End of hatred, Beginning of Hope

Chapters

to aQuire knowledge
to a better Understanding
to stand togEther
to make new planS
Emergence of the heroes

to aQuire knowledge

...You must realize that being a hero, means that sometimes you need to bring hope to a hopeless world. I know of a few students who have been struggling hard in these times to bring hope to those who have none and bring a certain sense of unity to the world. They may at times feel like it’s a losing battle, but they know they must keep the hope alive. And the only way to do that is to be together.

Twilight blinked her eyes open as she took in the world around her. Around her stood her old library home, as it was before Tirek destroyed it. All of the books were in their proper places, and the smell of wood gave her fond memories of her old home. As she walked to one of the books, she pulled it out and opened it, pulling back in surprise when she saw an image play out before her, “What?”

The image was of her as a little filly, playing in the tub and splashing around her,”Bat Bat! Wet SHINNY!”

Shining Armor, mane now soaked, groaned and said, “Yes, Twily, you gave me a bath too.”

She let out a giggle and put away the book, “I can’t believe I remembered that.” she said, grabbing another book on the shelf and watched as another memory played before her.

“Ok, I think I got this. Plenty of control and-” she flew straight into a tree, much to the laughter of her friend Rainbow Dash.

“Why do all of these books have my memories?” Twilight asked as she put away the book. Taking a step back, she looked at the tall bookcase and saw that it was labeled, ‘Memories.’ Across from her was another bookcase labeled ‘Fears’, followed by ‘Paranoia’, and ‘Relationships’.

Taking a minor step back, she said, “I must be in the dream realm, but I have never seen it like this before.” she said, looking around her at the vast library that seemed to go on for miles around her.

Her desire to learn became stronger as she began to walk through the library’s halls, looking at the various shelves and books. Certain things made her curious to read while other books, such as ‘Mistakes’ made her want to turn away. She would’ve continued her investigation into her mind, but she stopped when she had heard voices, “Thank you for offering to watch over her, doctor. She is a terrific student and a fast learner.” said a soft and feminine voice.”And thank you for telling me where she was. I was, very scared for her when I found her missing.”

“When I had discovered her unique magical signature, I quickly traced it to creatures from your realm. I knew I had to call you as soon as possible. And from what you have told me, I believe you, Princess,” a deep masculine voice said, taking a sip of his tea. “And do not worry, I’ll be sure that she remains safe as long as she is in this realm.”

The voices came from a room labeled ‘Principal’s Office’. Her brow raised in curiosity, she slowly opened the door and saw a tall regal woman with multicolored hair flowing in the breeze and dressed in pure white. It did not take Twilight long to realize who it was, “Princess Celestia,” she whispered.

Looking straight across from Celestia was a tall lanky man with a goatee and white streaks in his hair. While he was dressed in mostly blue robes, this was obscured by his long flowing red cape with a high collar. His yellow-gloved hand to wave off the cup and then smile at the guest at his door, “But it seems your time is short on this plane. I bid you good luck in watching over Equestria while your champions are gone.”

“I have watched over it for a 1000 years,” Celestia said, looking over her shoulder at the door, “I think the world can survive without her for a few weeks. I just hope that she knows that she knows how important she is to me and that I will be watching over her always, no matter the distance.” she then smiled as she in a flurry of sparkles.

“Princess!” Twilight said, stepping through the door and watching as she faded away from sight.

“Sadly, it seems that even for a living god, transmitting her astral form across a multiverse is straining even for her. She was able to maintain the connection for five minutes,” the man said, standing up from his chair and wiping away the table.

“Who are you? And why did Celestia talk to you instead of me,” asked Twilight.

The doctor sighed, ignoring a pain in his heart and washing a memory away in his mind, “Can you imagine how painful it would be, for a mother to try and talking to her daughter for only a few moments and knowing that she couldn’t touch her? It would be like knowing that your love is far away, and you are unable to touch her.” sighing he shook his head, he bowed “As for who I am, my name is Doctor Strange. Sorcerer Supreme and master of the mystic arts.”

“Please to meet you,” Twilight said, taking a seat across from him, and taking an offered cup of tea. “I am Twilight Sparkle.”

“A pleasure, your teacher has said much about you,” Dr. Strange said with a smile, “How you are a fast learner, one of the most powerful mages she has ever seen in her life, respectful-”

“Well, I don’t think I’m all that powerful and I just like to study a lot,” Twilight said, blushing a little as she finished drinking her tea, “I also just happen to know a lot about the ins and outs of magic, so it just looks like I know more than I really do.”

“And you are modest to a fault,” chuckled Strange as he waved his hand and refilled her tea, “ You may have overheard, but when you and your friends entered this dimension, I tracked your magical signature back to your home dimension and then called your teacher here. If you want, I could send you back.”

Twilight shook her ehad, “That man sent us here for a reason. If we go back now, there is nothing stopping him from doing it again. The answers are here.”

Strange smiled warmly, “You are a hero, and have a very powerful mind. That is why I sent you here to this realm.”

“I was about to ask that,” Twilight asked, taking another sip of her tea, “Where am I?”

“The Astral Plane, or the Mindscape, depending on how you want to describe it,” Strange said, standing up, “Here, metaphors reign supreme. You are a studious and intelligent mare, so thus everything about your mind is organized into a library and perfectly organized.”

“I see. Add onto the fact that I still see myself as a student after all of this time and, we have a library,” Twilight said plainly as she looked at her cup.

“Precisely,” Strange said, standing up and changing the realm around them into a long pathway. Waving his hand to beckon her to follow, he continued to walk, “Our magic is different than yours in this world. Ours comes from three sources: Ambient, personal, and extradimensional. As I train you, you will learn to harness all forms of our magic..”

“But, how is it that I was able to use magic so quickly here when in the other human world I visited I couldn’t,” Twilight said, looking at her hand as it glowed a dull purple.

“In that world, magic was harder to unlock, but since it is a little more common here, you were able to use instinct to wield Fireball and Telekinesis.” Strange, watching Twilight nod. Then a small chuckle escaped his lips, “Impressive, it took me days to cast those spells. Instinct is a wonderful thing, isn't it? Seems that Princess Celestia was not joking when she bragged about your raw power.”

Twilight blushed and looked away, “Well, I wouldn’t know about power and instinct. I just,” she stammered before a bit of realization dawned on her, “Wait, do I even have enough time to learn your world’s magic? We have only a few days to make it to Jump City.”

“You are in the Astral Plane, a few days there will be only a few hours out in the real world,” Strange said, and then with a smirk, he looked at Twilight casting a powerful fire spell in front of Strange, “See, you already are learning.”

Twilight looked on at the magic in awe, before turning to Strange and nodded, “I’m ready...Master.”

When she woke up the next morning, she looked out at the camp that her friends rested in near their van. Sighing a little to herself she said, “And soon, I’ll have to start helping my friends train too.”

“You’ll manage, sugar cube,” Applejack said, sitting in front of a small frying pan and some toast cooking next to her, “We made it through worst with you leading us. We’ll be fine here too.”

“Applejack?” Twilight said, looking at her friend confused, “You’re awake this early?”

Shrugging, Applejack said, “What can Ah say, never was one for sleeping in. Getting up, making breakfast and doing morning chores? Just comes naturally Ah guess.”

“I can see that,” Twilight said, sitting with Applejack and taking an offered cup of coffee. Across from her, she watched as the rest of her friends slept soundly. Except for Rainbow Dash, “Celestia, she snores like a dragon with its hand broken.”

“Ah was about to say like a timberwolf going into labor, but that works too,” Applejack said, chuckling as she looked at the frying pan. Then she looked back at her team, “So peaceful, aren’t they?”

“You would think that this is just a camping trip for them and we aren't stuck in an entirely different universe, who knows how many miles away from home,” Twilight said, sighing and shaking her head. “How do you girls keep it up like this?”

“Simple,” Applejack said with a smile, lightly nudging her friend’s arm, “Got a great leader and friend keeping an eye out for us.”

Twilight nodded, “Yeah, a great leader who is still dealing with several disadvantages. Everyone here is without talents and powers. Dash doesn't have her speed, Fluttershy can’t control animals and-”

“Pinks is now our speedster,” Applejack said with a shrug. “Doesn’t sound like a disadvantage at all, just something new for us to learn. Yeah, we may not like it, but give it time and we can get used to all of this.”

“With me to lead you, I know,” Twilight looked at her friends, “Teaching them, that’s going to be a challenge.”

“You can do it,” Applejack said, patting Twilight’s shoulder, “We all know you can.”

Twilight looked back at her friend, seeing her green eyes staring back with a world full of confidence in them, “Why do you guys keep putting so much faith in me?”

“Simple, you’re our friend, you are pretty smart, and we know you’ll pull through. Yeah, you are gonna make a mistake or three, but that’s living,” Applejack said, smiling.

“Yeah, but,” Twilight looked down, “Can’t help but feel like half of the problems we face wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for me.”

“And if not us, then somepony else would be,” Applejack said, “And if not them, then somepony else and so on. You know we chose this, and we don’t regret it. That’s because you are our friend, and in the end, that’s all that is important to me.”

“Thanks, Applejack,” Twilight said, getting up and walking back to the van, “I am going to get some things ready for the lesson, you finish with the breakfast.”

“All right, Ah’ll wake everypony up,” Applejack said, before sighing and looking at the pan, “Once again, the pillar of ...”

“Are you fine with being the only one without something special?”

“Yeah, Ah am...”

The woman stood in the ruins of a destroyed city, the fires from the broken buildings turning the sky a deep orange. As she walked through the streets of the desolate city, she would hear amongst the crackling fires, the screams of people as they died horribly. Looking around her, her red hair flowed wildly behind her, matching the wind that blew through the streets. When she neared a clearing, she saw a crater beneath her.

Within the crater was a garden of crosses with the bodies of men and women latched onto their wooden frames. Gasping in horror the girl looked around, praying that she would see some form of life, but all she saw was the burnt-out husks of friends: The African wind goddess, the beast with a kind heart, the spiritual demon, the metal soldier, the rogue and her lover. Eyes wide in horror, she called out the only two people she could not find, “SCOTT! Logan!”

“J-Jean, don’t do this,” whispered a gruff voice that the woman recognized.

“Logan!” the woman gasped, she ran to where she heard the voice, only to step back when she saw her own face on a form she never wanted to see again.

The other woman laughed loudly as she began to burn the lone wolf into a metallic skeleton, “What is the matter, Logan? I am sending you to a reward long denied you, to a place where you can rest.” she laughed, dropping the dead body of the man to the ground and melting his bones into a silvery puddle.

“Jean! No,” a man said, stepping out from the rubble and looking at the puddle that was his friend, “How could you do this, Jean!”

Jean Grey looked to the man next to her, trying her best to call to him, “Scott! No! Run! Please, leave! You can’t fight this!”

The other Jean laughed as she lowered herself to the ground, her red skin-tight outfit was covered in trophies of her previous kills, “What, love? Defeat the world's champions?” she asked pulling out a red and yellow S, burning it, “prove that compared to me, the strongest are nothing more than ants to be crushed? Or remind the world that when you go to the sun, you will get burned?”

“You killed our friends,” Scott said, holding his finger to his yellow visor, eyes narrowing with an intent to kill. “How could you?”

“Simple, they wanted me to lower myself to their level,” Jean said, sashaying her way to Scott, a sultry smile on her lips, “To become human again. To deny my inner nature as a doom bringer, as the taker of life. Besides, I only gave them a respite from their fruitless dream.”

“It isn’t fruitless Jean. And you are human!” Scott said, shaking his head as Jean placed her hand onto Scott’s cheek.

