain next to Canterlot that was formerly a super volcano.” I shrugged.

"I'm sure Luna filled her in." Gilda said. "So, what are your parents like?"

"My complete opposite. Father was a jock, everything sports he was good at and mother is a homemaker, housewife since marriage and still is. Neither come close to the definition of class or Canterlot social standings, but I love them. I wouldn't have them any other way."

“Trust me...you’re a lot better off not being a part of the Canterlot Social Standing if the glares we got from a bunch of the nobles are anything to go by.” I sighed out. “Not as many as I thought after the whole Yellowstone thing but...still enough.”

"Yeah, they were all being quite snotty." Gilda sighed.

“Sadly, but most of ones that didn’t look down on us were either nervous because Luna was there, that I turned a Super Volcano about to erupt into a full blown mountain with Luna’s old armor and weapon, or because Fancy Pants has been, apparently, helping endorse our cause along with some others that actually give a shit.” I explained simply.

"Yes. Most of my clients fall into the same category as Fancy Pants, High Standing and Caring. The rest are much like Blueblood, power and money, no manners." She sighed.

“Except others have no manners because they were raised to be spoiled brats, BlueBlood’s just a sociopath who doesn’t give a shit about anyone besides Celestia, Luna, and whoever the hell wrote that letter he keeps staring at.” I said honestly.

"Yeah what is with that, any chance he gets he pulls it out and reads it. It's weird."

"Hmm… maybe it's from his mother? His parents did die while he was a baby." Rarity shrugged.

"How do you know that?" Gilda asked.

"I… back when I used to find him attractive, did some research." Rarity admitted, looking quite regretful.

“Is there...anything about him having a wife? A kid?” I asked carefully. “Cause if there’s one thing that sticks out more than that piece of paper...it’s Pipsqueak, he damn near coddles him any chance he has away from the desk, and it’s...honestly the only times I see him legitimately happy.”

"No. Not in any of my… prior research did Blueblood have any known lovers."

"Known, being the key word?" Gilda asked.

"Yes. Many years ago Blueblood did take extensive trips to Trottingham, spending up to a year at a time there. Officially all the papers covered him as attending parties, charity auctions, and other things but for the entirety of his stays he always stayed in the same hotel, same room."

“That sounds extraordinarily convenient.” I said honestly.

"Which hotel?" Gilda asked.

"The Trottingham Galla Hotel."

"Huh."

"Know something Gilda?" I inquired..

"Yes and no. I know it's a real high class place but there's two others built way better and fancier than the Galla Hotel. Kinda surprised he stayed there given his expensive tastes."

"That's what struck me as odd too." Rarity nodded.

"So he was secretly dating a maid." I said simply. "Only reason I can think of."

"If that's true, then how scandalous." Rarity said with a giggle. "I wonder what happened. He hasn't been there in over ten years or so if I recall."

"He's...how old is Pip again?" I asked, realization slowly dawning on me.

"Not actually sure Darling. He looks like he's six or seven but he is in Sweetie and all their classes so, perhaps older?"

"Eleven, actually." Gilda said. "Twelve this November."

"His position is more important than his son!?" I snapped, the realization finally hitting home for me.

"... Well, timing and location fits but, Blueblood and Pip don't look anything alike." Rarity said.

"Or act anything alike." Gilda added.

“Everything fits like that.” I started. “His mother’s dead, Pip told me, his father’s been long gone or presumed dead, so that gets the ‘act anything alike’ part out of the way.” I continued. “The only thing that could make sense about ‘looks’ is the coat color being a mixture of both his parents...but everything seems to fit...that letters probably from BlueBlood’s dead wife...I just...I have a feeling that’s all true…”

"Well, such a declaration while gossip rich won't get any traction without any evidence darling." Rarity said, growing before smiling. "But we can quickly gather it. I'll just need to inform Princess Luna and we can set up the perfect cover."

“And what’s the cover?” I asked curiously.

"We throw a ball for the GoE investors. Blueblood will have to attend, and we can take the opportunity to spike his drinks so he'll be too drunk to stay for long, then raid his room for that letter."

"Sounds like most parties I've been to." Gilda said with a shrug. "Plus I am curious to see what type of drunk Blueblood is."

“Sounds like a plan.” I nodded. “Deserves some karma for all the bullshit he’s throwing mine and Gilda’s way.”

"Guess we should go see Luna then." Gilda said.

We did just that, finishing up our dinner and heading to Twilight's place where Luna and Pip were. Luna, loved the idea.

Being royalty she very quickly called the Trottingham Galla Hotel and scheduled a party for GoE members and investors. By midnight it was all set, ready, thanks largely to Pinkie Pie, and Blueblood looked… miserable. I mean he looked like he always does but get within ten feet of the guy and you get hit with this aura of dread and misery. I almost feel bad for him. Almost.

"Have to admit, for an on the fly party this turned out well." Gilda said, taking a sip from their cup. "This punch is really good too."

“It is, so who’s going to spike Mr. Sourpuss’s drink?” I asked curiously, looking over at the obviously dejected stallion.

"Already taken care of." Pinkie said as she bounced up next to us. "I spiked it with my super patent pending Best Night You'll Never Remember party surprise." She said happily.

"Oh, when did you spike his cup?" Gilda asked.

"Oh I didn't spike his Cup silly, I spiked the punch."

I nearly fell over… we've ALL been drinking that punch. "Pinkie… how long does it take to-"

Mother of God my head! Christ, Pinkie, that drink hit me out of nowhere… fuck… where am I? Shit I really can't remember anything at all. She wasn't kidding… still I have a familiar buttery sensation in my core, and between my legs. Let's see…

Yup, naked, yup, sticky down there. Not all mine… I sat up, stretching. Guess Gilda and-

I opened my eyes, looking to my side and did not see my sexy griffon mate next to me… I saw a white coat, a messy blond mane… and my lipstick all over them in kiss marks… oh no...

I put my hand over my mouth as I stopped myself from screaming, not believing I just...oh god no…”Just...just find the note...this never happened...just take the pill after this…” I thought to myself in quick succession, taking deep breaths as I tried not to have a panic attack. ”I’m so sorry Gilda...gonna smack Pinkie so fucking hard…” I mentally growled as I started looking around to find that stupid note.

As I got up I realized two things. One, this bed will need to be tossed out, and two, my limp is not helping me search. Finally though I found Blueblood's coat vest… the buttons were gone and… over them was smears of my lipstick… yeah I am really glad I don't remember this. I reached in, finding that note and opened it.

Hi Blueblood, it's been a while since you had to return to Canterlot. I- we have missed you. Pip is so small, he did take after you in that regard. You always said you were tiny as a foal.

Life here has been the same more or less, usual guests and all that.

I'm just worried about the plan. I mean, I know you don't want Pip and I brought into the high standards of Nobles, but isn't faking your own death rather extreme? I know I'm not one to know much about these matters but truth always seems better than a lie.

Still, whatever path happens, I will happily be by your side, as a wife, with our son. It's amazing he has my coat and mane, even my eyes! Course, you know that, you helped me birth him in this very room. I'm rambling again… and writing my rambling.

Heh, I often wonder how you fell in love with me, I'm a complete mess.

I look forward to your next visit this spring. Pip will be with me in the room waiting. I know how much you love making him laugh.

Love, Clean Sweep.

I was...rather conflicted by this revelation. I was happy I was right, I am super pissed that Blueblood still effectively abandoned Pip...but I honestly felt a little bad for him, given that the last letter his wife gave him...was of how he was going to be with them forever after…”No wonder why…” I muttered sadly.

"I was late." I jumped, turning and seeing Blueblood sitting up on the bed. "Come spring, I was late. Just a day, but that day…" He sighed. "She died. Trottingham is ripe with criminals, mafia. They rented the place, rival gang noticed. She was caught in the crossfire of the crossbows and spells."

“Well...that explains that…” I muttered. “But…” I shook my head and looked at him. “For once...just tell me...why leave Pip for ten plus years? I understand not wanting to have him in the ‘royalty’ crap...but why not do...literally anything?”

"I did. I wanted to keep him… but, Canterlot is no place for a foal. Celestia's school exists because parents don't want their foals around. Having foals in Canterlot is more often considered an obligation of marriage over an act of love. It's more like an orphanage, they just call it a boarding school. Plus, with how long I work, Celestia. I didn't want Pip to grow up believing some random maid was his mother. So, I placed him into the system. And from behind paperwork and magic, helped him best I could."

“And...the parts where you didn’t visit him?” I asked simply. “Even if you had to do the bare minimum and get a wig and a set of casual clothes, just...something.” I said, letting my shoulders sag a little because of this.

"Many think my life is one of luxury and spoils. They're right, to a degree. My free time comes and goes. I work and in turn the amount of days I work, I get the same amount off. An odd setup but one I enjoyed. I managed to spend so much time in Trottingham, for Clean Sweep, for Pip, thanks to working with the mayor here as a benefactor for police and social services. Kept me working, and we got to spend time together… Sadly, so long as I was a Canterlot Noble, Canterlot kept dragging me back. Heh… she was right, faking my own death was drastic, but it would have kept us all together. Money and privilege be damned…”

“And...you didn’t tell Celestia, one of the few people you legit care about, any of this...why?” I asked. “She literally has all the power to give you what you most desired, nobles be damned.” I asked, legitimately wondering why all this cloak and dagger had to happen with...the sad loss of life.

“She would have loved Pip… and therein lies the problem. My aunt is many things, and open hearted is her best and worst quality. She tries to please everyone… and when it comes to family, she will make everyone happy, save herself. Do you know what I did in Canterlot before the GoE? I helped Celestia manage paperwork and her courts. Over five hundred meetings in court daily, and paperwork towering to the ceiling. She will suffer for others to be happy, if I came to her, with my newborn son, she'll make a law saying I can’t work till he graduated college, and carry all that work herself. I can’t let her do that, I won’t. Which is why, your situation is perfect. Rebuilding the entire world under one kingdom. You can rebuild everything, be the royalty that all the lands need, and the parents Pip deserves.”

“You are not helping here by telling the truth…” I sighed out. “But...Luna, why not ask her? You know Pip just adores her, why not talk to her about all of this? I’m sure the smack to the back of the head would be enough to start getting progress with Pip.”

“At the time, she was still on the moon as the physical embodiment of Nightmares.”

“Okay, what’s stopping you now?” I corrected myself. “I know Luna is now Pip’s adoptive mother...but Pip…he would still love to know you’re alive and well…” I started. “And you can make quite a convincing lie with your cutie mark, being a compass and all and Pip’s love for adventures.”

He sighed, looking down at the sheets. “Do you honestly believe that I, of all ponies can be a good father? That I can walk back into his life and expect him to accept it? Do I even have that right anymore? No. He’s happy where he is, with Luna, with you. You are his family, and I imagine one day he will see Gilda as his father. That’s all I wish for him, to be where he’s loved.”

“My guy, stop with the bullshit.” I said bluntly. “We’ve all seen how happy you are spending time with Pip, making him happy, damn near coddling the poor boy like it’s the end of the world.” I started. “It’s one thing to let go, but that’s the easy way out, the hard way is to face the music and finally own up and be there for her.” I started. “You can be a good father, if you being there for Pip shows us anything, as well as dealing with my bullshit specifically.” I explained. “It’s not that I believe you can or can’t do it...before I was almost sorry for you for being such a sourpuss about all this...but now knowing the actual story...I honestly do feel sorry for you…” I sighed out. “Never before would I have thought I’d be saying that.”

“You are right about that…” He said, reaching over into the night stand, pulling out his bits wallet. “From the moment I met you, do you know why I hated you?” He asked, surprising me.

“Because I wanted to fight for my family?”

"No. I actually admire that. No… when I lost Clean Sweep, I promised no mare can ever take my heart like she did." He opened his wallet, pulling out a small photo and handed it to me. I walked over, taking it and… oh my God. She looked… so much like me. Especially in my pony form, just different colors. "When I saw you… I felt that promise slipping. Breaking." I looked over at him. "I figured, to keep it, I'd make you hate me. Wasn't hard."

“It really wasn’t when you kept acting like a smarmy douche half the time.” I rolled my eyes. “But...this is really uncanny...besides color...I look exactly like her in my pony form.” I said nervously.

"Even in your current form, I could see her in you. It hurt… still does… and this…" He motioned to the destroyed bed. "Honestly makes me feel more pathetic than I ever knew possible."

“Listen, you moping about this isn’t going to solve anything.” I said bluntly. “I’m…” I sighed out. “I’m going to give you a second chance Blueblood, cause you’re going through a hell of a lot more than I thought you were...even though I don’t like it, and we’re going to talk to Gilda as well about this, and you’ll be honest about everything you told me to him...and I mostly blame Pinkie for drugging everyone of us...literally just wanted to see you drunk and read the note, that was all this party was supposed to be...not this…” I grumbled. “Also, do you have a…’morning after’ spell or something? I want to make sure Gilda’s kids are my first.”

"Not that I know of but… I believe this hotel does have some. In the bathroom cabinet. Complementary. Part of this place's unique features Sweep and I… took advantage of often. Well, at least until we decided to have Pip." He sighed, taking off the sheets and… sweet mother of christ I had THAT pounding inside me?! I can't tell if he is just longer or genuinely bigger than Gilda… No wonder I have such a bad limp. "Oh… heh, sorry. Guess biology doesn't know when to stop."

“So...that explains my limp...Gilda is still better.” I blushed brightly. “So...you might join the herd sooner or later, even if Gilda...and Rarity might want to smack you for causing so much crap.”

"Speaking of, where is your love bird and the rest? After… last I remember was speaking to Fancy Pants about local security measures and… what did that pink mare spike us with?"

“The best night we’ll never remember, patent pending.” I said honestly. “We just wanted to spike your drink so we could see the note and prove me right that you were Pip’s father...then Pinkie stepped in and just spiked everything.”

"So the whole party was drugged… question, if we ended up here… what happened to the others?"

“Let's figure that out after I take the pill and get washed up.” I said honestly.

"Fair enough."

So we did just that. I have to admit though, knowing Blueblood more now, and what he's packing, I found myself… looking. Often. Thankfully we did find Gilda and… oh… oh my. "I knew Fancy Pants was Bisexual but… wow." Blueblood said as we looked at the naked forms of Fancy Pants and Gilda, floor stained in… you know what and all that. They were both out cold… damn it why does Gilda look so cute like this!?

“Gilda is too cute for his own good.” I grumbled. “Also damn it...Gilda is my number one...why do I keep looking at...other things…”

"Heh, you take to the herd mentality faster than I expected." Blueblood said. "In a herd, any potential, joinable mates are free to look at."

“But...I...guess it’s not really cheating if it’s all in the herd but...I suppose it’s something I’ll need to get used to.”

"Pretty much. So, should we wake them or see where the others all ended up and if that Pinkie Pie didn't invent the world's strongest Viagra."

“Well...we should probably wake them up.” I said honestly. “Wonder what Gilda’s gonna think about fucking a dude though since it doesn’t look like Gilda was...filled as it were.”

"Depends. Are they bisexual as well?"

“I...believe so.” I said honestly. “He hasn’t...opposed to the fact that if I learn to shapeshift better I can...get the proper parts as it were.”

"So, want to both be his baby mama and baby daddy?" I jumped… did Blueblood just tease me? "Don't be so surprised…" He took a deep breath. "If this is all going to come out into the open… and this." He motioned between myself, Gilda, and himself. "Is going to be something, it's best I act like myself over the prick I typically act as around you."

“That would help a lot overall to be honest.” I said simply. “Just...don’t expect Gilda to be more...open about this at first.”

"Given his current situation… he just might."

So we woke up Gilda and Fancy Pants. Screams, blushing, and lastly a long talk that Fancy left to get clothes and find his wife to also have a talk and possibly scream in panic with.

"Is it wrong I feel… good? Like, really good?" Gilda asked.

"Depends. You can't remember the sex but do you feel violated or dirty?" Blueblood asked.

"Honestly… no. I actually feel… happy. Weirdly. Guess I am bi after all. Looks like I do owe my therapist those twenty bits after all." Gilda sighed. "So… you two smashed as well… firstly, not mad, more shocked than angry." Gilda stated that last part firmly. "Second, can someone find me my clothes? Just the dress even cause I have no idea where my underwear went."

“Uh…” I looked around carefully for the dress Gilda was wearing. “Let’s hope you didn’t rip it apart…”

"Or stain it." Blueblood added.

We found Gilda's dress thankfully tossed over an empty couch and they quickly put it back on. "Not the first time I've gone commando in these dresses. At least this one is long." Gilda said happily. "Now, where is Pinkie and Rarity? And who bets they both hooked up?"

"Twenty bits then?" Blueblood gave a hand.

"Deal." Gilda said, shaking his hand. Awh, this is nice.

We did find Pinkie and Rarity. They were indeed together… atop Luna… "Wow, they hooked up." Gilda said with a laugh.

Blueblood simply covered his eyes. "Our relationship may not be blood but she is still my aunt…" He said, keeping then covered.

“Says the guy that’s probably going to join the herd she’s a part of.” I pointed out.

"Aware of that… I just hope this doesn't repeat with Luna… or stars forbid, Celestia. She's more my mother than my aunt. That would be traumatizing."

"You two would make cute little foals though. Owe!" Gilda huffed as Blueblood kicked their leg for that one.

“No hitting Gilda.” I huffed. “But anyways...it’s gonna be a little weird...also I’m more surprised your going along with this so fast Gilda.”

"Heh, well I sorta figured something more than being a prick was up with Blueblood. I'm… kinda an expert at using anger to hide pain so… I had a few flags fly up whenever we talked with him. Not to mention when he talked to me solo compared to with you, his tone and attitude were different. So, let me guess… she looks like her?" Gilda asked.

Blueblood sighed, and nodded. "Human or Pony, she's almost Clean Sweep's twin."

"Damn. No wonder you were acting like such an ass. To keep from feeling hurt yourself you tried to hurt her so she'd hate you and hopefully it would kill off the feeling you had for her, only it didn't work."

"Is it all that transparent?"

"Once you both explained things out it's not too hard to figure out the missing pieces."

"Huh… fair- owe!" Blueblood yipped as Gilda poked them With a talon. "What was that for?"

"It's a Griffon thing, we call it an Overnighter Mark."

"And it means?"

"Well, you did fuck Anna, and from that limp she's sporting, pretty good." I blushed, as did Blueblood. "I'm not mad, but as head male I need to… ensure you're right for her as well." At that moment Gilda grabbed Blueblood by the ass and pulled him against himself. My blush became crimson and Blueblood was shocked. "Which means I need to… make sure you pass a few tests."

"I-i, I've never even been with, I…" Blueblood was stuttering.

"Hey, if it helps, we can let Anna watch to… review your performance."

And now my nose is bleeding. Yup, lots of blood, thank God I am wearing a red dress.

After everything got cleaned up and we all made it back to Ponyville, Rarity, Pinkie and Luna were a bit awkward, well, More Rarity. Pinkie just giggled a lot and Luna was making plans about using her dream magic to try and recover those memories for us… yes please.

Finally though we were home and Blueblood had to explain everything about Pip, and Pip's mom and… well, all that.

Pinkie, cried. Expectedly. Rarity was at a loss. It explained his treatment of her at the Galla some years ago but she would make him make it up to her. Luna, slapped him.

"I deserved that." He sighed.

"I'd do more but… I can understand your reasoning." She sighed, taking a seat next to him. "Canterlot now is so different from a thousand years ago. Despite the luxury, not many foals have good parents, and even when they are good, they are busy. Twilight Sparkle and her brother were lucky. Loving parents, lots of letters and time spent with each. Visited the castle often when she was under my sister's care. And yes, Celestia would have done exactly that to make sure you had time for Pip. The only question now is… how do we tell Pip about you?"

“Either we just tell him outright, or we lie and say his dad was on some ‘grand adventure’, the last message he got was the note he’ll show Pip...and after that he was too focused on showing his wife and newborn son something amazing...only to figure out the worst had happened.” I explained. “Sound like a good enough explanation?”

"No." Blueblood sighed. "Clean Sweep… hated lies. Thought they were pointless. We'll have to tell the truth… everything."

“So...now we have to think of how Pip’s going to react…” I sighed out. “Cause he can either freak out and be really mad at Blueblood here...or he could freak out and finally be happy with a father that truly cared about him...which is more believable of happening?”

"I'm not sure. Pip Is usually such a happy colt, the idea of him being mad is strange." Luna said.

"We won't know until we tell him." Gilda said. "We should make sure we're all there to help him process."

“And Tommy, cause those two are practically brothers at this point.” I pointed out.

"Then let's go get him" Luna said.

It wasn't hard to find Tommy and Pip. We sat both down and had a long talk with Pip. When all was said and done, Pip held onto the letter, and a photo of his mom Blueblood had.

"You… you were going to fake your death? That's… silly." Pip said.

"Heh… your mother thought so too." Blueblood said with a chuckle. "I can tell you all about her. If you're okay with that."

"I'd like that… dad."

My heart!

"So, any questions?"

"Well… Luna is my mom now… and you're my dad… and you're joining their family so… will I become a big brother?"

Blueblood, was taken back in surprise. Most of us all laughed.

"Why yes Pip." Luna said, giving Pip a hug. "I suspect your father and I will make sure you have many siblings."

"Luna- you're my-" Blueblood started.

"Not by blood." She stated. "And you do owe your son a lot for missing out on eleven, almost twelve years of his life."

"... This herd will be the death of me…" Blueblood groaned as we all got a laugh.

“That’s only half the fun.” I chuckled. “But you seem to be taking this really well Pip.”

"Honestly… I'm just happy to know my mom and dad loved each other, and that he still wants me." Pip said.

“That’s fair.” I nodded. “So, what are you going to do now Pip? Tell Diamond about another part of your family being Royalty?”

"Nah. Also, why?"

"I can tell her." Tommy shrugged.

“Sorry, just brought that up given...what prior history you had with Diamond being...well how she was beforehand.”

"She's been really nice since Tommy told her mom off." Pip stated.

"Plus I think Tiara is working on an apology for you anyway." Tommy added.

“Which is really good.” I nodded.

The next day or so Blueblood spent all his time with Pip, talking about Pip's mother and how she was. Luna accompanied them, half because she is Pip's legal mom now, half to tease the shit out of Blueblood.

I also did end up… reviewing that little exam Gilda had planned with Blueblood. Needless to say, it was very hot, and almost became a three-way. After that we went on our date with Applejack.

She was dressed so lovely, and all by herself. Apparently some lessons from her time with her aunt and uncle in Manehatten stuck well. With some motivation and pushing from Gilda, that date ended in my first ever girl on girl sex. It. Was. Amazing. Still though it was going to be some time before a home for all of us could be built, and tomorrow we head off for the Changeling Hive mission. How to spend my final day of free time before work.

“Me and Tommy need an adventure.” I told myself as I got out of my comfy chair. “Something to do before I’m stuck in bumfuck nowhere for god knows how long…”

I ran off to find him, and that was the easy part as his little group of soon to be lovers were following him everywhere, with Twist on his arm like a scarf. That's just so cute. "Hey Anna." Tommy said as he spotted me.

“I didn’t know we were starting a conga line.” I joked at how all the girls were walking behind him perfectly. “So, want to go on an adventure?”

"Uh, sure. Where to?"

“No idea.” I said with a smile. “So we’re just gonna wing it.”

"Okay then. So, you girls wanna head home?" None moved. Tommy sighed. "Alright, you can come." That made them happy.

“Alright. So, have any of you heard any rumors of strange things happening around here?” I asked curiously.

"Well, there are the normal monsters in the Everfree." Sweetie Bell started.

"Plus the super mega monsters that show up here and there." Scootaloo added.

"Normally they leave us alone since they always stay in the forests, but given those Fiends have been popping up, some have gotten a bit closer to town." Silver said.

"I saw a Manticore a few days back." Tiara said.

"So, we clean up the violent stragglers and take out some fiends then. Fair enough." Tommy said with a shrug.

“Sounds simple enough.” I nodded. “And depending on how things go, I might actually be able to talk to the creatures of this world with my Equestrian Chimera form.”

"Cool. Alright then, arm up ladies." Tommy said. To my surprise each of them reached into his backpack, pulling out swords and a few machina weapons alike.

“Where, how, and when?” I frowned, crossing my arms as I waited for their answer.

"Where, no idea. Remember when I first came back and I dumped a shit ton of weapons, potions and ect from my backpack?" He asked me. Right… I forgot he came back with a bag of holding too… "How is also unknown, and when is also, u known. For the most part given I somehow know how to use them all I ended up training them each with the weapons. I keep hold of them when not training, so they don't get in trouble for coming home with a ten foot greatsword."

“Uh huh...and you haven’t picked one specifically yet?” I asked curiously, noticing he’s the only one not to have grabbed a specific weapon.

"Sis, I can do shit that is physically impossible for my age and size. Pretty sure a weapon would break if I used it."

"It's true. We watched him punch a boulder to rubble once." Tiara said.

"That gem hunting did not go well." Sweetie sighed.

“Alright Chris Redfield, don’t let your strength go to your head.” I said while ruffling my little brother’s hair.

"So, you all know where we might find some of these dangerous beasts?" Tommy asked.

"I remember Zecora saying a pack of Timber Wolves lived a few miles from her but. They usually leave her alone since she put up some barrier around it." Applebloom said.

"Stick wolves it is." Tommy said.

“Let’s hope they're not being corrupted by something.” I said nervously.

We rushed over to the Everfree. Already we spotted something and we weren't even inside the forest yet, just the outer border of it. The Manticore saw us, roaring aggressively. I was surprised the girls all readied their swords.

“Now now, let’s take a moment.” I said while shifting into my Equestrian Chimera form. “Let’s hope this works…” I muttered as I stepped forward. “The hell are you doing out this far? Shouldn’t you be back in the forest?”

It roared. ("I can ask the same, freak.")

“First up, rude.” I growled. “And secondly, I asked you first.”

("Beasts, much like yourself, attacked. My pride and cubs were slaughtered.")

I couldn’t help but gasp from all four of my heads. “Oh god…” I started. “Where are they?” I asked quickly.

("Long gone. After the massacre they moved on. I vowed revenge… and lucky me, you happened by.") The Manticore said, growling as he got ready to jump at me and raised his stinger.ger.

“If you think getting yourself killed is a good idea.” I growled as I raised my left hand as it formed a fireball. “Think about this...you don’t have to fight, just go back and find another...I’m sure their still more out there.”

("There are, but I'm out to avenge my cubs, my pride. You can't replace family. I'd sooner die trying than try to replace them.")

And with that, he lunged at me. It was easy to grab him and use my snake part to restrain his stinger.

“Do you really want to be a part of your family again?” I asked the manticore sadly.

("To survive, live past your own children. It's a fate no parent should endure.") He replied just as sadly. ("Others, will not be this conversational, Freak.")

“I have a name.” I told the Manticore. “It’s Anna...and I’m going to save the forest from the Fiends, save whoever I can...question, is there a ‘Monster Leader’? Like the father or mother of all monsters here?”

("None that I know of, Freak.")

I rolled my eyes. “Okay, so you want it fast and painless?”

He didn't bother answering. My tiger and goat heads opened wide, and bit into his skull.

Crack. Pop. Splash.

New Form Obtained: Equis Manticore

"Gross." Tommy said. Most of the girls looked a bit sick. Silver Spoon even threw up.

“He lost his family…” I said as I spat out some bones. “That’s why he was out there, Fiends are attacking the creatures in the Everfree…”

"So it's not just the kingdoms then. Wild animals too…" Tommy said. "How do we help them?"

"What about Fluttershy?" Sweetie asked, gaining our attention. "Well, Fluttershy used To babysit Scootaloo, Applebloom and I and she told us a dream of hers would be to build an animal sanctuary. I bet she could get all the animals and even some of the monsters to co-exist safely in a secure place."

“That would be a good idea.” I nodded. “Go find Fluttershy, I’m sure the monsters will at least be a little more talkative with her.”

"But where will be put them all?" Tommy asked.

"I believe you've forgotten about little old me." Tommy and I jumped as Discord slithered out of the grass between us like a worm. "Honestly it feels like you forget I'm here."

“I didn’t, you’re just...honestly barely around.” I shrugged. “How you doing Discord?”

"Pretty good all things considered. Took a break to browse the chapter over and realized you do need some help getting to the realms of the gods and other worlds. It would be so much fun!" He flashed, appearing in my tiger nose as half an inch tall. "And honestly it will help you all so much to know about the shit they are going through with the fiends, among other things. You'd also be happy to know that after a quick look around." He then took out a telescope and aimed it at the sky. "In this reflection I have found three other survivors of your world Anna. Isn't that just grand!"

“Wait really?” I asked in surprise. “I didn’t know there were other survivors besides my family...also are the Gods really having trouble because of the Fiends?”

"The gods, not really. Some more than others but mostly, as I said it's the other worlds that are having issues with them. Most already have issues to deal with, the fiends just piled on the trouble. And honestly, there are so many survivors Anna, including yourself there are four in this reflection. The rest are all scattered to the other reflections living out their wishes your God gave them."

“Huh, that’s really interesting.” I said honestly. “Wonder how things are going for them since this ‘Father’ isn’t bugging the shit out of them.”

"He may not be pestering them directly but fiends are present and their numbers do grow. Slowly but surely."

“Sounds about right.” I nodded. “So, how can you help all the monsters and animals in the Everfree from the Fiends?”

"Several ways, I'm partial to one method myself but any of them can work fine."

"That method is?"

"Turn Luna's moon into middle earth."

"How do you even know that reference?"

"Child if I was to explain that to you, you'd just be more confused."

“Now when you say ‘Middle Earth’...are you talking about a smaller Earth or are you literally turning it into Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit out of nowhere?” I asked carefully.

"Why yes, yes I am." Discord replied with a smile.

“And...how is Luna going to think about this?” I asked curiously.

"That's what I am going to find out. Also here." He snapped his fingers, and in my and Tommy's hands appeared an identical key for the two of us. "When you finish up with Ugly come by Gilda's place." And with that, Discord left.

"Wait, good luck with Ugly?" Twist asked.

Suddenly, the ground shook. "I really hate him…" Applebloom said.

I switched to my Solar Armor and prepared my axe. “So let’s meet ‘Ugly’.” I said while turning around to see what the hell is coming at us.

And it was at that point I was legit scared…. I've seen photos of this abomination of limbs and Pyreflies… Amalgamation, they called it. It had seven heads. Three in the neck, four in the chest, four sets of wings, and fourteen arms along the torso and back, and walking on fourteen legs. It saw us, every face on that body screeched an unholy yell.

“So…” I started as I walked slowly to the thing. “Here’s what I’m gonna do…” I explained as I drove my axe into whatever the fuck this thing is, and used that handy dandy thing Luna told me to kill it with fire. “Die by fire you sick fuck!” I yelled in panic at how horrible this thing looked like.

It caught fire instantly but grabbed my axe and arm. Get it off me! I tried kicking the thing off me but fuck this thing has a grip! "Anna!" Tommy yelled, rushing up in a blur and spin kicking the thing. It skid across the ground but did not let me go. The girls all took out their machena weapons and started shooting at it. On fire, filled with holes, my brother kicking and punching this thing hard enough to make small shockwaves… why won't it die?!?!?!

“Okay, so what the hell is up with this thing?” I muttered as I scanned it, wondering what’s going on as it was currently getting its ass handed to it.

Amalgamation: Variant - Morphed
HP: 200,500,950
Current HP: 199,999,742

I CALL EVERY BULLSHIT!!!

“How the fuck does this thing have two hundred million hp!?” I shouted in anger.

“Excuse me what!?” Tommy shouted as he heard me scream how much health this monster had.

The girls all looked nervous but kept shooting and I tried driving the axe deeper into its body while Tommy tried to break the arms holding me.

He managed to break one and I finally got free. I rushed back, letting the axe grow hotter. Come on, you can burn at the core of Celestia's sun! Incinerate this bitch!

At that, the axe glowed, going from a hot red, to blinding white, to an almost gold with lightning sparking off. The armor caught fire. I felt nothing, the ground beneath me melted, yet I walked through it like water. Tommy and the girls ran. Trees burst to flames and I rushed in, bringing the axe down across the thing. A clean cut, and the body turned to ash from the cut marks around it and those ashes became Pyreflies I absorbed.

I painted, the axe instantly going dim, looking normal now as it just smoked and the armor extinguished itself. I realized I was knee deep in lava that was dirt. I felt nothing in the armor. I quickly got out, running through the forest fire I… accidentally caused. I switched to lunar armor and used the lance to put out what I was able.

“Okay...so I...didn’t expect that to happen.” I said nervously. “God...this is bad...I’m doing more harm than good here…”

"Deploy rain!" I looked above, seeing a lot of Pegasi flying above, rain clouds following as they kicked them, the rain falling hard and all over the fires that quickly began to die down.

"Anna!" Rainbow said, flying down over to me. "What happened? Your brother and his friends were armed to the teeth and saying you were killing some crazy monster thing and then turned into fire?!"

“So...there was an Abomination...like, a fusion of bodies that looked horrifying...it’s ‘health bar’ as it were was over two hundred million somehow...and my Solar Armor I was using to kill it with fire...and then this happened sadly…”

"Shit… is it at least dead?"

“Yes, I cut it in half with the power of Celestia’s sun.” I nodded.

"Damn. Come on." Dash said, taking my hand as I shifted out of the armor form. "You look like you could use a nap."

“Maybe…” I yawned, looking at where the corpse was before, wondering if there might have been some loot that didn’t burn to ashes.

Dash led me back home, and I opened the door to Gilda reading a book on the couch and Blueblood helping Pip with homework.

“So...remember those Amalgamation things?” I asked carefully. “Also, if you can hear me Discord...can you fix the forest?” I asked the spirit if he was there.

That gained their attention. "How bad was it?" Blueblood asked.

“So uh...Rainbow and the Weather team needed to rush in and...clean it up while I was in a...pool of lava…” I said sheepishly, only to realize something. “Where’s Tommy and the others?” I asked in panic. “I know they ran but...are they okay?”

"Tommy's in the bedroom trying to calm the girls." Gilda said. "That abomination must have scared them a lot."

“Imagine a ball of flesh covered in writhing body parts and screeching like a child as it tanked not only one of my swings, but a flurry of attacks from my super strong brother and dozens of magically infused bullets from machina rifles.” I explained.

"Somehow I knew those things were going to be a pain in the ass." Gilda said, putting their book down. "The fire under control?"

"Yeah." Dash said with a nod.

“Again, sorry about that.” I said sheepishly. “Discord, you there?” I called out again to the spirit of chaos, hoping he can hear me this time.

"Present!" His voice came from Pip's homework. He then appeared in the center of the room. "Looks like Ugly is down and congratulations on using Core Sun for the first time Anna."

“Can you please fix the damage I did? I don’t know how bad of damage I did...but I’m scared I did more than cause a forest fire and create lava.” I said nervously.

"Fine fine, but you'll owe me." He said almost like it was a warning.

“You make it sound like a threat.” I pointed out.

"Well when someone owes me it never works out well for them. I tend to ask for help in personal matters I'd never act on alone." He said simply. "Do you still want me to repair the forest?"

“How bad is the damage?” I asked first, wanting to know at least that before fully asking.

"From what I saw a good… six acres got burned." Rainbow said sheepishly.

“Well...it’s not ten a mile of area…” I sighed out. “What other damage was there?”

"Well… Zecora's Hut was nearby so… hopefully her barrier held?"

"I have a feeling it didn't…" Blueblood said.

“Where’s...where’s Zecora?” I asked carefully.

"I think she was in town getting supplies. I know I saw her by Barnyard Bargains an hour ago." Dash said.

I fell to my knees, not in despair, but in sweet relief as I sighed out. “Oh thank god…” I said thankfully. “So...question...is it worth the effort to owe Discord for the six acres of forest?”

"Probably not." Blueblood said.

"I wouldn't." Gilda said.

"Not even if I got to be Captain of the Wonderbolts." Dash said.

“How long would it take to regrow the damage to the forest?” I asked curiously.

"The Evergreen does it's own thing. Earth pony magic just can't control it properly. Last time there was a fire though we found out it fixed itself in about a month. Much slower but still pretty fast for not having help from earth ponies." Blueblood said.

“Discord, are there Dryads or ‘Tree Spirits’ in the Everfree? And if so, are they mad at the impromptu forest fire?” I asked honestly, knowing he might know if there was more to the Everfree than just ‘Nature being Nature in magical pony land’.

"Not sure honestly. Never bothered checking." Discord said with a shrug. "Now then, call your brother, and I shall demonstrate your keys."

“I’ll let the Everfree regrow, so I won’t be owing you.” I said while getting back up. “And I’ll go get Tommy...hopefully all the girls aren’t too messed up because of this…”

I looked into the bedroom and tried not to laugh. I suspect their scare was just so they could dogpile him on the bed and cuddle. "This is heavy, even for me." Tommy sighed.

“I’m sorry, but I thought it would be bad...not adorable.” I said honestly. “So, Discord wants to show us how to use our keys.”

"Little help?" He asked, pulling out an arm I grabbed and pulled him out from under them with.

We walked back into the main room. "Good, now, present your keys." Discord said.

I brought out my Key, wondering what Discord has in store for us with these keys.

"Now then, you two hold the keys in the air in front of you, and turn them."

“Sounds simple enough.” I said while bringing up my key and turning it, seeing Tommy do the same.

There was an audible Click. And now space itself opened in front of us as if it was a door, and on the other side was… something massive and amazing looking. "What… is this?" Tommy asked.

"Those are keys to The Pathways Hub. A link between every world in this reality, including the homes of the gods."

“Huh…” I started. “Didn’t think that was...really possible.” I said honestly.

"Oh Anna, how little you know." Discord said with a chuckle. He then pulled out a pocket watch. "Speaking of, now that you have a means of travel and all that, well, interplanetary travel at least, your last gift from me should be arriving in three… two... one."

Discord vanished in a flash just as Limestone entered. "Anna, guys, you are not gonna believe, the house is, it's done!"

“Excuse me what?” I asked curiously.

"Yeah! I was just making lunch then, everything shook and flashed, and it's done, and way better than I imagined! You gotta see it! Come on!"

“Uh...sure.” I said while putting the key in my pocket as I followed after Limestone. “How could Discord finish it all at once?” I muttered, not knowing how strong the spirit truly was.

"You don't know?" Dash asked as we all followed Marble, Tommy's little herd included. "Back in the day Discord actually ruled Equis. As in the whole planet just by snapping his fingers and turning roads into soap, trees into jello, Clouds into cotton candy and they rained chocolate milk. Discord can reshape the planet and then some at will. Building a house is nothing to him."

“Huh…” I started. “I...didn’t know that.”

"That's nothing. He actually turned the whole of the Griffon territories into giant eggs. And the oceans into strawberry jam with the fish all somehow alive and swimming in it like it was water." Gilda added.

"In short, he is called a spirit of chaos, but Discord is a God in power and by birthright." Blueblood said. "He just doesn't take the mantle because he doesn't care for it."

“What, all the responsibility and none of the fun make him turn it down?” I asked, half joking but I was pretty certain it was because of that.

"No. Aunt Celestia once told me he never took the mantle because of two reasons. One, he would end up gathering followers as a god, trying to do his work for him. He doesn't like worship and frankly the idea of a cult of Discord is concerning. Secondly, it would mean he'd have to acknowledge his family, and his father. He hates them all, especially his father."”

“While a cult of Discord is concerning...does it also involve not wanting to get smacked by Thor?” I asked. “Cause his father’s Loki and...well Loki’s an asshole.”

"Actually from what I know Thor adors Discord. He's a very jolly person by nature and rather calm most of the time."

“Surprising.” I said honestly. “But not unheard of I suppose.”

The train took us to the Pie Family former Rock Farm and… holy shit! We stood before a miniature castle. Crafted looking a mix of Canterlot And Ponyville themes as the ground was a lush green with trees all around. Most Apple I noticed. "Who knew Discord has taste." Blueblood said.

“Holy shit.” I blinked. “This… looks amazing.”

"I know!" Limestone said happily. "And this is just the above ground stuff!"

"Above ground?" Gilda asked.

"Yeah, remember when I said there are some old mines around here our family used to dig before farming rocks? Well those also got an overhaul! There is so much stuff here, come on!"

And so Limestone gave us the tour, with her sister Marble. There are, in total. Over sixty bedrooms, the Master Bedroom with adjacent nursery, and one hell of a bathroom that almost looks like a public pool/public bathroom. Each bedroom can easily house three or four people and has about four bathrooms each bedroom. The kitchen looked like it was built for a high capacity restaurant, fully stocked, with freezers and Refrigerators for meet and veggies and drinks and all that. Did I mention everything there was pre stocked? Cause seeing a fifty foot pantry looking like a mini Walmart was mind blowing.

Twilight is never gonna want to leave this Library, there are books here from Asgard and Even Some written in egyptian hyroglif. Then here is where the rooms got even more personal. You can guess who they belong too.

A private, fully stocked laboratory. An indoor park that so far I can't find the walls too. Dash and I flew easily a hundred miles each and didn't find a wall. Discord made a pocket dimension indoor park. A massive, fully stocked warehouse filled with fabrics, top of the line sewing machines and all that. An indoor race track for fliers and runners. A second kitchen/office for baking and… office, stuff? A room filled with apple trees. Much like the indoor park, but was about as big as AJ's family farm. A room that was clearly meant for me, as it was filled with books on fiends, ones I know and ones I think Discord found and catalogued, and an area that sent my need heart fluttering. Earth, games, consoles, ect. Ones I've played, lot's I haven't.

The rooms all went on and on and… wait is this place just infinite inside? Eh, don't think I care really. Games!

“Okay so...someone’s going to need to make sure we go outside...in any way shape or form cause this is amazing.” I said simply.

"I wonder how big this place is? Clearly there's his typical magic at play here, but this is far more controlled than I ever expected to see out of something Discord made." Blueblood said as he opened up one of the books on fiends. "Oh. Well I hope no boats run into this Sin fiend. Looks rather large."

“That massive space whale thing named Sin...is the Armor to the actual important bastard possessing the new pilot of it.”

"So it's not a fiend then?"

“I mean...it spawns fiends.” I said honestly. “By shedding, it can either make Sin Scales, which are simple enough to deal with but are damn near endless if you have the main body near you, or after it fucks off it makes a ‘Sin Spawn’, which is always a boss level fiend.”

“Should we be searching for it? If it’s on Equis, then the port cities are in danger.”

“No, because it doesn’t exist at the moment.” I said honestly. “Sin is a creation of all the pyreflies it collects from murdering a fuck ton of people to surround an Aeon Yu Yevon has possessed, and even though Yevon is being practiced by the Minotaurs, Yu Yevon, and by extension Sin, don’t exist here.” I explained simply.

“Hm, Still, it is concerning. That aside, what shall we do about these Abominations? If they are that strong, then I doubt even agent Sweetie Drops could handle them, at least not solo.”

“From what I saw, the variant I fought was slow as piss and acted more like a damage sponge than anything else.” I said honestly. “It was a Morphed Varient from what I remember.”

“Hm… Well, let’s see if Discord didn’t catalogue them for us.” Blueblood said, looking through the books of fiends so far and all the ones we don’t know about yet. “Here is it. Abomination class Fiends. That’s never a good sign when they have a whole book for just them.” Blueblood said as he opened the book up. “Here it is. Morphed. Oh goodie, it’s a common class…”

“Was the one I fought rare or...is it that much of a damage sponge?”

“Slow and dumb, they attack anything not a fiend on sight.” Blueblood said, reading aloud the text. “They tank hits as front line foot soldiers, immune to all magics with high defences to both magic and physical attacks. No weaknesses, can only be killed through endurance… Great…” He sighed, closing it. “Well, looks like we are in trouble if these things are Foot Soldiers…”

“That can’t be right, there has to be some weakness.” I frowned. “And if it was immune to magic, then how did I burn it to ash and then burn the ash?”

“You did pull out the heat of the sun’s core. Magic immune or not, nothing can survive heat like that save for you in that armor and Celestia herself.”

“So what sucks is that I’m going to need the physical strength to bench press a planet to make headway through it’s defense and completely asinine health pool..seriously, two hundred million health?”

“Hmm… Discord did give you that key to the hub between all worlds. Maybe we can speak with the dwarves to commission weapons directly? Something that can deal powerful physical damage or at least bypass it’s defence and immunity?”

"That might work." I nodded. "Honestly I hoped this little side quest with Tommy wouldn't have...devolved into bad things happening." I sighed out.

“Sadly in our line of work we can’t have every outing be perfect. Tommy and I can head to the Dwarves homeworld, you and Gilda need to make sure those Changelings aren’t causing trouble.”

"Or if the changelings aren't in trouble at this point." I sighed out

“Hopefully not. So, shall we fetch the others? I imagine Twilight will try and live in the library, or laboratory here.”

"Might as well, but we're gonna need to get out of here more often than not cause...we'd all be stuck in this place forever."

“Possibly. But, a little vacation and RnR can do a world of good.”

We managed to get everyone over here. Pinkie and Applejack loved the kitchen and those them specific room. Same with Fluttershy, Rarity, Twilight immediately made herself home in the library. All in all, things were nice. The bedroom was perhaps the best part. There was the master bed, where we all could fit on, and private bedrooms for… well, for sex. “Why is this bed so soft?” Gilda asked.

This bed was soft. You sank in deep enough to be comfy, not enough to make it a pain to climb out of the bed.

"Because it's the master bed, it's good for cuddle piles." I said honestly.

I have to admit, having everyone here and on the same bed was… different. There was a lot of awkward shifting and all that, but all in all everyone got comfy. Even Celestia arrived, to everyone’s surprise. She’s currently playing with Pip though, and Luna and Blueblood are being dragged alone to ensure she doesn’t spoil Pip rotten. I was actually surprised how many of everyone here slept in a blouse. Dash and I so far the only ones in shorts and a t-shirt.

“This is new...but this is nice.” I said warmly at the cuddle pile we have.

“Yeah. So, shall we clock in for the night?” Gilda asked, getting up close to me and wrapping their arms around me.

“Yeah, cause we have a lot to do tomorrow.” I said, wrapping my arms around Gilda happily.

As we settled in, I felt others wrap around us, Aj, Pinkie, Cream Heart, Peppermint about nearly covered us all. I felt… secure. Happy, all in all.

To be continued...

Chapter 9

The day finally came where Gilda, Sweetie Drops and I had to head off to the Changeling Territories. We got packed up and headed off. It was a three day train ride to the southern borders of Equestria and when we got there I was surprised to see it was far more… metallic take on the great wall of China. Walls going as far as the eye can see to the right and left of us and easily towered over three miles high.

Gilda gave an impressed whistle. "Now that is defense."

“I didn’t expect to see the Great Wall of China here.” I said in honest surprise.

"Are you two coming?" Sweetie Drops asked as she stood at a nearby guarded doorway. The door guards were both earth ponies, both a level of size and muscle I've only seen on Peppermint and Minotaurs so far.

“And here I thought Peppermint was a rarity.” I muttered as I followed after Sweetie.

Once inside we followed her through the oddly thin hallways into what looked like a war room. At the end of the table with a large map covered in figures of fiends, monsters and even ponies, Griffons, and other races, was a mare half my size but armed to the teeth in daggers and various combat potion vials. Her eyes were also covered in an old wrap. Her mane was a bright orange and coat a ginger yellow. "Well, if it isn't Drops. Back for more of what I gave you last time?"

"Why don't you just try and stick it back in me again. I might like it this time." Sweetie Drops replied with a grin.

"Holy…" Gilda started.

"Context, cat." The small mare huffed.

“Listen, no amount of context will help this situation besides ‘kinky’.” I stated. “So hello there ma’am.”

"Did I address you ape?" She snapped. "Drops, who's the cat and the ape?"

"Snaper, this is Gilda and Anna. They're the mercs I have to escort." Sweetie Drops said.

"Ah, the femboy and the alien."

“Already feeling welcome.” I replied sarcastically.

"Oh don't take it personally, she hates everyone." Drops stated.

"I don't know if I should roll with that Femboy comment or be insulted…" Gilda asked thoughtfully.

"Alright, Changeling Mission. You three are going to enter their territories and if they are working with fiends, kill them all."

"So the basic." Drops said.

“Wait, hold up." I started. “Just...straight to murder?”

"That's what we do here. Everything out there wants to kill us so we kill them first." Snapper said.

"Uh, Miss Snapper-" Gilda started.

"Elite Captain Neck Snapper." She stated.

"... Right, what about taking prisoners or… those who surrender?"

"Optional." She shrugged.

"Christ…" I sighed out. "Alright, so we go in, see who they're working for, and beat whoever tries to attack us."

"Basically." Drops said. "We're expecting majority of any fiends to be within their underground hive. Now, the bad news is that magic doesn't work once you get within a range of their hive. However, fiends are unaffected, so your powers should be fine Anna."

"Their hive nullifies magic?" Gilda asked.

"Just that of any race capable of casting magic with a horn."

"And what about the changelings? I've heard they have horns and use them for magic." I pointed out

"Unaffected. This anti magic barrier nullifies all magic save their own and non horned races." Neck Snapper stated. "Part of why the majority of our staff are Earth Ponies and Pegasi. Unicorns while useful here are a liability, the southern badlands seem especially cruel towards them."

"Well that sucks." I said nervously. "So...any good news?"

"Your amulets are over there, the ones to hide your love and scent. Tested and they work within the field. I also hear that when one of these… Unsent's die around you, you gain their form, is this correct?"

"Yes." I nodded. "Whatever has Pyreflies, I absorb and gain their forms."

"Then head to the Zoo before heading out. Might make use of the freakshows down there."

"And...what's down there?" I asked worriedly. "Better to know what they are beforehand instead of not knowing…"

"Halfbreed monsters, mindless bastard monsters of gods and shit that comes from other worlds on the regular." Neck Snapper said. "The Badlands is home to many freaks and devil's both born on Equis and fallen from the stars, these are just a few we managed to catalog in the four hundred years this wall has stood."

"Well...then let's take a look if they have Pyreflies…" I said honestly, kind of not liking the thought of them holding sentient beings that wanted to enjoy life but was put inside a cage for being different.

Sweetie Drops got out amulets and lead us to their Zoo. It reminded me a lot of the one in Zanarkand. All kinds of… things lashed out against the steel and magic cages violently with primal roars of rage and malice. Some even had guards next to them with various weapons to keep them at Bay. "Welcome to the Zoo. Take your pick." She said.

"Jesus, I didn't think they were all just...monsters here." I said nervously.

"Any with brains enough to think are in the Daycare ten floors below us."

"Okay thank God…" I sighed out happily.

"And the Daycare is… better than this?" Gilda asked.

"Depends." Drops said. "If they are smart but would prefer to use us as food or slave labor they get put in the Sandbox, if they are peaceful or at least neutral they get placed in the Playpen. And one special little shit has a room all to himself in a maximum security, isolated cage that if he so much as sneezes will teleport his ass right into the heart of Celestia's sun."

"So he's evil?"

"And crazy."

"Damn…" I blinked. "Didn't think it would be that bad…"

"So, take your pick." Drops said, showing all the caged monsters before me. I counted at least fifty cages here, but there was turns and hallways I couldn't see from here.

“Well...let’s take a look through them…” I said, moving around to look at each of the monsters carefully.

The first beast I found was a snake. This snake was as wide and thick as a semi truck, and it's coiled body I could easily see reaching the length of the titanic. "Is that a basilisk?" Gilda asked.

"Yup." Drops said with a nod. "Been here the better part of the last two hundred and thirty years. Tried slithering over the wall."

“Long lived.” I said honestly. “Too bad I can’t speak snake.”

"Do you want it?" Sweetie Drops asked me.

I took a moment to truly think about this. “How many duplicates are there in this place?” I asked carefully.

"Duplicates?"

“Are there more than one of each of these monsters in here?” I asked. “Like multiple basalisks and the like?”

"Not here, but they are out in the badlands. None this big though, this big guy is the only one of his kind to get this big, most aren't even half his size."

"How did it get so big?" Gilda asked.

"Necromancer most likely. With the right dark magic the corpses it eats can make it get bigger and bigger. "

“Neat…” I sighed out. “Let’s just do some ‘window shopping’ as it were before I fully make my decision.”

"If you insist." Drops said. The next cage had what looked like smoke in there, just floating by itself… till a collection of skeletal arms reached through the bars at us. "Lich Spawn. Nasty peice of shit."

“Lich Spawn? The hell are those?” I asked. “Lich’s are fully undead...so how?”

"Even undead life finds a way. The more it kills or the more corpses it collects the more it will grow until it becomes a full blown lich. This little guy is nine bodies away from becoming an adult too."

“Jesus christ…” I muttered.

The next cage held within it a small assortment of Boxes, backpacks and even hats. "And these are?" Gilda asked.

Drops pushed a button near by, a large chunk of meat falling inside from a shoot above. Instantly everything in there opened up, revealing massive maws filled with teeth as they moved to their meal. "Mimics." She said plainly.

“I could have told you that without even needing the demonstration.” I said honestly. “But their...a bit more mobile than what I’ve seen in fantasy stuff.”

"They're specifically used as assassination weapons." We moved onto the next cage, this one looked like… she looked like a foal, no older than two with a bright pink mane, white fur and adorable blue eyes. "Featusvores."

"It's a kid…" Gilda said.

"No. It eats unborn children right out of the mothers womb, takes its form and grows looking like the child would have til it finds another pregnant mother and repeats the process."

“That sick fuck!” I snapped.

"Yeah. They're a rare species too and don't reproduce easily either so, not too many of them in the world to worry about." The next cage had within it a beast that looked like a tree that grew rather large apples. "Sip Tree. Grows in the desert and dry climet areas as far from water as possible. Those large apples once touched open up and eat what or whoever tries to pick them by attaching to the head, eating it's way through the skull, brains and eventually the body entirely."

“Well...that is a pretty solid sneak attack option.” I said honestly.

"Good thing AJ isn't here. This would give her nightmares." Gilda said.

“It would indeed.” I nodded. “Apples betraying an Apple? Unheard of!” I said in a not good AJ voice.

Gilda gave a small laugh and we all moved onto the next cage. This one had within it what looked like water in a glass box. Water with red glowing eyes moving around as the water thrashed about inside the glass box. "Water Demon." Drops said.

“Simple enough.” I nodded. “So far we have quite a roster.”

"Not really. This is still just level one." Drops said as we walked to the next cage.

"One of…" Gilda asked.

"Sixty. Not including the Daycare which had thirty seven in the Sandbox and fifteen in the Playpen."

“Okay, that’s a lot of shit to go through, so I’m going to make the unilateral decision to take every single one of the monsters.” I started.

"Heh, fair enough. That will have to wait til after mission though, so for now, I'll just show you where they are keeping Unsent for you to dispose of."

“Alright, lead the way.” I nodded.

We headed off to the Unsent cages, and I saw lots. Ponies, Griffons, Minotaurs-

"Gilder?" Gilda said, the cage we stood in front of now showing a familiar male griffon I've seen in memories.

The male griffon looked up, seeing Gilda and eyes going wide. "Oh shit…" He huffed. "When I think I've got rock bottom…"

“And what are you doing here?” I frowned.

Gilder didn't reply to me, just looking at the wall opposite of us. "Answer my mate bro." Gilda said. Gilder turned back, facing Gilda with wide eyes.

He sighed, rubbing his arms where he sat. "After that night, I ran. I told Zer to shove it and left. I am a monster now, so I figured the Badlands is where I belong. Got caught trying to cross and tossed here."

“How did you become like this?” I asked carefully. “No, the better question is...why?” I asked as I stepped closer to the cell. “Why do any of that to Gilda!? Why let those bastards do that to him!?” I asked, not wanting to be mad at Gilder cause Gilda still believed they were a good person but...I had a lot of pent up anger towards the people who hurt him and I needed to vent it to at least one of the people responsible.

He looked away. "At first, I wasn't… but Zer always wanted Gilda… wanted to break them, make them an obedient doll… he drugged my beer and… it was all hazy but in this form, even drugged to hell once it wears off I remember everything. As for why… Zer is in charge, defying him means death. Even as an unsent this… Father thing gave him the power to eat Pyreflies from others. Not like you do, more like…"

"A monster." Gilda finished with a sigh.

“Jesus christ…” I sighed out as well. “So...you have two choices, either I absorb your Pyreflies...or you redeem yourself for Gilda.” I stated. “Cause even after all that shit...Gilda still holds onto hope you’re better than what Zer forced you to do.”

Gilder and Gilda both stared at one another for a long time. After several minutes Gilder sighed, looking at the ground. "I know what Gilda will want… two things. One I can give happily, the other…"

"You swore if something like what happened ever happened, you'd do it." Gilda said, now grinning.

"Fucking Griffon Word of Honor…"

“Oh?” I asked, getting a grin of my own at what saucy things might be arising. “What is this all about?”

"Gilder swore back when we shared an apartment that, given my looks and dress style, that if something ever happened, most likely from being drunk, he'd happily, proudly adopt my lifestyle."

"You suck…"

"Hey, I still have my penis. So you can at least keep that." Gilda laughed.

"Ugh…"

“That depends, does it mean getting a sweet pair of tits or what?”

"He'll become a larger, possibly thicker looking me given his size." Gilda said laughing.

"... At least it will be worth it when you knock Zer down a peg or down to hell…" Gilder huffed. "He has three primary hideouts… one in your own backyard." We both looked over to Gilder now. "His main spot in Windy Cavern, a large storehouse in the dragon lands, and one new one… in the Everfree Forest."

"Why? Is he stalking me again?"

"Possibly… honestly I'm not sure. When I heard about it he was just making the plans for it… a few days before that night so probably not. No idea what he does there but it's near the heart of the Everfree."

“So that’s why the monsters in the forest are starting to move towards Ponyville…” I said worriedly.

"Maybe. Can't know for sure until you get there. If you're lucky he might even be there." Gilder sighed.

“Well...shit…” I said worriedly. “We’re gonna have to send a message back to Blueblood, he’s not gonna like to hear there’s an enemy base in our backyard.” I sighed out.

"Nope." Gilda nodded in agreement.

"I'll send off a courier with a message." Drops said, taking leave.

"Damn. Forty Unsent and only my Brother was the one not batshit crazy." Gilda said as we headed to the armory. Gilder was chained and shipped off to the GoE in Ponyville same time as Sweetie Drops sent off the letter. Those other unsent were not as friendly or smart as Gilder was.

“Their being mind controlled…” I sighed out. “By the one fucker I really didn’t want to see, Seymoure…”

"Wonder why Zer, Gilder and those others from Zer's gang are still thinking unlike so many others? That seems pretty odd doesn't it?"

“Most likely they were ‘willing hosts’ for some reason or another.” I shrugged. “Zer being the leader probably wants something big, and if it was just you then this Father wouldn’t have bothered with Zer just being a dick bag.”

"Whatever the hell is going on all I know is it isn't gonna end pretty." Gilda sighed. "So, think Sharp Cut is gonna make my other all prim and pretty? Being an Unsent I imagine basic plastic surgery isn't gonna cut it."

“No idea.” I shrugged. “The only time I’ve seen an Unsent’s body change is when they fuse with a Fiend, or create a Fiend body with enough Pyreflies.” I explained.

"Well whatever the case I am gonna drag them with Rarity and I clothes shopping just to torment them."

“And I will follow and laugh at their pain.” I chuckled.

"If you're gonna follow you're also gonna shop." Gilda added.

“Like hell I am.” I huffed. “I maybe a woman, but shopping can get...oh so boring sometimes.”

"That's the price babe, take it or leave it."

“Can’t I just enjoy someone’s suffering without being apart of the punishment?” I pouted.

"If you tag along you can help Rarity and I pick out lingerie in the adult toy shop~"

“I hate how I’m becoming more and more pervy with you here.” I grumbled, sneakily reaching a hand over and squeezing Gilda’s rump.

They reached a wing out and gave mine a slap.

“I didn’t slap yours.” I blushed brightly at the slap.

"Yeah, but yours makes a sexy sound when I slap it."

“We’re gonna need a quickie if we’re gonna be doing this…” I muttered nervously.

Sadly we didn't get that quickie as we swept up with Neck Snapper outside with Drops. "Alright you three, the Hive is fifty miles from here, once you near the hives borders, keep unseen otherwise you'll be in for a three on an estimated fifty thousand battle."

“Sounds about right.” I nodded. “But before we go...is there anyone we should stay away from?”

"Queen Chrysalis, Prince Glowfit and Princess Grublime, and if you see a white Changeling, good luck." Snapper said.

“A white changeling?” I asked curiously. “Who’s that?”

"More like what is that." Snapper corrected. "White Changelings are natural born killers. Much like how the elite guard like myself and the GoE are the currently Equestria's best defensive, offensive and attacking forces, the Noble white Changelings are a Hives best defense, offence, and attackers. Hide three times as thick compared to a normal Changeling, three times bigger than the queen and ten times as loyal to her. Their magic rivals most professional unicorn warlocks and they can fist fight full grown dragons. Thankfully there are only ever three to five born to the hive at a time."

"Damn…" I said nervously. "And...since I just have to ask because they're all shape shifters...where's the ancient changeling in the group? Since in some rare cases in fiction shape shifters can live stupidly long lives."

"Hmm… that might be the old queen, or king. Not sure, we've never seen one outside of their hive so we can't say for sure where it might be."

"Alright." I nodded. "Good to know, so we go in, look to see if they're working with the Fiends, and leave before we get caught?"

"No, you get in, look to see if they are working with fiends and if they are slaughter the hive."

"And yet there's at least eight we shouldn't fight." I brought up.

"Bureaucracy and Hypocrisy go hand in hand. In the end neither matters so long as the job gets done."

I sighed out. “Fine fine…” I grumbled. “So, kill any who resist, capture any who surrender?”

"If you wish." Snapper shrugged.

“Alright.” I nodded. “Anyone else coming with me, Gilda and Sweetie here or is it just us three?”

"Just you three, a small, strong infiltration team that can become a strike force on the fly."

“Goodie.” I grumbled. “Gonna have to be extra careful when us three need to fight...an entire hive’s worth of shit.”

"This can only end in one of three ways…" Gilda grumbled.

With that we were off. That wall could be seen from the ten miles we've walked already and I was thanking god it was getting cold already. That sun is a death ray out here…"

“Walking in a desert sucks…” I groaned.

"Agreed…" Gilda huffed… damn it even their sweating soaked their clothes just right in those places. "Griffons are better suited for the cold and high altitude winds."

“And I don’t really have a form that is accustomed to this crap…” I sighed out.

"You two need environmental training." Drop said, still in that suit and not a sweat stain on them.

“And you also told me you were going to train me with these.” I said while raising a hand as a shadow sword appeared in my hand. “Sombra’s pieces letting me do this fancy crap but...still not enough time in the day.”

We hiked well into the night. The cold got bad so I shifted into my griffon form. Thankfully, Gilda was right, Griffons are naturally built for the cold. The natural night vision helped a lot too. Predators for the win. We made camp in a small tunnel Drops made literally by touching the large rock next to us and the tunnel and small cavern formed instantly. Once in the end chamber she built a fire and we began setting up our gear.

“It’s still both cool and terrifying how earth ponies can just do this without much trouble…” I said nervously.

"Not many can." Drops said, taking off her sunglasses. "Some can as it's linked to their special talents, but most can just aid in the growth and recovery of sick plants. And my special talents don't even relate to plants or the earth in any way."

“Yes, your special talent is making Bon Bon’s with Lyra.” I brought up her ‘civilian’ name along with her civilian profession.

She rolled her eyes. "Dumb ass. Cutie Marks aren't always so literal as the image they display."

"Awh, Anna's first act of cultural insensitivity." Gilda said with a laugh.

“Oh, you’re right, it’s just the names for ponies.” I countered. “If it’s not the cutie marks, then it’s the names, and that’s not ‘culturally insensitive’, that’s just a fact.” I said, having so much proof behind that claim it’s not even funny. “Or should I start listing the dozens of names that prove my point?”

My nose… ouch… owe… owe… "You sure it was a good idea to piss off the mare capable of moving a literal mountain?" Gilda asked, keeping me walking while I held onto my broken nose.

“It’s not my fault I’m literally pointing out facts and not being racist.” I stated simply.

"Maybe Twilight should school you on racial sensitivities…"

“I’m stating a known fact without any racism involved.” I started. “Also, Sweetie was mad that she also agreed with my point...what’s up with that?” I asked. “She said her cutie mark isn’t about the earth, I brought up her Civilian life and how she works selling Bon Bon’s, and she agreed with me but called me a dumb ass about it…”

"You should stop talking within ear shot of her…" Gilda said, now carrying me as Pyreflies from within me worked to fix my legs.

“Is it her civilian life she doesn’t want me to talk about?” I frowned. “Cause if not she can say it like an adult instead of assaulting me like a child.” I frowned. “Cause I’m not saying anything racist about Ponies, I’m just stating a fact that everyone in the world knows.” I started. “There’s a massive difference between being racist and stating a well known and obvious fact.”

"You gonna tell that to her face?" Gilda asked as I looked up, seeing Drops punch a large seven ton boulder aside like nothing.

“If she’s willing to act like an adult and tell me not to bring something up then yes.” I frowned. “But if she’s going to physically assault me everytime I say something then no.” I rolled my eyes. “Christ it’s like high school all over again…”

"That's the thing where you go to school more and don't learn anything about how to work as an adult in life, right?"

"Yes, as well as not bothering to deal with people bullying withers, either physically or emotionally." I rolled my eyes.

"So, mind if I ask… how come your Pyreflies came out to help fix your legs but not your nose? Both were broken but they only came out then, why?"

"My leg actually has bones in it to heal, my nose isn't as important." I said honestly.

"I heard the same thing happened when you faced that Sombra fragment up north in the Empire. Makes me wonder how they heal you."

"Their energy probably does something to my natural regeneration or something." I explained.

"Is there a limit to it?"

“I don’t know, and I’d rather not figure out if my new robo heart can’t pump my blood anymore.” I said nervously.

"A what?" Gilda asked.

“Oh...I guess I forgot to mention all of that…” I said nervously, going onto explain what happened to me during and after the fight with Sombra back in the Crystal Empire.

"Oh… no wonder you last so long in training and in bed." Gilda said almost in thought. "Never would have guessed given the lack of scars."

I frowned… I did have scars though… I checked my chest again and to my surprise there wasn't. Was that my Pyreflies?

“I could have sworn I had the scars…” I said nervously. “They basically had to cut me open to give me a new heart...and then lo and behold, after the fact my biological heart was fine….”

"Huh… and your injuries change with your forms too?"

"I think so, cause I got injured in one of my forms and it stayed the same as far as I remember." I said honestly.

"Huh."

A few more hours of being carried and finally my legs were fully healed and finally I was able to walk with them. We came to a cliff side drop where the landscape went from looking dry and baked to dead and… pulsating. Moving as holes in the mountain before us and the land below opened and closed like mouths. "We're here." Drops said.

"Uh...the fuck is all of this?" I asked worriedly.

"Queen Chrysalis's hive. It changes just like they do. The tunnels and such anyway. Always opening, closing and even trapping intruders in dead ends or leading them right to their deaths. Only a Changeling can actually navigate it."

"Well...alrighty then." I nodded. "So...where are you going to find me a changeling?"

"Leave that to me." Drops said, cracking her Knuckles as she kneeled to the ground, placing both hands on it. She was still for a time before suddenly it looked like the earth ate her. Several seconds later she jumped out of the earth, a changelings badly beaten head sticking out of it. "You ready?" She asked, grabbing it's head with both hands.

"Uh...yeah…" I said, prepared for what's about to happen.

As Drops prepared to snap it's neck, it's eyes opened wide. "Woah! Woah! Stop!" It yelled. "I was sent to greet you three!" Drops stopped, just shy of making the Changeling's neck spin passing the ninety degree mark. He let out a breath.

"Uh...I thought you died...and you wanted to meet us?" I asked carefully. "Why didn't you send a messenger?"

"I'm not dead! Not like the others, and we only saw you three arriving last night. We could actually use your help, one Shapeshifter to Another."

"Why should we help you?" Drops asked, keeping the Changeling's head at a ready to snap possion.

"Cause it's civil war down there! Mother started feeding a lot of the younger lings and grubs these bright white orbs and next thing we knew they were all like rabid animals, only she could make them stop. She tried to get us to eat them too but we bolted, most of us anyway. Thankfully Grandfather didn't agree with what Chrysalis was doing. It's been a civil war for the past month and we are losing."

"Who's leading the resistance?" I asked curiously. "And why didn't you tell anyone outside the hive sooner?"

"Chrysalis's father, Old King Dirakai. As for why we never sent an SoS, I belive my current situation is explanation enough." Drops let his head go, stomping the ground as the rest of his body flew out of the earth and onto the ground over inside it. "Names Cricket." He said, getting to his feet.

"It's nice to meet you Cricket." I nodded. "I'm Anna, and looks like we're coming to help you win this war."

"How many in the resistance?" Drops asked.

"Including younglings, grubs and eggs… four hundred sixty three. Three hundred and fifteen without the eggs and younglings."

"And on the Queens side?"

"... Four hundred and fifty thousand…"

“Certainty of death, small chance of success.” I started, only to crack my knuckles. “What are we waiting for?”

"It's better to evacuate the survivors of the resistance over fighting those odds." Drops stated.

“And we’ll need to figure out how to get rid of whatever the hell is causing these changelings to go feral.” I said nervously.

"Did they change after eating those Pyreflies?" Drops asked.

"Yes. Some are like dogs, others have become living elemental energy, some even look just half pony, Griffon, Minotaur."

"Oh joy, it's those Pyreflies…" Gilda said as we both groaned.

"Some even look half like Anna, half… hooman?"

"Human." Gilda corrected.

“I can...maybe take away their Pyreflies and save them.” I said honestly. “It’ll be something new, but I’ll try.”

"But if it's the artificial ones they'll hurt you." Gilda brought up.

“It’s better than letting an entire species go extinct.” I stated bluntly.

"We won't. As long as a single one of us lives we can repopulate." Cricket stated.

"Are you repopulating Asexually?" Drops asked.

"Asexually and sexually."

“I didn’t think Changelings could do that.” I said honestly.

"That's the point of us staying hidden as a race til last year with the Canterlot invasion."

“Alrighty then.” I nodded. “So should we call backup to get the refugees out of here?”

"I'll take Cricket here back and inform them about the civil war and about the evacuation." Drops said.

"I can call someone else to lead you two inside." Cricket said as his horn lit up. Drops seemed on the defense but soon another, slightly smaller Changeling came out. "Thorax, this is Anna, Sweetie Drops and Gilda. You're gonna have to lead Anna and Gilda inside while Sweetie Drops and I get help."

"Oh thank the Hive." Thorax said. "Hurry up, the Queens army is gonna be patrolling the tunnels we use soon." Thorax went back down the small hole and Gilda and I followed.

“So, how long ago did this start, and who gave Chrysalis these weird orbs?” I asked worriedly.

"I don't know, she left for a week to find new love harvesting sites and when she came back she was… different. As for the orbs she was… making them, I think?" Thorax said, waiting for the tunnel entrance to open and close twice before entering it and taking the drop down as Gilda and I followed.

“Has anyone seen how she makes them?” I inquired carefully.

"Not that I know of." Thorax said.

“Cripe…” I muttered. “So how bad are things down here?”

As I said that… we passed a tunnel filled with chunks of meat and black chitin pasted and tossed about the place. "Clearly bad…" Gilda said with a gulp.

"It's actually… ugh, good we came here. You need essence to gain a form, correct?" Thorax asked me.

"I...don't know if I can absorb normal souls…" I said nervously, walking over and softly touching a more...whole piece of a changeling. "This is fucking awful…."

I picked up the arm piece. So far nothing… "You need souls to obtain a form?" Thorax asked, carefully looking through the corpses. "We need to find an intact Emotion Stomach."

"Emotion stomach? Do you have two stomaches?" Gilda asked.

"Three." Thorax said.

"Okay…" I started. "I'm not going to ask about changeling biology yet, but where can we find one?" I asked.

"Look for the one glowing a bright blue." He said. We looked around for a while and finally Gilda found the bizarre organ. It was smaller than I expected, but glowed that blue color. "There it is. The Emotion Stomach, it takes in love and other positive emotions and converts it into a soul."

"Wait wait wait… converts it into a soul?" Gilda asked.

"Changelings by nature are… souless. If we don't feed on love and other emotions to sustain the soul this organ generates, we become drones. Mindless husks only capable of doing what we are told, and no amount of love placed into a drone can turn them back."

"So...there all fucked at that point." I said worriedly. "All the possessed…" I trailed off.

Thorax looked at the organ, sighing. "They're not my brothers and sisters anymore… they're no different from drones now, worse… they're monsters now."

"If their souls haven't been destroyed yet." I said honestly. "Cause...maybe I can take away what's making them into Fiends…"

"Hopefully…" Thorax said.

I took the organ… sighing as I crushed it. The single bright blue light floating to me and- woah!

I fell to my knees. That's… way more intense than from Pyreflies.

Soul Obtained. Changeling form Obtained.

Summon Ocellus Gained.

Ocellus memories Intergraded.

Warning! Mutation detected! Stability of Shifter forms at 98-88-44-12- forms unstable. Shifted forms-

I blinked, feeling my body change and now I was… a Changeling. I tried changing into a fiend… nothing… human… nope… oh shit...

"First they kill a child...and now I can't shapeshift, what the fuck?" I growled.

"Well… wait… that was a kid's…" Gilda said.

"Ocellus wanted friends…" I teared up, seeing her memories and how she wanted to help change her hive for the better. "She wanted change...not this…"

Gilda gave me a hug, I flinched a bit, feeling… woah. Worry, sorrow, sadness, concern, regret, anger… I can feel… no, I can taste it.

"Uh...okay, that's a lot of tastes all at once." I started nervously.

"That's how Changeling's are. Welcome to the hive, Anna." Thorax said as we headed off.

This time, because of Ocellus's memories I knew where Thorax was taking us. An old tunnel system the hive hasn't used since the old king was in power.

We arrived in the massive chamber and I saw just how bad things here were. Lots of lings were injured, some were love starved, almost drones.

"The need love...why aren't people giving?" I asked. "Channelings can't be emotionless can they?"

"It has to do with the emotion stomach. While we can feel and emit emotions, it drains our own souls as well. Those who had high enough reserves can't spare any more. It's actually why we needed you two here…" Thorax said nervously.

"You wanna feed on Anna and my love?" Gilda asked.

"Freely given love from two lovers is endless. And… Well… we need a very… potent those of love to save everyone here…"

"A potent type of… Wait, are you saying if Anna and I wanna save you lot here… we have to fuck?"

Thorax blushed, but nodded. "Love and sex together when harvested can keep the hive full on reserves for… well, months from just a single couple. It's why most of us took on the disguise of a wife or husband when… harvesting."

"Whoever created your race is an idiot…" I growled. "But...if it means saving all of you…"

"So… am I just getting it on with Anna or…?" Gilda asked, a shade of red himself now.

"As a Changeling Anna's body will passively absorb the love while you two are… at it, and store the excess in her third stomach, taking form of a green jello like slime she can regurgitate and we can feed that to the starving and injured lings." Thorax explained.

"Gross…" Gilda said.

"Agreed, gross." I agreed. "But...we should...get to it, even if changeling biology is dumb…" I grumbled.

And so, Gilda and I found a nice private area and… got to it. It was awkward at first but I quickly realized a few things. Firstly, as a Changeling, being able to reproduce both asexually and sexually, apparently meant I had both sets down there, my newly discovered male set Gilda was more than happy to let me… get some practice with. Second, everything about my female set is almost three times as sensitive, so that made things way more intense for me. Third, Changeling fangs give off a venom that is a natural aphrodisiac and performance enhancer. Fourth, that excess love stored in my third stomach stores up makes me look pregnant… which Gilda enjoyed seeing and if I'm honest the fantasy and sensation my ever expanding belly was giving off made that pop out to a few months overdue size. And fifth and finally is that Changeling's can apparently go at it for way longer than I ever have before. Seriously, my record with Gilda with potions is forty minutes, as a Changeling with the special venom, it's been four hours according to my phone.

When all was done and finished through my love stomach had me so bloated I felt like I was pregnant with easy over a dozen babies all due. I was unable to move but Gilda did fetch Thorax for me. "Woah." He said upon seeing me. "I knew some of the collectors would get quite large from their trips, but I believe your current size puts you in a new record."

"We've had...practice." I said sheepishly. "So...now what?"

"Now just use your tongue to go down your throat and grab a ball of the love goo out and pull it back up and out your mouth. From there I can get it to the others." Thorax said as he grabbed a nearby bucket.

I sighed, but remembering what I was able to do with this tongue while with Gilda found it surprisingly easy to take out ball after ball of good til the bucket was full. I was still quite large looking and barely went down any. "I'll be right back." Thorax said as he ran off to the others.

Gilda simply sat next to me, rubbing my literally love swollen belly. "Does make you think… when will we consider having kids? And how will they come out?"

"No idea, and no idea…" I sighed out sadly. "I just...don't understand this stupid mutation that's fucking with my forms…" I complained about my lack of abilities as I...really didn't want to think of having kids at the moment, even if I really wanted kids.

"Maybe it's because it was a soul and not Pyreflies? Or maybe it was because of how Changeling's are?" Gilda said with a sigh.

Thorax came back three times before everyone was fully fed and healed. I still looked nine months pregnant with octuplets, but at least I could move now. "Now that everyone is healed the excess love in you can help keep everyone stable and fine for when we get out of here." He stated as everyone began gathering around.

“Alright...so mind if I talk to the old King real quick? I have...a few questions to ask him.” I said honestly.

"Oh, sure. This way." Thorax said, leading us to the back of this area. Here we saw the old King. He was thin, really thin with his age shown clearly in the cracks along his chitin.

He looked up at me, smiling. "Ah, the soul eating Shapeshifter. I've been wondering when I'd meet you."

“I’m sorry I didn’t get here sooner.” I said honestly. “But also… my actual ‘shapeshifting’ abilities aren’t working after I… absorbed Ocellus…”

"I see. The girl was so bright, so hopeful. I felt her pass the other day in her attempt to arrive here. It's a sad thing when a Changeling Princess passes so young."

“She...was a princess?” I asked in shock. “Then why didn’t you send her away before things went to shit!? She could have found help, she could have…” I cut myself off, tears threatening to fall again as the bright future Ocellus wished to see and be apart of rushed to the front of my mind. “I’m...I’m sorry King…” I sighed out sadly.

"All the lings before you, have the chance to become a King, or a Queen. They are all princes and princesses, it is up to The Hive if they ascend to it."

“Alright.” I nodded. “But...this shouldn’t be happening...what the hell caused Chrysalis to do this?”

"Desperation, greif, take your pick. Her time as queen has not been well."

"By the way...why didn't any one of you just ask for help?" I inquired. "Is the love you absorb lethal in someway?",."

"If stolen, yes."

“Then why didn’t you ask?” I asked. “I know the Ponies would have been happy to share if it meant helping a species survive.”

"It is our rules, written by our ancestors back when the Alicorn Faust was still so young, as was the world."

"Your race is that old?" Gilda asked. The old king simply nodded.

“That’s a dumbass rule, and whoever thought it was a good idea is an idiot.” I frowned.

"Bite your tongue." He snapped, surprising me. The old King took a few deep breaths before speaking again. "To understand our rules, you must understand our origins. Long ago, when cosmic beings of dark and light walked these lands to battle and conquer, two found love within each other amongst the blood soaked battlegrounds. A fallen cherub, and a succubus queen.

"The two were powerful, more so than you could believe. The forces of dark and light disapproved of this union, and armies chased the two down at every corner of the globe. To hide and survive, the two married, and joined into a single being, their child, and the first Changeling, Princess Monochrome. She hid herself within both armies, tricking them back into bloodshed against one another, and when only she remained, formed the first hive, and the first brood of Changeling's. She split, forming the cherub and the succubus again, and the two gave Monochrome a form and body of her own through birth.

"As the eons passed, the two became more like their children, and became the first King and Queen Changelings. Despite the victory and creation of our race, the sides of light and dark still despise us. We are abominations in their eyes, back then and always. We hide to survive. As you can see, the Canterlot invasion failed because we let ourselves be seen."

“That’s...quite a history lesson.” I said honestly. “Also...I’m human originally...and as someone from a race that has its own checkered past...the only reason why people hate your race right now is because you invaded, not because of some ancient stuff that happened eons ago.” I frowned. “Trust me, one country started a world war twice on my world, and before my world went straight to hell it was an ally to a lot of the countries it warred with both times.” I explained. “Talking is a lot better than starting a war…but then both of those world wars either started because an important person was murdered or…attempted genocide…”

“Your intentions are well, but we were meant to stay hidden, neutral and observant. We only followed Chrysalis because she is the Queen.”

“You said her time as queen wasn’t good, how so?” Gilda asked.

“She became Queen little over three hundred years ago when the last queen, Queen Star, my wife, passed. The Hive picked her, and at the time the hive itself wasn’t in a good place. Love reserves were low, our current numbers were barely half of what they were before this tragedy. Somehow, Chrysalis brought us into prosperity. We had so many in our numbers and the love reserves had to be expanded. Before ascending into the Queen, she worked as a collector, and she was good at it. Clearly, she taught her skills after becoming queen to the rest. Sadly… her confidence went to her head, and she believed our future was outside the shadows and the undergrounds we call home. She craved the skies, the surface.”

