Jack's PoV

I'm getting a serious feeling of Deja Vu right now. I'm standing on an island, completely surrounded by vast water. Unlike the, "water" inside of the cavern of Tartarus. It looks clean, unpolluted and safe for marine life to swim in. There is a nice breeze to accompany to the serene atmosphere of the environment.

The actual island has a tropical nature. Palm trees with coconuts are scattered across the landscape of the small island, clean cut grass cover the ground, and the sun seems so much brighter than I remember. It looked so beautiful, as if both Planet earth and Equis decided to combine into a single perfect place.

Where are am I?

Last time I checked I was at the mental institute of Tartarus. I don't remember it looking so... welcoming to say the least.

Wait...

I'm dreaming aren't I?

Well that does explain why I'm in a paradise when I was originally inside Equestria's own version of hell. I might as well enjoy this before I end up back in that hotel room. Oh, I'm sorry I meant my... new healing center.

The one thing I'm afraid of though is Princess Luna just appearing out of the blue, I heard that normally happens.

"Do not worry sir, it was ensured that nothing and no one will ever be able to breach your mind, unless it is you."

I froze at that second, originally I would always jump in surprise. At this point, I've become accustomed to that familiar old voice. I dust off the sand that got on my cloak from the wind passing through the beach area.

"Carter? Where have you been? On the carriage ride you've been completely silent." I said with worry and curiosity to his unusual behavior.

…

He doesn't say anything in response. Carter's silent treatment hasn't gone on long but it sure is annoying. The sun's rays get just a little bit brighter, and I cant help but feel out of place in this paradise. A giant, black and white wearing, supervillain in a place that looks so comely is very... off putting to someone or somepony else.

"That will all be explained at a later time, but I advise that you would enjoy your dream for now. You don't often get time to yourself after all, sir." Carter bewilderedly explained.

I want to know the answer to this mystery, but I can at least let it go for now.

Normally people cant control dreams by themselves or without princess Luna's help. Now, that I am aware I'm dreaming it is officially considered lucid dreaming. You see, when the user is aware that they are dreaming, they can meld their own dream to their hearts desire.

Let's see...

I hold out my hand, and I imagined a flash of lighting going off in the distance. Storm clouds begin to gather in the distance and sure enough, a full blown lighting storm is going off in the distance. Incredible, so far in Equestria I have never been able to experience a lucid dream.

Okay, what else can I do? Hmm...

"Twilight Sparkle." I imagined to myself, the picture of the purple unicorn, soon to be alicorn, and student of Princess Celestia.

The sound of a balloon popping reaches my ears, and I turn around. A impressively accurate depiction of the unicorn is right in front of me, she also has the familiar smile that she always seemed to have on the show. I reach my hand forward, and touch the head of the pony. She doesn't react as expected, she isn't real after all.

I wonder if what she feels like enters the dream too.

I undo the straps that keep my braced gloves on my right hand, and the sight of my enlarged hand in the sun never ceases to surprise me. With my powerful healing it has no scars from the mistakes I've made while trying to make puppets and masks.

What? I'm not perfect, no one truly is.

With my uncovered hand I attempt to feel the top of her head. It doesn't have any feeling to it, the look of the texture is perfect, but since I never actually felt the top of her head it would make sense that my mind doesn't know how it feels. I wonder what would happen if I ever actually tried to pet a pony.

Bad idea, they would probably think I'm trying to snap their head off if I do so. Just something to think about!

So strange that someone of my dark morals would ever consider doing anything so affectionate to one of my enemies/rivals. They are small huggable ponies though, so I suppose that I cant resist at least thinking about it. I could disguise myself and try it, but my disguised form isn't perfect. Puppet Showpony is pretty small compared to the average size of a pony, the main six is taller than me, and Princess Celestia never seemed so much taller.

Imagine a midget on earth trying to pet someone who is two times taller than them. That is what it would look like.

Anyhow, what else should I do?