“You are wrong Scott, I am not human,” Phoenix said, placing her hand behind Scott’s head and smiling, “I am a goddess. A goddess of passions. A passion for chaos, for death, and love. It’s love why you cannot pull the trigger on your visor, and love is why I do this.” slowly, she pulled her lips closer to Scott’s and kissed him deeply, slipping her tongue into his mouth as her yellow-gloved hand caressed his chest.

“I admit, you were a fun mortal plaything for a while, but now you are finished,” Phoenix whispered as she began to burn Scott alive.

“NO!” screamed Jean as she watched her husband burn away. “Stop this!”

Phoenix laughed as she turned to look back at her human self, creating a throne of fire for her to sit on, “Stop? Stop our destiny? Stop our true purpose? Surely you jest.”

“I am not you! This is not who we are!” screamed Jean as she felt the flame wings begin to wrap around her body, burning away her nightgown and bringing her closer to her. “I deny you!”

“You deny us? You deny our power? Have you forgotten what it was like to touch the sky, to kiss the stars? The Shi’ar haven’t, and you haven’t either. Especially those six billion lives on that one world we obliterated,” Phoenix said, tucking Jean’s chin with a bit of flame and smiling as she looked into her mirror image. “Now come, embrace the sun.”

Jean shook her head and screamed in fright as she was enveloped by the fiery entity. In her place, stood Dark Phoenix. Smiling, she stretched and flexed her body as she embraced the power, “Ohhhh, so good to have my power back. Now I grow weary of this little planet.” her eyes looked to the sun, and smiled, “Dinner time.”

Jean Grey shot up in her bed with a gasp, her body covered in sweat. Panting, she looked to the body next to her and smiled, feeling her spirit calm down. Scott Summers was always a hard sleeper, in spite of his usual attitude, and it was times like this Jean loved seeing him. Calm and relaxed, snoring softly and looking like a normal human. Running a hand through his hair, she sighed and leaned in to kiss him softly on the lips.

As her lips left his, Scott woke a little, his words tumbling out as he started to waken, “Mmmm? Please tell me that I am being woken up by my wife and not some person who wants to use me in a cruel experiment.”

“See for yourself,” Jean said, telekinetically pulling his ruby quartz sunglasses and putting them onto his eyes.

Opening his eyes, he looked up at the love of his life, and smiled warmly, “Well, that is good news. Morning Jean. Why are you up so early? Not throwing up again are you?”

Jean shook her head, “No, just wanted to wake up my favorite mutant and see him before I get breakfast ready.” she said, rolling out of bed and putting on her clothes.

“Thought that was Ororo’s job,” Scott said, leaning back on the bed.

“Storm is on Themsicara, something about wanting to see Diana. Logan is who knows where, and the others are busy. This leaves you, me, some of the others and a bunch of students eager to learn,” giggled Jean.

Scott rolled his eyes, “Joy.” he let out a sigh and looked back at Jean, “Remember when it was just the five of us?”

“Yes, and I was the only girl on the team of five men, ogled by all but one of you and drooled at. Hoping that I might take a shower and Angel could abuse your powers for a peephole,” Jean said, walking out the door, “Happy times.”

Scott looked away, “I never oogled.”

“The only difference between now and then Scott,” she said, shaking her butt at him, “Is now you can touch me, as well as look.”

Scott watched his wife walk away, leaned back and sighed, “Guess you're right, Professor, things do change.”

“Now according to some theories on mutations, it is possible for mutant powers to evolve over time or to change with the person,” Jean said, looking at the class of half-asleep and attentive students.

One student raised his hand, “Mrs. Grey, is this what happened to Professor McCoy.”

“Good question. No, what happened to Hank was that...that,” Jean began to speak, but then began to sway back and forth.

Jump City. Help her, save them.

...My friends.

For a few brief moments, Jean saw a young blonde girl running away from a dark hand. Pale, she threw several large boulders at him only to watch them fade away into the shadows. Stepping forward Jean tried to save the girl as she was swallowed in darkness. When she looked at the black void, she saw a pair of cat-like eyes glaring at her.

“AHHHH!” Jean screamed as she fell backward, summoning a large pillar of flame.

As she collapsed, a young blonde-haired man looked into the classroom and gasped in horror. In a flash of snow and ice, the young man was encased in a suit of ice. Holding out his hand, he froze the flame pillar, “Oh god, what happened?”

“Bobby!” One of the students said, “Mrs. Grey, she was just giving a lecture and-”

“Got it,” he said, running to the unconscious form of his friend and picked her up to carry her off.

For a few moments afterward, Jean’s world was blackness. She laid on the cold gurney unable to move or open her eyes. The low rhythmic beeping of the EKG was the only thing that she could hear. Her breathing came out slow and steady as she laid there on the bed, trying to recollect her thoughts, “What happened to me? I haven’t had a flare up since,” she shuddered, trying to put the memory of her corruption behind her.

That was when she began to hear the voices in her head. While it was an unspoken rule of telepaths to never read a person’s mind without permission, it was an automatic reflex for her, especially when she recognized the voice as that belonging to her husband, “Scott?”

“What happened to her. I hope that it isn’t...no Scott, don’t think about it, not now. But, if she is...I don’t know what to do.”

Jean held her hand to her heart and sighed, shaking her head, “I hope so too Scott.” Then she began to hear talking outside.

“Bobby, what happened in that room?”

“It’s like the kids said, Slim. Jean was teaching the class when suddenly she flared up like the human torch. I came in, found her passed out in front of a pillar of flame and I had to put it out. You know, a thank you would be nice.”

“I...thanks Bobby, really. Any idea why she fell? Psionic attack? A parasite? Something with her powers?”

“Nothing. I put her in the med bay, had some of the machines scan her and got bubkiss. If she is under attack, then the guy is hiding pretty well.”

“Thanks, Bobby. Go upstairs and tell the kids that classes are canceled for today.”

“Right, boss.”

Jean looked down, trying to ignore the rage in her mind at being attacked and the loss of control as she listened for the door to open. Looking up, she smiled as she ran her hand through her red hair at the sight of Scott walking in, “I’m fine, in case you’re wondering. No psy attacks, no corruption, and I am not being manipulated by a cosmic entity to be used as a tool for destruction.”

Scott allowed himself a laugh as he sat next to the gurney and take her hand, “ our lives really so weird that those are the possible excuses for fainting? Why can’t it ever be babies?”

“Because that is what you signed up for when you put that suit on,” Jean said, wrapping her fingers with his.

Brown eyes met green as he asked, “Then what happened?”

“I had a vision,” Jean said, “This teenaged girl running away from some dark force, while these cat-like eyes stare at me, staring at the Phoenix Force. I don’t know why she is doing this or who it’s from. I just know that it wants me to go to Jump City.”

“I’ll get the team together, and then we can all go and investigate,” Scott said, standing up and walking to the door.

“Scott, it wants me. You don’t need to-”

“Jean, I know what happens when we don’t nip these small problems in the bud. Sooner or later they become bigger problems. They only way we can stop this before anything should happen is by all of us working together,” Scott said, walking out of the med bay.

Jean then heard him say in his thoughts.

“And to save you, if I can’t.

The dark skinned woman sat alone in a small box, keeping her eyes closed. Her breathing slow and steady as she whispered to herself, “It’s ok, Ororo, it’s just a box. Just an enclosed box that you allowed yourself to be imprisoned in. A black, enclosed, scary box that is holding you back from escaping a place that is denying you your freedom and I need to get out!” she shrieked, summoning a powerful lightning bolt that decimated the box.

“Good job,” A feminine voice spoke as she watched Storm walk away from the ruins of the destroyed box. “My sisters spent weeks on designing that box to withstand your powers and you destroyed it in seconds.”

Storm sighed and looked to the speaker, “I am sorry, Diana. I was not expecting my fears to be that harsh or to unleash that powerful of a blast.”

Wonder Woman shook her head and spoke in a comforting voice, “Ororo, I am proud of you for trying to conquer your fears, but sometimes you have to deal with this part of you.”

“I know, Diana, but I find it bizarre that I am a powerful wielder of weather and yet-”

“A simple closed room can break you,” chuckled Diana, “but I know what you are trying to do, and it is admirable.”

Storm nodded and was about to say more, when she heard a beeping on her communicator, “My team is calling me. I must go. Thank you for your help, Diana.”

The class on Quantum-Dimensional Physics was known to have unusual guest speakers, from the famous like Mr. Fantastic to the lesser known like Bloodwyn. All usually had something to discuss on their adventure through the multiverse and journeys through the various dimensions. Today’s guest speaker was considered to be one of the weirder ones, for thy never had one so furry and bestial. Dr. Hank Mccoy adjusted his glasses and lightly coughed to clear his throat as he stepped onto the stage, “I am grateful for your teacher inviting me here to discuss my various encounters with other dimensions. Now, I know my colleagues have discussed with you alternate forms of themselves, and morality when it comes to dealing with worlds that have different ideologies compared to you; however, I wish to discuss something different.”

Dr. McCoy stepped aside and looked to the large fish tank next to him, “In some universes, evolution favored other dominant species other than homo sapien or superior. These eventually come to live in civilizations that are similar to ours, with the same jobs, cultures, and even the same ideals as ours. These cultures could end up being starfish, anthropomorphic animals, or even ponies. I even met a six-fingered man who discussed a world of people who were all shaped in the letter M.” Letting out a chuckle at the thought he looked to the tank, “To help with my point, I brought with me a friend from a dimension populated by on cephalopods.”

Inside the tank was a very large red lobster wearing what could only be described as a doctor's uniform made for lobsters. Beast continued, “Our friend here volunteered to leave his job as a brain surgeon to give us the lecture. Now-” Beast paused when his communicator rang out, “My apologies. Henry, would you mind finished my lecture while I take care of some business.”

“Sure thing boss!” said the deep-voiced lobster as he waved off Beast. “Now boys, let's talk about these different dimensions here.”

Two editors of noted fame sat in a bar, their two drinks sitting in front of them. The man on the left had a stubby mustache that complimented his buzz cut hairdo. Glaring his eyes at the man across from him, he growled, “You know your problem, White? You are far too lenient on your reporters, the issues, and on the tougher subjects.”

“Jameson, just because I don’t jump on the superhero bandwagon everytime a hero is caught with his pants down or eating the wrong burger, does not make me any less of an editor,” Perry White said, looking at his rival editor.

“Your ‘paper’” Jameson said, wagging his fingers, “was nearly bought out five freaking times. At least once by that madman Morgan Edge, what do you say to that?

“At least I don’t rely on defamation and libel to get my readers,” said Perry, smirking, “Or do I imagine all those I Hate Spider-Man headlines? What is your problem with heroes anyway?”

Jameson put out his cigar, “Not all of them, just the ones who hide behind a mask. Captain America, Superman, Iron Man, they don’t operate like those freaks in the masks. They are real heroes.”

A man with hair spiked up and large sideburns tried his best to drown out the rabble from the two editors. Instead, he wanted to focus on finishing his drink and heading outside. For a moment, he was grateful for his healing factor stopping the onset of cirrhosis of the liver, allowing him to enjoy his brew as much as he could without worry. As he took another swig, he demanded, “Another one, bub.”

“Yes, sir,” the vaguely cockney man said, opening another bottle. Then he frowned as he looked to a young woman in the shadowy corner for the bar, “Oh, bollocks.”

The man looked over his shoulder at a bunch of thugs as they walked to the young girl, over hearing various catcalls and vulgar remarks. Some of them demanded she would show parts of her body she would only show her lover, while others demanded a bit of her time that she did not want to give. For any other man, he would ignore this and walk away, but he found himself unable to resist a good barroom brawl, and the yearning to help someone was also strong in him. Looking back at the bartender, he asked with a smirk, “Place insured?”