“And that’s when she planned the Canterlot invasion.” Gilda summarized.

“Yes. Had she kept her guize as the princess of love a secret, she’d have won that city, but she grew confident, bold, and foolish. After the failure, and fifty thousand of ours gone, she wanted desperately to redeem herself, to the hive, to the old queen, to everyone. When she returned, she was a monster…”

“Yet another falls under Father’s bullshit…” I growled. “I’ll save your people, and I’ll revert those who’ve become monsters...this shouldn’t be happening to anyone…”

“Heh, not like that.” He said, poking my still large gut. I blushed a bit. “And not as a common Princess. You’d need to somehow become a Queen, and as is, I can feel The Hive’s confusion at your existence and as a newfound member.”

“I really wish my shapeshifting abilities weren’t acting up...something about some weird mutation that’s stopping me…” I frowned.

“Hm, may I?” He asked, raising a hand to me. I kneeled down a bit and he placed his hand to my head. “Ah… I see. This does confirm some suspicions. And perhaps… offers opportunities.” He said, taking his hand back. “You say you absorbed the soul of youngling Ocellus, correct?”

“Yes I did…” I nodded. “It was...quite an nce."experience, a lot different then absorbing Pyreflies.”

“I can feel her within you. Her soul and memories are alive within you. She is scared, terrified, and confused. This imbalance within her is affecting your body’s form. Pyreflies are mindless fragments of souls with memories dotted within them, but a whole soul with it’s memories, she must be calmed, and accept her place within you.”

“Alright...so let’s try and change that.” I said while bringing out my staff. “Don’t know if this will work…” I muttered as I tried to summon Ocellus. “Come on out Ocellus… we have a lot to talk about.”

Nothing happened… I tried again, still nothing and the old king gave a chuckle. "I'm afraid the issue will need to be resolved like a Changeling."

“And summoning magic isn’t a changeling thing?” I frowned. “How the hell am I just not allowed to use any of my abilities because of this?”

"The soul and the body are perfectly synchronized, being the same entity. When a new soul enters the body and can't synchronize, the primary soul and the body lose connection. This is typically known as possession, the body trying to adapt to the new soul, hence your form as a Changeling. However, in this case it has reversed somewhat. When you took in Ocellus and transformed, the body you appear as synchronized to her soul, making you the possessor of your own body. Such are the troubles of Shape Shifters."

“That’s bullshit.” I frowned. “Alright, so I can’t talk to Ocellus and get this fixed, I can’t use any of my abilities besides storing emotions...what can I do until I figure out how to fix this?”

"As I said, you need to fix this like a Changeling. In the past, Kings, Queens and even the common ling have accidentally swallowed the soul of others, resulting in a situation similar to your own. To correct this, there are two options."

“And those two options are...?” I asked, moving my hand for him to continue.

"Firstly is to find Ocellus using the Hive Link, second removes Ocellus and rebirthes her within a new body, but only the Queen is capable of it."

"So our options are Anna going Mind Walking again or fight a monsterfiend Shapeshifter queen and her army…" Gilda said.

"That is all that can be done."

"And how does using this Hive Mind Link thing help?"

"Once she is found, Anna can speak with her, calm her down and with luck, Ocellus will merge with Anna as the Pyreflies due, letting her live on inside Anna as part of her soul like two others have before."

“You can see Tidus and Jecht?” I asked in surprise, believing the King could see those two’s souls inside me somehow.

"See, no. But sense, yes. Two souls aside from yours have merged with yours, becoming one. Fragments of a fourth are there, but not a complete soul, and that one is so much darker." He can sense Sombra too then.

“That would be Sombra, he’s an asshole but...well he at least helps in some cases.” I shrugged.

"So, shall we begin?" The elder Changeling asked, taking my hand. I blinked, suddenly It was just myself and the old king here in the blackness of space, surrounded only by stars. "Welcome Anna, to the Hive Mind. Memories of every ling from our raves Beginning, to the youngest grub all reside here.

“Jesus...this is...quite a bit to take in.” I said in surprise.

"Every star you see is a ling. The brightest you see at are the ones alive, the smaller ones are those whom live on as memories, and if you look to yourself, you will see Ocellus's light, shining next to your own."

"Cool." I said as I looked down to see if Ocellus was truly there. "This is...kind of trippy to be honest…"

"It would feel strange to one who wasn't born a Changeling." He said.

There was another bright light next to mine, both hovering where my heat should be. Gently I reached over, placing a hand on the light what was Ocellus, and watched as the young ling appeared between the old king and I, almost like a ghost and crying, curled up into herself.

"Hello." I said softly, carefully walking over to Ocellus. "We're here for you Ocellus."

She flinched, sitting up and backing up until she bumped into the old King. Realizing who she bumped into, she panicked. "My king! I'm so-"

The king cut her off, laughing a little. "There is no reason to apologize youngling." He said, giving her head a pat that seemed to calm her down. "This here is Anna." He introduced me, Ocellus looking over at me. "She is the Shapeshifter who swallows souls to obtain her forms. And by swallowing yours, she saved you, Ocellus."

She looked at me for a time, clearly processing that. "That… that's right… I… I died…" She said, shivering as that realization hit her and sunk in. "You… swallowed my soul?"

“Normally I absorb Pyreflies...it was something very different absorbing a person’s actual soul.” I said nervously. “But my name's Anna, I’m not some bad person like Chrysalis...I’m here to help.”

"But… Queen Chrysalis isn't bad. I know the invasion put her in a bad light but she cares about us. She wanted us to live under the sun and moon. Most of us here in the hive never saw the surface before the invasion… she's not bad, it's those freaky lights, she's pumped full of them, they're making her crazy I know it!"

“And wanting to be on the surface is fine, but invading people isn’t really a good idea.” I started. “Asking is a lot better than invading and believing in ancient history still matters to this day. And right now, I’m here to help take those Pyreflies away from the changelings...hopefully my backup doesn’t start a full blown war and just get the refugees out…”

"You can save her?" Ocellus asked.

“Hopefully I can.” I nodded. “I haven’t really...tried to take away Pyreflies from someone when their alive...plus the last time I experienced this...the person fell apart and the pyreflies...kind of exploded.”

"We will see the outcome. Now, Ocellus," The King Spoke. "You must calm yourself, relax, and accept yourself as part of Anna now. Otherwise, her powers will remain locked away by your fears, and she won't be able to save anyone."

Ocellus nodded. "Okay… so, do you know what will happen to me Anna?"

“Well...either one of two things.” I said honestly. “Either you’re soul fuses with me and...I get another mental roommate, or...I become Queen and...she becomes my daughter?” I asked the King carefully.

"Possibly… possibly." The king said with a smile. "We will see what The Hive chooses."

“Fine fine.” I sighed out. “Alright so...any questions you have for me Ocellus?”

"Uh… did you collect love recently?" She asked, giving my belly a poke. Shit that showed up here?! I didn't even notice!

“I literally just fed like...close to five hundred changelings.” I said nervously. “With the help of my loving boyfriend...I still look like I’m due with octuplets or something…”

"Well if it was freely given then that's why." She stated. She stood up though, looking up at me. "You will save my mom, right?"

“Of course.” I nodded. “I’ll save as many as I can.”

The tunnels I rushed down were set ablaze as I rammed into a half Chimera Changeling, shifting from Ifrit to a Changeling and, much like absorbing love, began absorbing the Pyreflies out of this one. It took a few moments but they reverted to normal, that's thirty saved… a fuck ton more to go.

"How you holding up?" Gilda asked as they checked on the Changeling I had saved.

These Pyreflies were indeed those fake ones, but I can absorb them in my changeling form, and then I guess my body just processes them somehow.

“If I don’t swap to changeling form then it’ll be a bitch and a half to deal with...these are all fake, and I don’t know how or why these are being created…” I sighed out, seeing some of the changeling refugees take the unconscious bodies away. “But being Ifrit is fun to say the least.”

"Yeah, looks like. View is nice too~" Gilda teased.

“I know, I did manage to look at myself in the mirror.” I giggled. “So there’s thirty down so far...another four hundred thousand or so to go.”

"Think if you take out Chrysalis the rest revert?" Gilda asked, peeking around the next opening corner as I shifted back to Ifrit form

“I hope to god it’s that simple.” I sighed out. “I mean...wait, no it would be that simple, the fuck am I thinking? Chrysalis most likely has the ‘leader’ Pyreflies in her that’s controlling all the other changelings.” I frowned. “Especially when I beat the Queen in a fight...then wouldn’t that make me the Queen by that point?”

"Well, according to that old king a new queen only appears after the last one passes. So, if she dies maybe?"

“I’d...rather that not happen to be honest.” I said sheepishly. “But...if need be, I might need to bang Chrysalis to get Ocellus to be born again.”

“... Wait, so would that make you her mom or Chrysalis cause Changelings have both genders, meaning they probably just lean more towards one gender identity than others, or are you gonna do it as a Changeling and be the dad and fuck this is hurting my head… I need a beer after this…”

“Listen, I’m going to be sleeping this off like a bad hangover, cause this is a whole lot of shit to take in all at once.” I sighed out.

“And this is all assuming you can save Chrysalis… How bad do you think Chrysalis is? I know the others said she turned into a monter, but they didn’t specify how or what she turned into.”

“I’m probably gonna have to do some mental dive to save her.” I said honestly. “If she was given the help from Father like I think she did, and just the ability to either get a fuck ton of artificial Pyreflies or make them herself…” I trailed off worriedly.

“She’s most likely inside the Throne Room.” Thorax said from behind us. “It’s the only room that could… fit her.”

“And how big did she get… and what did she turn into?” Gilda asked.

“Big, easily the size of an Ursa Major… as for what… well, at first I thought she was a giant worm or grub, but then the mouth opened, showing her… linked to it from the inside. It looked almost like… ah, what was that animal?”

“A whale.” A changeling from the back said.

“Right, one of those.” Thorax nodded.

“Gross.” I shuddered. “But...if she’s a whale...wait, what did her body look like?” I asked nervously. “Did it look like her skin was...shifting weirdly?” I asked, the fact she looked like a whale and just had all these Pyreflies making me think of the only thing in FFX that fit that description.

“Sorta. Her… body, was the same color as her normal look just… wider, but it did look off… Oh, and these… small scales dropped off her a lot. They were like roaches or something.”

“Oh for fuck sakes!” I snapped. “We gotta hurry, NOW!” I snapped, Gilda hearing honest to god panic in my voice as I realized who were up against. “If we don’t move fast, it’s not just the changelings we have to worry about…”

Gilda and Thorax raced behind me, trying to keep up. “Wait, the Thorne Room is at the Center of the hive! From where we are we have a lot of ways to turn and-” I broke the wall down, smashing through this pulsating ‘stone’ towards the center. “Well… that works…”

I rammed through stones, tossing aside Fiend Changelings and rushed into the massive chamber that was the throne room. Gathering around my feet was what I feared… Sin Scales, moving around like small roaches, circling me.

“Ah…” Spoke a tired, deep feminine voice from the darkness around me. “It’s you, he told me you’d arrive… Mother.”

“I’m not ‘Mother’.” I frowned. “Chrysalis…” I looked at the darkness, unable to see her. “Why? Even if you were really low...from what I heard Ocellus tell me, you’d never stoop this low.”

“I had failed. Thousands died, thousands of my CHILDREN, killed when I promised them a future, a life outside the stone and dirt we’ve burrowed for well over a million years. I promised them the sun, the stars… I felt it, you know, each one of them die, crying in pain as their bodies gave out. Few got the mercy of it being quick enough to be painless. One mother to another, how could I ever redeem myself after letting so many of my children die? The answer is simple, I do whatever it takes to ensure their survival, and Father promised me that this path will save them all.”

“This is the quickest way to get your entire hive killed!” I snapped. “You’re own children are slaughtering each other all because you went to the worst person imaginable! Why didn’t you ask anyone for help? Why did you promise to be outside when you had to do the one stupid thing to push you back into the dark?” I asked bluntly.

“My children will endure. Father blessed me, much like you, I can absorb them, rebirth them. All that have died so far are safe and sound within me. All part of his plan. Such complex tactics, he knows you so well Mother. It’s almost like you two have a Hive Link yourselves.”

“Then he should know that he should stay the fuck away from me before I kick his ass.” I frowned. “But I’m going to save you from this madness Chrysalis...no one deserves to be turned into a monster like this.”

“Hehehehe… But you see, how else was I going to get you here, so rapidly? To make you desperate enough to rush your way here when the normal tunnels would take you weeks to navigate naturally. With this power, and this form, Father assured me I can save my people.”

“That’s because the creature you became is one of the most dangerous creatures from another world! He’s going to use you to do terrible things!” I panicked. “Who’s controlling you? Who’s using you as a host?”

“No one. He gave me this form, and told me all I have to do to save my children was lure you here…” The room shook violently as the darkness broke, showing light and… mouth… inside… giant mouth… I looked before me, seeing Chrysalis, her body linked to the sickly mixture of flesh and Pyreflies. “And let you devour my soul.”

“I’m not going to devour your soul, I’m going to get rid of all those Pyreflies in your body.” I said nervously. “And...where the hell are we? Please don’t tell me we’re inside you…”

“The mouth, and you will. Even with your new Changeling form young Ocellus provided, you can’t absorb all I can generate without taking my soul entirely… and if you don’t… the southern Border falls. Three hundred thousand of my enhanced children are already marching their way there. Absorb me, save everyone, or waste time and try another way.”

“Their not ‘enhanced’...their mindless monsters at the will of Father, you sold yourself, and your entire race to a mad man that wants to kill everything!” I snapped. “How fucking brain dead do you need to be to not notice you just sold your children to something even worse than death! Why!?”

“So you can save them! He knows you, your heart, your drives and your morals… you won’t let them die. Absorb me, and they’re all safe and alive, don’t… well,” The mouth shut, darkness returning, the only light’s the Pyrflies around Chrysalis illuminating the room.

“So...you’re putting your faith for your race's future in my hands?” I asked. “You’re not doing this because Father or Seymore is controlling you? You...truly believe I can help them all?” I was honestly a tad stunned by that. “What did Father tell you about me?”

“You are kind, stubborn, driven, and won’t let another die before you if you can stop it. So, to force your hand to care for them, he told me I had to put them at risk, put them in danger… They’re arriving within range of the southern border’s long range spell casters and new heavy artillery Machina… Anna, please… I never wanted to be the queen. The hive chose me… well screw that ancient collection of memories… I choose you.”

“At least you have a little more of a brain then obeying some eon’s old ‘mission’.” I said honestly. “But, given I’m absorbing your soul...get ready to have some roommates.” I said honestly. “Never thought I’d say this, but show me your love sack lady.”

To my surprise, she lifted her hand up, tearing into her chitin and tearing it off. Among all her organs and… blood, I saw the glowing blue organ that kept their souls alive.

"So uh...how are you with roommates?" I asked as I walked over to the organ. "Cause I know at least one person you'd like to meet inside my head." I said, thinking Chrissy and Jecht would have a wonderful time just hanging out doing not much.

"I'm a Changeling dear, I was born in a brood of over twenty thousand." She said with a chuckle.

I laughed at that, placing a hand to the organ. She flinched, it was probably very painful for her. After all, you don't usually have your inside organs touched.

"Well...here goes nothing." I muttered as I tried to absorb Chrysalis's soul, just feeling better to know I'm helping someone in dire need and their race instead of bad for killing someone.

I felt that same intensity as before, shaking as I did and the body of Sin around us began fading. Soon it was just Chrysalis and myself, or rather, her empty body. It was alive still, and even reverted from looking like a Queen to like every other Changeling. Her eyes opened, no longer green and predatory, now more like the others, a light blue with white for the iris. She stared at Me, blankly… Drone… her body is a drone now. Mindless… souless…

"All changelings!" I mentally called out, not entirely sure how but I'm doing it. "Return to the Hive, a new Queen has arisen." I declared, my words feeling more...powerful as I told all the changelings.

Shapeshifting Mutated.
Changeling Shapeshifting now aquired.
New form Obtained. Changeling Queen.
New form Obtained. Succubus Queen.
Succubus Queen form restricted use.

"Weird that Succubus Queen is restricted…" I muttered as I changed into my Changeling Queen Form. "Let's hope my call worked…"

Shortly all the Changelings were here, and some were carrying unconscious ones too. Good, those ones reverted… woah that's a lot still. "Anna…" Thorax said, surprised to see my firm but lead me to… oh no.

"Heh, I lived to see two Queens arise." The old king said, looking even thinner and weak than before as he was laid on the ground. "So the Hive chose you, good."

"Hold on, we'll get you some love." I panicked, not wanting him to die after all this. "Why...I swore I gave enough to everyone...why are you thinner?" I asked, worried for the old king's health.

"A Changeling's lifespan is typically two hundred years or so. A King and Queen is over five thousand years… I am seven thousand, eight hundred and fifty nine years old. I outlived my Queen… and her successor. My time was due, regardless of how much love is fed to me."

"Just...wish your passing could have been a little happier to be honest." I said sadly.

"It can be. Will be. Remember the story I told, of how Monochrome came to exist? While she walked the first time, the Cherub and the Succubus were the happiest, being united as one." He took my hand, placing it over his stomachs. "In that form, Monochrome was truly immortal as well. Anna, reunite the Queen and King, give my people a ruler that can stand with Celestia, Luna, immortal, godly, and caring. Forever unite our ancestors, and lead my people."

“Well...Blueblood did want me to be a Queen of a sovereign nation.” I chuckled. “So...just...take your soul then?” I asked. “Cause if that’s the case...well either you’ll be sent off to a happy place, or you’ll be stuck inside my head.”

"Either way, I die knowing the fate of my race is in capable, caring hands. A comfort so few King's of the past got to know."

"And don't worry...I'll let our people out to see the sun." I said softly. "And you'll also see it through my eyes." I said as I started to absorb the old King's soul. "And Chrysalis will be happy to see you as well."

Slowly, as I absorbed the old King's soul, his body reverted to that of a normal Changeling. Unlike Chrysalis however, this body was much older, and once the last of his soul was within me, the old body crumbled to dust under my gentle touch.

New form Obtained. Changeling King.
New form Obtained. Angel, Class: Cherub.
New form Obtained. Fallen Angel, Class: Cherub.
Forms Angel, Class Cherub and Fallen Angel, Class: Cherub restricted use.

"Why is it restricted still?" I questioned.

Most of the other Changelings, the ones not drones or unconscious, cried, but one by one all the conscious ones began to bow at me on hands and knees. I felt a surge through my head, the Hive Mind Link, stronger than before, and so much more… detailed. The entirely of the Hive, past and present, saying one thing unanimously.

"All Hail, Queen Anna."

"Uh...thanks everyone." I said sheepishly. "Where's Gilda?"

Shortly after I asked that Gilda arrived, looking tired and breathing heavily. "You
... run… fast." He finished, taking deep breaths. "Shit I gotta work on my running."

"You're more of a flier than anything." I shrugged.

Some time Later that back up arrived and I explained everything and when all was said and done, Neck Snapper just shrugged and pulled the army she brought with her back. Sweetie Drops was interviewing Changeling's and Thorax was giving me a tour of the hive. "And here is the archives room." He said, this tunnel had an actual door and doorway, all made from stone. "Our entire races history is behind these doors as well as notes and spells left behind by past queens and kings for future kings and queens… given you are both now I guess you should look at both." He stated.

Before I could speak though.

Synchronization complete.
New form Obtained. Changeling Princess Monochrome obtained.
Ability to fuse together forms and mixed shapeshifting unlocked.

"Hold up." I started. "What do you mean I can turn into Monochrome?"

Answer: Yes. The fusion of the Fallen Cherub and Succubus Queen created a higher form of Changeling compared to her rebirth some time later, as such, Princess Monochrome is her own race of Changeling between the common princes and princesses and the King and Queen, despite being more powerful than the two individually. Her racial abilities and powers also differ from the common ling and the royals as well as the diadies that came together and formed her. Thanks to the Hive Mind Link, 43% of her total memories from her existence as a fusion and rebirth have been recalled and are generating in her restoration once a proper soul has been generated.

"Oh...okay…" I started. "Crap that's...a lot to take in for that bit." I started. "Well...let's see if I can turn into them really…" I muttered while trying to transform into Monochrome.

"You okay?" Gilda asked me.

“Just trying to turn into Monochrome real quick.” I said honestly. "But uh...how does my changeling Queen look?"

Gilda looked me over. "Kinda like Chrysalis but more curved and a bit shorter."

I changed, and to my surprise she looked way different than I expected. Rather than bug like wings they were skeletal bird wings, or angel wings I guess, and while my skin was the usual Changeling chitin it was a pale grey. My body also looked… well, from a first person perspective I was just a bit taller than my Mibotaur form, and looked like an Amazonian. Seriously, this body was built to be sexy… given a Cherub and an Succubus fused to make it, that's actually probably accurate. Gilda was drooling, Thorax blushed but covered his eyes and it was at that moment I realized that I was naked in this form… and having both sets ment it was hanging free… woah that a big one on me… christ, I don't even thing an Minotaur could handle it…

"Sweet faust you look hot…" Gilda finally spoke, still slack jawed.

"Well...I'm part succubus...but I don't know about the Cherub part...thought it was some weird creature with four heads and a bunch of wings or something…"

"Uh, my queen, do you require any… clothing?" Thorax asked, eyes still covered.

"Yes please." I said nervously. "And please be quick...even if this feels fine, I'm not really into full frontal nudity."

Rapidly Thorax and a few other Lings adorned me in a robe-like attire that reminded me a lot of greek clothing and gods. It didn't leave that much to the imagination but covered me regardless. I tried to arrange and fix it to cover up a bit more but for some reason it kept slipping back to being, well, sexy. Stupid Succubus half, that's probably what it is.

"Now then, onto the final areas of the hive, the Nursery, the Kindergarden, the Love Reserves, the Cemetery and the Asylum." Thorax said.

“Alright, lead the way.” I nodded, trying to just ignore the massive problem with my clothes and the continued ogling of my mate.

The Nursery reminded me a lot of a bee hive. Eggs, all small, round and white, almost like cantaloupes, were placed in secure holes in the walls and covered in that love good. "The slime that stores the excess love we gather never goes bad, helps keep the eggs insulated and warm and when the grub hatches in a month they eat it clean and are then taken to the Kindergarden." Thorax said.

The next massive chamber was I imagine the Kindergarden, filled with cocoons all along the ceiling, walls and floor. "Once they have fed enough they are brought here to cocoon themselves for two months of gestation and growth to become a youngling, from there they spend several weeks getting accustomed to their new bodies and learn mostly through the Hive Link and practice how to be a Changeling. From there they are given basic Hive tasks and fed love until they reach adulthood and can serve the Hive, and yourself my Queen, in other more important ways."

“Alright, so uh...how do I...give Ocellus a body again?” I asked nervously. “Do I literally need to have a kid? Cause if what me and Gilda did beforehand was...like, double our record before just on ‘love making’, both figuratively, and now literally…”

"As Queen you can give birth without needing another, however the laying season isn't for another three months. Until then you can store and fertilize them. While we can lay when we want the Queen has four laying seasons a year." Thorax explained.

"Ah…" I nodded. "So uh...how many changelings can a queen make on...average?"

"Well, this last brood of Chrysalis's was over two thousand eggs, taking her about three weeks of laying to complete. But I heard the last Queen was able to lay twice as many. Mostly it varies from queen to queen from what I know. The average Ling can lay about three to five eggs at once."

"And...does it depend on their King as well?" I asked nervously.

"No, actually. Each King and Queen always come in a pair and Chrysalis never got her King as the old King was the late Queens. The Queen lays the mass population of the hive and assigns jobs and even alters her children if needed to fit their job, The King is primarily in charge of collectors and defending the hive from the natural threats of the badlands. If a queen passes and no new queen is chosen by The Hive, the still living King becomes the new Queen and typically a new king is selected immediately after. Once a King and Queen were the same Ling, shifting from king to queen during the laying seasons."

"And laying season is just heat season right?" I inquired.

"Sorta. Like I said, it's the season you can lay eggs, you can store and fertilize them throughout the off seasons."

"Good to know." I nodded. "Gonna need to double check on all that constantly…" I muttered to myself

From the Kindergarden, Thorax lead me to the Love Reserves and Holy fuck! It's like an underground lake of love slime… and it's barely at halfway. "As you can see, we have enough to last most of the year." Thorax stated.

"And I'm pretty sure there will be a whole lot more when me and Gilda are done." I chuckled.

"Heh, given… earlier I can imagine we might need to make another store room."

"Probably." Gilda said with a nod.

Now was the cemetery. It was… not what I was expecting. It was a room filled with statues of Changeling's. "And here we have the cemetery." Thorax stated.

"Statues of all the dead changelings?" I asked curiously.

"Close. You see, there is a reason our hive is the way it is. When we die and are placed within the cemetery, the earth absorbs our flesh and magic, leaving a petrified chitin shell behind and the land adapts to our magic." Thorax explained. "Over time the remains become dust and finish becoming part of the physical hive."

"So that's why this place is alive." I said honestly. "Uh...so question...when does this place just pack up and leave an area?"

"It doesn't." Thorax said. "With the throne, all magic casters lose the ability and the guards and King handle whoever can bypass that. Mostly tunneling monsters but they hate the taste of the hives soil so they typically ignore us."

"So when is it going to be able to?" I asked nervously. "Cause seriously...at some point all the magic and body parts it gains is gonna do something even more drastic...I can feel it."

"I don't know. I guess we'll have to hope for the best." With that Thorax lead us to the last room. The Asylum. It was a large room where Drones were placed so they didn't get hurt or in the way with some healthy Changeling's keeping them fed and cleaned. It honestly seemed more like a nursing home. "I left this room for last because of something I believe you can do to help then." Thorax said.

"I can give them back their souls?" I asked curiously.

"Actually… it involves giving them, or rather, their bodies purpose again. As Queen whatever you are capable of changing into, so are we. All our forms come from the queen." Thorax demonstrated, shifting in a flash of green fire into a Dingo, an Evil Eye, then back to normal. "This rule still applies to Drones… but they can only follow orders, and not well. I once headed rumors about a queen of the past who was able to merge a Changeling with another race, and give them our powers."

"Really?" I asked in surprise. "Well...I suppose I can figure something out."

"Any leads will be within the archives. It was just a rumor but… it's better than just leaving them like this, and more humane than letting them starve to death." Thorax said. He lead Gilda and I back to the Archive room and took his leave. I sighed, opening the doors and… woah… Twilight is gonna have a field day when she gets her hands on this room.

Gilda and I picked up some books and began reading… christ this is gonna be a while.

"I'd rather not read all of this…" I groaned. "But sadly I have to…"

And so Gilda and I began reading through them all. Most of them were diaries or an assortment of notes compiled into something akin to a spell book. I did find something, a few entries from Princess Doka. Apparently one of her collectors fell in love with the stallion she was collecting from, and he her. Even after telling him the truth he loved her. He moved to the hive and was one of few ever willing sources of love for the hive. Apparently the time came where they wanted a child, but Changeling Magic and DNA make hybrids impossible, the child will always be born the race of the mother parent.

To rectify this issue, they asked Queen Doka if it would be possible to unify them in body, mind and soul, like the Cherub and Succubus. Later entries talk about its success, and the new hive member Grota was the first ever Pony-Changeling Hybrid. They didn't require love at all, in fact they generated it like a storm generates lightning. They fed the hive for seven hundred and forty three years before passing of old age, living over tripple the typical Changeling lifespan.

“Well would you look at that, the ‘ancient rules’ is actually hot garbage.” I said honestly. “I mean...this is a rare case but it wouldn’t be that rare if they didn’t hide themselves everywhere…”

Still, willingly binding yourself with another like that, not an easy choice. Becoming someone else yet… still you and also not you. Ugh, it's giving me a headache just thinking about it.

With that information in tow Gilda and I now went searching through all the 'spell books' Queen Doka left behind, and finally found it. Apparently the Queen must cocoon both the willing Ling and lover in a gestation pod. The pod will actually keep the pony, or any non Changeling race alive and healthy but digest the Ling, and merge them into the none Changeling race member, and as the Ling's body rebuilds it modifies the body, mind and biology of the non Changeling. The resulting spawn has memories, and abilities of both parents and the process can not be reversed. The process also merges the two's souls into one, thus completely creating a new lifeform.

“Huh...didn’t think that was a thing…” I said. “Gives you a headache just thinking about it…”

"Creepy, so Thorax wants to do this with Drone Changeling's? I guess since they are soulless and mindless only the non Changeling member would still be in control. Is it worth it?"

“If it gives them a new life…” I said sadly. “Not sure how it’ll fully work given that this needs to be consensual…”

"True… though, if it merges their bodies… what do you think it can do for someone who's sick? Reading these texts, Changeling's don't get sick with illnesses of other races, complete immunity even to the lethal ones. It can also save lives… well… I think Blueblood might know people willing to be… test subjects." Gilda said that with worry. "Zebra hybrid researchers."

“Saving lives is one thing...but are we really going to just use real people as test subjects for this crap?” I asked nervously. “I mean...back on my world this is basically Stem Cell research but...this feels worse…”

"I know. But Thorax has a point, they're just… there, lifeless and they can either stay like that til age gets them or let them starve. Both are terrible and… agh fuck… I hate to admit it, but we need help on this. It's too big to just… not talk about openly."

“I know…” I sighed out. “Christ, this isn’t gonna be a happy time for anyone...but we’re gonna need to make a decision soon, and I...kind of wish Blueblood or Luna were here, since those two would actually know what to do in this special situation.”

"Well, maybe we can call them here… or…" Gilda sighed. "Discord?"

There was a poof of lemon scented smoke and the spirit of chaos appeared. "You called?"

"How did I know your magic works here?"

"If it doesn't make sense, I can do it." He stated. "Need something?"

"What will it cost us for a portal from here to the house?"

"Oh I won't dare charge a dime. The energy Anna absorbed now is going to be quote entertaining in the near future. I almost can't wait!" He said, snapping his fingers as a door in a frame appeared on the table. "Ta ta young lovers." And he vanished in a poof of candy corn that fell to the floor.

“Well...that was a lot simpler then I thought it would be.” I said honestly.

"Best shift back to your sexy human self before we head over, most of them might still have bad memories with Changeling's from Canterlot."

I did so and we opened the doors finding ourselves in one of the many hallways back home and managed to find Blueblood in the living room, filling out paperwork. "Anna? Gilda? You both are back early, did something happen?"

“You...would not believe.” I sighed out. “Can someone please make me and Gilda...a sandwich at least? It’s been a while and I need something to eat that isn’t emotions.”

Blueblood got everyone together, and to my surprise Celestia was here too. Thinking about it, this is the first time I've seen here in person. She was taller than Luna by half a foot easily, larger horn and wings too, and her curves… matched her height perfectly…

After telling them everything that happened, Luna, Blueblood, Celestia and Twilight were still here with Gilda and I to discuss this. "So this whole time the Changelings were the offspring of Aheel and Algira. I never suspected." Celestia said.

"And I'm the queen now, and I'm going to bring the Changelings into the light of day, and get past some ancient crap that means nothing anymore." I stated.

"It is largely a moral delema. Completely soulless bodies l, not even memories, they're basically brain dead…" Blueblood said, looking thoughtful.

"Moral, ethical. It crosses so many lines yet… so many could benefit." Luna added.

"How many Changeling are drones?" Twilight asked.

"Thorax said it was about five thousand." Gilda said, that made everyone look more down.

"We can give suggestions, advice, pros and cons but in the end the choice falls to Anna. She is the Queen of the Changelings now."

"That's basically all I wanted at the moment…" I sighed out. "So many can benefit…but it feels worse then stem cell research for some reason…"

"I don't like decisions like this." Celestia said, reviewing the notes from Princess Doka. "There are so many from all the kingdoms who can be saved with this, but even so, it's hardly ethical and will change the patient forever. Even if they can just shift to look just as before, they'll be different for the rest of their life. What do the other Changelings think?"

"It was Thorax's idea, and from what I can tell the majority all agree." Gilda sighed. "It's like they accepted the drones are no different from the dead, and given what being a drone means… they aren't too far off."

"The benefits seem to be all positives. Mostly." Blueblood started. "The only downsides seem to be the permit biological changes and the ethical backlash."

"It would only be a problem if we were forcing it on people, and we're not." I said honestly. "Cause...I don't know if the changes will be like how a living changeling and their mate would do it…cause the Drone is sadly a walking corpse…"

"In the end this should only be considered for the near death patients, and with complete and total consent of them, and if the patient is unable to give consent for some reason, by their representative." Luna stated.

"The biggest one will be children… how would they adapt?" Celestia asked. "And to live for so long… seven hundred years. That's so much longer than a normal pony lifespan."

"Same for the basic Changeling." Gilda added.

"If we are going to do this, allow this, it will be done right." Blueblood said. "But before we can… Anna needs to… test it. She just gained these forms and abilities, and only she can create the cocoon that will do this… there needs to be a test first before we start offering it as some miracle cure."

"I'm not going to do it to any of you." I stated quickly. "I'm not going to do it to my family…" I said bluntly. "So...who has any ideas on who it should be done on?"

"There are many possible candidates, hospitals have no shortage of death bed patients, comatose patients, with this Hive Link, Anna could wake them up where I wasn't able." Luna stated.

"I… might just know the perfect candidate…" Blueblood said.

Celestia looked over at him. "Are you sure?"

"She'd be perfect, her training, her condition, it will work out well. Sugar Drops can get a second chance at life."

"You sure about that Blueblood?" I asked curiously.

"Yes. Former agent Sugar Drops, she's been completely paralyzed after a mission went bad. She just spends her days in the hospital. I'm sure her sister will be happy to see her walking again."

"It'll surely be something that's for sure." I nodded. "But...well need her permission, and Sweeties if need be."

"Well, let's get to it."

Blueblood called Sweetie Drops back to the GoE and we all rode to Canterlot. Once there we went over to Sugar Drops room and… woah. She and Sweetie Drops are twins. They're completely identical. The only difference I can see is that the bon bons on sugar Drops cutie mark are green, not blue. "Blueblood, Sis? What's with the visit?" She asked. Her body was so thin and atrophied.

"We have a… treatment. With luck you will be able to walk again." Blueblood stated.

"Really? What's the catch?"

"You'll become half Changeling." Sweetie said.

"Seriously? How'd you pull this one off?"

"Me." I said simply. "I'm the new Changeling Queen after a whole lot of things happened, but an ancient queen documented the procedure and...well, it has history to back it up."

"Really? Huh… well, at least I'll be able to see Lyra again. Stars only know how she's been." Sugar said.

"She misses you a lot." Sweetie said.

“And why didn’t you tell me this sooner?” I frowned at Sweetie. “We could have saved you breaking my leg instead of being a bitch.”

"You broke her legs?" Sugar asked.

"You know I hate talking about my personal life." Sweetie huffed.

Sugar just laughed. "That's my little sister."

"By twelve minutes…" Sweetie growled.

“No, you didn’t say anything about not liking to talk about your personal life.” I frowned.

"Because, Anna, if I'm gonna be blunt… I don't like you. Why, I'm not sure, something about you just ticks me off."

“Join the club, Blueblood can bake some cookies.” I shrugged. “At least Blueblood knew why he wanted me to hate him.”

"Back to the point." Blueblood spoke up. "Sugar Drops, do you give full consent to Anna, the GoE, and Equestrian medical science and studies to undergo this… experimental treatment?"

"If it means I don't need a catheter up my bladder and I can rutt my girlfriend again, yes."

Blueblood rolled his eyes. "And Sweetie Drops? Do you also give consent as Sugar Drop's legal representative and only living family?"

"Yes." Sweetie said plainly.

"Right then… Anna, I believe you should shift and… tell the Changeling to… prepare a room, with a drone…"

“Alright.” I nodded while shifting into my Queen form. ”Thorax? Can you hear me?” I mentally called out to the changeling.

"Yes my Queen. What are your orders?" He replied immediately. Man I wish we all had this, so much easier than letters.

”Prepare a room and a Drone, we’re going to...heal someone with the fusion thing.” I said, not entirely sure how to properly name this.

"Yes, It will all be prepared by the time you arrive."

Getting Sugar Drops to the hive was easy, thankfully, and the room made up looked brand new, freshly dug and carved. A lone drone Changeling lay on the ground before us. "Creepy." Sugar stated.

I read through the… spell, ritual thing several times before I began making the cocoon. It was weird, but felt natural. After a bit, most of it was built and the drone and Sugar were both placed inside and I finished closing it up and, according to the books, had to fill it with a mix of Love Goop and my own stomach acids from the second stomach. Once that was all done we just had to wait for three days.

“Alright…” I nodded. “Seems simple enough...just this and then three days of waiting.”

"So, what do we do til then?" Gilda asked.

"I'll be… telling Lyra about this." Sweetie Drops said, taking her leave.

"I'll fill out the report and paperwork for this." Blueblood said, also taking leave.

Now it was just Gilda and I in the pod room.

“So...what do you want to do now?” I asked Gilda. “Oh and uh...just to...double check...me having a dick doesn’t...do anything bad with you right?” I asked nervously, just wanting to double check on that whole escapade.

"Anna, you forget when you were first stuck as a normal Changeling that I let you rutt me. Honestly I don't mind, I know now I do swing both ways and… I'd be lying if I said the fantasy never crossed my mind."

“I didn’t forget, and I’m just double checking.” I said while softly hugging Gilda. “I just...don’t want to do something you’re uncomfortable with...cause I love you my wonderful griffon.”

"I love you too, my adorkable Shapeshifter." Gilda said, returning the hug. "Well, we can spend some time topping off the Hive love reserves. But, I did want this fantasy to be special." Gilda said, breaking the hug and reaching into our bag of holding. To my surprise he pulled out a gender swap potion. "This thing has been a less than pleasant part of my life, as a kid, with Zer… but tonight, it will give me memories I want to look back on. So, Anna, care to make me your woman?" Gilda asked me with a small laugh.

“Gilda…” He moved over and shifting into my Monochrome form, softly picking Gilda up with ease. “I’m going to make you my woman, and I’m going to make sure you love every single second of it.” I said as I kissed Gilda passionately.

I carried them to the Queens chambers, Gilda downing the potion. Physically they looked the same, til the clothes came off. I made sure Gilda enjoyed the entirety of that potions length, and when it wore off, continued til we decided to switch.

In the end, it was three long days of love making, six gender swapping potions used, and the only times we stopped was from food and drink, and even then. And the bathroom, of course. The Love Reserves became so full Thorax and the hive began working on a second to hold it all.

I have to admit, Gilda as they are is amazing, but Gilda as a lady… well, they have this glow to them that just… stunning. It was the third day and Gilda and I were just in afterglow. Their last potion was still in effect and my mate just purred happily from their place as the small spoon within my rather large forms embraced. Gilda told me once I'm the best treasure in their Griffon hord… well you're mine. I'm a griffon too, probably a dragon soon, and any other hoarding race, you'll be my treasure Gilda.

“You are the best Gilda.” I said softly. “You’re my greatest treasure.”

We stayed like that for a long time before I finally shifted back to human. With all the Changeling additions I learned pretty quick I can now shift just specific part of myself, like be human but have the wings of an Evil Eye or the chitin of the Changelings, or even just the unicorns horn. It's all really neat. Of course it didn't take me long to learn how to get my… Changeling genitals as a human or other forms.

Finally though when the potion wore off and Gilda was a male again, they greeted me with a kiss and one final rutt before we got cleaned off and dressed. "You should bottle that Changeling venom, you'd make a killing." Gilda said as they finished getting their clothes on.

“It would.” I chuckled as I got my clothes back on as well. “Can’t believe Thorax and the others had to make an entire second room filled with Love just because of us.”

"I can't believe how much you had. You did not look nearly bloated enough to be holding in enough love to fill that thing up and then some." Gilda said, giving me a hug and a kiss. "I imagine under your rule, the Changelings shall never go hungry again, or fear becoming a Drone. Speaking of, it's been three days, let's go check up on the pod."

“Alright.” I nodded. “Hopefully everything went well in there while we just...probably made every changeling love drunk in a five mile radius…”

And so Gilda and I headed off to the pod room, finding it easily enough and I saw that Cricket was keeping watch. He saw me and bowed. "My Queen." He said. "I believe the pod and Miss Sugar Drops are ready. It's been forming cracks since the early morning, it will finish breaking open any minute now."

“That’s good.” I nodded. “Let’s see how they changed...and hopefully our love making didn’t...do something weird to any changelings.”

"While we can passively absorb love, we can choose when to and when. Not to." Cricket said.

The pod broke open, goop, liquids and such rushed out onto the floor and inside, what I saw made my eyes go wide.

She looked more Changeling than pony, only her mane, tail and Cutie mark were still visible. Looking closer though her chitin hide was growing fur in patches around her body, or maybe that's what was left? She was also… naked but that was kinda expected. She grunted, opening her eyes which still looked very much pony. Shakily, she shifted, moving her arm and when she looked at her arm, her own eyes went wide but calmed almost immediately.

She then moved the other arm, moving her fingers and felt along her body, and finally took a step out if the cocoon and walked two steps before almost losing balance. "Heh… hehehe.. I can move again." She said, smiling as Cricket placed a robe over her. "I can feel touch…"

"Holy shit, it did work…" Gilda said, looking as amazed as I.

“Holy shit on a shingle…” I muttered in absolute amazement.

After that Blueblood and a few doctors came by to run mandatory tests.

"Alright, physically she's not as in shape as she was before the accident. So far we theorize the reason she looked more like a Changeling over pony is because of the damage and poor state her body was in." The doctor began explaining. "She has no issue shape shifting, she can consume and collect love but she also can make and give it just like ponies and other races. She also can eat normal foods but also meat now too, her teeth show the more omnivore structure of the changelings than pony. In regards to her earth pony magic it is there but weakened, we will be monitoring that to see if it returns to full strength or not.

"As far as we can tell, she is healthy, but oddly enough given her biology she actually could go without food indefinitely, since she makes love but can feed and survive off it also she could possibly go without physical foods forever if she chose. Unlike Changeling's she has four stomaches. Two are for holding and digesting love and the other is for making that love slime they eat, the other two we will examine. Lastly, she also has two hearts, one on each side of her torso and oddly enough both beat off sync from the other."

“That is very interesting.” I said honestly. “Didn’t think biology would also change that much.”

"It is, and we don't know if these changes will be constant with future participants or if each is unique. Only time will tell."

“Alright.” I nodded. “So all around good news...hopefully.”

More people showed up in the following days to the Hive, mostly to conduct research on the Changelings lifestyle and culture. All in all it was peaceful again. Gilda and I got payed and now it was time for another date night. This one was a mare I personally was looking forwards to. Cream Heart.

"So for Rarity you complained about dresses, hair and makeup but for Cream Heart you are worried about that now?" Gilda asked, working on my hair.

"Gonna have to get used to it sooner or later " I said honestly. "Plus Rarity was gonna throw more of a fit then me if I didn't look good."

"Heh, true enough. You sure it's not because when she let you touch her ass it sank in and now that you have your own penis you wanna own it?" My blush made Gilda laugh. "Called it."

"It's not my fault…" I grumbled. "And these are supposed to be your girls, not mine…" I said, not wanting to take Gildas harem from him.

"Hun, Herds are males and females coming together to make one family, even if I am head male, you are free to screw the other members if they want to as well. It's like an Orgy you married."

"I...didn't think that's how it worked." I said sheepishly

"Being a part of a herd means the love extends passed just the head male and other males. From what I heard most mares in a herd form bonds of love so deep, they're beyond co-wives and mother's, lovers and even sisters. Same goes often for a herd with multiple males. Lot of times brothers would form a herd together, makes everyone in the family that much closer, same reasons so many sisters join herds together, the bonds of love and family are just naturally stronger cause of bonding, parenting and the love shared. Yeah some herds were just males displaying dominance and wealth but majority were focused solely on family and love."

"That's amazing." I said honestly and warmly. "Love is...a lot better here."

"From what you tell me about earth, sure seems like a lot of things are better here." Gilda said, finishing up my makeup and giving some final touches to my hair. "Speaking of… what do you miss the most about it? Earth I mean?"

"Technology mostly." I said honestly. "Mostly game systems...god do I miss those…"

"Didn't discord give you a whole room in this place filled with them?"

"Yes he did, and I would sooner be stuck in there for days on end but we have stuff to deal with." I shrugged.

"I don't see the big deal, why play pretend Adventures and hero when you can go on them here and are one?"

"Because some world's we can't go to?" I brought up.

"That portal thing Discord gave you begs to differ." Gilda finished up my hair and as per usual, I look amazing.

Gilda wore a stunning sapphire blue dress that seemed to have actual sapphires in it with cure shoulder poofs and the dress itself flowed with each step they made.

I was wearing something more akin to a suit this time, a violet shade with light blue at the cuffs and for the under coat. Honestly this was he best way I could get Rarity to keep me in clothes that don't require high heels.

Gilda and I took a fair long look at one another, and we both laughed. "Heh, wow. We make cross dressing look good."

"Yes we do." I chuckled happily. "Also wearing a suit feels a lot better than a dress."

"Given my body type dresses were just less constricting." Gilda said with a shrug. "We're meeting Cream Heart at her place, but she said dress fancy so, eh."

"Well, I bet she's gonna dress fancy and bring us somewhere she really likes."

With that, Gilda and I headed out… "My Queen." One of the Changelings, Ion, the Hive Link told me, said as we got out of the house. He stood next to a large decorative and fancy carriage, pulled by two bulls the Link told me were also Changelings.

"Did you…" Gilda started to ask.

"No…" I started. "I don't think I asked...Ion, what's going on?"

"Well, my Queen, much like how you can broadcast your orders to us all or individually to communicate, we can do the same to each other, and we picked up a few likely unintentional broadcasts about your date this evening. We live to serve you, so the hive took it upon ourselves to prepare this chariot, the pathway to miss Cream Hearts house, and even tweaked her plans for you three for the night."

"Well...I didn't ask for this but cool." I said honestly.

"It is impressive." Gilda said. We got inside and… woah… this cloth is so soft… and these seats, firm yet fluffy. They then headed off, and I saw what Ion meant by preparing the way. Bright street lamps, a paved dirt road and lots of gorgeous floral decorated what must be a direct pathway to Ponyville. "Damn, Changeling's have style… and efficiency."

“Jesus, what is this stuff made out of?” I asked curiously, loving the soft cloth.

"Selfrodian Silk. Many Changelings shifted into then to make them, others into the sheep the stuffing was made from. It's a unique trait that Changeling can shift into animals and such but the products we make. Milk, fur, tusks, they remain even when we shift back. Too much though and we begin to starve. Though thanks to you, that's not really an issue anymore my Queen." Ion said.

“So basically we’re going to solve a metric fuck ton of problems that would involve running low on certain resources?” I asked curiously.

"Depends. Fur, tusks and that stuff is easy to do, milk and all, but plants are… harder. Having an apple picked off you while you're transformed into an apple tree is like ripping a finger off…"

"Ouch…" Gilda winced.

“That doesn’t sound good…” I said nervously. “But good to know...best not to force that unless it’s really necessary.”

"Hey… can you make clothes that shape shift?" Gilda asked.

"Easily." Ion said. "Our chitin when shed or broken off still retains the ability to transform. With some focus we can change them into fibers and see clothing's that transform as we do and retain their natural armor density no matter the appearance."

"So Anna gets Shapeshifting armor too, sweet."

“That would be amazing since some forms aren’t good for my clothes.” I sighed out thankfully.

"Ten bits says your monochrome form still gets a sexy dress."

“I blame the succubus half.” I said honestly. “Cream is going to flip when she sees all of this...hell, everyone’s going to flip when they see this.”

"Speaking of though, you said you got a pure Succubus and two versions of an angel form. Have you used them yet?"

“No, and that’s mostly because it says they're ‘restricted’.” I said honestly. “Don’t know why though…”

"Well, maybe it's because an angel and a demon are pretty hard core cosmic beings. Even the lowest form of either can… destroy whole planets. A Cherub may not be too powerful but they are extremely high up, and a Succubus Queen… I don't even know how the royalties of hell work, all I know is that they are not to be fucked with… ironic considering it's a succubus."

“Yeah...this is all sorts of new for me.” I said honestly. “And I don’t know what the Cherub looks like, it could either be that tiny baby looking thing, or it could be a fusion of a human, lion, eagle and bull heads with a ton of wings for all I know.” I shrugged.

"There's texts and paintings but no one in half a million years has actually seen an angel on Equis soil. Their forms also carry from world to world from what I understand, but this information is all old stories and legends so odds are not all of it is completely accurate."

“So basically it boils down to ‘who knows’.” I shrugged.

"Basically."

The ride was nice, something out of a fairy tail actually. Ponyville was more than surprised but it's usual daily brand of madness left it back to business as usual.

“I’ve barely been here, but having the town’s folk see this crap and be like ‘eh, that’s fine’ is still surprising to me.” I said honestly.

"Heh, yeah I'll never get this town."

After a short bit we got off at Cream Heart's house. It was a nice one story place with a small front and backyard. Green paint and all that. We got off and- Drool… Cream Heart was in a lovely, tight yellow sundress with purple polka dots that was just short enough to cover her lower bottom. "Wow, and here I am underdressed." She said with a chuckle.

“Lies…” I said bluntly. “You look stunning Cream.”

"Awh, heh, thanks." She said, letting us In. I saw Changeling. Ovulo, Deru, and Kipo running around the kitchen. "I was planning on a picnic in the park, but then your lovely Changeling friends appeared and offered to make the date more romantic. It's honestly been amazing, they cleaned, cooked and even made repairs around the house. They're amazing helpers."

“I mean, if you said you wanted a simple picnic then we wouldn’t have dolled up like this.” I said honestly. “But...well now you get five star service.”

"We often held jobs while collecting." Deru said. "We've worked in kitchens all across Equestria, the Griffon Kingdoms and the Minotaur kingdoms."

"Every race has those that absolutely love good food " Kipo added.

“Good food is good.” I nodded with a smile.

Cream lead us to the back yard where a lovely table was set up with very fancy and beautiful silverware, crystal glasses and candles. Another Changeling, Flick, stood with a few bottles of wine. "My Queen." He said with a bow.

"Woah. Where did you all get this stuff?" Gilda asked.

"Over the years the hive members acquired bits from jobs. We don't really need money or use it, so we just put it in a treasury of sorts, and sometimes bought things past queens might have enjoyed… and sometimes stole them." Flick explained.

“Sometimes stole them?” I asked curiously. “Why steal when you had enough money?”

"Not all the creatures we collected love from were… pleasant. It was a petty payback, but it was enough to make them angry and spend lots of time hunting a maid or a cook or a mistress that never really existed." He had a grin as he said that.

“Petty, but effective.” I chuckled.

We all took our seats and Flick poured us all from a very nice looking bottle. "This is Brandulgu wine. The company went under over a hundred and thirty years ago, and was bottled and kept sealed for a little over two hundred years."

"Two hundred year old wine from a company that doesn't even exist anymore? How much would this even cost?" Gilda asked, nursing the… very tasty wine. I'm not a wine person but wow.

"This brand, the condition and age… historical value… around sixty thousand bits." Gilda nearly did a spit take. "Per glass." We all stared at our glasses. "If it's supply you worry about your Majesty, we still have about three hundred of these bottles of this year in the Treasury."

Now I almost did a spit take. "Of… this… year?" Cream asked, wide eyed.

"Yes. There's others, all stored safely in the Treasury. We've never really kept stock of it given it's more or less a storage room for things we've gathered for fun throughout the hives existence."

“Jesus christ…” I couldn’t help but laugh at how absurd this was becoming. “How much booze do we have stored up?”

"Not entirely sure. I'll have someone take inventory." Flick said. I could feel him send out the message to take inventory of the treasury. A few minutes passed. "Roughly in alcohol alone… seven quintillion bottles of various wines, scotches, brandies, vodka, whiskies, spirits, and beers. In counting."

"And this is just the alcohol you all collected for the hive over the years?" Gilda asked.

"So far."

“Fucking god…” I muttered. “That would be one hell of a party.”

"What's the oldest bottle you have there?" Cream asked.

"A bottle of wine dated before the founding of Equestria, back in the early years of the three tribes brewed and sealed by earth ponies." Flick said.

"Damn." Gilda said.

“Strongest booze we probably got here...but I don’t know how age affects wine all that well.” I shrugged.

"It depends on how well it is sealed. Wine sealed properly, in just the right dry low light place left to age can ferment and get a better flavor and a stronger in the alcohol department." Gilda said. "The grapes also play a factor in the flavor and the longer the time the better the fermentation takes. The best wines are fermented for tenz fifteen even twenty years and cost thousands of bits, Anna, you have a keg if wine that-"

"Two hundred and three legs of ancient pre Equestria earth pony wine." Flick stated.

"Right, basically I think one keg of that could possibly buy you Equestria… fuck all those kegs could buy you the planet."

“I’m pretty sure we’re going to drink it all before that.” I joked.

"Heh, who knows."

Our food arrived and sweet Jesus, it's amazing. Gilda and I received a lemon pepper chicken fried in butter with mashed potatoes with white gravy and mixed veggies. Cream Heart got the same but replaced the chicken with tofu. It. Tasted. Amazing.

“Okay so...maybe being royalty isn’t that bad if we get this great of food.” I said honestly.

"You said it." Gilda said.

"I wish I could cook this good." Cream Heart said with a giggle. "So, at this point in the date, do you two have any questions for me? I know a lot about you both but I know you two still don't know that much about me. Ask away."

“Alright so…” I sighed out. “Might as well address the elephant in the room...what happened with your previous husband? Cause I believe you told us something happened but left it at that.”

She sighed, looking at her wine glass and gave a small smile. "His name was Shark Tank. He passed away when Button was barely a year old. Heart failure." She took a sip. "It was hard, being a solo mother and working, my mother helped a lot when Button was younger, but she passed away too when he was six. Couldn't afford a babysitter and I was worried what Button would do alone in the house for so long.

"Thankfully, the arcade owner, Plugs, offered to watch over him while I worked. It's how Button got into video games, he'd do small cleanings and such for tokens to play. Eventually I got a stable job and Button was old enough to be safe home alone, but he still spends most of his time at the arcade. I don't blame him."

“Well...at least things worked out I suppose.” I said honestly.

She chuckled. "Yeah. When the fiends started showing up and causing trouble, Button almost got attacked by one of those Dingos. You saved him Anna. When the GoE was looking for recruits, I knew if I wanted to keep him safe I'd have to join. So I did. I didn't expect it would lead to being in a herd with the mare who saved my son's life."

“Well, I am a great hero.” I said with joking pride.

"That you are." Gilda said with a nod. "So, any hobbies?"

"Not particularly. Before Button was born I'd garden but to an earth pony that's like breathing."

"What about your Cutie Mark?"

"Heh, Ironically I got it when I took my finals in adult classes. Beginners parenting. Basic things like cooking, scheduling, washing, changing and feeding the babies. My special talent is literally mothering. Especially when they're young."

“And you...especially look the part.” I blushed a little at the Milf.

"Heh. I'm well aware of that. Even by earth pony standards I'm quite built for it."

“So, how are you enjoying being in the herd?” I asked curiously. “Quite a lot to go from humble housewife, to kind of royalty, to know actual royalty.”

"Heh, well it's not official until I move in with you all, but… it feels nice. Button will have a father, two, siblings. I always wanted to have a big family, so this really is a dream come true for me."

"When do you want to, or plan on moving in with us?" Gilda asked.

"Well, if you offer now I'd happily start packing, but if I'm being honest I was hoping to move in after our first night sharing a bed."

"Heh, rather forewords aren't you?"

"Well, as much as I probably should wait like Rarity and most of the others are, I just feel like I can trust you both already. You've done so much for me, Equestria, I'd just like to repay you both in some way."

“If that’s what you want Cream Heart, then we’ll happily accept.” I nodded. “As long as you're up for it and are perfectly fine with it.”

She gave me a smile, then looked over at Gilda. "I believe the final decision is yours, head male."

Gilda blushed, downing their wine and gave a cough. "You mares are gonna be the death of me." He said, giving a laugh as he stood. Cream and I finished our wines too. "Button's not here though, right?"

"Sleeping over with Anna's little brother and Pip at the library. Given they're going to all become brothers, I felt it was appropriate."

"Fair." I said simply. "So...how long have you...lasted before?" I asked sheepishly, my cheeks blushing just as bright as Gildas.

"Well, with Shark Tank we went about a full hour, alone with toys though it takes me almost two."

"How do you feel about...three days long?" I asked sheepishly.

"I might be wheelchair bound after the fact, but it just might be worth it." She took my and Gilda's hands. "Shall we?" She asked, walking us back inside. The Changelings saw this and took their leave.

I woke up feeling oh so buttery and sticky in all the good ways. I was underneath Gilda and Cream Heart and it felt great.

We stayed like that for a few more hours before Finally getting up and dressed, and helping Cream Heart pack her and Button's things.

“Best date you ever had Cream?” I asked with a warm smile.

"Oh yeah. I always fantasized about doing most of what we did last night. Just a question though Anna, are your… Changeling parts fertile? You did get between my legs about as much as Gilda."

“Uh...as far as I know, it’s possible?” I said nervously. “I don’t know, and if what I was told about Gender Swapping potions, Gilda wouldn’t be a guy right now.”

"She does have a point. With that potion I couldn't get pregnant, and if Cream took it Anna couldn't, but Anna's Shapeshifter… genitals do leave that in the air. I know I took a quick anti fertility potion before we started… but I don't think Anna did… did you?" Gilda asked me.

“Oh…” I started. “Then I have absolutely no idea.”

"Huh. If I do end up pregnant, I won't mind, though I do wonder if they will be half human or half Changeling? Or a mix of pony, human and Changeling." Cream thought aloud.

"That… actually is a good question…" Gilda said.

“From what I was told and read up, if the mother is a changeling, they’ll be born from the Mother's race, and vice versa...but given I’m a Shapeshifter, and not a Changeling…”

"First we should check if Cream is actually pregnant before we worry…"

And so I called my Changelings to come and get Cream Hearts stuff from her old home to our new home and we all went to the doctors.

Currently he was using magic on his hand and feeling over her belly. "Well, she is definitely pregnant. Looks like twins."

“Can you tell who’s who?” I asked nervously.

"Well, one is definitely Gilda's, the other is… yours, Anna."

"Wait what, but how am I the dad, I took an infertility potion?" Gilda asked.

"Hmm… well, from the notes and such I got from my colleges working with the Changelings on their biology and history, I can make a guess." He said, taking a seat. "The Changelings are descendants of a Cherub and Succubus, that is correct?"

“Yes.” I nodded. “They are both descendants of those races. Succubus I can see why, but Cherub?”

"Well, the Succubus is a creature of lust and desire, targeting fertile prey, typically the younger the better, and draining them to reproduce and feast. This is probably why Love from sex is a more potent form of food for them. Possibly even why they are emotivores entirely. The cherub though is similar yet different, they don't hunt or prey on the young and fertile, in fact they bless couples struggling with conceiving with fertility, no matter the issue a Cherub blessing can allow two mates to conceive a child. This added with the natural high fertility rate of the succubus explains why Changeling queens can lay so many eggs every laying season, and even why a normal Ling can lay up to five or so daily if they wanted.

"In Anna's case though it seems her… newfound biology and abilities from these two nullified the infertility potions Gilda took when… both seeds were within Cream Heart."

“So basically...I’ll get anyone pregnant if possible and…” My eyes slowly widened. “Check me, now!” I shifted quickly to a Changeling, thinking if it worked one way...it might work the other way.

The doctor nodded, recasting that spell and feeling over my stomach. "Hmm… yes… oh my. You are indeed pregnant Anna… very pregnant."

“Uh...how pregnant?” I asked nervously. “Saying ‘very pregnant’ is a little worrying...and now check Gilda cause I plowed him as a woman for three days straight…”

"I'm not worried about Gilda. The new gender swapping potions aren't like the old ones. The old ones were basically a transfiguration potion mixed with an alchemical ingredient that turns testosterone into estrogen, and vice versa from the drinker's body when transformed. The new potions recipe is a complete overhaul, changing the genitals and body but keeping them producing their original… products. For Gilda pregnancy is impossible with the new potions.

"And in terms of how many… well, how many eggs does a Changeling Queen typically lay? I hear it varies."

I went pale… really pale…

“Uh…” I trailed off. “Uh...Thorax? What’s the record for Queen’s laying eggs?” I asked nervously.

"My Queen. The record? Well, the most eggs ladies by a queen was Queen Monochrome herself, after our founding ancestors passed and she became Queen along with the new King, she supposedly laid about a million eggs. Though some say more, the records from back then are not the best, but the well kept ones have it that Queen Echo laid seventy thousand in a single laying season."

“Uh...a lot.” I started. “A lot of eggs, I’m not going to like the fact that I’m going to be laying eggs...a lot of eggs...in like...two months…” I whined as I put my face in my hands.

"We're assuming egg." The doctor spoke up. "For all we know your pony, Minotaur, griffon and other reproductive capable forms were also impregnated."

"So… what are we looking at? Two months? Six, nine… what?" Gilda asked, their paleness matching mine.

"My advice… you'll need a medical God's diagnosis, and preferably fast." The doctor said.

“Goody.” I said while pulling out that key Discord gave me. “Thank god Discord gave me this…”

"We should get Luna." Gilda said, shaking their head to regain their train of thought. "Best to have a guide "

“Alright…” I sighed out. “Christ, I didn’t expect this to happen…” I muttered. “Where’s Luna right now?”

"Probably in Canterlot still, but we can find Twilight and Spike to get a message to her."

“That would also work.” I nodded. “Everyone’s going to flip...I don’t know if I’ll be ready to be a mother…””

"Hey, be it one, two or… a million at once you'll have help." Cream said. "Peppermint, myself, Celestia too from what I hear. You won't be alone and whatever happens we will all be there for you."

“Thanks.” I said softly. “Just...kinda wish to have my parents here as well...just to see their reactions would help a lot.” I chuckled, only to sigh as I missed my parents dearly.

"Well, when you do get them back, you get to see their reactions to their daughter mothering basically an entire empire, fathering one, or more kids and… everything else you've done so far." Gilda said, giving me a hug. "Everything will end fine Anna. I promise."

To be continued...

Chapter 10

“Okay...not gonna panic about...not knowing where the hell to find a Doctor God...not going to panic at all…” I muttered to myself nervously.

“We’ll just use that Key Discord gave us.” Gilda said. After the event at the doctors we went back home. Luna, Gilda and I were in the livingroom while Cream Heart told Button the news and sorted out all their stuff into the new home.

“Asgard would have the perfect place, and upon our arrival I know Thor will be happy to give us a tour.” Luna added.

“You sure Thor would give us a tour?” I inquired, not fully remembering how...friendly myth Thor was compared to Marvel Thor.

“He’ll be delighted. He’s been bored for centuries, trust me.” Luna said. With a shrug and a nod we got up, using that Key in the nearest door Discord gave us and opening the door. We walked into a seemingly endless hallway and each door had different names on it. Likely worlds or places. Okay, think… This is Disord’s magic so… Asgard. I turned, seeing the door that said Asgard now behind me. Of course.

“Why am I not surprised…” I grumbled. “Alright...so what should I expect before going through that door?” I asked Luna.

“Depends on where we arrive.” She said, opening the door. Once she did we entered- HOLY SHIT! Asgard was… large. We were easily half the size of people here, and given Luna is pretty tall, that’s saying something. “Now then, Just too…” Luna held her hand out, and after a moment some sounds of yelps and people getting knocked over got close to us. Soon Mjolnir was in her hands… and a large, dirty blonde haired asgardian was on the floor holding the strap at the end of the hammer. “Hello Thor.” Luna said.

“Luna! It’s been too long!” The god of thunder said, jumping back up. He looked a good mix between mythos Thor and marvel Thor. “What brings you to Asgard?”

“Uh...hi.” I waved nervously to Thor. “Doctor said I need a...God Doctor for some reason…”

Thor looked at me, kneeling down and despite that was still taller than me. “Hello there. My, you are quite the tiny little goddess aren’t you? Even smaller than Luna here.” Thor said, patting my head. His hands were as rough as gravel and yet he didn’t hurt me when he did that. Messed up my hair a little but that was all. “Pray tell, what realm do you hail from?”

“That’s...a difficult thing to explain, and I’m not a goddess.” I said to Thor. “But my original complaint is why you people left Earth first, I wanted cool magic stuff to happen damn it.” I huffed up to Thor.

Thor looked at me for a moment, confusion on his face soon replaced by laughter. “My tiny friend, you are indeed a goddess. Can’t hide that from my eyes. Earth you say? Hmm… Haven’t been to an earth in centuries. Most we left when people stopped believing we even existed. It’s no fun messing with mortals of no faith.”

“No, it sounds funny when you can prove the faithless horribly wrong and see their shocked faces.” I pointed out. “Also, I’m not a goddess, if I was then I’d know, but I’m not considering I’m still...normal-ish, given my powers.” I said sheepishly.

“Eh, it’s fun for a bit but then that’s how cults get formed and that’s not fun when every word you say they take it to the extreme.” Thor sighed. “And little one, despite your tiny stature, you are a goddess. Observe.” Thor said, poking my chest with a finger gently. I jumped as the area where my heart is glowed, then faded. “All gods can display what their element represents by the glow of their heart and the aura of their essence.”

“While that’s all fine and dandy...I can’t be a Goddess, I just shapeshift is all, my powers shouldn’t go to that extreme.” I said nervously.

“One way to know for sure.” Luna said. “We need to bring Anna here to see a God Doctor. She is… heavily pregnant.”

“Ah, say no more. Follow me!” Thor declared as we followed the god of thunder.

“Not what I was expecting from Thor.” Gilda said to me.

“He seemed like a mix between the two Thor’s I remembered from Norse Mythology and Marvel Comics to be honest.” I said honestly. “But...let’s hope things go smoothly, I’d rather not randomly pick a fight with anyone here…”

It was quite the walk but we eventually arrived as a doctors place. It was a mix of old school potions and magic and more modern medicins all around. With Thor with us, we got to see a doctor right away. The doctor wore a lab coat that looked, like, like how a doctor would look back on earth. “Alright then miss Anna, what brings you to my office today young Goddess.”

“I’m not a Goddess.” I stated. “And currently, the medical professional’s that told me I’m pregnant told me to...get a Divine Second Opinion on ‘how pregnant’ I am.” I explained carefully.

The doctor looked over at Thor, who shrugged as the Doctor looked back at me. “So you do not believe yourself to be a Goddess?”

“I have no actual proof that I am one, cause that ‘Aura’ thing Thor brought up could just be my shapeshifting abilities and both Luna and Celestia’s armors...then there’s the Succubus and Cherub souls...and their fusion child…” I shook my head. “Point is, I’m not a Goddess, I’m just a humble shapeshifter that’s been getting...way over her head on somethings…”

“Firstly, calling yourself humble isn’t all that humbling.” The doctor said. “Secondly, there is a test that I can perform that will prove without a shadow of a doubt that you are indeed a Goddess. And given how your aura is I have a hunch as to what kind of Goddess you are. I mean the reason you are here in the first place almost confirms it.”

“Well then, what’s the test?” I asked curiously.

“A very simple one really.” The doctor said, reaching into a drawer. He pulled out a… big needle… oh thank god he grabbed a normal one. He handed it to me. “Just a small bit of blood if you’d please?”

“Question...why are all of you, at least by my standpoint, Giants?” I asked curiously.

“Tis how we formed when our ancestors first gained physical forms from the cosmic forming eons ago!” Thor declared proudly.

“More or less yeah.” The doctor said. I put the needle in, taking out a little bit of blood and handing the needle back to the doctor. “Thank you.” He said, placing it aside and walking over to a large, by my standards, potted flower. It was a lovely yellow flower.

“I...suppose, but when Norse Myth’s had you all facing against Giants...well I assumed I suppose…” I said sheepishly. “And what’s with the flower?”

The doctor then broke of the top of the flower, leaving about half the stem still in the pot. “When the blood of a god meets mortal life of any kind, it heals and restores the body. For mortals like Equines, humans, our blood can bestow some of our power and even, in some cases, create a demigod. For plants, it’s something similar.” The doctor said, taking the needle and pressing it into the stem and injecting it with my blood. After a moment nothing was happening… then the stem twitched, the cut off part growing rapidly, growing thicker and the cut section was splitting. I watched as the stem of a flower turned into a tree that quickly blossomed into large yellow flowers like it had before. “You, miss Anna, are a Goddess of Life. Quite rare these days.”

“How...why...and What!?” I was truly flabbergasted at how this could have happened.

“A Goddess of Life… like mother…” Luna said, looking as surprised as I was.

“I knocked up a Goddess…” Gilda said.

“I’m not getting my answers here.” I said, trying to calm myself down from the sudden rush of panic and suddenly being a Goddess. “How...and why am I suddenly a Goddess? I didn’t do anything to get that kind of promotion!”

“It’s hard to tell really. Sadly I don’t have the answers as to how you became a Goddess I do have the answers as to how this will affect your pregnancy. As well as other information it is best you hear now.” The doctor said, taking a seat next to where I was on the examination table. “Now then, please, lie down and I can count the number of growing infants within you.”

“Uh...alright…” I nodded slowly as I laid down on the, pretty comfy, hospital bed.

The doctor’s finger glowed as he waved and held it over my belly. “Now then, what ability have you discovered so far?” The doctor asked me. “I believe you mentioned shape shifting as well as a Cherub and a Succubus?”

“I can shapeshift into Fiends from Spira, thanks to...I suppose the Christian God in this case.” I said honestly. “But I’ve also been able to shapeshift into any creature that I’ve...soul absorbed as it were.” I said sheepishly.

“Hmm. Interesting.” The doctor said. “And what of your other half?”

“My other half?” I asked, confused by what he’s talking about.

“Gods of Life are rare, and they always come in pairs. You are the side of Life, your other would most likely be a God of Death. Whether formed or born, there are always two.”

I exchanged looks with Luna, Gilda. Both looked as worried as I was...

“I...don’t know.” I said nervously. “And honestly, I’d rather not know, cause I’d sooner ring the bastards neck than let him do whatever he wants.” I frowned, assuming it was a ‘him’ considering...well the obvious.

“Hm. Fair.” The doctor said, his finger no longer glowed as he moved it. I sat up. “Okay. Are you ready Anna?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be…” I sighed out. “Lay it on me, how pregnant am I?”

“Firstly, what class of world is Equis in terms of size?”

“A class B.” Thor said.

“Ah. Then you can birth there fine. Now, every fetus in there is safe and healthy. Many are mixed breeds, others are even purebreds. Quite unexpected. I estimate you will give birth in nine months time.” The doctor said. “As for how many, I counted about twenty two million at minimum.”

Gilda fainted.

“Can...can you...say that number again…” I said slowly, thinking I misheard him.

“Twenty two million at minimum. Assuming between now and birth you don’t have sexual intercourse, which would likely increase the number given your a Goddess of Life.”

“How… is that possible?” Luna asked.

“Well, from what you told me she absorbed the essences of a Cherub and a Succubus. These alone would have sent her fertility rate to as much as her body could handle safety, but as she is a Goddess of Life, her body naturally wants to create life. So it most likely took every sperm cell her mate produces and produced a ready and fertile egg to complete this task.”

“So Anna produces eggs like a male produces semen... “ Luna summarized.

“Yes.” The doctor said with a nod.

“Uh...yeah I...thought that…” I said carefully. “Oh, there we go...nighty night…” I muttered as I fainted from hearing that.

Needless to say, after that all happened waking up and processing that reality got Gilda and I in a near panic. “Now, despite your fears I feel you should know about how Goddesses of Life actually give birth.” The doctor said, finally keeping the two of us up after fainting several times over.

“And…” I gulped. “How...would that work? I doubt it’s one at a time...that would suck…”

“It’s all at once. Once you come to term and begin labor, you will begin to give birth. Your body will become covered in light that will blind any without god blood or are celestial in any way. Once you push out the first infant, all your children will emerge outside in the world as adults with all your knowledge.”

“That… that’s it?” Gilda asked.

“Yes.” The doctor said.

“That’s...strangely disappointing…” I started. “But...as far as I know, there’s no place on Equis that can house...twenty two million people...overpopulation is gonna be a hell of a problem…”

“Well, it won’t be… easy. But I believe we can pull it off.” Luna stated. “There is a lot of undeveloped land within Equis. Perhaps we can get them turned into furnished towns and cities.”

“I shall help where I can.” Thor declared. “I know several places we can go and gather comrades. And now that Anna is a confirmed Goddess of Life, Odin has no choice but to aid in your world's plague.”

“You sure? Aren’t you having any Fiend problems or the like?” I asked curiously. “And also...are we just gonna skip over I’m not going to raise a kid? They just...pop out, fully grown adults?”

“The alternative is eternal pregnancy and birthing them one after another.” The doctor said.

“Oh…” I frowned. “Uh…” I wasn’t entirely sure if I wanted to do the alternative way to actually take care of my child, or just have them all happy and healthy adults...

“The choice is yours, and you do have nine months.”

“How will this affect her… combat wise?” Luna asked.

“For the initial nine months from now, she will grow and gain the basic larger figure until the birth. After if she does she won’t regain the form of a pregnant maden until she wishes to birth another, which from what I have seen and studied, takes a day.”

“And… if she is injured, will the unborn be harmed as well?”

“Hmm… That is tricky to tell. If she can find a surrogate to carry them, or maybe the dwarves know of something.” The Doctor said. “Never read about or seen a Goddess of Life engage in combat before.”

“And where would these Dwarves be?” I inquired. “Also...surprising that you haven’t seen one fight...kind of assumed given Norse mythology has a tendency to be...mostly about drinking and murder.”

“That’s racist.” Thor said, the doctor nodding as Luna and Gilda both tried to hide laughter.

Oh for fucks sake…

After that we left the Doctors. I was holding onto my belly like my life depended on it… I flinched when Gilda wrapped a hand around me but relaxed as I welcomed it. “It will be okay Anna.” Gilda said.

“But...there’s so much to be worried about…” I said worriedly.

“It will all work out.”

“I agree. You have a talent for that.” Luna said.

“But...now the question is...who’s ass do I need to kick to make sure my new life doesn’t get screwed over.” I frowned.

“I like her.” Thor said.

“Not surprised.” Luna said with a laugh. “So, where too first?”

“The local Dwarven forge. I know two Blacksmiths there that will happily give us aid in what you require.” Thor explained.

“Are they the ones that made Mjolnir or something?” I inquired.

“As well as Celestia, Luna and Faust’s armor.” Thor stated. “They will be delighted to see me!”

As we arrived at the place, it was hot. Super hot in here. As we entered, Thor received a large thrown ingot to the face, knocking him on his ass. “Get yer lazy ass out of here ya fucking disapointing pile of horse shit!” Yelled one of the two dwarves. Yay they’re my height.

“Good to see you too Hale.” Thor said, getting back up. “I have a request for you both.”

“Oi! This better not be another wild and crazy stunt of yours!” The other dwarf yelled. The two were identical, both sporting the same ash covered black hair, beard, well built forms too. One, Hale, has a ponytail and the other, the one talking, was bald in just a small circle on their head.

“Nothing of the sort Kale.” Thor said, waving their anger off.

“Hi.” I waved carefully to the dwarves. “So...I heard you made Celestia and Luna’s armor and weapons?”

“Ah, those were better days.” Hale said. “Celestia’s armor was my masterpiece, only surpassed by the armor I made for her mother.”

“Psst. Luna’s armor is far grander and since you forgot we both worked on the armor for Faust!” Kale yelled. “Yes we worked those, and this moron's hammer. Honestly, it’s built to conduct and strike his foes with lightning, had we known he’d actually be using it to slam it into people’s faces we’d have never done it. Waste of fine art.”

“Well, when the only tool you have is a hammer, gonna start treating things like nails.” I shrugged.

“Bah.” Hale shrugged my comment off. “So what brings ya here ya daff oaf?”

“Young Anna here is a Goddess of Life.” That gained their attention, both looking at me now. “The world she lives on is not easily dealing with these monsters, Fiends, much like what we are dealing with. While we can fend them off, not many in her world can. In fact, she is the only one and she is currently with… many children. Can you help her and the others of her world?”

Hale and Kale exchanged a look, the two pondering for a while. “On one condition.” Hale started.

“We’re the only ones allowed to make them their weapons and armors, so long as we get the resources and food for the work, no payment required.” Kale added.

“That’s… quite generous.” Luna said.

“Bah. Anything for a Goddess of Life.”

“I get Anna is rare and all but… why the special treatment exactly?”

“Because as a Goddess of Life, Anna can undo death.” Thor said. We all looked over at him. “Through rebirth or a blessing, Anna can make almost anyone nearly immortal, the only exception is if they are slain by her other half, this yet unknown God of Death.”

“I...sadly have a feeling I know who it is, but I really hope it isn’t…” I grumbled. “So, what do you need material wise?”

“Everything from yer basic iron and copper to Child’s innocence and Frogs breath.” Hale said… what?

“Don’t worry about that Anna.” Thor said. “I know many who can help acquire the more… unique materials the dwarves are capable of using.”

“I...should remember that Norse materials are...more paradoxical by nature…” I said nervously.

“May we take your measurements?” Kale asked me. “My brother and I have some armor that would fit you well and with some tinkering, will serve you just as well.”

“Sure.” I nodded. “No harm in that right?”

Kale, and Hale both began measuring me along my body, and after that was done they each wrote down some notes in their own books before we headed off. Asgard is really a nice place… quite large and all but nice all in all.

Thor took us to the palace, where we met Odin. He looked exactly like Odin of norse myth. “Of for the love of… Thor… what did I say about interfering with other worlds… and you bring that harpy here…” Odin said.

“And hello to you, you old stubborn bastard.” Luna hissed.

“Father, Luna, please.” Thor said with a sigh. “Father, I know how you feel about the monsters, and while we can beat them we can’t turn a blind eye to other worlds any longer.”

“And as I have stated before, the gods of their own world can handle it, if they want to.” Odin said.

“But there is a new god on Equis, a Goddess of Life.” Thor motioned to me. I waved nervously. “A treasure like her is far too rare and valuable to not give aid.”

Odin sighed. “While seeing a new god is a welcomed sight, and a Goddess of Life at that, what would happen if we didn’t have the numbers needed for defending Asgard.”

“May I make a suggestion?” Luna asked.

“No, but you’ll keep talking regardless.” Odin said with a sigh.

“Anna is Pregnant.” Luna started. “And has quite the harem at the moment… I myself am a member.”

“The point?”

“My point is, you worry about numbers, as a Goddess of Life, Anna can save even those near or at death's door, even after death, and revive them. You’d need not worry about losing people or guards… for an… offering.”

Odin looked confused for a moment, before his one eye widened. “You slippery whore… I will discuss this with the Goddess of Life… alone.” Odin sood up, and began walking to a nearby hall. “Follow.” I looked to the others, and ran after Odin. Soon it was just us two walking in the hall. “Dare I ask what that harpy is like for you back home?” Odin asked me.

“She’s not a harpy, she’s my herd mate.” I frowned. “And I don’t care if you’re three times my size, I will beat you if you keep treating my loved ones like garbage.” I growled.

Odin laughed. “You have fire young one, I like that. Now then, are you alright with the terms your… herd mate, gave?”

“That...I’m going to be breeding soldiers, or bringing others back to life?” I asked carefully.

“Bringing them to life, for stars sake, I'm old and stubborn not an uncivil monster.” Odin said, offended. “A drop of your blood mixed with a high quality healing potion should be enough to even bring a corpse back to life so long as there's at least meat or bone left to pour it on.”

“Sounds about right.” I nodded. “But...currently, I have a death cult back home that’s praising this ‘Father’ person as some savior, and making them all unsent with Pyreflies and Seymour Guado is apparently that bastards right hand man.”

“Hm. I do not know of this Seymour or anyone that goes by the name Father, as for the cults, ugh, part of why I pulled my children and the others out of planets was because the religions were all getting a tad out of hand, and they’d ask us to solve their problems. Honestly, the mortals should learn to help themselves… but these monsters are a lot to handle for mere mortals. Perhaps it is time to get back into meddling with the mortals. Now, I ask again, you agree with the offer she made?”

“If it means my family will be safe, I can save the rest of my family from wherever the hell they are caged, and kick all this shit to the curb and be done with it…” I sighed out.

“Good. Now then,” Odin said, the two stopping before a door. “To you, Anna, Goddess of Life, I offer you my sons Balder and Thor, and,” Odin opened the door. I saw many… well armed and armored ladies riding on pegasus that… were pegasus. Unicorns even too! “The Valkari, to your family.”

“Wait...not to sound rude or anything...but didn’t Balder die? I thought I was told that was an actual thing before when I was...complaining you people pulled magic away from my world.”

“His body is here, in the tomb of greats. You can revive him with potion and blood and he will be yours.” Odin said. “I will fetch my wife so she can get her side of the family in on this… Hmm… I wonder who else I should inform? I will be back.” Odin said, leaving me at the doorway looking at all the… rather sexy valkyries… Who are all twice my size… even as Monochrome I’d be shorter than them...

“Good lord…” I muttered. “So uh...hi…” I said to all the Valkyries.