Twilight Sparkle is still standing there with that spot on grin. A cupcake materializes in my hand, and no I'm not going to eat it. It's dream, it wouldn't taste like anything. No, I put it on her head! Carefully adjusting it I balance it so it just barely hides behind her horn, at the center of her head.

I step back, and to what would be her horror I summon Ashe’s signature rifle. I want to try and shoot the cupcake without shooting her horn off, or shooting her head off at that. I resize the rifle so it stays at an appropriate position for my figure, and aim very carefully at the cupcake.

The cupcake is chocolate, pink frosted, with rainbow sprinkles on the top. I focus on that, and make sure to stay focused on that so I don't blow her head clean off.

Just like that!

BANG!

(Ponyville)
Inside the town of Ponyville, a certain pink pony with cotton candy like hair. Pinkie Pie, she sat at near the window side table, she stared out into the dark abyss of the night.

Her eyes were as dark as evil, and she started to shed a small tear at the horrible crime that has been committed. The sound of the screams of the innocent victim during the murder sounded in her ears. Who could do such a horrible thing?

All she could do was sit by and cry.

"It's a dark night tonight." Pinkie Pie said with tears, closing her eyes in shame.

"Damn! Perfect!" I said with a thumbs up.

I had shot the cupcake with supreme accuracy off her head, the dessert is a mess though. Sprinkles and frosting is scattered on the ground, and half of the actual chocolate material is gone. Looks like a murder scene, to Pinkie Pie at least. I wonder if she knows this happened?

Well I'm bored now, what else can I do? How about a change of scenery?

Focusing hard I think of a different place that a tropical island.

The place completely changes, and turns into a large metropolis like city. It's completely deserted, but there are cars driving by every now and then. The sun still beams onto the landscape, and skyscrapers now surround me. I admire the man made place from my home planet.

New York City.

I've only been there a few times. My Aunt Anna would take me there whenever her job demanded it, I barely ever talked to her during those times. She didn't trust me to be alone at home even though I was able to take care of myself. It's likely because of the death of my mother and father. It sure as hell scarred me for life.

Next, uh... Manhattan.

I only saw it through a window of a plane, but damn was it beautiful at night. I could never understand why ponies seemed to ever hate the night. It's extraordinary when you can let go your petty fears of the dark. City light's surround me, I'm in Times Square!

I give off a slight chuckle, I never thought I would ever see Earth again. Even though it was through dreams, it's nice to have a sense of home.

"I'm sure it is isn't it? It's not often when an alien get's to see their home again."

I whip around instantly, and summon a fire spell in my hand, at first I expected the Princess of the night. But, that was a man's voice, and nopony knows that I'm from another world.

He stands at average height, wears a grey trench coat with a fedora. I cant see his face but I can faintly see wrinkles in his skin. I have no idea where this guy came from, I didn't imagine him did I?

"Who are you?! How are you even here" I demanded to his face.

I'm just about ready to burn this guy to cinders, he doesn't even answer my question. My jumpy paranoia forces me to action. The flames in my hands burst to life, and fire flames at the size of a flamethrower into the poor guy. I feel bad for him, but he shouldn't have shocked me like this.

"Shocked you say?" His old voice says.

My own eyes widen, and I cease my onslaught of fire. He is still there, without a burn on his body. How is this possible? He should be expelled from the dream by now!

"If it's shock you wish for then, so be it." He says with a sigh.

The old man snaps his fingers, and at first nothing happens. I was going to question him before horrible, immense pain coursed through my veins.

It's indescribable, as if I was being torn apart. Then I realized, sparks were flying off me, and lightning was shocking me, how is this possible. This is a dream of MY creation! I shouldn't feel pain like this!

I instantly fall to one knee, and my left hand braces to the ground. My right grips my side, and I could only sit there and try to resist. Through sheer determination I very, very slowly get back up, and continue to shoot flames towards him! After I managed to start fighting back the pain stops, and I fall to the ground.