“Oh yes, we are. But do be careful of the damages, we do try to keep the prices down,” said the bartender.

Looking back over his shoulder, the man with sideburns said, “Put it on Jameson's tab.” Then he unsheathed two of his claws and walked to the first putz he saw. As the man trembled in utter horror, Logan then whispered, “The girl said no. Or would you like me to give you a more straight answer.”

As the thug felt the third claw slowly touch the back of his neck, he gasped, “Oh shit, we have a filthy mutie here. Help me.”

“Oh, a fucking mutant huh? Good, I wanted to carve one of those up for a while,” chuckled one of the men.

Logan smirked. There were three things he loved to beat up during me time: Sexists, racists, and trolls who write fanfcs of shows they hate. They just pressed two of his favorite buttons.

Outside of the bar, Jameson and Perry walked out, singing their favorite tunes in their drunken stupor. They did not hear, nor did they care about the sound of screams, cracks of broken bones, or various other sounds of the brawls inside.

As the sounds died down, the blonde woman began to yell and scream at Logan as he walked out of the bar, “That was a very important undercover operation you ruined! I was going to take one of them out back and interrogate them about what they know intergang and you fucked it up, you drunken idiot!”

“Yesh, shut up Sawyer,” Logan said, growling as he walked to his bike, “If I had known it was you getting manhandled, I wouldn’t have stepped in.”

The blonde crossed her arms as she leaned against the wall, “Well, maybe you should pay more attention,” Looking up, she smiled a little bit as she thought she saw a cape hide in a rooftop.

“Yeah, whatever,” Logan said, using his middle claw to flip her off before driving to the mansion.

The man sat at the table and looked at the southern belle in front of him. Her brown hair was tinged with a skunk stripe that gave her an air of exotic beauty that he could never deny or look away from. It didn’t help that her green and yellow dress helped to accentuate all of her perfect curves. Turning his attention back to her emerald eyes, he listened to her speak, “Why Remy, Ah do believe that this is the finest restaurant you ever took me too. Any particular occasion?” she asked, running her gloved finger along the rim of the wine glass.

“Well, for one thing, it’s the anniversary of the day you actually agreed to go on a date with Gambit, mon chere. Gambit wanted to make it special,” Gambit said with a smirk.” There is another reason .”

Rouge looked a little surprised, but then smiled sweetly, “Oh really, and what is that, cajun?”

“You see, Gambit’s been doing a lot of thinking and he has realized,” Gambit said, reaching his hand into his pocket, reaching for a small black case. Just as his fingers touched the small case, his comm began to ring on his side. “Merde.”

Rouge shook her head as she got off the chair, “No rest for us, hey Cajun?”

Gambit frowned and sighed, the small black bost resting in his sit as he followed his lady out the door.

Sister Maggie stepped behind the man in his hood and smiled, watching him pray silently to himself. It always did her good to see a visitor to her little part of New York, even if it wasn’t the man she hoped to see. Watching him stand, she asked, “Praying for a good time, my son?”

Faint yellow eyes showed from beneath the hood, “Just a small prayer for constant battles to end, and for family to be reunited. And for mothers to come home to their children.”

Sister Maggie sighed and nodded, watching as a blind lawyer walked into the cathedral and put some money in the donation bn. Smiling warmly, she said, “Aye, family is a good thing to cherish. Especially in these-” she paused, seeing a faint light in his robe, “Oh, are you being called?”

“Yes sister,” Kurt said, pulling back his hood. Smirking, he said, “My apologies for bringing a devil into your home.” Looking up, he saw an open window and bamfed out of the cathedral.

“Trust me,” she said, watching as the blind man left, “You are not the only devil in my life.”

“Still thinking of your sister, Markov?” Piotr Rasputen asked his friend as he watched him look off to the west.

“Yes,”Geoforce said, saying as he leaned against the tree, “Though I know she is alive and safe, it does not make it easier. I wish she would come back home to her family, to me. At least I know she is here.”

“I know how you feel. Though my dear sister Illyana is back home with my family, I still worry about here when I am here. I fear that something may happen to her or some monster could turn her evil,” Piotr said, shaking his head as he walked around his friend .”After all, what are good brothers for, if not to be protectors for our younger siblings?”

“Indeed. I am especially fearful for her life right now. I feel like some dark force is watching over her. Like something is ready for the strike, and I will not be able to help her,” Geoforce said, sighing.

Piotr shook his head, and placed a hand on his friend's shoulder “You worry too much, my dear friend. She is safe in school right? What could-”an alarm in his belt alerted him “I am sorry, but I must be going”

Geoforce nodded and waved Colossus off. Taking another deep breath, he looked to the sky and said “Be safe...Terra.”

Logan took his seat in the conference room of the basement in the X-mansion, his yellow mask pulled back to reveal his usual scowl and pointed hair. Narrowing his eyes, he looked back up at the man who stood before them, Cyclops. Dressed in his blue uniform, the man looked very much like the commander he had to know. Respected? Well, that was another story, “All right, Cyke, what is the point of calling us here?” he asked in his usual gruff tone. Looking at his right, he saw the other members of his team that have gathered.

Gambit sat to his right, grumbling something about lost chances or other. Then there was Nightcrawler, followed by Rogue and Storm. His eyes paid special attention to her, as there was always something about her that made her attractive, like how her white jumpsuit seemed to cling to her body tightly. To his left, sat Colossus and Rogue, each looking with concerned at the three people in front of them. Scott was the first to talk, “I think it’s best to let Jean tell you.”

Jean stepped forward and nodded, “For the past month, I have been getting visions. At first I thought they were just nightmares or worries over the coming school year, but lately, they’ve become more intense. What started as just echoes of a phoenix's cry have now turned to visions of a hellscape. I see of that monster killing all of you and then turning sights on the world. Then I wake up.”

Gambit looked up from his deck and asked, “So, do you know who is doing this psychic attack?”

“That is the curious thing,” Beast said, pressing a button on the console and bringing up a body scan of Jean, “Bobby put her body into the psy-scanner earlier and I later confirmed it with my own tests to see that she is remarkably healthy, both psionically and physically. No tempering, no signs of being a shapeshifter, the body is that of a young woman, no psionic tampering, brainwashing, or even a neurotoxin. For a woman of her condition, she is perfectly fine.”

“What is wrong with our lives when we have to put shapeshifter as a possible ailment?” Nightcrawler facepalmed.

“Then what is messing with her?” growled Logan, sharpening a claw.

Cyclops sighed and lowered his eyes, “We don’t know.”

“There has been something recent happening in my dreams,” Jean said, looking down, “A voice begging me to come to Jump City, to protect her. And to save them.”

“Jump City, that is where the Teen Titans live isn’t it?” asked Storm.

“Interestingly enough,” Beast said, pressing another button on the console to show a map of the united states with two red dots on it. “ There have been two different anomalies happening recently, one near Jump City, and one back in New York.” One of the images showed the Rainbooms and their fight, “I checked the newsfeed and came up with these six mysterious girls.”

“Hmmm, nice,” said Gambit, only to get elbowed in the stomach by Rouge.

Nightcrawler nodded, “I saw the end of their battle, they do not seem dangerous. Do you know where they are?”

“Sadly I do not, they disappeared as of late. I would use my connections with the Avengers, but, they all seem to be busy off world” Beast then clicked on the red dot, “This leaves us with this location.”

“I also used Cerebro and found a mutant in that city. She seems to be hiding, and worried about someone or something,” Jean said, looking down, “I don’t know why, but there is something surrounding that town...”

Cyclops nodded and turned off the screen, “There you have it. We are going to Jump City and investigate what is going on there. Maybe we can get to the bottom of Jean’s nightmares. I want all of you to meet up in the Blackbird in a few minutes.”

Silently, the group nodded and left the room. When Scott left the room after the others had left, he was stopped by a voice from behind, “Alright, Cyke, out with it. Why did you get us all here?”

“What do you mean?” asked Scott.

“Don’t act like you don’t know. You could’ve done this alone with just Jean. You didn’t need the others, and you didn’t need me,” Logan said, stepping in front of Cyclops and growled lowly, “You are scared of something aren’t you.”

Behind his visor, Scott’s brown eyes slightly closed before he let out a sigh “reads me like a freaking book. It’s Jean.” he said simply. “I’m afraid that she might have a relapse and become Dark Phoenix again, and this time... there is no going back.”

Logan frowned, and then growled as he said, “And when that happens, you want me to do what you can’t. We’re all here to just to do something that you don’t have the balls to-”

“I couldn’t kill her when she transformed the first time! What makes you think I could do it a second time,” Cyclops clenched his fists as he snarled. “Do you know what it’s like? Looking down at the love of your life with your finger on the trigger, ready to choose between stopping her, the universe, or breaking your heart? I’ve lost my family, lost friends, and so much more! Asking me to take Jean’s life, it’s just too much.”

“And you think, that it would be easier for me?” asked Logan.

“You want me to say it? You want me to admit it? Fine, you are stronger than me! You have the strength to pull yourself back from tragedy and heal from it! You are better than me, happy?!” asked Scott, pressing his finger to his friend’s chest.

“Not really,” Logan said, pulling Scott’s finger away, “Because I hate seeing you trying to drag yourself down like that.” he then turned away and walked away, “It’s not going to happen, but if it does... I’ll do what needs to be done.”

As Logan walked to the hangar bay, he looked over his shoulder at Scott, “Just remember, our team doesn't have one strong person. Don't’ count yourself short.”

Scott chuckled, “If I didn’t know better, I thought you were complimenting me.”

Logan said nothing, only holding up a middle claw.

With a powerful burst of flame and boom of jet engines, the Blackbird took off, fading into the clouds. Sitting in the pilot’s seat, Scott calmly began to adjust the controls and check his instruments. A sigh escaped his lips as he watched the sky and clouds pass him by, his mind thinking of the mission ahead. Looking to his side at Jean, he smiled faintly, hoping to himself that they would be able to help her and she would be fine. Looking behind him, he looked at his team, and quickly he reminded himself that he had more than his lady love to worry about, he had an entire team to watch over.

Narrowing his eyes, he could only ask himself, “Whatever is in Jump City...be ready.”

Twilight stepped in front of a chart and looked to all of her friends, each in various states of wakefulness. Smiling, she brought out a little stick, “Be ready, everypony! I have a big day scheduled ahead of us.”

“Twilight? Why do we even need this? I think our first fight shows off how good we are at this,” Dash said, her confidence showing through her voice.

Twilight shook her head as she walked, “I know we did good back there, but what we did was mostly on instinct. We need to train and get better at this. Whatever is waiting for us, we need to be ready, and to do that, we need to understand the full potential of our powers. So, get ready, I am going to put you through your paces!!!”

“Oooh, I brought the music!” Pinkie cheered as she hit the stereo nearby.

“You are listening to Kjump! Beaming music nationwide from the beautiful city of Jump. Up next... Kenny Loggins.”

In a small pocket dimension, off the beaten path of many dimensional gateways, a figure stood in the main room of his castle at the top of the tower. He looked over the landscape with a bit of sadness in his eyes as he let out a sigh, “Please, be safe guys.” Count Logan spoke, his deep voice gone and replaced a higher scratchier tone. “And whatever happens next...please forgive me.”

A young and peppy female voice called out from outside of the room, “Oh, Count! I have news for you!”

Putting on his old tone of voice, he spoke, “What is it, Kamica?”