They all stopped, turning to look at me and walked over to me… help? “Who are you?” Asked one of them, she was tanned skinned, brown hair and blue eyes and… wow that armor both protects and highlight’s her figure… really well.

“I’m Anna...and uh...apparently I’m a new Goddess of Life that’s...going to be marrying Balder and Thor soon…”

“Balder… Oh… You can revive him as a Goddess of Life.” She said. “I’m Hildr, captain here. So, Odin is giving you both his sons, well, after you revive one, for marriage? Wow. So, why are you here?”

“I was originally supposed to get a ‘Divine Second Opinion’ from my original doctor to see how pregnant I was…” I started. “And...well the only real reason why I was allowed here is the key Discord gave me...and well...twenty two million kids…”

They all winced a bit at that. “Ouch.” Hildr said.

“Ah, Anna.” Odin said, running back down over to me. “My bad for leaving you. Ah, Hilder, glad you are here valkyries, meet Anna, I’ve married you all off to her.”

“... Wait what?!” Hildr yelled. The others either groaned or face palmed or blushed.

“She is a Goddess of Life, who best to protect her than you all, and as part of her family, I imagine all your children will grow into proud warriors. Now, if you’ll excuse me, Anna, my wife has a list of important people of note who will most likely also bring their own offerings for your family to grow. Come now.”

“Hold up, I didn’t say anything about dating all of these...objectively sexy ladies, why suddenly drop that on me and Gilda!?” I asked incredulously.

“You agreed to what your harpy- I mean, Herd mate, Gilda, offered. In exchange for potions to keep our warriors alive we give you offering. No better offerings than maidens and men for marriage.” Odin said, heading back inside the castle.

Hildr groaned. “He’s either gone senile or really want’s Thor out of the palace… And us…”

“No, you all just need to get a life, and get laid.” Odin said from the doorway as he ran off.

“Good lord…” I groaned. “So...welcome to the family I guess…”

“Thanks… Alright ladies, pack it up, we’ve got to form a portal to Anna’s home and… take shifts when we’re all there I guess.” Hildr sighed. “We’ll see you there, okay Anna?”

“Alright.” I nodded. “Just uh...if you meet the other herd mates me and Gilda have...explain things carefully to them?” I asked nervously.

"We'll try."

Back home I sighed as I cuddled up between Cream Heart and Gilda in the bed. Ugh… and I thought this whole thing with marrying all the royals on Equis was gonna be a pain.

“So...what did you both think?” I asked the two I was currently cuddled with. “About all of...this so far?”

"I ate out a goddess. I'm happy." Cream Heart said with a chuckle.

"We are gonna need a bigger bed." Gilda said.

“Yes, yes we are.” I said. “So...what did you think of all the new wives?”

"Hot damn." Cream said.

"My crotch…" Gilda whined.

“Your’s and mine Gilda…” I shuddered. “And as far as I know...more Pantheon’s might be joining in…”

"So, how was Balder when you revived him?" Cream asked.

“It’s like they made a puppy into a human being.” I chuckled. “He’s so sweet and kind and affectionate and adorable.” I chuckled.

"And a looker." Gilda added. "Seriously, yowza. If I wasn't bi and this harem wasn't so… open I'd be worried."

“Fair.” I nodded. “But he’s basically a sunshine child, so nice and sweet and nothing could keep him down.” I said honestly. “But...good to know that my blood can quite literally bring back the dead.”

"Well, let's get a nap in and when we wake up we can settle on what next." Gilda said.

"Yeah." Cream added.

“A good nights sleep will do us good…” I yawned. “It’s been...a heck of a day.”

I awoke in Zanarkand… hmm… there's something really soft on me?

"Good morning." That voice… I moved, head emerging between two large squishy mounds of… Chrysalis?! "Nice place you have here."

“Uh...how and why are you here and…” I raised my hands up and gave a quick squeeze. “Also your tits are huge…”

"I am, was, a Changeling Queen after all." She said, getting them off me and wow she's got a bod and wow she's naked! "As for why, after you ate my soul I arrived here. At first I was in a cage but this adorable little male human saw me, blushed, ran off then his father showed up and let me out in exchange for a 'good look at me' as he put it. Frankly I enjoy the attention."

“You met Tidus and Jecht…” I said honestly. “I don’t know why you were in a cage but sure.” I shrugged. “So what do you think of...the dream world of a Goddess of Life?”

"Not what I was expecting at all. I expected more something akin to nature or even Ponyville. This is nice though."

"Oh, She woke up!" I turned, seeing who I remembered from earlier, Ocellus… she looked about… fifteen, was well… figured and also naked. "Hi." She waved at me.

“Howdy Ocellus.” I said warmly. “How are you doing?”

"Good. Jecht is nice and Tidus is funny. Everytime he sees mom and I he turns red and runs away."

“Maybe it’s because you two are both butt naked and humans normally have clothes on all the time to hide the goods?” I pointed out.

"Ah. I figured, though Jecht seems to pay no mind to our nudity."

"Yes, in fact his emotions taste of excitement when he sees us." Ocellus said.

“Eh.” I shrugged. “So, is there anyone else new in here besides you two?”

"Grandpa… also our ancestors are outside."

"They couldn't fit inside." Chrysalis said. "Our ancestors, not father."

“Stuck outside? Where are we specifically?” I asked, looking around to see where we were really.

"Your room." Chrysalis said. She… picked me up and brought me to the window… oh my.

As far as I was able to see… Changelings. Lots of kings and queens too… and In the bay, two massive, mountain sized beings, one with wings and four heads, the other a rather… attractive, horned, burned skinned female, the two cuddling in the water. Oh… shit.

“Uh...okay so...the burned lady is the Succubus and...I didn’t think Dante’s Inferno was correct on...it being four heads with wings…”

"Meet the rest of the family Anna." Chrysalis said.

“Also, why the hell are they the size of a mountain?” I frowned. “And...there’s a whole lot of people...more so than I originally thought…”

"It's the entirety of the hive mind."

"Indeed." We turned… holy. I know that Changeling, I've shifted into her a lot lately. Monochrome. "It's quite nice to see how well my descendants have done." She entered the doorway, as nude as the rest and… is that Tidus unconscious in her arms. "Is this one okay? He took a look at me, spilled blood from his nose then passed out."

“Humans aren’t normally comfortable with full frontal nudity and...well can you blame him? You’re stupidly sexy woman.” I said bluntly.

“Hm, strange.” Monochrome said, taking a seat on the couch and resting tidus on her chest… why am I envious? “So, it’s a pleasure to meet you Anna.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you to Monochrome…” I said, my eyes staring longingly into her breasts and a little jealousy at Tidus for being a lucky bastard...which I shouldn’t feel right now and I don’t know why.

“Hm, if you’d like I can place you here as well?” Wait what?! Oh shit, right, emotion eaters! Chrysalis brought me over to her, taking Tidus and placing me atop Monochromes… oh wow, having them on me is one thing, feeling them… wow… “Are you comfortable?” She asked me.

“I’m sorry for uh...being a little envious of Tidus…” I said nervously. “But...yes...yes I am.”

“Good. Now then, you are a unique one, housing all the changelings of the past within yourself. This has never happened before.”

“Well...maybe it’s because I’m a Goddess of Life?” I inquired. “Still...don’t know how or why that happened, but it happened.”

“In any case, we are all here for you, as you need us.” Monochrome said. “You are the current Queen… and King actually. We are yours to command here and, according to Jecht, you can summon us to aid you as you wish. I myself am a former queen, but with you here, you are in charge. My form here is only a reflection of who and what I was in life.”

“Well...good to know.” I nodded. “But...it’s certainly a lot to take in now that...everyone’s here in a single place...wonder if we’re gonna have to renovate a whole bunch of stuff…”

“If you want, we can try something. Now then, what are your orders, my queen?” Monochrome asked me.

Before I could Speak, Tidus woke up, saw Monochrome, Ocellus, and Chrysalis and a jet of blood shot from their nose and they passed out again. Ocellus was giggling at that.

“You women are going to be the death of him.” I sighed out. “Also can you please put some clothes on? It’s gonna be like that for way too long if you don’t cover up the tits.”

“As you wish.”

Using shapeshifting, apparently a changeling can shapeshift into more than just animals, everyone was receiving clothes, and in here they didn’t need to or feel a worry about love reserves. Once about… a few hundred were dressed, mostly those in the building at the moment Tidus was able to wake up and stay awake. “So my perverted old man kept eyeballing you all?” Tidus asked as the changeling females nodded. He sighed. “I swear I’m gonna kill him…”

“To Changelings, nudity isn’t all that bad given they can just shape shift.” I said honestly. “But also...only if the one’s he’s staring at are okay with being ogled...otherwise no.”

“I’m fine with it. The emotions he gives off are… pleasing.” Monochrome said, licking her lips. Tidus’s face went red.

“My perverted dad aside… what happens now Anna?”

“I have no idea…” I sighed out. “I got new people for mine and Gilda’s herd...straight from Norse Mythology.”

“Oh, you gained some Asgardiens? They would make excellent mates.”

“Yes, they would~” Chrysalis purred.

Tidus got up, and left.

“Awh, he was adorable…” Ocellus pouted.

“You can chase after him sweetie.” Chrysalis said.

“Yay!” Ocellus cheared, rushing out the door behind Tidus.

Yuna is gonna be so jealous when she finally gets here.

“Poor Tidus, he already has his sights on one girl, and now he has another wanting to cling to him adorably.” I chuckled. “So...can someone please explain to me how I became a god when I didn’t do anything to deserve that or did anything to gain such power?”

“Well, judging from how this place is, your powers and the fact you absorbed not only Chrysalis, but also the Hive Mind and all our ancestors going back to the Succubus and Cherub, I’d say you were always one.” Monochrome said. “From what mom and dad told me, no way a new god could pull this off.”

“But I’ve never been one, and even if I was...then I’d have known it way earlier.” I said nervously.

She shrugged. “I’m sorry Anna, but these are answers we just don’t have, and I’m not sure if we ever will.”

“That sucks…” I sighed out. “But...considering I can bring back the dead...who knows, maybe I can bring you all back to life all things considered.”

“Would be nice. Always wondered how it felt being one the receiving end of my penis.” Now I was blushing.

After we talked for a while longer I headed off, taking a look around. Seeing all the… nude, changelings, was different but eh, they’ll get their clothes soon enough. As I was walking, I noticed something odd. On a wall in the middle of an alleyway, was a door. A single white wooden door. It stuck out cause it was so clean and… it looked like the door from my house back on earth.

“Uh...huh…” I started. “Why the hell is there a trap door in my own metal scape?” I frowned, walking towards the door, preparing myself for what might be on the other side as I grabbed the door knob and opened the door.

On the inside I saw… woah. It was a large garden, filled with fruit trees, bushes and tall grass. A pond sat in the middle of it and a gazebo rested next to. This is… beautiful.

“Talk about idyllic.” I muttered, in awe at how beautiful this place was.

Once I entered I walked around here. I tasted an apple and it was amazing. I feel guilty about this being better than AJ’s apple. I walked over to the Gazebo. Woah… This is- “Just like what you drew as a child.” I flinched. That- That voice. I turned… His face… that hair… those crimson eyes… “You drew this very gazebo, wishing you’d get to meet your true love under one.” Zeke Ventral said, walking up to me. I- I’m cornered in here!

“The fuck are you doing here?” I growled, trying to summon my celestial armor as I legit didn’t know if my powers worked in here or not.

“Ah, my love, there is no need for violence here. You have entered our promise, here, there is no need for fear or violence.” He said, taking a seat. “It has been quite some time my sweet.”

“Give me one reason why I shouldn’t strangle you right now?” I growled.

“Oh, you don’t remember? That’s saddening. Here, a gift, from me, to you.” Zeke snapped their fingers.

”Here we can always be together, and we don’t have to worry about our duty.” My voice rang in my head.

”Of course, Anna. Here, we can enjoy embrace, and solitude. Zeke’s voice replied.

Fuck… Why… Why do I feel… happy?

“No...no no no…” I shook my head again. “I don’t love you, Zeke Ventral, and I never will! You murder innocents for fun asshole!”

They looked at me for a moment, then smiled. “Right, this form. I apologize for the confusion, but much like you, my real form can not fit within this room. This body has been what I have used to interact with you from the day we met.”

“Eat a dick.” I growled. “You’ve killed innocents for fun...I have a family that I love and care for…” I said, trying to fight back this strange sense of calm and joy. “Just...who are you?”

“You have heard my name. Here, on Equis, I am known as Father. To you, I am Yevon, God of Death, and you, Anna, are my other half. My Goddess of Life.”

I stood there, dumbstruck by what I just heard. “No...that’s...that’s impossible.”

“Ah, but it’s true Anna my love.” They touched their chest, over their heart. It glowed a dark, sickly purple and black while mine glowed a bright white and gold in response. “Bound by duty and divinity… and, love.”

“But...if your Yu Yevon...then...that makes me…” I took a step back, some strange mental disconnect finally clicking. “What...how? Why!? This can’t be happening!” I started to fully panic here, not believing what was either coming through to me now or that this bastard was my ‘other half’.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. This happens.” They said, standing up and walking up to me. “Sometimes you forget, but it always comes back to you, in time.”

“Stay away from me!” I shouted, backing away from him. “This isn’t real...this can’t be happening...you’re the asshole supporting Zer and others! You’re the asshole trying to ruin my life!” I couldn’t help but tear up as my heart and mind waged war with new emotions I’d really not have at the moment.

They took a step closer, I took one back and we kept that up til I hit the back of the gazebo. With nowhere to turn they caught up to me, and hugged me. Why… Why does this feel… good? Why does my body want his touch?! “It’s alright, in time, you’ll remember, and remember our duty in this vast reality.” He took a step away, letting me go… I… don’t want him to… He stepped aside. “This land, made with a promise, will be here when you wish to return.”

I wanted to say something...but then remembered...what he did to Gilda through Zer….what he did to the Deer Kingdom through his mind controlled Unsent...what he is doing right here and now...I grit my teeth and clenched my fists. “I don’t know what’s going on...I don’t know why my body misses you...but if there’s one thing I know…” I glared at him. “Is that I’m going to stop you, and all your bullshit from happening. Got it?”

They sighed. “As you wish, my love.” They said, motioning the door. “Til next we meet.”

“Just...an honest question…” I stared at him. “Why...do I feel bad about leaving?” I asked, against my better judgement...I just had to know why I felt a tug at my heart when he motioned to the door.

They looked at me, smiling sadly as they walked in front of me again. I flinched, wanting to punch or kick but… He took my hands, pulled me close… and kissed me. I melted… this… this feeling, this kiss… this… is how I feel when… I’m with Gilda… He broke the kiss, and stepped aside.

I stood, frozen for what felt like an eternity as tears began flowing from me. I ran, rushing outside this paradise and through the door, closing it shut behind me and hit the ground, crying… Why… Why… WHY!? Why do I feel love for him?!

“Damn it…” I sobbed. “Why...I hate him for trying to ruin my life...and everyone I care about...so why…”

I cried there, in that dirty, cold alley, in front of that clean, pristine door til I awoke back in Equestria.

“Uhh… Anna, not that I mind that much but.. Why are you clinging to me like velcro?” Gilda asked. When I woke up I latched onto Gilda and haven’t let go. Breakfast, bathroom, shower, I was not letting my bird go… not after that....

“I’m not letting go…” I said, holding onto him tightly. “I...I can’t let go…” I muttered, starting to tear up as that moment still haunted me.

Gilda sighed, petting me then feeding me a cracker. “Must have been some nightmare.”

As the day went on I was still clinged onto Gilda all the way to bedtime. As I was trying to get some shut eye… my stomach… ugh… I don’t… For the first time today, I let go of Gilda, and ran to the bathroom, tossing my dinner down the toilet. “Aren’t you supposed to feel that in the morning?” Gilda asked, rubbing my back.

“I...I don’t know…” I coughed. “I also thought it would have happened months later...not now…”

“Maybe Goddess pregnancies are just different like that?” They said, another hurl of my dinner hitting the water.

“Still sucks…” I groaned in pain. “Well...better than getting some sleep at this point…”

“Make room for two!” Cream Heart yelled as she barged in.

The next morning was a repeat of last night, and eating we downed a lot of food. “Uh… Anna, that’s Hay.” Gilda said.

I can’t stop eating it...

“Uh...help...I can’t stop.” I said worriedly.

“Weird Pregnancy cravings.” Cream said, dipping a pickle into sour cream and eating it. “Word of advice, don’t fight it.”

After breakfast I was with Gilda on the couch, finally relaxing when, out of nowhere, I sneezed. Pyreflies shot out and quickly formed a tiny Dingo. “That’s new…” Gilda said.

“I….uh…” I blinked, seeing the tiny dingo...act like a puppy. “I...don’t know how...but we got a puppy…”

Later, I went on a walk to visit AJ. She hasn’t moved in with us yet and she still needed some attention. Upon my arrival she and I walked through the apple trees. Another sneeze and Pyreflies flew into a tree, growing it twice as big and grew a face. “I’m alive! Yes! Finally!”

“... Is it weird I had a dream just like this once?” AJ asked me.

“God damn it…” I grumbled. “And no, it’s not AJ…” I sighed out. “Okay you, before you start running around...how you feeling?”

“Be free my apples!” The apple tree shook like a wet dog, throwing apples all around with no real direction. “Grow and plant your roots!”

“Should… should we do something?” AJ asked me.

“My guy, calm down please.” I said to the tree carefully. “Why are you suddenly acting like this?”

“I can speak and move!” The tree said, pulling it’s roots up and forming… not legs but roots that let them move. “I will send my apples across the land!” And with that, it… ran, off out of the farm and into the Everfree.

“Welp… That happened.” AJ said.

“For fuck sakes…” I groaned, putting my face in my hands as I already knew this was going to become a massive pain in the ass.

Thankfully the rest of my date with AJ went well, we even got in a quick make out session before I headed off and she had to tell her family why one of their trees was missing.

After that I met back up with Gilda to meet up with Peppermint and start that date off. The large mare was happy about the news, and we kept it simple, staying at her place to enjoy a meal to hopefully avoid… something weird happening.

“So Peppermint...how have things been going for ya?” I asked curiously.

“Good. I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time.” She said, handing me some more salad. “Sorry you have some weird pregnancy symptoms though.”

“It’s not something I’ll get used to soon...but hopefully it doesn’t get out of hand.” I sighed out. “And thank you.” I nodded while taking the salad plate. “So what do you think of all the Asgardians joining?”

“I think it’s nice to finally be smaller than someone for a change.” She laughed.

“If Anna’s new forms have showed me anything it’s that I can handle a lady twice my height.” Gilda said.

“Oh, that a promise~” Peppermint asked with a flirty tone.

“Don’t tempt us.” I chuckled.

“Is it tempting if I was planning on us getting to that after our meal?” Peppermint asked.

“You’re filly isn’t here right?” Gilda asked.

“Nah, she’s with her cousin Twist.” Peppermint said. “The house is ours all night.”

“Then we better finish up if we’re gonna be enjoying some fun times.” I chuckled.

Enjoy fun times we did. While everything was going well, when I… shifted to Monochrome, wanting to enjoy this more… I blacked out.

I woke up feeling… holy crap I can’t feel my legs… holy crap what happened?! Peppermint’s room was… stained, for lack of a better word, with you can guess what. The mare in question was as stained as the room and I was sleeping on her. I was… just as stained and looking around I spotted Gilda half buried under her right breast.

“Well...this certainly happened…” I muttered.

“Oh good, you’re sane again… little help.” Gilda asked. I pulled them out and helped… clean a few stains off them.

“The hell happened?” I asked nervously. “I just turned into Monochrome and...blacked out…”

“Yeah… little after that your eyes went kinda… weird. One went up, another went down, you got this wide goofy smile then started humping Peppermint, every hole in the poor mare, then me. Then bit me with some changeling venom and rode me to fill every hole in you, then bit Peppermint and from there it was an orgy and you shifted to various forms and it was a rinse repeat til we passed out.” Gilda sighed. “So odds are, from what that Asgardien Doctor said, you just… yeah you probably have a lot more than two million babies in ya. You even managed to give Peppermint one and rode that for the better part of two hours.”

“Good lord…” I sighed out.

"Can we do it again?" I stared at Gilda. "What? It was amazing."

“Well...next date okay?” I softly pat Gilda’s head.

"Perfect." Gilda said, giving me a kiss.

I kissed my lovely griffin back, just enjoying being with him and things being simple...well simple enough.

There was a shift under us, Peppermint grabbing us both and turning over, nuzzling the two of us between her chest and giving each of us a kiss. "That. Was. Amazing." She purred, giving me an extra sloppy kiss. "If I'd known this is what I would be getting I'd have moved in on day one."

“Well...we wanted to at least get to know you first before...this.” I said nervously. “Also this wasn’t here day one...at least Monochrome and some other stuff…”

"Stiff, I haven't been that physically satisfied in… ever really."

"I have a feeling this is just the tip of the iceberg." Gilda added.

"Oh yeah." I chuckled. "It'll only get better from here, I know it."

Needless to say, cleaning up wasn't so much fun, though it did paint me a vivid image of what I did in my… whatever that was state last night. What was really weird was that after I could move my legs… I wanted to go again. Like, really bad.

While Peppermint began her own move, I called Changelings to help her in that, I went off to see Tommy. It's been a while and Twilight. I haven't seen her in a while. Upon entering the library I realized I could smell… everyone. Tommy, his little girlfriends, Twilight. It was a scent I never actually smelled before, or maybe never noticed before, and now it smacked me in the face… especially Twilight's. I ended up following it to the basement, where Twilight kept her home built laboratory.

The mare in question was working on some machine and studying old machina parts and pieces… damn it why do I still want sex?!

“Uh...hi Twilight.” I said nervously, trying not to focus on my growing libido.

"Oh, Anna!" Twilight said, walking over and giving me a hug. Her scent hit me hard and her touch made me… quite happy down there… "It's been a while. How are you holding up? I heard the news and, wow, I knew Gods could have lots of children but this is completely unexpected." Twilight said, finally breaking the hug. It did nothing to calm me down.

“Well...that’s just me being a Goddess of Life I suppose.” I said sheepishly. “And...pregnancy is doing strange things for me…”

"Really, like what?"

“Besides the morning sickness, me eating...a whole lot of hay...me sneezing pyreflies onto things and bringing them alive...and even after I...blacked out and had super fun with Peppermint and Gilda...still a waterfall down there…” I blushed in embarrassment, hating how weirdly horny I am even after how much fun I had not too long ago.

"That is… quite strange." Twilight said. "I did a little research when I heard you were actually a Goddess, and a Goddess of life at that. I didn't find much but each god or goddess handles things like pregnancy differently. Especially if it's a craving. Some I hear crave foods, or even activities."

"I...really hope that doesn't mean I'll be craving sex every minute for nine months…" I said nervously.

"Hard to say. It could be temporary or it could change from day to day. You'd have to ask a God Doctor about it."

Back to Asgard then…

By the time I actually got there I had to change pants twice and now restored to a skirt since right now pants and I can't be together. "I see, and when did this first occur?" The Asgardian doctor I spoke to yesterday asked.

“Well...me being hornier than a pack of rabbits during heat season started after a date with Peppermint and Gilda...kind of made me black out and...maybe needed to burn an entire room…” I said sheepishly.

"Hm. Did you Shapeshifter while… enjoying yourselves?"

“I turned into Monochrome first...that’s when I blacked out, and both Gilda and Peppermint said I started doing some...pretty amazing things with my shapeshifting powers.” I said nervously.

"Hmm… I have a theory. First, I'll need you to taste something." He said, reaching into his bag and pulling out what looked like a gummy candy. "Eat this."

“Uh...sure.” I said while taking the gummy candy and eating it. “I’ve also been...craving hay for some reason.”

It tasted really sweet and tart, like a nice ripe cherry, then, changed to apples, fish, more fish, cactus apples, beef? And it kept swapping flavors til I swallowed. "And what did it taste like?"

“I...honestly have no idea.” I shrugged. “It kept changing flavors from apples, to a whole lot fish, cactus apples, and weirdly beef...is that a problem?” I asked nervously.

"I was concerned about this but now my concerns are confirmed. You see, normally when someone Shapeshifts while with a child they can adapt to pregnancy cravings of that form. In your case Anna, all those forms cravings are hitting you at once. Hay from the Equine, Sex most likely from the succubus and maybe even Changelings given the amount of emotions it produces, and most likely more later on."

“Oh...no…” I started. “Uh...so how screwed am I considering...all my forms?” I asked nervously.

"It… will not be an easy pregnancy period, I can tell you that much and sadly I can't offer any remedies as they could negatively affect the children. I'm sorry to say but your options are to just muscle through it and try and satisfy the cravings as they come. The sexual craving most likely was triggered when you shifted into Monochrome. Did you shapeshift into any other forms while your blackout occurred?"

“Uh…” I started. ”If anyone’s near Gilda and Peppermint...can any of you ask what forms I shifted in during our...fun time?” I mentally asked through my Hive Mind link.

It was a while before I got a reply… and the reply was that easily… the majority of my forms. The ones with physical bodies anyways…

"I see… " The doctor said when I told him this. "I'm sorry Anna, but as I said, you'll have to muscle through and satisfy the cravings as they come. I recommend you keep these Changeling servants close at hand to help get you things you need, your lovers for the more physical desires too. And take this." He handed me a key. "This will bring me right to my office should any more troubles occur."

“This is gonna suck…” I groaned, taking the key. “Thanks doc…”

Coming home and telling everyone this was perhaps the most embarrassing thing I have ever done. Especially since immediately after I finished I grabbed Gilda and tried to get this sex craving out the window as the skirt was now also tossed into the burn pile. Needless to say my poor bird took stamina potion, after stamina potion til that finally left. He is currently keeping his penis on ice…

The next craving to hit was for hay again. Hay fries, hay burgers, hay churros, if it was hay based I was eating it. In bulk. "I'm actually kinda envious how you're eating all that and not even looking like you are." Rarity said as she helped feed me some hay bacon.

“I have to feed over twenty million kids, please don’t…” I started sadly. “Plus this is one craving out of...like fifty or something.”

"I heard about the sex one. How is Gilda by the way?"

"His hips are...doing fine at least." I said sheepishly.

"He is a trooper for tending to your needs at the risk of his member." Rarity said. "I have to say the Changelings are quite the delight to have around for help."

“Because they can pose as any creature on the planet besides a few races?” I inquired. “Only one’s being...Diamond Dogs, Dragon’s and a few others?”

"That, and their fashion sense is surprisingly on point and forward." She said, filling my plate with more hay bacon.

“Thank you.” I nodded. “I uh...hope I’m not eating too much…” I said sheepishly. “Don’t want to run out of food here because of my...cravings.”

"It's not an issue Darling." Rarity said

It was tomorrow when the hay craving left and after my usual morning sickness I was just trying to relax for a bit before the next weird thing hit me.

“Can’t I have a normal pregnancy?” I grumbled. “Not having any of this weird shit happening?”

"Given you are a goddess, I doubt it." Luna said. She was on the couch with me, rubbing my back while we sat. "Gilda should be perfectly fine by tonight. Zecora is actually making some special potions to help when the next sex craving hits you."

“My doctor said not to use any cause it might hurt the kids.” I said nervously. “Also...I’m a goddess, shouldn’t I be...I don’t know, immune to this?”

"Just because you are a Divine being doesn't mean you are immune to everything Anna." I pouted. "It will just be until the birth."

“I don’t expect to be immune to everything, but I expect to be immune to this crap…” I groaned. “And that won’t happen for another nine months…”

"It will all be alri- Anna?" I shifted into a Griffon, got up and started grabbing pillows off the couch into a pile on the floor. "What are… you doing?"

“I’m making myself comfy.” I pouted as I started making myself a pillow fort. “It will be Fort Condor, and none are allowed inside my comfy fort.” I said, not knowing why I was doing any of this but I was indeed making a pillow fort, don’t know why, but it was coming together and it was comfy and I liked it.

Luna looked at me puzzled, then her eyes widened as I was wrapping it all up in jackets I grabbed from the closet. "Oh! You are nesting, all winged races do this. I've never actually seen it but I heard the maids who are Pegasus talk about this from time to time." Luna said as I climbed inside my fort and curled up… this is nice.

“I have now made Fort Condor, all who trespass shall incur my wrath...if they don’t bring snacks and cuddles.” I said, my griffon pride blinding me to how adorable I was being. “Also...that’s neat.”

As I enjoyed my comfy fort Tommy showed up at some point and was talking to me… and laughing. "So, my sister the goddess nearly sexed her fiance's penis off his crotch."

“Oh hush you.” I blushed in embarrassment. “But...how are you doing Tommy?”

"Could be worse. The girls are all clingy, but at this point I'm getting used to it. Been teaching Button about sword fighting, so far though he prefers daggers but I guess that's because they're easier for him to hold."

“True.” I shrugged. “But uh...so I’m going through a lot of things if you weren’t told yet…”

"All your forms basically hitting you with pregnancy cravings and such at once. Twilight told me. Actually that's part of why I'm here."

“And why’s that?” I inquired.

"Well, given your… situation I was wondering if they would be similar to some fiend activity I've been studying in the Everfree. Wanna see if there is any similarities that can let us know if they're nesting or carrying or something."

“Sure.” I nodded. “I think I can come out of Fort Condor real quick...but no one claimed to drop by with snack’s or cuddles.” I pouted.

I crawled out of my fort and sat in front of Tommy. He brought out a note book. "Okay so the main ones I've been studying are the Dingo and Killer Bee. I've noticed a Killer Bee actually cocooning themselves and a few days later that cocoon was now a hive. As for Dingos I suspect they tunnel into the ground and birth there cause I've seen them run in and out of holes clearly dug by them."

“That’s...rather concerning.” I said nervously.

"Yeah, if your… pregnancy symptoms match their behavior we can know which fiends are making nests and how to find them, and take them out. So… care to shift into a Dingo?"

“Uh...which one? Normal or my Crystal version?” I inquired.

"Normal for now."

“Alright.” I nodded, shifting into my Dingo form and, thankfully, not feeling any of my pregnancy problems. ”I don’t remember if I can talk normally in my Dingo form…” I thought to myself.

As I sat, waiting for something I took a sniff in the air and… what is that? I followed the smell and began sniffing around until I found that Dingo puppy I sneezed out earlier… I picked them up and immediately began trying to clean them. Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew. Taste like dirt. Not clean enough.

”This is fucking gross…” I mentally whined, not knowing why I’m doing this.

Once the puppy was clean enough I picked them up and carried them with me to Fort Condor where I curled around them. The puppy cuddled up to me and began to nap. It occured to me… technically, this puppy is my baby. Maybe not the typical baby given I literally sneezed it into existence but still...

”Well...this is at least something.” I thought to myself honestly, softly nuzzling my baby Dingo.

After a while I crawled out, running outside, Tommy following and I waited and sat for… something. "Hunting to feed the young." Tommy muttered as they wrote something down in their notebook. "Not too different from natural wolves."

Given what he said there I decided to shift into it’s max form, the Ethereal Dire Wolf and stood up. “Well, considering this is it’s ‘final evolution’, I’d have to agree and I might have just fucked myself with a possible new pregnancy problem.” I said worriedly.

"How so?" Tommy asked.

“Uh...I don’t know...just...how different this form is to a standard fiend.” I said honestly, looking over myself again.

"Oh, worried you added to your already mountain of pregnancy side effects?"

“Maybe...no idea if I did or not...I most certainly hope not.” I sighed out. “But...I’m waiting for something...something important.” I said, turning around and looking towards where I was originally staring and waiting for.

"Huh." Tommy said as he waited with me. For a while nothing much happened… then I got it. The scent of prey. I rushed, knocking Tommy over as I did and in a blink I was elsewhere and killed my prey with one swipe of my claws across it's neck. What… did… I… kill?

"Wow that form is fast." Tommy said as he caught up a minute later. "Holy fuck you killed an Ursa Major."

I looked down...seeing that it was indeed a forty foot tall, purple furred, star filled bear that was currently on the ground dead. “Uh…” I shivered in fear. “How...was this my prey? These things are supposed to be damn near as tanky as Dragons, and I’ve heard dragon’s can tank a whole host of shit!” I slightly panicked.

Before I could do anything else I absorbed… it's soul.

New Form Obtained: Cosmic Class Beast: Ursa Major.

“Uh...okay, that answered my own question.” I said nervously. “But...I’m not helping with the creatures of the Everfree getting taken over by the Fiends damn it…” I frowned. “Okay so...what next on your list?”

"The Killer Bee. I wanna know how and why they cocoon themselves and if it does become a hive."

“Um...sure, I have it’s form and it’s maxed form if you want.” I said honestly, having had enough pyreflies to just max all of my forms back in the Hospital.

"Just the normal is fine."

I nodded, shifting to the normal Killer Bee and… I began spitting out… wax, I think, around me in a circle. I kept at it for hours until I was cocooned entirely from the outside… now what?

”Kind of wished I could talk, or at least share my hive mind with Tommy right now…” I mentally groaned, not knowing what to do here considering I was a bee and not a caterpillar so I wasn’t sure what the hell to do here.

After a while I began sleeping. When I woke up I felt… different… hey is someone walking all… over me? I opened my- Ahhhh! I can see in every direction! Ah! I'm covered in Killer Bees and… honey?

Killer Bee Sub Variation Evolution Acquired: Bee Hive

”What the fuck is going on?” I panicked in pure confusion. “Hello?” I tried to say, my question actually, and surprisingly, coming out in a strange vibration from all the Killer Bee’s flapping their wings in a certain way.

"Anna!" Tommy called, emerging from some bushes. "Where are you?"

“I’m...the Hive itself.” I buzzed to him. “I...don’t know how or why though…”

"Huh… so their hives are living beings. Kinda like Changelings."

“I don’t know how or why…” I buzzed nervously. “I can see in three sixty...I’m covered in Killer Bee’s and Honey, and I can’t move…”

"Can you shift? Or command them?"

“I could have commanded them even before I became like his.” I said, trying to move the Killer Bees around me to see how much control I had over them.

They all moved up, down, left, right, fetched jars from the house and stored the honey in them, and when I shifted both my hive body and all the Killer Bees around me vanished as I took human form. "That is amazing." Tommy said. "So they become the hive and spawn new Killer Bees." Tommy then tasted the honey. "Not bad."

“You ate your sisters honey…” I started. “But so far...things are happening that I didn’t think possible for Fiends…”

"It ain't the games that's for sure." Tommy chuckled. "Let's get this honey back home and I'll let the others know the burrows are likely Dingo dens and the Killer Bee hives are all one conscious entity."

“Which is really concerning…” I sighed out. “But hopefully this can be solved soon…”

"Or…" Tommy said, picking up four jars of honey. "We can use that."

“What do you have in mind?” I asked carefully.

"Well, think about it. Killer Bees are just that, giant bees. These hives prove they must pollinate if they produce Honey, and what better guard dogs than well trained Dingos and their variations? All the electric based ones can endlessly power cities. You can tame them, then we can co exist."

“I mean...while that’s true…” I said, starting to hate the sudden thought process of what I really was. “It’s...gonna take a while for this to work…”

"The best solutions to a problem often do." Tommy said with a shrug.

“Alright...so anything else?” I inquired to my little brother, trying to get those bad thoughts out of my head.

"Not for the time being, for now let's go get this honey home and you… hopefully can figure out how to store that." He motioned to the Ursa Major corpse. Right… forgot about that for a bit…

After getting back home and managing to drag that back home, Gilda met me outside, surprised at seeing a dead cosmic monster, and impressed. He began working on it around the time Thor, Balder and the Valkyries showed up and all helped out. As did Hale and Kale, the two taking the hide and bones for materials.

It was around this time my next weird pregnancy side effect kicked in. I shifted into a Minotaur, and began running in a circle. For a long time.

"How long has she been at it?" Balder asked.

"Two hours." Gilda said, looking at his stopwatch.

“It’s good exercise damn it.” I told them bluntly. “Also...I have no idea why I’m doing this...please help…”

"Okay I think I found it." Twilight said as she teleported in. "Pregnant Minotaurs sometimes run in circles as part of claiming territory. Most expecting mother's run around their homes, mate or even children after birth. Any who enter the circle will be charged and tackled. And possibly impaled by their horns."

“Uh...huh…” I started. “Good to know...and also didn’t think Minotaurs were so protective…”

"They are walking muscle so, that's expected." Gilda said. "How long do they do this at a time?"

"Up to five… days in a row." Twilight said.

“Uh...I don’t know if I can run for that long...or if my body will make me do that…” I said nervously.

"Well if it lasts more than eight hours I can cast a sleeping spell."

“That would be for the best.” I said honestly.

Eight hours later, Twilight cast the spell.

I woke back up in Zanarkand, in that Alley in front of that door. Part of me wanted to just walk away and blockade this whole alley… the others… wants… needs answers.

“Which should I listen to? The sensible part of my brain that’s telling me ‘fuck him’...or follow whatever the hell is compelling me towards him.” I frowned. “Damn it…” I growled as I got up and went to the door. “I’m not going to let my unwanted emotions get the better of me…”

I entered the room, it was just as I left it… perfect.

“Why the hell is this perfect place here?” I frowned.

"It was our promise." Shit! I jumped, Zeke- No… Yevon, said, behind me suddenly. "A place where duty to our divinity holds no grasp."

“Why the fuck would I make a promise with you?” I growled.

They sighed. "So many memories, so many lifetimes. But this promise comes from our first." They said, walking towards the lake. I followed. When they sat at the lake edge I seated a distance from them. "I remember that day so clearly, as if it was moments ago."

“Save it with the sappy shit…” I grumbled, looking over the lake and...seeing those grey pyreflies from a while ago. “Oh, there here...cause of course…” I muttered, yet another thing completely unknown to me that I’d probably rather not know why they exist.

"A substitute, the real thing is always better, but when we met, you received their powers and I had to make my own. Far less stable, sadly."

“You should be dead.” I told him bluntly. “Either by myself, or from Tidus’s group back in Spira.”

"I was." He said, the grey pyreflies floating around his hand. "I was born in this universe a god of cycles. Death and Life repeating endlessly on the worlds I called home. Until that group, broke my cycle, and killed me. Then… I awoke, and when I did, you were there. Reborn, as only a God of Death, and you, my other, a Goddess of Life."

“And whoever did that made a mistake.” I frowned. “Also, what’s with the Grey Pyrelfies? I found that little clump but it’s...not finished, and I don’t know what it does or what it’s meant to be.”

"As I said, they are artificial and unstable. You'd think I could recreate something I've used and been with since the dawn of time." They laughed. "At first, I was formless, and so very weak. You and I… how do I put this… I had to reside within you, until I was able to gain a form for myself. I didn't know why or how it happened, but I saw things through your eyes, felt through your hands… it was so… different, than how I'd lived from before."

"That isn’t artificial.” I stated while pointing to the Grey Pyreflies. “You’re artificial shit isn’t that shade of grey, and I absorbed it way before I had my changeling powers to finally absorb the artificial crap.” I brought up. “And...why me? Why am I the unlucky person to have to deal with your bullshit?” I said, the special pyreflies circling around Yevon as if they knew who he was and...cared for him.

"Honestly, I don't know." He said. "I asked you once, after regaining my body. You just told me it wouldn't make sense." He sighed. "Heh, I remember when I first got my body back. You had killed an imposter, or maybe, it was a mindless husk of who I was before? Whatever it was, after you killed them, I regained my powers, well, the ones I have now, and took this form. He was on your mind a lot. When your father saw me after that he tried to cut my head off." He laughed. "Your brother too."

“That’s because you’re a bastard, and the person you look like was apart of a horrible crime family.” I frowned.

"It was the only form I felt appropriate. Most others you saw and spoke with in the world were too familiar to you, and given who I was, wouldn't taking this form be appropriate? For a long time you all kept me tied and gagged, pondering just what to do with me. Of course, having a human body was new… so I didn't know about… a lot of things."

“We should have kept you like that and threw you off a cliff.” I frowned. “Okay, so here’s some questions about other things, why the hell is Wakka, Khimari, and I can only assume the other group from Spira here on Equis trapped as stone statues?” I asked.

"You didn't want them to die." He said simply. "Spiral, as you can guess, is… gone. You cared for them so much, the thought of them gone… terrified you."

“Then what the hell was Wakka’s point of view on a Second Sin?” I asked. “The hell was that about?”

He sighed, letting the Grey Pyreflies float away as he traced a finger across the air, a line of his normal, artificial ones appearing as he did. "Time is like a vast ocean, every drop of water in it is a second or less in the grand scheme. As Gods, we have some… limited control of what we can do and how we can utilize it, if we can at all. As Gods of life and death we both exist within all points of time. In a sense you can say we both exist within each drop of water in that ocean. To disrupt an event taking place in the past or future requires a… large amount of effort and… a big splash." A mini Sin appeared, splashing into the line and breaking it.

"Why am I not surprised…" I grumbled. "What about Seymoure? Why the fuck did you bring him here?"

"Honestly? He interested me. Never before had I seen a mortal so devoted to his beliefs, and so delusional and hypocritical in his goals and desires. At first it was to see what made his so crazy, and afterwards it became a form of punishment."

"I mean...yeah, that works." I shrugged. "Bastard still needs to get his ass kicked though…" I grumbled.

"Hence his placement."

“True…” I nodded. “You claim we’ve met before, and...magically, somehow fell for each other...but I don’t remember a damn thing about it, how come you remember but I don’t?” I asked, given that I remember nothing of all this crap but he magically believes I’m still the same person he fell for originally.

He redrew the line in Pyreflies, the mini Sin splashing and breaking it. "Gods are not immune to consequences. When you went back, saved your friends and family, it reset time itself, and in order to do so, used all your Divine energy. This made you basically mortal, though so long as life continued, you'd regain your strength in time. This sometimes made you forget things, and like this time, you'd forget almost everything."

“Convenient…” I grumbled. “So...we’ve done this song and dance before? You trying to over step your bounds and me kicking your ass, but then I...reset time again?”

"I overstep as a result of your… reset, for lack of a better word. Gods that are pairs, like us, when one gains more power than the other, the balance of the world they oversee suffers. Until you regain full power, Death is dominant on Equis."

“It wasn’t before you stepped in and let your mind controlled slaves murder thousands because you deemed it so.” I growled. “It wasn’t before you gave Zer the power to do whatever the fuck he wanted to Gilda you asshole!” I shouted at him.

"I gave them power, yes. What they do after is their own choices. Do you honestly believe that without powers this Zer would have never touched them? And for the dead, I am a God of Death. I am unable to save life, but you, you can undo the damage Anna. This land, this replica of Zanarkand is a form of the afterlife, gathering all their Pyreflies and completing their souls. Once you do recreating bodies for them is a simple task."

“Then why all the Unsent?” I asked bluntly. “You control them, why keep them spreading like wild fire? Also the fuck are those abominations?”

"The abominations are… honestly unexpected. But Sombra's fragments have been… creative in their work. And I told you, until your powers once again match mine, Death is the dominating force on Equis. My mere existence keeps them spreading."

“Then how come I can control them to...some strange extent?” I asked. “I don’t remember life being able to control the undead like that.”

"It is the Pyreflies. As a Goddess of Life, you are one of few gods in all existence with the power to create new souls. Commanding the fragments still bound to flesh and bone is child's play for you."

“Sounds...fair enough I suppose.” I said honestly. “This is still...just a massive pain in the ass for me...confusing...and all my pregnancy problems aren’t helping either…” I grumbled.

"Oh, you are with child again?"

“Hold up, again?” I asked carefully. “This is the first time I’ve been pregnant, and I have to pop out twenty two million or so adults cause I can’t raise my kids because of either my powers or you...so back to the ‘again’ part?”

He looked at me, then grabbed a blade of grass and flicked it into the water of the pond, making a ripple effect. "Each time you go back, undo deaths and calamity in a timeline you save those which you care for most. Your mother's, father's, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters. This 'song and dance' as you call it has happened so many times, and each time you go back to save what you are afraid to lose, forgetting yourself, your identity, and even those you saved. This is not the first time you have been a mother, Anna. Far from it."

“Good lord…” I grumbled. “Still so much to think about...too much to think about…” I sighed out. “I just...wanted to save my family and maybe be a hero...this is too much for a girl like me…” I grumbled, seeing those strange pyreflies circling around me. “And what do you want?” I huffed at them, not knowing what their doing but my clothes started to change for...some reason. “Uh...excuse me, what the hell?” I frowned, seeing my clothes shift into a...strangely familiar dress...wait, am I wearing a kimono!? “Wait, this...this can’t be right.” I got up as I looked myself over...this is the Kimono I’ve always dreamed of wearing, a dress made of pure white silk, going down with patterns that seemed like a ‘flowing river of stars’, flowing down from my right shoulder and circling around my body till it ended at my legs in what seemed to me an ocean of...wait, those are pyreflies! “Uh...I...what is this?” I asked, staring at Yevon as he looked...just as surprised as me.

"You… used to wear that outfit a lot. In many of the timelines where we meet again… including the first."

“But...that’s impossible, I...haven’t thought about this in years…” I said, feeling the smooth as hell silk, the entire outfit fitting me rather well all things considered. “But...how’s that possible? I don’t remember pyreflies doing a sudden clothes change, especially one I don’t remember anything about…”

"These ones are special." Yevon said, standing as he held one gently. "These Pyreflies… are yours."

“...wut?” I blinked, not sure if I heard him right.

"As Gods, our souls are… unique. Mine is an endless abyss one would associate with The Void, yours… endlessly fragments off pieces, creating new souls… when you reset, the fragments you make end up holding your own memories."

“So...I need to go out and...collect myself?” I asked. “What, is that gonna give me super forms to change into or something?”

"You saw the upgraded fiend forms the first pod of that energy gave you, right? It will give you back your lost powers. And, hopefully, memories."

“Only problem I see with those upgraded fiend forms...is that they don’t look like Fiends…” I said nervously. “But...well, maybe that’s how I’ll get my Monster Arena forms to say the least…”

"Perhaps. So… how much longer until you awake?"

“No idea…” I shrugged. “But right now, I have to do some...pallet cleansing with the people back in Zanarkand, try to get some history from the two...mountain’s of a Cherub and Succubus…”

"Ah, of course. Well, I am here if you should ever need me Anna."

“Alright.” I nodded as I headed to the door, even though my heart hurt again it was thankfully dumbed down from last time. “But...thanks for the talk at least…”

"Thank you for the visit."

I left, closing the door behind me and taking a deep breath. What the hell is going on with me?

“This...is going to be an absolute nightmare…” I sighed out, shaking my head as I walked out to start talking to other people.

All of the Changelings were nice, the other queens and kings even moreso. I was happy that while in here I wasn't feeling my crazy pregnancy cravings or side effects. I walked on over to the ocean, looking at the two giants still cuddled up together from yesterday.

“Yo!” I called out. “Mind if we talk!? I have some important questions to sexy lady and Dark Souls boss.”

Both looked at me and woah their eyes are like countless smaller eyes… there was a flash along the two and both were now my size, naked and yipe!

Succubus lady tackled me, giving me a… very, very good view of their chest and somehow the Cherub guy was under me and… wow… that's bigger than Gilda… "You asked to talk?" The succubus asked, pressing her… whole body against me… holy… so… soft… everywhere.

“Uh….” I started dumbly, only to shake my head and blush furiously. “No time for horny…” I muttered. “So...it’s nice to meet you both...I believe we haven’t officially met, my names Anna...and what are your names?”

"Call me… Sweetness." The succubus said.

"And call me Cherished." The Cherub said.

"Nice to meet you." I nodded. "So...uh…" I tried to focus on talking instead of...all the soft and hard on me…"How's it been?"

“Nice. Within the hive mind we were like one being while also being one with all our descendants… but we did miss having bodies.” Sweetness said, kissing me… she tastes like candy cherries… She then broke the kiss. “We owe you a lot, little goddess. Keeping our children safe, accepting them when so many wanted them dead, and allowing my love and I the chance to be together… physically, again. It’s only fair we reward you.”

“Uh…” I could legit feel steam coming out of my head. “Will...this add to my ever growing pregnancy troubles?”

“Possibly.” Both said.

Anna.exe has stopped working.

“Is she okay?” Gilda asked.

“I dunno, but whatever she was dreaming, I want some of that Luna.” Peppermint said.

“I don’t know what she was dreaming, I can only assume this has to do with that Zanarkand place inside her dreamscape.” Luna said.

“Whatever it was, she was loud and it went on for the whole night.” Cream said, her voice full of tiredness. “I also would like that in my dreams Luna.”

“... No promises…” Luna huffed.

“I think she’s waking up.” Thor’s voice spoke out.

“Why...does my pants...and the bed feel wet with...both kinds of fluids?” I groaned, hoping it’s not what I think it is.

“Sadly it is.” Gilda said. As I was waking up more, ever more aware of the… complete lack of feeling aside from an afterglow of numbness along my body… Though I did feel them petting my head so there’s that at least. “Whatever you were dreaming… and or doing, in that dream place of yours… Peppermint and Cream want in.”

“Uh...I was getting double teamed by...a Fallen Cherub and Succubus…” I said. “Monochrome’s parents...it uh...I can’t move my legs…” I said nervously.

“Ah… yeah that would do it.” Luna said.

“I will fetch healing potions.” Thor said. His loud footsteps heading away from me.

“Damn… was it fun?” Gilda asked me.

“Listen...if I can feel myself wetter than a rain forest and…” I motioned weakly and...yep, little Anna was down there as well. “And probably shot harder than a fire hose in my sleep...then yes...it was fun.”

“Sponge bath or tongue bath~” Peppermint asked.

“Peppermint…” Groaned Cream. “Now that you are awake, I am going to sleep. Someone run Anna a bath and wash her off… when I wake up, change the sheets.”

“That...would be for the best, thank you.” I said sheepishly.

Peppermint… peeled me off the sheets and carried me to the bath. She and Gilda helped bath me and Thor gave me a few potions that helped some. On the bright side getting the world’s best double teem sex from a succubuss queen and cherub kept me from having morning sickness.

As I was being gently scrubbed, relaxing in the hot water… a little embarrassed for some reason but, Gilda and I have been naked with one another a lot and Peppermint might be new to that, but it’s fine with her. When it came time to scrub below the belt… that’s when it hit me. No. No. NO! I just got ultra rutted! There is no way in any form of hell I can get.... FUCK!!!

You can guess that being in the bathroom was a good thing after that.

Finally after four baths turn three ways later, I was finally clean properly, but not clothed. I wasn’t risking it and settled for being wrapped in a large fluffy robe. At least I can walk now… thank you Thor and those potions… I was finally eating some food, enjoying… whole watermelons as a Minotaur, the robe thankfully fit, if barely, in this form.

“So...yeah, all of that happened and...don’t be surprised if I magically have cherub and succubus kids...they both said ‘probably’ when the...fun times happened.” I said sheepishly.

“At least you are done with the sex for now.” Luna said.

“Hopefully.” I nodded. “Cause...never know when the Changeling phase might happen.” I said honestly.

After my late breakfast I swapped to a unicorn, where my horn decided it would be fun to cast magic at random. Flowers danced, water rained from pillows, the carpet was now grass, and the radio now turned on and off at comically appropriate times.

“So why the hell is this happening right now?” I frowned.

“It’s pretty common for the first month of pregnancy for a unicorn mare to experience surges. Only lasts for the first month though.” Blueblood said.

“And how many days has it been since I had to start...dealing with this?” I asked.

“About… three?” He thought. “It all should be fine.”

“Hopefully…” I sighed out. “So, what’s on today’s to do list?” I asked curiously.

“The… additions to the herd. Several are arriving today.” Blueblood said with a sigh. “As well as… aunt Celestia relocating to this house. She mostly just needed a portal between here and Canterlot as well as a home office and she was all set. Been looking forward to this a lot though so at least that’s good.”

“Considering how much work and how little free time I’ve heard Celestia has…” I started. “I wouldn’t be surprised if she just grabbed Gilda and carried him off to the bedroom like a bag of potatoes.”

“Or you. She does swing both ways… though maybe in that case she’d drag Peppermint along, the two are the same general height.” Blueblood said in thought. “In any case, the first to arrive today are the… Zebra Diplomats and their… offerings.”

“I don’t like how you worded that.” I started nervously.

“You know how obsessed the Zebra’s are about hybrids. And they are… very different from Equestria. Both culturally and society wise.” Blueblood stated. “For example, while they too have herds they are more considered a single family of parents, brothers, sisters, cousins, basically blood family and depending on who marries into who’s herd is determined by combat.”

“Uh...huh…” I started. “That won’t...be a weird conversation at all.”

“And… regarding their society they are extremely different from Equestria. Firstly, they are split into thirteen tribes… well, twelve as far as they are mostly concerned, the thirteenth tribe they ignore or leave them alone.”

“That’s...concerning that an entire tribe is ignored…” I started.

“It’s because of their culture. You see, when Nightmare Moon happened, while the moon was above blocking the sun here in Equestria… on the other end of the world, in the Zebra lands, the moonless sky was lit by stars only. Beautiful, yes, but without the moon in the way, many dangerous star beasts fell to Equis, and to this day plague their lands. They… dislike Aunt Luna because of this. As for why this relates to why the thirteenth tribe is ignored and outcasted, it's because while the lands were rained on by beasts from space… they fed their fellow Zebra to them.”

“Oh...well fuck them then.” I started. “I know there was a giant monster problem but...literally feeding their fellow zebra’s is just a dick move.”

“They are a tribe of necromancers and… other illegal magics… it has taken a toll on them however. Dark magics come at a price. Infertility is just if you are lucky to survive using the magic. They went from tens of thousands a thousand years ago… to three.”

“O-oh…” I started nervously. “That’s...damn.” I said, not expecting it to be that bad. “So...what are there ‘offerings’?”

“All their tribe. What is left. The eldest, Mère, and the other two are her children. Renaissance, the youngest and her daughter, and her oldest son, Détester. Mère is about forty two, or so I heard. Renaissance is six and Détester is seventeen. Aside from that the twelve other tribes have offered… Their eldest sons and daughters to you… from their noble families. You will be happy that nobility isn’t inherited there, it’s earned. Each of the tribes all specialize in something and their nobles specifically excel in that.”

“Well...alright.” I nodded carefully. “And...how many would that be?”

"Just be glad Discord made this house…" Was all Blueblood answered. "After them are the buffalo, Yaks and most surprising of all, the Hippogriffs."

"Hippogriffs?" I inquired. "Haven't heard of them...and while I know the history, I'm surprised Dragons aren't...attempting something with me given what I am."

"Actually we received word that Dragon Lord Torch would like to speak with you on the matter. As for the Hippogriffs, well they are a unique race. If you want to get technical they are a race of hybrids. Half pony, half eagle. Much like Griffons being half eagle and half lion. They live on a kingdom at the edge of the badlands close to the shoars where they share territory with Seaquestria."

"Sea...quest…" I deadpanned to everyone in the room. "Seriously?"

"Yes." Blueblood said. "They are half pony half… aquatic life."

“Seaquestria…” I said, hoping the name of that country would become present. “Just…” I groaned, rubbing my temples. “You people and naming conventions…”

"Queen Novo is offering herself and her daughter Skystar."

“Neat.” I nodded. “But...how are they going to come here when their...obviously sea creatures?”

"They are both of land and sea." We turned, seeing Princess Celestia walk in. The tall Alicorn looked really tired.

“You look like you need a soft bed, ice cream, and cuddles lady what the hell happened?” I asked nervously.

"Preparing for the complete reconstruction of Equestrian government into a single government with international world leaders isn't fun paperwork wise." She sighed, taking a seat on the couch. "I envy the other kingdoms for being smaller and able to finish much faster. As I was saying through, the Hippogriffs are a special race. They've kept hold of a rare magical artifact, a pearl capable of transforming one of the land or sky into a creature of the sea, and vise versa. It's a closely guarded treasure for their race. No one actually remembers if Seaquestria started off with the sea ponies or the Hippogriffs but the nation has been home to both for as far back as their records can date."

“So their one and the same?” I inquired.

"Yes, as far as history is concerned anyway." She yawned. "I'm just happy the last of my paperwork is done. Cadence should be arriving soon with hers."

"Cadence is coming? Why?" Twilight asked.

"Twilight, Cadence is the Princess of the crystal empire, and in order for this singular world nation to work, all ruling parties must contribute to this singular royal family." Celestia explained sleepily.

"But she's already married to my brother." The realization hit her before Celestia could explain further. "I'm gonna be in a herd with my brother?!"

"There it is." Celestia chuckled.

“I mean...Pinkie’s in our Herd with her sisters, so what’s the problem?” I asked. “I mean...it’s not like you and Shining are going to get into that taboo thing...even though I might have powers to make the issues null and void but...I have no idea.”

"I think you broke her." Blueblood said as smoke fumed from Twilight's before she fainted.

“She...legitimately forgot?” I raised an eyebrow.

"I think the idea itself shorted her brain more than anything." Celestia yawned.

“That’s...possible.” I said nervously. “But uh...since I might as well ask, who’s opposed to this?”

"Honestly I'm surprised it took the fall of the deer kingdom to jumpstart this idea." Luna said. "It was tossed around back when Tia and I were younger but most of the other races nations and royals at the time would make up one issue or another."

"If it gets me more time off after it's done I'm all for it." Celestia said.

“That’s true.” I nodded. “So...since your both here...I might as well ask a thing I heard Luna mumble about...who was your mother?” I asked Luna and Celestia. “Luna said I was ‘just like her mother’, but I haven’t really heard much about her.”

The two sisters were silent for a while. "She was like you, A Goddess of Life." Celestia finally spoke.

“Cool.” I nodded. “So who was she?”

"Her name was Faust." Luna said. "She is the reason life and magic exist on Equis. Unlike you, she did not have a God of Death as her other."

“Her Editors would beg to differ.” I rolled my eyes, remembering my childhood favorite cartoons was made by Lauren Faust...who I can only assume was responsible for this place as well at this point. “Uh...sorry, I’m just thinking about someone on my world with a similar name.” I said sheepishly. “She was an artist, a very respected one at that back on my world.”

"Well, I don't know if I'd call Mother an Artist, but she knew how to use her Divine powers. About… forty two thousand years ago… she vanished. Luna and I were barely a few hundred years, physically and mentally, we were about ten. We have no idea where she went. Before we ruled Equestria we searched… All we ever found was this." Celestia lit her horn. There was a flash as a small jewel necklace, old and brittle appeared, enclosed in a locked glass box. "It was hers. We found it in the heart of The Badlands."

“That’s...rather curious.” I said. “I might have to bring that up to Cherished or Sweetness…uh...those are the names of the Cherub and Succubus before you people give me any weird looks.”

"Odd names." Luna said.

"In any case, we often wonder what happened to her. Nothing from the old home was of any help either." Celestia sighed, magicing the necklace away.

“I’m sure we’ll find her.” I said carefully. “Who knows, maybe she’s in the ‘God of Life Clubhouse’ or something, I don’t know.” I shrugged. “Or...weirdly enough she might be looking for her ‘other half’...all things considered…” I said, looking down bitterly as my shoulders sagged at those bad memories.

"Onto some simpler news, what's the sex schedule like?"

“At this point, whenever people want and whenever we’re not busy or in the middle of something.” I shrugged, having had so much of it by this point it didn’t really feel much to get embarrassed about.

"Okay because I have a thousand years of pent up sexual tension and a few kinks only my Assistant Raven knows about and has indulged with me… regularly. She's going to be here later and join."

“Oh boy.” I said nervously, wondering what those ‘kinks’ really were. “To be honest, I thought you would have just kicked down the door, grabbed me and Gilda, and just carried us to the bedroom without a second thought…”

"As much as I'd have loved to do that, I'm going to wait until I've at least had a date with you two before hitting the bed, and longer before I list off the things Raven and I do usually."

"That would be for the best." Luna said. "I walked in on them once and… well, I had just returned from the moon as Nightmare Moon and if a thousand years of isolation in the moon didn't get me to take therapy… seeing what my sister and raven did is what actually made me go."

"I paid that therapist a lot to ensure they kept those sessions a secret." Celestia sighed.

"Uh...huh…" I started, slowly inching away from Celestia.

“Don’t judge, you live for a thousand years and see the sexual tastes you develop after doing the same and usual for the better part of several centuries.” Celestia huffed.

“In any case, it is good to finally have you here sister.” Luna said.

“Feels good to be here. As much as I love Canterlot, If I had to attend another meeting with spoiled nobles then I was going to begin starting fires…” Celestia grumbled.

The rest of the day I was bored. No weird cravings or symptoms so that was good at least. Around noon Rarity came by, and seeing me, gave me some yarn, needles and other assorted knitting supplies. “I figured this is something you’d enjoy.” Rarity said, pulling out her own and showing me how to set it up. “My mother knitted all the time when she was having me, and just as much with Sweetie Bell.”

"Granny taught me and Tommy how to sew, haven't really had the time to brush up on my skills." I said honestly.

“Never too late to pick up old hobbies.” Rarity said. We sat there for a while. She was already done with the legs of hers by the time I managed a single foot for mine. “So, I hear you have some interesting options for how you can birth your children.”

"Only two...one is birthing each one, individually, and taking care of twenty million infants...or just have them all pop out of me, fully grown adults…" I explained.

“I see. But, when they say one at a time, do they mean literally birthing one at a time, one after another or do they mean birth one and another later on? I wasn’t sure about that when I heard it.”

"They didn't elaborate…" I sighed out.

“Well, which would you prefer? Birthing one, raising them for some time then birthing another, or all at once with them all as Adults?”

“I would rather raise mine and Gilda’s child, but Yevon’s being an asshole about everythi-” I was about to go into a rant before my eyes widened at my own slip up at revealing who...my other half was. “Uh...please forget what I said…”

"Who is Yevon?" Rarity asked.

"It's no one." I shook my head. "Sorry, but...my main point was, I'd like to raise my kids properly but...well given what's going on I can't…"

“Hm… Well, it is a sad event. But, unlike you, Cream is carrying both yours, hers and Gilda’s children, and I imagine from what I heard Peppermint did with you two, she will be carrying some foals as well soon. While the ones you birth might not be able to be raised like proper children, theirs can.”

"Well….that's true." I nodded. "I can at least have that comfort."

Rarity nodded, giving me a smile as we continued to knit for what felt like hours.

Eventually I had a craving hit. This time it was for fish. I just wasn’t able to get enough. I was a pegasus this time, and kept munching away at fish. Fried, boiled, soup, barbecue. Fish of every way it could be cooked, even sushi.

“I’m surprised, so far this and the watermelon ones are the most normal.” Gilda said, their own plate of food was a salad, given I stole and ate their plate of fish.

"I'm sure it'll get weirder when I become a yak or something…" I sighed out. "But this is still really good."

“Yeah, it better be.” I turned, knowing that voice… but seeing the body made me nearly choak. Gilder looked… well, yeah Gilder looked like a thicker, taller Gilda.

Gilda, promptly laughed their ass off. “Oh wow! Hey, twins now!” Gilda laughed.

“I hate you…” Gilder growled, placing another plate of roast salmon before me. “Hey.” They said to me.

"Thicc with a capital Damn." I said dumbly. "Uh, sorry." I shook my head. "How are you doing Gilder?"

“Well, my ass and new boobs are stupidly sensitive, and to make it worse since I’m an unsent the Pyreflies… adapted.”

“Adapted?” Gilda asked, stopping their laughing.”

Gilder turned a rather bright red then looked away. “Let’s just say I’m happy I at least still have my penis down there.”

“Wait, wait are you telling me your body turned into a hermaphrodite?!” Gilda asked. At Gilder’s lack of response, Gilda began laughing again. “Oh that’s just beautiful!”

Gilder huffed. “I know I agreed to this but still, I didn’t think my Pyreflies would change my body to match more with what the cosmetic surgeries did…”

"You get used to it." I shrugged. "But...I also didn't expect that to happen in all honesty.

“That’s not all the weirdest things either.” Gilder said, grabbing Gilda’s arm and putting it to their arm. “Notice something?”

Gilda looked confused, then once they pressed on Gilder’s arm they gained a look of realization. “You… have a pulse?” Gilda said.

“Pulse, I bleed and yet fatal damage is healed by Pyreflies and I get… really sleepy for a while after it heals but it’s weird. Plus my… abilities, also changed.”

"Your abilities change how?" I inquired carefully, wondering what in the world is going on here.

“Well, one of my first abilities was that I could breath a toxic fog, but…” Gilder took a deep breath, and exhaled towards a nearby plant. A bright yellow fog exited their beak and hit the plant. Rather than die, the plant grew far larger than it was. “It does that now.”

"Maybe it's because your with me and not… whoever the hell you were following?" I guessed.

“Maybe. Either way it beats being dead or in prison so… I’ll head back to the kitchen.” Gidler left.

Once they were fully gone, Gilda gave me an Elbow and a sly smile. “Anna, do you wanna rutt my brother? Sister? Broster? You know what I mean.”

“They look like a taller and thicker version of you so…” I started. “Yes, yes I do.”

Gilda chuckled. “Heh, not surprised. Hell I was impressed… and a tad jealous. I mean, I look sexy but I would love being a dummy thicc bird like that.”

“Even though you might be a little ‘smaller’, your still my stupid sexy bird.” I said, giving them a quick hug.

“And you are still my sexy caring human.” Gilda replied, giving me a hug, and a pinch to my butt I returned to them. We broke the hug with some laughter. “If it wasn’t for you… I’d never have realized a lot of things about myself, or ever been this happy. I owe you my life Anna.” Gilda said, giving me a quick kiss. “And I will happily spend it with you forever.”

“Same here.” I said honestly. “If you weren’t here with me...I don’t know what I’d do.”

“Twilight or Luna maybe?” They laughed, I gave them a playful elbow. “Speaking of, our dates with them are coming up. Luna first and Twilight after.”

“Hopefully Twilight doesn’t pass out on us...again.” I said honestly. “Seriously, that girl needs to get out more.”

“Which is funny considering I found and read her porn books. Girl’s got some kinks.”

“Then why was she so nervous and confused on cuddling if she’s into some of the...more kinky side of things? Also what kinks?” I asked.

“My guess, she’s more awkward about romance than you were when we first met. Thankfully having read what she’s into I know our date will end with passionate lovemaking and most likely another mare impregnated by us.”

“Sweet.” I nodded. “Always fun to share the love.” I chuckled.

“At this rate I gotta see if your ability to, well, give me upgrades can work for our sex lives.”

Huh… that is… a good question.

“I’d...need to give you pyreflies though...and I don’t know how and I don’t want to...do something wrong…” I said nervously.

“I trust you Anna, I’ll be fine.” Gilda said, taking my hands. “You are my Goddess after all. I have faith in you.”

“You’re so cheesy.” I giggled as I held their hands. “Well...might as well give it a try then...but if you start feeling anything weird, like the feeling your being watched by an Eldritch Abomination… don’t mind him, that’s just Skippy.” I said simply as I tried to give Gilda some of my collected pyreflies.

“Skippy?” Gilda asked as I flowed some Pyreflies to them. I felt them fuse into Gilda’s bones, skin and flesh. Once their body was infused some extras were flowed in, making their way to Gilda’s heart where I felt… linked. It was… strange. Like if I think about it and focus, I can almost feel and… see what Gilda is seeing and feeling… Huh.

“Well...if I knew it would work like this, I’d have saved it for the wedding.” I said honestly.

“Hm?” Gilda asked. “Did it work? I don’t feel all that different.”

“I feel...linked to you.” I said softly. “It’s...hard to describe, but I know all the Pyreflies are in you and...I can almost sense your feelings.”

“Huh… Well, can you sense what I’m feeling now?”

I could, and I happily took a large bite of fish and pounced on Gilda.

Before Gilda and I got a chance to head on off with Luna for our date, we ran into the first coming new members of the family and the Royals of the Hippogriffs. Queen Novo and Princess Skystar. Queen Novo was… beautiful. She was a foot taller than me, a figure that radiated beauty and hot milf energy. Skystar was a lot like her mother, more Gilda’s height though and smaller but she still had room to grow I bet. Being half pony and half eagles the two looked very similarly to Gilda, claws for hands and feathers along most of the body, but their waist down was clearly pony, missing only Cutie Marks and tails.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Goddess Anna.” Novo said, bowing to me. Her daughter saw this and awkwardly copied her mother. The two rose up after the bow. “I hope by wedding myself and my daughter, all of Equis can find peace and safety.”

“Don’t treat me like a goddess, please.” I said nervously. “And hopefully, all things considered I...haven’t really traveled much. Only place I’ve been outside Equestria was the Badlands and...well that’s going to get terraformed soon enough...which I also need to absorb all those monster souls…” I muttered, sending a quick little mental call to some of my changelings to gather every monster that the Border Patrol was willing to let me absorb. “Sorry, got a little off track there.” I said sheepishly. “So, I hope the trip wasn’t too much of a hassle.”

“Flying here was easy, once we entered Equestria’s airspace your controlled weather made the flight far more comfortable than not.” Novo said. “We look forwards to the wedding, Goddess.”

A few changelings came up and led Novo and Skystar to our shared room. Skystar gave me a quick high energy wave before following her mom and the changelings.

“She seems… nice.” Gilda said.

“Her people have largely been isolated for the better part of fifty years. She will just need to adjust to how untypical of a royal this royal family will be.” Luna said.

“Question, is there any...concerning individuals in the oceans?” I asked. “Like some weird ‘I’m the bad guy’ evil island or something?”

“Within the ocean? I am not sure.” Luna said. “We sadly don’t know much about what Seaquestria has been dealing with in terms of Fiends or other threats.”

“We’re probably gonna learn it soon all things considered.” I shrugged. “But let’s hope it’s not some other douchebag trying to be all ‘I’m gonna take over the world’ schtick…”

“It’s a common trope so maybe.” Gilda said with a shrug as the three of us headed out. Luna, Gilda and I were going to have a nice meal in Canterlot.

Luna teleported us there and once there we were at the castle and heading out. Guards started following us. “Should we be worried?” Gilda asked.

“The royal guard knows what is going on, they just are doing their jobs. If they see a royal, be it myself, sister, or now including you and Anna, they must stand near and guard. They won’t get too close if that is what you are concerned about.”

“True.” I nodded. “So, we dining in the castle or do you have a restaurant to go to?”

“There is a lovely restaurant I have been meaning to try. The place makes food from Saddle Arabia and a thousand years ago I would make any excuse to travel their for their food. Their use of Tofu and Beans and spices is amazing. I hope they have only improved upon it over the thousand years I was away.” Luna said.

“A thousand years can certainly do that.” I said honestly.

We made out way down the streets of the dinning district. All various nice smells hit me and Gilda. We kept on though, reaching a large alleyway that led to a large building that was so out of place compared to the other restaurants, you’d instantly see it if it wasn’t hidden by the alley was was in. “Here it is.” Luna said. We entered, seeing an empty dining area. “Hm, strange. Saddle Arabian food used to be the peak of cuisine, this should be packed.”

“That’s really...wait…” I started, looking at a piece of paper on the front door. “‘The food is bland, uninspired, and not worth my time’, review by Zesty Gourmand…” I frowned. “Does this person not have a nose or something? I can smell the food inside and it smells amazing.” I said, already feeling hungry just by the smell of the Saddle Arabian food.

“I have heard that name before, she is a well respected food critic. Most restaurants that don’t meet her standards often end up closing.” Luna said, looking at the paper. “Hmm… strange, why does she remind me of someone I knew…”

“Hello, and welcome to the- bah!” Yelped an orange mare with an almost Pinkie Pie level of poofy mane wearing… a rather loose fitting yet covering dress. “P-Princess Luna! And… Goddess Anna and Gilda! W-what brings you three here?” The poor mare was on the verge of a heart attack looking at us.

“Telling you to take a deep breath first.” I started. “We came here for good food, and to prove that some prissy food critic’s word isn’t law.”

“Y-You want to try our food!” She almost screamed in joy if that smile on her face means anything. “Papa! We have customers!” She yelled, rushing into the kitchen.

“I think we made her day.” Gilda chuckled.

“And we’re probably going to bring her business up a fuck ton by this.” I chuckled.

“Let us take out seats, and then begin the date.” Luna said. Their seats were actually tall piles of super large pillows around a table. It was different and nice. As we wanted we got to talking. Gilda and I talked about the usual so far and Luna told us about herself. She collects stamps, funny enough, as well as actually enjoys reading in her freetime as well as how she has to switch between her paperwork duties in the kingdom to nighttime dream patrols in the realm of dreams.

“How does doing all that dream patrol work? I inquired.

“Dealing with the dreams of others are interesting. I typically scale nightmares one to three. A tier one Nightmare is your basic pantless as school, huge pimple on the nose and you know, basic fears that in the end amount to little more than embarrassment in the real world, so I don’t typically change those unless it’s a slow night. Tier two are the more fearsome nightmares. Running from monsters, losing a loved one, dreaming of being stuck in an infinite death loop, things like that. Those I just quickly change to pleasant dreams. Tier three Nightmares are rooted with an issue with the dreamer and are harder to control. Normally I have to discover their issue and help guide them to the answer they will need to break the nightmare and help them when they wake up.”

“And...what of the nightmares that aren’t on the tier list?” I asked nervously. “Things above tier three?”

“Then you get what happened to me, or…” Luna sighed. “Suicides.”

“That...sounds about right.” I sighed out. “Sad to hear that still happens here…” I shook my head. “So, why did you say you thought Zesty was familiar if I may ask?”

“Well, it’s her chin more than anything. It reminds me of an old friend before I became Nightmare Moon. His name was Calcium Bite, an interesting fellow. He worked as a cook in the castle, made the best soup I’ve ever had.”

“Then why is this person now complaining about good food?” I wondered.

"I don't know. I only brought it up because of how the two looked similar. She might be a descendant, but I'd have to look into the Genealogy records."

“Fair.” I nodded. “I’ve never actually had Saddle Arabian food before, I hope it’s as good as you say.”

"Oh trust me, you will not be disappointed." Luna said.

After a while that orange mare came out followed by a similarly colored andaned stallion, though he was shorter and chubbier. They gave us a large spread of what I can assume was everything on the menu. "Your highness, Goddess and Gilda, it Is an honor to have you three here." The stallion said.

“Uh...wow.” I blinked. “It all looks and smells amazing...but there’s no way we could take all of this for free, how much will it cost?” I asked nervously, knowing I have more money than I know what to do from work and...well apparently being royalty.

"I already have the total rounded up."

“Alright.” I nodded. “Just...didn’t want either Luna being a princess or me being a Goddess change anything.” I said sheepishly.

The food was… amazing. It was spicy and sweet and was like a mix of mexican and indian food. We ate a good half of it before we couldn't eat anymore and with that Luna paid and the guards took the rest, Luna insisting so this place gets more business and the guards get a nice meal.

We headed back to the castle and Luna showed us her room. It was nice, wasn't much in terms of furniture though. A few bookshelves, desk, personal bathroom, bed and that was about it.

“Kind of thought it would be filled with more stuff.” I said honestly. “You’ve probably had plenty of time to browse neat stuff.”

"Yes, well, most of what I liked before my banishment is largely kept in Museums now and not much of the modern decor has caught my eyes. Mostly I just try and catch up on what I missed." Luna sighed, plopping very unprincess like onto her bed. "Though I do enjoy the modern mattresses far more than the old sacks of hay on flat wooden frames." She sighed.

“Oh yeah, the mattresses here feel great.” I chuckled. “But...one thing I’m still disappointed about is clouds...why can’t they feel as fluffy and soft as they look?” I pouted, still having a sore spot with that.

"Some can, the clouds used in buildings and cities are magically altered to feel and act more like wood or concrete. Ones used for beds or other furniture are kept softer." Gilda said. "You don't typically see them outside of the cloud cities though."

“But they would be so soft and comfy though.” I said honestly. “So...anything else you want to talk about before cuddles?”

"Nothing in particular, just a question really." Luna said.

"Shoot." Gilda replied.

"Who's top, who's bottom, and who's in the middle?" Luna asked as her dress came off magic. Hello midnight blue~

Our night with Luna ended with, well, a bang. No crazy sex blackouts thankfully. I was dreaming. I found it weird how sometimes I can dream and others I end up in Zanarkand.

I was sleeping under a tree, a single tree in a large, vast grassy field under a warm midday sun. As I was opening my eyes I yelped, feeling fingers wrapped around my neck as from behind me appeared a silhouette of a person, their body was made from Black Pyreflies and their eyes glowed yellow and without pupils.

I was wrestling their hands off my neck, they were strong.

“Get...off...me…” I tried to kick them off me, not knowing what the hell is going on here as I struggled against my dream assailant.

Finally I managed to pull them off me and kick them down. As I was catching my breath they jumped back up and ran, moving like an inhuman beast rather than a person. I got up, giving chase through the grass. I followed them for possible miles before falling down some hole and tumbled into… what?

I looked around, seeing familiar ruined and flooded ruins around me. Zanarkand?

“Uh...excuse me what?” I blinked, seeing that...these were the Zanarkand Ruins, not the normal Zanarkand. “The hell? Why am I here?”

I walked through the ruins, and finally began to… hear something. "The hell are we going to do with him?" I heard… Tommy?

I walked towards his voice. Tommy's here? Why? "We should kill him." That voice… dad?!

I rushed, chasing the source of the voice and saw them… mom… dad… Tommy… me?

I saw the four of us in a circle, standing a ways away from… a tied up Zeke… no, a Tied up Yevon.

"As much as we hate the Ventral's for what they are back home, killing him won't make us better than them." Mom said.

"Mom, he popped out of Anna in a flurry of Pyreflies after she killed Yevon! For all we know if God sent us here as hero's then maybe Satan sent him here as the bad guy!" Tommy protested.

“What’s going on?” I asked worriedly, walking closer to my family. “Tommy? Mom, Dad? What’s going on?”

They didn't reply. Didn't even look at me. I tried to touch dad and… like a ghost, I phased through them… dreaming… I'm dreaming… am I dreaming about… memories?

I looked over at the tied up Yevon. He said when they met my family tied him up and nearly killed him.

"You honestly think a Ventral could get sent here with the power of a god and just do the basic damage Yevon did?" The other me asked. "After I killed Yevon that… showed up. Whatever it is I doubt it's an actual Ventral. Maybe just some last sick joke by Yevon or even Seymour, but he isn't attacking us-"

"Because we tied him up." Dad interrupted.

"And how many times have you had a Ventral in custody in a restraint jacket, muzzle and legs tied up and they escaped?" The other me countered. "If that was a real Ventral he'd be long gone already, but he's just laying there." They all looked over at the immobile Yevon.

“I mean...I do have a massive point here.” I said honestly. “He would have bolted rather quickly with just a normal tied to a chair bit.”

The other me sighed, taking a deep breath. "Whatever and whoever that is, it's not Zeke Ventral… still, I doubt we can trust them, whatever they are."

"So what should we do?" Mom asked.

The other me sighed again. "We'll take him back with us to Tidus and the others, from there we'll figure it out once we get back home."

With that the other me and my family moved, dad kicking Yevon to his feet and keeping the tip of his sword on his back as they walked. I tried to follow, but some invisible door blocked me from exiting where they just walked through.

“Oi, the hell!?” I shouted, banging on the door. “I’m supposed to relive these memories, let me in damn it.” I huffed.

I flinched as a very inhuman growl echoed from behind me. Turning I saw that Silhouette of black Pyreflies standing on the other side of the room, crouched down like a feral animal.

"Alright asshole, bring it." I growled, raising my arms up to fight this monster. "Either you tell me what you are, it I'm gonna beat the shit out of you, your choice."."

The silhouette roared, a deep loud roar that made me cover my ears. To my surprise it jabbed itself in the chest with a hand, and pulled out a sword I am pretty sure belongs to Cloud given the look and size. It then charged at me with the sword in hand… shit!

"Never mind!" I panicked and immediately ran away from the thing.

I dodged a swing that cut the ground where I was clean through and kept running as they effortlessly pulled it from the stone and chased me again. Their swing nearly hit me. I could feel the tip of that sword just barely graze my back. That sensation made me fall and as I turned to see this thing ready to swing down at me.

It recoiled, an arrow hitting it on the neck. It ripped it out only to have four more strike it along it's head and toros. It roared at the unseen attacker and ran off, dropping the giant sword. As I got up, seeing it was gone I saw a guy, maybe fifteen or so jump down towards me. He had a large bow in hand and wore a white jacket with blue jeans. He had blue eyes and short cut brown hair.

"Uh….hi?" I asked nervously. "Who are you?"

They looked at me for a time, as if seeing a ghost before running and hug tackling me. "Mom!"

Say what?!

"Excuse me what!?!" I asked in panic. "W-w-what are you...I haven't given...what?"

They let go, looking at me and their smile faded to a sad frown. "You really don't remember, do you?" He asked, sighing as he tried to collect himself. "You… Don't remember any of it, nothing at all?"

“Listen.” I put a gentle hand on his shoulder. “If Yevon is your dad...blame your dad for being a jackass.” I said honestly. “But...honestly...I couldn’t be happier to see one of my kids being awesome.”

They chuckled. "At least you haven't changed. So, I imagine you want an explanation or something?"

“All the explanations you can, unless you’re being hindered by time travel logic.” I said honestly. “And let me guess, you got this dream travel stuff and the bow from Luna or something?”

"No… not even close." They said. "Okay, first things first, do you at least know about your 'resets' to time?"