"You humans, I admit that you are very determined when you need to be." He says, without a single sign of exhaustion in his voice.

I shakily get back up, phantom pains pierce through me, and after a few failures I regain my composure, staying at my intimidating height I clear my throat. Fighting this menace is a very bad idea, at least for now it is. Speaking to him may be my best option at the moment.

"I'll ask one more time if you don't mind. Who are you, and why are you here?" I asked carefully, I never felt this intimidated before. Get your head in the game Jack!

The scenery changes on it's own, and is now a casual diner at midnight. Human waiters go around to serve those who came to eat here. I expected them to at least stare at us in curiosity, but they don't even acknowledge our presence.

He sit's in the opposite chair from mine, and intertwined his fingers with his two hands. He now just analyzes me, looking me up and down from the bottom to top. Until, his gaze rests upon my masked face. I'm unable to see his expression but if I had to guess, he likely felt amused at my bewilderment.

"I understand that you are extremely confused. Just allow me to explain... You are here, in Equestria, because of us." He explains cryptically.

My eyebrow raised, is this guy being serious? How would he be able to send someone... like... me.

My own thoughts stutter as I look at the window, each is like a T.V screen. Showing the events that occurred in my time, me passing out, waking up in the Everfree Forest, my first robbery, first city assault, and even now.

He is serious, I have... So many questions.

"I know them all, and I will answer them to your hearts content." He says sitting straight up.

I pay close attention, knowing that this will be crucially important.

"We have been watching over pony kind since it's beginning, keeping the species safe while experimenting to our own whims and desires. From the Founding to the Dark Ages we have been keeping balance and maintaining it's survival to keep life at a safe level." He explained.

So this group was a kind of private security to them? Why would they need me then?

"Unfortunately, soon things started to go awry. Pony kind gained new rulers, the Sisters as they're called, they took over control and tipped the scale of balance completely. We could never allow that, and we took action." He explained looking at the window showing various images of villains attacking the Equestrian nation.

"We are not allowed to take action directly, but we may send certain individuals to the world to fix it. Villains as so called, Grogar, Sombra, Nightmare Moon, Tirek, they all were sent to restore balance, but they all failed. Each were created with an assistant to support them, much like the Carter A.I is to you." He said pointing towards me.

So there were others before me? Those are all characters from the show, Grogar is from a different generation but still... It's a lot to take in at once.

"Take Tirek as an example, we gave him the never before seen power of stealing magic, but he got drunk on the power. His assistant was our biggest failure, Organic supporters never work out in the end." He said shaking his head in disappointment.

Organic? What does he mean, wait...

"Scorpan, he was Tirek's created assistant wasn't he? He betrayed Tirek after seeing how the ponies lived, and it was all because he had the free will of a sentient mind!" I pieced together in after careful thought.

He nods his head in approval,

"Correct, but Carter is a perfect new model. His design was based off of Scorpan, but we removed the sentient free will and the organic body, and now? He's loyal, follows orders and works at great capacity." He says with pride.

I got a upgraded re-boot of a failed assistant? I feel so very confident now.

"After each failure we started to lose hope, but then we discovered, the Displaced. Humans stolen away from their home planet to other versions of Equestria. So we thought, why don't we try? Thus we did, we chose someone who wanted to have a sense of achievement no matter the cost." He said starting me dead in the eyes.

I think I know where this is going.

"You, you are the most successful villain we could have ever dreamed of. We gave you certain powers, and ensured that we planned and planned extremely carefully. The result? The ultimate villain, and it's paying off. This new plan of yours? It's perfect! You humans always have the perfect imagination, and we made a great choice in choosing you." He said pointing his open hands towards me.

A waiter drops by leaving a plate of meat sauce spaghetti, and he takes a fork from the side of the table. I was chosen because of my mindset? I had theorized that I was sent randomly, but everything had some sort of purpose to it?