“Kami...Oh yeah! The code names you wanted us to have!” she said, giggling and shaking her head, “That’s right, forgot. Well, I was watching the big tv thing downstairs and the two teams that you brought over here are making their way to Jump City right now.”

“E.T.A.,” asked Count Logan.

“Well, I don’t know where Etta Candy is right now, but I can tell you that they should both arrive at Jump city in two days!” Kamica laughed, “Should me and the others get ready?”

“Have the preparations for the game been set?” asked Count Logan, his eyes narrowing.

“As sure as your eyebrows are big!!” cheered Kamica. Then she laid her head to the side, “Speaking of which, why the-”

“Because they look cool and make me look intimidating!” shouted Count Logan. Then with a sigh, he said, “Now go and be prepared to meet the three teams when they arrive.”

“Yes sir!” Kamica said with a silly salute before cartwheeling off.

A feminine voice spoke from the darkness, a slight purr in her voice as her yellow eyes stared at him, “Are you sure you picked good players for the game? I don’t want this to be too easy for them.”

“Yes, I am sure, now go,” Count Logan spoke, watching the eyes dissipate. Looking up, he shook his head, and then took off his mask, looking back at the green face that stared at him, “Please...”

Jump City, while the city slept, none could hear the mournful cry of a raven.

Author's Note

Thank you Tom and Zolt.

Ok, so notes on the X-Men. First of all, why are they here. Well, if you know the original story that I am about to deconstruct and rip to shreds, you'll know that the team there was the Doom Patrol. One problem, I am not a fan nor have I read the Doom Patrol. What I have read, and felt more of a connection to and feel like this would be better for the subjects I want to tackle? Are the X-men.

I grew up with these guys, as I am sure you all have too. Fist few superhero tapes I watched? Pryde of the X-men, and the X-men adventure. I used straws for claws because Logan was my favorite and I use my headset for a makeshift Cyclops visor. I love these guys way more. And since I have never writtne a fic on them, plus I think it's kind of cool to have (90s, 00, and 10s) togetther, I figure this would work.

So, trivia.

-Zolt and Tom are why it's always good to have editors, they pointed out some minor plot holes for me. Remember kids, always ask yourself about plot holes first.

This story and chapter I realized is one of the few times I actually have Twilight and Applejack together for more than one scene and not in a fight.

-The x-men here, as previously stated, are the 90s characters. This is more in line with what happens in the 90s show, i.e after the end Prof is with Liandra and Magneto is more of a good guy now. Thank god, because if I wrote him as a villian, he would steal the show. Kind of like why I am not going to be writing the following: Doom, Thanos, Galatacus, Mongol.

-Logan was paying Jameson back for the articles on Spider-man. No one messes with his friends.

-In the Cathedral scene, in case none of you figured it out, the nun was Mary Murdock, MAtthew Murdock's mom. The blind guy was Daredevil himself.

-Reason for Nightcrawler and colossus? Comic connection. These two were part of the team from the X-men and Titans crossover.

-In case anyone asks, Jubilee and Kitty are right now on a roadtrip with Babs and Kara. They are having some epic adventures.

-Dr. Fate and Dr. Strange do get into matches on who is the best, their wives just roll their eyes at this.

-There is a reason for the way the chapter titles are written. Just wait until the end.

-Jameson and White do not like each other. Their wives do, but Jamenson and White always had a bit of anger at one another, it started when they were cub reporters working the beat back in the 50s...

to a better Understanding

With what I have said in mind, one must realize that the way of being a hero can be a lonely one. There are moments when one can feel that they are alone in standing for their ideals, and that the weight of the world is on your shoulders. This is why, it helps to find others who will stand by you, help you, and shoulder your burden. We call these...friends.

As the music played loudly from the nearby stereo, Twilight found herself unable to contain her smile. Shaking her head to get back into gear, she took a deep breath and said, “Ok, here we go!” turning her head to look at Rainbow Dash, “Rainbow, let’s start with you.”

“Yeah, still don’t get why I got the weather powers,” Rainbow Dash said, floating in the air. At least I can still fly.

“Well, that’s part of what this training is all about. I kind of want to study more about our powers and why they are matched to us. Me, Rarity, and Applejack make sense, but then we get to you,” Twilight said, “And furthermore, why can you fly?”

“Dunno,” Dash said with a shrug. Then she smiled and said, “Hey, maybe the hot air around me is giving me lift to keep me flying!”

“That is just ridiculous, there is no way that is the reason,” Twilight said dismissively. “You would need a lot more hot air than that to lift you up, and we all would be feeling it.”

“Then it’s unexplained, and I should be happy with just the ability to fly awesomely!” Rainbow Dash said, laying back.

“Sure, why not. Explanations later...”

Let’s just focus on your powers for right now. Now, I am guessing that your weather powers are linked back to your pegasus understanding of weather. Somehow, you are able to manipulate the air currents and bend them like you could normally.

In a small town in Pennsylvania, a fire broke out in a building. Try as the firefighters might, they were unable to quell the flames or get to the people trapped inside. That was when a batch of clouds flew overhead, sending forth a downpour that helped to quench the flames. Before anyone could see what was happening next, a small breeze began to blow away the debris and freeing the trapped people.

Rainbow Dash smirked from her vantage point as she blew on her knuckles and listened to the cheering crowds. A part of her wanted to jump in and take in the glory, but the rest of her reminded her to stay and focus on getting back. Turning away, she began to walk away, letting out a sigh, “I miss my speed.”

“Next up is Pink-” Twilight began, before a gust of wind interrupted her and Pinkie Pie stood next to her. “-ie Pie.”

Pinkie had a big smile on her face as she said, “Present!”

“Right,” Twilight said, looking at her friend as she took in the hyperactivity in stride. “Pinkie, I want you to do some runs so I can guess your top speed.”

“Whoa, whoa, Twilight,” Rainbow Dash said, stepping up next to Pinkie and taking her by the arm, “I’ll train Pinkie. I’m the former speed queen here, you can do some eggheady things over there.”

“But, I...I just wanted to,” Twilight let out an annoyed grunt before stomping towards Rarity, “FINE!”

While she walked away, Pinkie bounced happily next to Dash as her friend led her to a clearing in the woods, “Oh this is going to be so exciting! Are you excited Dashie? I know I am! I always been fast, but now I am super duper fast. Can you imagine-”

“Whoa, whoa, Pinks, I know you’re excited, but cool it down a bit,” Rainbow Dash said, holding up her hands and pushing them down. “Remember what I said about your metabolism?”

“Oh yeah, sorry,” giggled Pinkie as she stopped her bouncing. “It’s just so exciting to be this fast you know? I always wanted to run as fast you could and now I can. That is just so cool!”

“Yeah,” Rainbow dash, looking down and away, frowning, “I know.”

Pinkie looked worriedly at her friend, “Dashie, what’s wrong?”

Rainbow Dash wanted to brush her off, but one look into the blue eyes of her friend told her it was no use. Taking a deep breath, Rainbow said, “It’s just that...other than you guys and flying, speed’s always been my thing. It’s my passion, the reason for my cutie mark. We wouldn’t even all be together if I wasn’t the fastest pegasus alive. Now we’re in this place, and I’m... not the fastest anymore. It’s like someone took out the biggest part of me and cut it out. What am I now?”

“A cool weather gal, duh,” Pinkie said. Rainbow gave her a quick glare in response and Pinkie sighed, hugging her, “Rainbow, I mean it. You are still one of the best ponies I know, even without your speed. You just now got to rely on all of your crazy pegasus weather knowledge to help out.”

“Yeah, and what if we need a speedster?” Rainbow asked.

“Then I can do it! I know you’ll be the best teacher out there,” Pinkie said, racing ahead, “And you will be so proud of me!”

“Well, of course I’ll be the best teacher, it's what I do,” Rainbow said, and then thought “still would love to have my speed. Why did this place give her my gift?”

The people of Branson Missouri could only watch in shock and amazement as the pink blur past by their city. Everywhere the pink blur went, a crime or a problem would be fixed. And everywhere the blur completed it’s duty, a cupcake would be left behind.

Pinkie, I think your body’s energy is creating two things. One is the doorway to the speed force that Dash told me about, and second is that it’s creating a shield around your body that protects against friction. However...

Pinkie Pie quickly ran back to the van as the girls finished refueling, smiling as she held a large box of pizza. Her outfit was on fire as she held the pizza for her friends.

I think it only works on skin tight clothing.

Twilight checked off the box next to Pinkie before looking up from her list, “Next up, Rarity. Now I am quite interested,” she paused as she looked up from her list and to Rarity. Curious, she raised an eyebrow as she saw Rarity sitting down in the open van and sewing together a shirt, “Rarity, what are you doing?”

“Hmmm? Oh,” Rarity said, putting down the shirt and smiling at Twilight, “I am just desiging us some costumes for our hero identities.”

“Hero identities?” asked Applejack.

Rarity nodded, “I figured that, being that in this world we have super powers and are essentially super heroes, we might as well dress the part when we use them. While I was waiting for the deal to finalize on buying this little car of ours, I was doing research on the various superheroes and their costumes.”

There was a smile on her face as she said, “While I admit that I find some of them to be quite gaudy, there was a certain flair and beauty to those colorful outfits. So, while you are training the others, on my downtime I will be making us outfits to go with our superpowers.”

“That, and you are trying to replace the outfits we came in with,” Applejack said with a smirk.

“Well, you can’t really expect me to walk around in the same outfit all the time, really!” Rarity scoffed.

Twilight sighed and said, “Moving on, it's your turn. I am really curious about testing some of your powers.”

“Have you now?” Rarity asked, stepping off and walking in front of her, an aura glowing around her hands.

Twilight nodded enthusiastically, “Yeah! You can manipulate energy, and create constructs from your will. That is so fascinating! Can you imagine the things that you can try and create? Or even how long you can manage to hold it? What about the forms, and the powers that-”

“Twilight!” Rainbow Dash shouted, looking down at her, “You’re rambling again.”

A blush came across her cheeks as she giggled, “Um, yeah, sorry about that. Got a little excited. The thing is, I might have a theory about your powers.”

“A theory?” Rarity asked.

“Yes,” Twilight said, putting away her chart and asking, “Can you make a gun?”

“A what?” asked Rarity.

“A gun, it’s like a crossbow, but with a shorter barrel and a thicker handle,” Twilight said, trying her best to explain the device. “Sunset showed me one when I was in the human world once.”

Rarity nodded and held out her hand, allowing her purple energy to flow out from her fingertips and into the air in front of her. After a few moments of waiting, she created a crude and disfigured imitation of a gun, “Like this?”

“Perfect! This confirms it,” Twilight said, picking up her clipboard and writing down. “Your creation powers are based on your knowledge of the object and will. You never seen a gun, so you can’t make it. But, if I were to ask you to make a sword-” she added, watching with a smile as Rarity crafted an effigy of a rapier, “You can make it because you know what it is and how it’s constructed. That’s why you made a pair of scissors before, you have been near those all you life.”

“I see,” Rarity said, looking at the sword in front of her.

I also believe that this power, much like our magic back home, works on pure will. The more you focus, the more you concentrate, the stronger the item will hold.

In Chicago, a train began to derail at high speed. Seconds before it could fly off, a bright purple rail appeared to help put the train back on track. Rarity sat at a table in a bistro, smiling as she used her powers while working in her notebook.

I don’t think you’ll have much problems with concentration.

“Fluttershy, I think for you, we can,” Twilight began, but was interrupted by Fluttershy interrupting with a soft squeak,.

“No,” she shook her head.

“What?” Twilight asked.

Fluttershy looked up at Twilight and said, “I said, I’m not doing it. I’m training to use this power of mine. It turns me into this horrible monster!”