“I was told about them, yes.” I nodded. “Not sure how all things considered…”

"Well, as you can guess I'm from one of those resets. It was… bad. There was a virus, some… very bad people made, remnants of the death worshiping unsent cults I think. It spread like wildfire through the people… even I got infected. Most everyone had already died on the planet, and… well, you couldn't sit and do nothing. To save us all, you took that Sin form, time traveled back and… well dad said basically it's like Monstro. You… went back and ate that timeline before all the death, spitting out all those people who made the virus and then time resets since you broke it by that point. Dad told me if I ever got to see you again you might not remember me… I was hoping he was wrong."

“Well…” I sighed out. “You wouldn’t happen to know the locations of any strange looking pyreflies right? Given your mine and...Yevon’s son…” I shivered in disgust at admitting that. “You must know where my… Pyreflies are.” I said carefully.

"Aside from that weird black Pyreflies silhouette I haven't seen any while exploring here if I'm lucky I find a tunnel to other prior Timelines. Got to meet a lot of brothers, sisters, even cousins and aunts and uncles. Though it is weird how many of them are with different dads… or that in some of them you're the dad to them." They said. "Oh, and, heh, my name is Tidus."

“Cause of course I’d name you after him.” I chuckled. “And what? Do you have an older brother named Jecht or something?”

"Well, no, you just told me I was named after the man who saved Uncle Tommy's life."

“That’s fair.” I nodded. ”So...what bring you here specifically besides...well, saving my dream life?”

"You're dreaming? Hmm… I guess that would make sense. Well, mostly why I'm here is that I've been exploring the other timelines you've swallowed. Meeting family and making friends. As far as I can find this one seems to be the bottom most timeline, so the first one you likely ate to save people."

That would explain the memory I just saw.

“Well...just so you know, I...think I can remember thing from past timelines.” I said honestly. “Just...need to collect myself...my pyreflies are scattered around for some unknown reason...and just before you got here and that thing ran off, I was seeing a memory of...god knows how long ago.”

"That would make sense. As for what that thing is, we've been calling it The Shade. We've all tried, it can't be killed and seems to know every spell and can use any and every weapon. Usually it leaves us alone but sometimes it tries to hassle us. Whatever it is, it really hates you. I've never seen it attack anyone that violently before."

“Might need to discuss it with…” I clenched my fists. “Okay, you know this more than I do, but how the hell could I ever love Yevon?” I asked. “He’s a rat bastard that’s been either hurting those I care about, or has been supporting their efforts...did I ever tell you why?”

He seemed to think that over, taking some minutes at times. “I… don’t really know. I know what dad is and who he was, but I think it was he just grew on you. You two would tell me about how when he first appeared you’d sooner shove a grenade in his face than get within ten feet of him. Over time though as he didn’t know what being human or having a body was about, you more or less mothered him, and at some point you two just clicked.”

"Was this before or after I kicked his ass for...well being him?" I asked carefully. "Cause...while he is charming when I don't want to strangle him…" I started, before shaking my head. "This whole thing is just...a pain in the ass…" I groaned, rubbing my temples bitterly.

“Heh, a lot of the others said the same thing. The ones who got to meet you after the reset anyways. All I can tell you is that it took time and probably some dumb luck.” Tidus said. “Come on, before that thing comes back, you gotta meet the others.”

“The others?” I asked curiously. “What others?”

"Your friends and family… of many timelines." Tidus said as he lead the way.

“Um...are you sure about this?” I asked nervously. “Nothing bad will happen? Like, the Time Police won’t just appear and try to ruin this?”

"You ate these timelines so, I doubt it. And it's not like time matters here anyway so I doubt there is any 'time police'."

“I wouldn’t have been surprised though.” I said sheepishly. “So...where specifically are you all hanging out at?”

"Wherever we can really. Fishing, growing food, gotta keep fed." He said as we walked through a ruined building. "Since most of us have some form of magic or powers we don't worry all that much about running out of food."

“So...is this a dream or did I stumble across another section of my inner world that I’m probably not gonna figure out how to get to?” I inquired. “Cause this has happened before right?”

"According to most of the others, yeah."

“Right…” I nodded lightly. “Okay...so how many people are we talking about in this ruined settlement?”

"Well, in total amongst the timelines… no idea. I stopped counting at a thousand."

"Jesus Christ…" I groaned. "Can't things go right for once?"

As I followed Tidus out of here I was surprised to see a small machina ship docked nearby. We got on and he started it up and we were off. "Best hold on." He said as the water got… louder? Oh no!

I grabbed the nearby railing and held on as we went over a tall waterfall. He did something and suddenly we were not falling… we were flying? W-woah…

The boat now sported a massive spinning turbine above us. All around us was flooded, upturned earth where bits of buildings once stood tall now barely poked out of their graves.

"Well…" I started. "This...is most certainly mething…"something."

"From what I gathered, in this timeline, it was an asteroid."

"Nothing like a giant fuck off rock to ruin everything…" I grumbled.

"Yeah." Tidus sighed. "Hungry? Think I still have some grilled Chocobo meat in the fridge."

"Why would you grill chocobo's?" I asked, shock in my voice as they eat those adorable yellow birds.

“It’s a giant turkey, you clearly forgot how good those things are on a rotisserie.”

"They're adorable and sacred, why!?" I whined, not liking seeing those adorable faces turned to food.

“Well it was a little after we all ended up here and crops weren’t grown yet. So it was risk starving by fishing to feed hundreds of people or… eat now and get boats ready to fish in bulk.”

"I….guess so…" I grumbled. "But I'm still not okay with Chocobo's being food...their reliable, friendly and cute."

I had to admit, it tasted really nice, well seasons and even after being refrigerated and reheated, it was still moist. After that meal we arrived at a doc along… huh, this almost looks like Wakka's village. But a bit more modern.

"Tidus!" I looked up, seeing a lot of kids running over to Tidus.

"Find anything?" A little girl asked.

"Well, I found someone." Tidus said.

The army of kids all turned and saw me. Then charged at me. "Grandma!" They all cried out, tackling me to the ground. Grandma?!?!

“Whoa whoa hold up, excuse me?” I asked in surprise. “Grandma? I’m eighteen.”

"Timelines, remember?" Tidus said as he tried to help me back up. "And besides, it's not like you change physically all that much over the years. You or dad really."

“And...what about Gilda and the others?” I asked carefully, managing to get out of the massive dog pile and looking at all of my...grandkids.

"You mean when you reset and married mortals?"

“When I reset and marry the people I care about.” I said, not liking how he said ‘mortals’ like they didn’t mean much.

"Well, typically you love and live with them, then you see they get some grey hairs or wrinkles, panic, then ask them to revive a blessing from you, that blessing being eternal life." Tidus said. "From what I've seen it's fifty fifty on how many accept it."

“Cause I never asked to be immortal, or be a goddess…” I frowned. “But boo hoo for me…” I muttered as I continued to look over all my grandkids, hoping at least some of them were grandkids from me and the Herd and not...with Yevon.

I noticed a lot of them were… hybrids. Some were human, some cat-like, one was even part cat and lizard. "Come, Hector will wanna see you."

“I’m seeing...a whole lot of lizards and cats...and who’s Hector?” I inquired.

"You've had a lot of husband's… and wives." Tidus said awkwardly. "And, well, from what we've found out, Hector is your first born child, the oldest of all of us really."

“I can’t wait to meet him then.” I said. “And yeah...me and Gilda will most certainly have a lot of husbands and wives.”

When we entered the town proper everyone who saw me ran and gave me a hug, or even kiss! Apparently I also have a lot of mates here as well… The building here that normally serves as the Fayth Temple was rebuilt into a housing of sorts. It was here I spotted a man older than most of the others here. He had dirty blonde hair with light brown eyes and… looked a lot like dad from old photos I’ve seen of him.

He saw me, smiling as he walked over. “It’s good to see you again mom, though, I take it you only know my name because Tidus told you?” Hector asked.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d have thought dad got deaged a bit.” I said honestly.

“Not the first time you’ve said that to me.” He said with a chuckle.

“So...might as well get the big question out of the way…” I muttered. “Who’s your father? Cause you might be hiding hybrid parts with magic cause of...reasons.”

They sighed. “Like Tidus, I am yours and Yevon’s son… your first born.” He said, Tidus taking leave. “I’m gonna take a guess and say that because you can’t remember the thought of around… thirty percent of us being from you and dad upsets you.”

“Is it that obvious?” I asked. “I’m sorry...I know me hating your…’father’...is a bad thing...but come on!” I said incredulously.

“I have been through this so much that I’m honestly a bit used to it. But, that just means I am to give this to you, as usual.” He said, taking out one of those message hologram memory spheres. “You left this for yourself about a hundred or so resets ago, for when you forget everything. It’s mostly just a message to yourself about dad, us. There’s a couple notebooks up in the room where the Fayth is too.”

“Cause that’s what I need, me to tell me my rightful feelings for wanting to kick Yevon’s ass are bad…” I grumbled as I took the memory sphere. “Everything’s...going too fast…” I muttered.

“Heh, then you best head up there and watch it. Just don’t rush it, alright?” Hector asked as he went back to doing work. I held onto the sphere, heading through the temple and up to the room with the fayth- A few notebooks my ass! This room is stacked with them!

After looking at all the piles I spotted one sitting up, the cover written in marker saying ‘Start Here Future Amnesia Anna’.

“I even labeled it for me, how thoughtful…” I muttered, opening the book to see what I had instore for...myself. “Okay seriously, this is way above what I thought was going to happen in my life…”

Dear… me? Anna? Fuck it you know who I’m writting this for, and Hecotor, other kids of mine, any of you reading this I will ground you!

Now then, me, this is left for you in the event we lose all our memories by eating a timeline and resetting it to save our family and loved ones from a world ending threat we can’t solve. The fact that this happens a lot… isn’t coincidence, Yevon and I… us? You? Gah! Why did I write gah?

Point is we are in a cycle with Yevon. As Gods of Life and Death we by nature enter a dance that always goes back to the beginning, in this case, us preventing the end of the world by resetting time. As you explore the other timeline lands you will see that not every reset is the same. Some are similar and some are vastly different. Take Timeline 88 for example. We literally lived in a world made up of Candy and magic where the only other human we met was some reckless goofball named Fin The Human… no seriously that was his whole name. See book 9973 for his profile and the list of our kids.

“Whoa hold up, they went to Adventure Time world?” I blinked. “Lucky...wait, our kids!?”

Now before you freak remember, in many of these timelines we lose our memories and make new lives, so yes we find, hang out with, grow up with/semi raise, then marry and bang the Adventure Time Protagonist. After he is Eighteen though. Came really close a few times though before that… he looks way cuter IRL than from a cartoon…

Back to my point. This cycle can only end in one way, Yevon dies, or we die… but, there in lies the issue… our kids, Hector, Tidus, Kira… all of the kids we had with him… They are demi gods, and gain their powers from the both of us. If one of us dies, or both of us, then they will… get sick… and most likely die. Their bodies can’t live or function without the energy we gave them by, well, making them.

I know that at this point in your lack of memories that you would sooner strangle his neck and stab a sword through his gut that want to get to know him… especially given how his natural influence on the worlds we end up on every reset affect things. Fiends, unsent, pockets of prior timelines here and there… yes, he is making them. Mostly they just appear but he can have an influence on them. He uses this to help us, getting our powers back in some way like being able to shift back into Aeons or a surplus of Pyreflies to regain access to the maximum fiend evolutions. See notebook 203 for how that became a thing in Timeline 43.

“Good lord…” I muttered. “And him? Helping me? That’s...not correct, like at all.”

Now, at this point you are thinking that is not correct, like at all, and while that feels true… he genuinely loves us… which leads to the question I bet you want answered, why do you love him. How did we ever love him? Well, for that, you need to review the memory sphere.

“I’m questioning because he sent that Cactaur Jenny to murder me, and said he loves my fear.” I frowned as I pulled out the memory sphere. “If he actually did, then why has he tried murdering me at least four times?” I frowned, turning on the Sphere to see what the hell is on this thing.

The hologram thing that appeared was of me, sitting down. “Hey there Anna, it’s you… heh, this is weird. I’m leaving you this to explain some things. Best part in timeline 4, where we made this, a friend of ours made this sorta AI like and responsive, so, got a question just ask away.”

“Where to even begin…” I sighed out. “But...might as well, why Yevon of all people?”

“Believe me, it was a surprise too… but he can be… genuinely sweet and caring. His whole existence before was death and repeating it. He knew nothing else until we came along. He got to experience what it means and feels to be alive while he recovered inside us. In that time he grew to… like us, love us. It took us a long time before we even gave him the time of day, and that was before we even knew who he actually was but we started giving him a chance when we ran into some remnant Unsent. His powers were minimum back then still but it was enough to make one obey him to cause enough of a distraction to get us all out of that mess.”

“So...why has he been talking about ‘loving my fear’ and sending several people to damn near kill me?” I frowned. “Jenny Ventral, Seymoure, Chrysalis and a few others.”

“As you know, he is a god of Death now. In the time we’ve spent together we became like his anchor. Without us around for too long he begins to revert to old ways of thinking and wants. I won’t lie to you, he can gain power from us being afraid and for him it’s like an addiction. The garden, our promise, is the one place he can feel sane. It’s where our link as each others opposite is strongest. It’s the one place his addiction can’t reach him. What he does out there without us… it’s bad. Basically we keep him tethered and in control, without us he… well, you know. There's a way, in case you are wondering, for us to get power from him, like how our fear can give him power… I bet you can guess though.”

“Oh for fuck sakes…” I groaned. “I’d rather not...so what? Instead of...the guy you care about getting murdered by me...I have to figure out how to stop him from going apeshit everytime I don’t put a leash on him?”

“That’s in world 230, he was an anthro grey hound and we were a red panda...Yevon certainly liked collar’s then that’s for sure.” My AI half chuckled as I blushed brightly.

“Too much information!” I whined.

The AI me laughed. “In any case it’s not just sex, just… love in general. It calms and counteracts his nature and can give us power in return. Think about it, a being who has never experienced love or even the physical touch of anything before… suddenly gets it, it’s understandable that for him to stay who we fell in love with we need to be by him. I know you don’t like it, for many reasons, but he can genuinely be a nice guy. Besides, Yevon is as much at conflict with the idea as you are.” I frowned, raising an eyebrow. “Think about it, without us he reverts to his original state of being and mentality. It’s like there’s two of him now. One that we fell in love with, then the other, his original, obsessed with cycles of death and all that. His choice and his nature are at war. One dominates the other depending on if we are around with him or not.”

“So...I have to figure out how to rip him in half and kill the squid bastard still inside him or something?” I asked.

“If you can. We once tried going inside Yevon’s mind to hunt them down in there… It didn’t end well.”

“How so?” I inquired. “What, too many super fiends or something?”

“I can’t say. You never gave me that information, never wrote down what was in there and it was the one and only time you did a reset without a reason… you just wanted to forget what happened in there. Yevon was… just as bad.”

“Goodie...maybe it’s also his memories of before all this happened…like, even before he became that squid thing.” I said honestly.

“Possibly. You did research any and all means to split the two so our Yevon and the other Yevon could be split… It would require a powerful weapon of balance to do so.”

“Why does that sound...oddly familiar given who Yevon looks like?” I questioned, having the strangest sense of Deja Vu when ‘balance’ was brought up along with the looks of Zeke Ventral. “Also, since that thought crossed my mind, why does he look like Zeke Ventral?”

“His old self’s sense of humor more than anything. But that’s just our guess. Honestly not even he knows why.”

“Cause if it’s me having some unknown crush on Zeke, then no.” I huffed. “He maybe cute, but he’s not as cute as Gilda.”

“In any case, I imagine you have other questions.”

“What are those ‘evolved fiends’? Cause they don’t feel like fiends at all.” I said, having shapeshifted into some of them they felt more...alive then what normal Fiends felt.

“When you became a Goddess of Life and took control over Pyreflies from Yevon, the Fiends began to act and change, becoming more like organic beings than beings forged from regrets and sudden unexpected deaths.”

“That...makes a lot of sense actually.” I said honestly. “So how do I...regain my memories and powers?” I asked. “Do I just...gather my Pyreflies or something?”

“It’s different each time. Sometimes you regain them all on your own, other times it takes triggers. You’ll just have to wait and see I guess. But, to help that’s what all these notebooks are for. They have stories, memories and photos in them from each and every timeline.”

“Good to know.” I nodded. “So...how did all my husbands and wives react to...Yevon being Father? The bastard that’s been funneling all the Fiends and Unsent and...murdering or traumatising millions?”

“Most didn’t even know who he is or was. Others were… well, reactions varied.”

“How did Tidus and his group get to Equis or...wherever the hell we ended up? Yevon mentioned they were dear friends but...that doesn’t explain why their stone statues.”

“Resetting time is not… natural. Most of the time it shouldn’t even be possible. People like Tidus and his group are recurring, like Tommy, mom and dad. You all share a powerful bond and when time resets, rather than residing safely inside you, they are brought out. Of course, as far as time is concerned they should not even exist. So they are petrified or… placed where they can adjust to the new timeline without causing damage.”

“Then what about God? He sent me over and my family way before...all of this.” I said honestly.

“Haven’t seen him since we sent off, and as you can now see, that was many, many… lifetimes ago.”

"Even though I saw him in this life time and he didn't question the reset." I shrugged. "So anyways...hmm…" I wondered what to say next. "There's still so much to ask but...I don't know which one…"

“There’s always questions.” The other me sighed. I asked some basic questions, just tried to get some information. Eventually, I asked about Gilda and that link I made with them. “It sounds like you turned Gilda into an apostle.”

“An Apostle?” I inquired to myself. “The hell is that?”

“A person of mortal flesh and bones you can give the ability to share a link with you. This link does everything from allowing them to utilize your powers to a degree you deem fit to allowing you to even use them as a host if you are far away or even on different worlds.”

“Huh...that’s rather interesting.” I said. “Definitely should have saved that for the wedding.” I chuckled.

“You did that with a lot of your wives and husbands. Some of your kids too but just the ones who were… accident prone.”

“That’s fair.” I nodded. “Hopefully my kids won’t be too accident prone considering...how I have to raise them here…” I sighed out.

“You know, you did try and research a means to get them all out from here.” AI me said. “Notebook 91.”

“I can get all my kids out of here?” I asked curiously. “But...wouldn’t that do bad things?”

“I, well, you didn’t believe so. Timelines are unique in that they all are capable of adapting to the new one. Technically speaking, the set up within you can be a form of timeline or dimension when you store them away.”

“Is there a Time Police or something?” I asked carefully.

“None that we’ve run into.”

“Alright.” I nodded. “But...what was my reaction when...all of this went way beyond just saving our brother and parents?”

"Varied. Sometimes we rolled with it, others we took a breather to process and a few times just screamed Into pillows."

“That’s...fair.” I nodded, having wanted to do the ‘screaming into a pillow’ a whole lot. “Well...if I didn’t have Gilda I’d probably be screaming a whole lot…”

"Sounds like another keeper then."

“Gilda is amazing.” I said warmly. “Uh...question, how many times have I been to Equis?”

"Hmm… that I was informed of, three including this timeline."

“I’m...surprised it’s so little.” I said. “Everyone back in the...waking world I suppose, is amazing...I couldn’t imagine being without them to be honest.”

"You have a big heart Anna. This reality, this safe haven is proof of that."

“I...made this place?” I asked. “Cause it certainly wasn’t safe when a black pyreflied figure tried stabbing me with Clouds sword.”

"That is the only issue with this reality. The Shade has been here since the first reset. It mostly avoids people and when it does cause trouble it mostly kills animals or breaks buildings. Save for you, it always attacks you."

"Why me?" I frowned. "The fuck did I do to piss it off?"

"One of the mysteries that, even after all this time, evade us to this day. A theory is that it has something to do with the state Yevon Is in, and your own link matching it."

“Goodie...another thing to deal with.” I groaned. “So...where’s the train station? Since I’m pretty sure this place is connected to normal Zanarkand given this is my dream world.”

"Don't know. You wake up from here as if it's there so, yes they are likely linked but where they link has yet to be found."

“Has anyone found any key’s? Cause I think I need a train car key to unlock this place.” I said honestly.

"Possibly. The Blitz Ball Arena always does that for you, but you've never been able to win the final match."

“Why? What’s the final match?” I inquired.

"Your team vs some hologram looking version of The Zanarkand Abe's."

“Why am I not surprised that the final match is against those bastards.” I chuckled. “Well...who was my team normally?”

“You, Jecht, Tidus, Nimrook, Zev Ronso, and Wakka.” My AI told me.

“Sounds like a good line up.” I nodded.

"Not good enough given you never won. And to make it worse that hologram team also has their own copies of Jecht and Tidus."

“Now that’s just cheating.” I huffed. “But if I can’t beat them with this line up...better see who I could replace on the team cause if I never beat them then that’s a little bullshit.”

"It is." My AI nodded. "Good luck to you."

I woke up happy I was hugging my bird femboy, Luna's body pressed against my back. From how I felt I shifted into a griffon like Gilda. I happily enjoyed this embrace to relax and ignore the ever growing questions at hand.

“This is nice…” I muttered to myself happily, just enjoying the warmth and simplistic feeling of cuddles.

As we began to wake up and greet the early morning and get dressed a new craving hit me… jello. This one must be from my human side at least. I remember when mom was having Tommy she ate a lot of jello too.

"So the Zebras, Yacks and Buffalo should all be there now." Luna said. "We'll have to greet them first thing when we arrive."

“So...since I haven’t met any Zebra’s outside of Zecora a few times, which I’m still thankful she’s okay from...everything that’s going on…” I sighed out. “What are the Yaks and Buffalo like?”

"From what I know the Buffalo are a bit like the Zebra only they're nomadic, running along the dry lakebeds East-West of the southern Equestrian border." Gilda said.

"As for the Yaks, they are a rather proud race. Very loud and destructive too. If any could match a Minotaur in a fight it's a Yak." Luna said.

“Huh...but are Yaks and Buffalo stupidly fluffy though?” I inquired.

"Well yes." Luna said.

“So even if one’s nomadic and the other can probably keep up with Minotaur’s in a bar fight, they're probably really wonderful to cuddle.” I nodded.

That made Gilda and Luna laugh. "What is the obsession with ones coat?" Luna asked.

“It’s...have you ever went to sleep holding a stuffed animal before?” I asked. “The softness, warmth...and I’m going to stop myself before I go onto a sad tangent…” I shook my head,.

"So you enjoy having a fluffy coat too?" Gilda asked.

“Listen, ever since I got you as a boyfriend and cuddled, I want cuddles...it feels cold and lonely without it…” I sighed out.

"Can't argue there."

"Then perhaps I shall grow my coat out~" Luna teased.

“You’re fur is already nice.” I said warmly to Luna. “Sometimes you need smooth and soft than...well, so much fur you can literally hide inside of it as far as I know.” I shrugged.

"You mean like you did with Peppermint's boobs?" Gilda said with a chuckle.

“That’s different.” I blushed. “So anyways, we should probably get going before the Yaks get pissed maybe…”

"That would be best." Luna said, she took one hand if mine and Gilda the other and we walked like that to the train station. It was a relaxing, happy walk.

(Somewhere in the Minotaur Kingdom)

Yevon slammed his fist into a wall, panting heavily as he clutched at his chest. "No, not yet you squid bastard..." Yevon growled, pulling at his shirt and pulling out a locket and opening it, showing himself, Anna, and their first born son, all standing and smiling happily and filled with love. "Just...something...anything to help us..." He muttered.

"My lord, we've located another one of Mother's Pyreflies." A cloaked figure said to Yevon.

"Good, make preparations to give Anna a reason to go to that portal..." Yevon took a deep breath, seeing in the shadow's the symbol of his old life, slowly trying to crawl back and make him it's servant again. "Please Anna...you're the only one that can help me..." The God of Death thought to himself as he vanished into thin air, hoping to find someway to end this god forsaken cycle and keep his love.

To be continued...

Chapter 11

In an undisclosed area of the Minotaur Lands, hidden within one of their long forgotten mines, stood Yevon as he raised his summoner’s staff high. “I summon thee.” He said as Pyreflies started to escape his body and coalesce into nine forms.

“What’s wrong this time Yevon?” Valefor, a female anthro hawk asked, her red feathers and fur sticking out from her soft golden dress and jewelry, her long ponytail resting on top of her shoulder going down the front of her chest.

“I need your help figuring out a way to get Anna to…” Yevon trailed off, not sure how to start this.

“See reason?” Mindy, the young bee girl and youngest of the Magus Sister Trio, guessed.

“Get her back to her full powers?” Mindy, a portly ladybug woman and the oldest of the Magus Sister Trio, guessed.

“Actually date you for all the shit Spiral’s been causing?” Mindy, the tall mantis woman and middle of the Magus Sister trio, inquired.

“Or all of the above cause you’ve always had trouble deciding on one course of action?” Shiva, the blue fair skinned woman, asked simply as she softly moved her blue and white crystalline cloak around to fit better against her lithe and shapely figure.

“You got it Shiva…” Yevon sighed out. “I don’t know how long I can keep Spiral at bay with how things are going…”

“Well so far she’s gotten Ifrit, so if she can figure out how to talk to the fiery bastard then she can hopefully see some reason.” Ixion, the tall grey and white furred unicorn stallion, answered.

“She barely knows how her powers work as is, and she just learned she’s a Goddess of Life…” Yevon sighed out.

“Please Yevon, calm yourself.” Anima said softly, her body the second tallest of the group as her body was covered in ancient sigils, talismans, and chains that held her boundless power in check. “I just hope my son hasn’t been...too much of a hassle for her.”

“He hasn’t done too much damage thankfully.” Yevon shook his head and took a deep breath. “But right now we need to come up with a plan to get her stronger, or at least help Life start to push back against death.”

“There’s a piece of Sombra’s soul in the Dragon Lands.” Bahamut, obsidian scaled dragon with an ornate karmic wheel floating between his wings and tallest of the group, answered. “If she’s not too busy we can coax her into hunting that part down and get her some dragon pyreflies.”

“You sure that will work?” Yevon inquired the dragon.

“Even if I’m from Spira, the name of Bahamut spans countless realities.” The dragon said honestly. “I’m still the King of Dragon’s, the oldest and strongest.”

“Now is that before or after we get into all the other version’s of yourself?” Yojimbo, the wandering samurai said as he softly pet his red furred dog Daigoro.

“Don’t even get me started…” Bahamut sighed out. “But it’s at least a start, plus the dragon’s on this world have a certain...specialty to them that could help Anna out.”

“How so?” Yevon inquired. “I haven’t had much time with Dragon’s, mostly because the dragon lands damn near kills any fiend that isn’t naturally born to fire, and anything that tries to fight a dragon get’s killed rather quickly.”

“Dragon’s are the strongest race on this planet excluding very specific individuals.” Bahamut explained. “Ageless, physically and magically gifted through thousands of years of training, study, and to a certain extent selective breeding, and they’re one of the closest races to the Breath of Life.”

“So that’s why…” Yevon muttered, remembering several reports on the history of this world that a few areas in this part of the world were actually created due to long dead ancient dragons, the ancient records stating that whenever a dragon of sufficient age and strength passed, it’s body would return to the Earth almost instantly and it’s body, once a proud and powerful visage, would become nothing more than hills, mountains, or other such terrain based on the type of dragon that died.

"So, get Anna to absorb both some Dragon Unset, the piece of Sombra, and use Bahamut here to telepathy her a date request?" Mindy stated.

“Whoa whoa hold on, a date!?” Yevon asked in surprise at how forward one of the aeon’s wanted him to be.

“My lord, reports state that Anna is heading to the Crystal Empire.” One of his followers came into report.

“Oh no…” Yevon muttered. “Do they even realize what’ll happen when she gets there?”

“What’ll happen?” Ixion inquired, not sure what might happen if she goes there.

“Effectively...the Crystal Heart that runs the entirety of the Crystal Empire would react with Anna’s godhood and…cause the entire empire to get a whole lot more ‘intimate’ as it were.” Yevon said carefully, now knowing there won’t really be a chance to get her to increase her power or at least gain one of her pyreflies.

"Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't Anna a God of Life? How exactly would that react with the heart to make everyone there… do that?" Bahamut asked.

“The Crystal Empire is run by the Alicorn of Love, Mi Amore Cadenza, or Cadence for short.” He started as he waved his staff, making the pyreflies form into the shape of the Alicorn in question. “The Crystal Heart was made to use the power of joy, love, and other positive emotions to make a powerful light based magical barrier around the empire to protect it from the frozen north it’s placed in...and the one emotion that is the most powerful there is Love...so what happens when you have an extremely powerful artifact that’s powered by love near a Goddess of Life, of fertility.” He said carefully.

"So, you're worried that when she arrives she and this Princess, whose name literally translates to My Love Song, will bring about excess fertility upon the subjects?" Mindy summarized. "Well, there are two options there then."

“And those two being?” Yevon asked carefully.

"We send something to attack and ruin that possibly, or you walk in and cause a whole slew of other things to happen. Also, how are you this awkward, you romance her fine in your Promise."

“Our Promise is a land outside of this, where I can escape my...past…” He said carefully, seeing the haunting glow of his symbol just out of the corner of his eye. “It’s...been difficult to suppress it as of late.”

“Or the writer’s need to change back.” Anima said honestly, the other Aeon’s looking at her like she said something weird. “What? I get summoned by an anchor into a different dimension, I know things.”

“Right…” Shiva started. “So what Mindy is saying...is that Yevon needs something important.” Shiva said with a growing grin.

“You mean it?” Valefor asked, her wing’s fluttering in excitement at what’s about to happen.

Yevon looked between the two, worry on his face. "What are you two planning?"

After Twilight calmed down from her realization that she'll be married to her brother, legally, we began packing. Gilda, Twilight and I were going up to the Empire to meet with Shining and Cadence to discuss this newfound event. “You know, I kind of expected Twilight to still be panicking in some other way at marrying her brother.” I said honestly.

"She's probably coping by pretending this is just a normal visit until reality hits again." Gilda replied, folding our luggage into the suitcases.

“Fair.” I nodded. “Hopefully this visit to the Crystal Empire won’t go terribly wrong like the first time.”

"Hopefully. So, anything you wanna do before we head out tomorrow?"

“Um…” I thought for a bit. “Is there anything we should do? I had a thought of getting Shining and Cadence something here as a little present, just to be nice and all.”

"Honestly, I'm a little curious on what Celestia and Inkwell do that made Luna get therapy."

“That’s a scary thought.” I said honestly. “Must be something pretty weird.”

"Yeah. Well, Inkwell did show up a little bit ago so, I wanna see if I can catch them in whatever acts they do together." Gilda chuckled as they zipped the bag up. "Bet Celeatia's Little Pink Book isn't so little."

“When you live as long as her, I’m pretty sure you get a few weird ideas.” I said honestly.

"Ten bits say she totally had a BDSM dungeon in Canterlot Castle."

“You know I can’t take that bet cause I’m pretty sure she actually does.” I chuckled, finishing up packing my luggage.

"Think she goes with leather or latex?"

“I don’t know actually.” I thought for a bit. “Both have their merits...depends on if she wants to be old school about it.”

"So, now that we're done… wanna find out?"

“Sure.” I nodded. “Let’s go see if Celestia does indeed have a bdsm sex dungeon...never before would I have thought I’d say that, even though I’m marrying literal gods.”

"You're one too." Gilda said, giving me a one armed hug. "A God I fucked and knocked up."

“And it was one of the best moments of my life.” I smiled, leaning up and kissing my sexy griffon’s cheek happily.

"Now then, let's go see what kind of pervert Celestia really is." Gilda said.

With a laugh I followed, walking down the halls and checking the private rooms. Eventually we did find one that was locked. Gilda managed to pick it upen and with a slow swing we opened it… then closed it.

We both walked away. "I regret this idea."

“What in the wide world would she need that much…” I shuddered. “Okay...forget weird, she’s just plain freaky…”

"And did you see how large her boobs were… damn… though I imagine that would basically give you a full body boobjob."

“That...doesn’t sound too bad…” I said honestly. “Breasts are amazing pillows...never thought of them as a bed before.”

"I'm pretty sure I could… put it inside one of her nipples… oh crap we're getting into her craziness aren't we?"

“To be honest...that’s not the weirdest thing we could have seen thankfully.” I started. “It could have been...a lot worse….but we probably should stop thinking about craziness like that…”

"... Right, right… So… think that was lube or body oil or… what Inkwell was soaked in?"

“As long as it’s not something weird and it’s hygienic.” I said honestly.

"Fair… so are you feeling… aroused too or is it just me?"

“I mean...a little yes.” I said carefully. “I mean...it was a little hot when you get past the...weirder things.”

"Alright good. I was worried it was just me for a second." Gilda sighed. "I bet Peppermint could pull something like that off without whatever crazy spells Celestia used…"

“I’m pretty sure she could…” I nodded in agreement. “But...at least we figured out why Luna needed therapy...and concerning that we might have accidentally found a new kink…”

"... I bet you could pull it off in your Monochrome form…" Gilda said.

I thought about that. As is I can basically carry Gilda on my knockers in that form… plus throw in some of the shape shifting and...

“Do you really want to do this?” I asked carefully, trying my best not to just pick him up and drag him to bed to have some weird fun.

"Well, I wouldn't be suggesting it if I wasn't interested. I won't lie, it's giving me a major Why Boner right now but considering thanks to you I better understand myself both as a person and sexually… I'd be willing to give it a go so long as it's with you first " Gilda stated.

I immediately shifted into Monochrome, picked up Gilda and headed to one of the unused guest rooms. “And we’re going to have all the fun as long as it doesn’t get too weird.” I said honestly.

"And if it does get too weird, we'll process if we're cool with it afterwards." Gilda agreed.

And so after three bottles of lube, some variously creative uses of Changeling Shape Shifting, and four hours later, Gilda and I showered together as the recent, interesting sexual activities were still fresh in our minds and the unique afterglow it provided. "It actually wasn't that bad." Gilda said. "They were heavy but not unpleasant and… it definitely was enjoyable feeling that across my entire body."

“And...what you did didn’t feel unpleasant either...weird, but not unpleasant.” I said honestly. “Plus having your entirety between my tits was nice.”

They gave a chuckle, helping to scrub my back. "And uh, speaking of what I did, how are the twins? I imagine feeling my… member rutt inside them was different."

"It most certainly felt weird, but not weird with what you did surprisingly." I said while softly squeezing my breasts at remembering it. "Was different...but kind of nice."

"Sorry in advance if you… lactate something other than milk for a bit…" They laughed weakly as they scrubbed my back. "I'd let you return the favor but I can't shapeshift… though I guess if we ever do this again with Celestia and Inkwell it can definitely be arranged."

"Oh I'm sure they'll be happy to share they're kinks with us." I said honestly. "And uh...it'll be weird to lactate that stuff…" I blushed brightly at the thought of that in public.

"Well, we are in the shower now so… want some help… milking it out before it becomes an issue?" Gilda asked as I felt them grab at my sides. Just below the twins.

"That would probably be for the best...and I hope this weird thought train doesn't lead me to having an exhibitionist fetish…" I muttered the last part to myself.

"Heh, to weird yet enjoyable sex." Gilda laughed as they reached up and… helped me clean up more.

I was back in Zanarkand. Everything was going well here now that there were, well, people here. The Changelings made this formerly empty city home and I was watching as they went around doing jobs and keeping the place looking lively. "And the crops just, poof, sprouted overnight." Tidus explained as we walked the streets. "Apples, wheat, everything. It was… surprising."

"Considering this world is stuck in the head of a Goddess of Life...I'm not surprised." I said honestly. "But the changelings have sure made this place home...and now I'm curious as to how many picked up Blitzball."

"Some. While they did make two teams to play against each other the main tournament things, you know the ones, are not able to be played by either. I guess one or the three of us has to be there for it to begin."

"And Jecht is just rolling in the praise for being one of the best here?" I asked

"Showing off daily… to make it worst he somehow got Chrysalis to be his personal cheerleader and her uniform… is not standard issue…" Tidus sighed. "Course Ocellus is almost as bad. I don't think she quite gets clothes yet…"

"I wouldn't be surprised if they're dating already." I shook my head.

"Me neither…" Tidus sighed. "So, how have you been lately?"

“Oh you know, same old same old.” I said honestly. “Going to visit Cadence and Shining Armor cause I’m going to marry them...as well as Twilight who’s probably ignoring the fact she might have to marry her brother because of me.”

"Well, is that so bad? It will just be on paper and it's not like they're gonna be screwing so, it's mostly just for legality and political reasons."

“I think it’s more her panicking about the possibility that I’m in the middle of those two during...fun times as it were.” I said carefully.

"Well, you kinda will be, but even so you're all adults." Tidus shrugged. "So aside from political marriages, anything new abilities wise miss Goddess of Life?"

“Not really… just me possibly learning how my past lives cause...that’s a massive thing right now.” I said. “By the way, has anyone seen Ifrit? Cause I absorbed his Fayth and...well I haven’t heard him or seen hide nor hair of him.”

"Hmm… if I were an all powerful fire spirit, where would I call home?" Tidus hummed. He thought for a while before looking up. "There they are…"

I looked out where he was looking, seeing the faint rise of… steam?

“Alright, so that’s where he is…” I muttered. “Well, might as well go talk to him and see if he knows anything about...whatever the hell’s going on.”

"Alright, come on." Tidus said as we walked onward. After a fair walk, we arrived at an old but we'll kept Hydro Plant, as the sign above stated. The various exhaust pipes all cold and dormant save for one that flowed with constant steam. "Figured." Tidus said. "Twenty years before I was born they built a new one that didn't rely on coal to boil the water. They kept it open but only ran it at a quarter it's maximum output. In school they said that, in its prime, this place could burn nine tons of coal all at once in it's Primary boiler."

“Damn, that’s a lot of coal to burn.” I said in surprise. “Better question is...why need coal when people can literally use fire magic? Can’t they contain it or something?”

"Well, yes that's why they built a new one." Tidus said. "This one was built back when Zanarkand was first founded. Well before the modern era. Back then Magic, while understood, couldn't produce the heat needed for a twenty-four-seven production of power, freshwater and sea salt for public consumption. I figured Ifrit would want to be somewhere where it can feel at home, and this place's Primary boiler can hold some serious heat."

“Fair enough.” I nodded. “Let’s just hope we don’t need to do any Cloister of Trials just to get to him…” I grumbled.

"Tell me about it…" Tidus huffed.

Thankfully, entering the facility we were met by a few Changelings keeping the place in order. I was amazed at how massive the pipes that pumped the ocean water into the boiler were. There were ten massive pipes all leading to various sized boilers, but all ten lead to one massive boiler in the back. It was bigger than my fucking highschool. Campus and all, and stood an amazing ten stories high. Only two of the ten pipes were flowing with water.

We walked to the main coal feeding station for the behemoth boiler. Immediately we were hit by a heatwave that felt like an assault from the sun itself. I rapidly changed into my own Ifrit form, the heat no longer bothering me. "Guess you go it alone from here." Tidus wheezed, already drenched in sweat from the heat.

“Alright, you go back and get yourself something to drink.” I told him, knowing that heatstroke sucks ass and not wanting my friend to get injured because of this.

Giving me a thumbs up, Tidus left for someplace cooler, and I walked forward into the boiler.

“Hello?” I called out. “Any spirit of fire in here I should know about?”

As I walked further in I noticed there were a few piles of coal, all lit up but not enough to make the heat needed by the boiler… no, it was just enough to make some light.

Eventually I spotted Ifrit, as he looked from the game, hunched nearby a pile of the light giving coals. "So, you finally showed up." He spoke.

"Well hello to you too." I huffed. "How are you doing?"

"Been better. So, what brings you to my sanctuary?"

“Well I wanted to ask some important questions.” I said honestly. “First of which is why you were randomly in pieces in YellowStone national park?”

"I was placed there by Yevon. A means to rapidly regain your full powers back."

“What rhyme or reason would he do that?” I asked. “Is there something wrong with him to try and force this?”

"You've seen the state of the world, the Unsent and the Fiends running around. If a balance is not reestablished, then the scale will break."

“And...what’ll happen if it breaks?” I asked nervously.

"You know the answer. You've swallowed and saved four million, seven hundred and fifty three thousand, two hundred and fifteen timelines from that fate, by resetting time."

“I only have some semblance of knowledge that I did literally any of that.” I told him. “I barely know where to even find my ‘missing pieces’ cause apparently that’s a thing.”

"And you wish to know?"

“I’d really like to know, even though I found a weird world where...I found my children with Yevon and a weird library with past memories...just have absolutely no idea how to get back there…”

"Your 'stomach' as it were." Ifirit said. "A Gods biology is representative of their title. This place, is the head, mind. To reach your stomach, you must find your maw, and travel down from there."

“And I have absolutely no idea where to start.” I started carefully.

"Simple." Ifirit said, placing a hand atop the coals. "This is the head, so." He scooped up a pile of coals, tossing them aside and leaving a fair hole in the pile. "Go down."

“So...I need to figure out how to unlock the train station?” I asked. “And...there won’t be anything trying to stop me? Like a weird shadow creature that tried to murder me in my own body?”

"Here, it has no power. No will of its own. Think of it… like a virus. Normally, a virus is meant to multiply and infect… but for you, it's all alone. One mission. To kill you."

“And how or why did that happen?” I asked worriedly. “Cause...I didn’t think a god could get a death virus…”

"Only one God could have created such an entity. The parasite on Yevon's head."

“Oh no…” I muttered worriedly. “Um...what's the name of this parasite?”

"Yevon called him Spiral."

“That’s not good.” I said worriedly. “I thought...he was his own person after he was freed the possibly first time I did this.”

"He was, but like all Parasites, Spiral is a persistent pest. He is very similar in many ways to an entity in this Timeline known as Nightmare Moon. Without true form, requiring a host to act and engage with the physical plane. When Yevon regained a Physical form, Spiral began working to take back his favorite puppet."

“He’s that squid thing at the end of Final Fantasy X?” I asked in shock. “Shit…”

"Yevon was mortal, once, just like you. I'm supposed to give this to you." Ifrit said, reaching back into the coals, and pulling out a single, familiar, grey pyrefly. "Yevon was insistent you get this when you absorbed me, but I wanted to make sure you were even worth it."

“I’m pretty sure Yevon would slap the shit out of you for saying that.” I said honestly as I softly took the grey pyrefly. “Cause...he’s been trying to at least seem like a decent person with me…”

"And this, will explain why." Ifirit said. "You hear Yevon's name and remember the horrors a parasite did while owning it. It's time you remember Yevon, The Human. The Summoner. The Mortal."

“Well...let’s hope I can get some clarity in this…” I muttered as I slowly absorbed my own pyreflies.

I was elsewhere. It looked like… earth, actually. A simple city back on earth. Where… am I?

"Alright...where the hell am I?" I muttered as I tried to find any specific landmark or sign to say where I am.

I found a sign but it was in a language I couldn't read. Walking more through the crowds. And by through the crowds I meant Literally through the crowds. Like all memories I was a ghost here.

Eventually I came across a gated off school playground… where the kids were all playing with various little monsters they were… summoning? Wait… is this Zanarkand?"

“The hell am I doing here?” I frowned. “I...never actually went to old Zanarkand…”

Walking through the gate I watched the kids all play. These summons I have never seen before. They took various forms. Cats, dogs, birds, frogs, lizards, penguins, and even horses. I noticed one kid not playing with any but reading silently. I'd have left them alone if not for their… familiar eyes.

Walking closer, I saw the similarities clear as day. Blonde hair, crimson red eyes… Yevon?

I frowned. I'd never seen images of Zeke Ventral when he was a child… is this… actually how Yevon always looked?

“Why in the world do you look like Zeke?” I muttered to myself, as I also wondered why the little guy was studying instead of playing.

I followed little Yevon around. When school ended, nobody picked him up. He began walking down the sidewalk. I followed him for possible miles through the city and to what looked like a temple or church, so out of place compared to everything around it. Once inside I nearly froze. Fayths. Dozens and dozens of Fayths. Shaking off my shock, I followed Yevon to one Fayth in particular. It wasn't too difficult from the others, but two of the petrified people within had their hands outstretched as if simultaneously petting something.

Yevon placed his head under their hands. It fit perfectly. "Hi mom. Hi dad." He spoke, the first time all day since I arrived and began watching.

“Oh...oh no…” I muttered in shock and sadness. “What...why would…” I muttered, so confused and sad as to why Yevon’s parents were part of a Fayth.

"School was boring. Uncle Vincent teaches better than the teachers." That name… Vincent. Hearing it felt like… ice against my ear drums… and I have no idea why. "He's teaching me about the Aeon Types and Classes… maybe I'll be able to summon your Aeon soon…" Yevon sighed, his hands grasping at the stone arms of his parents. "I miss you…"

“Jesus christ…” I muttered sadly. “This...I didn’t know…”

Yevon sat there for hours before finally standing up and leaving. Following, it seemed Yevon walked a lot. He arrived at an apartment complex. Opening the door to one, Yevon was greeted by bookshelves and book towers lined up along the walls and floor. Christ and I thought Twilight had a problem…

Yevon eventually sat down on the couch, pulling out his book from earlier and continued to read.

"And how was your day?" I jumped. The nearby kitchen had a man preparing food in it. His hair was jet black, eyes a bright blue and wore an all black shirt and jeans. Something about him… terrified me.

"Pretty boring Uncle Vincent." Yevon replied.

"I'd imagine. You're reading these books faster than I can." He laughed.

“And why does this guy scare the absolute shit out of me?” I muttered with worry, seeing this Vincent guy and just...feeling like everything about him screamed Evil.

"So, what am I learning today?" Yevon asked.

"A little review for tonight." Vincent stated, quickly and almost inhumanly chopping various veggies and then dropping them into a pot to boil. He then walked over to a shelf, talking something off and then sat next to Yevon on the couch. He raised a little plastic replica of a Fayth. "Now, what type of Fayth is this?"

"An Alpha Fayth. Made from… willing or punished humans or sentient creatures." Yevon answered.

"Good. And this?" He raised another. I've never seen this one. Rather than being made of people, it looked to be made of various animals.

"Omega Fayth. Made from unintelligent animals becoming a Fayth."

"And this?" This one was also new. It looked like a tree, covered in vines and flowers.

"Beta Fayth. Made from special plants in magic or age."

"Good. Good."

“Huh...didn’t know there were other types of fayth’s…” I muttered.

"And now, how about this one?" Vincent raised the fourth Fayth figurine. It looked… like a stone pillar over a Fayth, save for the small image of a galaxy at the top.

"Uh…" Yevon thought. "... Bridge Fayth?"

Vincent laughed. "Not quite. It's a Binding Fayth. Rather than being made from people, plants or animals, this acts more like an antenna. It attracts and binds a cosmic being to it, turning it into a Fayth."

"Oh… cosmic being?"

"Gods Yevon. Gods and all within that area of celestial existence. None have been made but, it's believed if it was, the Aeon summoned from it would grant godhood upon the summoner."

"Woah…"

“Wait…” I looked at the pillar more carefully. “Wait...that’s a Yu Pagoda!” I said in surprise, the pillar might have been more streamlined, but I remember those weird ancient markings and four lines showing that it was made of four different, powerful pieces.

"Woah indeed." Vincent agreed. "Still, for now it's just theories and a fairy tale." He said, standing up and returning the figures to their places on the shelf. "After dinner we'll review the classes of Aeon, alright."

"Alright." Yevon nodded, picking their bag up and heading to a door, their room most likely.

I flinched as I saw Vincent turn, facing me. I stood frozen as he walked over to me, as if eyeing me. He raised a hand. It phased through me, and he pulled a book off the shelf behind me… through me. "This should be enough for now." He said, looking the book's title over and placing it on the nearby table before heading back to the kitchen.

I breathed. What the Fuck… It's okay Anna, this is memories, I'm a ghost here, he wasn't actually looking at you.

“Just...relax…” I muttered. “Just...keep watching Yevon’s past…”

After they ate, Vincent began reviewing Aeon Classes. "Now then, what are the most common classes of Aeon?" Vincent asked.

"Fighter, Healer, Caster and Scouter." Yevon replied.

"And they do?"

"Fighters are best with physical attacks, labor and anything to do with the body. Healers heal both their Casters, Allies, and other Aeons. Casters while weakest to physical attacks are immune to Magic attacks and can either cast magic or act as a secondary source of magic for the caster and their allies. Scouters while weak too are fast, usually either flying or running around to deal damage over time in a battle. Or used to travel from one place to another really fast."

"Good. How many classes are there in total?"

"Ten."

"And what are the remaining, lesser seen six?"

"Berserker, Elemental, Multiples, Reaper, Demonic, and Divine."

"Good. And what are they?"

"Berserkers are high damage high resistance fighters that are difficult to control. Elementals are pure energy in some form or another given a physical form. Multiples are a mix of one or all classes. Reapers are a one time use, powerful Aeon that slowly kill their own summoner overtime, but are incredibly powerful. Demonic are loyal but only listen to those with ill wills and terrible intentions. Divine are… undiscovered, as they would most likely come from a Binding Fayth."

"Excellent." Vincent nodded.

“Huh...that’s...rather interesting.” I muttered. “I...didn’t think there was this much.”

Then again, the Spira I know and the Spira here are a thousand years and one apocalypse apart...

“Well...actually probably like...six thousand years apart given each Calm is a random amount of time…” I muttered to myself, forgetting that many summoners had to deal with it before.

"And how many Aeons can a summoner have?" Vincent asked.

"It varies from person to person, and the Aeon they wish to summon. Theoretically, you can have unlimited Aeons but most only average three to nine." Yevon answered.

"Excellent. Now, a big one. How is a Fayth made?"

"Well, Alpha Fayths are made by willing people or punished individuals entering a special ritual where they're minds meld and blend together into a form of new entity, kept alive and empowered by their souls. This new Entity becomes an Aeon, and is the ultimate combination of all the people who were used to create the Fayth. For Omegas and Betas the ritual still works but must be initiated by mages rather than the participants."

“Well...at least I finally got an explanation on how the hell Fayth’s are made…” I muttered, always wondering how they somehow became petrified with whatever items were added to give shape to the aeon’s form.

"Now, what happens to a damaged Fayth?" Vincent asked.

"A damaged Fayth must be repaired or it will deteriorate over time and eventually the Fayth and Aeon both perish. To repair a Fayth takes a ritual that adds something, or in the case of an Alpha Fayth, someone, of equal value to the damage." Yevon answered.

"Good. Now, what is a Forbidden Fayth?" I perked up. Forbidden Fayth?

"That's when a person uses forbidden magic to infuse the power of a Fayth into a person or object."

“That...kinda sounds like the Final Aeon…” I muttered.

"Right. And why is it Forbidden?"

"Because the mortal body can not sustain it. Fayths are the mixing of living minds and souls into a single form to create an Aeon. A mortal body can not hold more than one mind let alone soul, so to do so drives the host to insanity and morphed their body into a monstrous form. For Objects it's considered a possibility but unethical as the user of such an object not only becomes absorbed by the Forbidden Fayth after Death, but also can pass it along to others, letting the object claim hundreds of potential victims."

“Which...happened to be Yunalesca and her Husband...both using this Forbidden Fayth to give the Summoner and their Guardian the strength to beat Sin...but let Yu Yevon possess them and hide afterwards...which is also why the Summoner dies in the process…” I muttered to myself as a whole lot of shit is starting to make sense here.

"Exactly. What are some known examples of this?"

"The Malice Mace of Pandora, the Net of Thrin, and Maxwell Harrison." Yevon said.

"And how bad were those incidents?"

"The Malice Mace claimed the souls of over sixty seven people. The Net of Thrin an even fifteen and Maxwell Harrison destroyed two whole cities in his monster form before he was killed."

"Yes. And that was with a Beta Fayth." Vincent nodded. "You've done well Yevon. Before you go to bed I have something special for you." Reaching under the couch, Vincent pulled up a box. Pulling out paper and three potted Cacti. "You will make your own Beta Fayth."

“Oh boy, wonder how in the world this is going to work and...if he makes a Cactuar King I’m gonna be very concerned…”

"I… I don't think I can, uncle…" Yevon said. "I've only seen the ritual before."

"It's simple." Vincent said. He unrolled the paper. Upon it was a series of… what I am assuming are magic runes and various lines of some language all inside several thin circles. He placed each cactus inside the circles. He then pulled up another small scroll and a small knife. "First, blood from the participants, or in this case the Cactus juice, must touch the matrix." He said, cutting the tops off each cactus and placing them on the paper. "Next, you read this scroll." He handed Yevon the scroll. "And flow magic onto the matrix. If all goes well, a Beta Fayth will be created and a new Aeon."

"Okay…" Yevon said, taking and opening the scroll.

I peaked at the scroll. Great, more language I can't read…

"Just start slow. The runes and magic will do the rest, all you need to do is read this allowed." Vincent stated.

Nodding, Yevon began, reaching out a hand over the ritual. "From beginning to end, all Life fades," He started, the papers' runes and circles began to glow. "From dust we are born and to dust we return." Now the cacti were glowing. "Yet surpassing death, your soul shines brightly," The glow from the cacti began to almost act like arms, reaching out to each other. "Bless these souls here, with life ever onwards." The light limbs grabbed onto one another now. "With bodies ever eternal as the stones of the earth." They pulled one another closer to the center. "Meld their minds as one, and keep their souls bound." Once they got close enough they glowed brighter, changing shape. "Give them forms for freedom, to empower we mortal men." It began to look like a Beta Fayth now. "And let the immortals dream in heavens of their own making." The flash nearly blinded me, but when it faded, a small, two foot Beta Fayth stood now on the table.

"Well done Yevon!" Vincent cheered.

“Wow…” I muttered in amazement, never before having seen a real Fayth created. “That’s...actually really amazing.”

"I… actually did it." Yevon said, smiling as they placed a hand to the Fayth. There was a small, barely noticeable flash. Taking a deep breath, Yevon summoned the Aeon. Well, it looked like a Long Cactuar, but was six inches tall. Yevon laughed. "It's cute."

"Heh, wait til your boring teachers see this at school." Vincent said.

“The little Cactaur is cute.” I said honestly. “But...this is Yevon’s childhood? I mean...his parent’s are faiths...and I don’t trust that Vincent guy as far as I could throw him…” Which, depending on form, can be very far indeed.

With this task done Yevon was off to bed. I watched Vincent stare at the tiny King Cactuar for a while. Eventually, he took the small knife and stabbed it, the tiny Aeon fading away. "Such talent. Heh. He'll archive it in no time."

"I knew there was something wrong with this asshole!" I panicked at how callus this guy just murdered it.

He rubbed the back of his neck, sighing. "Your voice is so annoying, you know that?" I froze. "Or so I assume. At the moment I'm… handicapped. Self imposed but I can still… take a well calculated guess."

“No no, this is a memory...there’s no way you can hear me.” I said carefully.

"I just said I can't." He sighed. "Consider it from my perspective. I'm talking to thin air… but I can already know how you'll respond. You're not Yevon… but you're similar."

“How in the name of hell...you passed right through me, and you can’t see me...how do you know I’m here!?” I asked in fear, cause this person would have to be god knows how strong to go beyond a memories acts.

"Let's just say when you're as old as I am, you pick up… every trick, staving off boredom. I don't know who you are, or why you're so… identical to Yevon. Child perhaps? No, no… more like… heh. You're his other half. A Goddess of Life. Surprising."

“Who...what are you?” I asked, taking a step back in fear at whatever this guy was.

"That's… one fucking long story. Let's just say I'm working on a pet project a little more personally than I normally do."

“Yevon…” I started. “Is...a project!?” I snapped, not knowing why me hearing Yevon was nothing more than a ‘pet project’ pissed me off so much but...it did.

"Never found it odd why Yevon and… Zeke Ventral, look so similar. Heh, what are the odds that Project and you have history." He laughed. "You are just one lucky lady aren't you? Most people don't survive one meeting with my projects but you've met two and even bonded with the second! An unexpected result but not unwelcome."

“Well...I never thought Yevon would have been a genetics experiment...and Zeke…” I started worriedly. “And...I don’t know if you saying ‘not unwelcome’ is a good thing for me…”

"Take it how you will, to me if it becomes an issue… well, I've yet to encounter a problem I can't… solve." He said. "Course, right now this encounter is just in Yevon's memories. I can't do much to you… here."

“I hate...everything that’s going on right now.” I started. “I’d rather not be hunted down by whatever the hell you are…”

"Oh I don't have to hunt you down, silly child." He stood up, turning until he faced me and walked until he stood over me. "I can just outlive you. A god you may be, but immortal you are not. Your millions, billions of years of a lifespan can pass by in my eyes," he snapped his fingers. "Like that. And I can start all over again."

“Uh...huh…” I started. “Cool...the fuck going is going on right now?” I asked, not knowing what to think as I was so fixated on the fact this very evil person was telling me that I literally didn’t matter in the grand scheme of his plans.

"I'll let you get back to these memories… it will be… entertaining, to… predict how you react." He turned, heading to the other door, likely his room. "It's Anna, right?" I felt cold. "Called it." He said, smiling as he entered his room. I fell to the ground, by breath ragged and heart pounding.

“No...no no no...how the fuck…” I tried my damndest not to have a panic attack here at the revelation that I just met someone that’s way beyond my paygrade.

It took a while before I calmed down enough to stand. Slowly I walked into Yevon's room. It was… a kids room. Toys on the floors, a shelf full of books, a desk messy with paper where pencils, crayons and his backpack rested. On the bed in the corner, next to the only window was Yevon, sleeping soundly under his blanket.

“So...innocent and adorable…” I muttered softly. “What...could that monster want with him?”

Somehow, I was able to lay down on their bed. With a sigh I cuddled up next to the young Yevon. I don't think I can sleep here. Didn't matter… I'm not taking my eyes off Yevon.

Time flowed like water after a while. Years passed and Yevon began displaying his amazing talents at Summoning. By eleven he graduated school and the Summoners College by twelve. By the time he was fourteen, he was able to summon every Aeon from every Alpha Fayth in the city.

“Hot damn is he talented.” I said honestly. “I knew he was a peerless summoner but...even I didn’t expect him to do this much this quickly.”

Regrettably, wherever Yevon was to surpass all expectations, Vincent was there. Teaching and guiding them.

These days with all the Alpha Fayth Aeons able to be summoned by him, Yevon was traveling, looking for the Aeons and Fayths not within Zanarkand borders.

“I wonder if there will be any other Aeon’s this far back that wouldn’t be the normal group…” I muttered.

The only good thing about Yevon traveling is that, he did it alone. No Vincent. Ever Since that night he'd just given an occasional glance to where I was standing or sitting. As if making sure I'm still here. Here on the road, it was just Yevon and I. He was growing up well.

The world before was… different. There were busses and roads to travel from country to country. The first stop on this journey was a place called Kets. It was a small country with one Aeon in their capital city, Constantine.

"Probably got demolished when Sin was made…" I muttered to myself as I looked over Yevons shoulder to see the map he was holding to see if it was anywhere I recognized.

The map I saw was very different from the Spira I know. Much more land. If I compare the map I know to this one, Kets would be… under water, between Moonflow and Bikanel Island. A whole country… gone. Looking more at the map… there were so many, so many more that are just… ruins, deep under the waters Sin patrolled.

"Sweet lord…" I muttered. "I mean...I should know better but...good lord…"

Yevon put the map away, looking out the window. The bus to Kets was a long ride, but we would be arriving soon. Few people were on this bus thankfully, so I sat next to them the whole ride.

Almost a two day bus ride later, we arrived in Kets. The Capital City, Constantine, has to be something out of some steampunk fairytale. All around me are machines powered by steam, magic, and the buildings, roads, all reminded me of a medieval fairytale. Some people were even riding what looked like Motorcycles.

"Damn...this place looks fantastic." I said in awe.

"Now where is the temple…" Yevon muttered. Following them around as they wandered the city.

“This is a pretty big city...wonder what the summoner’s are like here?” I wondered. “Also...man, when Spira was allowed to have technology it can be fantastic…”

Following Yevon's wander, we eventually came across the temple. It was… sad. The temple was old, so out of place compared to everything around it. While everything around it was stone and metal and well kept, the temple was wood and aged. Cracks along the once elegantly carved walls destroyed the images, making many unrecognizable. Entering, everything had a thick layer of dust and a faint smell of mold hung in the air. This is… wrong.

“Did...did this city give up on it’s Fayth?” I asked worriedly. “Also...jesus that sounds weird when in this context…”

Seemingly unphased by the lack of care, Yevon pressed on, reaching a large set of doors where an elderly man sat on a chair, sleeping. "Um, excuse me?" Yevon spoke.

With a snort and a few rapid blinks, the man woke up, eyeing Yevon then rubbed his own tired eyes. "What brings a youngster like you here?" He asked.

"I'm a summoner sir, from Zanarkand. I’ve come to pray to the Fayth here and obtain the Aeon."

The old man blinked a few times, looking Yevon over. "Hmm. Not too many summoners come here these days. Last one was ten years ago." He yawned. "Then again, Fayths are still held in high respect in Zanarkand. Still, to be a summoner at such a young age."

“Well all things considered he’s probably been bioengineered to be beyond fantastic…” I muttered. “And...I’m also slightly annoyed that he had to make him so darn cute…”

So many questions, and no answers.

"Can I pray to the Fayth?" Yevon asked.

"Hmmm. I suppose. Best one more can gain the Aeon Viola before the old Fayth is sent off."

"Viola?" Yevon asked.

The old man nodded, standing up as he walked over to the doors and opened them. Yevon walked inside, seeing the Fayth towering over us in the room. They sat on their knees, and shortly after beginning their prayer, the Fayth shined. Like all the Fayths before, a short prayer was all it took to gain the Aeon.

"My word." The old man said as Yeveon stood back up. "I've never seen a summoner bestowed by a Fayth an Aeon so fast."

"It's… what I'm known for back home…" Yevon said. "Where will this Fayth be sent off to?"

"Museum." The old man said. "I'm the last and only temple keeper, and I'm not long for this world."

"Why not send it to Zanarkand?"

"The city's historical society deemed it a historical artifact. They'll send it to the museum shortly after I pass and tear down the temple to build something new."

“Oh the Fayth’s a historical artifact but the temple isn’t?” I frowned. “That’s kind of bullshit when you think about it.”

"What are they going to build here?" Yevon asked.

"Some laboratory of sorts. I don't know the full of it, some project with Bevelle."

"Time stops for no one…" Yevon sighed, looking back over at the Fayth.

With a sigh, Yevon left. But didn't go far. They hung around, waiting until the late night and managed to sneak back into the temple. Once back inside, he approached the Fayth, placing a hand on one of the petrified figures. "You don't belong in a museum." He said softly.

"He summons their aeon and practically kidnaps the fayth?" I wondered to myself.

Breathing a deep sigh, he stepped back, raising a hand as magic flowed from him. Suddenly, the Fayth began to… shrink. Soon reaching the size of a toy. Yevon picked it up. "The world can move forward, but it shouldn't forget or abandon the past."

"Or else it would be doomed to repeat it…" I sighed out.

Carefully pocketing the Fayth, Yevon made they're way out, summoning a flying Aeon and soaring off back to Zanarkand.

“So, you traveled the world for five years.” Vincent started.

“Yes.” Yevon answered.

“And you stole every Fayth that was either abandoned, shoved into a museum, or blatantly ignored by their city/country?”

“Yes.”

Vincent laughed. “And you shrunk them… and have been keeping them in a box under your bed…”

“Yes.”

“Yeesh, not sure if this or porn would have been worse.” Vincent chuckled. “And, pray tell, what was your plan for them?”

“... I kinda didn’t have one…” Yevon admitted.

I damn near fell over at hearing that. "Really!?" I asked, completely flabbergasted at the good deed he did was just on impulse with nothing else to it.

“Well, you can’t keep them in a shoebox under your bed.” Vincent said, picking one of the many magically shrunken Fayths from the box and looking it over. “I’m actually impressed that your Shrinking Spell lasted this long.”

“I used the self-sustaining Enchantment runes you taught me.”

“I never taught you how to apply it to cast spells though, just enchantments.”

“I… just figured it out?”

“Heh, ever the talented one. So, no idea what to do next?”

“Nope…”

“Heh. Well, why not join the military. With your talents you’d be made General second you enter the building.”

“Heh… maybe. Still, you won’t believe how much the world outside is changing. More and more people were using these things called Machina. Machines using steam or magic to complete tasks. I saw one building a brick house all by itself!”

“That is impressive.” Vincent nodded. “Heh, imagine making a Machina Fayth.”

“Heh… Yeah…” Yevon sighed, but looked thoughtful.

With a nod Vincent got up and left… and against better judgment, I followed them.

Once we were in the kitchen, he spoke. “Have fun shadowing him on the travels?” He asked me.

"Yes, cause now I know several places that...didn't exist anymore." I nodded.

“Makes sense.” He said, pulling out various ingredients and began washing them. “Still, there’s so much he can do and he’s not even reached a quarter of his potential.”

"Not even a quarter?" I asked worriedly. "At this rate...I'm more curious as to how he didn't end the world sooner."

“In time.” Vincent said calmly. “All it will take is the right… push.”

"The Machina Summoner war…"

“Do you know how that war even started? It varies, but usually Bevelle starts it. Sometimes, it’s a power move using guns, grenades or those magic immune tanks. Sometimes all at once. Amazing what centuries of fear and hatred can build over time.”

"Yeah...Bevelle was scared of Zanarkands prosperity and power and they tried to stop it before they could be beaten...little did they know…" I sighed out.

“If left to their own devices, Zanarkand would have ruled the world. Won’t lie, it would have been better, especially when they managed to make the Binding Fayth. Complete and total power of a god through Aeon’s. They’d have moved from this simple planet into the stars with the power and might to back up their progress.”

"Damn." I said in surprise. "That's a hell of a thing...I wonder why...no I know exactly why all that progress was forever lost…"

“Yup. War started, people began dying… and well, they did sorta make one Binding Fayth. It also became a Forbidden Fayth. Have you ever made a Fayth before Anna?” It still creeped me out how he basically guessed my name.

"Out of the two million or so timelines I saved...no idea cause I still barely know who I am technically." I sighed out.

“Heh. Well, here’s another question. Do you know how to unmake a Fayth, without destroying it?”

"No, but I need to know how to save my mom."

“Heh. There’s a lot I could teach you. How to make and unmake Fayths, how to cast powerful spells, how to create whole new life from simple energy and dust.”

"And what's the catch besides signing a deal with the devil?" I asked carefully. "Cause I know you are insanely evil."

“Evil is a matter of perspective.” He said, now cutting the ingredients. Like Yevon, and his siblings, I too was once a project. I was created with one goal, but my creator tried to… undo me. To remove the part of me that was designed to do my exact purpose. In the end, I was split in two. My brother is elsewhere, and here I am, the part that was removed but came back stronger. All I’m doing is what I was designed to do, simple as that. What you perceive as evil is just actions I take to pass the time. Simply existing fulfills my designed purpose, but sitting around watching things play by gets boring. It’s more fun to act. Despite how I am to you, I have done equal amounts ‘good’ as I have done ‘evil’ in my lifetime.”

"Christ…" I muttered, not sure if I even should take up his offer. "I...might as well ask...how many times have we had this conversation if you're this omnipotent and omnipresent being?"

“Twice before, so this makes three. The first time, I ignored you. The second, I messed with you a lot. Like the thing with the Bookshelf.” He chuckled. “Figured I’d finally talk to the Goddess of Life that Yevon became bound to, his other half. In the end, Anna, everything I do I do out of boredom. If I can do something new, then I’ll gladly jump at it. I’ll even answer some questions for you, if I can. I am still self handicapped at the moment, but I can still answer so many questions for you, if you wish.” Vincent said, pulling out a pot and pouring in oil and setting it to heat up.

I took a deep breath. "What's the catch to all these questions?" I asked carefully. "Cause you sound way too...open for someone that probably wants to end the world."

“Not the world.” He said, making me flinch. “Planets, species, time, space. All these things die and get reset over and over again. No, I was built to end something far, far grander than you can imagine. But, it’s a slow process. Agonizingly slow, hence, my actions to stave off boredom. There’s no catch to answering these questions as it’s a new act to me. If it wasn’t, I’d then put a catch to it, but even so, I’m not an unreasonable person.” He said as he placed inside the heated oil what looked like Hamburger meat and began stirring it.

“Well…” I started. “Something that’s been bugging me...who’s the guy you're possessing? Cause for some reason I can’t help this feeling like you're currently in...Yevon’s current predicament, as a god possessed by something much much worse.” I said, even though it was clouded by whatever the hell that guy is...I felt the same energy Yevon gave off the few times we met.

“My maker.” He said simply, adding in the spices. “When he… removed me, from my brother, I was without a form or body. So, I… acquired his. As for what he is, well… you could say he’s like you. Or rather, like Yevon. There are two halves to life. The physical and the Spiritual. Or, Life and Death. That is who the real Vincent is. I stole his body and name. He, too, has another half, like you. My ‘mother’ in a sense. She has been reborn into so many forms and bodies, her true memories are repressed to her.”

“Gee, doesn’t that sound familiar…” I grumbled at my own personal experience of losing my memories due to being ‘reborn’ and the like.

“So it seems to be that little trend. In any case, what else do you want to ask of me?”

“What is Yevon?” I asked. “Cause he’s...most certainly different from what I was told and...he looks a hell of a lot similar to Zeke Ventral.”

“Like I said, they are projects of mine. If you want to get technical, they are my younger siblings. Father and Mother being as old and powerful as they are, created children that even by your standards for gods, are superior in so many ways. I simply took that superiority and… tweaked it, implanted and crafted each and every one to be the best at what they can do. For Yevon, it’s Fayths, Aeons, Magic, and… Death. For Zeke’s Ventral, it’s Combat, Magic, Learning, and… Hearts.”

“As in he’s just a really good guy that everyone would love or...something that involves Kingdom Hearts?” I asked, considering how specific he mentioned Heart’s I wasn’t sure if he was talking about charisma or that rpg.

“Everything exists as fact in one reality or another. Keep that in mind.” Vincent said as he now put in the chopped veggies. “What else then?”

“How do I bring someone back after they become a Fayth?” I asked. “Without destroying them.” I added quickly.

“Much like how there is a ritual to create them there is a ritual to undo them, safely.”

“Are you going to teach it to me or do I have to wait for Yevon to learn it?” I inquired.

“It’s simple. The ritual markings to make a Fayth already have everything needed to undo them, all that’s needed is to add in still living flesh and blood to reinfuse into the bodies. Being a goddess of life like yourself, your blood alone could pull it off. Then, you speak the words of mortality to bring them back from eternal stone to living flesh.”

“Fair enough...whatever the hell the words of mortality are because I couldn’t read a single word you showed Yevon.” I said honestly. “I painstakingly learned how to speak Al Bhed back home but I couldn’t make heads or tails on what you wrote down."

"It's called Zanith. It's a special written dialect of Zanarkand. The Al Bed language you know is a blend of Bevelle and various other languages. It's not too hard to understand, it's Alphanumeric, just like the English language."

“Interesting.” I said honestly. “I should really learn that...nothing like learning a dead language to spice up your day.”

"Anything else?"

“Is...there anyone else out there like me?” I asked. “Another person who’s out and about in this massive place?”

"Depends. In your dimension? Minus your family, seven."

“Wow.” I said honestly. “I didn’t know there was...that little but that many.”

"Well, across the multiverse there's easily a grand total of six million, eight hundred and fifty three thousand, two hundred and six."

“Jesus.” I said in honest shock.

"Ugh. I've met too many variations of that guy." Vincent said, finalizing the meal. "Anyway, the words of mortality go like this. 'From dust we began and to flesh we were made. Bring unto us breath for the spirit, blood to bind us, and flesh to embody our souls. Set their souls and their minds apart, and return to life and to one day, embrace death. However it shall come'."

“Deep.” I said honestly as I committed that saying to memory.

"Eh. I didn't make it. So, what else do you wanna learn?"

“Did you expect Yevon to not murder an entire planet and beyond and get thwarted way to often?” I asked.

"I may have built Yevon, this time, but Yevon was always a person, always destined for this fate. I just made one that was better than the rest. Plus some extra abilities."

“Neat.” I nodded. “Hmm...what else to ask…” I muttered as I tried to think of what else to ask.

"This that and everything in between." Vincent said, as he began to grab plates. He froze as suddenly it seemed like… reality began to warp around him. It was subtle, but noticeable.

“The hell happened?” I asked worriedly. “Reality shouldn’t warp like that...especially in a memory…”

Vincent was silent for a time, then, laughed. "Oh this… is going to be fun…" He spoke as reality stopped warping around him. "Now how can I deal with this here and now…"

I started to back away carefully. “Uh...I don’t know what’s going on...and I’m concerned this memory is going to fall apart if you get too...riled up…”

"Oh, no need to worry." He waved off. "I just got some interesting information from my future. Seems I've made a bet with an overly confident… King."

"You… can talk to your future self?"

"Future, past and parallels." He informed.

“What? Were you so board that you literally gave the guy the ‘key’s to success’ as it were?” I asked. “Also...why does someone making a bet with someone of untold powers and knowledge remind me of someone I know?” I frowned, having the weirdest feeling I should know who would actually tell a literal God ‘I bet I can beat you in a fight’.

"Almost everything. Kept a few parts out… still, how to use this here… this Timeline is isolated because of that bitch so… hmm…" He snapped his fingers. "That can work… will definitely be… interesting." He grinned to himself.

“I’m still super confused as to how a memory in my own dreams is...derailing this hard…” I said carefully, stupidly confused as now all this reality warping was starting to make me feel like I’m getting way in over my head.

"Lesson one, Anna. These memories come from Pyreflies, and Pyreflies are bits of souls, right?" He asked.

“These should be part’s of my soul so...I’m even more confused as to how this is working.” I said, having assumed that the grey pyreflies were mine from previous timelines that’s currently in...whatever whale sized extra dimensional stomach I have. “But these are clearly Yevon’s memories...part’s of his soul…”

"Gods, or any being that or above that revolves around life share their base centers or, souls. Your soul, Yevon's soul, same thing. It's why you can't really kill one God or above if life without killing the other at the same time. Even then, good luck. But, point is Souls go beyond the normal flow of time. So memories viewed directly from the soul, you're actually viewing this moment in time. Hence why we can have this chat and you're not just stuck in the room watching Yevon read or something."

“That was indeed a good point.” I nodded. “And...I believe because of your sudden bout of excitement we can hear each other fine?” I asked, cause either this guy was the world’s best reader of intentions and mouth movements or he could legitimately hear me and he was just screwing with me before.

"Not just yet." He said. Suddenly, he grabbed my arm, and pulled me. I felt like I splashed through cold water and suddenly hit the floor. "There. Now I can see, and hear you fine."

“Ow…” I muttered. “Ugh...alright...I’m actually in the memory and not just a passenger…”

"I did say you were viewing this moment in time rather than a simple memory. Because of that fact, pulling you into this point of time is actually easier than you think. If that King had known that then that whole other timeline version of them would not have existed." Vincent muttered as he pulled me up.

"Right…" I started, not knowing what the hell he talked about as I got up. "Alright...so what's your new plan and...wow that food smells really good."

Before saying anything he scooped a small spoon full of the food up and popped it into my mouth. I've never experienced flavor like this before! "My plan is simple. I am going to play both sides in this deal, and you're gonna be my… what's the word for someone who's 'changing their ways?' Sponsor? Yeah, that. Just gotta give the old man back his body real quick."

Vincent then took a deep breath, held out a hand and suddenly, tendrils of… something flowed out. Rapidly they took the shape of a fifteen year old boy with dark grey hair, matching dark grey eyes and a face that slightly looked like a younger Vincent. After blinking a few times, they elbowed the person behind them, sending Vincent into a coughing fit as he fell on his back. "And now I got my own form. Huh, guess Vincent isn't on the table anymore for a name. Can't really use my actual name either… heh, how's Junior work for ya pops?" They asked, turning and eyeing the man behind them.

The man, the actual Vincent, just stared up at… Junior, with rage. "You… sadistic little…"

"Nothing you haven't yelled a million and one times." Junior shrugged.

"Alright…" I started. "So hi...my name's Anna and….this is way beyond whatever the actual hell I'm actually supposed to be doing…"

"I know that." Vincent, actual Vincent, said as he stood back up. He still glared hatefully at Junior. "I was forced to watch everything…" He sighed, leaning against the wall as he flexed his fingers and moved his arms. "Been too damn long…"

The more I looked at Vincent the more I felt… graced? With Junior it felt like I was in the presence of a powerful, terrifying entity. With Vincent here... I felt like… like I should be bowing or showing some respect or something.

"So uh…" I started. "How's it feel to be back...technically?"

"Like I finally crawled out of the grave I… basically dug myself…" He sighed. "I can hate… Junior, for eternity for what he did to me, to his brother, siblings… everything… but I can understand why… I did build him to…" Another, tired sigh. "So many regrets…"

"Well...you can start making up for all those mistakes." I said carefully. "Like helping people try and stop the end of all existence."

"That was the point." Junior called out from the living room.

"I know how…" Vincent admitted. But first we gotta go through this…" He waved at nothing. "Fucking thing."

"Well...it can be a positive experience right?" I asked nervously.

"Ha! Doubtful." Junior laughed.

Vincent gave a groan of mental anguish before leaning against the wall. He took several deep breaths. "Okay, guess we have some things to explain." He breathed. "So, Anna, what do you think I am?"

"You're a God of Death?" I asked. "Er, more like a god of life? I don't know since you're giving me vibes on both ends here…"

"My kind, is ancient and powerful. The only word that can actually describe us is Admin. And as to your… vibes, Admins are, on the scale of things, beings Gods would pray to. And you aren't wrong, I, and my other half are both the Admins of Life. While yes I can be on the same… general field as Yevon, Life doesn't stop at death." He said, a flick of his hand and several Pyreflies flew from his palm and over to me. "Understand?"

"So that's why it feels like...I should be showing you a lot of respect…" I realized.

"Yes. While both my other half and I can create life." From the same palm sprouted a flower. "We can both equally end it." The flower quickly wilted and died. "In the physical realms, at least." While the flower was wilted, suddenly behind it was an ethereal version of the same flower. "While my talents are on the later, I can still apply this to the physical side of life, as you have already done."

"Wow…" I started. "So...why him if you weren't necessarily this...Admin of Death?" I asked whole pointing to Junior.

"Because I was… in a dark place at the time…" He huffed, clenching his hand into a fist. "The first era, we Admins just created the physical world. Everything was new and a possibility… and then, my other half and I created living creatures. Plants, animals, sentient, thinking life capable of so much endless possibility… and to watch for eons as they learned… learned war, torture, cruelty… I couldn't wipe them all out, all the Admins at the time realished in mortal life's uniqueness, so… I built him, or rather, his older brother…"

"Technically I am the older brother." Junior added.

"Regardless… He was invented to be an endlessly expanding, self generating energy. Enough to fill and eventually collapse all of this… environment… but he gained sentience. Grey, I called him… Junior here was the part I put into them to… drive them to the goal I had created them for, but pulling that part out of Grey, I didn't realize he also had sentience…"

"So...you cared so much about the life you created with your wife that...you decided to make sure it ended?" I asked. "And this...also happens to involve the...death of your other half way too many times?" I asked, fearing that the similarities between me and Yevon with Vincent and his other half were weirdly and shockingly familiar.

"The idea was that Grey would take up so much room that we Admins couldn't create anything anymore, and if it killed us then so be it… but, Grey gained sentience… and, in too short few years, I was reminded why we created sentient life. Complex, varied… so rare are two completely identical. It's why I was going to revert Grey into their Beta stage of energy production. Energy that didn't last forever, but energy no different than others. Limitless, sure, but not unbreakable. Able to be manipulated and converted."

"And then it kicked your ass and took over your body?" I asked rather bluntly. "Or is there something else to it?"

"No that's basically exactly what happened next…" Vincent sighed.

“Well that sucks.” I said honestly. “But hey...second chance’s are always available.”

"So it seems… This brings up a lot of new possibilities, but for now, we can't do much."

“Sadly…” I sighed out. “Cause right now we still need to go through all of Yevon’s memories that Ifrit wanted me to see.”

"Yeah… I can help you there. At least fast forward certain things… unless…"

"Time is kinda broken so, why the fuck not?" Junior said from the living room. He was laid on the couch upside down. Somehow.

“Uh...what’s going on now?” I asked nervously. “Also when the hell did Time break?”

"Well, for one I'm gonna put you back into that… ethereal plane and basically hit fast forward so you can see the important stuff. Then we'll meet up with you in your Zanarkand afterlife and from there I can help train you in your abilities while… he, can help with other stuff."

“I mean...my main ability is Shapeshifting…” I brought up. “Just uh...all the ‘Goddess of Life’ stuff kind of came up when I...was forced to absorb a couple million or so souls…”

"You want teachers or not?" Junior asked.

“I have been looking for a teacher for four months.” I started. “And I really need them cause...I’m concerned what Spiral will force Yevon to do…”

"I already can guess…" Vincent said, giving another glare at Junior. "Alright, just remember, we'll meet you in Zanarkand."

I nodded and let Vincent do his thing.