"Have you ever wondered why you didn't feel guilty at the atrocities you have committed?" He said tasting his meal.

That is something that has been on my mind. Shouldn't I feel some kind of sorrow from the murders or robberies I've done?

"That is because of us. Normally, if we hadn't tampered with your mental stability you would have turned yourself in a long time ago. So, we did only what we could do to stop it. We drove you to extremely unstable insanity, to the point where you should have been unable to control yourself but we covered for that too." He explained casually.

That... explains a lot actually.

"That is all I have to explain for now, I'll let you think to yourself for a bit." He says looking at me.

Alright, so this guy is from a sort of group conspiracy that has been watching over Equestria? What he has been saying makes sense, what intrigues me most is the other villains they sent. I have no doubt that this guy can hear me right now, but I'll need to find these other avatars that they sent. The ones he mentioned at least, Nightmare Moon will be hard, and if I want to talk to Sombra it'll need to be before he dies.

So, Tirek will be the best option for now since I'm in Tartarus. The problem, he isn't in the mental institute, so if I want to talk to him I'll need to find a way into the prison section of Tartarus. How though? Swimming is a death sentence, brute force is an option but it'll foil my entire plan, and sneaking probably wont work either.

"Actually, one more thing. When we gave you your power we wanted to test your capability. Thus, we have a certain test for you. He said quickly while finishing his plate.

I slightly cock my head, I'm curious to see what test I'm going to have next. So far I've done everything on my own, and it seems that they'll let me keep that free will. Though, it may be interesting to see what they've got.

"We are going to nerf you, we wont tell you what was nerfed. You're going to fight an certain enemy, and believe me you'll have a hard time." He explained with what looked like a smile.

What enemy would be so difficult that he'd grin like that? The nerf may be annoying but I can handle it somehow.

Everyone suddenly, abruptly got up, and began to leave the restaurant. The atmosphere of the room suddenly felt much more sinister, and the old man disappeared, he was there just a moment ago!

The sound of loud, heavy footsteps trail on to my right.

I turn to look towards the source, and what I saw caught me off guard.

It was... me.

Black Cloak, armored, tall, and seemed to radiate the aura of danger that everyone seems to feel. So this is what ponies feel like when they see me! The only visible difference between us was his mask, it unlike the usual red, was a gradient blue.

It actually looked pretty good, I wont lie.

After a good few minutes I was tempted to touch him, but to my absolute shock he drew back his fist. He delivered a rib shattering blow straight to my chest, the pain reached my mind the moment the force took place.

The momentum threw me back and sliding onto the floor, I could distinctly feel blood leaking from my mouth while trying to cough the pain away. It was much worse than how much damage the lightning did.

Something isn't right, why aren't I healing, the ability should-

Then a dark realization gripped my thoughts, the nerf... They took away my accelerated healing.

He charges toward me at alarming speeds, and I manage to teleport out of the way last second. Fighting through the pain I grab onto a table, and threw it at him with as much force as I could. It successfully connects, but he just shrugs it off as if it's nothing.

I run towards him, and he ran straight to me. Blow after blow had connected, and I could tell that the attacks I do are much less effective than his on me. They let him retain the healing, this is not a fair fight.

Physical fighting isn't an option, I need to try something else!

Once again teleporting back I summon the same fire spell I originally used, and began to dispense flames that can rival that of any. But, I failed to consider the idea that this was me that I was fighting. So he had the same power, he conjured a spell that generates water. It's a very difficult spell, but I figured out how to use it in my spare time.

Taste my ass Star Swirl!

The water extinguished the flames, and the whole diner was clouded with steam. I couldn't see him anymore, and I began to grow worry some.

If I die in a dream would I die in real life? The fact that I can feel pain right now points to evidence that I am vulnerable in this dreamscape.

I need to think outside the box, wait... that's it! This is still my lucid dream!