Rainbow Dash turned away from a friendly spar she had with Applejack and said, “Wait, what!? Oh come on, Fluttershy. That thing you do is pretty wicked.”

“Ah kind of have to agree with Rainbow Dash,” Applejack said, straightening up her hat as she walked towards Fluttershy, “If we end up facing something big again, we are gonna need that strength of yours.”

“No!” Fluttershy shouted, shaking her head, “Don’t you understand, that thing I become, that monster? It’s not me! It’s not who I am, and I don’t want to be that thing again. It hurts others and I don’t want to hurt anypony.” she gave out a soft shudder and turn away, “Why couldn’t I have had animal related powers?”

Rarity looked up and then put down her sewing material before walking to Fluttershy. Sitting down, she placed a hand onto Fluttershy’s shoulder, “Fluttershy, dear, no one here is going to force you into anything you don’t want. If you don’t want to become that monster, then you don’t have to be.”

“Yeah,” Pinkie said as she sped in, eating a sandwich, “You don’t have to be right there in the big fights with us, you could do something else.”

“Well,” Fluttershy said, lightly kicking her legs against the log, “I was thinking of helping when you girls get hurt. While we were driving I was looking at a book about these bodies and their health problems. I think I understand enough to do basic first aid when you need it.”

“Hey, you saying that we’re gonna get hurt out there?” Rainbow Dash said, frowning, “I think we’ll be fine.

I don’t know, Dash. We can get into some major battles.

“OWWWWWWW!!!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she felt the spray hit the cut on her arm.

“Now now, I know it hurts, but you can’t keep screaming every time I administer medicine on the cut,” Fluttershy said, wrapping her friend’s arm in a bandage. Behind them, two villians were tied up as firefighters helped to stop the flames. “Why can’t you be more like Applejack, she didn’t complain about this.”

“That’s because she’s a no good biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-GAH! Why does anti-whatever hurt!” Whined Dash.

Nearby, Applejack and Twilight were talking to the local hero of Minnesota, “Jump City? You girls are way off, this is Minnesota. Who was in charge of driving.”

Sighing, Applejack lowered her head, while Twilight pointed to Pinkie Pie, “That would be her. She wanted to try and drive, and Rainbow Dash let her.”

The man sighed and tipped his hat, “I get it. Look, if you want to get to San Francisco you are going to take the I 94 and then follow the road through there. It’s a little tricky, but you’ll manage.”

“Thanks Linkara,” Twilight said, walking away.

Applejack gave Linkara a confused look, “You seem rather calm for a guy dealing with a bunch of dimension hopping ponies.”

“Eh,” Linkara shrugged, “I’ve gotten used to it.”

Twilight walked towards Applejack as she checked off Fluttershy on her list, “And that just leaves you, Applejack.”

“To be honest, Ah don’t know what you might find with me,” Applejack said, pulling out the lasso as she looked at it, “Beyond this here lasso, Ah got nothing. Well, that and the little horseshoes that are in my belt. No super strength, speed, or anything.”

“Man, did you get gypped,” Rainbow Dash commented, earning a quick glare from Applejack in the process. Twilight chose to ignore the two’s little arguing and pulled the rope into her hands. Eyes gazing down at the rope, she began to mutter.

“Amazing, it seems to be as long as you need it to be, and judging from how you used t on mainiac, indestructible as well,” Twilight said, looking it over. Then putting her finger to her chin, she said, “Which actually helps me with my theory. Everypony? Gather round please!”

As she said this, she watched as each girl found a seat in the forest to take and sit around Twilight as she stood before them. Twilight, taking a small pencil from behind her ear, began to write down on her notebook as she looked at the five in front of her, “Ok, so now that I’ve finished helping you train, I can also tell you about my findings.”

“Findings?” Applejack asked, “What were you doing, studying us too?”

“Yes, I was,” Twilight said calmly, spinning her pencil in her fingers as she walked around. “I was actually quite interested as to why we got this particular set of powers and why they matched up to the Power Ponies. And, I think I figured it out,” she then tapped her little clipboard, “Your powers are all based on your inner essencance, like your cutie mark.”

“But, my mark’s all about speed, Twi,” Dash said, arching an eyebrow.

Twilight nodded and began to explain, “You are right, but deep down inside, you are graceful and fast like the wind. You know more about the weather than any of us here, and the wind is practically your element. Weather manipulation is the perfect power set for you.”

“I guess,” Dash sighed, looking down and frowning.

“Pinkie is hyper and energetic, so speed. Rarity’s energy manipulation is a perfect match for her creativity, and of course magic is my forte,”

Applejack looked down and said, “What about me? Ah practically aint got any powers.”

“Well, you are strong, dependable, and reliable. Your powers are based on having equipment that represents that,” Twilight said, looking down at her clipboard.

“So, nothing really remarkable about me huh?” Applejack thought to herself.

“And Fluttershy-”

“Don’t bother, I know,” Fluttershy said with a sniffle, “Deep down inside, I’m just a monster waiting to be unleashed. I’m just a step away from losing my temper and hurting somepony close to me.” she said, turning away and getting up.

“Well, I wasn't going to say that,” Twilight said. “I was just going to say that you have a lot of inner strength and power behind all of your-” she paused as she watched Fluttershy walk away, “Fluttershy?”

“I’ll talk to her,” Rainbow Dash said, following Fluttershy as she walked to a stream and stat down. Sighing, Rainbow Dash sat next to her and wrapped her arm around her shoulder, “You know we don’t see you as a monster, right?”

“No, but the world does,” Fluttershy said, shaking her head. “Why didn’t it give me the ability to turn into animals, or use animal powers? Why can I turn into a big monster? Why? Is it because of some kind of ., some cruel joke? I know I like it when you girls see me for more than what I am, but this feels like it’s taking it too far.”

Rainbow Dash shrugged, “Maybe the world isn’t it looking at it like you’re a monster. Maybe it’s seeing you as you are. You know, a mare who, when the chips are down, will rise to any occasion no matter what. Is so cool, you can make chaos and a dragon your little pet if you wanted. A mare who is cute and innocent, but is probably the strongest gal I know.”

“You really think so?” Fluttershy said, looking up to Rainbow Dash from behind her long pink bangs.

“Yeah, of course I do,” Rainbow said, earning a hug from Fluttershy.

“Thank you,” Fluttershy said, getting up and looking down, “I still don’t want to be that...thing again.”

“Hey, that’s fine,” Rainbow Dash said, “You’ll just treat the injured.”

“Like you?” giggled Fluttershy.

“Hey! I told you I don’t need that kind of help,” Rainbow Dash said, walking with Fluttershy back to the campground.

As they returned, they could hear Rarity speaking as she read a news article, “Hmmm, Jump City experiencing a decrease in violent crimes. I wonder,” she said, looking up to the sky, “What kind of city is Jump City anyway?”

Jump City was no stranger to criminal activity, on the contrary it was as if it was attacked by a monster or criminal mastermind on a weekly basis. So when the quiet of the city was destroyed by the sound of a bank’s alarm going off and an explosion erupting from the front of said bank, the city began to panic and run away from the attack. However, some of the people simply hid, using the usual burst of criminal activity as an excuse to get their exercise in.

The leader of the criminal group, dressed in a burned leather jacket and jeans, stepped up to the top of a car and shouted, “Yeah, listen up all of you worthless pieces of crud, Intergang is in town! That’s right, we’re putting ourselves in here and takin over! MY name’s Hot Missile,” he chuckled and looked to his teammates, “and there is Rock Hard, Steel Ball, and Expendable Crook.” Holding up his hand, he unleashed a torrent of flame before bragging, “And we dare anyone to beat us!”

A bladed bird shaped boomerang flew out from the shadows of an alleyway, cutting the cable of Hot’s flamethrower. Gasping in shock, he looked around, trying to find the culprit and watching as the boomerang soared back to its owner. The owner of said boomerang sat crouched on a car, cape covering his body and flowing in the breeze, eyes covered in a domino mask. Surrounding him were three other people: one was mechanical as if his body was replaced by blue cybornetics, in the sky was an orange woman with flowing red hair, and a dark grey girl who’s features were covered in a dark purple cloak.
When he got a look at the four figures stepping out from the shadows, he trembled a bit and shook his head. The one who threw the boomerang was the first to speak as he stood to his full height, showing off the R that was emblazoned on his chest, “Will we do?”

Steel Ball shook his head, “No way, it’s the Titans!!!”

“Man, this is why I wanted us to move away from Metropolis! Less of these freaks!” Expendable said, shaking his head as he brought out a knife and growling. “But wait...”

Rock Hard looked confused as he finished, “Weren’t there five of them?”

Robin, choosing not to answer, shouted, “Titans, GO!” and in a flash, he leapt from the top of the car and onto the car that Hot stood on. As Hot desperately tried to fix his weapon, Robin brought out his staff, and spun it in a circle. With a twist of his hips, he slammed the staff into either side of his hips with a loud crack. Before Hot could even register the attack, Robin put away his staff, did a somersault kick and exposed the neck. Using the opportunity to attack, he struck out with his forearm into the expose neck, causing Hot to start to choke. Spinning around, Robin used a roundhouse to knock him off the car unconscious.

Steel Ball grinned as he looked at Cyborg and pressed a button on his arms, creating a steel shell covering his body. Cyborg quirked his eyebrow as he watched the metal man curl up into a steel ball and roll out at him. His reactions perfect, he held out one arm to catch the man sized ball. Smirking, he half turned his arm into a sonic cannon and sent out soundwaves into the metal ball, shaking the man inside. As the man recovered from his shake up, Cyborg picked the large metal ball up with one arm and threw him into a wall, smirking, “Good thing my football throwing arm still works.” he chuckled as he flexed his hand.

Rock Hard watched as Starfire flew straight at him and pressed a button on his gauntlets. All around him, the rubble from the exploded bank began to rise up around him. Thrusting his hand out, he launched the rocks right at the alien. Eyes glowing bright green, Starfire threw energy blast after energy blast to destroy the rubble and burning it into ash. When the last large piece flew at her, she slammed her fist into the rubble and destroyed it, leaving Rock wide open. In an orange and red rocket blur, she slammed both fists into his body with a loud crack. Moving rapidly, she pummeled him straight into a wall, leaving behind a large dent. Landing on the ground, Starfire sighed and wiped her hand through her hair, smiling a little, “I hope I didn’t beat you too badly.”

Raven floated in front of Expendable, rolling her eyes under her hood, “Seriously, you come at me with a knife?”

“Just watch!” he laughed as he slit his wrist, allowing blood to flow down his arms, “Bet you never met up with a mutant before, have yah? Watch this!” With a high pitched squeal, the blood that trickled down his arm flew off and became hard pointed blades. Grinning, he extended his palm and launched the blood blades at Raven.

Stepping back in shock, she quickly threw up her hands to create two black energy shields to take the shots. After the barrage was ended, she narrowed her eyes and shouted, “Azarath Metrion Zinthos!” and summoned up the various rocks and steel round Expendable. Using her magic with a wave of her hand, she slammed the debris around him, sealing him in a small tomb.

After a few minutes, the Titans gathered the fallen foes and placed them in a small circle, “And that is how it’s done.” smirked Cyborg as he dusted his hands off.

“Oh, I so do love it when we defeat foes quickly,” Starfire said, making a little loop in the air.

Hot looked up at the small group of heroes and asked, “Hey, where is that fifth guy who hangs around you? You know, Beast Boy?”

This question made the group stop in the middle of their eleatin and look down. After a few moments, Robin was the first to speak, “Come on Titans, let’s go.”