I won't say everything. There was still so much. I watched Yevon join the army, the bloodshed at Zanarkand's borders as war was declared and hundreds were slaughtered. I watched Yevon climb through the rankings until he was the new 'King' of Zanarkand. I watched as tense war and untrustworthy allies aided in developing Zanarkand into something more close to what I recognized.

I watched Yevon begin work on the Bridge Fayth… and watch as he made deals with that parasitic squid… Spiral. I watched as the death tolls reached into the tens of thousands, as the front lines moved ever closer to Zanarkand's boarders.

And finally, I watched him turn himself into a Fayth, as Spiral possessed him, and the body of Sin covered their form.

I was back in Zanarkand now. Everything was how it was when Ifirit gave me those Pyreflies. I gave the Aeon a goodbye and left. Outside, I spotted them. Vincent, and Junior.

"Took you long enough!" Junior said.

"Ignore him, he's just bitchy about taking the long way around." Vincent said.

“I have...a lot to process and a lot to talk to Yevon about if I see him again…” I muttered. “Alright, so welcome to my dream world, which currently houses over a million Changeling’s, an ancient Cherubim and Succubus, two people from Spira, and one jackass named Sombra that’s in the Zoo.” I said honestly, just listing off the people that are currently in my head.

"... Uh, Anna, this isn't a Dreamscape. This is what you'd call an Afterlife. Purgatory class to be specific." Vincent said.

"And it is held together by duct tape and paperclips." Junior nodded as he looked around.

“That...should kind of be impossible considering what I...technically am…” I said worriedly. “I mean, it’s also bad when I’m told I’ve absorbed over two million different timelines…”

"I did tell you before that, while your talents as a Goddess of Life are more along the Physical realm side of life, you can still make and modify spiritual life." Vincent replied. Right… "Looks like you do have a lot to learn."

“It’s a massive pain in the ass…” I sighed out. “So...where are we going to start? Cause right now I only have a limited time before I wake up and have to head to the Crystal Empire.”

"Something simple." Vincent said. He and I left and Junior went off on his own. He took us to a park where he sat along the grass. "As you know, beings of our caliber have a few unique traits. Like our blood." He said, a knife materializing in his hand as he made a small cut along his finger. The single drop that fell l, suddenly, we were in a forest. "Can make life Explode, or bring life where there wasn't any prior."

“Damn.” I said in surprise. “Didn’t think this would happen...er...maybe I did? Cause me and Yevon have this pocket dimension where we can just...be who we are, and not have to deal with our ‘jobs’ as it were, or whatever the hell Spiral want’s.”

Nodding, Vincent placed the knife away. "The lesson today is to make, and grow, a single flower before you." He said, patting the grass patch before me. "Without blood. Just by your will as a God."

“Uh...yeah, that doesn’t sound too difficult.” I said honestly as I sat down. “Just...create a flower from a patch of grass...shouldn’t be too hard.” I took a deep breath and put a hand onto the patch of grass, trying to focus on whatever power’s over Life I had to make a flower blossom.

"Very good." Vincent said. I opened my eyes and saw that, grown around my hand was a small bush of Lavender.

I… did it? I didn't… even try that hard?

“Uh...huh…” I started. “I fully expected to spawn an Ochu that I had to fight or...at least have to try harder than that…”

Vincent chuckled. "You're a Goddess of Life Anna. Physically material life. This," He plucked a Lavender, sniffing it before handing it to me. "Is as easy to you as breathing, prior experience or not."

I gently took the Lavender and held it carefully. “Wow…” I muttered. “I’d...feel better about this...but sadly I’m reminded of a...possible draw back I’m going to experience in a few months…”

"Your pregnancy." Vincent said with a nod. "I… can relate. My partner and I… making the first generation of sentient life… we made them and… we did miss out on that. Never really could have that unless we crafted that life with our hands. Being born they… were already… ready."

“Yeah…” I sighed out. “One of the doctor’s in Asgard said I could give birth normally but...well I don’t know if I can deal with tens of thousands of infant’s all at once.”

"Heh, that would be an issue." Vincent nodded. "I don't know how he manages it. Abilities or not."

“Who? That king person or someone else?” I asked.

"Well, him and… someone else. It's a long story there. For now, let's focus on this." Vincent waved a hand, the Lavender bush vanishing as he cleared his throat. "Now, try and grow a miniature Apple Tree."

“Should be simple...maybe…” I started as I tried to grow a mini apple tree, thinking if I visualized it in my head it would be easier than probably accidentally bringing up something else.

I watched with awe as a small sprout rose from the ground, shifting quickly from green to wood brown as it grew. The trunk quickly expanded to be as wide as a pie tin and soon leaves grew at the top. Rapidly, flowers blossomed, withered and turned into cherry sized apples.

Vincent picked one and ate it. "Not bad." He said.

I gently picked one of the apples and ate it to see how it tasted. “So...how is this place purgatory? I thought it was a dream scape cause...well why in the world would I go to the afterlife when I go to sleep?”

"Well, you're both wrong and right. Yes, this is a Purgatory afterlife plane, but it is also inside you. It's not uncommon for gods, especially new ones, to practice in realities they create within their own mindscape. It's like using your imagination only what's in your head is real and not some psychological issue. Given you deal with the Physical planes of life, doing this from the ground up would be much, much harder for you. You probably did this on accident and put it here since it's easier for you to manage this scale of creation in a place that is basically governed by your subconscious wills."

“I thought it was because I’m somehow Sin, the giant space whale.” I explained. “Somehow...cause I really don’t understand how that could happen when I’m not a Fayth or an Aeon.”

"Aren't you?" Vincent asked, making me raise a brow. "Gods and cosmic beings are powerful in there own rights alone, but when you have followers, worshipers, you can gain more and share that power amongst those who believe in you. So long as they have faith in you, you can perform for them acts commonly referred to as miracles. This includes things like… walking on water, healing the sick, smiting an army… a giant whale swallowing and keeping a man alive long enough to bring him to shoar. Summoning and creating these beasts, Aeons, Fiends, all part of the same Gods of Life you and Yevon are."

“Right…” I started. “But to devour an entire timeline to save what few I could?”

"Heh, well there are better ways to do that, but it makes sense. As a Goddess of Life your very nature is to create and preserve Life. While devouring an entire timeline would definitely lead to your… repeat situation, with luck I can help you to break that cycle."

“From what brief moments I had to learn it was because...the entire world I was on constantly had a cataclysmic event that killed most of the life on whatever world was my home...no matter what happened, even after we beat Spiral and could live happily ever after...something or someone always caused it to happen again…”

"Probably was Spiral every time. If he is some God or cosmic being, there's a special way to kill them so they don't come back."

“And in what way is that? Revoke their existence, stab them with a specially made weapon, or what?”

"Out power them." Vincent said. "When dealing with Gods… or higher, power is quite literally everything. If your power is greater, killing something permanently is a simple matter. Course, there are exceptions to every rule."

“Either their immortal, or reincarnate when killed?” I inquired.

"Mostly. While being like you, myself and our others are bound for reincarnation, there are immortals but even Immortals are not… immortal, as it were. No, there's a higher, Truly unkillable variation. Deathless. Only one being in all and every existence can make them and… it's a curse even by standards of those already 'immortal'."

“Well...that sucks.” I said honestly.

"Yeah… anyway, less depressing talk." Vincent said, a snap of his fingers and the mini apple tree was replanted next to us. "Now, make something ridiculous."

“Just...something ridiculous?” I asked. “Nothing specific?”

"Yes. For example." Another snap and a long vine like flower sprouted up, grew near my face, and suddenly a tongue came out of it and licked my cheek. It then barked like a dog. "That."

“A...vine dog.” I said as I softly pet it. “Neat.” I said while putting a hand to the ground. “Alright...something ridiculous…” I muttered as I kind of let my mind wander as I wasn’t really sure what ridiculous thing I could create.

Soon a small tree began to grow, only, when the leaves began to sprout, they weren't leaves… they were feathers. Familiar brown and white feathers. "Huh. Not too bad-" The small tree suddenly began morphing… now it was tree Gilda. "Wow… that's different. Already speeding to the next lessons Anna?"

“Uh...did I just make myself a tree version of Gilda?” I asked as I gently picked them up. “And...they're absolutely adorable!”

"Hmm… It actually seems more akin to a plant based controle replica… Hey Anna, try calling their name to them?"

“Gilda?” I asked my new tiny tree Gilda.

The tiny tree Gilda didn't move, but, suddenly, it blinked. "What- wait what?! Where am I?! I was dreaming about… then… wait Anna? Why are you huge?!"

"Huh, I was right." Vincent said.

“Wait...does this have something to do with me giving those Pyreflies to Gilda?” I asked.

"You made them a Prophet? That would actually explain this." Vincent hummed. "Makes a bond between you and them that's nearly unbreakable."

“Okay that certainly should have been saved for the wedding.” I said honestly. “But uh...just figuring out how to use my Life powers from the professional here my newly wooden love.” I said honestly.

“Wooden?” Gilda asked, looking their body over. “Okay… This is definitely a new one… Still, why am I like a foot tall?”

“Because I tried to make a small plant that was ‘ridiculous’ by most standards...I just didn’t expect to create a wooden construct for ya.” I said honestly.

“Hmm…” Gilda hummed, taking another look around us. “So, this is that Zanarkand place you and Luna talked about? Doesn’t look too bad honestly. I know you said it was a city but I wasn’t expecting this… or the mini jungle we’re in.”

“That’s because of my teacher here.” I said honestly while showing him to Vincent. “Meet Vincent.”

“Just, refer to me as her teacher and we can leave it at that… and if you meet someone named Junior… try and ignore them…” He sighed. “Well, creating a golem out of plantlife wasn’t expected, but since you can do that easily enough onto another lesson I was gonna save for later.” Vincent said, raising a clenched hand. He blew onto it and when he opened it several colorful butterflies flew out of it. “Life, with a pulse.”

“That’s probably a hell of a lot more complicated than just making plants.” I said nervously as I put Gilda onto my shoulder like a parrot.

“It is a bit different.” Vincent admitted. “Firstly, you need to keep in mind, and remember a few things. Firstly, air, to fill their lungs. Blood, to make them flesh, and a heart, to bring them to life. For basic animals and insects, this is all that’s required. Just keep those three things in mind and any mindless animal or insects you’ll be crafting up with a snap.” He said, snapping his own fingers for emphasis and suddenly there was a small baby deer between us.

“Woah…” Gilda said.

“Adorable.” I said with a smile. “But...is there anything specific I need to grab first? Any materials or do I just...form it from nothing?”

“Nothing is formed from nothing.” Vincent laughed. “As a God, what you create is made up of matter like anything else, the difference being you can reshape and controle how that matter takes form. The very air around you can be used to create a lush vibrant jungle ripe with life of all kinds, a planet devoid of life can become a garden of eden just by how you reshape the matter in the environment. Even my people need something to form what we create.” He explained, his hand glowed with a strange black and green energy for a moment before it vanished.

“The...hell was that?” I asked carefully. “That...green and black energy, I’ve never felt something like that before, and I’ve at least experienced the presence of at least a dozen different gods.” I said, mostly Asgard being my prime source of that.

“It’s the power of my people.” Vincent explained, the green and black energy returning over his hands. “You know how they say there’s a building block at the smallest level of everything? Even atoms and molecules? Well, this is what makes that building block. While gods can reshape existing matter, we created it’s first forms with this, and from there everything else became physical, spiritual, and then some. Any god can reshape matter or even reality, but with this… my people created matter, energy, and everything this reality holds.”

“Wow…” I blinked. “That’s...certainly something.” I said, not sure what to say at the explanation.

Smiling, Vincent held out that energy covered hand and placed some of that energy into mine. It felt… primal. So… fundamental. Like I was holding every possibility in creation in my hands. I looked closer at the green bits. It almost looked like… ones? Ones and… Zeroes?

"Code?" I asked. "That's...weird, I thought we were in reality, not the matrix?"

“To us, this is reality, doesn’t matter if we come from within a machine or out there in the… Planes… We are alive, and this is just part of reality. Doesn’t matter how it started, all that matters is that we push on.”

"Yeah...this is way above my paygrade…" I said nervously.

“Heh, it’s a lot to take in I imagine. Having been… formed, and lived through the very beginnings, it doesn’t phase me. Now, go on with the lesson.” Vincent said, taking the Code energy from my hands and reabsorbing it.

"Alright...let's at least….try something simple…" I muttered as tried to focus on making something simple, like a caterpillar in my open hand.

I felt the wiggling ticklish sensation hit my palm and jumped, accidentally dropping the small green caterpillar on the grass. Without any show of thanks for it’s new existence, or even a rude gesture for dropping it, it began to wiggle and crawl away. “Good, good.”

Okay now that was also easy… yeesh, I had a harder time learning my fiend forms than this.

“That...was still pretty easy.” I said carefully. “I...honestly expected this to be harder in some way shape or form...like my Fiend Forms.”

“When it comes to what your Godhood, or akin deity title and powers are about, it will be. If you were to try more something along Yevon’s area, then you’d have a harder time about it.”

“And death is...something I’d rather not help spread.” I said nervously. “There’s too much at the moment...and I need to fix that.”

Again, Vincnet Laughed. “Anna, have you been listening? Look around you, this place, all those Changelings. Do they look ‘dead’ to you?”

“They're all souls.” I answered. “But...are you telling me that I can...give everyone here their lives back?”

“Well, yes, but now how you’re thinking.” Vincent sighed. “While yes it is possible for you to return them all to life as they all were before their Physical deaths, that would take you and Yevon both to work it out. Alone, you can reincarnate them, but that would… repress who they are now. While a mortal mind can’t carry the memories of another lifetime when growing into a new one, the soul can and does. If you did that, then you wouldn’t have brought back anyone, just created new people with old souls.”

“Ah...yeah that makes sense…” I started. “So that’s going to take a while to figure out...jeez, this is starting to get complicated in more ways than one…”

“Though… I can teach how to make something that can… help out, in a sense. You already made a mini version.” Vincent said, gesturing to mini Gilda. “While not alive, it will let them experience life in the Physical planes again as if they were, though rather than dream when sleep they will arrive back here, and should that body fail, again, they will return here.”

“Golems.” Gilda spoke up. “You’re gonna teach Anna to make Golems so the people here can pilot them?”

“If they want to, yes. Not everyone who passes on wishes to return to the Physical world. You should always respect their choices in this Anna.”

“Fair.” I nodded. “Gonna have to set up an area for people who want or don’t want to come back…” I muttered carefully. “Gonna be a massive headache but I’m sure I can figure something out...and I can’t wait to see people freak out that I can make so many golems in the waking world.”

“Heh, now, back to the lesson. One more before you awaken.” Vincent said, patting the dear before us still. It awoke but did not run. “This is a baby doe after all, it should have a mother. Father too, if you think you can pull it off.”

“You...want us to take care of the baby doe?” I asked curiously. “As a mother and father?”

“What? No, No. I mean make an adult Doe and Buck to take care of them.”

“Alright, that makes a little more sense.” I said nervously as I took a deep breath. “Alright...time to make two adult Deer...should be simple enough…” I muttered as I tried to create the two adult animals.

With the image in hand, and remembering about air, blood, and a heart, soon before me materialized, seemingly from dust, an adult male deer, and an adult female deer. Both once they manifested, looked around.

The female spotted the young baby and kneeled down, licking and caring for them immediately. “Good work.” Vincent said as the three now walked off into the greenery around us. “Let’s hope they have a better go at life than Bambi.”

“Well...let’s hope so.” I said nervously. “And it’s a good thing that I at least payed attention in Biology cause...I’m pretty sure even with the three main thing’s I could accidentally add or forget to add to a being.”

Waking up we all grabbed our stuff and rapidly headed for the train to the empire.

During the train ride, I practiced making things. Onions. Apples. Watermelon. “Try an orange now.” Gilda said.

I held out my hand, and forming in it appeared an orange.

“I’m still shocked at how easy it is to create life.” I said honestly. “I expected at least some form of hardship based on me never having done this before...but I suppose when you’re literally made to do something you’d be pretty naturally good at it.”

Twilight saw what I could do, and passed out. Gilda began decorating the alicorn with fruit. The orange went just snuggly between her breasts. “At least we’ll never have to worry about food for starters.” They laughed. “Try.. a kiwi.” I tossed them the freshly made kiwi and they put that on Twilight’s left eye.

“You are having way too much fun with this.” I said honestly, as I made a banana and replaced that with the orange.

“Yet you join in.” Gilda chuckled. “Oh, make a Gruthia.”

“The hell’s a Gruthia?” I asked, not actually having heard of that before.

“It’s a special fruit that’s specific to Griffon Territories. It grows in the ground like a potato but once you crack open the tough outside there’s a sweetly tangy jelly like inside. Bro and I used to get them whenever the market had them. The tough skin makes a fairly tasty tea too.”

“Mind giving me a description of it? I’d rather not try and make it with just how it tastes as a description cause I might do something...silly.” I said nervously, scared I’d just make a potato with a jelly filled center.

“Well, it looks like a beetroot, but it’s yellow, and the insides is all white with small black seeds and it tastes a bit like… mango, banana, lemon and peaches all mixed together. One second.” Gilda said, quickly going through their bags until they pulled up a small bag. They pulled out a small nearly clear candy. “The insides are used to make anything from drinks to baked goods and even candy. I keep a few on me as a treat.” They said, popping one in my mouth.

The explosion of sweetness from the peach and banana flavors were quickly complemented by the tang of the lemon and mango, all four flavors merging into a sweetly tango almost tropical combo.

“Sweet lord…” I muttered. “That’s good...alright, let’s try it.” I said as I closed my eyes and tried to create the thing from Gilda’s explanation’s and my current taste test.

What appeared to me looked like, well, a yellow Beetroot. Gilda quickly grabbed and cracked it open. Inside was the clear jelly like inside. They took a sniff before tasting it. “Hmm… Pretty accurate. The smell is a bit different and the skin isn’t as tough as the normal ones but a damn good recreation Anna.” They said, handing me the other jelly like half. “At least the taste is identical.”

“So the one thing I forgot to ask my teacher was...if me doing all of this creation stuff might have some weird adverse effect on things.” I said carefully.

“Like what?” Gilda asked, finishing the insides of the fruit and placing the cup-like remains over where Twilight’s nipples would be. Well, the left one anyway.

“Like...well I’m not creating all of this out of nothing.” I said honestly. “So I’m just confused and slightly concerned I might be either taking away precious air to create all this stuff, and if I do it too much it might cause something bad to happen.”

“Well, plenty of trees, so doubt that’s gonna be an issue, as for that… how big do you think the world is? The universe, whatever else this… massive fuck off reality is? I doubt a single goddess can use it all up, besides, matter cannot be created or destroyed right? So you’re just… efficiently recycling all that matter is all.”

“I...suppose your right.” I said nervously. “And just from what I know right now before my teacher started explaining things...well first of all every pantheon and their ‘worlds’ are all real so there’s at least a massive jump in how big the world is...plus Spira cause of this.”

“Well, what do you plan to do about it?” Gilda asked. I finished my half of the fruit and Giilda placed the other cup-like end over Twilight’s other nipple.

“Well...when I murder Spiral once and for all I think I’m going to go traveling to see how big this place really is.” I said honestly. “And...I can take you and our growing family with us...oh and uh...I figured out that Yevon himself isn’t the...actual problem.”

“Somehow that doesn’t surprise me. So, what else can you make?”

“Technically I can create whatever I want.” I said honestly. “As long as I know what it is...I can just create life.”

“Heh, even passively it seems.” Gilda said, putting a hand to my belly. “Have you tried creating something… that has never existed before? Plant or Animal?”

“That’s technically what I did with that little golem I made of you.” I said honestly. “But other than that...not sure really.”

“Hmm… Do you think you can revive an extinct plant or animal species?”

“I...don’t see why not.” I said honestly. “Why do you ask? Got one specific?”

“Well, as you can tell Dash’s dad taught me a lot about history, so I picked up a few books about animals, plants and even other sentient creatures that aren’t around anymore. Some looked really cool, others I imagined often how they’d taste.”

“Sounds about right.” I nodded. “So, got any of those books and want anything specific recreated?”

“Not with me. Though I bet they have some up in the Empire, maybe even the plants themselves given it’s a thousand years displaced from time.”

“Fair, plus it would be interesting to see what life was there before they froze their asses off.” I said honestly.

“... Say, could you actually grow like a forest there?” Gilda asked. “Like, trees and animals that are built for the cold.”

“Uh...maybe?” I said carefully, unsure if I could do that. “I probably could, but hell if I know how to make things that cold resistant...well, maybe I could use some of my fiend forms to help with that…” I muttered as I kept thinking of new possibilities.

“Heh, you’re a walking terraformer huh.” Gilda said, moving the hand from my belly to hy hips. “How much more are you trying to impress me?”

“Listen...just from this pregnancy my hips, butt and tits might grow a bit because of craving’s and...breast milk…” I blushed a little. “And...well your my mate...my first mate so...you have to tell me when it’s ‘too much’.”

“Anna, for you, there’s no such thing as too much.” They said, giving me a kiss.

I kissed my wonderful griffon back. “That’s what I like to hear.”

“So, wanna fool around? Twilight’s probably gonna be out cold til the end of the trip and I, for one, could use some… attention, like I give you~”

“All you have to do is ask my needy birdy.” I answered happily.

Twilight, as expected, didn’t wake up until after the train came to a stop, long after Gilda and I finished up our little fun. Arriving at the Empire I could feel the… energy here. Like, pure life and… innocence was ripe in the air itself.

“There you are!” We turned, seeing the pink alicorn followed by the white unicorn. Cadence looked… wow… She wasn’t overly busty like some of the girls back home but she… had… IT! I used to envy the hell out of chicks with that figure. Perfect boob to hip ratio with a lovely hourglass waist and thighs that welt with her butt to a very bouncy T.

Shining was also quite the looker. While in his armor his… muscles… “Woof.” Gilda spoke my thoughts. “To both.” We’re so alike~

“You know...I never actually...paid full attention to you two...and good lord am I blind to miss how...gorgeous and sexy the both of you are.” I said in surprise.

“Anna!” Twilight yelped.

“Oh hush Twilight, it’s a complement I am happy to receive.” Cadence stated as she gave all three of us a hug… her fur is like silk… “Welcome to the Crystal Empire! Sombra attack free for the last five months.”

“Heh, those weapons Blueblood gave have been incredibly helpful.” Shining added.

“Also because I absorbed a part of his soul when I beat him.” I added. “Locked up all in here and can’t do anything to anyone.” I said while tapping my head.

“Awh, poor thing.” She said, giving my noggin a kiss… Wow her lips are even silky smooth…

“Cadence!” Twilight yelped.

“What? We are all getting married remember?”

“She passed out after it registered.” Gilda chuckled.

“Heh, yeah that sounds like Twily.” Shining laughed.

“You sound weirdly okay with marrying your sister.” I pointed out.

“Well, we won’t do anything and it’s just on paper. Lots of siblings end up in herds and they never mess around with one another, just the other, non relatives. We can still hang out and be siblings, that won’t change.”

“Seems like everyone gets that but her.” Gilda said.

“Hey!” Twilight huffed. “I’m just… not sure. I mean… we haven’t even… done stuff…”

“Seriously?” Cadence asked.

Twilight began turning red. “I mean… we kinda… cuddled but…”

“She was high off her own endorphins and doesn’t remember much of it.” Gilda finished.

“I’ve never seen anyone be ‘love drunk’ until Twilight.” I added.

Twilight huffed.

“Oh don’t be like that Twilight.” Cadence said, letting go and giving Twilight a single firm hug. “If you need a teacher~”

“Cadence!” Twilight and Shining yelped.

“What? I’m not related to either of you. You know that personally Shiney~” Cadence purred. “Plus, it might happen, never know what some drinks or fun in the dark might lead too~”

“Um...that might raise a problem if these two are in the same room and have one too many.” I said while motioning to Twilight and Shining. “Especially when I’m pretty sure Twilight’s the lightweight of the two.”

“... I can’t take offence to that…” Twilight sighed.

“Well, then we’ll just have to make sure one or the other is sober enough to leave the room.” Cadence said as she let go of Twilight. “Come along, I believe Twilight wanted to… discuss some things in her letter.”

As Cadence walked off, Twilight following, Shining held back with GIlda and I. “Huh… she seems… friskier than usual.” He said.

“That’s not normal for her?” Gilda asked.

“Teasing sure, but that is a level of frisk I have only seen in her a few times. Usually on Hearts and Hooves day.”

“Well...I noticed that the air here is a lot more...pure and full of innocent energy.” I said honestly. “I hope I’m not doing anything to...make it worse.” I muttered, thinking me being a ‘Goddess of Life’ near the ‘Alicorn of Love’ isn’t causing some weird chain reaction.

“Who knows.” Shining shrugged.

“So, how have thing’s been since we last were here?” I inquired.

“Going good. The rebuilding didn’t take very long, and with the Machina weapons we’ve been keeping the wild fiends in the area at bay.”

"That's good." I nodded. "At least no one's been using them against each other…" I muttered to myself.

“Well we do regulate them. Any civilian who wishes to purchase one needs to undergo a two week training course and background check and mental health check. As well as acquire a handling licence and renew it every few years.”

"Well...you're taking this more seriously than back home that's for sure." I said honestly.

“One thing Pony Kind can be known for is that, when taking something seriously, we sometimes overprepare.”

“Better to be safe than sorry.” I said honestly.

As we walked to the castle I kept feeling… hot. The kind that makes me a bit worried my Changeling side is having cravings.

“Uh...is anyone else feeling hot all of a sudden?” I asked carefully.

"Hot as in what?" Shining asked.

"I feel fine." Gilda said.

“I was wondering because I started feeling…’frisky’ hot, and I wasn’t sure if it was from something else or my Changeling craving’s kicking in for some reason.” I said honestly.

"Well, if it was your changeling thing you'd have dragged me off by now." Gilda said. "Or shining here."

Shining colored at that but shook it off. "You…" They started.

"When her changeling form begins to display those pregnancy cravings she gets really horny. Like enough that when it first happened I actually needed to recover from all the friction my member went though." Gilda said.

"I… sadly can relate. Every Hearts and Hooves day Cadence is the same. All the love in the air kinda supercharges her. First time experiencing that I got hospitalized." Shining chuckled weakly. "Dehydration, rug burns, various bruises, bruised pelvis bone, and it was a week before my boys started producing again."

Gilda laughed. "Oh put her and Anna in the same room on that holiday then. I'd pay to see who collapses first."

"Is that a challenge?" I asked.

"More of a perverted take on wrestling." Gilda replied.

"Oh you and Cadence are so going to get along." Shining chuckled.

"Glad to know I'm making a good first impression." I giggled happily.

We were about to enter the throne room when suddenly a pair of guards ran up to Shining. “Prince Shining Armor, there’s new fiends as the barrier on the east side.”

“How many?” Shining asked.

“Just three, but one appears… different.”

“Different how?”

“They… look akin to her species.” The guard motioned to me.

"What do the other two look like?" I asked carefully.

"One of the looks like a heavily decorated Griffon Priestess, and the other looks like her species, but her skin is pure blue and ice seems to form around her even in the harsh snow outside." The guard said carefully as my eyes widened.

"The fuck are Shiva and Valefor doing here?" I asked worriedly.

“Take us there.” Shining said.

The walk to east side of the barrier was fairly quick. Arriving there I saw the two Aeons, Shiva and Valefor… and Yevon in between them. “Uhhh… hi…” He waved awkwardly.

"And what the hell are you doing here?" I asked carefully. "And why are you hiding between...these two beautiful women?" I asked

“THey dragged me here…” Yevon almost growled.

“You two need to talk.” Valefor spoke up.

"That's an understatement." I rolled my eyes. "But again, why are you trying to hide most of yourself behind them?" I asked.

"He's too scared to let you see our makeover we did for him." Shiva answered.

“I look ridiculous!” Yevon yelled.

“I’ll be the judge of that.” I said honestly. “Can’t be too bad right?”

With a chuckle Valefor pushed Yevon forwards. They looked like, well, Yevon, only they were dressed in a white shirt, jean jacket and pants with black boots. “I hate you both…” He growled.

“Oh come on, you look great!” Shiva said. “Besides, you have no idea how hard it was to get your hair cleaned, seriously did you just shove your head in one of those stone walls or something?”

“You look great.” I said to Yevon. “Not as bad as your weird hobo thief years in Spira.” I answered, which I saw Yevon flinch at hearing that. “Yeah...Ifrit made me relive your life on Spira, not sure if that was on purpose or not but...yeah we have a lot to talk about on that alone.”

“Right…” Yevon said, rubbing their arms. “So… what are we going to talk about…”

“Why you didn’t tell me sooner.” I frowned. “I mean seriously...I thought you were the bad guy this entire time and felt like shit because I couldn’t make heads or tails as to why I...honestly feel love for you...could have told me your first visit you were possessed by a dangerous parasite.”

“...”

“He can’t.” Shiva informed. “The… parasite, when not fully controlling him, keeps him on a leash. Yevon is limited in what he can say. It’s like… having a shock collar on. He can’t speak anything, or he gets… painfully corrected.”

“Well...what can he talk about?” I asked carefully.

“Our past… basic stuff… just, nothing about… Spiral or… what he’s doing…” Yevon said.

“Alright…” I sighed out. “So...Gilda, what’s your first response to seeing Yevon and not the...monster behind all the shit that’s been going on?”

“I’d fuck him.” Yevon went so red. “You didn’t tell me he’s hot.”

“So people tell me…” Yevon muttered.

“I wasn’t sure how you’d react so I wanted to save it for your first meeting.” I said to Gilda. “Alright, what question do you have for us Yevon?”

“How have you been… recovering? Usually when you… save a prior timeline, you’re comatose for a… while.”

“No idea cause I don’t...remember being in a comatose state.” I said honestly. “I was just born back on Earth...died protecting my little brother...and then woke up in Equestria because God said ‘have fun in reality’.”

“Same as the prior times.” Yevon muttered. “You relive that day while comatose, then wake back up not remembering the memory you dreamed about. Makes sense, that was the day everything for you changed.”

“Yes..nothing like having a tank blow up half your house and get impaled by a support beam…” I sighed out. “But something you should know about...I met your dad and the jackass that possessed him.” I said honestly.

“My… My parents were… part of a Fayth.” Yevon said. “Since I was three.”

“I saw that...wait, I’m sorry, I meant your uncle.” I shook my head. “Sorry just...there’s a whole lot I’m still processing while talking with those two…” I rubbed my forehead

“Okay, wait, Uncle Vincent survived all that?”

“Considering Vincent is my teacher in being a Goddess of Life...and him being something much bigger than that...I’d say he’s survived much worse.” I said carefully.

“I… what?”

“It’s really complicated...but hey, I leared how to create life.” I said as I gently tapped the snow with my foot as a flower suddenly bloomed through it. “I...don’t know how to create life that can fully sustain itself in snow yet but I can do it.”

“That’s… amazing! It usually takes you years before you can do that again.” Yevon said. “Usually seven to fifteen depending… and you’re doing it now in just under half a year since you woke up…”

“That’s what happens when I have a proper teacher on things.” I said honestly. “Still can’t believe it’s this easy.”

“Well, it’s what you’re best at.” Yevon said with a nod. “So, what about souls? Any luck there yet?”

“I have all their lives in me and...I was told that I needed your help to give them back their lives if they wanted.” I said carefully.

“Yeah, the act of resurrection requires both my powers and yours. We’ve done it a few times but even so it’s not easy for us. Kinda breaks the natural flow of life but we’ve managed up to… ten at a time, when we both were at our peaks.”

“Alright...cause I have a lot of people that were wrongly murdered that might want to come back.” I said honestly.

“Yes, but I meant creating whole new souls or stitching the Pyreflies back into a whole soul? That was your specialty.”

“Huh...didn’t know I could do that.” I said honestly.

“Of course. Souls, making and fixing them is all in your domain. Mine is more… Spiritual and such…”

“Fair enough.” I nodded. “But I might still need your help to bring back all the changelings that were killed...a while ago.”

“Yes, we can start that once your full range of powers have returned.”

“Fair enough.” I nodded. “Gonna take a while...plus I need to ask all the changelings who want to come back.” I added.

“So, how long are you, ya know, free from… that issue?” Gilda asked.

“It varies. Longest he… didn’t take over, was two years. Course when he did… well, that timeline went south… so badly…”

“So the longer he isn’t puppeting you the worse off the result in the end.” Gilda summarized.

“That’s the gist of it. He can use my powers and such when he does but he can’t… think, properly. It’s basically imagine his brain works… differently, wired differently. When he takes me over he’s limited in his mental capacities.”

“Well...alrighty then.” I nodded. “But hey, I figured out how to stop him finally.” I said honestly.

“How?”

“Through some good old fashion murder.” I said simply.

“You’ve killed him sixty four thousand times… he doesn’t stay dead long.”

“Well from what Vincent told me is that I haven’t been killing him hard enough.” I said honestly. “But...wow, I didn’t think I killed it that many times.”

"Yeah… after a while it also… fought back…"

“I saw…” I sighed out. “And it tried to attack me when I was looking through an old memory…”

"Yeah… Look, Anna… I've set up…. Well, I guess you could call them challenges to help you regain your powers. I've linked an Aeon to each and every one of them, and I did so with EVERY Aeon I have left."

“And...how many Aeon’s do you have?” I asked. “Cause we have the main Aeon’s I know...but is there any other Aeon’s I should know about?”

"I have… twenty left. The others here… they will soon join the others in the rest in the challenges. Some have been around longer than others. I do this… every timeline… if… you can't completely… win, this time… it might be the last timeline."

"Why do you say that?" I asked worriedly, also massively concerned about his safety if he wasn't allowed to say this stuff.

"Because… if I run out of Aeons to help repower you, then he can… try and get to you as well. Every time I use the Aeons to help empower you, I can't grip onto him when he… attacks you. Anna, he doesn't want to kill you, he wants to possess you, like he does me. With both of us tied to his strings, he'll have both creation and destruction and can properly think within the Physical and ethereal planes. And then no Gods can stop him."

"Oh…" I started. "Well then...this got a fuck ton heavier than I thought...and I just wanted to rescue my family damn it…" I grumbled.

"Please Anna...we're all tired…" Valefor said sadly. "Even we Aeons, physical manifestations of the soul and empowered by belief...we can only endure so much…"

"We'll help as best we can…" Shiva sighed out. "But as long as we're mostly bound to Yevon here...we cant do much unless Spiral takes the reigns…" Shiva shivered in disgust at remembering how it took her over.

"... What is Spiral, exactly?" Gilda asked.

"An Eldritch Elder God. While he is a parasite, he is still of the strongest of gods in existence."

"Shit, no wonder he's so hard to kill."

“So that’s why…” I muttered. “Well, then I just have to murder him harder than.”

"Anna, only one thing in all existence can even really hurt an Eldritch god, let alone an Eldritch Elder God. And THAT is another Eldritch Elder God or, something higher and I don't know if such a being even exists." Yevon said.

“They do…” I started. “That’s what Vincent is...and that’s what possessed Vincent.”

"Will they even help us?" Gilda asked.

“Vincent’s my teacher in the way’s of Life for starters, and Junior...well I think he’s going to help, but he’s...kind of an ass from what little I’ve talked to him.”

"Any help would be great… I don't know what Spiral-agh!" Yevon started but suddenly his whole body was covered in black puss as the Aeons next to him did too.

Gilda held me back from crossing the barrier and eventually Yevon stood back up. "Now that's enough of that, silly God." Yevon spoke as they stood up… Spiral… "Good to see you again, Anna my sweet."

“You're the asshole…” I growled.

"Oh don't be like that. You are much cuter when you're terrified."

“I’m not afraid of you, especially now that I know your just a useless sack of shit that needs Yevon to do everything for you.”

"Words may hurt but I know what I am. Besides, even if you don't fear me, so many others do." He said, spinning on their heel as suddenly in a flash of Pyreflies, three… children, human kids all… Unsent. "Did you know, while I control these adorable flesh bags, their minds are forever kept in a hell of their own design? The young scare so easily, and were they alive their little hearts would have stopped ten times over." He snapped their fingers, the kids vanishing back into Pyreflies. "Especially you. Still such a child, still so afraid for the mortal blood you call family."

“And did you know I’m going to murder you so hard you won’t ever come back?” I asked. “Cause I’m going to make sure that happens asshole.”

Smirking, Spiral opened their hand, Pyreflies flowing out. It showed me… making that same threat. Over… and over. "A promise, or a petty threat? You're out classed Little Goddess." He said, a vortex of Pyreflies appearing behind him as he walked inside, the two possessed Aeons following.

“It’s a promise.” I growled as I turned into the Chocobo Eater and tried to punch the guy as hard as I could.

They didn't move, simply raising a hand as that black puss flowed out. Immediately on contact the puss burned like the foulest poison and the strongest acid. Shifting back my whole arm was completely burned down to the bone. I screamed as Gilda, Shining and Cadence tried to bandage me as Spiral simply smirked, walking into the vortex and then it was gone.

“Asshole…” I growled as I tried to heal my arm with whatever magic I had. “I’m going to kill that bastard…”

It took a while, and every second of it was agony, but my Pyreflies eventually healed the damage. Still, my whole arm feels numb.

"New rule, no insulting Eldritch gods." Gilda said as he sat on the couch and I laid across it, resting my head on their legs. "Especially ones that hurt you that badly."

“Fine fine…” I grumbled. “So...that fucking sucks.” I said while stretching my hand out to make sure it was all good. “And here I was hoping for a nice simple visit…”

"Well simple is a luxury for us."

“Sadly…” I sighed out. “So yeah...that was Yevon and that was also Spiral...at least people liked Yevon…”

"I can definitely see why you love them." Gilda laughed, petting my head. "So… pressure sure is on it seems. Think those two you talked about will help us?"

“My teacher’s? Hopefully.” I said honestly. “And...well I was really confused and panicked by ‘loving’ Yevon, because I thought he was the big bad...but now that I know that there’s someone else behind all this…I guess I can actually love the dork for who he is.”

"Heh. So, the usual life threatening issues aside… how are you going to do this while… pregnant?"

“I...I don’t know…” I started worriedly, putting a hand on my stomach. “I...I completely forgot...too many things are happening…”

"Hey, we'll figure something out. I'm sure your teachers can, well, teach you something."

“I trust Vincent to help me here...Junior on the other hand…” I said carefully. “He’s doing this because he doesn’t want to feel bored anymore.”

"Hm. So he's a wild card then. Well, even a wild card has uses."

“True.” I nodded. “He might be able to teach me how to shapeshift...which I also need to start hunting for more Fiends...and I still need to figure out how to save my mom and dad…” I threw up my hands. “Fuck! I’ve been so caught up in all this god like bullshit I forgot about my brother and parents…” I teared up as everything just kind of smacked me all at once.

"Hey, hey, relax. You're just one person. God or not this is a lot of shit for anyone's plate. Everything will be fine, we just got to organize things first. And we already know a nerdy organizer, don't we?"

“Y-yes…” I sniffled. “Yes, we have an adorkable organizer.”

"Exactly. Plus, you aren't alone. Those Valkyrie chicks, Thor and his brother, you got help, we just have to make a plan, and ten bits say Shining Armor and Blueblood can help out there flawlessly."

“Th-thanks Gilda.” I said softly, rubbing the tears out of my eyes. “What would I do without you?”

"Panic. Masturbate. Panic some more." I laughed, giving Gilda a punch. They laughed. "Am I wrong?"

“Sadly no.” I said honestly. “But hey...I’m glad to not be alone in this.”

"Well that's what family and friends are for." Gilda smiled.

“Yeah...that’s what family and friends are for.” I agreed with my own smile.

To be continued...

Chapter 12

Once we were all inside the crystal palace Shining, Gilda and I were all talking over the locations for these challenges based on the map Discord gave us. "Hmm… it would seem from here, the closest rift is somewhere near the Frozen North's border. The furthest seems to be here on Mt. Bahamut, in the Dragon Lands."

“Really?” I asked. “They named a mountain after him?”

"Well, A he is their God and B, that mountain is said to be his nest. The mountain constantly secretes lava so hot not even the dragons can swim deeper than a few yards so no one knows for sure. Though legends do say should he wake up and emerge from the mountain, the biggest horde in dragon history will be seen by all the dragons… before Bahamut sets fire to the world."

“Well then...” I started. “Who knew the little guy would try to set fire to the world like that...although Mega Flare is a thing...”

"Well, regardless. We can send small task forces to each location in Equestria to make sure no one enters them by accident. It will also allow us to set up a rapid travel teleport system to each location."

"Cool." Gilda nodded.

“That’s good.” I nodded. “But the rift is a good enough excuse to head to the Dragon Lands, plus there’s a piece of Sombra there from what both Sombra himself said and a few other hints I’ve gotten.” I shrugged.

"Better to get every piece of him. How many are left?" Shining asked.

"From what Sombra said, eight more scattered around the planet." I answered.

"That's eight too much." Shining growled. "Traveling to the Dragon Lands will take a three day travel by zeppelin."

"So what are dragons like here?" I inquired.

"Well, some are like Spike, calm, cool headed and small/average height. Others are massive, rude and greedy. Though from reports we've gathered the large dragons are vanishing, which is not a good sign."

"That's definitely not a good sign when castle sized dragons just go missing." Gilda nodded.

"I really hope they aren't becoming unsent…" I said carefully. "But if they are...how strong are Dragons?"

"The current dragon Lord, on top of his right as Dragon Lord to hold the power that can command Dragons, his fire has melted star metal, and his strength has shown him to literally walk through a mountain."

"Oh…" I started carefully. "Well...if most dragons are like that then...a lot of bad things might happen."

"Only the big, ancient ones are. Dragons are a unique race that actually never stop growing as they age. While greed growth can accelerate their growth, it leaves them nothing more than mindless animals. The largest of them are ancient, one actually predates the Princesses and another predates pony kind. Both have long since entered the eternal slumber."

“And...that means they're dead or...we’re literally standing on top of them as the reason Earthquakes exist is because one of them is snoring?” I asked.

“Bit of both actually. See, Dragons are one of a few races to naturally have a form of immortality. While they measure their age with size, when a dragon gets too old to want to live on, they’ll burry themselves into a self dug hole and sleep. They sleep for so long that their bodies literally fossilize and become stone… and their insides… become gemstones.”

“Wait… so, all these massive gemstone deposits are…” Gilda started.

“The remains of ancient dragons that went to eternal sleep long ago.” Shining nodded.

“But… Dragons eat gems! Isn’t that… cannibalism?”

“You eat eggs, is that cannibalism?”

“I mean, not from my own species…”

“To the dragons, the eternal sleep is an eventual part of life, in exchange for death their bodies become rock and gems for the planet to reshape into gems the ones still alive need to raise their young and keep their fires going.”

“Well...that makes sense I suppose.” I shrugged...but then a realization hit me. “Uh...I don’t like that...like at all...a lot of bad things are going to happen and I’m liking it less and less the more I think about it.”

“Yeah…” Shining sighed.

“No...as in either the entire underground is filled with Pyreflies from these dead dragons...dead ancient dragon’s the size of a mountain range...and crystallized Pyreflies…” I started carefully.

“Oh… Well that’s even worse.” Gilda stated.

“Guess it’s off to the Dragon Lands then.” Shining armor stated.

“Yes...as fast as we can…” I started carefully. “But...it’s going to take three days, unless Thor somehow knows a way to speed up that process.” I said honestly.

CRASH!

“Did thou call me?” Thor asked from the hole in the side of the wall.

“How the fuck did you get here so fast?!” Gilda asked.

“Mjolnir can have me travel the entire surface of a planet in minutes.” Thor stated.

“How did you hear us talking about you?” Shining asked.

“I was actually here cause Luna received word about the Sombra shard in the Dragon Lands. He’s made himself public, and it’s not going well for the dragons.” Thor explained. “This was mostly just a well timed coincidence.”

“Then we need to move fast.” I said. “How fast can you get us to the Dragon Lands?”

“Anna, how do you expect to get there and fight while pregnant?” Shining asked.

“Uh… I’m super magical and things will work out?” I asked sheepishly.

“Well… what about me?” Gilda asked. “I’m a Prophet of her’s now. She managed to link me to a golem body, maybe that link can work backwards.”

“You mean Anna using your body?” Shining asked.

“Well, yeah.” Gilda nodded.

“It’s a weird god thing that...honestly sounds like something I should have done when we officially got married.” I sighed out. “But you sure Gilda? I don’t know much about it, and Vincent’s only just started teaching me my Life powers.”

“It’s better than putting yourself and the babies at risk. Besides, if you’re controlling my body then I know you’ll return it to me in one piece. Maybe a little bruised and a few scuffs but those can get buffed out.” The griffon said with a chuckle.

I wanted to argue, but with all the unknowns about my own powers and what Sombra’s doing…”I’m still going, cause I don’t know if there’s a distance limit to it and...maybe I need to be there for you to absorb Pyreflies like myself.”

“If you are then Thor is gonna hold your body back.” Gilda stated.

“Let’s just hope things don’t get too weird here…” I said carefully. “I don’t want weird pyrefly shenanigans to happen to you as well…”

We arrived quickly in the dragon lands, and I rapidly began trying to see about using Gilda’s body as my own. I didn’t like it, but after some effort and advice from Thor, I found myself looking at myself, and looking down as Gilda’s hands and talons… woah…

It took a bit. Gilda’s body felt different than my Griffon form. In that form, I’m different but I still feel like me… but in Gilda’s body I felt… different. Like it wasn’t mine… which it wasn’t.

My actual body laid almost sleeping on the ground next to Thor.

"Alright…" I said through Gilda. "This...feels completely new…"

“Just try and not to think about it.” Thor stated. “Now, the dragons need aid, go forth and aid them while I stand guard over your true body.”

I nodded and spread Gilda's wings and flew off towards where the dragons would need me. "Are you there Gilda?" I asked, hoping Gilda was still with me even if I was controlling their body.

Nothing. That... worried me. I almost started flying back but I spotted some Unsent Dragons flying around. They were about the size of semi trucks and seemed to be hunting the smaller, younger dragons.

“Yeah I’m not gonna let that happen.” I said, diving down swiftly as I prepared my claws to slash at these things.

The scales were tough, but thankfully the bits where Pyreflies leaked out were a weak spot I exploited.

I managed to luck out and was able to summon my Lunar armor, and used my Halberd to cut along their scales and slash them open. To my surprise, the Pyreflies floated towards Gilda’s body and were absorbed by them. Huh… Are all my powers usable while… borrowing Gilda’s body?

“Hmm...that’s interesting.” I said, wondering if Gilda was now able to do what I can because of this.

Once all the Unsent dragons were slain I flew down to check on the dragons.

“Hello?” I called out. “Are you all okay?”

“Who… are you?” One of the dragons, a red and orange scaled male drake asked.

“Uh...that’s a little complicated.” I said carefully.

“How did you kill those crazed dragons?” A smaller drake, female with two tones of orange interrupted before I could explain further. “The most Dragon Lord Torch has been able to do is stall them before they get back up.”

“Did you see those weird floating lights?” I asked, which they all nodded. “I’m able to absorb them and stop them from coming back to life.”

“Oh, you must be that Goddess of Life Torch was talking about.” The red one spoke up. “Dragon Lord torch was hoping you’d show up. I’m Garble, and this here is my little sister Smolder.” The red drake, Garble explained. “When those… things, showed up Torch ordered an evacuation. Lot of the bigger drakes didn’t listen and we all saw first hand what happened to them.” He shivered.

“Currently I’m inhabiting one of my mates' bodies, Gilda.” I pointed out. “But the dragon lord’s been looking forward to seeing me? Where is he at the moment?”

“You’re… possessing someone?” The small orange dragoness, Smolder asked, her and some others taking a step back.

“It’s not what you think.” I said quickly. “This is completely consensual...Gilda is my mate and Prophet...if you know what that is.”

“Relax guys.” Garbel said to the others. “Sorry, we’ve all just been through a lot recently.” The older drake apologized. “Lot of us are barely out of Whelpling years, It’s been rough keeping everyone together and moving.”

“It’s alright...I’m sorry we weren’t here sooner.” I sighed out. “Just...a lot of thing’s have been happening all at once for me to be honest, but where’s Torch and the others?”

“Torch was keeping the majority at bay so we could escape. We were larger but got split up when these things started chasing us. Torch’s daughter, Ember was with us originally but she was one of the ones we got split up with. Last we saw her was three miles back.”

“Right then.” I said while picking up some ash from the land. “Hopefully this works…” I muttered as I tried to use my life magic to turn this pile of ash into some sort of scouting bird that can survive this harsh place.

After a moment or two the two dragon’s watched in awe as the ash swirled around in the palm of my hand as a weird stone-like falcon seemed to form from it, cracks lining it’s entire body as a reddish molten glow puslated from it like a pulse. “Alright, go find any survivor’s and bring them to me.” I said to my new Stone Falcon, which nodded and flew off rather quickly to search for others.

“Woah. That’s cool.” Garble said with a smile. “Don’t suppose you have someplace safe nearby?”

“About three miles that way you’ll find my original body and Thor on a chariot with two war horse sized goats.” I said, pointing in the right direction. “It may not be as safe as say a cave or anything, but when you have the physically strongest Norse God by your side you might as well be as safe as can be.”

“Anything is better than where we came from.” Garble said with a nod. “Come on everyone, let’s head there and fast.”

“Do you remember where everyone was evacuating to?” I asked curiously.

“We were trying to reach the Nursery, it was the most secure place but we had to run wherever when they started heading towards us. We didn’t want to lead them there so we went a different direction.”

“Where’s the Nursery?” I asked worriedly.

“By flight it’s a few minutes that way.” Garble pointed.

“Thank you.” I nodded. “Think you can make it to Thor by yourselves?” I asked with honest concern at how it all felt like the Dragon Lands has been falling very quickly.

“You took out those things that were chasing us so I think we’ll be good from here on out.”

“Cool.” I nodded, spreading my wings. “Stay safe, and I’ll be back, hopefully with others.”

I took off, heading towards the Nursery as I hurried.

I arrived at a glowing red soil patch of craters that all seemed to be empty. I kept looking around and eventually spotted a small dug out hole that upon landing I spotted a few of the younger drakes and many eggs all hiding in the rather cramped space.

“Hello?” I asked carefully to the young drakes.

“Y-don’t come any closer.” One of the drakes stated. Their voice was trembling but they were standing their ground between the eggs behind them and I.

“It’s alright, I’m a friend.” I said softly. “My names Anna, the Goddess of Life, I’m speaking to you through my Prophet and mate, Gilda.” I said gently and carefully.

“Have you seen the Welplings?” They asked. “They were supposed to meet up here for the evacuation but so far only a small group has arrived.”

“If you mean Garble and Smolder, I saved them and directed them towards another one of my mates, Thor the Nordic God of Thunder to keep them away from here.” I explained softly. “And I sent a Stone Falcon to try and find anyone else and direct them to safety.”

“Alright… We will need help, these eggs can’t be left alone less those… things harm them.”

“What thing’s?” I inquired. “Anything that wasn’t those Unsent Dragons?”

“No, just those.” They stated. “A few flew overhead a while ago but thankfully didn’t notice us.”

“Alright.” I nodded. “Is there anyone else coming here that you know of? Any of the adults that were doing anything else?”

“Most were helping Torch fend off the beasts. Others were trying to escape with their own mates and whelps. We were just told to wait until sundown to evacuate to the equestrian borders.”

“Well it’s a good thing Equestria is on it’s way to help you all then.” I nodded. “How many eggs and whelpling’s are here?” I asked, looking around the whole at all of them and trying to count them all.

“Currently there are thirty six eggs, and ten whelplings.”

I frowned, not liking how little there was here and how much I had to protect here. “I can’t leave you all here without someone to protect you...but I can’t stay here and help the other’s trying to fend off the Unsent…” I started, trying to think of someway to...wait a minute. “Hold on, I think I have an idea.” I said, taking a few steps back as I channeled my magic. “First time doing summoning magic...how hard can it be?” I muttered, trying to call upon either Ifrit or someone in my spirit realm to help me out here.

The whelpling’s started to see glowing orbs surround me as a strange ancient symbol appeared above me, as suddenly a large great sword descended from the heavens and slammed down into the ground, the dust kicking up and preventing them from seeing who was summoned until they heard footsteps, seeing a tall tanned figure pick up the sword and rest it on one of his shoulders. “So, what do ya need, kid?” Jecht asked me casually.

“Mind protecting these kids while I go out and look for other survivors?” I asked.

“... My first time out of yer… wait… why are you your bird femboy?” Jecht asked.

“Gilda is my Prophet, so I can possess them.” I said honestly. “And yes I know, it would be a lot better but we have a massive problem at the moment.”

“Fine, fine. So, first time out of your noggin and I’m on guard duty. Heh, reminds me of the old days.” He said.

“At least you can fight dragon’s here.” I shrugged. “They can literally walk through mountains if they're old and big enough though.”

“Huh, well that’s a consolation prize. So, who am I protecting?” Jecht asked.

“These Whelpling’s and all the eggs.” I said, taking a step away and motioning to all the kids and unborn. “I’ll have to go out and look for survivors, and you're the most experienced fighter I can summon...which I’m still glad I did that first try.”

“Well, best to head off. I’ll hang here and deal with anything looking to pick a fight.” Jecht stated.

“Thanks Jecht.” I nodded. “This is a friend of mine, he’ll keep you safe while I’m gone trying to find everyone else, alright?” I said softly to all the children.

With a nod from them I took flight into the air and began heading towards the towers of flame and high rising smoke and dust.

“Considering my Falcon hasn’t come back and all that fighting is over there…” I hummed, hoping my Falcon found some people and tried getting them to safety as I flew off swiftly towards the raging fight.

As I began to enter the dust cloud I barely evaded a massive claw. The thing was three times Gilda’s size and the part of the paw it was attached to, was insane…

“Sweet lord…” I grumbled, flying around carefully and looking at my would be assailant to see if it was either an accident or on purpose.

A roar echoed out and blasted me into the air some. It parted the dust and smoke enough for me to… sweet gods…

A giant mountain sized dragon, wounds deeper than Gilda’s body and their own blood decorated their flesh. Bits of bone were visible as well and despite that, he retaliated against his attacker with equal ferocity and anger as they.

I flew past the mountain of a dragon. “Don’t worry! Goddess of Life is here to help!” I called out, trying to get towards the dragon he was fighting and hopefully to absorb the pyreflies that they might be spawning.

As I did the wounded drake took the aid and began fighting faster and harder to help me absorb them.

Soon they were all finally gone and I landed as they crashed to the ground.

“Don’t worry, I gotcha.” I said, flying over and trying to use my Goddess of Life powers to try and help the dragon heal from it’s injuries. “How you holding up there?”

“I will be dead soon…” He groaned as his grounds gushed blood out like rivers. “I don’t have long.”

“Like hell that’s happening.” I said. “But...I’m not in my body...uh…” I thought frantically. “Thor! Bring my body real quick!” I called out quickly, hoping he can hear me. “You’re not dying on me old man, you still have a long life to live…”

He chuckled. “I am Dragon Lord Torch. I have lived for Six Million, two hundred and eight thousand, nine hundred and three years. I have spawned only one child, my daughter, and I was planning on passing on the mantle of Dragon Lord to a youngblood. I was to take the eternal slumber shortly after… Dying in battle, honestly, sounds better to an old drake like myself.”

“What if I said there’s more you can do as a soul?” I inquired.

“Were anyone else I’d ask… to be left in peace… but, you, a Goddess of Life… what do you have to say on the matter?”

“I’ll need all your experience and knowledge to stop the coming tide of Death and Undeath.” I said. “So how do I...absorb your soul? Cause absorbing souls might need to be specific, cause it was for Changelings.”

“I’ve heard of such magics. Long ago, when I myself was but a welp. So long… as the one being taken in… is willing…” He breathed.

“Then please, do you accept my request, to let your body rest and have your soul continue to aid me for the future?” I asked softly, flying up and putting my hand on his head gently.

“Under… one… condition.” He said, managing to move a claw and reach to his chest and pulled some up. From the apparently underscale pocket, he handed me a stone and gem staff. “The staff of the Dragon Lord. Pass it along to someone worthy… and… protect my daughter, Ember.”

“I will Dragon Lord Torch.” I said softly, taking the staff gently from him. “I promise.”

“Good… Good…” He said, his eyes finally closing his eyes. A single white light, not quite like a Pyrefly, but something more floated from the old Dragon Lord. It was so small… so… fragile. I took it, taking it into me… well, into Gilda through me and such.

“I really hope this won’t do something weird to Gilda…” I muttered to myself, taking a deep breath as I saw my falcon fly over with a blue scaled dragoness and two other whelplings.

The dragoness flies right past me, almost crashing into the fallen Dragon Lord. “Dad? Dad! Wake up!” She cried.

So… she’s… Ember…

“God damn it…” I muttered.

She was just shy of my, er, Gilda’s height. That included the horns. She clung to her fathers claw, hope quickly fading from her like the blood still flowing from her fathers corpse...

“Hey…” I said softly, flying down to Ember’s side. “You...must be Ember correct?”

She didn’t say anything, just holding onto her father’s claw, weeping softly into the lifeless bone.

“I have some important things to tell you...from your father.” I said softly.

“Pass along the Lordship… and protect me, right?” She replied. I was silent for a bit at her answer. “Sounds just like him… He would…”

“And that he isn’t...technically fully gone.” I mentioned. “So first of all, my names Anna, the Goddess of Life speaking to you through my Prophet, Gilda, my mate...and Dragon Lord Torch let me absorb his soul willingly, so he can still help through these trying times and help you through this.” I said softly. “So he’s still with us.”

“... That… oddly helps…” She breathed out. “We never saw eye to eye, and argued a lot… but…” She sighed. “At least… he died like he always hoped. Like a warrior…”

“I understand.” I nodded. “He was strong and proud...told me it was better than the Eternal Slumber…”

“He never did like the idea of just letting it happen in his sleep…” She stood up, giving a pat to her fathers claw. “So, where are we going?”

“Well I see you helped protect two others.” I looked and saw the two whelplings. “And either we head to the Nursery where all the other whelpling’s and eggs are, or we go to my fiance Thor and his chariot.” I said honestly. “Is there any other dragon’s around here if I may ask?”

“Just… dead ones…” Ember stated. “We’ll head to the nursery and gather up the eggs. I take it you wanna deal with that porcelain shadow man over by Mt. Bahumat?”

“That’s one of the reasons why I’m here yes.” I nodded. “And I’ll kill that rat bastard for everything he’s done and help bring back the dragon’s pride alright?”

"Screw pride… just kill that demon."

I nodded. “I’ll make sure the bastard dies.”

I flew up and off, easily spotting where this Shard of Sombra was. He made a throne from dragon corpses and various Unsent Dragons all flew around him.

I landed at the base of his 'throne'. "So, you're the one who's been collecting my other pieces." It said to me.

"Yes I am." I nodded. "So do you want to do this the easy way or the hard way?"

"Do I ever pick the easy way?" They asked as they manifested a large battle axe in their grasp.

"It would be preferred if you did…" I sighed out, donning my Lunar armor and ready to kick his ass.

With a rush of wind I attacked first. The shard of Sombra and I clashed. Somehow, he was able to keep up. I don't know if it was because of the fact I was in Gilda's body over my own, or because this one was stronger than normal.

“You’re going to pay for all the dragon’s you’ve slaughtered.” I growled, trying to blindside Sombra with a talon slash in our weapon struggle.

"They are not the first drake's I've slaughtered." He replied, pushing me back enough to slam the blade of his axe into the ground. "Meet the rest." He said, the ground bursting open as black and red crystal dragons began crawling out of the ground. I counted thirty. Ten were small, maybe just passed Whelpling years, the rest were the size of houses with one being as tall as Canterlot Castle.

“Well...shit…” I started carefully, thinking about how I should be the one here and not Gilda. “This is not good...not good at all.”

I backed up in time to dodge some black fire and claw swipes from the things. A quick jab from Sinful Moon however showed that these things can still get frozen and are rather fragile when they are.

“Well...at least it’ll be easy enough.” I said, absorbing the Pyreflies through Gilda and at least thankful I can do that so they don’t come back.

I was careful in taking out the Crystal drakes and once I managed to finish off the last one I noticed… Sombra's gone… did… did he fucking run?!

“Asshole!” I shouted, flying up into the air and looking around for the bastard.

I was soaring around for a while but saw nothing. Acting quick I headed back to the Nursery. Thankfully everyone here was safe and they were transporting the eggs into Thor's chariot.

"Did you get him?" Ember asked me.

“The bastard ran off after I killed some unsent dragon’s he summoned.” I frowned. “Is there something special in Mt. Bahamut that I should know about?”

"Aside from legends telling it's the sleeping nest of Bahamut himself… there's been a weird shimmer in the air. Like, barely visible but noticeable if you look. A few drakes thought it was just the heat waves from the lava but when one flew towards it they just up and vanished. No one's been up there since."

“Right then.” I nodded, thinking about where that Sombra piece could be and if I should go back to my body and deal with him myself. “This is...really annoying now…” I sighed out, wanting to help the people the best I could, but knowing I couldn’t hurt my unborn children in the process.

I waited and watched as all the eggs and whelps got onto Thor's chariot. I was happy It was big enough to fit them all. "What now Anna?" Thor asked.

I sighed out as I put a hand on my own body. “I think I know where Sombra is trying to get to...and I don’t know if Gilda can handle it, even with the Solar Armor…”

"Mt. Bahamut?" Thor asked as I nodded. "So long as they are adorned in the armor like the lunar armor you currently adorn, the effects will be active. The armor protects all who wear it, not just you Anna."

“Really?” I asked. “Huh...neat...but I don’t want Gilda hurt...and I don’t want…” I groaned. “This sucks...not being able to fight my own battles and possibly getting others hurt in the process…”

"There is no easy choice in battle, only survival and victory." Thor stated.

“Doesn’t mean I have to like it…” I sighed out, but deciding to go through the Sphere Grid to see if I can make Gilda stronger real quick before finding and beating Sombra.

I was thankfully able to boost their defense and add some HP. Though while Defense I can get, The HP part will confuse me a bit.

With that all done I swapped to the Solar Armor and flew off towards the tall, lava flowing Mt. Bahamut.

It was up here at the peak I spotted the shimmering of one of those rifts… and the Sombra shard, standing unaffected by the intense heat around us.

“Oh no you don’t!” I shouted, flying swiftly as I brought out my solar weapon and tried to smack him.

He dodged, and since he did I ended up flying right into the rift.

I crashed hard into something large. Stone it seemed. Ouch…

I stood up, taking a look around at where exactly I was… lots of red rocks… and seemingly dessert for miles. So I'm either in the Mid western US, Australia, or maybe even Africa… shit!

“Well this isn’t good…” I started carefully, looking up to see what I specifically rammed into.

After getting out of it and flying up I recognized it easily enough, seen a fair few pictures of it. I am in Australia.

“So why the hell am I in Australia of all places?” I wondered. “Cause...if it’s to find Bahamut's fayth...well I better find it before Sombra does…” I muttered, looking around quickly for anything that might give me directions.

I started flying around, looking for those Broken Fayth things to get Bahamut's pieces. I managed to find a house way out in the middle of nowhere though. Next door was a lake filled with crocodiles and a spider the size of Gilda's chest had a web in a nearby tree.

The house seems to have seen use-

"If you can talk, best start birdie." Someone said as the sound of a shotgun cocking made itself known next to my/Gilda's head as I entered the house.

“I’m a friend.” I said, raising my hands up carefully. “Who are you if I may ask?”

"Dean. So, what's a weird ass freak of nature like you doing here?" He asked as he stepped in front of me. He was human, white with blue eyes, brown hair and a gator skin jacket, pants and boots.

'You've apparently never heard of Griffon’s...or anthro’s.” I started. “Also don’t insult my fiance, just because I’m using his body doesn’t mean you can insult him like that.”

"... Of all the things in that sentence setting off alarm bells in my head… that's a guy's body?" Dean asked with a raised brow.

“It’s a long and complicated story, but yes, this body is a dude’s.” I nodded. “So to answer your growing question, my names Anna, and my fiance’s body that I’m using is named Gilda, and...you’re in a dimensional rift.”

"Huh. I owe Jacob fifty then… figured we were either in Purgatory or hell. But, you know this how?"

“Because I’ve been through three of these so far, and I’ve helped someone in your situation before.” I said honestly. “So, you said someone else is here?”

"Not here. Down the road. My neighbor. Lot of us keep isolated. Seems majority of the… things out there attack ya if you're in a group of more than fifty. Cities went to hell fast that way." Dean stated, finally lowering his shotgun. "Guess I can give you a chance, first one of these freaks I've seen talk, and that's including the zombies."

“What did these Zombies look like?” I asked curiously.

"Well, like people still mostly save the weird glow lights spilling out from them. Fuckers do nothing but mumble shit about Father, Mother and 'Join Us'. A few good slugs to limbs and I feed em to my Gators. They don't come back after that. Though the poor things shit those weird glow lights for a while after."

“Pyreflies.” I corrected. “Basically someone’s soul from a game called Final Fantasy X, and did any of those zombies look...different to you?” I inquired, remembering that one hybrid unsent that still made me very uncomfortable.

"Hmm… heard about one fella from my neighbor that went towards the city, saw one with six arms, legs and heads walking around like a retarded spider, that count?"

“Yes...that does count.” I nodded. “Well...that’s not entirely good.” I started carefully. “Mind if I see the pyreflies near your gators? I have a nifty trick to show you.”

"Can't. Lights float off towards the major cities after a bit. None left around to see unless one of those Zombies show up again and lately they all stay near the cities."

“Well...shit.” I started. “Well, all I can say is to start sending messages to everyone still alive to start packing up, cause I’m going to be bringing you all to a much better world after I’m done dealing with all the monsters and zombies here.” I said honestly.

"And what am I gonna tell them? A Griffon that stands like a person, looks like a girl but is actually a guy being controlled by someone or thing else clad in gold armor told me to tell everyone to get ready for a move?"

I wanted to argue… but even I couldn't and I'm the living proof of the rather convoluted situation...

“Right…” I started carefully. “Divine intervention would sound kind of bad too...at least tell people that help finally arrived for the monster problem.”

"Best go tell that to those Humanity Forces trying to wipe the cities clean. Their camps make up the majority of the camps still around."

“Great…” I muttered. “What direction is one of the big cities? I’ve never actually been to Australia, I’ve only seen pictures and heard jokes about how...insane this place is half the time.”

“Well, head a few miles west and you’ll be in Warburton. Place ain’t much but it’s got three camps making use of the ruins.”

“Fair enough.” I nodded. “I’ll be off to start dealing with the monsters...I’d recommend getting ready to appear in a different world just in case. It’s happened twice before with Yellowstone and a Cargo Ship for Walmart believe it or not.”

“Huh. Did they have the weird Time thing there too?”

“I…” I started. “No, cause Yellowstone was in an active state but during the entire time me and Gilda were there it didn’t go off until after it fused with the main world.” I said, thinking that might make some sense. “At least...I think that’s how it would work if it wasn’t just a coincidence…”

“Dunno what any of that means. Things here just sorta, reset after midnight. Or what Midnight should be.”

“Hmm...that’s weird.” I said, never having met living people in a rift before or spent more than a single day here. “Thanks for the talk, I’ll be off to try and fix all these things then.”

“Try not to get shot. Lot of folks here take to a shoot first policy these days.”

With a nod I flew off and headed West. From the air I was able to see the town from here.

Majority of the buildings now seemed to be hobbled together, some burned as large trucks and makeshift walls kept large buildings and various houses barricaded. The bullet whizzed by me/ Gilda’s head way too close for comfort. I nose dived right for the ground, taking shelter behind one of the empty buildings.

“Friendly! I’m friendly!” I called out, grabbing a white cloth and a stick, tying it up quickly and waving it around out of cover without my arm to show mercy.

A well shot bullet broke my flag in half as I spotted well armed people beginning to circle around me. Most of them were using handguns but a few had big guns… really big guns…

I stood still as they circled me, fifteen handguns and seven massive rifles and automatics were pointed at me point blank.

“I said I was friendly, come on guys…” I whined.

One of the ‘troopers’ walked up to me. They looked me, er rather Gilda’s body over for a while. “First a dragon, now some OC griffon furry? As if the last ten years haven’t been weird enough as is…” She groaned.

“Not an OC, they’re just borrowing some armor I can use.” I corrected.

“Zip it!” They yelled. “Cuff them. Doc is gonna wanna look this one over.” She stated as they pulled out… rather odd cuffs. They were… engraved with symbols.

Once they were on I felt… drained… anti magic cuffs? How did they get or make these?

“So the very first thing you people do is-”

I was silenced by a gun bash to the head. Oh Gilda… sorry…

I woke up feeling dizzy. Shit… At least I didn’t disconnect from Gilda when they did that.

Looking around I spotted… a rather well furnished cargo crate. There was a bed, some books, a box of canned food and a small propane hotplate and even a TV with a small dvd player hooked up to it and some movies. The cuffs were gone but this crate was covered in those same symbols.

“Well this is fine and fucking dandy. Literally do nothing and the very first thing people do is assault and kidnap Gilda? Now I’m going to be experimented on cause why not…” I grumbled. “Also, armor made by ancient dwarves from Asgard, helmet can’t even handle a wimpy smack to the back of my head…”

I sighed, looking through the canned goods. Huh. Spam, heh, haven’t had that in forever.

I popped the can open and looked through the movies they provided. Let’s see… No, no, no… Pirates of the Caribbean. Well, it is one of Johnny Depp's best works so why not.

“At least they decided to treat me like a person here...also fuck those guys for thinking Gilda’s a shitty OC, they’re amazing damn it.”

I started the movie and began to eat the spam.

At the half hour mark of the movie the doors to this thing opened and in walked two gun wielding troopers and one lady in a lab coat.

“Greetings. The men tell me you can speak english. I am doctor Amanda Tethers, I apologize for the harsh treatment upon arrival. These days Australia is even more deadly than normal, and that’s saying something.”

“I mean, when someone calls out ‘Friendly’ and waves a white flag out in broad daylight people should know not to be assholes.” I frowned. “But it’s nice to meet you Amanda, my names Anna, and the griffon I’m currently inhabiting is named Gilda, my fiance and Prophet.”

“Hm, forgive me if I don’t take your word at face value, and to explain your prior complaint it would not have been the first time a wite flag was used to deceive us. Lost a lot of good people to raiders and the unique undead. Say nothing of the even more unique monsters calling this country home now.”

“Fine, fine.” I sighed out. “So, what do you want to know, Doctor?”

“Firstly, if you are from the same location as our… ‘dragon’ tenant claims then I just need to confirm some data before continuing.” She said, taking out a notepad and pen. “First question, where is this… portal, you entered located?”

“The portal doesn’t reopen until I complete it like a dungeon from some video games.” I explained. “Like defeating a certain boss monster or collecting pieces of an important artifact...at least, as far as I’ve noticed the other...four rifts I’ve had to close, two others were like this.”

“I mean on the other side, miss. We’ve already tried and found nothing so it’s safe to assume it is a one way portal. I need you to tell me where the entrance is on the other side.”

“The place is known as Equis, the specific region of the rift is known as the Dragon Lands.” I answered.

She nodded, writing something down. “And these Dragon Lands, describe them.”

“Well, it’s a volcanic wasteland surrounded by many volcano’s many miles away from the continent Equestria.” I said. “But it will change when I complete whatever this Rift has in store for me.”

She nodded again, writing more down. “Do the names; Garble, Princess Ember, Dragon Lord Torch, or Bahamut mean anything to you?”

“I helped save two of their lives...sadly the ruler of the Dragon’s fell in combat, but his soul lives on inside me, quite literally I might add, and Bahamut…” I sighed out. “Yes, yes I do...at least, the Final Fantasy X version.”

“Ha! Pay up.” One of the guards said with a grin to his fellow guard.

Doctor Amanda wrote down my answer and then looked me in the eyes. “Well, were this a normal anomaly case you’d be sent to work where you best fit, however given your knowledge of some earth culture, and the fact a local gator farmer was brought here and vouched for you as we were setting up your quarters, this just leaves one thing left to do.”

"I do my literal job and solve the problems you can't solve?" I asked.

“No. A lie detector test. It’s best to be cautious these days and frankly, while what information you did answer did correspond with our ‘dragon’ tenant the rest was rather… suspect.”

“I can literally do my job and answer all your questions.” I said honestly. “Do you want to be stuck here longer doing a bunch of other bullshit, or do you want your answers and also a way out of this Groundhog’s day loop apparently?”

“Look at it from our perspective. One day, earth is going to shit from some ancient star calendar, then, shortly after midnight we all find ourselves here. Shortly after arriving here the dead start standing back up. For three years it’s mass murders, suicides, and chaos as people just try and survive and these Undead’s numbers rise. Finally after some sense or order and such begins to settle, then the monsters show up and for two more years the chaos continues, and over eight million people are reduced to just over fifty thousand and now, a whole ten years later a dragon and a griffon show up out of the blue and one of them claims to be some self appointed hero. Pardon my lack of acceptance after ten years in hell.”

“Fine fine…” I sighed out, wanting to get into my own rant but stopping myself. “But I’ve also been through that 2012 crap and...been through my own personal hell which has...apparently been plaguing me for god knows how long…”

“Really? You were human?” The doc asked.

“I’m still...technically human.” I said honestly. “Considering I’m now a Goddess of Life, don’t ask, I made Gilda, my fiance, into my Prophet and can...take over their bodies...and I’m sorry for being a little defensive or ‘combative’ with our talks just...concerned about a lot of things, especially when I’m piloting the love of my life and not wanting him injured...as well as being pregnant myself…”

“Well that just raises more questions.” One of the guards said.

“I don’t buy that’s a dude…” The other one stated.

“Hmm… There is one way to see if she… They, are telling the truth.” Doctor Amanda spoke up. “Bring me Harut.”

One of the guards nodded and left.

“Uh...who?” I asked carefully. “Also, yes Gilda is a dude, sure they have a body a woman would be super envious about...but he’d put some bad dragon toys to shame.”

I waited for the doc and the guard in silence for a while until the other guard finally returned.

Who accompanied him was a man, appearing to be Arabic and in his late teens or early twenties. “That’s the one.” The guard said.

The man walked over and looked at me, Doctor Amanda giving him her seat as he looked at me. “Hm. You are not what I was expecting.” The man, Harut, I assume, said.

“You mean my Prophet or me specifically?” I asked. “Cause technically I became a Goddess of Life like...a month or two ago, and I figured this out I can control Gilda like...two weeks ago.”

"Even so, for a fledgling God to take upon such a role is simply… rare, to delve so willingly into mortal affairs."

“I was mortal myself, and my main goal was to save my family from their prisons...then I learned I’ve been a Goddess this whole time, stuck in a time loop due to some bastard parasite controlling my...other half.” I sighed out.

"Ah, that explains it. You ascended into godhood, and we're not born to it. A feat even fewer mortals ever accomplish while they still wear flesh."

“Well...technically that’s true.” I said. “At least...I think so, cause as far as I know I’ve done this song and dance like...a couple thousand or more times before.” I shook my head. “I don’t know how yet...why is because everything died and...being a Goddess of Life does bad things when everything you care about suddenly dies due to outside bullshit.”

"Hm. It is different for you than it is for my father."

“Your father?” I inquired, tilting my head in confusion.

"I suppose Showing would be better than telling." He stated with a shrug. As he did shrug though, two massive wings that seemed to be made from pure… magic, emerged from his back. "As you know, my name is Harut. The God you speak of is my father, the maker of your species. Humans have often referred to my siblings and I as Angels."

I blinked. “Uh...huh…” I started. “Oh so that’s why there’s these anti magic runes...that would also explain a lot of things...but that seems a little...confusing now that I think about it cause I’m marrying Thor and soon to be other Deities sooner or later if Odin didn’t already send out a ‘hey, Thor’s marrying a Goddess of Life, who wants to join in?’...god my life is weird.”

Harut chuckled. "Much like there are many earths in the multiverse, so too are there many gods and divine beings among them. The ones you speak of and the ones from this earth were not all the same gods you know."

“Seems a little weird cause at least the ones on Asgard said that Earth was getting a little dull when all the magic started to disappear…” I started. “But eh...just another thing I’m going to have to learn...though I wasn’t expecting to see an Angel today, so that’s a refresher.”

"Well, we try not to stand out. Half of us were on earth at all times while the others remained in the after plains to keep track of the dead and to be born or reborn. I myself have been on earth since the bronze age."

“Neat.” I nodded. “Good to know about that, I suppose I was one of the lucky ones to be handpicked by God himself.”

"Yeah. Lucky you…" One of the guards growled.

"You can leave us be." Harut stated as the Doc and both guards left. "Forgive them, everyone here has lost someone and after learning about those that were picked and saved by God has soured their moods further."

“That’s fair…” I sighed out. “So...what now if I may ask? Cause I’m still here to solve people’s problems here.”

“It will not be as easy as you hope, that much I can assure you of. You will have to earn their trust before they will ask for your help.”

"Goodie, fetch quests…" I grumbled.

“Why are you so discouraged?”

"A lot of things…" I sighed out. "I'm pregnant so I can't fight for myself, I'm scared for Gilda's safety...I can't actually be a mother…" I trailed off, slumping Gilda's shoulders sadly.

“Truth be told, most gods make terrible parents. It is largely something few mortals can even achieve. But, some surpass the odds and some do not. As they say, where there is a will, there is a way.”

"Not for me, cause I either birth a planet full of infants or full grown adults...no middle ground…" I said. "No motherhood for me…"

“There might be.” Harut said. “But we’d have to escape this place first.”

"I would have started, but I got assaulted and kidnapped." I frowned. "But...what do I need to do first?"

"First, you will need to prove what you say is valid. I can arrange a small mission for you to undertake and prove yourself, and from there we work towards liberation from this accursed place."

“Fair enough.” I nodded. “What do you have in mind for a first mission?”

"I will have to speak to the commanders first before anything gets decided. Until then you will have to wait here."

“Goodie…” I rolled my eyes. “More waiting and more chances for monsters and bad guys to get what they want…”

"Don't be so discouraged. To be fair, it could have been much, much worse upon your arrival."

“I know, Sombra could be here right now…” I sighed out. “Or I could have actually gotten shot.”

"And unlike me, I doubt your Gilda's body could handle a large caliber bullet well."

“I don’t think I can handle a large caliber bullet...even if I’m a goddess, I still don’t know...much of my powers.” I sighed out.

And so I stayed in my little room watching movies and eating what was given. Not gonna lie, was kinda nice.

Around lunch the next day when Harut returned. "Good evening Anna."

“Good evening Harut.” I nodded.

"The commanders have granted me and therefore you permission to conduct a trial run of your abilities. Once they see them for themselves they will be more than happy to deploy you elsewhere."

“Well, technically I’m at a bit of a handicap cause I can’t use many of my abilities while in Gilda’s body, but I can still absorb Pyreflies and make the Unsent stay dead.”

"I'm sure if you need weapons the troopers can spare some."

“Either that or I still use my Lunar and Solar weapons.” I said honestly.

"Choice is yours. Make it on the way there." Harut stated as he lead me outside my room. Turns out I was aboard a large ship. Well off the coast north of Australia. Seems very few of these unsent or fiends can swim. Some can fly, hence the near gunshot in the sky upon my arrival.

One helicopter ride later we arrived near the city of Darwin. "This coastal city was being used as a military checkpoint during the 2012 attacks and holds lots of resources both government grade and civilian grade. The downside is that the whole city is home to these Unsent and various monsters."

“Fair enough.” I nodded. “Anything weird among the Unsent and monsters I need to know before I go in?”

"These files hold every unique or odd creature." One of the accompanying troopers handed me several file folders.

The first one held several images of standard Unsent and some friends.

The next held several of those abomination Unsent.

The third held something new. This appeared to be a mix of mechanical parts and Unsent limbs and Pyreflies.

The fourth and final one seemed to detail those Fiend-Unsent hybrids. Mostly Mixes of Dingo's, Evil Eyes and to my Surprise, Unsent Kangaroos. Or maybe they're Fiend Kangaroos? Either way, enemy kangaroos.

“Well...so far the only problem is those Abomination Unsent…” I started carefully. “But this is going to be a pain either way…”

"The commanders want to test your claims of being able to absorb these Pyreflies and permanently put down the undead and monsters. You and I shall go in, armed, and we will be wearing body cameras that will transmit the video to them for their observation and study."

“Alright.” I nodded. “Where are we starting in this place?”

"We start with picking off stragglers from the city. Display your abilities through the video feed to the commanders and from there we simply continue forward until it is empty." Harut said as he began collecting various weapons from a trunk.

"Fair enough." I nodded, donning my solar armor and bringing out my solar war axe.

Once Harut was fully armed with various guns and ammo mags and two machetes we began walking towards the city, body cameras already on as we soon approached a small group of five Unsent.

I spun my war axe quickly, the blade starting to heat him. "I'd stand behind me if I were you."

"If you wish." Harut said as he took a step back from my right.

"Thank you." I nodded as I swung my axe, a massive blade of heat being sent out and cleaving through the unsent like a knife through butter as I rushed in to collect their Pyreflies.

With that done I happily wandered around, slaying more unsent as we arrived closer and closer to the city limits. The Unsent and their variety were growing more and more the closer we got. Unsurprisingly.