I close my eyes and gain focus! The scenery morphed back into the island I was originally on, but this time it was severely different. It was nighttime, the moon was shining brightly giving us a clear view of our surroundings. A thunderstorm was plaguing the ocean around us, and my clone is standing a small distance away from me.

Next idea!

I use the dream to my advantage just a bit more, and create a large tour bus above the clone's head. I'm going to name this guy... Puppeteer, cheesy I know but it works for now.

Succumbing to gravity the bus falls onto the Puppeteer, and he only looked up last second to see it. He was crushed instantly, and I believed he was dead.

Don't celebrate too soon, remember that.

The bus rose up, and revealed that he was in fact, alive. But most of his body seemed shattered, it was healing quickly though. I need a new idea and fast!

Nothing has worked so far, he has the same mind, strengths, power, and my intellect. He has the huge advantage over me since I cant heal as fast as he can. I could try to continually change the place we fight in, but that will only serve to buy me more time. What can I possibly use?

Then it came to me, if he has the same strengths, then he has the same weaknesses!

Fueled by desperation and adrenaline I break into a fast sprint towards him, and he does the same. Idiot, wait would that mean I'm an idiot too? Whatever it doesn't matter, but what does matter is that I can do this!

Before I could collide with him, I dodge to the left last second and grabbed him by the head. My hands reach for his mask, and I use all my strength to try and tear it off. He's not done yet though, and he fought back by holding onto it. I'm not getting any progress, I need to slow him down.

Letting go I deliver a strong blow to his face, and his mask cracks into a spiderweb like design. It's not enough to get him into the erratic state like I was!

I've got more than that!

I use a puppet ability, and tap into the speed force once more. This has to count! Failure means death, and dying isn't something I can afford to do!

He has the same power, but I reacted before he could!

Getting into his space immediately in an instant, I got a stronger grip on his mask than last time. He tried to stop me again, he fails, and the mask comes off. He falls to his knees and clutches his chest, his breathing gets louder, and he covers his face. Desperate to stop me from looking at him, this is my chance to end this!

Conventional tactics wont work, so I've got another idea!

I step onto the small hill of wet sand we accidently formed, and I reach my hand into the air. Come on dreamscape don't fail me now!

The thunderstorm grows in activity above me, and gets louder and louder and louder! After a few seconds of standing there desperately reaching into the sky my prayers were answered!

FLASH!

A bolt of lightning strikes me, and multiple follow after it. I made sure to cast many spells, so I'm practically a conductor and a lighting rod. The electricity travels through my body, and the molten pain gets worse and worse.
The power begins to overwhelm me, and the pain is indescribable! Fighting even more I step down, and more lighting strikes me.

I should be dead, I don't even deserve to be alive.

Even so I will never be finished.

Puppeteer raises his head, and through his hands I could distinctly see his, or my eyes peering at me with immense fear. As soon as I'm directly in front of him, the lightning around me sparks even stronger, and I close my fist with anticipation. The magic causes all the thunder in my body to circle around my fist, and my fist alone!

"Tell the devil I said hello!"

With breakneck speed I deliver my unmerciful attack upon his body, and I'm forced to close my eyes from the light it generates. I heard his faint screams as he falls apart through death. Even his accelerated healing couldn't save him.

He falls to the ground, as a burnt husk of the gargantuan he used to be.

I made sure that the thunder would hurt him more than it hurt me, and holy hell did it do a lot. I probably have some mild burns on my right arm now, but that doesn't matter.

"I win in the end, It doesn't matter how much someone wants to kill me. I'm the Puppet Master, and No one and I mean NO ONE, will ever change that." I said looking at his corpse.

They'll have to face me if they want to.

Amazing, absolutely extraordinary.

Even through those impossible odds he found a way to earn victory. The human instinct of survival never ceases to surprise us, we may weaken him more in the future if needed.

He has more than proved himself of the opportunity we gave him, and we will be so very excited of what he will do next!

Good Luck Jack, until we meet again.

Author's Note

Hey guys, does anyone have an idea of a name for the old man?