Unbeknownst to the group of heroes, a young blonde girl wearing her school uniform was watching the battle. She let out a sigh as she watched the team leave the scene, smiling as she did. As she straightened up her backpack, she heard, “Hey, Terra! What are you doing here?” shouted a young teen’s voice.

“Huh? Oh, Jackie, Jill!” Terra said, smiling at her two school friends walked up to her. “I was just-”

Jackie, a red head, looked to her friend concerned a she held Jillian’s hand tightly, “You know you aren’t supposed to be around a superhero battle. These things tend to get wild you know.”

“Well, yeah,” Terra said, looking down, “I just happen to like watching it when the Titans fight. It’s so cool to watch them.”

“Yeah, I hear ya,” Jill, a black girl said, nodding. Then she added, “But there is a time for that, and a time for studying. You got a history final to study for.”

“Yes, I got it. Study all about the history of Kasina and Genosha for world history, I got it,” Terra said, chuckling as she followed her friends away from the fight, “But, it might be easier if you helped out rather than smacking lips all of the time.”

Jill giggled and kissed her girlfriend on the cheek, “Don’t be jelly!.”

“Ah, single life is so hard,” swooned Jackie. Then she looked to Terra, “Speaking of relationship, where is that one guy you’ve been hanging out with? You know, Gar something?”

“Garfield...” Terra said, her mind flashing back

Two months ago.

Terra grumbled to herself as she walked out of her school, arms burdened with a ton of books. A part of her wanted to just use her powers to create a rock wagon and carry it all, but the rest told her not to. Groaning, she walked ahead and further away from her school and towards the apartment she called home, until she bumped into someone and dropped her books, “Ooof!”

"Sorry about that,” the young man said, chuckling while he ran his hand through his green hair.

Terra shook her head and sighed, “It’s ok. It’s my fault for not buying a backpack. But what can you do-” she paused as she looked up at the man she just bumped into. While his skin was flesh and he was wearing a red and white hoodie, there was no mistaking the smile of “Beast Boy?”

“Um, excuse me, the name’s Garfield Logan, a young teen about town,” Beast Boy said with a stuffy accent. Then he waggled his eyebrows before saying, “But whoever this Beast Boy is, sounds absolutely char-ack!” he was interrupted by Terra grabbing his neck and pulling him into a nearby alley.

After taking a minute to look around to make sure the coast was clear, she turned her blue eyes onto Beast Boy, “Ok, spill, what is all of this?”

“Like it?” asked Beast Boy happily, pressing a finger onto his watch and turning him back to his green self, “It’s an image inducer, like some of the X-men have. Victor said he could make me one and boom! Here it is. Of course, I wanted to look like a hunk but...”

“No,” Terra said, shaking her head, “I meant this! I thought I told you that I didn’t want any of this!”

Beast Boy held up his hands and nodded, “Yeah, yeah, I know. You want a normal life, away from being a superhero and just be the girl who’s biggest threat to conquer is tomorrow's test, I get it. Really. I’m not some stalker who will make you feel sorry for walking away from all of this,” he said, lightly kicking the ground.

“This life can be tough, and not for everyone,” he added, “Sometimes I think about Robin and how he gets through it without wanting to go evil. So, I can understand wanting to leave i all behind, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be friends, you know? Away from the powers, masks, and all of that? No Terra or Beast Boy, just Gar and Tara having fun.”

Terra sighed and leaned back against the wall and said, “You know, I have two friends in the school.Jackie and Jillian, they are a lot of fun but sweet gods on high can they be annoying with how lovely dovey they are on each other. And sometimes,” rubbing her arms a little, she looked down and away, “It can be a little hard, talking to someone who doesn’t know that you are a superhero or what you’ve done.”

“So, let me be that guy. We can just hang out, talk about who cares what and just have a blast doing it. You don’t think I need time off from my team once in a while? They are the greatest, but sometimes I need to talk someone out of the team,” Beast Boy said, looking down. Then he raised his head and smiled, “So, how about it? Want to start again? As friends?”

“Sure, let's start anew!” Terra said with a smile and stuck out her hand, “Tara Markov!”

Beast Boy chuckled and stuck out his hand “Garfield Logan.”

Present day.

“...yo! Terra! You spacing on us!” said Jillian, snapping her fingers.

Jackie giggled, “Maybe she’s just thinking about how hot Starfire is?”

“Perv,” Jillian said, rolling her eyes before looking back to Terra.

“No, I was just, thinking.” Terra said, looking down. “Hey, want to head to my apartment later? I kind of got something I need to tell you.”

“I don’t know,” JAckie said, smirking and tucking Terra’s chin, “two lovely girls, trapped alone in an apartment with another cute girl unsupervised? Could be trouble.”

“Are you in or out?” asked Terra.

Jillian rolled her eyes and said, “Yeah, we’re in.”

“Whoo Wee! What a day!” shouted Cyborg as he walked into living room of the tower. Stretching he said, “5 bank robberies, 4 muggings, 3 attempted murders, 2 Arsons, and a satanic cult dedicated to summoning Thog. I don’t think we’ve been this busy in ages.”

“Yes,” Starfire said, flying around in a circle and finding a spot to relax, “I too am bushed. I wish to relax after to such a tiring day. Garfield, maybe you could,” she then paused as she looked around the room and then sighed.

Raven looked down as she walked to a bookshelf, “I half expect him to come in right now, saying something snarky and stupid.”

“Yeah, or at least doing something to take our minds off of everything,” Cyborg said, looking up at the ceiling and started to count the tiles.

Starfire looked around the room for a few moments, and then held her hand to her chest, “Dick, he’s gone into his room again, hasn't he?”

Cyborg shook his head, “Yeah, you know how he gets when a mystery is at his fingertips. He won’t stop for anything.”

“I know, and it hurts me,” Starfire said, looking down, “He’s going to hurt himself is he keeps doing this.”

Raven calmly pulled out a book and began to read, “Then go help him.”

“Think he will listen to me?” asked Starfire.

“If not, you could alway drag him with your super strength,” said Raven.

Cyborg looked up from his tv, “Didn’t think you’ve started cracking jokes.”

“I’m being serious,” Raven said calmly.

Away from his small group of friends, Robin walked alone. Eyes narrowed, it was obvious to one and all that he was in full detective mode, his footsteps heavy with thought about the missing Titan. Speaking to himself, he began to think, “How did this happen? It was fine a few weeks ago.”

Two months ago, shortly after Beast Boy’s friendship with Terra began anew...

Beast Boy stretched his arms over his head, and let out a big cheer. There was a skip in his step as he walked into his home and to the top of the tower. For a few moments, he looked over his shoulder back at Jump City to look back and think of his day. Sighing a little, he turned back and stepped into the living room, only to be hit with an excited “Surprise” from the room.

Recovering from his shock, he looked at the birthday cake and the food on the table, “MY birthday? Y-Y-you guys remembered?”

Robin shrugged, “It wasn’t hard to figure out. I did some asking with the Doom Patrol. We figured with some of the changes you have been through lately, you needed some cheering up.”

Beast Boy looked at the cake, and the back up to his friends, “So, you guys asked about...my past and know about-”

“Everything,” Cyborg said, nodding, “Look, Gar, if you ever need to talk.”

Beast Boy held up his hand and shook his head, “Forget it. Look, guys, I’m not some sad sack who needs cheering up, or some self important jackass who needs you guys to lick my boots every five minutes. You guys have had it SO much worse than I did, some of the stuff I wouldn’t want to ever experience. Thinking that I would need you guys to focus on my needs, would be kind of selfish.”

“Look, I had some bad stuff happen to me. I have been through hell, but you know what? Forget it. I’ve come through it with an awesome power set, some great memories, and awesome friends. Yeah, we fight, and had some bad moments, but we have had way more good than bad, right?” Beast Boy smiled and looked down at the cake, “Bad things happen, and I know it, but what kind of hero would I be if I let it all get to me and ruin my day.”

“Not a very good one,” said Raven.

“Yeah. I mean, things change, but I’m ok with that. Sometimes, I can find something new to love, like that new shopping center,” Beast Boy said, smiling, “or me and Terra. It’s all about learning to accept it, and moving on with a smile on my face. And if I can help keeping you guys smile, in anyway, whether it be acting stupid or saying stupid plans that might not work? Then that’s fine by me. Besides, it’s fun.”

“So, no cake?” asked Starfire.

Beast Boy looked hurt, “You kidding? I want to live and love my birthday to the fullest! Let’s chow down!!!!”

It was after that, he had a talk with Raven about that book...

Beast Boy looked at Raven as she sat on the couch, looking at a book. His curiosity hitting him hard, he turned into a kitten, climbed up on the back of the couch and nuzzled Raven, “Whatcha reading?”

Raven pulled him away and said, “Nothing, go away.” after waiting for a few moments, she looked back from her book and into the light blue eyes of her friend, “You are not going away, are you?”

“Nope!” Beast Boy said.

“Not even if I blast you?” Raven growled.

“Nope!” Beast Boy said, turning back to his human form.

Raven sighed at this and looked back at her book, a white skull adorning the dark purple cover “Remember that museum heist we foiled, the Ancient Arabian exhibit?”

“Heist?” Beast Boy paused and then snapped his fingers, “Oh yeah! When we stopped one of Dick’s old baddies, King Tut.”

“That exhibit held artifacts discovered there, dedicated to an ancient hero who lived back in at least 800 B.C. They said that the hero fought against some power evils with ancient and untold of magic,” Raven said, looking at the book.

“Wow!” Beast Boy said, excited, “What did they find?”

“Some weird items: An old Gauntlet, a broken mechanical bug, a feather belonging to an old weather bird, a lamp, a broken suit of armor, and this,” she opened the book and gave it to Beast Boy.

Beast Boy looked down at the book, his eyes looking over the blank book. For a moment, his eyes flashed with a dark cloud that he blinked away, “It’s blank.”

“That’s why they gave me the book,” Raven said, looking back at it. “Why would an ancient civilization have a blank book in a tomb dedicated to its famous hero? And what’s more, there is a bit of latent magic within that I can just feel. A feeling of dark magic that his hiding the words from me..”

Beast Boy, who had by now had the open book on his face, looked towards Raven curious, “And you have no idea what’s causing the seal?”

“No,” Raven said, voice sullen as she levitated the book back into her hand, “I’ve had Dr. Strange, Dr. Fate, and Zatanna look into it, and they couldn’t even break one part of the seal.”

“So now, it’s all one you, huh Rae? Easy then,” Beast Boy said, smiling and nudging her, “If anyone can crack this, it's you.”

“If the three strongest mages I know can’t crack it, then what chance do I have?” Raven asked.

“Because, you have four things up on them: Dick, Vic, Kory, and me! And I bet we can help figure something out,” Beast Boy said, smiling.

Raven looked at him with a nonplussed look, “You?”

“Well, yeah,” Beast Boy said with a chuckle, stretching his arms out wide, “You should know how these things go. You work really hard at something, and nothing works, then I come up with the world’s stupidest plan out there. Then, you see something in what I just said that turns out to be the final piece! Then you call me smart and I act like an idiot for a bit.”

This began to make Raven break into a smile, though she quickly put back on a frown, “And you think your idiocy will work?”

“Well duh! Of course, it will, because if I ever thought it was smart? Then it wouldn’t work at all. It’s my job as an idiot comedic relief after all!” Beast Boy said with a hint of pride in his voice.

Raven let out a little laugh at this and got up, putting the book down, “And it's my good fortune to have one of the most idiotic comedy reliefs around.”

Beast Boy got off the couch and held her hand, “And would you have me any other way?”