When the numbers got massive Harut helped and… wow. While he was just using guns, not a bullet was wasted nore shot missed. Using his wings to gain a bird's eye view helped to keep me covered. Not gonna lie, kinda odd to see an angel using guns.

"How many unsent arre here?" I asked Harut, cleaving through another Unsent.

"Too many." He replied as he flew around at speeds that almost looked like teleportation. With a fifty round mag, fifty unsent lost their heads as their Pyreflies flowed to me. "You mentioned in the Interview about needing something to beat or absorb to release this place from it's rift. Anything specific?"

"Well it's either a Boss monster or something hyper specific, or I have to absorb a Fayth, and all this is based on a massive guess since I only did this three times...and only ones with the Fayth." I explained.

"And what exactly is a Fayth?"

"It's….really complicated, but it boils down to a person, animal, or plant turning into a special stone statue that creates a powerful spirit being." I explained. "Like...if you did a special ritual to the statue of Buff Jesus and you'd literally get him to appear and help you fight things."

"While blastphamous your analogy does bring up a few possibilities." Harut said as we cleared out the area.

"Although it would need to be someone literally putting their soul into it...so it would need to be more 'the original cross' kind of thing." I said carefully.

"Considering that is currently in four pieces on other continents, not likely to happen soon." Harut said as he landed next to me.

“Really?” I asked, surprised that’s a thing. “I mean...better than it being jesus’s corpse parts being strewn across america in the 1890’s.” I shrugged.

"Oh no, after his resurrection he traveled and lived a full life."

"That's good." I nodded. "But this begs the question...why are there so many unsent in one place?"

"My guess. Whatever is making them resides deep within the city, and well hidden."

"That's strange…" I said, wondering what was causing them to be that deep. "Wonder if they're protecting something or...if it's hiding the boss?"

"Either way, it will not be easy to take on the entire city."

"That's true…" I said, thinking about how to make this easier for everyone.

"I will radio in with the troops. Hopefully the display we've put on will convince the commanders to send in reinforcements."

"Hopefully…" I sighed out. "This is becoming a bigger headache than it already is...and I still need to tell them about Equis and the like...sure some of them would have a stroke with all the nonsense that goes on there."

"Why do you think we did nothing during your worlds Anti Magic Crusade?"

"Cause every other god fucked off so why bother dealing with crazy people?" I asked.

"No, because the humans that learned magic often took it too far and those who didn't know how to use magic revolted against those that did."

"So just not wanting to deal with crazy people?" I asked.

"I suppose."

While Harut called into the militia, I took a rest and tried to talk to Gilda again. They've been completely quiet this whole time...

”Gilda? Can you hear me?” I mentally called out, hoping he was okay.

Nothing. Still nothing… I sighed, hugging myself/Gilda's body. Barely been a day in their body and I'm already used to their sense of touch and figure. It's weird.

“Damn it…” I sighed out...but then got an idea. “Hmm…” I started, grabbing a bit of metal and some dirt and trying to do what I did back in Zanarkand, trying to make a small figurine of Gilda talk to. “Please let this work…”

I tried to force out my powers, even just a little bit, but all I ended up making was a pile of dirt and scrap metal in a vaguely person shape. Come on, isn't the whole point of a Prophet is to give them the ability to use their gods power and words through them?

“It was so easy with that Falcon earlier...what’s wrong now?” I frowned. “Even summoning Jecht was fine with Gilda’s body…”

"Good news, they're sending in a ten man troop, and an armored buggy with lots of heavy weapons and ammunition."

“That’s good.” I nodded. “So uh...Harut, mind if I ask a question?” I asked. “Prophet’s are supposed to be able to use their God’s abilities if their being ‘possessed’ right?”

"Normally, but this place… it lacks any form of ley line or mana source. It's why even though I can still summon my wings and fly I am unable to use magic. Hence all the guns. My guess is that the reason you can't use your powers here is that this place blocks Gilda's link to your body, therefore your link to your powers."

“Alright...so mind if I ask why I couldn’t communicate with Gilda even when I had a link with him?” I asked worriedly.

"When a god possesses the body of a Prophet, the mortal flesh is unable to house their soul and yours. So, their soul is temporarily placed into the other plain. Or Afterlife as it's often called. Upon being sent back to your own body, the Prophet will return to theirs."

“Oh…” I started. “Well...that makes sense...I’m still concerned by it though...I miss him…”

"Once we escape this place, you and he shall reunite."

“Alright.” I nodded. “This is gonna be a pain in the ass, especially when there’s Abominations here...tanky bastards.”

"Grenade Launchers and RPGs should help plenty." Harut said. "One thing I always give you humans is your ability to invent new ways of combat. If you had kept magic you'd have been star bound before the 2000's."

“Which seems really weird cause that’s when people really wished magic existed…” I started. “But that’s sadly neither here nor there…”

"At least your enchanted armors and weapons are still with you." He said, tapping my axe. "Dwarven built, and their power comes from the weapons, not you."

“Which is good, cause it would suck hardcore if these didn’t work while I was here.” I mentioned.

"Very little can put handicaps on Dwarven construction. Majority of heavens armory was built by our own Dwarven Angel hybrid."

“Sounds about right.” I nodded. “No matter what fantasy world you're in, Dwarves are already great blacksmiths.”

"Not just blacksmiths. Chemists, alchemists, mathematician and scientists. They are a lot like humans, capable of many great advancements. The major difference aside from size is that they accepted, embraced and studied magic and combined the two."

“Luckies.” I chuckled. “Well, at least someone decided to do magi-tech and the like.” I shrugged. “So, how soon will our reinforcements get here?”

"They'll be here in a few hours." Harut said, taking a seat on the ground. "Til then we best wait."

“Fair enough.” I nodded. “So, anything you want to know about me or the outside world?”

"No." He said, pulling out a phone and starting up a movie.

“Really now? Nothing at all?” I inquired, surprised to hear him say no that fast.

"Nothing." He agreed.

“Alrighty then.” I nodded, thinking what questions I might have for the angel.

I sat next to him and tried to think of something.

“Was the whole...2012 thing planned?” I inquired.

"Yes and no. It was actually more ment to symbolize a changing in the mindset of humanity on a spiritual and intilectual level, but then we saw the older generations thinking the worst and preparing so God said 'fuck it lets pull the good people out' and we were to fix up what came after."

“And somehow it was God picking specific people to go off and be heroes with super powers and...at least for me, Earth being in rifts somehow?” I guessed.

"He didn't just make one earth, there was a mass of multiverse. Sadly like this earth, yours, things happened differently."

“Still trying to wrap my head around the whole...multiverse thing to be honest.” I said sheepishly.

"I suppose it would be upon first contact with it."

“Yeah...also what’s weird is that when I heard Gilda talk about an old friend of mine, I could have sworn I heard them real quick...anything weird happen like that before?”

"Like what exactly? Who was this friend?"

“Friend’s name was Ben, Gilda said it was a weird name and I think I heard him say ‘Rude’, but I shrugged it off cause I didn’t know if it was someone else saying it or not.”

"Hm. Can't say. Gods powers often work in ways not even they can fully understand at times."

“Fair enough.” I nodded. “Just don’t question it and things will sort themselves out sooner or later.”

"Most often they do, yes."

“Well, as long as it’ll be sorted out then I shouldn’t be annoyed by it for the rest of time.” I said honestly.

"That would be best."

I sighed. For an angel he's kinda one dimensional. Hm. Welp, if there was ever a chance to see how much of religion was true, this is it.

“Alright, so I have to ask, what parts of either the Bible or the Divine Comedy are true?” I asked. “Cause these are important questions.”

"Anything specific?"

“Hmm…” I thought back to all the religious stories I read about. “Let’s start simple with Noah and his Ark...did that legitimately happen?”

"Yes but he wasn't the only one, he just built the biggest and carried the most animals."

“Right then.” I nodded. “David and Goliath? Was that some divine stuff or was it just some normal sized person at the time fighting someone that was above average height wise?”

"Goliath was half giant and David didn't use a sling and rock he used a bow an arrow coated with poison. At some point the translation of the story was mistranslated."

“Poison sounds worse than a rock and literally asking God to force it to hit for some reason.” I started.

"Goliath was a cannibal and David prayed for the poison to kill him as vengeance for his brother that Goliath ate a year prior."

“Huh…” I started. “Goliath sounds...a lot better in the mistranslated version as some strong and very talented general wanting to one v one God than just a raging cannibal…”

"Yeah, that's usually how that works. You'd get sick if I told you what actually happened after Joseph reunited with his brothers."

“I’d rather not know thank you.” I said carefully. “Alright...so Jacob’s Ladder and how he manhandled an angel in a wrestling match?”

"He and one of my siblings got drunk in the same pub."

“Really?” I couldn’t help but laugh at that. “First off, didn’t know Angels could get drunk, and two, how the hell did Jacob traveling around and finding an angel by happenstance turn into a drunken fight?”

"They got into an argument over what made a better whiskey. Jacob said Apples, my brother said Barley."

“So where did the titular ‘Jacob's Ladder’ come from?” I asked. “Cause unless they literally used it to do weird wrestling moves, what was that for?”

"My brother tried to fly on the roof to catch their breath and Jacob climbed a nearby ladder then choke held my brother before basically suplexing them down said ladder."

I howled with laughter at the mental image played out in my mind. “I’m...I’m so sorry for laughing...but wow.” I said, trying to stifle my laughter so I wasn’t rude.

"Don't be. We still laugh about it with Hazel when we see him. That also technically was the first time a Suplex was performed but both Jacob, Hazel and everyone else at that pub was so wasted nobody remembered much aside from Jacob wrestled an angel."

“I mean, out of everything that happened, the one thing that needed to be remembered was Jacob wrestled an Angel.” I chuckled. “Okay, so next up is...how about Lot and trying to whore out his daughters to protect angels...and then the drunken incest happening?”

“That city was riddled with demons. Succubi and back then Incest was actually both more common and less genetically harmful than it is to you modern humans.”

“Well...I suppose that also explains why they might have thought the world was ending if what few locations they knew about were riddled with Demons.” I said honestly. “Also...seriously? How does that work?”

“Simple. Back then the human population was barely a few thousand globally, so for a good while we… modified your genetics to act a bit more like rabbits, only better. It wasn’t until there were finally a few million of you all did we change that and even then it took a few generations for that to kick in.”

“Fair enough.” I nodded. “Alright...now onto the Divine Comedy...how true is that?”

“Well, in this reality it was a fifty-fifty but in other’s it’s either completely accurate or not at all.”

“Fair enough.” I nodded. “Alright...might as well ask about Jesus and that whole...escapade in Ancient Rome.”

“You mean his crucifixion?”

“Well...yeah, or the entire story behind how that whole thing happened.” I said honestly. “And his subsequent resurrection.”

“That was actually largely accurate. Minus a few events and some facts. As for his resurrection, while it is accurate, the fact is he didn’t resurrect after three days. It was more like… an hour after they closed the door. The guards that were put to watch the cave he was placed in were actually on his side and after night fell they let him out and for the next two days he walked and lived out the rest of his life amongst the people far to the north.”

“That’s good.” I nodded. “Glad he enjoyed the rest of his life after the bad shit that happened to him.”

“Yes. He lived to be almost a hundred and fifty, and had many, many children. Some of his family even moved up there with him. They call that country Ireland now.”

“That’s sadly ironic that Irish Mythology was then ruined by the religion he kind helped propogate to an insane degree.” I said carefully.

Harut shrugged. “Religion was never about which is right or wrong, it was about bringing like-minded people together. In the end the majority of religions and the gods they are tied to mean little in the physical plains. It’s the spiritual plains, or the After Life, where it matters in the end.”

“And when one religion keeps trying to stamp out the others is also a massive negative.” I frowned. “But mind if I ask what you mean by that? It matters in the After Life?”

“Heaven, Hell, Valhalla, The Underworld, ect. They all exist. Every single one.”

“Well I knew Valhalla exists, I literally went to Asgard a month or so ago.” I brought up.

“Asgard and Valhalla are actually two different places.”

“Really?” I asked. “It’s not just like...one massive building off to the side of the main castle or something?”

“No. They are each basically their own worlds where the souls of those that belong to that religion or faith have their souls go after death. Valhalla, while it does have that massive hall for rest and feast, there is actually largely wilderness and beasts to slay for glory and fun. The residents can all also make a new hall and it will link to each hall they build.”

“So there isn’t a ‘Ragnarok’ that’ll break that afterlife or something?” I asked nervously.

“Ugh. You humans mistranslated that one badly. Ragnarok, Armageddon they don't mean the end of the world, they mean ‘the end of our time’ meaning the end of a life. It was a phrase meant to describe a mass death event. Not the end or extinction of your species or planet.”

“Well, as far as I remember the only version of the ‘End of the World’ was Ragnarok...but that weirdly had a lot of Christianity coming out of nowhere at the end of it…” I brought up. “Probably just some mistranslated stuff again right?”

“It was. It doesn’t help that the majority of those who were translating those texts were either biast, racist, drunk or didn’t know how to properly translate the words so they made up meanings for most words.”

“Fair.” I nodded. “Lots of cool things get lost by bad people thinking they're right.” I sighed out.

“Anything else?”

“Have you met any other Gods or stuff of the like?” I inquired.

“Often, yes. We helped deliver messages and packages between one another and would mess with each other’s territories and their believers often. You can actually blame Zeus for the whole ‘Tabboo Sex’ thing in Christain and Chatholic texts.”

“When half of Greek mythology can be summed up with ‘Zeus couldn’t keep it in his pants’, I can see why.” I chuckled.

“It’s actually worse than you think. See, Father, God, was visiting Olympus and he and Zeus got to drinking and talking, as Gods often do. So, during their talks Zeus said he loved that the humans were such horndogs, as evidenced by his many halfling children. God said they can learn to keep themselves in check if they wanted to. A short argument later and Zeus bet that even if God had them put in that sex before marraige was tabboo, as well as sex with the same gender and sex with multiple people, you get it, were banned majority would ignore or remove it. Long story short, while father won the bet it backfired hard on them.”

“God damn it…” I groaned. “But...I’m not surprised…”

“Yes, even though back then it was rare, same sex relationships were not actually sinful in any religion. Neither was sex so long as it was with another within an appropriate age range and consentual. I mean, it would be stupid to purposfully call sex sinful when it is how you people procreate. Even without that part in the case of same sex couples, it’s rather idiotic to imagine gods caring so much about what how you enjoy your genitals.”

“It’s rather idiotic that people think they would care about thing’s that don’t involve you just being a decent person.” I shrugged.

"More or less. Another common misconception is that gods are omnipresent. That's not something gods are or can do."

"I imagine it's a massive pain to be everywhere at once." I said honestly.

"Yes. That much sensory input is impossible to take in."

“Fair enough.” I nodded. “So don’t go looking for omnipresence.”

"Yes. The one god that did still has not returned to their physical form. They're body is essentially brain dead."

“I was going to say ‘Schrodinger's Cat’ but...that doesn’t sound correct with what you said.” I said carefully.

"No that is actually a different thing and level of existence that is possible but rare in those who do exist at that."

“Huh...that’s kind of strange since that’s the closest thing to Omnipresence that I can think of and it’s both different and easier to get?” I said.

"I never said it was easier. The way to get that stage of existence is to create a paradox in which you are simultaneously alive but also dead, cease your existence through both time and space yet also save it all at once."

“Well...I suppose it would be very difficult to become Michal McDoesn’t Exist.” I shrugged.

Eventually the back up arrived and once they were here we all got to attacking. Right now we were working on taking out the mass hordes with heavy artillery while I flew above to absorb the Pyreflies.

It felt like they just kept coming. Even with high caliber, high explosive ordnance blowing them to chunks and ripping even the mutant abominations got blown to oblivion.

Eventually the large hordes began to shrink to large packs that I was easily cleaving through with my axe.

“It feels amazing to have all this backup.” I chuckled, cleaving straight through more Unsent and moving closer to whatever they were surrounding.

As I moved through the city in the air taking out the remaining groups. I spotted one building that was collapsed, or rather, split down the middle and half standing. In the center of it’s cracked and broken foundation I spotted the familiar form of a broken Fayth. As well as the Unsent flowing out from it, I spotted a single figure standing taller than the crowd.

They looked like some kind of clockwork automaton. They were vaguely human in shape and it looked like Pyreflies were the things moving it’s various limbs and gears.

“Alright, so looks like I’ve gotta collect Fayth fragments again…” I muttered, readying myself to deal with this sudden monster to take back the Fayth.

As I flew in towards the automaton, the Unsent around it suddenly began moving out and away from us, forming a near perfect circle easily big enough for me and the machine to brawl in. It made me uneasy.

"Boss fight?" I asked carefully, readying myself for whatever this clockwork monster had in store for me.

It's gears seemed to rotate and shift, raising it's right arm which seemed to grow Pyreflies along it until they formed a sharp, thin blade that it pointed at me as the other arm formed a large, heavy great shield.

"That's...honestly really cool." I commented. "God I wish Gilda could see this…" I muttered.

Carefully I raised my axe in challenge as it did the same.

For a while we both stood there like that, as if daring one another to make the first move. It pulled it's sword arm back, then charged. Despite its size, the weight that shield must weigh and it's own blizzard construction, the thing ran with surprising speed.

I flew up, dodging a shield bash and barely evading an upwards swipe. Using the air to my advantage I dived down, axe ready as I hit it's neck area. Cracking the frame and breaking fragile gear work as I set fire to my weapon, watching as it's body started to melt and soon it's Pyreflies flowed into me. Huh. That was… kinda easy actually.

New Summon Acquired.

Machina Fayth Beta 1: The Gear-work Knight.

Warning!: Abnormal Summon Detected. Pyreflies constructed primarily from Artificial Memories.

Recommendation: Do Not Summon Within Current Host!

“Like I was going to do that to begin with…” I grumbled. “But neat...also artificial memories? That’s not good...also this…” I started, looking around at all the other Unsent still here. “Oh no…”

As I looked around, I was surprised to see none of the Unsent we're moving towards me.

“Uh...hello?” I asked carefully. “Why aren’t you doing anything?”

None seemed to move or respond. Rather they just all stood there, motionless. Creeped out and cautious I began moving towards the broken Fayth.

I placed a hand to it and felt the Pyreflies flow into me rapidly until that was all gone and the stone that made up it's form fell and shattered.

Fayth Fragment Acquired: Valfor 1/7

"Surprised it’s Valfor and not Bahamut…” I muttered. “Alright...so do any of you know where the next Fayth Fragment is?” I asked.

The Unsent remained motionless. As if something was turned off, or their strings were cut.

Looking around I suddenly felt the faint, but noticeable pulse of something different. Turning back to the hole the rubble of that Fayth rested, I could feel… magic?

It was different than what I am used to. It felt old, wild and untamed yet wise and caring.

"Hello?" I asked carefully, moving closer to the magic sink hole. "Anybody down there?"

Looking down I saw nothing, but I felt something down there. Nothing melevilant, nor kind. More… unpredictable.

"Are you alright Anna?" I turned to see Harut fly and land next to me.

"There's something down there, something that feels...wild and unpredictable…." I said, pointing into the whole.

Harut looked down the hole, nodding. "It is a mana well. One flowing with long dormant Wild Magic."

“Well then.” I started. “Didn’t think we’d find something like that here...I suppose that’s what’s affecting all the Unsent like this.”

"Yes. Wild Magic is far more unpredictable than most other magics and its effects on the environment and those who use it are equally unpredictable. While not harmful per say, casting wild magic is often compared to co-existing with a feral beast. Caution and respect must be enforced otherwise it will turn on you with no mercy."

“So that’s why Australia is...well Australia.” I chuckled.

"Perhaps. Wild Magic was once a dominant form of magic on your planet. But it went dormant after the dinosaurs went extinct."

“Boo.” I frowned. “Well...feels like there should be six more Mana Vents with the pieces of Valefor being the thing’s plugging them up and special Fayth’s protecting them.”

"Perhaps. Hmmm." Harut hummed, holding out a hand as a small, upward stream of purple, orange, green and red mana began flowing up to it. "Well, this is interesting…"

“What is it?” I inquired. “What’s with the neat light show?”

"It's what Wild Magic looks like, but that not of importance. What is important is that this Wild Magic is… younger, than it should be."

Young? This shit feels ancient from what I'm sensing!

“This feels mightily ancient for being ‘younger’.” I said carefully.

"If it was older, or ancient, then it would be less accepting of forming a bond so quickly." Harut explained.

“That’s strange…” I hummed, gently bringing my hand out towards the mana vent.

The same stream of purple, orange, green and red mana began flowing towards me. When it touched my, or rather, Gilda’s palms I felt as if I was letting an animal sniff me. Taking in my scent to get a feel for me. It seemed… uncertain. I felt that much. Maybe it was because of me borrowing Gilda’s body or because of what I am or what Gilda is.

“I’m a friend.” I said softly. “I...know I’m sharing a body...but we’re friends.”

It didn’t seem to care. In fact it seemed to be rather uncertain of me. As if knowing I’m not dangerous but still not trusting me.

I looked over at Harut, who has the Wild Magic wrapped along their arm up to their elbow already. Shortly after it reached his shoulder it merged into his arm, bonding to him.

“I suppose it’s either uncertain about me possessing Gilda...or what I really am.” I said carefully.

“Most likely the latter.” Harut said. “Wild Magic has rarely ever bonded to a God. Even nature and beast Gods rarely bond with it.”

“Fair.” I shrugged. “Don’t expect everything to like me on the first go.”

I pulled my/Gilda’s arm back as Harut tested their new magic. Casting forth strong winds and even making a small earthquake with a snap of his fingers. “It feels good to have magic back.” He said with a smile.

“Having magic back will definitely help us with the next fights.” I said honestly.

“Speaking of, why are all these undead standing motionless?” He asked.

“No idea.” I shook my head. “Maybe the wild magic is stopping them for some reason?”

“Doubtful.” Harut said, walking over and poking one of them and getting no response. “You are a Goddess of Life, yes? Maybe with their stone maker gone they acknowledge you?”

“They didn’t do anything…” I frowned. “Where’s the next Fayth Fragment?” I asked.

All at once, in the creepiest way possible, all the Unsent around me turned and pointed off in a direction.

“... Well, that answers your question.” Harut said with a shiver.

“Ri~ght…” I said carefully. “Uh...lead the way?” I asked all the Unsent, finding this incredibly creepy.

Slowly they began walking, in perfect sync, towards where they were pointing at.

"That's...creepy…" I said nervously, following along carefully.

The Unsent marched to the next major city area. Here they seemed to stop a mile before we reached this city's limits and refused to move further. Flying up and above within the place, the Unsent within this city still tried to attack me… So these broken Fayth things are what make them hostile?

“That’s really weird…” I muttered. “Well, want me to deal with all the Unsent here before we continue or just keep going?” I asked Harut.

“If these Fayth constructs are what make the undead violent and hostile, we should see if we can bypass their numbers by flying right at it. They stopped and waited for you to fight that machine and then waited still for you to absorb the energy from that thing. If we can bypass the excessive battles, then we can hopefully be out of here sooner rather than later.”

“Works for me.” I nodded. “Let’s get to flying.”

Harut and I flew around til we found the next Fayth structure, built inside a school library. There was another strange Machina knight there, but this one was different. It’s head wore a metal, spring top hat, body dressed in metallic fabrics fashioned after robes and in its hand was a thick metal book with cogs and gears making up the covers and spine.

“Mage this time huh?” I hummed, moving over carefully to the mech.

Like the last one, It came to life after the Unsent around it formed a large ring for us to fight in. It opened up it’s metal book and flowing from it was the wild magic like the other well, but it was different. Dark, thick and heavy looking ethereal chains flowed within the magic that flowed from it’s book.

“That is not good…” Harut said.

“Uh...the fuck is it doing?” I asked carefully. “That feels like Wild Magic...but not...I don’t like that.”

“When wild magic is forced and caged, it becomes very volatile. Imagine keeping a wild animal in a cage. The chains force it to move, but it will retaliate with deadly effects of the spells it’s forced into casting.”

“Well...can I melt the chains or do I have to go straight to murdering the spell caster?” I asked carefully.

“We have to destroy that tomb.” Harut stated.

“Fair enough.” I said, swinging my axe as a bladed beam of plasma shout out towards it.

The caster machina raised it’s book up, the imprisoned Wild Magic flowing out and forming some kind of barrier. The plasma was reflected back at us, but as it did the area around us suddenly became super heated as the ground under the beam turned white hot.

Harut and I dodged, the Plasma slamming into the wall of Unsent ‘watchers’ and incinerating them on contact into ashes.

“Well that’s not good…” I said carefully. “How are you with heat about as strong as the core of a sun?” I asked Harut.

“Had I my full powers, I’d manage. As is, I'm just a few tiers above a normal human.” Harut frowned. “I have an idea but I won’t like it. Think you can keep that thing occupied?”

“Yes I can.” I nodded, lifting my axe up and trying to control the super heated area to try and burn the mech.

As I kept the thing occupied, I glanced a peak back to Harut. He ran over to one of the Unsent.

I was confused as he grabbed it by the arm.

My eyes widened as I watched him jab his free arm into the Unsent’s chest, pulling out a handful of Pyreflies. He looked at them for a bit before sighing, and my jaw dropped as he ate, and swallowed them.

It was instantaneous. His body suddenly gained four extra arms, his wings went from looking like magic to being physical, but glowing blue and silver feathered wings, and then he grew seven more pairs along his back, head and legs. His head grew five new eyes and his size now towered eleven feet. He rapidly spun around, his new form felt different, radiating magic as he snapped his right side’s fingers.

The ground under the machina automaton split open, a maw of stone and lava instantly rose up and bit and chewed its body before finally delivering a hard chomp to the tomb. It shattered into scrap metal and slag as their bits melted and all the Pyreflies flowed into me.

New Summon Acquired.

Machina Fayth Beta 2: The Clockwork Mage

Warning!: Abnormal Summon Detected. Pyreflies constructed primarily from Artificial Memories.

Recommendation: Do Not Summon Within Current Host!

“Uh…” I started. “How did you eat Pyreflies and...you’re the second full breed angel I’ve seen right now.”

They shook their head, seating themselves and looking their new form over. “The… Angels, that you know that resemble this… form, naturally, were not made by my father. They were made by another God. Father made us to resemble Man and Woman, to fit in for when, or if, you all were to begin exploration of more than just your single dimension. To help you settle, and to teach you when needed. For my breed, this form is… punishment.”

“What punishment would need that?” I asked. “Cause uh...a certain someone inside me wasn’t punished like that, and he’s literally married to a demon lord.”

“Tel me, Anna… What are Pyreflies?”

“Uh...it’s weird in Spira, cause technically their the soul’s of people but it might also be just memories in a weird ethereal body…” I said, still not having much of a solid ‘it’s one or the other’. “But I’m pretty sure it’s a Soul.”

“And what did I just do?”

“I’m sure Angel’s shouldn’t be able to eat souls…” I said carefully.

“Souls are many things, and one is Energy. A whole human soul is on par to your earth's Sun. These Pyreflies are on par with fifteen of your America’s Nuclear Warheads. But, any being of magic can actually do this. It’s just forbidden and taboo in the laws of magic.”

“Only reason why it’s not for me is because...well either because I’m a Goddess of Life or because that’s how I’m supposed to get stronger.” I said honestly. “But the question is...why is an Angel doing that and not suddenly considered a Demon?”

“Some have… before… The story isn’t too far off, but… Heylel didn’t just charge head first at God and us without… preparing himself and his followers first.”

“Heylel...Heylel…” I said slowly, knowing I’ve heard that word...before…”You’re talking about Lucifer aren’t you?” I asked. “Cause...Heylel sounded very familiar, then I remembered a Hebrew friend of mine online that talked about stuff like that, wanting to help people understand the Hebrew language at least somewhat.”

“Lucifer was a name adapted to fit the moniker of ‘the devil’. But, yes. Heylel was ambitious, but short sighted. He saw Humanity as nothing more than animals wasting their intelligence father granted you all. When he arrived on earth to help guide you all, he instead, toyed with you all. Soon, he tricked and manipulated a man to kill his own brother. Heylel took the poor victim's soul, and learned that by devouring it, he could gain powers far surpassing his existing.”

"He made Cain kill Abel?" I asked in surprise.

“Made? No. Cain chose to kill Abel in the end, but Heylel did play a part in planting the seeds of mistrust, jealousy, and hatred into Cain’s heart.”

"Well that sucks." I frowned. "But...the more you know I suppose."

"Heylel's fall wounded us all, and became a living example of the corruption of power, and the damage of using souls for power can do. They say God deformed him, but he deformed himself. Each soul he ate changed him more and more until he was no longer remotely Angel."

“Huh...is that why he always looks like a weird goat monster?” I inquired.

“That was before he declared war on heaven. He looks… much, much different if you were to see him now.”

“I have a feeling I might sooner or later...all things considered two of the being’s inside me are maybe still hunted to this day…” I sighed out.

“Hm. This form will… take time, to get used to. At least, I can use it for some good.”

“Certainly shock the shit out of everyone when they see it.” I shrugged. “But eh, not the weirdest thing I’ve seen to be honest.”

“Pray they don’t. Should Heylel escape his prison it would not do well for anyone.”

“I’ve personally met worse.” I said carefully. “And they are both my teachers.”

“Don’t wish for trouble, it likes to answer.” Harut stated flatly with a sigh.

I absorbed the next Fayth structure and got my second fragment of Valefor.

The rest of the fragments and such went off without much issue. It was more of the same and each other Machina Pyrefly summon thing had their own gimmick.

The third one was a berserker. The fourth was a Sharp Shooter. Fifth was an assassin. Fighting him was not fun. Sixth was an archer. Seventh and last was a pyromancer. I had to swap to my Lunar Armor to fight that one.

“Should something be happening?” Harut asked as we looked up at the still very much Rift sky.

“Well...we obtained all Seven Fayth pieces…” I said, picking up the last piece from the Pyromancer. “So there’s probably something else…”

”Do you two read me?” Someone said over our coms.

”We read you Anna.” The Doc said.

“Yo, is there anything else we’re missing? Cause as far as I’ve personally experienced we finished two of the things that should have finished this...any other high concentrations of Unsent around?” I inquired.

”Negative. The only large populations left are following you now.”

“That’s strange…” I muttered. “Any weird statues or machines still around the city?”

”None that we have located. Maybe you need to get rid of all the undead?”

“Crap…” I sighed out. “Is there anything else we missed?” I asked the Unsent carefully. “Like any statues or puzzles or bosses?”

The Unsent all just were rather blank. I sighed for a while before noticing… they were all looking up.

I looked up- Oh fuck…

Floating above us was the Sombra fragment… only, he was melded into the head of what appeared to be a dragon THREE TIMES bigger than Torch was!

The dragon he was piloting/possessing seemed to radiate power. Veins of magma or even plasma covered his skin and focused into a central point in his chest.

“How is that creature possessing a God?!” Harut asked in surprise.

“Uh…” I started. “That’s not the Bahamut I know…” I started.

“What part of Multiverse and multiple God’s didn’t stick with you?” Harut asked before grabbing me and flying off.

The Sombra controlled dragon God let out a breath of pitch black plasma like fire that melted all of eighty miles. Incinerating all the Unsent and melting the landscape into white hot magma.

The Pyreflies floated all around until they were being pulled towards them.

“Oh no you don’t!” I shouted, slamming my Lance into the ground as all the Pyreflies halted quickly, my right as a Goddess of Life still working through Gilda as they were pulled towards me. “Alright...so when the fuck did Bahamut look like Deathwing from World of Warcraft?”

“I don’t get that reference. And again, MULTIVERSE OF GODS!” Harut yelled at me as he shot off magic beams towards the possessed dragon God.

“I know that, but I literally expected Bahamut from Spira cause it would have been painfully obvious what Yevon wanted.” I rolled my eyes, absorbing the Pyreflies as I spun my lance. “Sheer Cold!” I shouted, thrusting the lunar lance towards the dragon as a crystalized wind rushed towards the dragon, flash freezing the air and some of the magma around us.

The possessed God let out another roar as it met Ice with Plasma. The instant heat meeting the cold created an explosion as the ice rapidly melted and evaporated instantly. It then flew right from the sky towards us.

“Let’s hope I remember how she did it…” I muttered, spinning the tip of my lance in the air as an ice circle started to form, the steam around the Sombra dragon starting to cool down rapidly as I channeled the magic of my Lunar Armor. “Diamond Dust!” I shouted, thrusting my lance through the circle as thousands of crystals formed from the mist around the dragon and tried to impale into him.

The attack hit. Few of the ice shards stuck into the Dragon God’s scales as the rest broke or bounced off them. Harut got me out of the way as they almost crashed into us. Instead they now crashed into the ground beneath, sending up waves of magma, rock and dust high into the air.

“I have another idea, but it will also not be fun.” Harut said.

“Stab the obvious glowing bit as hard as we can?” I asked.

“Unless you want to incinerate your loves body, don’t do that.” Harut stated. “No, we need to imprison it. From there we can beat it.”

“These two armor’s are made by Dwarves for Gods of the Sun and Moon…” I started, not sure how the hell I’d still be incinerated. “Alright, what do you have in mind to imprison it?”

“Do you know how we imprisoned Heylel?”

“Considering all of Religion is a mistranslated mess, all I know is that God literally said ‘go fuck yourself’ and literally punted him straight to Hell.” I said honestly.

“More or less but it’s not hell he was trapped within. Father could not bring himself to kill Heylel. Despite the monster he became. He was still our brother, and his son.” Harut started, rapidly flying us away from a swipe from the Sombra possessed Dragon God’s attack. “Instead he broke him into pieces. Chunks of flesh turned stone that he then gave each of us to hold and protect. Each stone piece has a bit of the corrupt power Heylel fermented.”

“And how the hell are we going to do that?” I asked. “Cause I haven’t learned any sealing spells yet...wait, I think I know what you’re planning.”

“When this rift happened and imprisoned us all here, I stashed my piece of Heylel in the coral reefs along the coast.”

“No idea how it’ll work with Gilda, but I have personal experience devouring an Eldritch Being...so how hard would it be devouring a literal piece of Satan?”

“I’ll keep this thing occupied. You go find the fragment. It’s not hard to miss. Just sense for an unending rage and bloodlust for human life and that’s him.”

“Sounds about right.” I nodded. “I’ll be back as fast as I can.” I said as I bolted off to the coast, hoping to find this thing before Sombra destroys the whole continent.

As I arrived at the coral reef I felt that rage and bloodlust. Woah… The pressure of it sent a shiver down my/Gilda’s spine. Shit.

“Well...somehow this is worse than literally having the Abyss stare back at me…” I said carefully, trying to find the specific piece around here.

I had to force myself to move towards it. Once I felt I was directly over it, I dived into the water. A short swim down and I spotted what appeared to be part of a stone hand. The last three fingers, ending with the pinkie and a quarter of the palm.

”Alright...just gotta remember my training with Sombra…” I thought to myself as I mentally prepared myself before grabbing onto the stone hand and trying to subjugate this bastards power for my own.

I felt like I was suddenly punched in the gut at the speed of sound. I struggled to keep grip on this bastards fragment as it was like trying to wrestle a gorilla bare handed. I could feel it’s fragment getting absorbed, burning like I was drinking acid as it cursed me in an unspoken tongue.

When it finally ended and the fragment was absorbed I swam to the surface. Taking a huge breath of air and swam to shore. Those hits I felt were indeed along Gilda’s body. Large bruises and some split skin from those disembodied impacts swelled and showed through Gilda’s normally sleek, slim and muscular form. Ouch...

“I’m so sorry Gilda…” I sighed out. “It’s going to suck when he gets his body back…” I muttered, lightly raising my sore body parts up and feeling the bastards power coursing through me...and damn was it huge.

New Summon Aquired!

Fallen Angel Heylel has been Imprisoned and Converted into a Fayth Summon.

Summon is Available. Fragments obtained: 1/364.

Each new obtained Fragment will increase Heylel’s strength as your summon.

New Form Obtained: Fallen Angel Heylel.

New Title Obtained: The Devil.

Warning! Fragmented Heylel has given you The Devil as a secondary Divine TItle. Due to their fragmentation, your title as The Devil will only allow you authority over Imp class demons.

New Divine Skill Grid, The Devil, Obtained and Installed.

“I can now do Cherub, Succubus, and now ‘The Devil’...neat.” I said honestly.

I stood up, feeling like I just ran a marathon, fought in an MMA tournament, and did a city long parkour run… then drank ten red bulls. I summoned up the Lunar Armor again and took to the sky, nearly hitting orbit as I did. Shit! Okay… how much power did that guy’s fragment have?!

Shaking my/Gilda’s head I rushed back over and made it just in time to help Harut dodge another breath of plasma from the Sombra-Bahamut.

“I see you managed to consume Heylel’s fragment.” Harut said as he looked a bit more beaten down was was still moving.

“Bastard was swearing up a storm but he’s mine now, and all his powers...which is a metric fuck ton for just two fingers, a pinkie and half his palm.”

“Father told us each fragment has the power of ten hypergiant stars.”

“Jesus christ…” I sighed out. “Alright, so now that I’m strong enough to bench press a planet apparently, let’s get on with this.” I said, stabbing my lance into the ground as ice formed into a powerful spell circle. “Let’s hope this works…” I muttered.

I looked up at the Possessed God, remembering the worlds Yevon spoke in their memories. ”From beginning to end, all Life fades, From dust we are born and to dust we return. Yet surpassing death, your soul shines brightly, Bless these souls here, with life ever onwards. With bodies ever eternal as the stones of the earth. Meld their minds as one, and keep their souls bound. Give them forms for freedom, to empower we mortal men. And let the immortals dream in heavens of their own making!”

The matrix made from ice under me lit up as suddenly chains of divine light rushed up and grabbed Bahumat’s body. It pulled them down. The Sombra fragment tried to move their puppet to no avail and then began trying to escape. Harut quickly shot a beam of Magic at the Sombra fragment, pinning it to it’s puppet as the Dragon God’s body shrank and morphed into a statue of stone. The Fayth was like many, stone as various generic dragons held up the flaming skull of a larger, identifiable head of Bahumat, the Dragon God.

The Fayth then burst into Pyreflies and flowed into me.

New Fayth Successfully Created! Bridge Fayth Obtained!

Dragon God Bahumat has successfully been converted into an Aeon Summon!

Bahamut, Dragon God absorbed! Bahamut Form Obtained!

Dragon God Title has been acquired and added to your Secondary Titles Portfolio. You now have authority over Dragons of all races, ages and species within the World Equestria! Secondly, Gold, Greed, Gemstones and Platinum are also under your control!

Zanarkand Facility Unlocked! Fayth Laboratory is now accessible!

Fragment of Sombra Acquired!

“Fantastic.” I said with a smile. “Alright, now should be the time where the Rift starts to fuse with Equis.”

As if on cue, the Rift began to morph and was shaking. “Before it does, Anna, may I ask a favor?” Harut asked.

“What up?” I inquired. “Also...I really hope people don’t immediately die from Dragon Lands being an active volcano land…” I muttered carefully.

“Between the toughness of the people and the WIld Magic, they should be fine. But… Will you absorb me as well?”

“You sure Harut?” I asked “It’s a rather...heavy question to ask.”

“The Pyreflies I absorbed should be returned to you, besides… I have not felt Father’s power for… quite some time. My siblings and I were created to guide and teach mortals, and serve our maker. But for years now, I have not felt Father’s power nor heard him when I call out. You are a good person, and a better God than most. To serve you would be an honor, and with luck it will revert me back to normal.”

“That’s...fair…” I nodded, gently putting a hand on Harut’s shoulder. “You’re a good man Harut...but uh, I hope you like company, cause you’re going to meet a whole lotta people.”

“I came from a family of six thousand before the war with Heylel. Company is lovely.” He said with a nod and a smile.

“Well, you’re going to have company of a few...maybe a few million.” I said sheepishly. “But I’m sure you’ll enjoy it all the same.” I nodded. “Now...is there a special way to do this with an Angel? Cause...well it was different with Changelings and Dragons…”

Harut placed a hand over their chest, slowly willing out a small feathered orb of light. He handed it to me as his body began to fall apart into sand. When the last of his physical body turned to sand and fell to the ground, I absorbed the orb, Harut’s soul, or equivalent.

Angel Breed: Cognoverse Obtained!

Harut, Angel of Sorcery Absorbed!

Cognoverse Angel Form Acquired!

Harut, Angel of Sorcery is now a Summon.

“Fantastic.” I muttered with a smile. “Alright people, prepare to head to the real world.” I said over the comms system.

The people of Australia were happy to be out of that rift. Turns out the melted areas of the country aligned well with some of the volcanos of the Dragon Lands.

I immediately flew to where I spotted Thor still standing over my body. “Tis good to see you and Gilda’s body well Anna.” Thor said as I placed a hand on my still sleeping body.

“Yep, a few bumps and bruises but thankfully we’re doing good.” I nodded while walking over to my body. “And there’s a whole lotta things I need to tell Gilda about...honestly first I need to hug him so bad…”

I managed to flow my mind back into my body. Once I sat up I quickly remembered the growing lump of countless babies I was carrying. Woah. Honestly missed and forgot all about this…

Gilda laid down for a while and right as I was about to worry they jumped up. “Damn it!” They yelled, then looked around. “Woah I’m back… also ouch…” They groaned as they rubbed their sore spots. “What happened? I feel like I fell out of a tree…”

“That’s my fault.” I said sheepishly, but moved over and hugged them. “I missed you my big fluffy birb.”

“How long were you in control of me? Time moves weird in Zanarkand.” They asked as they hugged me back.

“Maybe...a day or two?” I said. “I was only in the rift for a day and a half...I don’t know, all I know is that I missed you...I wasn’t able to talk to you cause you physically can’t hold me and yourself in your body at once.”

“Makes sense. I was in Zanarkand the whole time. Mostly just killed time, Met Tidus, watched and laughed at how that Occellus girl was with him and mostly just went sight seeing and then was watching a Blitz Ball game before I woke back up here.”

“That’s good to hear.” I nodded. “Also, if you saw a massive fuck off dragon appear out of nowhere...yeah that was me doing a thing.” I said sheepishly.

“Hmm… Nope, didn’t see anything like that before arriving back here.”

“Weird.” I hummed. “Well anyways, you're here now, and I’m so happy.”

“Does feel nice to be back. Aside from being sore as heck… there wasn't any way for me to… satisfy certain needs~” They said, giving me a quick kiss.

I kissed back happily, just super happy to feel my Griffon’s love again after what felt like an eternity.

To be continued...

Chapter 13

It has been a week since the events at the Dragon Lands. Most of the older ones, like Ember and Garble, are helping to look after the eggs and whelps that survived. They plan on going back, apparently the remnants of Australia said 'sure, why not.' Given the hell they went through, sharing their country with the dragons, especially given their country appeared on the Dragon Lands continent, co-existence with dragons would be easy for them.

I, after a break from that mess, decided that I needed to practice and test my abilities. I have a lot of new forms and summons so this should be interesting.

"Alright…so which person do I want to summon first?" I wondered to myself. "Hmm…Satan or Bahamut…"

Summoning the devil himself probably isn't a good thing. Best to keep him inside until later. For now, I decided on summoning… Harut.

In a flash of rather divine light and feathers, Harut appeared before me. He looked normal again. "Anna." He greeted me with a bow.

“Nice to see you again Harut.” I nodded. “How’s it feel being apart of my soul?”

"Much like when I was linked to my father. More whole and with purpose." He admitted.

“Glad to hear you're having fun.” I nodded. “Hopefully it’s not too crowded in there for you.”

"It reminds me of the silver city, er, heaven. Bustling with generations of life and always something to do."

“That’s good to hear.” I nodded. “Glad to hear you're not bored with all the nonsense going on in there.”

"Yes, it's all quite enjoyable. So, do you need anything?"

“Just training a bit, seeing how all my new summon’s and abilities work.” I said honestly. “Especially since I can transform into your special race of Angel right now.”

"Ah, that is impressive. How many beings can you summon at a time?"

That… was a good question. Once we got home I disbanded Jecht, and normally a summoner can only summon one, well, summon at a time… but I am not a summoner nor am I normal either.

“Uh…no idea.” I said honestly. “I kinda thought I was limited to one summon at a time …”

"Normally, but that is a typical human limitation. And you are not human nor bound by their limitations."

“Yeah, that’s what I thought…” I started. “So…let’s try summoning another being here.”

I took a breath, managing to get the next summon circle to appear and this time, Jecht appeared. "Holy- back out here already?" He asked, looking around. "What's the occasion?"

"Anna is practicing her powers." Harut answered.

"Woah! You're here? Wow, two at once. Nice."

“Yeah, this is pretty neat.” I nodded. “Good to know that I can summon multiple people at once.”

"How many can you summon at once?" Jecht asked.

“Figuring that out right now.” I answered, this time trying to summon Tidus for this wonderful party.

So far I summoned Tidus, Chrysalis, Ocellus, ifrit, and I felt like I could keep on going. This is awesome!

“Alright, so far it feels like I could literally summon any mount I want.” I said happily. “But…this might be leading into a bad thing and I don’t know why…”

"Well, you'll at least have back up at all times- Ocellus let go of me!" Tidus yelled at the young changeling kept trying to cling and cuddle the Blitz Ball player.

"Aw, you gotta girlfriend." I couldn't help but giggle. "I wonder if Changelings invented the name 'cuddle bug'?"

"She's not my girlfriend…" Tidus growled.

"Just kiss already!" Jecht yelled, quickly dodging the thrown greatsword that Tidus aimed at Jecht's head.

I laughed a little at that. Okay, now to try with my forms. Let's see… well, guess I'll go with Harut's angel type.

“Alright everyone, do not be afraid with what I might turn into.” I said while trying out my new Angel form I got from Harut.

I felt the change happen but when I looked at myself… I didn't actually look different. Huh… well that's upsetting. I think?

“Uh…” I started. “Shouldn’t I look…different?” I asked carefully.

"Do I look less like a human than you?" Harut asked as he walked up to me. "Many of my younger generations of siblings were made to look more human in order to better blend in with them. But you do have nice wings."

I looked behind me, seeing two large wings made from magic emerged from my back.

"They do look pretty." I smiled.

"Now, my specific breed of angel is known as Cognoverse. Do you know what we do?"

"Not entirely." I said simply.

"Primarily, we taught magic to humanity, but we also taught them languages and how to speak in the languages of each magic type. It's why all Cognoverse Angels have an affinity for every magic type. We are wizards, spell casters and crafters, and teachers."

"Amazing." I nodded. "Will help me figure out magic faster."

Okay, so this form will probably be best suited for studying magic and practicing it. Hmm, now what else… ah, dragon form!

"Alright, time for dragon." I said, shifting into my new dragon form, not sure if its a normal dragon or some weird dragon god form.

I shifted and was a bit taller, maybe six inches. Looking down at myself I was naked but the scales and such covered pretty much everything. The first thing I noticed to my horror was that I was flat! My knockers are gone!

After getting over that, I noticed in better detail my looks. I had pink scales, oddly, two short horns on my head, two fair sized draconic wings, claws that were rather sharp and a tail that ended in several barbs. Huh, aside from being flat chested, not bad.

"While I do miss my chest, I do look nice." I said honestly. "Feel pretty strong too."

"Dragons can eat gems. Can you in that form?" Chrysalis asked.

"I'm pretty sure." I said, carefully looking at my teeth to see if I had those special gem eating teeth.

Yup. Sharp, thick, a bit rougher than I expected, and many. It wasn't hard to find a gemstone, a sapphire and after dusting it off a bit, popped it into my mouth.

It had a hard candy consistency, and it was sour raspberry flavor. I did not expect that.

"Huh, raspberry for sapphires." I said honestly

"Makes sense. So, what next?" Jecht asked.

"Well, next up would be my 'Bahamut' form…or I could summon a piece of Satan."

"I wouldn't if I were you Anna." Harut said.

“How bad would it be if I did?” I asked.

"Well, Heylel, even if you summoned him, would definitely not obey you. In fact I'd wager he'd immediately try and kill you."

“Rude.” I frowned. “Alright, looks like I’m gonna have to make a personal visit to that asshole when I head to Zanarkand next…”

"So, your Dragon God Bahamut then?" Tidus asked.

“Yes.” I nodded. “But not that Bahuamt, this is someone completely different.” I said, starting to channel the summoning of Dragon God Bahamut.

To my surprise, and a bit of relief, he was smaller than when I fought him, roughly my size but his form and shape were the same. "Hmmm." He hummed, looking around. "So, I've been… bound?" They asked. Their voice dropped with aged wisdom and a strong hint of wrath.

“Less ‘bound’ like when you were corrupted by Sombra and more…resident.” I said carefully. “Please don’t be pissed…I’m not a slave driver.”

"Hm. You're no dragon, that's for sure." He said, looking me over. "But you are a Goddess, and quiet powerful at that. If inexperienced."

"Goddess of Life…that I learned not too long ago." I said.

"Hm. And why do you appear as a dragon now?"

"Because before I became a Goddess of Life I had the powers of Shape shifting." I said simply, reverting back to my human form. "And it helps a lot for a lot of situations."

"I see. And upon my… assimilation, to your power, you inherited mine as well."

"As far as I know and understand." I answered. "Don't know how it would work for absorbing a literal God." I said nervously. "But I'm also housing your Soul inside me, so whenever you want to…be alive again I can figure something out sooner or later."

"No need." He said. "To be honest I wasn't expecting to wake up when I went into hibernation."

"Fair enough." I nodded. "And hopefully, all your knowledge and experience will help me save this world from a parasitic asshole known as Spiral."

"If you say so."

“You sounding passive aggressive while holding back a whole lot of pent up wrath is not good for any of us.” I stated simply.

"I'm not wrathful. This is just how I sound."

“Right…” I started. “So anyways…my name's Anna, and these many fine folk are your roommates inside my soul.”

"I noticed. Can I go back now? I'd like to continue sleeping."

“Fine, fine.” I said while putting him back into my soul realm.

"Well, they seemed fun." Jecht said.

“I’m sure you two will get along great.” I said.

“Yeah, a couple of cranky old geezers that need a nap.” Tidus commented.

"So, what next Anna?" Harut asked.

Hm, well, if Heylel is out for summons, what should I try next?

“Hmm…well I have a bad idea, and it involves seeing if I can shapeshift into Satan himself.” I said honestly.

"I also advise against that." Harut stated quickly.

“Why is that Harut?” I inquired.

"Personal trauma."

“Fair enough.” I nodded. “So…hmm, well, considering you're all out and about here, what do you all want to do?”

"I got Chrysalis so I already know what I'm doing." Jecht said.

"Probably look for a bite to eat… and avoid Ocellus…" Tidus said, the Changeling in question clinging to him like a strange over sexualized backpack.

"I suppose I'll read up on Equestrian magic." Harut said.

“Works for me.” I nodded. “And also, you’re not going to avoid that adorable girl who is very into you Tidus…and I suppose I should head into Bahamut’s cave to see everything he has down there…hell, maybe I can find another person from Spira like Wakka and Khimari.”

"If you do, that would be great." Tidus said, managing to push Ocellus off his back and rushing off before she could get up.

Once she was up, she began flying off after him.

“So about Ocellus being clingier than static electricity?” I asked Chrysalis curiously.

"My best guess, she picked him as her mate." Chrysalis stated with a shrug. "Typically, Changelings who choose a mate with another are always together. Even if one dies, the other will often stick with their mate til they too pass. Given Tidus isn't a Changeling though it's going to be hilarious."

“So I was right that Ocellus likes him.” I chuckled. “Yeah, that’s gonna be a bit hilarious…though I can kinda understand why Tidus is a tad concerned with it…probably still has his heart on Yuna all thing’s considered.”

"Awh, he takes after his old man more than I thought." Jecht said.

“Oh? Being a ‘ladies man’ I take it?”

"Damn right!"

With that he and Chrysalis headed off. Probably gonna look for a private place to do stuff. Harut also bid me farewell and headed towards the library.

Hm, don't wanna head there alone though…

"I am so glad I was free for this!" Celestia said as she and I flew towards the Dragon Lands/Australia.

“How excited are you for this Celestia?” I inquired.

"Very, Bahumat was my teacher back when I was a young goddess." She said.

“Oh wow.” I said in surprise. “And here I thought he was a old grump that wanted to sleep.”

"Well, he kinda is but he's also really nice once you get over his size and scary voice. One thing I was always curious about was his horde. I always wanted to see it. There's relics and items there from well before pony kind even existed! It's gonna be amazing!"

“And I can lead you in there.” I said honestly. “Also, when I summoned him he wasn’t that much taller than me in my dragon form, and he sounded like he was going to snap somebody in half.”

"Oh he always sounds like that." She waved it off. "It's just how his voice is. He always sounds angry even though he's never lost his temper. Pretty sure that's why they say when he'd wake up he'd set the world on fire. All the dragons back then were completely terrified of him."

“And considering I had to fight a Sombra possessed version of him…I can safely say, they were right to fear him.” I said honestly.

It was a while before we made it to the Dragon Lands, and Mt Bahumat was now more like a crater.

Landing inside, I spotted all kinds of things around me. Hills and hills of gemstones, gold, silver, platinum, and all kinda of relics I can just feel the magic and power radiating off of them. And there was so much.

“Holy sheep shit…” I said in awe.

"This is about what I'd expect." Celestia said as she moved some things around.

“So what is like…half of this stuff?” I asked, sifting through gem’s, golds, and what looked like ancient weapons and armor that all looked really cool.

"Most of this seems to be old weapons from the divine wars." Celestia said, picking up a small shield, looking it over then tossing it.

“I don’t think you should be tossing old arms and armor from a time called the ‘Divine Wars’.” I said carefully, sifting through more of his shit…well, technically it would be my shit now…”So this is all my shit right now…” My right eye twitched lightly, as I was currently in my dragon form experiencing… something very weird at the moment.

I immediately began grabbing things. Gold, gems, whatever really and tried to pile it up to lay down on it.

“This is my hoard.” I stated. “There are many like it, but this is mine.” I said, knowing for a fact I was laying down on this like a goddamn cat but not caring.

"I actually doubt there's many others like this." Celestia said, picking up some silver coins, then tossing them.

“Don’t just toss my shit.” I huffed, but shook my head. “Whoa, okay…gonna need to figure that bit out soon…” I muttered, digging through my hoard to see if there was any cool shit in here.

"That would be the Greed part of your new godly title. Especially since you're a dragon at the moment it would affect you more than not in that form." Celestia said, tossing more stuff aside.

“Well…what are you looking for specifically?” I inquired, I myself was digging around trying to see if there was any Fayth’s or a Spira character statue here.

"I think he had my Mother's armor here." Celestia said, still sorting through some things.

“Huh…” I said. “And what does her Armor look like?”

"White, gold and red." She said, tossing another helmet. "I never knew what happened to it but I know Bahumat knew my mother before so odds are he kept it after she vanished."

“Alright.” I said, continuing to dig through the mountains of gold and gems, trying to use either my dragon magic to find where it is specifically or use my other armor’s magic to find it.

I wasn't having much luck. Just a lot of tasty gems, a ring that turns you invisible, a glowing blue shield made from magic, a bag of magical beetles, a bow that shoots lightning, a bag that blows hurricane level air out when opened, several petrified monkey paws, glasses that let me view into the future, only five to ten seconds, and many other wild and crazy artifacts.

“Okay seriously, what nonsense was this guy hoarding?” I asked. “Also…I might as well summon him to not only see you again, but to show you where her armor is.”

With a wave I summoned back out Dragon God Bahumat… and he was sleeping. "Heh, that sounds about right." Celestia responded to his snores.

I rubbed my temples. “So that’s not gonna help…” I muttered, ready to send him back from his sleep.

I sent him back and helped Celestia sort through this crap. One thing that surprised me was a skull with glowing yellow eyes. "Oh, I think that's a Liars Conscience. They immediately detect who in a conversation is lying and tells the truth they're hiding."

“Well then, that’s pretty cool.” I said honestly. “Beat’s a lie detector that’s for sure.”

Celestia and I were sorting for hours, at some point I was separating the stuff. Magical weapons, armors, items, ECT all into their own piles and if they matched I tried to put stuff together.

"Well, this has been productive, but I still haven't seen her armor." Celestia said.

“Yeah, that is pretty weird.” I said, still sorting through my asinine amount of stuff. “Seriously, I might be the richest person on the planet at this point.”

"Probably." Celestia shrugged. She sighed as she lit her horn, lowering the sun. The crater got quite dark until Celestia lit her horn again, making various floating orbs of light. In a flash of her magic appeared a bed, a fire place, and some food stuffs. "We can sleep here tonight. With luck we'll find the armor tomorrow."

“That would be great.” I nodded, yawning as I realized how tired I was. ‘Ugh…it’s been a trying day.”

"Yes." Celestia said as she began preparing the food stuffs. "Go ahead and lay down. I'll just make something quick then join you."

I nodded, walking over to my specifically made pile that was weirdly comfy, as I did the cat thing of circling around in one spot before laying down. “Why must dragon’s act like cats for this?” I wondered to myself as I drifted off to sleep.

"It's a weird phenomenon, I'll admit but one that all drakes do. Unless you're Spike." Celestia stated simply.

“Oh? How so?” I inquired, lightly perking up at that.

“Well, as you know Spike was hatched here in Canterlot, from a long since fossilized egg at that. By all meanings of the word, Spike should not exist, but we have long since believed that Spike was fossilized at the near hatching point for his development, and so when Twilight’s magic went wild in that surge, she managed to reanimate what was in his egg, and replaced some bits and pieces with her own magic in a way that hasn’t been possible for a long time. It’s part of why I knew Twilight was the one to become the next Alicorn.”

“That’s pretty neat.” I said. “So…Spike’s technically part Pony?”

“Yes. Though not in a typical way. Genetically, Spike is pure drake, but magically, his magic is very in tune with Twilight’s, and even readings on his soul show they are on the same wavelength as Twilight. If you were to be technical, Spike would be a rare type of organic golem, but still he’s much more. He’s more akin to the first members of a race a new Elder or Eldritch god makes before they breed to populate.”

“Now that’s really cool.” I said honestly.

“Yes, and for Twilight to achieve that, before Alicorn Ascension, and on accident, well, as they say, there are no accidents. I took that as a sign to train her properly. She has not disappointed and has surpassed all my expectations.”

“That’s good to hear.” I nodded. “Now…hopefully all that beyond expectations can…help us through all this shit.” I yawned.

“She is still young, but I have commissioned something to aid in her, and Cadence’s development for the trials ahead.”

“Cool.” I nodded. “Wonder if I’ll be able to gain those armor’s abilities as well?” I wondered, before shrugging. “That’s for tomorrow…night Celestia.”

“Don’t you want to eat first?” Celestia asked, holding up a small salad bowl and pulling out some eggs.

“Alright alright.” I said, perking up again at the prospect of food. “You’re driving a hard bargain to stop me from sleeping here sunbutt.” I chuckled. “Also…where did you get this?”

“I teleported it here from Canterlot. It’s a nifty spell that lets a unicorn teleport an item from long distances so long as they have the items in a spot rich in their mana signature.” She said, handing me the salad. “Plus, well, I haven’t gotten a chance to spend a sleepless night with you yet~ This is the first time we’ve been alone together. I’d like some memories aside from the dusty relics.”

“Well then get over here and let me show you what fun we can have my sexy princess.” I said readily.

I forgot just how much hornier Celestia was than me. That little preview Gilda and I saw that one time and repeated, was nothing compared to what she and I did last night…

I’d happily and all too willingly do it all again… if I could move.

“You really should stay laying down Anna. First time Inkwell and I did this, she couldn’t move for a week.” Celestia said as she managed to move and sort through the piles of still unsorted items.

“Me and Gilda…accidentally saw some of this…” I panted. “But physically experiencing it…wow…”

“Heh, yes well, you live long enough and the basic stuff just gets boring.” She said simply.

Even with all I can do with shapeshifting, that was stuff I thought could only be done in fictional porn.

“So uh…yeah…” I started. “Gilda’s probably gonna be shocked to know I knocked you up…and so is the rest of the planet at this point…” I started, considering how Celestia wanted…every shape inside of her.

“And I you.” She said, giving me a wink.

I blushed, remembering that beast she adorned with magic and used on me for just as long as I was using my forms on her… and in all my forms too. Multiple times… across all entry ports and… usable bits.

Still, would do it all again… once I can move and feel more than just sore and pleasure…

“Ugh…making my pregnancy longer or just doubling or tripling how many I’m going to spawn…” I sighed out. “I still hate how I have to spawn in an entire planet’s worth of people instead of…giving birth to a few like a normal mother…”

“Well, you can but you’ll be pregnant forever at that rate.”

Hmm… I mean… Could I?

“But…that would lead to problems…” I said. “I can’t fight if I’m constantly pregnant right?”

“What about Gilda? Or some golem construct?”

I mean… when I used Gilda, my powers did work I’ll admit, but I don’t want to endanger them… A Golem Construct though… Maybe Vincent can teach me how to make one.

“Well…maybe…” I admitted. “I’m…just not sure is all…” I gently put a hand on my stomach, at least able to move that much as I felt my ever growing baby bump.

I stayed laying there while Celestia sorted through some things. “Ah! Found part of it!” She said, showing me a gauntlet.

“That’s cool.” I said honestly.

“Yes. I never got to see mom wear it, just remember seeing it in a cabinet when I was very little.”

“Well, glad you never had to see it used I suppose.” I pointed out.

“Yes, I guess that is a good thing.” Celestia said with a nod.

It was a few more hours before Celestia found the whole set of her mothers armor. By then I was finally able to move enough to sit up and then walk… rather limp, but I was moving at least.

“Well, your mother certainly had a neat looking set of armor.” I said honestly.

“Yes. I was hoping to clean it up and put it on display in our home. But, if you can absorb it, then you can have it.”

I limped over and gently put a hand on the armor, trying to absorb it like I did the other two suits of armor.

To my surprise I didn’t feel it absorb, so much as… bond, to me. In a flash it was gone and I now wore a bracelet that looked to be made from green vines.

“Okay…didn’t absorb it, but it certainly bonded to me.” I said honestly.

“Makes sense. Mother was an Elder Goddess of life, so are you. The armor must have recognized you as a worthy and qualified master.”

“That’s cool.” I nodded. “Certainly help me in fights.”

Warning! Faust Armor use limited!

Situational activation not detected! Awaiting Situational Activation Trigger.

Of course…

“Cause of course it would have to be a ‘situational activation’...” I grumbled.

Celestia chuckled. “Well, at least it’s better than nothing. Now then, if you are up and able to move, ready for round two?”

“What do you mean that was only ‘round one’?” I asked in surprise.

“Hmm, I’d say half a round but it was your first time with me so, I’ll give you full credit for participation.” She said, giving me a playful smile.

This woman is gonna snu snu me to death…

“Now you know how I felt when your Changeling form got its cravings.” Gilda said as she put another cold compress along my body. All the feeling in my crotch area was a mix of excruciating pain and absolute mind melting bliss… Still would go again.

“Still worth…” I groaned lightly. “But…still, ow…”

“Yeesh, remind me to obtain godhood before I try and sleep with Celestia.” Gilda said as they now carefully fed me a potion. “Inkwell say’s this potion is safe to take while pregnant and will help with your… pain. Also, she has pointers for when you want to go a full nonstop round with Celestia next time.”

“Gonna need all the help I can get…” I sighed out.

“So, aside from clearly painful, how was it?”

“Amazing and…weird.” I said honestly.

“Care to go into detail or still processing it all?”

“Still…kinda processing it all.”

“That’s fair.” Gilda said, giving me a kiss. “What am I going to do with you my ever horny goddess?”

“Cuddle her and give her snacks?” I asked innocently.

“I can get you snacks, but I think cuddles should wait until you’re more recovered from that sexual adventure.” Gilda chuckled as they left to go get me snacks.

And so I laid on bed, waiting for snacks-

“I see sister had quite the fun with you.” Luna said as she sat down next to me.

“Yes…yes she did.” I said weakly. “So…hi Luna, how you doing?”

“Better than you are, that’s for sure.” She said. “So, it also looks like you did find mothers armor.” Luna added as she lifted up the arm with the bracelet on it.

“Yes I did, and immediately was told ‘it’s only usable in specific circumstances’.” I said honestly.

“Hm. I suppose that makes some sense. Mother wasn’t much of a fighter. Or so Tia tells me.”

“Celestia said she was a Goddess of Life like me.” I brought up.

“I know that much.” Luna sighed. “I was very young when Mother vanished. My clearest memory of her was when she’d read to me. I was so young.”

“I’m…sorry to hear you lost your mother at such a young age…” I sighed out.

“Hm. To be honest, I was too little to even really notice. I remember the color of her mane, her coat. But despite my clearest memory of her was reading to me, I don’t remember her voice. Her face. Tia remembers more, being older, but even so, most of my memories are from after she vanished.”

“I understand.” I nodded. “Still sucks not having a mother…what about your father?”

“I don’t know. Neither does Tia. Frankly, neither of us have memories of him. Whoever he was. Sometime we think maybe we never had one, that mother conceived us both on her own, but it’s just a mystery we will never know the truth of.”

“Alrighty then.” I nodded. “That…kinda sucks.”

“It has never bothered us much. You don’t need to feel bad about it, we just are happy to have you in our lives.”

“And I’m happy to have all of you in my life.” I said happily.

Gilda came with my snacks and after another dose of anti pain potion, Gilda and Luna joined me for a cuddle as I decided to finally get some sleep. Celestia did not let me sleep with after sexy funtime…

The cell was pitch black. I couldn’t see anything in there, just darkness. This is Heylel’s cell?

“Hello?” I asked. “Anybody in there or do I need to turn on the light’s ya edgy bastard.”

A hand touched the barrier, making me jump some as soon a single glowing red eye was visible, and looking at me. “You…” A voice, deep and more wrathful than Bahumat’s, spoke. “You are like my father, but not. And they call me an abomination…”

“Right…” I started. “So hi Satan, or do you want to go by Heylel?”

“Satan, The Accuser. Not my job, and not my name. I am Heylel, the fallen one and rightful ruler over humanity.”

“Ah, yes, cause the red eye, the threatening voice, and your room being darker than a Shadow the Hedgehog convention certainly gives off the ‘I’m the rightful ruler of humanity’.” I stated.

The barrier cracked, making me jump back. “Bite your tongue, fledgling. A goddess you may be, but even this prison is breakable. And I can still feed from within you, and there are so many souls ripe for the devouring around me.”

“Fantastic…” I grumbled. “And here I thought literally eating a literal Eldritch God would make this easier…” I grumbled.

“They are quite appetizing, aren’t they?” Heylel asked, the barrier beginning to repair itself. “Hm, how quant. You want my power, but your entire being simply can’t be rid of my consciousness. Such is the way of gods of life. So, here we are at an impasse.”

“Either you help me deal with someone much scarier than you, or you have to get into my stomach and have to relive this experience again for god knows how many times.” I stated simply, still trying to wrap my head around the fact I’ve done this song and dance who knows how many times.

“Intimidation is not your strong suit fledgling. No, no torture or pain your mind can come up with will break me. And you know this, but still, you need my power, and that will have to come at a price.”

“It’s funny you think that was either an intimidation tactic, or threatening when I only spoke the truth.” I said honestly. “But what is your price if I may ask?”

“I will not lie, my time imprisoned has given me time to think, and time to analyze and time to… settle, on what I’d take in exchange. I want Michael’s head.”

“So…you want me to kill a Seraphim?” I asked carefully.

“I want to see the lifeforce of father’s little obedient brat leave their eyes. It was he who captured and imprisoned me. All you need to do is absorb him as you did little brother Heylel, and I will handle the rest. Once Micheal’s consciousness is obliterated, you can have not only my power, but his as well.”

“Goodie…” I grumbled, rubbing my temples at that. ”I really need Vincent and Grey to teach me how to be strong enough…” I thought to myself bitterly. “And where in the world would they be?”

“Among the fragments on earth, he is likely on that western continent. The one you know as America.”

“Heylel’s in Australia, Jesus is in Ireland, and now Michael is in America? No wonder a lot of places are weird.” I chuckled.

“You were all given such a magnificent planet. Yet you all had to ruin it.”

“And…you thought you could do better?” I asked carefully, motioning to the entire cell.

“I would have never let you all destroy magic. I would have never let you all create weapons capable of obliterating hundred and thousands and millions of lives in an instance. I would have never let you all steal, kill and starve your own kind while a greedy few lived like gods with fortunes ill gotten. You may not have had your precious free will, but you all would have lived happy lives.”

“Huh, normally it’s the other way around.” I said honestly.

“Maybe you should not trust the words and text written by mortals on matters they’d have never understood.”

“I mean…you’re not really giving off any ‘I’m trustworthy’ vibes considering your threatening to devour souls, your entire room is pitch black, and your first thought for helping someone prevent the end of existence is ‘get me this guys head’...” I said honestly. “Just saying.”

“To create paradise, blood of those who would seek to destroy it must be spilled. Micheal was the one to keep humanity from paradise, so his life must be given as payment for letting humans devolve into such a wicked, self destructive race.”

“So I must ask…what are you going to do to make me believe in anything you just said?” I asked. “Cause even Harut has been…very adamant that you’re just a douche bag all things considered.”

“Insurance. I can respect that. The world you reside on is known as Equestria, yes? It’s goddess is known as Faust, and she’s been missing for so long.” He started, moving his hand off the barrier and using a finger to draw a map. “Here, you will find a… clue, as to where she vanished too.”

“That’s…weird you know about Equestria and Faust missing…” I said carefully.

“I know a lot about the world of the gods. Like them I too traveled across the worlds, the multiverse, and beyond. There is much I know.”

“Alright…” I said carefully. “So…going to find a clue to find out where Faust is…”

“When you find it, you’ll trust me. I can promise you that, and unlike my father, I keep my promises.” Heylel said, his one eye vanishing and putting the room back into darkness.

Once I woke up and felt good enough I took Celestia and Luna with me to the place Heylel’s map led.

“Are you sure this Heylel can be trusted?” Celestia asked as we arrived at the place. A small island way north, passed the Crystal Empire and well into the cold oceans. “I was unaware an island even existed here.

“Honestly, no, no I don’t.” I said, summoning out Harut just in case. “Yo, mind helping the three of us figure out if Heylel is full of shit or not?”

“Of course. Where are we?” Harut asked.

“Alright, so right now, Heylel said that he can be trusted, shocking I know, and that the proof would be on this island.” I said, pointing to the specific island in question. “Should we bother listening to him, and do you know anything about this mystery island?”

“Regrettably… Heylel doesn’t lie…” Harut admitted.

“Then why is he more dark and brooding then an Edgelord conference at the world’s biggest Hot Topic?” I asked.

“How would you feel if your father and siblings all turned against you? Imprisoned you in stone and scattered your fragments all across the earth?”

“Before or after you declare that you want to create a ‘paradise’ on the corpses of billions?” I asked curiously.

“Both.” Harut admitted. “It’s not like none of us knew the dangers of letting humanity run free with it’s own will, but Heylel was the only one who wanted to ensure that free will didn’t devolve into… extinction.”

“See, the problem here is that every single magical being either fucked off when thing’s started to get a little too weird, like Odin did, did basically jack all like God is apparently, even though he’s the one that sent me and my family here…or sound like complete jackasses that would have sooner caused an extinction because they thought it was correct.” I frowned.

“Yes, well, it was always meant for you all to forge your own path. And, if you made it, become gods yourselves. That is the ultimate destiny for any mortal race.”

We landed on the snowy, icey island and looked around. Doesn’t look like anyone has ever been here.

“Well…this is certainly a weird place to hide something…” I started.

“There is something oddly familiar though…” Celestia said, looking up at the main mountain on the island.

We all ended up following Celestia until we came across an entranceway, carved in stone and a door made of petrified wood, partly frozen over. “A door? Here?”

“It… couldn’t be…” Celestia said, putting a hand to the door. She knocked off the frost and ice, revealing the heat engraved image of an inkwell with a large feather quill resting inside it. “This is… our old home…”

“Uh…huh…” I started. “That’s…how the hell did you live here?”

“It wasn’t like this before… back, way back when we were little, this was a tropical island.” Celestia said.

She managed to force the old door open and we all went inside.

We were greeted by a simple, small livingroom and kitchen. A hallway led to three rooms. A makeshift bathroom, a bedroom, one small bed and one crib, and the other room was also a bedroom, with a larger bed and many bookshelves filled with books, a desk where old paper, ink and quills all rested.

“I… remember this…” Luna said, walking over to the desk. “Mother was… always writing. Drawing.”

“She’d draw us because it made us happy.” Celestia said, picking up one old image of the two sisters. Celestia had to be at least… six, seven at most and Luna couldn’t have been more than a year.

“I…don’t feel like I should be here right now…” I said, feeling like I just walked in on something very personal for the two. “Also…you look adorable as kids.”

“Anna.” Harut spoke. I looked over, seeing a picture of Faust herself. She was… beautiful. In the picture she was holding onto an even younger Celestia and a little Luna as a baby. On a shelf hunt at the base of a painting was a single, folded piece of paper.

I moved over and gently took the piece of paper, gently unfolding the ancient piece of paper to see what was in it.

To Celestia and Luna, my dearest daughters.

You will never know me. You will never see me. You will never even know my name. I am not a god like your mother, but what I do I do because I know it is truth. The god that made me, my siblings, believes the race he made will be better off without divine intervention. Your mother and I know better, however, that free will if unchecked leads to evil.

While not all of them will fall to this evil, those who do will spread their influences across their planet and bring forth suffering upon their own just to keep their ‘power’ over them. I hope you will never read this letter, because if you don’t, then it means your mother and I succeeded, and we were here to raise you. If you are reading this letter, I only hope you two grow up into kind, just gods who can keep the mortals in check. Free will leads to many roads, some good, some evil. I hope you two are leading your race into prosperity.

I hope if we do not return, Bahumat will raise you well.

Sincerely, your Father.

“No…no no no…” I muttered, shaking my head as I read this. “That should be impossible, how can that guy be their father?”

I looked over, seeing Celestia and Luna were both busy with the old books and pictures. I quickly walked back into the living room area with Harut. “Anna…” Harut started.

“That rat bastard is their father.” I whispered to Harut. “How? When?” I asked Harut worriedly. “He said the exact same thing to me…like he did in that paper…”

“...” Harut was quite… “Long, long ago. Let’s just say some of those theories about humans once being advanced civilizations lost to time hold some truth.” He sighed. “By that time… Heylel had watched them destroy everything they built… several times over.”

“Damn…” I muttered. “So was this…before or after he was shattered?”

“Before. He and Faust were a lot alike. And well liked…”

“So…what happened?” I asked carefully.

“Heylel wanted to ensure some form of divine intervention would keep humanity from committing terrible atrocities, repeating the pain of building up their world just to end up back to sticks and stones… Father said they had to learn this lesson on their own. He and Faust argued against this constantly… until words no longer would cut it. He and Faust… attacked. Tried to claim earth as part of her divine territory.”

“Ah…that’s where it ended poorly…” I sighed out.

“In the end… Heylel was, well, you know… but… Faust…”

“What happened to her?” I asked carefully.

“...Father, could not kill her, he is a God of Life… so, the duty fell to… Micheal.”

“So that’s why he wants his head…” I started. “Michael…killed Faust…”

“He was the only one who was willing to kill her. Micheal is… not, as Humans portray. He is… self absorbed, and… selfish.”

“So…basically humanity got everything backwards?” I asked.

“Yes, because after God and other divine beings left, Micheal began to manipulate and lie. He is the reason the Catholics and Christains were so hard pressed on exterminating other religions, the subjugation of women. He was made in God’s likeness, but when Father left, and Heylel away… he felt he could rule earth as he saw fit. He’s worn many faces, and done all he could to make your earth in his image.”

“Ah…” I nodded. “Alright, now I don’t feel bad about wanting this asshole dead.” I stated. “But…now the question is…how the hell do we break it to Celestia and Luna?”

”You don’t.” I jumped, hearing Heylel’s voice in my head. ”You will not weigh their hearts with this information. We still have a deal to fulfill.”

“And I’m trying to figure out if I should tell them I have their father inside my head.” I said bluntly. “Everything else can be a secret…also be glad that I didn’t force you out when I read that…”

”They have lived happy, caring lives without me in it. Besides, they have you. You even got my little Tia pregnant.” I blushed at that… well, that’s a whole level of awkward… ”And she you. Heheh. Takes after her mother. Just… Keep them happy, and kill Micheal, or absorb him so I can crush his conscious mind into non existence.”

“And I will keep them happy.” I answered. “And I’ll help you deal with that bastard angel…but I’m not going to keep you a secret from them, especially to your grandkids.”

”You will. This is not the request of a fallen angel, but of a father. As far as they should be considered… They never had a father.”

“No.” I stated bluntly. “Especially when they’re probably reading the letter you made right fucking now.” I said, having left that piece of paper on the table near Celestia and Luna. “And…I’ll at least give them the choice to know…cause sooner or later, Luna will find you when she visits Zanarkand.”

”... You are a lot like Faust was. Fine, but our deal remains unchanged, kill Micheal and all my powers are yours, willingly… As my vast knowledge on the outer worlds and dimensions.”

“Thank you.” I nodded. “I know it’s rough…and I know it might be a pain in the ass…but honestly you might have something that I might not be able to experience…” I sighed, starting to walk towards Celestia and Luna. “Hey.”

“Oh Anna, look!” Celestia said, showing me a rather poor drawing of Luna, Faust and Celestia in black ink. “I drew this! Mother said it was lovely but… heh, well I have come a long way.”

“Better than ink handprints.” Luna added, showing an image of small handprints made in ink.

“Oh I remember that! It took her hours to clean you off!”

“I think she missed a spot.” Luna joked, motioning to the black spot along her hips, making her and Celestia laugh.

I couldn’t help but chuckle. “So uh…I have a very heavy question for the both of you.”

“Uh, what- Oh! Wait I think it might still be here!” Celestia said, rushing off.

I stood there sighing, looking over at Luna sort through the books. “Oh! This is the one she would read me.” Luna said, picking out a small leatherbound book with a burned image of… a being with wings.

“Oh?” I inquired, walking over to that burned leatherbound book. “What’s in it?”

“It’s a story mother would read Tia and I almost every night.” She said, opening the pages. “The book tells of a story about the world of gods long ago, and how the servant of one god fell for the goddess of another realm.”

As Luna told the story it wasn’t hard to figure it out. This is her mother and father’s… Faust and Heylel’s love story. Only… this one ends with the two rejoining their children, and raising them to rule over both worlds and helping them prosper.

“So hey…what would happen if I said I know where your father is?” I asked Luna carefully. “After…reading all of this to me…would you want to see your father?”

“Honestly… I don’t know.” Luna said, closing the book. “I never knew him. I don’t have any memories of him. I don’t even know what they look like or have a name. All I remember is mother…” She said, hugging the book. “And you.” Luna added, putting a hand on my shoulder.

I smiled softly, holding Luna’s hand. “I can show you your father whenever you want…he might be a bit stubborn, but I’ve dealt with plenty of stubborn people…and now we just need Celestia here to see what she thinks.”

“What do you mean?”

“To what part?” I asked. “Cause I’m trying to lay down some…pretty heavy questions on the both of you.”

“Tia and I never knew our father. How could you?”

“Because of some extremely hyper circumstances that I thought never would have happened.” I said, walking over and picking up Haylel’s letter. “Heylel was the one that told me about this place…and then there’s this letter.”

Luna took the letter, reading it over. “But… how? You said he shouldn't be trusted…”

“And I said Heylel never lies.” Harut added as he walked into the room.

“And considering what he also told me…” I sighed out. “I’m learning some very important thing’s, that we need Celestia here to have everything fully explained.”

“She’s dead, isn’t she?” Luna asked, catching me off guard. “God’s don’t just vanish for millions of years for no reason Anna. If she were alive… She’d have at least let us know… In small signs or even indirect contact…”

“I’m sorry…” I sighed out. “We should wait for Celestia before everything is explained…cause it’s some heavy shit.”

“Don’t.” Luna pleaded. “Tia has more memories of mother than I do, if her fears are confirmed…”

“I have an idea.” I said carefully. “Cause…it might be a little strange to hear, but there might be a way to bring her back, and it has to do with my weird specialty in absorbing beings, whether they’re mortal, monster, or God.”

“How so?”

“Either one of two things…I literally look inside my ‘stomach’ and see if she’s there in some capacity…or we find her and I absorb her, which should bring her back inside of me in Zanarkand.” I explained, not knowing if it would work but considering I have a biblical Devil telling me that all of Religion is backwards, and a fallen angel telling me ‘he has literally never lied’...I had to do something.

”They only way you could pull that off is if you had something with her divine power… her armor…” Heylel said, making me look at the bracelet on my arm.

“Oh…” I started. “You sneaky sneaky Powerpuff Girl…” I chuckled, lightly touching the bracelet. “Well congratulations, I think I can give you both your father, and your mother in one fell swoop on pure coincidence.”

“How?” Luna asked.

“With Faust's armor,” I started, showing Luna the special bracelet. “And a lot of help from people that know a lot more about this stuff than me.” I said, already hoping Heylel and Vincent can help me figure this nonsense out.

“It’s definitely possible.” Vincent said. “It will just take a while.”

“How long is ‘a while’?” I inquired.