“No, Garfield, I suppose not,” Raven said, running a hand through her light purple hair and smiling warmly to herself. For a brief moment, her eyes looked up into Garfield's, and she had a faint blush form on her cheeks.

“Hey, how about we go for some ice cream and you can rest your brain for a bit,” Beast Boy said. As Raven nodded a yes, Beast Boy smiled and turned to walk away, “OH, and what is up with the name of that book? The Dark Prognosticus? Sounds like a name for a nose.”

“It’s supposed to be a use of the word prognostic, as in omens and foreshadowing,” Raven said.

Beast Boy shrugged, “Still sounds like you are looking up dark noses. Hey! Maybe that’s the secret! You need to hunt down people who do nose surgery!!!!”

The present...

Robin could only sigh as he sat at the computer console, looking at the screens, “The book also disappeared. There has to be a connection,” Turning on the screen, he said, “Titans check in.”

Ateen dressed in a yellow suit stopped his run in front of the screen. Pausing, he pulled back his red cowl to show a young man with vibrant red hair, “Flash here, haven’t seen hide or hair of him. I ran back and forth across the country at least three times to look for him.”

“Thanks for your help Wally, just keep searching and let me know if you see any clues,” said Robin, rubbing his temples.

“Aqualad here,” Garth said, looking into his screen, “Checked with the undersea kingdoms, no one has ever seen so much as a green scale. I tried talking with Namor, bu he’s well...Namor, so no good on that front.”

“Troia, checking in, nothing here on Themescraya, “A young woman said, playing with her ponytail, “I even had my sister converse with the gods, and still nothing.”

A young man with red hair and a red domino mask appeared on the screen next, “Speedy checking in. I talked with Chesire about her connections in the underground, and she says she has no idea.”

“Thanks, Roy,” Robin said, massaging his temples while closing his eyes. Reaching an arm out to the console, he prepared to turn it off. Wally’s voice quickly interrupted him and gave him pause.

“Hey, Dick, maybe he just doesn’t want to be found? I mean, a green animal walking the earth? Kind of hard to miss,” Wally said, his voice concerning, “If he was as mad at you guys as you said, he probably doesn’t want to be-”

“You didn’t hear it, Wally,” growled Dick, clenching his fist as he spoke, “The way he spoke, the things he said...those weren’t something said by a guy who wasn’t put up to it. Someone made him say those things, and someone forced him to run away...”

One month ago...

Beast Boy grumbled as he stormed into the living room of the tower, anger and rage across his features. Sitting down on the couch, he watched as his friends talked amongst themselves. Narrowing his eyes, he ground his teeth as he listened to their talks until he finally belted out, “You are all horrible people!!!!”

“Beast Boy, wha-” Starfire was the first to ask.

Beast Boy interrupted Starfire with another rant, “You know what’s wrong! You should’ve known, but no, you treat me like the comedic relief!”

“Beast Boy, are you ok?” asked Cyborg, looking confused at his friend.

“No, I’m not ok!” shouted Beast boy. ““All I wanted to do was try and fit in, really feel special, even make you all laugh and cheer up. While I ’m not the smartest tool in the shed, I do have heart, and a soul and the least I have done is try to be there for you and do my best and THIS is how you repay me?”

Cyborg raised an eyebrow and said, “By giving you a home, friendship, and letting you be a hero?”

“You act like that’s the only thing that you have done,” he growled and stood up from his seat. “I’ll be in my room if you need me.”

The present.

Robin sat back in his chair, putting his fingers together, tapping them, “That wasn’t the only outburst he had. There were others, and all of them felt unnatural like he wanted us to feel like we were the bad guys. It was like he was reading from a script.”

“Hey, we’re not saying you’re wrong, Dick,” Roy said, “We’re just saying that whoever has him or is doing this, wants him out of sight and it’s going to be hard to find him.”

“But hey, if anyone is going to find him and bring him back home? It’s the son of the bat,” joked Wally as he turned off his screen along with the others.

Robin nodded and sighed, running his fingers along the keyboard before beginning to type. Images, maps, and news stories flashed across his pupilless eyes. The mask hiding his ever growing frustration as each lead he tried to look into would only turn up a dead end. His focus was so strong, he did not hear the soft footfalls of the person behind him, or feel the warm arms wrapping around his neck from behind, “Robin...Dick, please, come to bed. IT is late, and while I know you stay up late, you still need your rest.”

“Kory, I,” Dick paused, holding a hand to his face as he leaned back in his chair, “Can’t. Beast Boy is out there and I need to find him.”

“But you have not slept in three days,” Starfire said.

“And if I need to rest, I can meditate for an hour and recharge. Easy,” Dick said.

Kory shook her head and said, “No, I am putting the proverbial foot down on this. You are coming to bed, you are going to get a good night’s rest or I will be forced to pull you out of this chair and carry you!”

“Kory, I will-” Robin looked up at Star and into her green eyes. Laughing a little, he reached up to take off his mask and showing his blue irises, “never be able to resist or say no, can I?”

Starfire shook her head, leaned down and kissed his nose, “I would not be the good girlfriend if I didn’t. Now, please, come to bed.”

“Sure Kory,” Dick said, getting out of the chair and following her out of the room. Subtly, he pressed a button on his glove to allow the computer to scan the planet automatically.

In the highest tower of Count Logan’s tower, the man sat in a big chair alone, with only the light of the candles to illuminate his presence. As he sat, he tapped his gloved fingers together rhythmically, as if to alleviate his boredom. Sighing, his eyes began to close behind his mask as he let the gloom of the room take over. Letting out another breath, he leaned back in his chair and asked in a whisper, “Am I doing the right thing?”

“That answer, is for you decide, is it not?” a feminine voice spoke out, her words drifting through the empty room. “After all, everything that is happening next, is all your plan.”

Count Logan growled, looking over his shoulder at nothing, “What are you doing here?”

“Just checking in on my favorite subject,” the voice said, smiling as her green eyes looked down upon him from the darkness. “That, and I want to let you know that I found our other two generals for your little game and are both waiting in the foyer for your orders. I caught the first one right as he was about to die by his brother’s hands and the other was brought here when she was in between worlds so to speak.”

“So you are ruining more lives, right?” asked Count Logan.

The voice chuckled, her laugh malevolent and echoing, “Don’t think of it as ruining, think of it as me giving them a chance to be part of your little game.”

“Sir?” giggled Kamica as she opened the door, “Just wanted to let you know that we have two more friends back in the lobby! Wanna meet them?”

“In time,” Count Logan said, lowering his head. As the door began to close, he asked, “Kamica, wait...”

“Yes, Cappy?” asked Kamica as she smiled, looking back into the room.

“Are you, happy here? Is this ok?” he asked, frowning in his mask.

Kamica put a finger to her chin, thinking. Then after smiling, she nodded and said, “Yep! I mean, what did I have back in my homeworld? I was all alone in a group of sisters, my best friend betrayed me, and the new friends I made all hated me. So here, I found a brand new home! So, yep! Can’t be happier.”

“Thank you, I just wanted to make sure that you are not feeling conflicted about our mission,” said Count Logan as he waved her off. Taking a deep breath, he stood up from his chair and walked to the window. Peering into his reflection in the window, he took his mask into his hand and pulled it away, exposing his green face. Emerald eyes looking back at him, he ran his hand along his olden features, sighing at the face that stared back at him, “Please, let me be forgiven for what I am about to do.” he sighed and then turned away, looking back at a picture of the Titans, all around Beast Boy as he enjoyed his cake, “Please guys...”

Raven found herself in a ruined city, the fires licking the sky while the screams of the people surrounding her. Gasping, she looked around for the cause of the destruction of the city, and just as quickly, the searches stopped when she felt something warm dripping down from the sky and onto her exposed forehead. Looking up, she saw a sight that made her gasp in terror, holding back a scream, “No, please god,” she whispered, seeing Robin impaled on spears of black diamond. His face frozen in a picture of pain and torment.

Shaking her head in disbelief, she took off into the sky, desperate to search for the monster that killed her friend and destroyed the city. More screams and pained shouts hit her ears as she flew faster, only stopping when she saw another limp form, “Victor...?” she whispered to herself as she floated down, watching as the once lively titan laid in a broken heap, his circuitry sparking, burning the oil that mixed with his blood.

She stepped back, shaking her head and trying to comprehend the horror that graced her eyes. As she stepped back, she felt her feet hitting a small pool of blood, and as she felt it, she turned around and saw a thing that was barely even human. When she looked closely, she tried to hold back her sick and terror as she realized that what she saw, the mangled and torn body that looked used, was Starfire.

For a moment, she felt the urge to cry, hot tears welling up in her eyes as she looked at the mangled remains of her friend. Then she heard the laughter that caused the world to shake and looked back up. Standing in the middle of the burning city, was Trigon, his red body highlighted in the flames of the ruined city. Screaming in rage, she teleported to face him, “TRIGON!!! You bastard!!!”

Trigon frowned and held up a finger, stopping her in the air, “Language, my daughter. One doesn’t talk to their father like that.”

“You lost the right to call yourself my father a long time ago,” Raven said, growling as she tried to tap into her magic. “Especially since you killed my friends!”

Trigon pulled back, looking hurt and shocked, “I killed them? My dear, it wasn’t I who did this...it was you.”

Raven shook her head and screamed, “NO! It’s not me! I couldn’t,” she held up her hand and looked down in horror as she saw bloodstained gloves. Then she looked at a mirror and screamed, seeing the four red eyes glaring back at her.

“Drop her!” Beast Boy shouted, turning into a falcon to fly at her.

“Bea-Garfield stop! Don’t-” before another word could be spoken, her hands glowed red, unleashing a fire tornado right at Beast Boy, incinerating him. As his body turned to ash, she heard three words whispered in the wind.

“I love you Rae...”

Trigon chuckled as he watched, “This is your destiny, Raven. All it takes is just enough heartbreak and despair, and you will bring me back to claim my throne.”

As Trigon said this, Raven looked down at her body, watching in terror as she turned into her demonic form.

A scream that was mixed of a woman in fear and a dying raven echoed throughout the room as Raven shot up in the bed. Cold sweat beading down her face as she looked around , panting. Quickly looking at her mirror, she checked to see if her eyes were still only two and sighed as she saw her normal face. Shaking in fear, Raven whispered, “I won’t let this happen.”

Terra looked back at her two friends as they sat on the bed, “Ok, so what is the news?” asked Jackie.

Terra sighed and pleaded, “When I show you this, please promise me that you won’t run.” when she watched her friends nod, she held out her hand and levitated some stoned in front of her.

This elicited a gasp from the girls as they watched the stones levitate and move around her, “Oh, my, God!” Jackie said, eyes full with awe, “You’re a mutant?!”

As she nodded and dropped the pet rocks, Jillian was the first to say, “That is so cool! I always wanted to be friends with a mutant! I know a lot of people try and say they are like, total monsters and stuff, but who wouldn’t want to shoot beams out of their eyes and junk?”

“But why didn’t you tell us you had powers? You could’ve lied and told us you were a meta-human,” said Jillian.

Terra sighed and looked out a window, “Because, one of my best friends is missing. And, it’s been making me realize that I just need more people to talk to, y’know. People I can share my old life with and talk with about what’s been going on with me. It just feels, lonely sometimes, and I kind of wanted more people to talk to.”

Jillian smiled and glomped her friend, “and you trusted us? Oh, that is so sweet!!! We need to have a sleepover to celebrate!”

“But girls what about-”

“Tut tut, not another word.” Jackie said, “We are partying, now!”

And so it came to pass, that three teams were on a path of destiny: A team of harmony and friendship, of peace and hope, and of justice and heroism. Three teams on an adventure to save their multiverse and to protect the worlds they love. Who will win? Despair, or Hope.