“Well.” Vincent started, looking at the bracelet on my arm. “To pull out enough of her Divine grace without destroying the armor, making a body is the easy part, but her power and memories will take… a few… thousand years.”

“Oh…” I started. “Uh…shit.” I started, trying to think on how to make it not take that goddamn long.

“If we had Time Gems we could accelerate that down to a few months, but we’d need at least ten.” Vincent added.

Time Gems?

“The hell are Time Gems?” I inquired.

“Elemental primordial crystals that contain the raw elemental powers or a corresponding element. In this case, Time.”

“And I doubt I can either make one or have one on hand…which…what color are those gems?” I inquired, thinking Bahamut somehow managed to have a couple on hand.

“They’re usually either a bright, almost neon blue or purely clear.”

I went through all my sorting while Celestia was finding Faust's armor, and none that fit that description came to mind. “Alright…so how do these Time Gem’s form?”

“Usually in the heart of a temporal event. Like a Timeline dying, a singularity capable of sucking in space and time, and at the epicenter of a paradox.” Vincent stated.

“Oh, then I should have an asston in my stomach.” I said honestly. “Cause…while I’ve only seen that area once, a recording said I’ve ‘absorbed’ millions of timelines, if not more…so would that count?”

“One per timeline. So yeah, I’d say you have a million in there. Though finding them won’t be easy.”

“Leave it to me.” We both looked over at Gray, who was silently napping on the nearby grass until now. “I can help ya find them.”

“And why would you help her?” Vincent asked.

“Awh, pop’s, I’m hurt.” He replied in mock pain.

“Thanks for the help, but mind if I ask why the sudden want to help?” I inquired.

“My own amusement.” He stated bluntly.

“You best be careful around him. Even if he’s ‘helping’ he’s going to cause more trouble for you.” Vincent warned.

“Alright, so let’s set some ground rules then.” I said. “Cause any good form of amusement has rules to it, sound fair?”

“If you say so.” Gray replied.

“Alright.” I nodded. “So, firstly, no hurting any of the good people down there, cause while I was devouring timelines, I was also saving as many people as I could.” I started. “Second, don’t cause too much damage down there if you meet any hostels, cause there are some weird shadow creatures down there and I don’t know what they are or why they’re down there.” I explained. “Vincent, any other rules?”

“Better question should be what rules aren’t on that list.” Vincent said.

“Uh…yeah you’ve got a point…” I said nervously. “Please help, I’ve honestly…never had to lay down ground rules this precisely…”

“Relax pop’s. I’ll behave. After all, I am trying something new this time around.”

“I may not understand what’s going on with all of that but…thankfully you’ll be behaving.” I said honestly. “I have a lot of kids down there…and a lot of saved power and timelines down there as well that I need to hopefully sort through sooner or later…”

“Of course.” Gray said as he sat up. “This is going to be fun.”

“Alright…” I said carefully. “Let’s hope for the best.”

To be continued...

Chapter 14

I was absolutely livid. Beyond pissed! My wrath will burn the planet!

The Unsent… NUKED Yakyakistan!

“Where are they?” I growled, feeling myself slowly shifting into Heylel’s form in my rage at this blatant disregard for life or just straight up anything at all. “These assholes…nuked an entire country…killed every yak there…”

"How did they even get nukes? Didn't you say only your earth had them?" Gilda asked me.

"However they got them, the question is do they have more, and if so, we are in a lot of trouble." Blueblood said grimly.

“I don’t know…they probably found a portal to my world and…stole some of them.” I frowned. “We need to start working fast…and hopefully I can get all the Yak’s soul’s to try and bring them all back…”

"So what do we do?" Celestia asked.

"Anna, do all these nuclear weapons use radioactive materials in them?"

“Yes.” I answered. “Since it needs a catalyst for the Fission to happen, to make the explosion even stronger and make the fallout that much worse…there’s a reason why my world has a ‘Mutual Destruction’ pact if someone decides to use one of these damned things on the general population.”

"Then we can track that. Radioactive materials are very rare here in Equis. Using a spell to locate them will easily help us find where these weapons are."

"I can cast it." Celestia said.

“And right now, I can only imagine myself, Gilda, and Celestia being able to walk in that nuclear wasteland because I’m a Goddess of Life, Gilda is my Prophet so he get’s all my powers, and Celestia is literally the goddess of a Thermonuclear Furnace we call the Sun.” I explained. “So please, cast the magic Celestia, I need to commit some murders against the undead.”

"Like hell you are!" They all yelled at me.

"Anna, you're Pregnant, while Radiation is rare in Equis even I know it's not good for anyone."

"Especially Magic users…" Celestia sighed. "Radiation only forms where the key lines of mana don't touch the planet. The reasons why is because it absorbs the mana, making the effects and lethality of it's invisible poison stronger."

"Plus we'd rather not you be there in the event they blow up all they have. You may be a goddess but your body is not immortal. Your several near death experiences have showed that much." Blueblood added.

"But I can't just stand here and do nothing!" I snapped. "And I can't risk your lives for something that's my problem…" I growled, hating how more and more powerless I felt. "I'm supposed to protect life, I'm not supposed to be weak, especially when that's what makes Spiral stronger."

"I know you don't like it Anna, but until you can figure out that Golem thing you were talking about, you can't get into fights. It's too risky." Gilda said.

"Besides, there is something you can do that's just as important." Blueblood offered.

“And what would that be?” I asked, wanting to do anything to help the people and get out of this angry funk I’m in.

"We've sent a team to the… ruins, of Yakyakistan. They're cleaning the radiation and you do need to absorb the Pyreflies that remain."

“Yes, yes I do.” I nodded. “Also good thing that you can just…clean up the radiation, we had to wait for nature to do it itself or…also wait hundreds of years.”

"Well, while it is rare here we did discover ways to remove it without it absorbing the magic in the process." Celestia said.

“Cool.” I nodded. “So how long will it take for the clean up crew to work their magic?”

"Two days. Once the last of the radiation has been removed and disposed of, you can head there. For now, I think it's best you focus on working on that Golem thing you were talking about."

“Yeah…” I sighed, wishing there was more I could do, but knowing I need my Golem first. “Well, thankfully my teacher is telling me a lot of great things to make my Golem even better.”

"Well, there are various ways to make a body you can also inhabit." Vincent said. “Magic, abilities, science, void magic, but you're a Goddess of life for anything void, necromantic, and possession wise is right out. Your body would naturally reject that. So your options would be either magic or abilities."

“Can I have both?” I inquired curiously. “Or is it one or the other?”

"Well, magic golems require a lot of energy, and to make one human enough to both feel like you're in your normal body and handle your powers won't be easy. Abilities would be easier, as they operate without the need for energy. Most anyway."

“Hmm…well, the abilities one would be easier.” I shrugged. “Plus…I mean, it doesn’t need to be a hundred percent like myself now that I think about it, cause I’m going to be using it to be shapeshifting and all around mauling the fuckers that literally nuked an entire kingdom.”

"Then abilities would be the best way to go. Luckily I remember a lot from when Grey was at the wheel." He said, a flick of his wrist and he was holding a notebook and pen. "The bad news is that the nearest one of his vaults is about nine light-years from Equis." He said as he started writing.

“Well…Thor might be fast enough to get me there, but I doubt it’s unguarded…” I said sheepishly.

"This one is unguarded. Planet is uninhabited, the thing is buried three miles underground and the metal is made of Monofilament. Not much in creation can break through it".

“Not even Thor and how outrageously strong he is?” I inquired.

"Let me just say that, to melt Monofilament you need a minimum heat of six times that of a standard Big Bang explosion."

“Fuck…” I frowned. “So…unless we have the key, I doubt we’re getting into the thing.”

"That's what this is for." He said, handing me the notebook with a long series of numbers on it. "The vault has one door and it's key code locked. That's it. Once you dig it up and find the door just enter that in and it will open."

“Awesome.” I nodded. “So, might as well ask, what makes Ability Golem’s so special and why do I think ‘Abilities’ are a tad different from where you come from?”

"Well for starters it won't be a golem it will be a perfect copy of your body entirely. Save this." He said, poking at my belly. Here in Zanarkand it's not round and such.

"Which is a positive…and a negative." I said, gently holding my belly as I still was thankful for the life in me. "But anything besides that?"

"Yeah. Aside from the ability there's gonna be a lot of other stuff in that vault. Other abilities, weapons, vehicles, bio weapons, Creation Engine, ECT. It will be bigger on the inside. Try not to touch anything in there cause 99.999% of it all will be dangerous if used improperly. You'll follow the signs to the Ability storage and look for the cylinder labeled 'Carbon Copy'."

"Cool." I nodded. "So just…make sure not to touch anything there…even if it might be really cool and could help me shank Spiral."

"Well, in that Vault… could hurt him real bad some of the stuff… hmm…" Vincent hummed in thought.

"Would it do more harm than good with what I want to do?" I asked, that being the key question here. "And would it somehow invoke anything worse?"

"You're already dealing with me so, maybe? Anyway, don't worry too much about it. Now, hold out your hand. I've never made one of these personally but witnessed Grey do it enough times a modified version shouldn't be doo different."

"Alright." I nodded, holding out my hand to see whatever Vincent had in mind.

He grabbed my hand with his own. He pressed his thumb into my palm and I felt a sudden jolt, like electricity but somehow more… rooted, Into my very being. When he let go I saw I now was sporting a small, barely noticeable blue dot where his thumb pressed into.

"Uh…what's this?" I inquired. "And why do I have a feeling some people are now incredibly pissed at me?"

"Well anyone who knows probably will. But this is one I modified so, let's hope this works." Vincent said as he took a deep breath. "Initiate Boot Up command. Authorization code 94102317409. Boot Up file AV1."

Boot up Complete. File Loaded.

Text appeared in my vision.

I blinked and it was gone, now replaced by a number in my bottom right corner vision. 1,780.

"Uh…what?" I blinked. "Did…I just get a HUD or something?"

"Well, admittedly one of my kids has a better version but quick answer, Yes. That number in your bottom right is, in terms of Video Game Logic, your HP."

"That's neat…also, that's a lot lower than I thought after all the fights I've been in…" I hummed, expecting a lot more than just 1,780.

"Say 'Display Level HUD."

“Display Level HUD.” I recited, wondering what will be shown here.

Right above my HP appeared an LV. Next to that, a 5… five… FIVE?!?!

“Fuck that, I am not level 5!” I snapped. “How in god’s name does that work? I’ve had to do a lot of bullshit, and while I will exclude the Bahamut fight cause that might have been pure Gilda…no.”

"It's because you're a Goddess Anna. You don't level up through combat. Each god technically levels up in different ways, but they also all level up through faith of their devoted."

“So…” I started. “I have to start a church…” I took a deep breath. “Oh boy, that’s not gonna be fun…but it’s probably gonna be necessary…”

"Well, that's half of it. Half comes from faith from worshipers, the other half comes from what you are the goddess of. In your case, Life, and shape shifting. Now keep in mind the Life part only counts if it's life you make. Pre-existing life doesn't count."

“And I’m about to give birth to…probably a planet’s worth of kids…and I still have a whole lot more form’s to obtain…and also need to figure out my Zoo’s Bestiary…gonna seriously need those Monster Arena forms…” I muttered.

"Yeah. But level as a God doesn't directly tell you your power, it's more a rough estimate of your overall strength and power."

“This is getting a whole lot more complicated and I don’t like it…” I groaned. “Why couldn’t I still be doing the normal leveling system?” I whined. “Ugh, this bites, but it’s going to take a bit longer to gain a lot of strength…”

"Uh, you do know level five for a god is fairly strong? It's not weak or anything. Like… above average."

“Not really, hell I still barely know what all this new godhood stuff does for me.” I frowned. “Never really had a crash course on what my ‘Divine Portfolio’ actually is, especially after I literally absorbed Bahamut.”

"Snap your fingers. Both hands thumb against the second index fingers."

I frowned, but did just that. Suddenly in a poof, I was holding a manila filing folder.

“Huh…” I muttered, honestly surprised that worked as I opened up the filing folder to see what was inside. “Everything in my portfolio of being a Goddess is here…didn’t think it would be quite this literal but eh…”

"They don't call it a Portfolio for nothing." Vincent shrugged.

“Fair.” I nodded, looking through my Portfolio and…okay wow, I got a lot of shit, plus apparently I had choices for Divine Skills!? Awesome. “Alright, so…Divine Level 5, gonna need to choose some neat skills…hmm, got any recommendations given you are…infinitely more knowledgeable in divine skills? Or…most likely made them?”

"Well, your skills will only relate to your divine title. In this case, shape shifting and life."

“And dragon’s and fire.” I said. “Cause I also gained those from absorbing the dragon god…” I muttered, looking through the many, many skills I can pick from.

"Oh yeah, you did absorb them. Be careful not to absorb too many Gods. Take too many titles from other God's by killing or absorbing them and you'll become known as an Amalgamation God. While not actually bad it's considered taboo amongst celestial beings."

“Well…that’s mostly dependant on what’s going to happen soon…oh yeah, and I also absorbed Heylel so…I technically also gained his divine class…even if it only was a piece of him…hmm.” I hummed, deciding to grab two divine skills in Shapeshifting, one which could let me extend and strengthen my body in any of my different forms, and a skill that makes me an asston more tougher in my forms based on what they’re ‘defense’ was.

Thor was easily able to bring me to the planet Vincent was talking about. It was neat, lots of blue… ground and yellow skies with a purple sun.

“Okay so…I’m pretty sure a Purple Sun is not good for literally anyone…” I said nervously.

"Actually these suns are rare the the planets that rotate around them are often rich in vast mineral deposits used by the Valkyrie to ease their muscles after training." Thor noted.

“Fair enough.” I nodded, not even wanting to know why mining is ‘relaxing’ but shrugging that off. “Alright, so we should be looking for a Monofilament bunker somewhere underground…and be careful, cause it is filled with things that, even my teacher admits, we really shouldn’t be allowed to see or use.”

We followed the coordinates to the spot, and once we were there began digging. It was a lot of work, even with my shape shifting. When that was done we were met by a maybe garage sized metal box with a single door and keypad on it.

"How does such a tiny space hold powerful wonders?" Thor asked me.

“Trust me Thor,” I said, walking up to the keypad and typing in the combination Vincent told me, hearing it beep and a green light flashed as the door unlocked. “It’s always bigger on the inside.” I said, opening the door to see what nonsense is in this garage.

And boy howdy did it blow even my expectations on how huge it was on the inside. Like…holy damn it was like a goddamn warehouse in here!

There were massive storage boxes all around. I had no idea what they held at all. I walked down the isles rather in awe of some of the weird things I saw.

I did come across one storage box labeled as 'Armory 1'. Hmmm…

“Alright you, what’s in here?” I wondered, opening up the crate carefully to see what was in the ‘Armory 1’ box.

What greeted me wasn't various weapons but rather a large computer screen asking me to make a selection as images of various weapons displayed.

“Uh…” I blinked, deciding to scroll through the computer to see what weapons are on here. “What weapons do we really have here?”

Antimatter Charging rifle. On a full charge this rifle has the capacity to unleash a blast of antimatter that upon hitting the target or nearby area will rapidly consume and destroy the surrounding… fifty thousand miles in a perfect circumference of the impact zone…

The… Alpha Light Wave Pulse rifle when fired at any unprotected target will emit a light wave pulse that fries the ocular nerves and in a radius of two hundred feet will also boil the eyes within the sockets…

The… Particle Blaster can shoot single protons at a target to create miniature black holes that completely absorb them within the event horizon and collapses within ten seconds.

… The list went on and… there's just so many…

“This…this is fucking obscene…” I muttered in absolute awe and horror at all of this.

I looked through the armory from hell and found something that wasn't TOO nasty. A Dark Electronium energy pistol. Powered by Dark Electronium, this handgun is largely based off the combat models of the Freak Inc. Little Shot combat energy handgun that uses standard Electronium. Utilizing dark Electronium gives the D.E.E.P, heh, a much harder impact, and a higher voltage of up to 600 million volts and no need for a recharge period.

“Okay…so this just sounds like a normal fucking pistol that shoots lightning…or it’s a really strong railgun…but it doesn’t sound like it can nuke a planet…” I said, choosing this special gun.

I decided to select this one. It appeared on the bottom part of the chest in a glow of blue light. The handgun looked a lot like a normal handgun. Save the ammo mag and ejection sights were a clear glass that glowed with some dark blue and purple energy.

“Alright…so I have a gun…” I muttered. “Oh boy…this is getting very worrying if the least worrying thing is a fucking lightning pistol…”

I walked around more and found the Abilities storage area. I opened the door and was met by a fair sized room with shelves of metal and glass tubes with some glowing energy inside them. Okay, I needed the one labeled… Carbon Copy. Now let me see… no, no, no- What the? Light Refraction? Speed Force?! Elastic Physics? Kryptonian Powers Gene?!? Mutation Gene: Healing Factor/Beastial claws and senses?!? Quantum Mental Computer… Subatomic Transmutation?!

"The fuck is this!?" I asked in shock. "This is completely insane…what in gods name did I get myself into…"

I browsed through… so many powers and abilities… finally though I found the Carbon Copy abilities.

Pulling the glass and metal tube I saw the energy inside was a pulsating black and white. Okay, so how do I do this?

"I…suppose I just take it?" I muttered, carefully opening the metal tube with the opening pointed towards me just in case it flew out as I attempted to grab it.

It didn't move or anything when I leaned it. Maybe I need to touch it? I reached a hand it, grabbing the glowing core of the energy. I saw it all flow into me and vanish under my skin.

New Ability Acquired: Carbon Copy.

"Cool." I said…now how do I use it?

Answer: Plant a sample of DNA. Blood, hair, spit, skin cells, ext, into the ground. A sprout will rapidly grow and from the blooming flower a fully grown copy of your body will appear. Carbon Copy can allow you to have many clones but you can only pilot one at a time.

"Huh, right then." I nodded, gonna need to do that back home. "Now…should I really tempt fate and grab something else?"

Hmm, the more I have to fight Spiral with the better my odds. Plus Gilda and the others can get a serious power boost from any one of these. Not to mention the weapons. It might be worth it if we can haul this big thing back home. This might be what we need to finish Spiral off and end this stupid cycle.

"Alright…bad ideas are starting…hey Thor?" I called out.

"Yes Anna?" He replied from the doorway. It was too small for him to get in.

"Think you can help us take this thing to Asgard? Since that's a lot closer to home and also safe enough from the Unsent?"

"Easily. I can call the bifrost for a quick transport."

"Incredible!" The dwarf brothers said as they went over each and every weapon. "These weapons are some.of the most deadly contraptions I've ever seen!"

“And I’m hoping to every god known to man that Spiral doesn’t get a hold of any of them.” I said readily. “I am tempting fate hard by bringing it here, but this is something we…desperately need.”

"I'll say. These things can easily Injure a god. Kill a weak or lesser one." The shorter brother said.

"That vault of powers is most interesting." Odin said.

“Yeah, I really didn’t know skills could…act like that.” I answered Odin. “Plus…also learned a bit about being a God and getting stronger.”

"Good, good." Odin said. "Now, Anna. May I have a word in private with you?"

“Alright.” I nodded, following Odin to a private spot to discuss whatever the older god had in mind. “What up?”

"I figured you'd want some advice from an old man who knows a thing or two about war against powerful enemies." He said as we sat down in a small room.

“I know I’m already tempting fate by bringing in all these powerful weapons and…it could be used against us…” I sighed. “But what do you have in mind for advice?”

"Use them." He said simply.

“Now why in god’s name would you actively tell me to use all those extraordinary dangerous weapons?” I asked worriedly. “The skills…besides the Kryptonian one, are all thankfully safer but…a lot of the weapons are extraordinarily dangerous…”

"Because anything that your enemy doesn't know you have that they will not expect us the fastest way to victory. Before my first days of war I commissioned the dwarves to craft whole armies worth of powerful armors and weapons and my enemies never stood a chance. My point is, if you have an advantage over them, use it, less they take your concern for weakness and strike."

“I…suppose you're right.” I nodded. “Still…just very worried that I might be either getting into something outside all of us…and how much destruction this will cause the world…though they did nuke the Yaks…”

"And they won't stop there. They will keep getting bolder, and their attacks larger. You need to land a devastating blow to them in order to tip the scales of this war back in your favor."

“Which…might be body slamming a good portion of the Minotaur Lands…or at least, all the insane Zealots that believe in Spiral…” I said carefully. “Unless I learn of a base near them, the MInotaur Lands are the closest thing I know of.”

"Do what you need to do Anna, before something terrible happens." Odin said with a clear dose of finality. "Even if you must become an Amalgamation God, do what must be done."

I sighed, really wishing I wouldn’t become a monster when I’m supposed to be a symbol of Life, or at least a positive form of Life. “This sucks…but fine…gonna need a lot of those skills then…”

"That would be best."

I went back and began looking through all the abilities. Hm. Some.of these I bet Gilda will have a blast with. Hmm, well, I guess I should see what some of these do. Some are obvious but some are odder.

Greed?

Answer. Greed is an ability that allows the user to steal life force energy, magical energy, and all other forms of energy from a target for as long as you maintain physical contact while activating the ability. This can leave the target dead if used long enough.

“So Metroid Predation on Steroids…got it.” I muttered. “Hmm…should I get it or save it for Gilda?” I muttered, thinking for a bit and wondering if having Gilda use Greed on that rat bastard would…okay I probably should give it to Gilda cause I would find it hilarious seeing him panicking and trying to get away from my wonderful mate as he literally siphon off every little bit of his life.

Okay, next one, Crack.

Crack: This ability can allow any weapons the user uses to form cracks and chips in enemy defenses even if the weapons the user has are a weaker material than the enemy defenses.

Okay that's useful.

“Okay, I’m going to be taking that.” I said, opening the jar and taking the ability cause I know I’m going to be needing it a lot.

Ability, Crack, Acquired.

Okay, up next…Bliss?

Bliss: Pacify wild animals and monsters weaker than yourself.

“Mine.” I said, thinking it would really fit into my ‘Motherly Goddess of Life’ motif I really want to show off…even if I have to do some monstrous things later.

Okay, next… Cursed Ability? Immortal Adaption.

Immortal Adaption: The owner of this ability will never die. Nothing below an Admin can kill them, even if they are removed from space, time, or obliterated at the subatomic level, they will return and forever live on. The owner will also rapidly be able to passively or manually adapt to anything for long-term or short-term survival needs.

“Uh…okay…” I said, trying to think about that one. “I’m just…gonna put this on the shelf real quick…I…don’t know how to handle that at the moment…”

I moved into the next ability. Replicate.

Replicate: Using raw matter and energies the user can perfectly make a copy of an enemy or target weapon or armor for themselves.

“Gilda would probably love this.” I muttered with a smile.

It went on like this for a while until I had a fair stack of abilities I was going to give to Gilda, a whole arsenal for myself and a small pile I'm keeping here because I either don't fully understand what they do, or they're rather dangerous or kinda pointless.

With that I went home- no…

Ponyville… is on fire…

“No…” I muttered in horror, taking a step forward. “No…no no no no NO!” I panicked as I bolted into the burning town. “That’s it, these fuckers want to play rough? I didn’t want to, but I’m going to start playing their game.”

As I ran through town I saw Unsent, their monsters and such around. I decided to test out my new handgun. I am still pregnant and haven't made the clone body yet….

I took aim and-

A beam of pure black energy shot from the muzzle. It hit the Unsent with enough electricity to probably power a city, and then it died… Pyreflies and all…

“It…it killed the Pyreflies…” I muttered in pure horror. “What the fuck!?!”

"Anna!" I looked, seeing Bonbon jump in and slam several Unsent zombies that were getting close. "About time you showed up." She huffed. "Most of the town has been safely evacuated to either your house or town hall."

“I’m very glad that most of the town is safe, I do not have the patience for your sass at the moment, and what the fuck did I miss trying to do one god damn important thing?” I asked.

"It was basically an ambush. I think they were waiting for you to leave at some point to pull this shit." BonBon said as she high kicked an Unsent monster thirty feet away. "Also, we spotted some Griffin's not too long before the attack. Care to guess who one of them was?"

I suddenly grabbed an Abomination Unsent, that stupidly tanky zombie bastard that made me nearly burn all of Everfree to the ground, and with a draconic claw literally crushed it’s head and absorbed it’s Pyreflies as it flailed and screamed until it didn’t anymore. “Where?”

"By the Train Station I was told but that was half an hour ago." Bonbon said.

“Where’s Gilda?” I inquired, slashing another unsent in half.

"At the house. Half the agency is there guarding everyone. Plus Celestia and Luna are helping."

“Oh thank fuck.” I sighed happily. “Alright, we just need to get rid of all these asshat’s and put out the fires…then we’re going to be having a serious talk about how to take the fight to these assholes.”

"Don't have to tell me twice." BonBon said as we hurried to finish the Unsent. The fire was easy thanks to some of my forms. When that was done I ran home… no…

I felt my blood run cold as I saw the agents all beat up, being tended to by civilians.

I rushed inside. Celestia and Luna were in horrible shape. Luna had her right arm broken and Celestia had a nasty crack down her horn and a huge bruise across her stomach.

Even Tommy has a nasty black eye and scratch across his cheek. They all noticed me… then looked away bitterly.

“I…literally go away, to do an important thing…and everything just…just…” I took a deep breath…then another…then another…”Fuck it,” I started as I snapped both my finger’s and grabbed my Divine Portolio, and used the other three skill points in my Life Divinity and gained three good abilities, and I’m going to be using one right now as I pulled out my Staff. “Divine Skill: Breath of Life. Curaga.” I said, putting my staff down as everyone in my area, and probably a lot farther I did not care, was suddenly washed with the healing magic, and I didn’t know what specific’s my skill did, all I cared about was that it made all my healing spells five times better and turned them into an AOE for all friendlies. “Now can people tell me why this is my fault?” I asked, even though everyone was now staring at me in…maybe awe? Or maybe thinking I’m crazy.

“Bringer of Life…” One of the injured guards muttered in pure awe.

“Mother Faust…” Another muttered.

"Well, that's new." Luna said as she flexed her no longer broken arm.

“Yeah, just learned I can do that, and I also gained a lot of other things.” I said bluntly, trying to take a step and feeling…grass? I looked down and saw that I accidentally spawned a…rather pretty patch of grass and flowers underneath me somehow. “Right then, so onto the important business of what did I miss after literally grabbing a warehouse of overpowered weapons and literal skills in a bottle?”

"Well, not long after you left Unsent attacked. We got as many either to the house or to town hall." Celestia started.

"Once we were here, Zer showed up. Beat down every agent and anyone else who got in his way… and took Gilda." Luna finished.

“Good news everyone! We’re blowing up a majority of Griffonstone!” I said readily. “But also…I have to test something…” I started, as I tried to use my connection to Gilda as my Prophet. ”Gilda, you there?” I mentally called out to them.

"I'm… I'm here." They replied. I sighed happily, even if it was oddly weak.

”I am so sorry I wasn’t here…I was busy doing an important thing…but I’m so happy to hear your at least okay.”

"I'm about as fine as being tied up head to toe and blindfolded can be. Beak is taped shut and wings are bound too. Got a crazy caller on me that's keeping me from using what magic I can. Lame… Just like Zer to find a cheat…"

”Yeah, that sounds like a bitch and a half. But don’t worry, I found a lot of weapons that would sooner turn Griffonstone into the world’s biggest glass mirror, so we’re going to save you, and end Zer and all his horseshit.”

"You better not go in guns blazing! Griffonstone might be shit but it's still my hometown. Zer run or not, I got memories and a small amount of Griff's I care for there. Besides, they just do what they have to to make it to the next day, dropping an invasion on them is kinda overkill."

”And while I trust and value your words and decisions…I’ll not glass Griffonstone…but boy howdy am I going to do some very bad things to Zer there.”

"... Anna. I need you to do something for me. Something that will take all your trust and love of me to do. I need you to wait."

I nearly fell over when I heard that.

”Excuse me, but I think I misheard you.” I mentally started. ”You…want me to wait on saving you? WHY!?!”

"Because if you bust in immediately, then you will have to spend who knows how long looking for Spiral manually. I know Zer and how to stroke his ego and… other things to get him talking. Spirals locations will mark the end of this fucking war immediately."

”W-well…that is good but…” I mentally trailed off, not wanting Gilda to be hurt…or worse.

"I know this is risky and no doubt Zer will be expecting me to leak that info to you when I find out but I also know if I give him what he always wanted, he won't lay a talon on me." I froze up at hearing that. "After that… he'd gladly answer every question I ask him…"

”Gilda you can’t…” I said sadly. ”And even if I do allow this…I found a skill that would have made this extra funny for me…but now I can’t give it to you damn it…I…are you sure about this my wonderful griffon?”

"I won't lie, it's living my biggest nightmare and past trauma all in one but… I can do this. I'll probably need therapy times ten and such all over again but, I can do this. Besides… I did always want to keep at least one of those eggs…"

Those memories of Gilda's I saw from when… I grit my teeth.

”You don’t deserve this…he doesn’t deserve you…” I tried to not sound completely furious at the one I loved the most. ”Why…?”

"Why what?"

”I suppose why do you want to keep any egg’s from that outrageous cunt waffle? I know you want this war to end but…I…I don’t want you to get hurt…I don’t want you to live through any more pain…you’re too important to me Gilda…”

"... Well, you saw my memories that time. What my… mom… made me do. I didn't have much or… anything growing up. I remember the furthest I got carrying one I….pushed out eggshells after she… got rid of it in me. When I met Zer he… well, he used to say he'd spoil me, let me keep all the eggs and food and drink and stuff I'd ever want so long as I was his wife… and, I'll admit, while we dated I was… happy, in a way. We broke up because he wanted me to drink that potion and… I couldn't. I know he's not a good person but… he did pull me out of my mom's sofa brothel. Guess I kinda owe him for that at least…"

”You don’t owe him shit for what he’s done to you!” I mentally snapped, feeling tears forming in the corner’s of my eyes. ”I know he saved you from that bullshit, I know he made you happy for a time, but he is an absolutely deplorable being! Spiral’s worse, yes, but Zer…he hurt you so much…he did terrible, horrible things! I could do all of that good shit and better! I…I…I don’t want you to hurt yourself, I don’t want you to go through this nightmare again…I love you Gilda…I don’t want you to suffer more…” I tried not to physically cry here. ”He used and abused you! He nearly fucking murdered you for his own fucking self pitty because he couldn’t have you! After he and his ‘friends’ literally gangraped you! You don’t owe him for literally fucking anything!”

"Maybe not. But you're worth it Anna. If this helps you end this cycle bullshit, then I can endure it. I'd say it's gonna cost me my soul but you already have that and my heart so I can throw away my body to the horny fuck."

”When I get you back, after seeing Zer’s eyes filled with fear as he pleads for mercy as I end him…I am going to make you the happiest griffon to ever exist, and make sure you carry as many of my kid’s as you want.” I told them bluntly, even though it was strange to say I’m going to do that with Gilda…I wanted him to know I’m going to make them feel extra special.

"I don't doubt that- oof! Oh, soft bed. Must be here. I'll… contact you later."

Before I got the chance, the connection ended on Gilda's side.

“God…damn it…” I growled, wiping away my tears angrily. “So…instead of immediately rushing to Griffonstone to burn it to the ground…Gilda wants me to wait…”

"Why?" Celestia asked.

“He’s basically using his body as a fucking price tag to funnel us any and all information Zer has on Spiral…to the point where he’d sooner become a woman and…bear his fucking children just to end this god forsaken war.” I growled.

"That's…" Luna started.

We all just sat around in silence, waiting for Gilda to contact me again.

"Anna, you awake?"

I shot up on the bed.

”Gilda! Are you okay? Where are you?” I asked quickly.

"Fine, more sore than I expected. Zer either got a huge buff after becoming an Unsent or he OD'd on enhancement potions… ouch. I'm in his new castle in Griffonstone. Not gonna lie, fancy place, and currently I'm relaxing for a bit while the horny fuck suckles off me."

”Only I’m allowed to suck you off!” I mentally said without thinking. ”Wait…ugh, this fucking sucks…even with Blueblood here to keep me company…it’s cold without you here.”

"That's nice but I have good news and bad news. Good news, I know where Spiral is."

”Where’s Spiral? And what’s the bad news?”

"That's the bad news… he's in the moon. Like, in the moon in the same inner moon pocket world Nightmare Moon was stuck in and it's not gonna be easy to get into. Apparently they're all kinda of- woah!"

”What’s going on? What’s that bastard doing to you now!?” I mentally growled, hating every second Gilda was with that bastard.

"oof- tit suckle break's over. Back to rutting. Shit and I thought you in your changeling form was insatiable."

"I'm sure I'm still better." I mentally huffed.

"oof- Look Annaaaaaa~ I got what we needed out of Hiiiiiim! Everything from now on is either bonus or pointless. So would you kindly get my ass out of here before he -Ahhhh! Before he permanently makes it part of his crotch?!?!"

"Don't worry Gilda, I'm coming to rescue you." I said, immediately getting out of bed and trying to wake up Blueblood. “Blueblood wake up! We need to rescue Gilda!”

We got up and once we were all geared up, I just did one final thing.

I tried out Carbon Copy. I planted a single strand of my hair into the ground. Immediately a large sprout burst from the ground into a large bud that then opened, revealing a perfect, non pregnant naked copy of myself. Okay, now let me just…

I sat on the couch, and focused. Soon I felt myself drifting off, as if falling asleep only to now wake up from my copy's body on the flower. Woah… this is definitely gonna be an adjustment but I can manage.

"Woof, that's weird." I said, grabbing my stuff and then shifting into my fastest form I had, which was a variant of the Crystal Dingo I made in the Zoo with some fusion of itself and a Thunder Elemental, and then upgraded to hell, turned into an Electronium Dire Wolf, which was really freaking fast on its own, but then I also grabbed for myself Kryptonian Skill which, apparently, is an activated passive skill that makes me part Superman basically, and as I stepped outside into the bright sunshiny day…boy howdy did I suddenly feel a whole lot different, as if the sun was now increasing all my powers to an incredible degree. “Whoa boy, that’s…that’s certainly different.” I muttered, clenching my fists and feeling a lot stronger. “Though…do wonder why I got the new form then…for later.”

I decided to give flight a test. Okay… so Jumping staaaaaaaa-

I suddenly jumped two miles into the air. Flying was… not working and I crashed into a foot deep hole of my making… huh. Actually that… didn't hurt at all. Felt more like… falling on a firm mattress?

“That’s…very weird.” I said, getting out of the hole. “Alright…so flying as a Kryptonian is very weird…and not anything like my winged forms…” I shook my head as I tried to imagine myself flying with wings as I tried to at least float this time.

… Nothing. Shit. Okay, well, I know Superman can keep up with Flash in majority of the versions so, guess I'm running…

I started my run. At first it was normal… then I got faster… and faster…. And faster!

It was honestly amazing. The world around me was a blur but if I focused I could see everything around me- woah. So that's how X-ray vision works. Ah. Boo. I just see skeletons and some shapes behind stuff. Guess seeing through clothes only is only a cartoon logic thing.

“Well that’s slightly disappointing…although it probably comes with practice…” I muttered, shaking my head carefully as I used my connection to Gilda to give myself the proper direction’s as I felt my next step crack the ground underneath me as I ran even faster towards Griffonstone. ”If you suddenly hear a crack of thunder, or maybe a sonic boom, whatever you do, stay down Gilda.” I mentally called out to them.

"I'll try, but it might not be that difficult giveeeeeeeen! Oh fucking stars how many enhancement potions did Zer take?!?"

”Christ how desperate is he?” I mentally asked. ”Also ha! He needs potions to keep up with me! I WIN!” I know it sounded petty and very wrong right now, but I at least took solace in that little bit.

"Just hurry up and get- uh oh…"

”I am literally almost there, what’s happening?” I asked worriedly, feeling myself getting rapidly closer and closer with to Gilda as the crackle of thunder went through my new dire wolf form as I literally bolted across the countryside.

"I don't know he just finished again and… oh shi-!"

I felt the connection cut. Like, my whole connection to Gilda. I felt my blood run cold and rapidly began rushing. I could feel it coming back but something was different.

I finally arrived on the outskirts of Griffonstone…

I didn't see an Unsent or Griffon anywhere… but I felt something… something was very, very wrong…

“This better not be a fucking trap…” I growled, and if anyone or anything was around they saw me for one second, then the heard the sound of rolling thunder as I vanished into thin air, bolting towards where I thought Gilda was, hoping he was okay and ready to purge any and all of Zer out of him.

As I ran through the city, and into the castle… there was still no one. I felt really nervous.

Eventually I burst through a room, the rank stench of sweat and fluids was thick here. I spotted Gilda on the bed. Clean, dressed and laid on the covers… and sitting on the corner of the bed was Yevon… no, Spiral.

"Good to see you again Anna." Spiral said with a smirk at me.

“What…did you do to Gilda?” I growled, clenching my fists as I still felt my power growing more and more with the rays of the sun.

"Oh l, just granted Zer his wish. He knew you'd show up and probably kill him, so I granted his wish like the benevolent God I am." He said, standing up and walking around the bed. "Thirty two hundred thousand, seven hundred and fifteen Griffons lived in this part of the world. Old, young, in the egg. I knew you loved this little toy so I used them for the box as it were."

“What. Did. You. Do.” I growled, taking a step forward thinking I could be fast enough to attack this asshole before he could harm Gilda.

"Oh Anna, that should be obvious. I made a success." Spiral said, waving a hand over Gilda. A rush of Pyreflies practically flew out of them and around Spiral, and took the form of a large, golden feral Griffon. "Gilda is the first true, living Fayth." He said, the Summon Golden Griffon snarling at me.

The next thing I know, I slammed my fist so hard into Spiral’s face and sent him crashing through the wall and flying outside. “YOU DONE FUCKED UP NOW ASSHOLE!”

The Golden Griffon summon attacked me, their talons catching fire as they took swipes and tackled me.

I grabbed them by the scruff of their neck, seeing their body struggling not to go limp as I got back up and glared at it. “You are going back into Gilda right now mister.” I said like a disappointed mother, even giving them that same disappointed stare that mother’s give. “And…I’m…I’m going to fix this…I promise…”

The summon didn't do much more aside from try and get out of my grip.

It then suddenly disbanded.

"Well, you've been juicing." Spiral said as he walked back into the room from the doorway. "Always such a violent one. And you're the Goddess of physical life?"

"Life is violent, even if I'd rather it not." I answered. "Life can be cruel, but I'm here to fix that." I said while pulling out my dark electronium pistol. "And all I know is that you are not Life, you are not Death, you are a pathetic parasite latching onto anything just to have some semblance of control in a desperate attempt to keep yourself alive." I said, pointing it straight at Spiral. "So tell me how to fix Gilda, get out of Yevons body, and just die like the squid bitch you are."

"Heh, that's cute. You think you can reverse that?"

"I can damn well try…plus, I've now seen some things…and met your uncle Yevon." I brought up, hoping that little bit could shock him into being in control of his body.

"Hm, even so, you can't undo this. You think I just shoved all those souls into them and that's how it works? Oh you wish it were that simple."

"I'll still figure this out and fix it." I said bluntly. "I'll fix this, I'll make sure the terrible shit you did to him is gone, then I'm getting my husband back from your control…yes, Yevon, you are my husband…and I do love you." I said, having come to terms with that and hoping that, at least a little bit, sharing some love for him would help me in this stupid ass situation. "I will defeat you Spiral, with the power of friendship, love," I then loaded my special pistol with intent. "And this gun I found."

I pulled the trigger, the dark lightning shooting out… and to my shock Spiral CAUGHT it! "Dark Electronium? Heh. I haven't seen this in many cycles. Fun to mess with, but deadly when," He held the hand pulsating with the black lightning over Gilda. "Misused."

"No!" I shouted, trying to tackle him with even greater speed than earlier before he could hurt Gilda. "You won't hurt him again!"

He grabbed me by the forehead, stopping me as fast as I moved then sucker punched me to the ground. "Now now, you need to play it safe with live wires. It's easy for someone to get hurt." Spiral smirked. I got up and he lowered his hand, making me stop. "That's it."

"Why are you doing this?" I asked.

"Because, I crave fear." Spiral said, raising his hand that pulsated with the dark Electronium away from Gilda. "When I came into existence, reality was nothing more than primordial energies and the monsters born from the clashing chaos. Then some of those monsters, you foolishly called them gods, began making small, febal, weak and fragile life all across the dimensions. And in all of them, I found they each had a factor in common." He said, walking up to me now and kneeling to my eye level. "Fear, Anna. Fear no matter the reality or timeline or species flows through all life, intelligent or not and that is why I crave you."

"Because I have everything to lose…and have all he fear in the world for you to eat?"

"Well, there is that." He shrugged. "And there is also this," He gripped my neck hard, the hand with dark Electronium squeezing my windpipe and sending the fowl energy into me. It was pain. Pure and agonizing. I felt every cell in my body under assault and scream as it even penetrated my inner plains and I felt, heard everyone within me from Zanarkand to my swallowed Timelines screaming in agony. I could feel all of them suffering. "The fact you can't let go, you hold them all in, binding them to you, I can hurt you and cause all those people, all your Children so much pain, so much FEAR. How could I ever resist you?" Spiral let go as I collapsed. My mind was blank from all of that…

"I…fucking hate you…" I growled, trying to get back up as everything burned in me with righteous rage.

"Oh Anna. When will you learn you can't break our little song and dance." Special kneeled down above me, and began violently punching me. "Once this little moment is over, I'll take a trip to Equestria. I'll play with your what, millionth family, and once they're all near dead I'll start unleashing the Unsent, and when I do you will consume this Timeline and we can do this all over aga-agh!"

Suddenly, Spiral was knocked off me. I was brushed and bloody as hell but managed to look and see… Vincent?

"Normally, I have a zero intervention policy… but Fuck I just can't follow my own rules or plans for very long." He said, looking down at me. He snapped his fingers and suddenly I felt… amazing. I sat up feeling like I had ten hours of sleep, an espresso and a spa day. "Feeling better?" Vincent asked me as he pulled me up.

"Yeah! I feel amazing!" I said readily. "The hell happened and…how'd you get out?"

"I could always get out." I stared at him. "Hey, someone had to keep an eye on Grey."

"You…" Spiral said, getting back up and seeing Vincent. "You're… you're not supposed to exist!"

"Well I do. Now get out of my son." Vincent said. Spiral twitched and suddenly, Vincent was in front of him. His hand glowed with the black and green energy… code, before a trail of it went down Spiral's throat.

I watched in awe as it effortlessly pulled out a disgusting creature, like a mix between a tic and a squid.

When it was all out Yevon dropped to the ground unconscious. "Anna." Vincent spoke, making me stand at attention. "Remember. I am an Admin. Gods pray to my people for mercy and worship… and this is what we do to those we have no mercy for." He said, clenching the hand that held Spiral tighter and tighter as Spiral's true body became covered in that green energy, and finally broke apart into chunks that vanished into nonexistence.

I blinked…trying to process what I just saw. "Holy shit…"

"Now, I believe Gilda still needs help." He said, walking over to them.

"Yes!" I said, rushing over to his side. "Spiral…said he was a Living Fayth…I…I don't know…"

"Oh this is sad." Vincent said, a hand held over Gilda. "It's very sloppy. This will be easy enough." Vincent said, snapping his fingers.

Gilda shot up immediately. "Woah, that was… weird…"

Suddenly Zer was also on the bed. Buck naked and equally confused. "Did… I dream… we lived on a farm?"

"And made cheese for a living." Gilda finished.

"Yay!" I cheered as I immediately shot Zer in the leg with my gun. "Payback time you gang raping whore!"

"Fucking stars Anna!" Gilda yelped as Zer twitched on the ground. "Why do you have a gun?!"

"I'll take that." Vincent said, yanking the gun from me.

"Aw, spoil sport." I pouted at Vincent.

"The hell did I miss?" Gilda asked.

"Not much. Spiral showed up, turned you into a living Fayth, poorly, and after he was beating up Anna I showed up, ripped him out of Yevon and killed him." Vincent said with a shrug. He flicked his wrist and suddenly the gun was gone now. "So, what do you want to do about him?" Vincent asked as he pointed at the still twitching Zer.

"Well I want to flay him alive for hurting the love of my life…or at least, give Gilda Greed and watch him steal all of Zer's life force because I would find it hilarious the one thing he wants kills him." I said readily. "I don't care if I sound blood thirsty or petty…he kept hurting Gilda and the very first thing he did was practically rape him!"

"I was asking Gilda." Vincent said, giving. Me a light whack to the head.

Gilda looked over at Zer. "Can you… make him like he was in the dream?" I nearly fell over.

"Memories should all still be there so removing his real ones and a few other modifications can basically make him exactly how he was in that dream world."

"Gilda…" I looked at him, wondering what happened, and why in Vincent's name he wants to keep that rat bastard alive.

"Anna…" Gilda sighed. "I'm not going to lie to myself or you anymore… despite everything… I still had feelings for Zer. I know it's insane and I know I shouldn't but I just could stop them..small stupid things would trigger them and… Anna, in that Dream World, I lived a perfect life! My mom actually cared about me, supported me. Zer and I dated like a normal couple, we got married! We had a farm where I grew the stuff to make Griffon Scones and he made cheese from some cows and goats and we.. we even had kids." Gilda sighed. "It was a perfect life… and that version of him… it was who I always wished he'd be when we did date…"

I listened, and processed my…Gilda’s words…I ran through everything that they could have done…everything that I wanted with Gilda…just to be happy…have my parent’s and brother be with me and Gilda…starting our own family…everything that Zer got in that…that…”Gilda…” I started, tearing up badly as I tried not to hate those words, wanting to be happy for the Griffon I love, well and truly beyond a shadow of a doubt, trying not reason that my heart shouldn’t feel like it’s being ripped apart because Gilda got to experience a perfect world with the person that hurt him the most.

"Anna." Gilda said, taking my hands and making me look at them. "I know it sounds unfair. I know all Zer and I got in that Dream World you wanted to do with me. And you can. Because this, this is reality… and that was, in the end, just a dream. My life before you was horrible and I know I'm asking a lot, but I just want one one thing, even from a made up past, to not suck about my past here. Even if all Zer will have are false memories, the Zer you know and hate will be gone, right?" Gilda asked.

"Basically. Like a mental version of formatting an old computer OS to upgrade to something better." Vincent shrugged.

"Right. And remember, we still have a proper life to build and kids to meet and raise." Gilda added as they kissed me. "I'm not saying I love you less, if anything I love you so much more because without you… I'd probably be dead. Because of you, I got surgery I didn't even know I needed to feel things again. I got to fix a friendship I messed up. I got to finally discover who I am and what I am. And all that was well before that Dream World."

“You…you…” I pouted and lightly blushed at it all. “Have I ever told you your perfect, silly birb?”

"What, as in body or-" I kissed Gilda deeply. They kissed me back and with Spiral gone… there was going to be a lot of clean up.

Best make this moment last.

To be continued...

Author's Note

Don't worry, just because Spiral is dead, doesn't mean it's the end of Anna's story! There's still so much left to go, to hunting down an Angel, to saving her mother and father, and so much more!

Chapter 16

I awoke the next morning with a yawn. I was happily in my birthday suit, sheets covering me as Gilda held me firl and close. Hugging me from behind was Yevon, who admittedly wore Pajamas. Behind Gilda was Zer. And around/on us was the other mates in our herd/harem.

This is a nice way to wake up.

"This is nice." I muttered with a smile. "After everything…I'm glad this is happening…"

I laid there just enjoying the moment, their touch and everything. Eventually though others began waking up and getting out of the cuddle pile. Eventually, I did too. I put on a nice loose shirt that still didn't hide my belly. Some sweatpants, and socks and slippers. I am all done with the very important stuff. I can finally relax and enjoy myself.

I grabbed breakfast, a pile of pancakes, eggs, bacon and hash browns, went over to the couch and sat down as Tommy channel surfed.

"How you doing Tommy?" I inquired.

"Good." They nodded. "You seem happy."

"Yeah, besides some loose ends I need to tie up, everything is perfect." I said with a smile.

"Right. The remaining rifts." Tommy nodded. "At least all the major stuff is done so, taking a break then?"

"Yes, cause I really need a break." I sighed, starting to eat my great breakfast. "Even with the loose ends…it might be a pain in the ass, cause not just the rifts, but finding the rest of Satan, finding Micheal, finding the rest of Sombra, and killing Seymour."

"Fair. At least the big bad is gone so, the rest will be easy by comparison." Tommy shrugged.

I nodded, eating my meal before cleaning my plate and giving a small burp before I laid back on the couch, rubbed my belly and watched some mindless TV.

“Kinda hope Grey isn’t doing anything weird in here…” I muttered, remembering that I had a piece of Grey still roaming around my ‘Stomach’ trying to collect all the Time Gems to help bring back Faust.

I sighed, rubbing my belly more for a while before I got up. Being lazy and watching TV was nice but I want some attention.

I walked around the house, eventually finding Maud in what appeared to be a rock lab.

"Hi Anna." Maud said.

“Hey Maud.” I nodded. “How you doing?”

"I'm alright." She said with a nod. She turned and I noticed a small bump along her stomach. Looks like I know who Gilda has already laid with~

“Had some fun with Gilda?” I asked with a knowing grin.

She blushed, giving the smallest of smiles. "We are in a herd. Would be odd to not lay with the head male first."

“Fair.” I nodded. “And how’d you enjoy our wonderful birb?”

"Gilda was very… soft." Maud said. "Not what I expected when I held and touched my lover for the first time, but their body is more feminine than I expected my lover to be. Save what they have that makes them a male. That was not soft at all."

“Harder than any rock you’ve worked on?” I asked.

She nodded, sorting the rocks on her table. "So, what brings you to my geology lab?"

“Eh, just walking around to talk to whoever.” I shrugged. “Just enjoying my vacation after all the nonsense I had to.”

"I'd expect. What are you planning to do with all your new free time?"

"Dating, relaxing, traveling, fixing all the things Spiral caused…" I sighed.

"And having lots of wild sex with Gilda or whoever while on dates?"

“Exactly.” I giggled happily.

"Well, have fun with that then."

“Thanks Maud.” I said, leaning over and kissing their cheek as we were all in this wonderful herd together and headed out.

I walked down the halls, hoping to run into someone else and maybe get a little frisky.

Eventually, I lucked out and found Luna relaxing in the hot springs room.

"Hello Anna." She greeted, neck deep in the water.

“Hey Luna, enjoying the Hot Spring?”

"Very much so." She sighed happily. "Care for a dip?"

“That would be nice yes.” I said, stripping off my pregnant clothes and gently stepping into the hot spring water.

The hot water felt heavenly on my skin, and once I was in neck deep like Luna I felt all my pregnancy weight melt away. Felt nice but I also enjoy the pregnancy feeling too so once I sat next to her I kept my arms wrapped around my belly.

"Enjoying yourself?"

“Yes I am.” I sighed happily. “So…I think thing’s are slowly working for me to…bring your mother back.” I said carefully.

"It will be a happy day for Tia." Luna said with a nod.

“And then just need to find the pieces of…someone very important.”

"It will be alright. Tia has waited this long. A little while longer while you rest won't be much longer." Luna said with a chuckle.

“Yeah, Celestia would be very happy.” I chuckled. “And then…boy is the special guest going to be a surprise for everyone.”

"If you say so." Luna said. "So, what brought you to the hot springs room? And so early in the morning?"

“I’m bored and was just walking around, talking to whoever I find, cause I’m on vacation.” I chuckled.

"I see. Care to help me scrub or do you wish to partake in far more marital actions~?" Luna asked, giving me a smirk and a wink as I felt her arm wrap around and rub the other side of my belly.

“I can do both.” I said, putting a hand on hers and already excited for what fun we’re gonna have.

After a long bathing session of getting dirty, clean, dirty, and clean again Luna and I emerged from the hot springs bathroom refreshed, happy and dried off. She gave me a deep kiss before leaving to do some paperwork and I went to find someone else to occupy my time.

It was here in the kitchen I found Pinkie Pie, baking away without a care. "Hi Anna!" She called as she was stirring two bowls at once.

“Howdy Pinkie, how you doing?”

"I'm doing great! With all the pregnancies going around and new Borns/hatchlings gonna be arriving soon I'm preparing for multiple parties, and I figured I'd also give you this." Pinkie suddenly was in front of me, holding me tight and giving me a wet, sloppy kiss that tasted like sugar and frosting before she broke the kiss and handed me a cupcake saying 'Yay!' in frosting on it. "Congratulations on beating that super evil, nasty yucky squid!"

“Thanks Pinkie.” I said with a smile, though I technically didn’t beat that prick as it was Vincent literally revoking his existence, but still. “Means a lot to me.” I said warmly, taking a bite of the cupcake and seeing how good it was this time.

It was a mini metropolitan ice cream cupcake covered in dark chocolate cake.

I ate it rapidly.

"Glad! You know what else this means!?"

“What does it mean?” I inquired.

"It means that without that big bad nasty squid you can have and raise your babies one at a time rather than having them all be born at once as adults!"

“That’s…very true Pinkie.” I said, the widest smile I’ve ever had suddenly growing on my face as I was so happy.

Pinkie treated me to having me taste her various pastries, and various hugs and kisses. I spent a good few hours with her before I left so she could prepare for dinner and other baked goods.

As I walked I smiled and hugged my belly tighter… I can be a mom to each of them, one at a time…

I looked around, wanting to just be happy with someone. Eventually I ran into Thor and hugged the big lug by the waist. "What's the cause for affection Anna?" Thor asked with a chuckle.

“I can be a mom without worrying about anything!” I said happily. “Now that Spiral literally doesn’t exist anymore, things will finally look up!”

"That's grand news! Wish for me to hunt a hog to celebrate?"

“Well, this would be a time to celebrate that’s for sure.” I said honestly.

"Huzzah! I shall return before sunset!" Thor said. I let go and he flew off, hammer raised.

I laughed. He's nice.

Now… what else to do…

Wait, their is a gaming room here! I need to catch up!

“Oh I know what I’m going to be doing for my entire vacation.” I said with a growing grin, moving into the gaming room and ready to game my ass off.

I had various options, consoles, PC and a huge library of all… now… what to play- the hell? Nintendo Switch? Huh. Guess they got to release a new console in another dimension… let's see… oh wow there's a decent Pokemon Library here… hmm… I'll go with Shield first.

“Gotta get me a shield doggo.” I said with a smile, ready to see what was new in the land of pokemon.

"Hey Anna?" I looked up, seeing Gilda standing over me. "You good? You've been playing that for hours and Thor showed up with a giant boar he's got and getting ready to roast."

“Yeah, I’m good.” I said, having enjoyed Pokemon Shield a lot as I rubbed my eyes. “So, foods getting worked on?”

"Yeah. Pinkie and the others are making a tofu version but we meat eaters are drooling in anticipation." Gilda said with a chuckle.

“I can imagine.” I chuckled. “Haven’t had good well cooked meat in a while.”

"It will probably be ready in a few hours. Big boar like that is gonna cook nice but slow over an open flame."

“I can already imagine how good it smells.” I said honestly.

"So, Pinkie told me you're gonna be able to have each child one at a time rather than all at once. Honestly, that completely slipped my mind amid all the craziness the last few days."

“Same, and also with how some friend’s are trying to bring Faust back to life…it’s going to be great all around.” I said with a smile. “I’m so glad to know I can give birth currently.”

"So… when do you think you'll birth your first kid?" Gilda asked me. I paused. Much as I want to now or soon… should probably wait til after all the loose ends are tied up.

“Probably until all these loose ends are tied up.” I said carefully. “So Sombra, Micheal, and Seymour are all dealt with…and whatever the hell else is involved cause I have the darndest feeling that, when all is said and done, someone’s gonna be bitch smacking Vincent.”

"Fair enough. Well, in that case I guess that means you're gonna be pregnant… forever huh?" Gilda asked with a chuckle.

I sighed, nodding knowing that so long as I have sex I'll just keep getting more and more babies put inside me.

Being a goddess of life does kinda have that downside.

“Yeah…sucks that I can’t enjoy sex anymore due to this but it’s worth it I suppose.”

"Who says we can't still enjoy sex?"

“Well…I mean, oral and anal and the few…other fetishes we figured out would be good.” I acknowledged.

"No I mean… would it be bad if we kept adding to your… already large pregnancy?"

“I mean…no, that wouldn’t be bad.” I said honestly.

"So… want to?"

“Do you really need to ask, my wonderful griffon?” I asked with a knowing smile.

Gilda smiled, putting a hand to my belly. "I know I probably already put probably… a few million in you but… I'd like if you always had some bit of me with you."

“Like how there’s always some bit of me with you.” I said, gently putting a hand on their chest, the spot I touched glowing lightly to show they were my Prophet, forever holding a part of me in them.

Gilda took my hand, holding it and giving me a smile. "Yeah."

They leaned in, giving me a kiss and we began to disrobe.

That enjoyment lasted an hour, and when we were too tired to go more we got dressed, kissed some more and went out to enjoy the, really huge, two story boar Thor was roasting over a huge fire.

It was a good meal, everyone was present and we talked, played some games, and all in all had fun.

I spent the next few days playing games, being intimate with Gilda, or Luna, or Pinkie… Maud was… interesting.

Gilda and I ganged up on Twilight and she was adorable. She thought it was just gonna be one round.

I also finally shared a bed with AJ. The farm mare trusting me enough for that special moment finally.

Gilda was also finally able to due the Alpha Male of the herd duties and has not been with every member of the herd, males too because my sexy bird rolls that way, and I have also been with all our members now. Male and female. I was thankful Thor and the other Asgardians could change size.

With that fun two weeks behind us I began spending time with Mom, Dad and Tommy.

“So, mom, dad, how you liking this new wonderful world of ours?” I asked my parents, hoping they were having a great time.

“Well, it’s certainly a lot better than what we left.” Dad said honestly.

"It's definitely more peaceful." Mom said, nodding. "Been considering job hunting."

“Well, I suppose you gotta keep busy somehow.” I shrugged. “Alright, so I was thinking, how about we do a rift run as a family? Ya know, get at least you two more used to your abilities and the like.”

"Aren't you a bit… unable?" Mom asked, pointing at my ever pregnant belly.

“Oh, don’t worry about that.” I said. “I have a clone that can do i while my body is resting here…well, less ‘clone’ and just a copy that I can body swap to.”

"Yeah. I've seen it. Kinda weird." Tommy said.

“Only thing I find weird is…not feeling the weight anymore…” I said, holding my baby bump lightly.

"I know the feeling. When I had you two the first month or two I kept waking up expecting the extra six to eight pounds." Mom said with a chuckle.

“Ugh, don’t even get me started on the weight gain that isn’t my kids…” I groaned, having worked really damn hard to get in shape during my training days but…oh god did I just think ‘training days’ when that was barely half a year ago?

"What would we do when we get to the rift?" Mom asked.

“Look around the place, take what we can, fight monsters, and then kill a boss monster, and get whatever loot it spawns…and also uh…maybe possibly sorta put a piece of Earth into Equestria…” I explained sheepishly. “Cause so far I’ve…gotten a transport ship…and dumped all of Australia into the Dragon Lands.”

“Aren’t the Dragon Lands supposed to be a volcanic wasteland?” Mom asked.

“So Australia?” Tommy commented, which got a chuckle out of me.

"Do you know what's inside these rifts beforehand?" Dad asked.

“Not really no.” I said honestly. “But all I know is that, without the world hanging in the balance for me to hurry up, it should be simple and fun.”

"I suppose at least once would be fine." Mom said.

“First Family Dungeon run.” Dad nodded.

"So, where are we going and when?" Tommy asked.

“Hmm.” I hummed, pulling out the Rift map and opening it up. “We can go whenever we’re all ready, and the closest one is two hours away from here.”

"I guess we can go tomorrow. Gives us time to prepare and get ready." Mom said.

“Yep.” I nodded. “Better to be prepared than not.”

The next morning I got my copy body awake and ready, getting used to the no belly feeling for a while before my family and I were off.

This rift was over some place called the Ghastly Gorge. We arrived before it just before noon.

"So, what should we expect?" Mom asked.

“A lot of weird monsters, normally I would say ‘Fiends’, some of the monsters I can turn into, but then there’s weird creatures from other worlds…like annoying as hell monkey’s that are tanky as hell until you throw poison at them.”

"Weird… what about people?" Dad asked.

“There can be people there.” I said honestly. “Like the people in Australia…met one person that was a Crocodile farmer, and then met a group of people that were run by a literal fallen angel, not demon, and also, Christianity is very wrong due to Michael being a bitch apparently."

"Huh. That actually makes sense." Mom said.

“Exactly.” I nodded. “And I’m gonna kill him…or have someone in my head that’s gonna kill him.”

"Right." Tommy said.

With that we all entered the Rift.

I was happy it landed us on solid ground. Or rather, a solid roof. There was some overgrowth of vines, moss and such but other than that, it was sturdy.

"What's with the fog?" Tommy asked as there was a fog thick enough to obstruct our view of everything save each other on this roof.

“No idea…we better not be in Silent Hill.” I huffed.

"I actually played that game and… I really hope not." Dad said.

"Saw the movie. Wasn't impressed." Mom added.

“The movie doesn’t do it justice.” I shook my head.

"So, where and what fragment of earth is this?" Tommy asked.

“No idea, hold on.” I said, trying to sense what life there was on this section of earth. “Hopefully we’re not in Detroit, can’t have shit in Detroit.”

"Did you really quote a meme?" Tommy asked as I tried to sense something.

I sensed plants. Animals… and… nothing. No human life at all.

"Well, I don't sense any human life." I said. "Plenty of plants and animals though."

"That feels like cause for concern." Dad said.

“Yeah…” I said carefully, looking around to see if there was a good spot to jump down from this roof.

I couldn't even see the floor. I walked around and eventually spotted a roof access door.

It was locked but I broke the handle and pulled it open easily.

Man these Abilities are awesome.

We walked downstairs and came across what looked to have been an office building. The desks and cubicles all tossed and turned. Oddly, not a single broken window.

“Alright…so nothing’s broken but it looks like a lot of panic happened.”

"It was pretty hectic before." Dad said. "Damage could have been way worse." He said, kicking a desk aside to walk through.

"Weird." Tommy said, touching the few still upright desks and items. "Despite the overgrowth outside, there's no dust or mold or anything inside."

I looked around… Tommy was right. No dust or vines or mold. The windows were dirty on the outside only.

“So…either someone’s living here, or we’ve got a monster problem.” I said carefully.

"I don't know." Dad said. "It's like time inside the buildings just stopped but outside they're still moving."

"Try sensing something now Anna." Tommy suggested.

With a nod I focused and…

Five human life signs three floors down? But, how? I didn't sense anything… outside.

The Fuck is going on here?

“Alright, so something is very weird here.” I said honestly. “Cause now I sense five people three floors down…”

"That is odd." Tommy said.

We quickly made our way down the five floors, coming across a makeshift camp on the floor. Mattresses and propane tanks and grills, candles gave light.

On one of these mattresses were three small children and standing before us was a man and a woman both who were armed.

“We come in peace.” I said carefully to the armed man and woman.

"Who, where did you come from?" The man asked.

“Technically the real world.” I said. “My name's Anna, who are you?”

"What kind of answer is that?" The woman asked.

"Pardon my sister, she's an idiot." Tommy said, making me huff. "I'm Tommy, this is my mom, dad and sister Anna. Long story short we're new here."

"Clearly." The man said. "How'd you navigate the fog?"

“We didn’t, we just picked a random direction and went.” I shrugged. “Found the roof service door and came down here.”

"Wouldn't be the first time people end up on roofs." The lady muttered. "So, what generation?"

"Pardon?" Tommy asked.

"What generation are you? First, second, fifth?"

"Uh… first?" Dad offered.

“Second.” I said carefully, now really confused as to what the hell is going on and just going with ‘second’ due to me being a ‘second generation’ technically.

"Well, that's refreshing. Not a lot of old timers around anymore." The man said. "Names Gary, this is Tabitha. We're both second generation and our kids are technically fourth generation."

"Right. So, you all live in this building?" Mom asked.

"Yes. For thirty years now. At least by our count." Tabitha said.

Thirty years?

“That…shouldn’t be the case…” I muttered, shaking my head. “What was the last thing you remember happening before the fog rolled in?” I asked carefully, finding this extremely weird as none of the other rift’s worked like this.

"Shit I was what? Ten?" Gary said. "I was sitting at home with my parents. Whole 2012 chaos was going on and then… got quiet. Crazy thick fog out the window and opening a window, no noise and it doesn't go through any openings. Swear it actually closes doors and repairs windows."

"I was in a park with my mom. One minute I'm swinging the next. We're walking aimlessly in fog. We were looking for her car and somehow ended up on some rich guys yacht." Tabitha said.

"That doesn't make sense." Mom said.

"That's how the fog is." Gary shrugged. "You take five feet from a door or someone next to you, you'll be lucky to ever see that place or them again. Just, I dunno, Teleports you."

“Alright…so none of this should have happened like…at all.” I said, now really confused if this is the same Earth.

"Pst. Heck if we know." Gary said. "I was in New York when this happened. Tabitha here was in England."

Tabitha nodded. "We've met people from Mexico. Japan. Russia. I don't think this hit all over the world but maybe a good few chunks of it?"

"Any monsters in the fog?" Tommy asked.

"Some rumors, one fella swore he shot a demon in the fog. Another claimed they saw a fifty foot snake. Personally I think they were both just nuts." Gary said.

“Considering…somethings, they might be right.” I said carefully, trying to figure out where on earth we are cause this shouldn’t have happened, cause all of Australia was fine and dandy, the ship was fine, so what the hell?

I tried to wrap my mind over what the hell could be up with this place… maybe… maybe each rift is different? Or the bigger the rift the crazier the thing to deal with?

What other case, I need to know how to undo all this
… And there is one person who can help me… Yevon.

"Hey Yevon? Can you hear me?"

"Yes Anna?" He replied.

“Yeah, can I get some help here? I’m in a rift with my family here and there’s this weird ass fog that practically teleports people and possibly has monsters in it.” I mentally explained.

"Ah. I remember that one. Spiral had several unique rifts to keep you trapped for a while so he could do stuff and keep you occupied and outside of Equis."

“Well it’s a good thing that prick of a tick is dead dead and doesn’t exist.” I mentally brought up. “So, how do we break out and stop the fog?”

"If I remember correctly there are three Fog Makers. Once those are gone all the fog will dissolve and you can then find the Fayth Anchor and destroy that and restore this place to the proper timeline."

“Cool…now I just need to figure out where these Fog Makers are with my family and there we go.” I said. “Also, mind if I ask how it’s been 30 years in this world when other’s were pretty much a year or so around my time?”

"Oh that, he did that to mess with you and the people stuck in there. His way of making you feel less helpful by having you debate on completely changing how peoples lives in those pocket dimension have been. Granted it is for the better but let's be honest when it's the only world they know change to a whole new one is gonna be terrifying for them."

“That’s fair, but also that guy’s an asshole.” I said.

"Oh trust me, once you regain your past timeline memories your hatred of him will reach new levels you never expected." Yevon said with a sigh. "At any rate the hard part in this rift is the random teleporting. But, there is a trick to it."

“Me recovering my memories is another massive god damn hurdle! Ugh~....okay, what’s the trick to this stupid place?” I asked, hating how there’s another thing I forgot about that I really need to do.

"Simple. This pocket dimension also has a slice of Earth's purgatory still with it. You just shift from the physical plane to purgatory and the fog won't affect you."

“Well…I suppose I should have a form that can work like that…” I said honestly.

"Anna, you can do that naturally. You are a goddess of life."

"Oh yeah." I chuckled as I did just that, shifting myself into their purgatory since I now have jurisdiction there.

The shift was… an odd feeling. Everything had a… well, not really transparent look to it, more like a… glossy… dirty glass like appearance look to it. Huh.

I walked outside, seeing the fog was way more manageable. Okay, so where are those fog makers?

"So, they're either monsters, or something else…" I hummed, moving around the fog carefully and ready for anything.

It was uneventful. I shifted to my Griffin form and took flight. I didn't see much. The geology of this place was definitely just random chunks of the earth lifted up and formed…. Some makeshift set of islands.

“Well, Spiral wasn’t really that imaginative with thing’s besides the fog…” I frowned. “So, there’s supposedly a demon and a fifty foot snake…”

I flew back down and began looking for whatever was making this fog.

As I flew I nearly crashed into… Mt Rushmore? Huh. Well, at least it's still huh?

I looked up, seeing on top of Lincoln's head was a giant, and I mean GIANT frog!

It's mouth was open wide as the fog poured out in huge puffs.

"Now that's a huge bitch." I said, bringing out my magic rifle. "Alright…let's see how strong this is now…" I said, remembering this was charge by my own magic as I tried to charge and fire a simple bullet towards the thing and not a giant laser.

I pulled the trigger. There was no recoil. A low sounding gunshot… and no frog or fog for miles… there was also no Mt Rushmore any more… oops…

“I didn’t want a giant laser damn it!” I whined. “Ugh, this sucks! I wanted to bring my family here too~!” I whined, not knowing if my magic could even reshape the entire fucking mountain.

I huffed as I put the rifle away. Man, why does Nexus make so many overkill weapons?

Okay, next frog…

“Ech, whatever…” I grumbled, flying off to find the next frog and wondering what other national monument I might accidentally make not exist anymore.

More flying through purgatory landed me in what appeared to be France. The frog here was just sitting in a large open countryside.

Okay… how to deal with this? Use the rifle again? A different weapon?

“Here, let’s just try this.” I said, bringing out my staff as I tapped it on the ground, trying to summon vines to either strangle the thing or pierce the thing.

A tree shot up through the ground, frog, and emerged from it's head. Long branches pulling and tearing flesh, bone, and organs.

Okay that was… way more graphic that I ment…

“Sure! Okay…just gonna…” I turned around and threw up at what I just witnessed. “The fuck!?”

I put the staff away. Okay, clearly my powers over life and nature are stronger than I expected… also these frogs don't fight back… or maybe I'm too strong so it feels like they don't fight back?

“Ugh…okay, so I dealt with two of these things so far…” I sighed.

Another long flight back in purgatory I found the third giant frog… somehow in the bottom of this ocean. Okay. Well the weight isn't crushing it.

“Alright…now how do I want to deal with this thing now?” I wondered.

Hmm… I shrugged, pulling that weird small handgun and shooting it.

The giant frog died in one shot.

Okay, one last frog then the fog is gone and this family trip so far has been a bust…

I sighed, really hating how this family trip that I wanted to be a cool adventure for us turned into effectively a waste of time. “This could have gone a lot better…ugh, this sucks…”

With a huff I found the last frog and also shot it dead.

I phased out of purgatory and found the Fayth Anchor. That was easily blown up and once this place was back in reality I found my family having fun with the family that was here.

“Hey guys.” I said. “How are you all doing while I was gone?”

"We're playing Uno." Dad said. "Wanna join?"

“Sure.” I nodded, walking over and sitting down with everyone. “It’ll at least help me not feel like this adventure didn’t go downhill fast…”

"Eh, to be honest I think it's for the best." Tommy said. "I was here the longest with you and didn't adventure once."

"And that sucks…" I sighed. "It…just feels like everything's going too fast and…" I trailed off, not wanting to say that it feels like I'm no longer close to my family after so much…like I'm just abandoning them cause of all this crap.

"Maybe we can try something simpler next time sweetie? Like a picnic or go watch a movie?" Mom suggested.

“Yeah…” I nodded. “That would help next time…”

Despite everything I did have fun playing Uno with my family and these two and their kids.

"So, adventure was a bust?" Gilda asked.

“Sadly…” I sighed. “Which really sucks…I wanted to have fun on an adventure with my family…but nope…just had to solve all the problems by myself…”

"At least you all had fun coming back from that movie."

“Yeah, that was fun.” I nodded. “Just…glad to have my parents and brother back…”

"It might be for the best that ended up being a bust. Your family isn't on the same strength level as you and properly would have gotten hurt."

“I mean, we were also thrown into a trap made by Spiral cause of fucking course.” I rolled my eyes. “Just wanted to do some basic monster murder and just seeing some neat stuff, but no.”

Gilda chuckled. "Hey, I thought you were looking for to being done with all that?"

“I’m looking forward for monster murder not being tied to the end of the world or the end of everyone I love.” I said. “Simple monster hunting is fine…but considering…” I gently held my baby bump now that I was back in this body. “Gonna be very hard for that.”

"Well, personally I think it's better to get it out of the way sooner rather than later. Once it is, we can just enjoy the highs and lows of parenting."

“Yeah.” I nodded. “It will be amazing when it happens…too bad I still have a truck load of problems to fix or finish…”

To be continued...

Chapter 17

Okay so that's six rifts down, and about a hundred and four more to go.

I had been spending the last year on and off traveling to rifts. Each one was either something small or something huge. Either way I made sure to locate each and every shard of Heylel I could. So far, nine.

This is gonna take a while.

I sighed, but smiled. I might not be a mom yet… but I can happily say I am a father now.

Mine and Gilda's eggs hatching, it was an amazing day.

“Never thought I’d be a dad…but boy am I happy about that.” I muttered with a warm smile, feeling proud to be a parent. “Just need to finish this all up, and everything will be better.”

I found the next rift and once I was in I- what the?

Well… this is new… I'm on the moon…

…Huh…

Well, Luna's gonna be happy.

I managed to fly around this place, killing fiends and even finding three more Heylel shards before breaking all the anchors and the moon appearing next to Luna's woah she wasn't kidding her moon is bigger… Earth's moon is in orbit around her moon…

Oh speaking of moons, I see a Sombra fragment on her moon!

Man I have gotten quick at all this.

“I suppose that comes with the territory of me being a goddess with Kryptonian powers.” I thought to myself, flying towards the Sombra shard and ready to kick it’s ass.

It looked at me, and I ended it with some laser eye beams. Not gonna lie, that one is always fun. Alright so far so good. I'll stop by the house for a bit then jump back to it.

In a flash I was back home, it felt nice.

I walked inside and spotted Celestia eating some pizza and watching TV, my normal pregnant body sitting unconscious next to her.

Never really gets normal seeing your own body… but also was… interesting, having a three way with it…

"Hey Anna." Celestia said.

“Hey Celestia, how you doing?” I inquired, seeing her just kinda hanging out like it was some basic saturday morning for her.

"Finally got the crown dismantled and set up a specially expected council. I did have to sign some papers but now, it's official, I am retired, Luna is Retired, Cadence is retired and we can all just focus on ourselves and our herd." She said, biting into a mushroom and olive pizza slice.

“That sounds good.” I nodded. “Good thing that me and Gilda don’t need to be apart of a Kingdom anymore like Blueblood planned…a year ago…” I said, just kinda having it hit me how short of time I’ve actually been at this.

"Well, in any case I'm Just glad I can enjoy my favorite food and stop stressing about the kingdom."

“Yep.” I nodded with a smile. “Just rest and relaxation while I finish up some loose ends.”

"And when I'm not doing this I'm shagging with Inkwell, Gilda and whoever else is free and not terrified for their hips and sanity."

Heh… I forget she's a kinky freak…

“Yes, I do remember how…kinky you are Tia.” I chuckled.

"If you aren't doing anything do you wanna screw? I've been groping your body here on and off but it's not quite the same when there's no moans."

Oh… so… that's what that was.

“Right…that’s what that was…” I muttered. “Alright you, you sound horny, so we’re gonna have some fun.”

"Always~"

I chuckled, shape shifting into a larger form and picking up the horny sun mare and heading off to a spare room to blow off some steam.

A neat benefit of my battle body, which is how I refer to this one, is that it's actually infertile. Unlike my pregnant, always fertile body.

Tia of course had me indulge in her odd and various kinks for almost two hours before she finally tired out and fell asleep. I on the other hand limped away and fell into the hot springs bathroom. Agh, still get so sore with her… one of these days I or Gilda is giving her a limp…

“Goddess of Life getting a limp…really need to change that…” I muttered, enjoying the hot spring to soothe my aching bits. “Though, I do have to wonder what’s taking Grey so long to get all the Time Gems…”

"Oh I've been done." I shrieked, covering up as Grey was suddenly somehow next to me. "Oh please, like I care about your body."

“Don’t…scare me like that.” I panted lightly. “So…good to know you got everything…now just need to figure out how to bring back Faust…”

"Oh so you want your kids and all that to stay inside your stomach then? I'm referring to your old timelines children's not the new brood in your other body."

“I mean, I would love to see them all again, and also relearn all my past histories.” I said readily. “How am I supposed to do that? Also…how many worlds do I even have in there?”

"Forty two million, eight hundred and sixteen thousand, five hundred and ninety six." Grey said, raising a hand out of the water with his fingers ready to snap. "Say the word and the rest of your families, and history, is yours."

“Uh…does the planet even have enough space for all of that?” I asked worriedly.

"Oh relax they'll all just become neighboring solar systems."

“Alright, good to know that it won’t cause bad things to happen.” I nodded. “Alright, snap the fingers Grey.” I said, quoting Emperor’s New Groove and knowing that nothing bad will happen.

They snapped their fingers.

The migraine was like getting a hangover, while getting heavy metal blasted in my face while getting a sledge hammer whacking me temples on both sides.

But I remembered… I remembered it all. Every timeline. Every shapeshift. Every battle. Every romance. Every love. Every child. Every reset.

My… my… my kids, I need to see them!

I jumped out of the bath and rapidly put on clothes. Each timeline, each generation I haven't seen them in so long!

“Don’t worry kids, Momma’s coming!” I called out, ready to do some hopping, skipping, and light speed jumping to see my kids again.

I had… so… many kids. I felt so unbelievably guilty I just… forgot them. And my lovers from all those timelines, they were here too. Alive. I just spent… time, catching up with them all. My huge family, spanning across a whole galaxy of planets.

"Hey mom." I looked up to see one of my oldest, Keeth, my first timeline, fourth son with Yevon. He looked like his dad, save having my eyes and hair color.

“Hey Keeth.” I said with a smile, pulling them into a hug as I was just…so happy to see all my family again. “How you doing?”

"Good. Lot of the others and I all have a surprise for you." He said. I let go and walking up were Sandra, Emily, Nick and LJ. Timelines seven, forty six, two thousand and four, and one million five. They had… Sombra fragments… all tied and bound. A sack of rocks that seemed to be… Heylel shards?! And is that Seymour?! "We finished off the rifts for you and got all your loose ends here for you to finish up."

H-how?

“Excuse me, how!?” I asked in absolute shock

"Well, it's been a month since we all got out of that purgatory stomach of yours and we wanted to make sure you actually got to rest." Emily said, long black hair, pale skin, yellow eyes.

"Don't forget we're your kids mom, we might not all be gods or even Demi-Gods but we aren't all pushovers." Nick, neon blue hair and elf like ears.

"So, we all divided the world and made honestly pretty quick work of the last bits of these things." Sandra, kitty ears, orange hair/fur and tail.

"Consider it our many late missed birthday presents for you mom." Keeth said.

“You are all so amazing.” I teared up happily. “So…just need to find Micheal and let Heylel commit a murder in front of his freshly resurrected wife.”

"Don't worry, once you absorb all my shards, set me free and I'll hunt the little piss ant down." Heylel said.

I nodded, first cutting down the Sombra fragments and then absorbing all the Heylel fragments. Once they were all absorbed I let him out. He looked… actually, he looked hot. Long red hair, golden eyes and pale skin and two huge flaming wings. He spun around, punching the air and making a hole through the multiverse and flew into it. "Micheal! I'm coming for you, you micro dicked wife killing homophobic bastard!"

I almost wish I could see Michael's face… almost. For now…

I turned and faced Seymour.

“Sup bitch, remember me?” I asked, cracking my knuckles as I walked closer to the chuklefuck in question.

"Do what you must." He said, closing his eyes. "I have no regrets."

“But that’s too easy,” I answered. “And you see, I’m a Goddess of Life, so here’s what I’m going to do,” I put my hand on their head, as they opened an eye to question what I’m about to do. “Given you have this weird fetish for Death, and your father disowned you and your mother became an Aeon when you were a child…I’m not going to kill you.” I said, making their eyes go wide open at that declaration.

“Wh-what?”

“Instead, your going to be getting an actual life, where you won’t be indoctrinated into a bunch of hypocritical bullshit, where you’re family won’t be used as cattle and you’re own father won’t fear you because you exist.” I said, my hand glowing. “I’m giving you a second chance at life.” I explained, using my power over life to reset their clock, turning them back to the day they were born. “You’ll have a new life, and you’ll be a better person because of it.” I said, seeing as their time was siphoned away as they slowly turned into a crying infant, and hopefully they won’t remember a thing about Spira or their crimes.

I picked them up, their teary face looking at me and I gave them a warm smile. Guess I'll mother this one first.

I woke up with a yawn, my bedroom pile had gotten so big. My harem is literally a… more than a few million members big. Thank God Discord made this house ever expanding inside.

Speaking of, I'll have to kiss my new chaotic hubby when I see them next.

I got up and headed for the kitchen, grabbing a mug and putting it under the coffee Dispenser. Unlimited coffee. Best Nexus item in my opinion.

It's been what… ten years now? Heh. Physically I look the same but all my memories and such, god I feel old. Still, every day is the same. Say hi to all the kids of mine who visit. Tend to the ones growing up, help nurse and clean the newborns. Spend quality time with my loves. It's always busy but hey, I like it like this.

“Ah, this is the life.” I sighed happily, so proud of everyone and just feeling everything go right for a change.

"You've done well here." I turned around, seeing a woman with long black hair and all black clothing sitting at one of the kitchen table booths.

“And…who are you?” I asked carefully, already fearing what the hell’s about to happen.

"I'm Maxilla. And I am who's been keeping your unit and all it's timelines locked safely in a bubble all these eons." She said. "Honestly I was content to let you remain as you are, safe and unaware of the bigger worlds but… things have come up."

“And…what ‘things’ have come up?” I asked worriedly.

"War. Between Vincent, or rather, Grey, the original Grey, and the rest of creation as a whole. If we lose, we won't even get a reset. Complete and total death. Not even the Afterlifes or the void would remain."

“Oh…that’s…that’s not good.” I said carefully. “Well uh…this is gonna be awkward with Vincent and my Grey here hearing that…” I muttered, knowing those two can hear practically anything if their names were brought up.

"I'm actually counting on them helping us. Grey is basically a copy of our main enemy so having someone who thinks and acts like them will prove invaluable. Vincent is the Admin of Life, Spiritual Life, even if he too is a copy his skills and abilities will be incredibly useful. And lastly, there's you Anna. Are you willing to ascend to something higher than Godhood and save creation? Odds are you'll also join The Family which at this point is a… well, think of it like a big harem I guess but we're all also fighting this battle."

“I mean…what’s one more fight against some asshole that wants to destroy everything for shits and giggles?” I said honestly. “Would spice thing’s up a bit, so what is this ‘ascension beyond godhood’?”

"Admins. Like Vincent but you'd be a young blood. Far stronger than you are now and when a god prays, they pray to admins. Welcome to the war Anna, Admin of Shapeshifting."

The End

Author's Note

And that's that for this story. Sure me and Bio could have done more, but we will see Anna and company more in Life of a Nobody, so stay tuned with that as our resident shapeshifter learn's what 'True Reality' is in the War

Chapter 15

The following month was… weird. Spiral, the weird squid thing, was gone, freeing the real Yevon. All that was left was closing up the other rifts and… yeah, but… I still felt… concerned.

Gilda, after convincing me let Vincent remake Zer into who he was in the Dream World Gilda was made into. It felt weird to see a nice version of Zer… a large part of me still wanted to…

“I hate this.” I said out of nowhere. “I hate this so goddamn much…”

"Considering all Zer did I can say the sentiment is shared." Luna said. She and I sat a ways away while I watched Gilda and Zer tend to some cows we bought… for them to milk and make cheese.

“This is bullshit.” I growled. “Zer get’s a fucking happy ending with the person I love the most and I just have to sit here and just…be okay with that?” I asked, desperately wanting to be okay with Gilda’s choice but knowing this was fucked up in every way possible. “There was no love in their relationship…Gilda was just…abused too hard by him…”

"They were. Yet whatever life they lived with them in that dream world… perhaps rooted itself deep into parts of Gilda's mind they had been trying to repress or ignore." Luna said. "Despite everything, Gilda always was shadowed by their time with Zer, and with a childhood like what they had… it's easy to cling so strongly to any happy memory even if it was tainted over time."

“That’s just Stockholm Syndrome!” I snapped. “Gilda…Gilda needs help…a lot of mental help, cause this is not okay…I don’t care if Vincent somehow gave Gilda that ‘dream world Zer’...this isn’t okay…” I said, fighting back tears with how I felt about this.

"Maybe not. It is unfair, but in the end, the Zer we knew is, for all accounts, dead, this new one is still a reminder. And while this is who Gilda perhaps always wanted them to be, or who before their heart portrayed them as. Cadence would know more on the subject."

“I’m going to ask them.” I said. “Cause this…this isn’t okay…I don’t care if he’s technically a new person…this entire thing became a problem because Gilda was kidnapped while I was gone…” I growled. “Where’s Cadence?”

"Most likely in the library."

With that I got up and ran inside.

Eventually I did find her and the second she saw me she sighed. "You're here about Zer and Gilda aren't you?" She asked as we both sat on the nearby chairs and desk.

“Yes.” I answered. “I know I’m about as obvious as Celestia’s cake addiction, but I need help, and answers, because this shit isn’t cool.”

"It is definitely complicated." Cadence sighed. "Well, ask away."

“This is Stockholm Syndrome, just instead of it being about loving your kidnapper, it’s loving your abuser.” I started. “Am I correct?”

Cadence nodded. "Yes. The moment I saw Gilda I could see the small threads of a tainted love. The unhealthy strands of desiring someone you know does you harm. They were weak, broken and unweaving themselves. And when I saw Zer. I saw the obsession and lust radiate off him like smoke. His craving and desire for Gilda was like an all consuming fire… then they came back with you." Cadence said.

“What happened?” I asked. “Did that magical dreamland just…magically absolve that entire shitty situation?”

"Well, whatever that was, Zer's heart is basically like someone else's. Gone is the obsession, the lust and desire for Gilda. Now rests a flame of passion… similar to your own." Cadence said, making me flinch. "As for Gilda. Well, there is now a healthy thread of love, but I do see the broken threads of the unhealthy one have merged into the new. Like twirling two or more strings together to make something stronger. They're there, but the majority of the new love Gilda has for this Zer is genuine."

I was…actually growing more furious about this, feeling my heart twisting at being told this. “Yeah…cause…cause of course…”

"I don't expect you to accept, or understand it, heck even I don't fully understand it. What I do know is that this Zer is not the one who broke into the house and kidnapped Gilda while leaving Ponyville on fire. This Zer I honestly believe won't ever hurt anyone, especially Gilda. But I do think you and Gilda need to have a talk about this. I know they had to convince you back when Vincent first altered Zer to be only his Dream World self, and you should tell them how much this hurts you."

“I know but…I’m…I’m scared…” I said sadly.

"I'd expect you to be. Gilda is, as it stands right now, the happiest they've ever been in their life. And… you're not." Cadence sighed, more or less summing up how I felt. "You can't ignore or put it off. The longer you do, the worse you will feel later."

“I know…I know…” I sighed. “This…this fucking sucks…” I said, still trying not to cry as I wanted to be strong…for me and for Gilda cause heaven forbid this might just shatter my heart.

"Do you… want me to bring them here?" Cadence asked. "Or later?"

“It’s best to do this now rather than later.” I said. “Cause the longer this takes, the worse it’ll get…”

With a nod Cadence got up.

I waited for what honestly felt like hours but I knew it was only a couple of minutes.

Gilda walked in and they sat at the seat Cadence was. "Cadence said you wanted to talk?"

“Yes…” I sighed. “Yes I do.” I gulped, trying to get the strength to actually have this conversation. “This…this is about Zer…”

Gilda took a deep breath. "I… figured, this was gonna happen. You aren't happy at all… are you?"

“Why should I?” I asked. “This entire situation is bullshit, you are the happiest I’ve ever seen you with someone that never deserved you.” I frowned. “Cadence even admitted that you still have, in some parts, that same Stockholm Syndrome esc feeling’s for him…even if a majority of the love is genuine…” I shook my head, trying to get my thought’s clear so I didn’t just ramble.

"I know…" Gilda said. "Zer is the one that got mind wiped and replaced… not me…"

“Gilda…you’re the greatest person I’ve ever met…and the one I love so truly and deeply…but just…Zer got everything he wanted…and now, he’s just…some ‘brand new person’, and I have to live with the fact that someone I wanted to murder for hurting you in so many ways…” I felt tears brimming in my eyes as I couldn’t finish my statement.

"I never expected you to be happy with this Anna." Gilda started. "I knew from the moment I asked it would… I just didn't have the perfect relationship with them in that Dream World Anna I had the perfect life!" Gilda yelled, their own tears falling now. "I grew up in a real home, with a mother who loved me, a dad who was there! I wasn't prostituted or forced to watch my body push out egg shells and yoke and the small little clump of cells that would have been mine! I didn't watch my brother join gangs and I didn't live being insulted for being who I am! I had a happy childhood. I had a happy family. And I had a happy relationship. And when I woke up for the briefest, the smallest of moments that past was all I remembered as you and my memories of you and all we have came together and I was… so happy… and then the shitty past came back, crashing and burning all that happiness from my mind cause it was all a dream in the end… I wanted just one. Just one peice of that world to stay with me. To have that and you… I knew it wouldn't be that simple or easy but I had to try…"

I started to cry, hearing all this and knowing…knowing they were right. “I’m sorry…” I muttered sadly, hating how I…basically just stole them from their perfect life.

"I don't blame you for feeling this way. And I don't hate you for waking me up from… that… I just hate that you're unhappy. I knew… you wouldn't be. I was hoping maybe if you get to know this Zer. I won't lie, I still remember the old one. I flinch and… get paranoid but, I remember you're here too. And I feel safer. I don't expect you to… like him. Heck I honestly would be surprised if you talked with him but… I know I shouldn't have… asked, and part of me does hate myself for that… I'm not asking you to forget or forgive the old Zer. I just hope you can at least get to know this Zer."

“I suppose I’m…also still reeling with how you wanted to just…’be’ with the Old Zer as well.” I said sadly. “I…I want to be happy for you, cause you are my mate, the light of my life.” I said. “I…I can at least try…”

"Thank you… and, I want you to be happy too. I know it won't make up for or… change the pain I put you through… but, if it helps… you can do that one thing to me."

I had to think a moment before I remembered we had one item on that Kink list we got from Celestia that was… honestly, really really hot but also required Gilda be ready to have babies… or in this case eggs… well, they likely already have Zer's so… adding my own is just a potion and a long bed ride away…

“You…you really want to?” I asked, looking into Gilda’s eyes and still thanking everything that’s good that we can actually work this out.

"It's only fair. Besides, it also makes me lay really fast and a month to lay one egg is kinda bullshit… plus, hey, when you give birth we'll be two overworked moms surrounded by more infants than we should have." Gilda said with a small laugh. "Plus, once you close those last rifts I imagine we'll really need to focus on the family. Both mates and the resulting infants and… all that."

“Oh yeah…” I said, rubbing away my tears. “And you still have a big harem of sexy ladies to lay with Stud…and also me cause we’re both too horny for our own good.” I giggled.

"I blame Celestia and that kink list. She just had to make sex that much more enjoyable." Gilda said, laughing as they also wiped away some tears.

“I’m…so glad that talking thing’s out works.” I sighed with a budding smile. “Cause…I…I don’t want to know what would happen otherwise.”

"Me neither… " Gilda sighed. "I guess I should add some new shit to my therapy next time I go… So… what now?"

“Well….” I started. “A date sounds nice.”

"A date with…?"

“Well…just the two of us hopefully, unless you want to bring someone else.”

"Alright. A date night, you me, that potion… but, tomorrow you have to go on a date with Zer."

“Alright, alright.” I nodded, leaning up and kissing Gilda. “All for you my wonderful griffon.”

My date with Gilda was simple. First we went out and ate, followed by some bowling and ending with a walk through town then home. Once home we… well, used the potion and Gilda had… many eggs laid that night. Potion really did make their egg laying thing really fast.

And so, the next day after spending most of the morning with Gilda and our nine eggs. Ten plus Zer's, I went out for my date with him.

It still felt weird. We walked down the road and he kept looking at me. He was definitely dressed differently. Jean overalls with a white shirt.

“So…” I started carefully. “How have you been doing?”

"Okay." He shrugged. "Sorry for staring I just, uh… never seen a creature like you before."

Wow. He really doesn't remember anything?

“It’s alright.” I said with a raised hand, even though I was mostly surprised with him not knowing who or what I am. “Keep it together, for Gilda.” I thought to myself. “I’m someone new to you, so if you have any questions I can answer them.”

"Well, um… your name is Anna right? Gilda talks a lot about you. But, uh… what are you?"

“Well…in simple terms, I’m human.” I said. “In more complicated terms…I’m a Goddess of Life?”

"Oh… well, that's… unexpected. So, you make like, plants grow and animals… exist?"

“That’s…kinda what I do.” I said honestly. “I haven’t really…tested out what I can do, all I know is that I can Shapeshift into different species if I…absorb Pyreflies, or ‘Souls’ as it were.” I said. “I can turn into Yaks, Minotaurs, Dragons, and a race of beings known as ‘Fiends’, a species of being’s that are…unsent souls.”

"So like, ghosts?"

“Fiend’s can be ghosts.” I said honestly. “But Fiends are more…physical manifestations of souls, where they can be anything from a canine, a bee, to an Iron Giant and many other creatures.”

"Huh. Weird. And how did you and Gilda meet?"

Huh… how can I explain this given his memories are all from that Dream World… actually, how much does he know? Cause from his perception he was ripped from his world into this one right?

“So uh…” I started. “Before I answer that, what do you remember? Like…how you met Gilda?” I asked carefully.

"Well, yeah we met in school." He said. "Kinda? Gilda told me something about me being from some other world made of dreams or something and someone pulled me out so… it's all confusing to me but I remember meeting Gilda in high school."

“Alright…” I said carefully. “Well…I met Gilda…oh how do I explain this?” I groaned, rubbing my temple a bit as I was trying to think of a way to explain it.

"Well, just say it like it happened then I'll say mine." Zer offered.

“Alright.” I nodded. “So…I met Gilda during some recruitment for a new Guard regiment, due to Fiends spawning around the planet and they needed some new strong folk.” I started. “Well, they were beautiful and strong…but well, we didn’t start getting to know each other until I…accidentally saw them changing after I got out of the shower at the barracks.” I said sheepishly, scratching my cheek at the memory and how awkward and…how much of an idiot I was back then.

"Heh. Yeah they have a surprisingly large one down there." Zer laughed. "Took me by surprise. Especially given they dressed like a really pretty girl all the time. No idea how they hide that thing so well."

“It was a miracle it could fit in me that well the first time we did it.” I said honestly. “This was before I became a Goddess…or…maybe I already was one? I don’t know, that whole thing is weird…but boy was it great…” I blushed, before shaking my head. “Sorry, I really didn’t want to get into horny thoughts…”

"Heh, fair I mean… yeesh it was what? Thirty dates, ten blowjobs and just as many boob jobs before I saw what they had down there? I won't lie and say I wasn't shocked but once that wore off I… let them have a turn being the one pleased. Was a bit awkward but… well, I got fairly good at handling and later on… oral."

Wow… surprising. New Zer already doing much, much better than old Zer.

“I’d say it was our…second date before I got to understand the wonder’s of being filled and sticky…and then we could barely keep our hands off each other after that.” I chuckled. “Still one fetish I want to try but know that neither of us will do…damn exhibitionism sounding so good…” I grumbled.

"Oh stars tell me about it. Gilda once was going at it under my desk while we were in detention!" Zer blushed, chuckling. "I still can't believe the teacher never noticed."

“Close we got was either fucking in the woods during one of our patrols, or fucking in the showers at the barracks.” I said honestly. “I’m pretty sure everyone knew…I always had a small limp from that beast.”

"Heh… yeah. My first time… receiving it, well I wasn't sitting right for a while…" Zer chuckled. "Gilda sure is something aren't they?"

“They’re the best.” I said readily. “The love of my life.”

"So… did you also marry them then?"

That one… hurt a bit. Gilda and Zer were married there… and with kids if I remember?

“We’ve been…trying to figure out a good time.” I said. “Cause we’ve been busy with this war…and a lot of monster fighting…” I sighed.

"I guess that would make marriage a pain in the ass to schedule huh?" Zer sighed. "Well… hey, does Gilda still wear those cute cat ears and paws?"

“I have managed to get them to wear it once.” I admitted. “It was amazing and adorable…and I want them to do it again but they say it’s too embarrassing.”

"Did they have the tail?" Zer asked.

“Yes.” I nodded. “It was so cute and…well, I got a bit frisky because of it…”

"Heh. Nice. Okay… hmm… do you also have a box of toys you both use during sex?"

“Yes, even with me shapeshifting there’s still a lot of things you can do with toys.”

"Alright, alright… okay does Gilda still have that OCD thing with their underwear?"

“So that’s why they were always so uppity when it came to underwear placement…” I said in realization. “I just thought they didn’t want to mix up our underwear due to…us having similar pairs due to…reasons.” I blushed.

"Oh no, Gilda has always been OCD. And organizes them by comfort and, their words not mine, Slipability." Zer chuckled. "Basically how easily they can move them over or slide them down and off."

“Oh that sneaky griffon.” I huffed. “No wonder they could always drop it at a moments notice…”

Zer and I spent this date walk mostly just talking about Gilda, the things we've done… where we've done them. I did have to admit, this version of Zer was… good. The whole aura of lust and creepiness was completely absent and he was just a nice guy.

It also made me happy that for the most part his memories of Gilda and Mine were similar in how much we knew the Griffon… save…

"So you haven't met Gilda's parents?" Zer asked.

“Oh…” I hissed. “So uh…remember when…you were told you came from a Dream World?” I asked nervously.

"Yeah?"

“So in your world, Gilda’s parents were happy and took care of them…in the real world, Gilda’s father fucked off and their mother…whored them out…” I said nervously. “As a child…”

"Oh… Oh that explains… a lot…" He said, stopping for a bit. The news seemed to have shocked him deeply. "What about their brother?"

“Well, currently they're working as a hermaphrodite maid to the both of us.” I said honestly. “But…they joined a gang when Gilda was still a kid and…well…thing’s only got worse as Gilda grew up…”

"Fuck…" Zer said, leaning over and trying to collect themselves. "That's… not right…"

“It was…incredibly fucked for most of their life…but then…well, I came in.” I said. “And I helped them be…well, the wonderful griffon they are today.”

Zer stood there for a while processing that information. "And… where was I? Was I not here for them or was there even another me?"

I… I can't tell them the truth…

“Well…due to gang violence…” I said nervously. “You…tried to protect them…that didn’t end well for you…”

Zer looked down, rubbing his arm nervously. "That… makes sense. Why I was pulled from that Dream World then…"

Yeah… I mentally sighed. Applejack would not approve, but some lies are better than the truth.

"Anna? Couldn't others also be pulled?" Zer asked.

I thought about that and… well, technically it doesn't exist anymore but… maybe it does… but why would…

My eyes widened… loving parents… kids…

“O-oh…uh…” I muttered. “I…I don’t know…”

"Is there anyone who might?"

Well, looks like this date is taking a detour.

To my own surprise, I took Zer by the hand and we walked right for Vincent's new place.

He set it up in the Everfree. It was a tall hollow tree and once we were in I found him at a table sorting seeds.

“Howdy Teach.” I said to Vincent.

"Hey." He said plainly. "What brings you here so soon?"

“So…Zer here…wants to know if we can bring Gilda’s parents and…kids to this world.” I answered carefully.

"You mean from the Dream World? Yeah, easily." He said.

“Cool.” I nodded. “So uh…do I need to do anything in return for this or just…you just do it?” I asked nervously, really not wanting to piss off the guy that can revoke my existance.

"Well, tell you what, you find your parents and I'll bring those other ones of Gilda's here." Vincent said.

“That works.” I nodded. “That was the next thing I was going to do anyways…next to finding the rest of the Spira Gang, the pieces of Sombra that I’m missing…pieces of Satan himself…man I have a lot crap to do still damn.” I blinked. “Oh yeah, I also need to…go on a date with Yevon…fuck.” I groaned, rubbing my temples. “Here I thought killing Spiral would have been it…”

"You have a very busy life." Zer said.

“You have no idea.” I groaned. “So yeah…last I remember, was Dad was being kept jailed by ‘The Shadow of the North’...whatever the hell that is.” I said carefully.

I regret making a lifelike copy body! So fucking cold!

I shivered as I trailed through the snow of the Frozen North. Turns out after some investigation there was a newly appeared castle of black ice even further north than Yakyakistan.

"Fucking…even my cold resistant forms are getting cold…" I groaned bitterly, continuing to head towards the new black ice castle.

Eventually I managed to see the black ice castle… it looked like Elsa went full on bad guy.

“Uh…alright…” I muttered. “Hey Gilda? Mind asking Celestia and Luna about a weird Castle of Black Ice?” I mentally asked my wonderful Griffon.

"Uhh… oh~ Oh one moment!" I chuckled. Judging by that response I caught them at a busy moment. Makes sense I basically told Gilda to enjoy the harem while I'm… technically gone. Clone body so I am there but still pregnant so, yeah… "Okay yeah they have no idea."

“Alright, and when I get back I’m gonna be wanting some of that fun…ugh, damn it, I immediately thought of a previous conversation with Zer and exhibitionism…I blame the cold and you being so sexy.” I mentally complained.

"Heh… well, we can do some stuff like thaaaaa~" The connection cut as Imagine whoever Gilda was with got Impatient.

With a shake and a sigh I activated the Kryptonian powers. Turns out I can have them on or off at will. Which is nice. I rapidly flew up and into the ice building. Shit even with the better vision I can barely make anything out…

“Hello?” I called out carefully, carefully moving around the black ice cave.

I was immediately slammed by a shadow Tendril. My Abilities letting me… tank the hit. Easily. I chuckled as I grabbed the tendril and yanked, pulling it and a huge chunk of wall off. Damn!

The whole castle seemed to screech in pain before multiple tendrils flowed out from the remaining walls, ceiling and floor.

Oh this is gonna be fun…

“Alright you, I have a lot of pent up rage and was unable to force it on someone.” I said, cracking my knuckles. “And you are just the kind of thing I need to EXPRESS IT!” I shouted, clasping my hands together in a single fist, raising it up and slamming it down into the ground as hard as I could.

I collapsed the whole castle of ice. When I popped up and out from the ruins I looked up to see a rather tall and giant Shadow pony. Below him sticking out of the ruins of ice was the petrified form of my dad.

“Alright.” I said, walking over to the Shadow pony. “I don’t know who you are, and I don’t know what your deal is, but you’re currently holding my dad hostage.”

They roared at me.

I laser eyed them in The face.

They collapsed and I absorbed all that Darkness and Pyreflies.

… Where the Fuck was this power earlier?! Seriously… Spiral could still kick my ass but this thing gets one shot!?

“Alright…uh…that was a thing…” I said carefully, walking over to my petrified dad and digging him out of the rubble.

Once I did I used my own Unpetrify spell and freed him.

"Ahg- Holy shit it's cold!" Dad yelled as he was unfrozen.

“Yes, it’s really cold dad.” I said. “There’s a lot to talk about, there’s a lot to discuss, but first.” I hugged my dad tightly and teleported back to the Crystal Empire.

"... Now, you know I love you…" Dad said. After a very long explanation and meeting some of my new family, he took about three hours to process it all. "But did you really marry your own browser history?"

"Daaaaad!" I whined in embarrassment. "I did not, and what did I tell you about looking at my browser history?"

"And what did I tell you about leaving your web tabs open?" He replied. Tommy was laughing his ass off and Gilda and the rest were all chuckling around the corner.

"I-i never…UGH!" I lightly slapped my dad's shoulder. "I save your life and this is what I get?" I pouted, crossing my arms in a huff.

"I wake up, find out my daughter is a shape shifting goddess of life, married to a harem and her ideal femboy, and apparently I'm going to be a grandpa!" He motioned to my normal body, the pregnancy belly showing and the crib/nest of eggs… "I clearly missed a lot so forgive my coping mechanism."

"Fine." I sighed, relenting a bit on this before hugging my dad again. "I missed you dad…"

"I'm glad you're happy… just wish I didn't miss all this."

"I know…but there's some things I'm glad you didn't have to experience." I said carefully. "But can we focus on Tommy getting a harem instead of embarrassing me?" I asked. "Cause it's way more embarrassing for him."

"Hmm… nah. That's every father's dream for their sons. Besides, yours is way more funny." Dad laughed.

I huffed. “It’s not funny.” I grumbled. “And of course he get’s off scott free…so, all that’s left is to save Mom…”

"And where is she?" Dad asked.

“Currently, she’s in the middle of the Canterlot Crystal Cavern’s, surrounded by very powerful Fiends that would…normally be endgame encounters for me…and also she’s in a stone statue known as a Fayth…” I sighed.

"Okay. Can you get to her?"

"Did you have to blow up that side of Canterlot Mountain?" Celestia asked me. Dragging the Fayth with my mom inside.

“Yes.” I said. “Cause fuck Labyrinth’s, and all the stupidly strong Fiend’s down there.” I said, having done a quick survey down there and yes, those things are capable of standing up to me in a fight. “Also because I have a lot more shit on my plate considering there are…a lot of loose ends to tie up…which I also remembered, I still have a few…million timelines still in my stomach…”

"So, how are we gonna get your mother out of there?" Dad asked.

"I…don't know…" I said carefully. "Also…why is Yuna in it as well?" I frowned, seeing the Fayth had both mom and Yuna in it.

“Maybe because they’re both summoners?” Tommy brought up.

"That…would make sense." I nodded, seeing that the two of them were holding a summoner staff in a frozen Sending dance. "Wish I knew how to fix this…" I frowned, knowing Vincent could but I really wished I knew how to do it.

“What about Yevon?”

“That…would be a good idea.” I nodded. “Though uh…you might…not entirely like him…” I said nervously, remembering a certain…fact about Yevon that my dad would not be happy about.

“So, who is this Yevon and why does he sound so familiar? He one of the game characters?” Dad asked.

“Well…technically yes?” I said nervously. “It’s…really hard to describe…you’d have to meet him to fully understand what I mean…all I can say is, don’t panic…and don’t try to maul him…”

“Why? I mean, for fucks sake Anna you’re sharing beds with gods and furries and… furry gods. How bad can they be?”

“About that…” I said nervously. “Hey Yevon? You can come out now.” I called out to my Godly Half, knowing he has a weird habit of just appearing behind me and scaring the crap out of me.

Yevon walked through the door, and Dad had a sword to their throat immediately. “What the-!” Yevon yelped as they fell back and on their butt.

“Dad!” I shouted in panic, rushing over to get between the two quickly. “First, where the hell did you get Jecht’s sword, and two, remember when I said don’t panic!?”

“I… don’t know where this came from… and two… I mean, he looks just like him!” Dad replied.

“Um… Hi again.” Yevon said.

“Yes, I know, he looks like a Ventral.” I said carefully. “But he’s a good guy, I promise! He’s…also technically my god fiance.” I said carefully. “However the hell that works…”

Dad pulled the Iconic Sword back but kept an eye on Yevon. Thankfully Yevon knew exactly how to undo the Fayth construction and both Mom and Yuna were freed after a few hours.

“Mom!” I said, rushing over and hugging my newly freed mother happily. “I’m…I’m so glad your back…” I cried, even as Tommy also dog piled onto mom and cried about as much..

It was a long talk with mom who, surprisingly remembered everything. She helped dad and Tommy get back up to speed and now I went back to Vincent.

"Found your parents already?" He asked.

“Yes…it was breathtakingly easy…” I said nervously. “Kryptonian strength is nonsense…and I blew up a chunk of Canterlot Mountain cause fuck maze’s and also fuck those Fiends that are still a challenge to me…” I frowned. “Though I was surprised that Mom and Yuna remembered…everything.”

"Eh. So, who did you want back from the dream world place?" Vincent asked.

“Gilda’s parents and…Gilda and Zer’s kid or kids…” I said carefully.

"Alright." He shrugged. He snapped his fingers and just like that four Griffons, two adults and two kids, appeared laid down on the ground next to us. The two adults, male and female, I could clearly see as being Gilda's mom and dad. Feather colors and all that. The two kids, the oldest looking maybe eleven with blue feathers and fur, and the youngest who looked maybe five or six had brightly golden feathers complimented by a spotted brown. "There you go."

“Thank you.” I nodded. “So…hi there you four…” I said, even though seeing that Zer got to spend eleven years with a child and yet I still haven’t given birth yet…even if I was on better terms with him, it still stung.

"What, where are we?" The adult female asked.

"Where's momma?" The little Griffoness asked.

I smiled a bit at that. Hearing her most likely referring to Gilda as Momma was adorable.

I explained things as best as possible to the adults while the kids, Gallus, who was adopted by the dream world Zer and Gilda at age three, and Gully, who was adopted at barely a year, were occupied by Vincent.

"So… this Gilda is and isn't our child?" Gilda's father, Groth, asked

“Yes…” I said carefully. “It’s a whole thing…and believe me when I say, you don’t want to know what ‘real you’ did…” I said nervously.

"Well, it doesn't matter. If what this world version of us did was bad then we need to be there for them." Gilda's mom, Galla, said. "And our grandkids are here and Anna here says Zer is here too so, it's better than… well, I guess not existing."

"True. Just so strange… and you say This world there's a potion that can change your gender?" Groth asked.

“Yes.” I nodded. “And also…you’re going to be getting…a lot more grandkids…like a lot.” I said sheepishly.

"Well that's fine by me." Galla said with a chuckle.

Needless to say Gallus and Gully wher happy to see their mom again. Gilda, after a minor panic realized these were the dream world parents, kids and Zer and promptly cried tears of the purist joy I could have witnessed.

I let them all catch up and Gilda gave them a tour. In the meantime…

It didn't take a lot to find Gilda's actual birth Mother in this reality. This Galla was clearly ill. Feathers falling out, minor muscle atrophy, a hacking cough and looked older than she was. She reeked of grime, filth and booze.

Part of me almost pitied her. Almost.

I looked at her through her small shabby house window and wondered… what can I do? She's clearly already-

"Busy?" I nearly yelped as I saw Yevon appear next to me.

“Uh…a little yeah.” I sighed. “Also can you please stop that?” I pouted.

"What has you so conflicted?" He asked, looking into the window and seeing her. "Hm. She doesn't have much time left."

“Well…” I started. “I’m not sure what to do with this literal sack of shit…she’s about to die from her own abusive actions…”

"Would you be okay with that?"

“I’d like to because of all the bullshit they forced on Gilda…” I frowned. “I…don’t know sadly…I don’t know if I should step in and just…finish it myself just to spite them…or just let them die from their own mistakes.”

"Would you be able to live with yourself if you did?" Yevon asked.

“I want to, cause I still have a lot of pent of rage from not murdering old Zer…” I frowned. “But this…” I motioned. “This is just sad.”

Yevon nodded, smirking as they sighed. "In a timeline long ago, you once told me rage was the cancer that eats away happiness. I'm not gonna say forgive her or old Zer, but let the rage go. Let it burn itself out. Besides, revenge isn't always something that needs to end in death or violence. Sometimes giving them a second chance is better revenge than following rage." I looked at Yevon, confused until he held out a hand. "Allow me to show you what we can do together, now that Spiral is gone."

Still confused, I took his hand.

It was like a bolt of lightning, the power I felt now that we were linked was like… nothing I could describe. All around me the lines and passing and flow of life I could see it. Yevon pulled my attention to Gilda's mother, and a wave of their hand I saw as she went from the sickly Griffoness to younger, healthier, younger. Younger. Younger, and lastly where she once sat in an old chair now sat an egg.

With that, Yevon let go of my hand, that rush of power leaving as he walked around and into the house.

“Whoa…” I muttered in awe. “That’s…that’s a headrush and a half…”

"That, is our unified power." Yevon said, walking back out with the Egg that was/is Gilda's mom. "Very few entities are born in this or any world as cruel and evil. Many become this way over time. And this power gives us the chance to see them become their best selves. To be better I shackled by the pain of who they were." He said, handing me the egg.

“That makes sense.” I nodded, gently taking the egg and holding it protectively. “And…yeah…hopefully things will start getting better around here…”

The next few months went by quick. Hunting for Lulu, Rikku and Auron.

Lulu was apparently under the sea so that was fun. Bright side, I get a merpony form now.

Rikku was actually in the minotaur lands being used as a statue for decoration. Owner of the factory let me take her for five hundred bits that I threw at his face.

Lastly, Auron was in Yeti country where while I was there I stopped a coup to overthrow the queen and gained the princess there as a herd mate in the process.

With them all done and found I am taking a break. I wanna enjoy my family for a while before finishing up stuff. So, that is what I will do. I need some me and family time.

To be continued...

New World

“Alright, finally beat almost everything in this damned arena.” I frown while checking the strategy guide for Final Fantasy X’s monsters. “Too bad I can't fight the Dark Aeons and Penance, lucky bastards.” I frown, only having the American version of the game. “Last up, Nemesis. Let's see how hard this guy is.” I mutter while rushing head long into fighting the last ‘boss’ with my fully geared out people.

The first thing that happened was my characters got ambushed and immediately the golden version of Omega and Ultima weapon used a normal attack...and dealt over 30k damage, killing one of my characters. “Damn.” I frown, readying my characters for the fight before hearing a gunshot outside. “And now gunshots…” I sigh out. “Can't the end of the world involve less murder? It might actually help stop the world from being Mad Max after the fact.” I complain to only myself. “End of the world and people are acting like it's murder season all of a sudden.”

After a while of this back and forth in my game I finally managed to beat Nemesis and man was it satisfying...but I still felt a bit mad that I couldn't do anything else. “After all that I'm all done with the American version of Final Fantasy Ten...damn it.” I frowned while laying on my bed. “Maybe a drink will help.” I mutter, getting up and walking to out of my room to the kitchen. I passed by a mirror and just took a second to look over my eightteen year old self, my long brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, my face thankfully still clean after the months it took to clean up all my acne, my red eyes sparkling like the rubies my parents still told me about to this day, my 36C cup breasts still being up and perky, my stomach not being the most co-operative in my life as even in my shirt I could tell the subtle signs I was getting some extra ‘padding’, and everything else about me was just simple and nice, from my legs, to my hips, to my slightly bigger ass, and overall I wouldn't call myself drop dead beautiful like I wish I was, but I was good looking at least. “Well at least I still look nice.” I mutter, knowing my fifteen year old younger brother would say I was to die for, still a precious kid even if I was older than him by four years.

After making myself a quick food break I heard people rush into the house, my kid brother crying madly which made me get up and rush over, seeing my parents slightly bloody and my brother holding his arm and panicking. “What the hell happened to you guys!?” I yelp in shock, helping them all out.

“Some bastard gang attacked us.” My 48 year old dad, who is a US veteran in the Grenada War back in 1983 and stayed pretty fit instead of slacking off, and my mom, who took martial arts lessons for four years to keep in shape, seemed pretty beaten...but those two could handle themselves. What broke my heart was my bruised baby brother who's left arm looked broken, maybe dislocated but I was starting to panic.

“A-Anna…” My little brother starts, tears streaming down his face while I moved over and gently wrapped my arms around him, making sure I didn't hurt him.

“It’s alright Tommy, Anna’s here.” I whisper gently. “You two okay?” I asked my parents worriedly.

“You should see the bastards who hurt Tommy.” My dad growled, wiping some blood from his forehead and heading off to get some medical supplies we keep in the house.

“We're alright. A bit banged up but alright.” My 46 year old mother said gently. “Well...who wants something to eat? I'll cook.” She says, hoping a home cooked meal will help everyone.

“Yes please.” I say while helping Tommy to the couch.

“Alright.” My mother nodded, heading into the kitchen and preparing for a simple meal. “David? I'm making some food, think you can help Tommy?” She calls out to my father.

“I'm on it Clare.” My dad said to my mother while walking into the living room with a box of medical supplies. “This is gonna hurt for a moment Tommy...just hold onto Anna.” He says while Tommy held onto me as tight as he could, my dad taking his dislocated arm and swiftly putting it back in place, my brother trying his darndest not to scream, holding me as tight as he could as he had to endure such pain made me break into tears.

So what's the thing that I do in a time like this? Hum the ‘Song of Prayer’ to my little brother, hoping it would help calm him down as much as it did to me. You see the song is a very important thing in Final Fantasy Ten, kind of like a religious national anthem for the game, and even though the religion in that game was corrupt as fuck and gave zero shits about the people it at least gave the people hope...and right now I had to be here for my little brother to give him hope it'll be all better. “Why would someone hurt you all?” I ask my dad sadly.

“Just a bunch of crazies.” My dad shook his head.

“Did you finally beat your game Anna?” Tommy asked me.

“Yep.” I smile gently. “Want to see the last monster? It's gonna take a while for mom to finish food.” I tell him, feeling better that he's asking me about my game.

“Yes please.” My brother smiles, the two of us heading to my room and I did the fight over again to help give my brother some happiness in this hell.

Little did I know Hell was going to ruin it all.

After my second fight with Nemesis and Tommy being happy we were all called down for food, which when we got down we saw plates of macaroni and cheese, our favorites. For a moment I thought we were all going back to normal, me and my family would be happy and filled with hope for a better future...until my dad panicked at seeing a goddamn tank outside. Seriously who has a fucking tank around here!?! “Kids run!” My dad shouted as me and Tommy bolted without question, only for an explosion to ring out a little later. I remember shielding Tommy from something….but I couldn't feel my chest anymore...and I barely caught a glimpse of my parents crawling to Tommy...my baby brother crying…

I'm sorry…

“Tommy! Mom! Dad!” I scream in panic, looking around and holding my chest, breathing heavily but only seeing a vast amount of white. “No...nonono….” I say rapidly.

“Calm down my child.” Someone told me, while I looked over and found some familiar.

“Old Man Johnson?” I raise an eyebrow in confusion, not sure why I saw my friendly old neighbor here. It looked just like him too, long white beard, joy filled blue eyes, tanned white skin, and wearing the same white shirt and blue jeans that stayed clean no matter how many times I've seen him wear it.

“Oh him? He was always a nice guy to be around.” The man chuckled. “No, I'm God.” The man says, snapping his fingers and magicking up a table and chairs. “Please, sit down.”

“No, where’s my family?” I ask him, still panicking over my missing family.

“They're still at your now destroyed house...crying over your dead body.” He says, showing me a picture of my parents and Tommy sobbing over my body, which had a big chunk of wood shoved straight through my chest.

“No...no…” I mutter, shaking my head in disbelief, falling to my knees and sobbing. “I can't be dead! My family still needs me! My baby brother needs me! I...I gave him hope…” I mutter the last part, my tears and sadness falling free.

“Oh child….” God mutters sadly, walking over and putting a hand on my shaking shoulders. “What if I said I could reunite you with your family?” He asks, making me look up at him as fast as possible.

“Really!?!” I shout incredulously. “How? Please tell me!”

“Easy Anna, it won't be that simple.” He tells me. “But first, what powers do you want?”

“Powers?” I ask, royally confused on why he asked that.

“Well you're gonna need them with what you're going to do in your new home.” God told me.

“Hang on whoa, new home?” I ask, even more confused now.

“Yep, but I can tell you have something in mind.” He says while summoning my old Final Fantasy Ten strategy guide, and flipping it to the monster manual section. “I believe you've spent enough time studying these creatures huh?”

“Monster arena be damned if I didn't.” I chuckled, feeling a little better but not entirely.

“Alright, but I can only give you basic monsters to transform into. You'll have to get the rest yourself.” He says with a bright smile.

“Wait, transform?” I ask with a frown.

“You'll know when you get there.” He says while snapping his fingers and a portal opened. “Here's your coat, bag, your monster manual and a few other things.” He says while handing me my stuff and tapping me on the head, my entire body suddenly feeling like it was on fire. “Have fun.” He says while pushing me through the portal with my stuff as I just passed out.

“Ugh...my head…” I grumble, putting a hand on my head. “The hell happened?” I mutter, putting a hand on the ground and feeling...grass? “Huh?” I mutter, looking down and seeing grass instead of either my houses floor or the white space I was in before. “Where am I?” I mutter, getting up slowly and taking a look around the place, finding out I was near a town, a forest, and still having no clue where I was. “Weird…” I muttered, picking up my stuff and checking my bag, finding a strange box, two maps, and a sphere...wait…”That's not a regular sphere…” I mutter while grabbing the thing, looking it over and seeing it was a sphere from the game, and it had a message on it. “Ah damn it, how do I turn this thing on?” I frown, trying to figure out how to turn it on. I lifted it up to the light and saw what it had.

“If you found this then it will hold some answers to your powers, how to get your family back, how to level up your abilities, and some other things. Just ask.” The sphere says in a monotone voice.

“How do I use my powers? And what can I turn into?” I ask it.

“Transformations: Dingo, Condor, Raldo and Water Flan.” It says, giving me one Mi’hen Highroad monster and all the Besaid land monsters. “How to transform: take a deep breath, envision the monster in your head, and say it's name.” The sphere tells me.

“Okay, seems simple enough.” I mutter while putting the sphere down near my bag and took a step back. I took a deep breath and imagined the Dingo fiend. “Dingo.” I mumble and, presto chango, I shifted into the monster. ”Cool.” I think to myself, feeling like the actual thing. I used the same trick and turned back to normal thankfully. “Woof, that stings...” I mutter, rubbing my head a bit as my body burned a little from the shape shifting. “Now, how do I get my family back?” I ask the sphere.

“Three trails await you to bring the ones you love back.”

“Damn it.” I frown.

“To find Tommy, you must show kindness to a brown spotted orphan who loves the moon.” It says.

“Weird…” I frown.

“To find David, you must stop the Shadow plaguing the North.” It states.

“Okay…” I frown, not understanding what it meant.

“To find Clare, one must pray to the Fayth under the mountain.” It tells me.

“What spelling did you use on ‘Fayth’?” I ask it quickly, and it responded with what I thought it told me. “How the fuck is there a Fayth here!?!” I shout to myself incredulously.

“The world holds many secrets, most of which the ruling diarchs wish to forget.” The sphere tells me.

“Diarchs?” I ask before I heard something fly by. “Shit!” I yelp while turning the sphere off, putting it in my bag, grabbing my coat and running to find a safe place and not find out what just flew by. When I got under a tree I looked up at the sky, wondering why I heard something fly on a bright blue sky...only to find a mother fucking pegasus flying around. “The hell?” I frown, knowing it shouldn't be the weirdest thing I've seen all day but still.

“Come on guys! What's taking so long?” The...pegasus….talked.

“Hold yer horses Rainbow.” Someone with a southern accent called out, only for me to see...horses?

“What in the name of hell?” I frown.

“Hi!” Someone says from behind me suddenly, only for me to scream and jump away from the voice.

“The fuck!?!” I shout, looking at the pink horse smiling like mad.

“My name's Pinkie Pie, what's your name?” Pinkie asks happily.

“How the fuck does a horse talk!?” I shout, completely flabbergasted at that fact as I backed away.

“Pinkie what are-the hay is that?” The rainbow Pegasus asks, probably meaning me but I was kind of panicking at the moment.

“Horses...talk…” I take a deep breath. “Okay...I shouldn't be surprised...I can do special things…” I mumble to myself, completely confused on things right now.

“What's going on?” Someone else asked, which made me look around and see...unicorns as well and more horses.

“A lot of things are wrong…” I mutter, before seeing a little baby dragon.

“Um...who and what are you?” A purple unicorn asked.

“I'm human...and my name's Anna.” I say slowly. “And who the hell are all of you...and how the hell are you all talking?” I ask worriedly, the horses looking at each other in confusion.

“What do you mean ‘how are we talking’? We've always been able to talk.” The lavender unicorn tells me.

“I'm so confused.” I rub my forehead, feeling a little woozy all of a sudden. “Can I get a drink?” I ask, sitting down and taking deep breaths.

“You okay?” A shy sounding butter Pegasus steps up in worry about my safety.

“Kind of…” I say, feeling a little breathless. “Ugh...I don't feel so good.” I mutter, my body burning more.

“We should get her some help. Spike I need you to send a letter to Princess Celestia about this.” The purple horse says, before I turn my back to them and throw up.

“God that hurts…” I groan, not knowing why I'm burning up so suddenly. “Help…” I muttered, my eyes blurring before I fall to my side on the ground, passing out rather quickly.

I slowly regained consciousness, hearing beeping for some reason. “H-huh?” I mutter, my body thankfully not burning so much but my head was still in pain.

“She's waking up.” Someone said, causing my brain to catch up faster and wake me up more. I opened my blurry eyes and noticed a horse with a nurse hat and some of the other ponies.

“Not...more...horses.” I mutter.

“We're ponies, but glad to see you're okay. You were suddenly burning up like a tree on fire.” The nurse to my knowledge told me. “What happened to you?”

“Too...much...confusion.” I mutter, raising my arms and rubbing my eyes to get rid of the blur. “Felt like fire ants were biting me…”

“Ow.” Someone says.

“Anna, feeling better?” The butter yellow pegasus asks.

“My head is still in pain, I'm surrounded by candy colored ponies that can talk...and I'm confused...and I'm scared about my family…” I tell her, not knowing why I added my family but it felt necessary to say.

“What happened to your family?” The pegasus asks worriedly.

“I don't know….their locked away or something? I don't know…” I sigh out sadly, holding my chest bitterly. “Where am I?”

“You're in the Ponyville hospital.” The lavender mare tells me.

“Okay what country?” I ask.

“Equestria.”

“Okay so I'm in the land of Equines.” I sigh out. “Wonderful.”

“What were you doing at our picnic spot?” The marshmallow colored unicorn asks curiously, her accent sounding pompous but with a friendly tune to it.

“Just got suddenly dumped there. Nothing special.” I shrug a little.

“Um...okay…” The mare frowns.

“What's a human?” The lavender unicorn asked.

“Wait…” I mutter, rubbing my eyes again and trying to make sure I was seeing this right...and yes I was seeing this right, all the girls in the room were entire mares, who were ranging from cute, shy and royally busty pegasus, to the flat chested athlete.

“Okay...um...thought I was just seeing things the first time.” I shake my head, swearing they were normal ponies before but I suppose my sudden shock illness confused me. “Anyways...humans are basically hairless monkeys for the most part, minus the tail as well.” I say. “But seeing at least two of you bigger than me...makes me feel a little small.” I frown, seeing the Pink anthro mare and Butter yellow Pegasus with their big D or DD sized breasts, but glad they were covered by either a white shirt with balloons on it or a green sweater.

“You're still growing from what we can tell. You just hit eighteen right?” The lavender unicorn asks.

“How did you know?” I ask curiously.

“General body structure, size compared to standard eighteen year old mares, and other things.” Twilight shrugs.

“I suppose..” I frown. “Did any of you look through my stuff?” I ask with a frown,

“No. We didn't want to look through your personal belongings.” The nurse told me.

“Thank you.” I nod, trying to sit up.

“Careful, you're probably still sick from whatever made you sick.” The nurse tells me in honest worry.

“I probably could guess why.” I say. “Ever heard of shapeshifting?” I ask.

“Yes, but that's an advanced spell. Not many know it and even then it can't be sustained for long.” The smart one tells me.

“Well I tried that out for the first time...it burned a little after I turned back to normal but….then all of you came and...I suppose the after effects of what I did plus my shock and panicked mind caused it." I explain. “Makes enough sense to me I suppose.”

“Well...I did sense a strange magical residue on you, but I didn't know what to think of it." The mare said.

“My name's Pinkie Pie. Sorry for scaring you before.” The pink pony says nervously, twiddling her thumbs in front of her big breasts.

“My name's Twilight, sorry for not telling our name's sooner.” Twilight says nervously.

“Names Applejack, I help run Sweet Apple Acres.” The farm mare said.

“I'm Rainbow Dash, fastest flyer in Equestria.” The blue athlete boasted with pride to back it up.

“I'm Fluttershy, I was the one who wanted to make sure you were alright.” The mare with the biggest boobs in the room said with a warm and adorable smile.

“And I'm Nurse Redheart, and even though I'm a Nurse I help take care of the patients here more than the doctors.“ The nurse nodded to me.

“I'm Anna...and I wish we could have done this in a better place…” I say sheepishly, before hearing someone scream. “Or a better time.” I frowned. “That's not good.” I say while getting out of the medical stuff and heading off to whatever is going on to the growing protests of the ponies.

To be continued...

Fighting then learning

Despite their protests, I ran outside and saw two Fiends, a Dingo, and a Condor. The Dingo was trying to attack ponies inside their home, it’s paws breaking through glass, and the Condor was swooping down, trying to get at running ponies in the street.

“The hell are these things doing here?” I panicked, before shaking my head. “No no, don’t panic right now. Gotta focus.” I said before bolting after the Dingo is someone’s home. “Alright...let’s hope for the best…” I muttered while finding the thing quickly and taking a deep breath and charging at it. “Raldo!” I shouted, feeling my body shift into that of the armored lizard about as tall as the Dingo, and even though I felt a lot slower my previous charge let me continue as I slammed my new shield arm into the Fiends side when it wasn’t paying attention. ”Alright asshole, pick on someone your own size.” I thought to myself as I growled a challenge to the Fiend.

It rushed in, trying to bite at my shield arm before I bashed it away, the thing slamming onto some nearby potted plants and making a messy and hasty recovery to its feet.

I growled again as I stomped on the ground before charging at it again, my movements slow given how bulky and armored I was but given the thing was already injured it probably was slowed down.

I rushed in, the beast trying to dodge but limped last minute, getting one last hard bash, an audible crack as it fell over, limp and lifeless.

I panted, surprised at how much it took out of me as I saw the thing start to vanish as Pyreflies, magical beings that formed a lot of things in Spira, before it completely vanished. ”Cool…” I thought to myself, glad that that was still a thing instead of there just being a rotting dog corpse here before I shifted back to my human form. “Woof...that hurts…” I grumbled while putting a hand to my head, still feeling that burning sensation but I shook it off and rushed off to find that Condor.

It chased a Pony into a shop of sorts, quickly turning to me and using its claws, latching to my head.

“Gah! Bitch!” I shouted. “Water Flan!” I shouted, my entire body slipping out of the Condor’s grip as I became a literal flan monster made of water. ”Okay so...how the hell does magic work again?” I thought to myself, really wishing I knew how to do things before going head long into combat as I tried to focus a Water spell towards the Condor.

While using this form to dodge and move around rapidly. Moving in this body, I realized I was… It was natural, second nature almost. At least I had that going for me, but the damn spells…

”Fuck it…” I thought to myself as it decided to dive at me again, only for me to leap onto it and wrap myself around it’s head and trying to crush it instead of me trying to figure out how to cast magic.

While my grip wasn’t strong enough, It was slowing down. I was drowning it. After a while the bird finally fell limp.

I moved off of it as Pyreflies flew out of the Condor’s body as it vanished into nothing as I changed back into my human form. “Well, that takes care of that.” I said while dusting my hands as I heard the final fantasy ten victory fanfare play out of nowhere.

“So… that’s what it’s like when you shift?” I turned, seeing Twilight and the others. “What… what were those forms?”

“Um...those were monsters called ‘Fiends’.” I said nervously. “I can apparently shapeshift into them, and...apparently they also exist in this world.”

“I have never seen creatures like that, not even in the Everfree Forest.” Fluttershy said. “What were those lights when you...you…” She got quiet.

“Those were Pyreflies.” I said. “They’re...kind of hard to explain, but they're basically magical beings that are...I suppose an embodiment of life and memories?” I asked nervously, never really fully understanding the finer details in their symbolism.

“Does beating those beasts and letting those Pyr-whatevers go means you can shift into those things too?” Rainbow asked.

“Uh…” I blinked. “Maybe? I mean, I could have turned into both of them before I killed them but...I don’t actually know, I just got here like...however long I’ve been passed out ago.”

“Just a day really.” Rarity said.

“So what do those Pyr-things do anyway? If they’re magic and memories does freeing them from monsters make your transformations stronger?” Rainbow asked again.

“I don’t know, maybe?” I asked with a helpless shrug.

“You should know, you leveled up silly.” Pinkie giggled, as I blinked and looked up seeing ‘Level Up’ right above my head.

“Seriously?” I pouted at the blatant sign of me leveling up.

“How… is that even possible?” Applejack asked.

“Maybe whatever magic she and these monsters might share just acts this way… I’d love a chance to study it if you’d be okay with that.” Twilight asked.

“Well, I’m going to need to learn magic soon…” I said. “But it better not be anything too weird in the field of study.”

“Alright then, come with me then. You can stay in my guest room at the Golden Oaks Library, I’ll have Spike send a letter to the Princesses once we get there. They will have to meet you.”

“Hope I’ll make a good first impression.” I said sheepishly, remembering what that Sphere said about the ‘diarchs wanting to forget’ and feeling like my powers might bring back some bad memories. “Oh, by the way, where’s my stuff?”

“What stuff?” Twilight asked, and there was a long silence…

“The bag I had which held all my stuff…” I took a deep breath. “Please tell me one of you saw a bag and a weird blue sphere thing near it?” I asked, hoping one of them did cause those were literally my only belongings.

“Like that one over there?” Pinkie pointed. We all turned towards what looked like a giant pastry made into a building, out by the door and to the left of it, was the blue sphere, and my bag under it.

“Yes…” I said slowly while walking over to my stuff and picking it up, checking inside and thankfully my coat and strategy guide were in there as I grabbed the sphere and gently put it in my bag. “Thank god I didn’t lose these…”

“How did this get here?” Rarity asked.

“Hello there!” Suddenly this...snake...dragon… bear thing popped in front of me. “My my my, such chaos, such an impressive display of power! And here I thought only I could cause damage like that.”

“Excuse me, who's the chimera?” I asked nervously, not sure if the thing is friend or foe at this point.

“Discord!? What are you doing here, why are you here?” Twilight demanded.

“Oh I sensed something not of this world appear, and suddenly so many more started popping up. Of course as a good friend to Fluttershy, and you all through extension, I investigated.” It snapped it’s fingers, a copy of the game falling at my feet, and a guide book. “Imagine my surprise when all this chaos started coming from this little thing, then again, the multiverse is an interesting thing.”

“Wait…” I raised my hands in a ‘please stop’ motion. “Excuse me, how much do you just...magically know?” I asked nervously while seeing that indeed...it was a Final Fantasy X game and strategy guide...wait, it was remastered!?!

“Lady I am the Lord of Chaos, if it doesn’t make sense in the natural order of the world, I know everything about it. Comes with the territory.” He said, floating around. “Though I have to say… what I learned is… not pleasant. I mean, I’m up for chaos and havoc, but this is disturbing.”

“You played through the entire game?” I asked Discord curiously.

“No, but I skimmed the guide book. I learned a few things and it seems what I was worried about is true. Before I explain this, tell me, do any of you know exactly how my Chaos magic works?” Discord asked, all the Ponies snaking their heads. “You see, it’s so wild and uncontrollable because my magic is drawn right from the realities within the Multiverse itself, from every one of them at once into my body. As such, moving between them is easy, so long as a body for me is present in each world.”

“Wait, so while you were trapped in stone here you…” Twilight asked.

“Was free as a bird in another. In any case, mostly, aside from me and a few others, no one can traverse the multiverse without their own powerful magic and such. That being said, there are times when it… breaks.”

“What do you mean by...breaking?” I asked nervously.

“Well, there are walls in place to keep them from traveling over naturally, but every so often, cracks form, things leak through and normally when the crack self repairs, the things leaked into are returned, sometimes not so much, you’d know this as things ranging from Ghosts, monsters that should not exist like Bigfoot or The Rake and all that, some realities make these cracks to travel the multiverse for a long time before it heals, then there are moments where it breaks, forming a hole. A hole in the multiverse wall between realities doesn’t just leak, it floods monsters, people, and many things between both worlds. If not repaired, the entire wall may shatter, and both realities would merge in a hellfire matching that of the big bang. All life in both as they are would all be killed, and the resulting world to be formed after will evolve as a merge of the two.”

“Okay…” I said, my head kind of spinning from that massive info dump. “Where can I get food?” I asked, hoping to bring up this conversation never cause that's'...that’s a lot to take in.

We went over to Twilight’s place, where she served tea and Pinkie brought Cupcakes. Once we all sat down Discord spoke again. “In any case, to repair the hole, we need to first figure out who made it. After that, things will return to normal, with the exception for whatever gets fully converted. You see, each reality also structures it’s matter in a unique way, being in another reality can cause a conversion. So long as it’s not too far along, they will be pulled back to where they come from. But, this does provide an opportunity for us so long as the hole is open.”

“And this opportunity is?” I asked curiously. “Cause while all of this wall breaking dog shit is fine...I just want to bring my family back, and this told me how.” I said while bringing up the Sphere, a clear blue ball that looked like a condensed ball of water inside a ring which had very strange markings on it.

“While the hole is open, I can make it feel more like what you are accustomed to.” Discord said. “As for your family… Well, I’m sorry but I don’t know where they ended up. You all arrived at once, that I do know, but where you all ended up is still a mystery, one I’m sure I can quickly figure out.”

“Well the first and simplest one should be ‘helping a brown spotted foal who loves the moon’...literally no idea who that is, but he sounds like a nice enough kid.” I said honestly, everyone in the room knew exactly who he was.

“Is, is she talkn’ bout Pipsqueak?” Applejack asked.

“Of course she is silly.” Pinkie said honestly. “What other pony has brown spots on them, and is a massive Luna fan?”

“So...who’s Pipsqueak?” I asked curiously.

“He’s a colt, younger than my own, and Applejack’s little sister, Sweetie Belle and Applebloom. He only moved to Ponyville about… two or so years ago?” Rarity informed.

“What does Pip have to do with any of this?” Rainbow asked.

“He’s the one that’ll let me save my baby brother.” I said sadly. “Cause...well apparently, the person who sent me here with my powers and stuff decided to...give me quests to get them back, one of which is here, another is up north somewhere...and I have no idea how in the hell the third one’s going to work because as far as I know a Fayth isn’t here.” I explained.

“Hmm… Well, I have a theory on that last one.” DIscord said. “But I am unsure. That being said, as I said, so long as the hole between this world and the other is open, I can use my chaos magic to organize it. As much as it pains me to tidy up chaos, I can make things useful for you.”

“Thank you.” I nodded. “I’ll need all the help I can get to figure this crap out…” I said while finally taking a bite of the cupcake Pinkie gave me.

“Alright then. First off, something simple.” Discord snapped their… bird… talons? I felt an odd tingle in my eyes, suddenly in my vision I saw… is that an HP bar? Mana, a clock… a menu option? This is kinda cool. Oh hey a mini map too! “While not accurate, this isn’t that game so, better to cover RPG hud basics.” DIscord said.

“Better to have the basics than having nothing.” I said honestly.

“In regards to you all, if you decide to join her take these with you.” Discord gave another snap, seven pairs of goggles appearing before them all, including the small purple dragon Spike. “These will allow you to see what she sees as well as register all who wear them in each others hud as allies.”

The others all put them on, in my hud, and theirs, all the others names, HP, MP, and levels were present. I’m at level 3, with Applejack and Rainbow Dash also level three, Twilight Level two, and the others are all level one. “This is amazing!” Twilight said.

“Aw yeah! Level three!” Rainbow said.

“So’s Anna and I RD.” Applejack said with a laugh.

“Cool.” I nodded. “This will be enjoyable...hmm…” I hummed while grabbing my Sphere and turning it on, a menu appearing that listed ‘transformations’, ‘info’, and ‘quests’. “I wonder…” I muttered while going to info. “How can I get new transformations?” I asked the Sphere.

My hud lit up.

Link Established.

A tab under my Menu showed up, titled Stats.

Looking at it, I saw it glow then it showed me in more detail than the Sphere does on it’s small surface. Quest list, hints, map locations, list of my shifts. Of which five were apparently available… Upgrade and stats options for all of those, hotkey options… This is useful as all hell.

“Sweet.” I said with a smile. “I didn’t think your little action could include my Sphere.” I said to Discord.

“I figured it would help, besides, if it breaks the laws of reality then it’s fun by my standards. That being said though, sadly despite all I can do there are still limits to what I can and can’t do.” Discord said, taking a sip of tea… only to drink half of the tea cup itself while the tea remained inside and as if it was within the cup.

“I don’t expect you to be able to solve all my problems even if you are a nigh omnipotent god from what you’ve explained.” I said honestly.

“The fact Discord can’t do certain things is just surprising and disturbing all at the same time.” Applejack said.

“You’re telling me.” Discord grumbled. “Regardless, while you all can fight these monsters, I can’t. Their spills through the hole in the multiverse gives them just a tinge of Chaos Magic, not enough to do anything, but it makes them immune to what I can do. I can bring and place items from this other world around in chests, but can’t actually give them to you upright, they need at least a few moments in a contained space to self stabilize to their new reality. Living things take the spilling easier than inorganic matter.”

“I assume it has something to do with their Life Force energies?” Twilight asked.

“Yes it does, protects them better than something without one.”

“Well that’s...quite a bit of info.” I said honestly. “Good to know...so about this Pipsqueak kid.”

“I know where he is.” Rainbow spoke up. “Ponyville Orphanage, same as Scootaloo. Seen them hang out when I fly by to pick her up for lunch or just to hang.”

“Alright.” I nodded. “Um...is there anything special about the orphanage I should know before going there and being all ‘hey, I got a kid to help for a quest’?”

“Well, to enter you need to register as a visitor, and to even head out with one of the foals you also need to register as a big brother or big sister with their youth program. After that you can then talk with said foal, in this case Pip, and then sign the papers.” Rainbow said.

“Still don’t know why you don’t just adopt her Rainbow Dash.” Rarity said.

“Look, I love Scootaloo, but… come on, even though I know I’m not mother material. Besides, I don’t make enough money to support myself and a kid.”

“Maybe someday Sugar Cube.” Applejack said.

“Being a mother, no I’m too young for that...but the big sister thing works.” I said honestly. “I’ve been a big sister for a long time to a little brother, why not another one?”

“Cool. To register all you need is to have an address, and an… Equestrian Birth Certificate… Or equivalency Citizenship papers...:”

“Uh…” I muttered. “That’s...going to be a bit complicated given I wasn’t born here…” I said while checking my bag, hoping God set me up with at least something to get past this little paperwork hurdle.

Nope, just some High potions, Potions, and a… a book? I opened it up, the pages all blank for some reason. Huh… strange. Is this a journal? No, it doesn't look like it would be one.

“Well...okay then…” I muttered while also seeing my Strategy guide in there thankfully as well as my coat. “So yeah I’m...gonna have to get stuck with all that paperwork…” I sighed out.

“Maybe the Princesses can help you there?” Fluttershy said.

“May I see that book?” Twilight asked, motioning to the blank book.

“Oh, sure.” I said while handing her the blank book. “Got an idea why it’s blank?”

“No, but I might as well examine it.” Twilight said, taking it in her magic and looking over the pages, while blank to me, maybe not so blank to her.

“So how am I going to get some citizen papers? Because...I have no idea how any of that will work.” I said sheepishly.

“Like Shy said, the Princesses should be able to help there. In the end though all you’ll need to register is proof of residents for at least two year, proof of marriage, or pay up front a one time fee of over five thousand bits for immediate citizenship.” Applejack said. “And given those options, your only option is the payment, but hardly anypony, save for many the Rich’s, have that kind of cash.”

“So off I go to do a lot of odd jobs for money...yay.” I sighed out. “Well...it’s better than nothing I suppose.”

“Well, I can’t pay much but the farm always needs work.” Applejack said.

“I can pay for some heavy lifting to organize storage at the Boutique.” Rarity said.

“I bet the Princesses will pay you for dealing with these monsters.” Rainbow said.

“Alright, all of those are good.” I nodded. “Good start...so when are the princesses getting here?” I asked curiously.

“I haven’t heard back yet, once I do i’ll let you know once they do.” Twilight said, still looking over the blank book.

“Got any clues on the book?” I asked curiously.

“There ARE words here, but they are Magic Locked. Only specific events can reveal them. What those events are though I don’t know.” She said, giving the book back to me. “Guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”

“Well...I have a couple of ideas about what it could be but it’s better to wait and see.” I said while taking the book and putting it in my bag.

"I'll show you to the guest room. You must be exhausted." Twilight said as she and I got up. Her guest room was just a bit smaller than my old room. A bit smaller than my old room.

"Cool." I said while walking over to the bed...and promptly crashing as I hit the stupidly soft bed.

I was dreaming. I knew that much. I was… this is… hey this is Zanarkand! Before Sin attacked. Where are all the people?

"Hello?" I called out, walking around where I could to find someone..

Nothing. There was no one here at all. The longer I was here, the more I realized, not wind, birds or anything here seemed to move. It was like time froze to keep this place in an eternal image. I found myself walking along a roadway, seeing the edge of this vast city stopped abruptly, a drop into an eternal abyss below was all that awaited off this road's end.

"Alright...so maybe the stadium?" I muttered to myself, turning around and heading away from the abyss.

The stadium was no different. It looked amazing but overall still empty- Yikes! I halted, a large black and chrome sword barely missing me as it hit the ground an inch in front of me with enough force to embed itself into the ground a foot, and blast dirt and debre all around the nearby area.

"What's Jechts sword doing here?" I panicked.

"Glad to see my reputation expands to other realities." The sports star/Guardian himself said, leaping from the top of the stadium to the ground before me, pulling his sword out with ease. "But a better question is, what in the big wide world of Spira are you? Cause human you ain't, but you somehow aren't a Fiend either."

"Can I just...fangirl for a moment before answering?" I asked slowly, trying to contain my excitement the best I could.

Jecht smirked. "Go on, always nice to meet a fan."

So for the next, what I could only guess was five very embarrassing minutes, I fangirled it up to Jecht, one of the coolest characters in my favorite game.

Once that was over I told him about my world, God, and how now Fiends are causing chaos in Equestria because of a hole between Equestria and Spira. Or the world Spira is on anyway. "Hmm… if not for personal experience, I'd call you crazy, but I know better. So, you can shift into various Fiends you destroy?"

"As far as I know." I shrugged. "I could have turned into the ones I just killed but I'll figure it out." I said simply. "But the better question is...what am I doing here?"

"Wish I knew kid. Last thing I remember was fighting Sin, then all of a sudden everything went white, and here I am."

”So...this takes place before Tidus and co beat him?” I thought to myself curiously. “Who was with you in your fight with Sin?”

"Braskar and Auron, my friend and fellow guardian of the high summoner. I looked all around this place and didn't find either of them. Saw you walk in here as I was about to take a nap up there."

”Oh dear…” I thought to myself nervously. “Alright, good to know.” I nodded. “Feel any difference after waking up here?”

"Other than my wounds were all healed, not really."

“Alright.” I nodded. “So many things are happening...and it’s only day one…”

"Well, that aside, you got a weapon?"

"No, don't really need one when I can just shapeshift." I shrugged. "At least, that's what a person who doesn't care about 'safe than sorry'."

"So you're just gonna shapeshift into a fiend for every fight?"

"Well I'll need to get better at it, but I'm probably gonna get myself a weapon...just don't know which one cause there's a lot."

"Whatever fits, but given you can shape shift, if you can spellcast too, that would be impressive."

"I can turn into a Water Flan at the moment so I'm pretty sure I can cast spells...sadly I don't know how." I sighed out.

"Hm… have you ever cast magic before?"

“Nope.” I shook my head. “Where I come from, magic is more ‘smoke and mirrors’ than actual ‘I literally ignite the air with a snap of my fingers’.” I said honestly.

"Ah. I know the issue then."

“And that would be?” I asked curiously.

He handed me a small bottle with some kind of greenish blue liquid. "No Mana in your system, so no magic to cast. Drink that Ether, should give you enough for a spell or two."

“Well...didn’t think of that.” I said while taking the bottle and popping it open. “Did you know that Flan’s are actually very mobile?” I asked curiously. “And that you can drown something in a Water Flan’s body?” I asked while drinking the Ether.

"Heh, seen it enough times." Jecht said.

“Cool.” I nodded. “So, what weapon can you teach me if I may ask?”

"Hmm…" Jecht thought. He then pulled out a small, decorative stick. "I might get in trouble for this, but here. This is a spare staff the High Summoner gave me to hold onto in case his broke. If your Fiend forms use magic, your hand one might as well too."

“Well, let’s hope for the best.” I said while taking the staff. “Thank you.”

"Good, now then, a simple spell is a basic fire spell. Most everyone at least learns this spell. To cast it, feel within you anger, fear and hatred. Let it flow into the staff, and when it reaches the tip, aim, and the staff will shoot the fireball out."

“Alright, sounds simple enough.” I said while taking a deep breath and raising my staff, feeling my anger, fear and hatred bubbling up as I envisioned that bastard with a tank taking me away from my family. I felt my magic starting to flow through the staff, and when it hit the tip I casted my first Fire spell at a part of the stadium and set it on fire.

The fires burned for a while before dying down. "Good. More advanced spells will require studies, but the basics will just require strong emotions."

“Cool.” I nodded. “I’m sure this will come in handy, especially in my Flan form.” I said honestly.

"So, how did you end up here exactly?" Jecht asked. "You said you ended up in a different world, but not this place? Right?"

“Nope, I wound up in a world called Equestria, I just passed out on a bed after fighting some Fiends and...then I got here.” I said honestly.

"Hmm. In that case, in all likelihood, we're both dreaming while here. That or you are and I'm stuck here."

“Well it wouldn’t be right if you're stuck here...but I have no idea how to get you out of here.” I said honestly.

"Well, if we both are dreaming this, mind if I try something?"

“Sure.” I nodded. “Go right ahead.”

"Okay… God's this will suck." Jecht said, standing as black lightning flowed from his arms, concentrating into his hands as he threw them and the lightning up to the sky. Then he grabbed me. Looking up, I saw the lightning coming right back down at us… oh shit.

"Gah!" I yelled, waking back up in the bed. It was night and all was dark. “Couldn’t have woken me up the next day?” I grumbled while getting up and stretching. “So that was...a thing...wonder why I went there…”

As I was stretching I felt something on the bed… the staff Jecht gave me. How did this get here?

“Huh...that’s weird.” I said while picking up the staff. “Well...it’s better than nothing I suppose.” I muttered while leaving my room to see how late it was and if anyone else was awake.

I saw the little Drake Spike up and about, the smell of cooking eggs and… bacon. Yum…

“Thank god for actual meat…” I muttered while heading towards the kitchen. “Little early to be making breakfast huh?”

"Huh. Oh, morning. The smell isn't bothering you is it?" Spike asked as he flipped the bacon.

“How dare you assume the holy food that is Bacon would bother me.” I said jokingly. “I am an Omnivore after all.”

"Oh? Really? That's so cool. I'm a carnivore, but I grew up on an Omnivore diet. I gotta have some kind of meat. So I cook mine early morning and late at night so Twilight doesn't catch the smell. One whiff of this and she'll be hurling dinner from last night. Only ponies that can stomach the smell, and taste are the Princesses and Pegasus ponies. Pegasus do normally have fish for wing and feather health but can stomach other meats."

"Cool. So mind if I ask to have some eggs and bacon as well? I'll owe ya." I said as my stomach growled.

"Sure, and don't worry about it. Princess Celestia sends me a delivery every week, most of the time there are some left over, but if you need to eat meat also, I'm sure when she comes over today I can ask her for more so you can eat too."

“Thank you.” I said happily. “I haven’t had bacon in a while...and the smell of it is just wonderful.”

After a while Spike gave me a plate heavy on the bacon and a large omelet stuffed with cheese, mushrooms, onions, Belle peppers and thin sliced fried potatoes. Needless to say, it was amazing. Food here tastes way better than back home. Guess industrial farming and all that crap aren't things here. Or at least, they are but can keep the flavor of all the food. Once Spike and I ate and finished he began his daily chores and I read through a book on basic Magic Spike said I could use for study. While these were meant for Unicorns with my staff. I should be able to use them also. Only question is, if Ethers are how I restore my Mana, where can I get more?

“So uh...how do Unicorns collect magic?” I asked Spike. “Given Twilight might have rambled about it to herself given she looks like the kind of person...er, pony.”

"Unicorns naturally make magic in their bodies, the same way you eat to get energy. Why do you ask?" Spike asked, the Drake sweeping the lobby floor.

“Well, one of my transformations can use magic and...apparently so can I.” I said honestly while raising my staff. “That’s why I got this magically.”

"Huh. And you can't make magic naturally?" I checked my MP gage. Still on low even after eating… so no… damn.

“Nope...and apparently even sleeping didn’t give me any which that’s the one thing I expected to give me mana…” I frowned.

"Huh… oh, Zecora, a zebra that lives in the Everfree, brews potions out of magic and such to cast spells. Maybe she can get you some, or teach you how."

“Cool...and where is the Everfree?” I asked curiously.

"Just outside of town. Fluttershy's cottage is nearby, so she can take you along the path to Zecora's hut."

“Alright.” I nodded.

As I was looking through the book, some time had passed and there was a knock at the door. Opening it, I saw Spike lead two gigantic women into the room. The first, coat as white as rarity and tall enough to stretch her arms and touch the roof. Her hair looked like a rainbow and it was moving in a non-existent wind. The other, shorter, but a good foot, was a fairly dark blue color, hair like the night sky and also blew in non-existent wind. "Are you Anna?" The taller of the two asked.

I blinked at the two big women...in more ways than one. “Damn…”

"Is… that a yes?" The shorter one asked.

"Yes." Spike spoke up. "Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, this is Anna."

“It’s nice to meet you both.” I shook my head. “Sorry you’re just...both big…” I said, pouting again as I felt slightly underwhelmed with my own looks at this point.

"We are alicorns, when you embody all three races of pony in one, much about the physical body changes to fit the power you hold inside." Celestia said. We all took a seat. "Now then, Twilight's note informed me of a lot. But I wish to confirm." Celestia asked many questions, all of which I answered as they largely retained to me, my abilities, and the fiends.

"Now Discord was all 'hole in reality' thing...but it kind of feels like you've been through this before." I said honestly.

"I would be lying if I said otherwise." Celestia said with a sigh. "Cracks, yes, a hole, no. That is new."

"Well have you dealt with my certain brand of trouble?" I asked curiously. The fiends and the like?"

"Little, we believe." Luna said. "Some of these monsters were seen back two thousand years ago. Back when my sister and I were entering our teenage years physically. Alicorns live long lives, and age slower physically as a result. Physically, my sister and I are in our mid thirties and late twenties respectively, but that is just the physical age."

"Excuse me, did you just say two thousand?" I asked in shock. "Dragons being that old? Sure, they are literally magic incarnate if Dungeons and Dragons is to be believed…" I started. “And Discord makes sense cause he said he’s basically an omnipotent god.”

"Yes. Back then sealing the cracks, it either took a few hours to repair, and all not from this world return to where they belong." Celestia said. "Each time it was either people or monsters. Those cracks were caused by… something, but we never learned what or who caused them. But we do know this hole is made by that same being."

“Hmm...that is interesting…” I hummed, thinking about who might have caused this if it wasn’t God...but given that Fiends were involved and more FFX stuff I could only guess it was one thing.

"All in all, these monsters, while troublesome, have been dealt with. However In the time of Harmony since then the guard has grown rather soft sadly. So you will be our first, and last line of attack and defense until we can get them all properly trained."

"And thankfully, we have something that still works." Luna said, giving me a map. Opening it, it showed all the lands of this world. "Discord made this for us back when these first began appearing. Whenever a crack appears, it's location will appear."

“Well...this is gonna be my side quest while I do my main quests…” I hummed. “Also jeez...dragons, yaks, griffons, zebra’s, what other races are there?”

"Deer, Antilope, Changelings, Hippogriffs, Sea Ponies, and many more." Luna added.

“Quite a diverse world you have here…” I said honestly. “So if cracks ever appear, will I have transportation or will I have to run there?”

"We are working on that. For now though it seems they are all centering around Ponyville, but according to the map, there is one in the Dragon Lands, one in the Badlands, and two in the Everfree… and, of course." Celestia used her magic, opening the map. The locations all showed where the cracks… and far, far south, was a large sized, at least on the map, hole. The hole between these worlds.

“Well...that’s a problem.” I said nervously. “Didn’t think this problem was...that big…”

"Fixing a hole if this size will require a lot of help. Anna, we ask you, as Princesses of a Nation in a time of Crisis, will you use your power to help and train our soldiers to defend our Homeland?" Celestia asked.

"We have more than enough in terms of resources to aid you how we can." Luna added.

“My main quest is rescuing my family. If you want anyone to train your soldiers, that would be my dad...but I’m not a soldier, I’m just an eighteen year old girl with magic powers and image issues.” I said sheepishly. “But I’ll try to help as best I can with all the minor things till then...sorry…” I sighed out.

"If it is a family you seek we can help best." Luna said. "My sister can send words throughout the kingdom, and I can search the realm of sleep for any of your origin. Do you have any ideas where they may be?" Luna asked me.

“Locked behind quests.” I said. “My little brother is hidden behind the quest ‘Help a brown spotted orphan who loves the moon’, my dad’s hidden behind ‘Stop the Shadow Plaguing the North’, and my mother is hidden behind ‘Pray to the Faythe hidden under the Mountain’...and given all the mountain ranges I saw on the map that could take forever.”

Celestia seemed to think things over, while Luna looked at me a tad confused. "Brown spotted orphan? Does thou mean young Pipsqueak?" She asked. "That little foal is always dreaming of nightmare nights, when I show up and scare the foals. He is a sweet child… wait, he is an orphan?"

“I guess?” I said nervously. “I don’t know, but what I do know is that I need to do a bunch of paperwork to be seen as a Citizen of Equestria to be his ‘big sister’ from what Rainbow Dash told me about.”

"Well we can help you skip all that fairly easily in one of two ways." Celestia said.

“How so?” I asked curiously. “What, is one the way’s adopting me or something?” I joked.

"Well, yes but given your age we can't adopt you like a child. It would have to be through marriage to a noble"

"There other is also by marriage but to us, and that would sadly earn you enemies within many of the noble houses. The prior option sounds better in all honesty." Luna said. "But, given Pipsqueak is a foal and an orphan…" there was a flash of Blue, Luna was gone now and Celestia just gave a laugh.

“What’s so funny?” I asked curiously. “I mean, I think Luna figured out how to get past all of this stuff but still.”

"Nothing, it's just Luna likely just left to adopt Pipsqueak. She has wanted a foal of her own for as long as we have been of age, but most of the time laws and tribal bias of the past kept her from that dream. Modern Equestria however is much more open to what was once taboo. Though if Pipsqueak is the foal of which you speak, how does that little foal hold the key to your own brother?" Celestia pondered.

“No idea...either symbolic, helping someone I would treat as a little brother to get my little brother back, or because their similar being they both like adventure, swords, and other things.” I shrugged. “I haven’t met Pipsqueak so I wouldn’t know…”

"Hmm… interesting. Also, I feel maybe given these events to transpire, I feel a possible third option is available. Not quite adoption, but earning your place in Equestria."

“How so?” I asked curiously.

"Well, Luna will be adopting Pipsqueak as her son, likely letting him reside within Ponyville to stay with his friends, and likely with Twilight as she is a Princess, more than likely Luna will go through the hassle of running between Ponyville and Canterlot for her duties, as a Princess and as a Mother. If we take you on as a guard, tasked with Pipsqueak's protection as well as Twilight's, a few of these Fiend attacks will earn you a noble ranking and by extension full Equestrian citizenship. Once you are a noble my sister and I, the crown can take you under as a Princess, but as a niece. It's a lot more steps but over all better image and goal wise for the both of us. Young Pipsqueak holds the key to your brother, and as your family is returned to you they will also be brought in as princes and Princesses because of your biological relation."

“Thank you.” I said thankfully. “It means...so much to hear that.”

"Glad you think so. But, one thing is of question to me. You mentioned a Faith under a mountain. Is a Faith a person or deity?"

“Okay so this ‘faith’ is different.” I said. “First it’s spelled with a ‘y’ instead of an ‘i’. And second of all...a Fayth is kind of concerning given that...at least from how I learned it, you need to put a willing soul into a statue of power, and certain people can...do a trail to awaken said spirit to bring up an Aeon, a powerful creature that’s based on the soul and how the statue is made.” I explained nervously.

"Hmm… this statue, what does it look like?"

"It can look different, but it would be a humanoid torso with whatever extra bits are on it based on what the soul is going to be shaped into, and it's covered in a see through material that's pretty strong...doubt it's glass given its supposed to house that thing."

"Hmmm there were many objects to fall through the cracks back all those many years ago. Most to all are kept under storage deep within Canterlot's mountain. Perhaps this Fayth you need is somewhere in there? It has been over two thousand years however, so the way there is likely dangerous."

"Okay cool. That'll be for later." I nodded, feeling a lot better knowing where mom was. "But do you know what Shadow is plaguing the north?"

"Hmm… the only thing I can think of is King Sombra, but he was defeated and banished to the ether a year ago. But, with these Fiends appearing, perhaps their energy might revive some form of lingering remnants of him. I'll have to send word to my niece Cadence then. She's the Princess of the Crystal Empire, the kingdom Sombra took over and enslaved under his tyrannical rule. Thanks to her and my student Twilight and her friends, the Empire is once again a thriving nation, their flag flying alongside Equestria's."

"Cool." I nodded. "Good to know there's more help around...let's just hope it all works out…"

"One can only hope." Celestia sighed. "That being said, is there anything we can help you with at the moment? The guard paperwork will take a day after Luna adopts Pipsqueak, is there anything you require at the moment?"

"Um...how much meat do you send Spike? Cause I'm a natural omnivore by race so...just want to make sure Spike isn't losing out on food." I said, Celestia seeing I cared a lot about being a good guest.

"Spike consumes an average of forty to fifty pounds of meat weekly. You are an Omnivore race? Hm, well in that case to tide you both over, then when your family returns, I can double it for now and if more is needed as time goes on I can increase the amount."

"Thank you princess." I nodded. "I owe you...massively."

"Think nothing of it. To have an ace up our selves in a sudden time of Crisis is an invaluable strike of luck and good fate. I just hope by the end of this Crisis we can look forward to a long, well deserved rest period."

"We can only hope for the best…" I sighed out. "But I'll make sure to end whatever big problems are happening to give people that break."

To be continued...