I am Uatu, the watcher, my duty is to watch over the world under my guardianship. Though I am forbidden from becoming involved, I do take interest in the world under my stead. The adventure that you are about to see, will involve many trials and tribulations, angst and happiness, and grand battles.

I do hope you will continue to watch with me.

Prologue end...

Author's Note

Thanks Tom and Zolt.

Ok, so now were are back for a month, and then we have a few Christmas fics tor work out. But for right now, let's talk about this. I got to admit, it was odd writing the Titans like this, mainly because I had never really written a whole fic of them before, so this was fun to try.

-The feelings of Fluttershy on her powers is not nessecarilly mine. See, I know why Fluttershy was the Hulk in the episode, it was meant to be silly. It was meant to be good for a quick gag and that was it. Kind of like how Fluttershy has a fang was to be a typicall "Or is it?" type of appearence and nothing more. However! How would Fluttershy feel about her powers basically amounting to her becoming a monster when she gets mad, or how would Dash feel that her powers aren't speed, but weather manipulation. Sometimes, a good writer needs to take the characters feelings into effect when they aren't trying to write a comedy.

-This was the first time I wrote a montage like this. Mixing in the saving with the training. I wanted to mix them both up so we can see it from all sides. Hope it worked, and hope everyone enjoyed the cameo from the comic reviewer.

-The villians of Intergang, I was going to name them "Hot Rod, Rock Solid, Wet Missile, and Penis metaphor" but I think the above was cooler.

-What's odd about the Titan's battle is that I have no big magical effect or super powers like my usual battles.

-Ok, so about Jackie and Jillian. Well, for one thing, I found out that the certian author only used two background characters for this. I mean, I know we are not unaccomstomed to it, but I thought they had names, had a body, and a personality! Let me put it this way. It would be like if I was a person new to the brony scene, wanting to do a commentary on a fic, and I encounter Derpy for the first time. I would be expecting that the show had a great character, only to find out that she only had her first appearence in the first episode, in the background. I would be pulling my hair out! Well, seeing that I had nothing to work from except that they are just sterotypical rich girls, I had to work on my own here.

-I'' admit, when I was writing Terra's last name...for a moment, I was about to write Terra Brandford instead of Markov. MY apologies, I am a FF fan.

Beast Boy's little disguise was something I was thinknig of when I read End of Ends. How all of this could be solved with a little image inducer and Boom! Problem solved! I also looked at it as a normal couple breaking up amicabbly.

-There's some clues in the meusuem, lets see if you guys can find it

-If Beast Boy's anger at the Titans seems sudden, there is a reason for that. It is meant to come off unnatural.

-My goal with Count Logan...make him as tragic and likable as I can! I will make him a reasonable villian by the end of this!!!!

-Raven's Nightmare is one of those times I feel down that this is only PG-13, cause there is so much I could;vee written with Star's corpse.

-My apologies for Uatu's appearence, I felt I had to at least once.

-I would also like to dedicate this fic to the Memory of Stan Lee. Someone who taught us, if we wanted to create something...we make it.

to stand togEther

I have often wondered about cliche of when two sets of heroes meet, they must fight each other. You would think, the world being as it is, that one would not try and dissuade a possible alliance with a potential ally. You would instead want to befriend them, or to talk things over as a way to form unity. After all, while they differ in ideals, I would like to think they are unified in the chance to do good...

Twilight opened her eyes and began to look around at her surroundings. After her eyes adjusted to the light, it did not take long for her to recognize the throne room of Canterlot castle. The marble pillars, the curtains, and the flowers were all recognizable to her eyes. After taking the few moments to take the area in, she began to hear voices from behind her. Turning around, she saw her friends in their equine bodies standing before Chrysalis as she began to monologue, “I remember this, it’s the Wedding. Right after me and my friends were overwhelmed by Chrysalis’s forces. But why am I here?”

No sooner had she said this, than she heard the voice of Applejack from the group, “Sorry Twilight, we should’ve listened to you.”

Twilight let out a sigh, the memory coming back to her, “It’s ok Applejack I-” her heartfelt return was quickly interrupted by her own voice coming from her body.

“You’re sorry?!” the other Twilight screamed, “I told you I knew Cadence better-”

“Yeah, but ponies can change from time to time. It doesn’t matter if I knew her,” Twilight said, shaking her head. “Other me, you are sounding nuts. In case you forgot, bad girl? Right there?! HELLO!?” she snarked at herself.

“You insisted I was jealous-”

“And I was,” Twilight admitted, “To be honest, should’ve came in with better evidence than circumstantial.”

“My brother disowned me and you all turned your backs on me,” the other Twilight said.

Twilight shrugged, “Really kind of deserved it now I think about it. I mean, who would really believe me? What if she was just being a bridezilla? You are not going to listen to me are-”

“The princess hated me-”

“Of course not. Go on and rant for a little bit more other me,” Twilight said rolling her hooves.

“You didn’t take my concerns seriously even though there was a threat,” Twilight ranted more, making the normal Twilight let out an exasperated sigh and pulling out a bottle of Sparkle Cola. “I was trapped underground, told my friends didn’t care about me-”

“And if you believed that, you are a bigger idiot than I thought,” Twilight said, drinking her soda by now and reading a book, “And you are supposed to be me!!!!”

“How could you do this to me, I could’ve died and you wouldn’t have cared. Give me one good reason why I should forgive-” at this point the real Twilight slapped her dream counterpart.

“Are you done? Are you done? You want to know why you should forgive them? Because I did. You know why? Because I realized something, I am the better mare. I forgave them because I realized I was a jealous moron. I had nothing but circumstantial evidence and nothing else. No wonder everypony was mad at me, I would be mad at me.”

“But, I had an epiphany after all was said and done,” Twilight said, a soft chuckle escaping her lips. “My friends didn’t hate me, neither did the princess. Mad, sure, disappointed yeah, but they could NEVER hate me, and I couldn’t them. The things we did, the memories we made, are too strong and too powerful to destroy over a silly argument. That’s why I forgave them, because I cared for them that much. And I know, they did too. If I was missing? They would’ve stopped at nothing to find me.”

She then shook her head at her dreamself, who was still ranting, “Friends talk, they fight, hurt, but true friends also know how to forgive and move on, making themselves stronger in the end. And that is something that any real Twilight would know!”

“Ohhhh, it’s that easy is it?” purred a feminine voice as the dream faded, leaving Twilight in darkness.

Her ears perked and swiveled, trying to find the source of the voice. Narrowing her eyes, she whispered, “That voice...why does it sound familiar.”

The female voice continued, running smoky tendrils under Twilight’s chin, “Any real Twilight? You must know that isn’t always the case. You may have forgiven them, but others are not so forgiving.”

“I know, the greater multiverse theory states that from one point, a countless other verses can be made,” Twilight said, moving away from the tendrils. As she turned her head away from the smoke, her eyes watched as hundreds of screens and mirrors began to show other versions of the wedding. Worlds where she ran, became evil, and where she killed her friends played out before her eyes. Shutting her eyes, she tried to turn around and look away, only to see behind her a pair of yellow-green slitted eyes that glared into her soul.

“Isn’t it so easy for friendship to fail? For that ideal to hold onto be easily destroyed by anger and petty squabbles,” the voice said, her melodious tone beginning to echo around Twilight.

“You’re wrong! If we just talk to each other, open our hearts more to each other! Then we can come to a greater understanding to one another,” Twilight said, trying to shake off the shadowy tendrils as they wrapped around her body.

The voice let out a small hiss as it tenderly touched her chin, “Such Naivete. You say this, but you know that there are other worlds where those words are meaningless. Doesn’t it feel so wrong, knowing that there are worlds where friendship fails? It is the same here.”

“So?” Twilight asked, trying to struggle, but finding each of her limbs held fast by the smokey tendrils.

The voice chuckled, “So...shouldn’t you fix it? You have the power, so force your will and ideals onto those who oppose you.”

Twilight let out a grunt as she struggled, “NO! I won’t force ponies to follow me!”

“You can though. It would be easy,” the voice said, “Just give into the darkness and allow your power flow. Let the corruption take you.”

“No, I WON’T!: Twilight denied, her magic flowing through her.

“You can,” the voice whispered, laughing, “And you will!”

“NO!” Twilight screeched.

Twilight let out a gasp as she shot up in her sleeping bag, feeling the cold sweat rolling down her face. Looking to her left and right, she saw that her other friends were still sleeping, except Applejack who was looking at her with a worried brow, “You ok, Sugarcube?”

“Y-y-yeah,” Twilight stuttered, panting and wiping the sweat away from her forehead, “I was just, dreaming.I was having a flashback about the wedding.”

“That again?” Applejack asked, rolling her eyes and shaking her head. With a sigh she said, “Ah thought we been through all of that. We both made mistakes, said our apologies, and moved on.”

“I know...I know,” Twilight said, looking down and putting her hands into her lap, “But...what if we didn’t. What if I just decided to reject your apology and turned evil.”

Applejack shrugged, “Ah dunno, maybe just joined you in being evil and be a part of your evil army.”

“Applejack, I’m serious,” Twilight narrowed her eyes. “Celestia told me about her nightmare, of how she is constantly one step away from being a nightmare, Luna turned nightmare because of her own loneliness and hatred. What if...I’m still just one slip up from going full nightmare and forcing the ways of friendship onto the world.”

“Then, we’ll stop ya. We’ll find a way and then Rainbow Dash will knock some sense into ya,” Applejack said, lightly nudging Twilight’s shoulder, making her chuckle a little. “If Ah don’t get to ya first.”

Twilight smiled warmly, “Thanks Applejack. So... why are you awake?”

“Well, you know,” Applejack said, looking to the approaching dawn, “Just getting up when the sun does. Normal farmer instincts.”

“Oh,” Twilight said, before looking at Applejack’s face, “Are you sure it isn’t anything else?”

Applejack looked back at Twilight, her emerald eyes meeting her friend’s violet ones before looking down, “Is it all right, not being special?”

“Special, what do you mean?” Twilight asked.

“Well, you know. Dash had her speed, Fluttershy has her kindness, Rarity her elegance, and Pinkie has empathy. Me? Ah’m just Applejack, the pillar. Even here, all Ah got with me is this here rope. And is that going to be enough?”

“Of course it will. You are our pillar, our strong mare who-”

“Has nothing special but a kind word and a strong will,” Applejack said, laying back in her bed roll and looking up at the tree branches.

“And sometimes, that is exactly what we need,” Twilight said, cuddling up to Applejack and looking down, “Kind of like I need a sleeping buddy right now.”

“Well, I do like being a big teddy bear,” Applejack said, inviting Twilight to snuggle with her. As she got close, Applejack looked back up at the sky and began to think to herself, ‘Is it really ok?”

Just a few feet away from the sleeping duo, Rainbow dash grumbled as she looked to a tree. Taking a deep breath, she used her wind power and flew up to a tree. Looking back out at the stars, she grumbled to herself, “Just a big joke, isn’t it? You take away my best talent and left me with flight! Why, what was the point.” she said to herself as she grabbed a branch and ripped it out, throwing it to the ground.

Looking back at the group, she whispered to herself, “Can I still protect them without my speed?”

Count Logan sat, putting his fingers together in a temple as he looked at the monitors before him. Down at his feet, laid a controller and a system showing all of players of his little game, the three teams and his own personal pawns. Violet eyes looked over every inch of the screen, taking in the tiniest of details and the layout of the players. Taking a deep breath, he pushed a button on the controller and began to speak to himself, “First move always should go to the villian in a game like this.”

“Hey boss!” Shouted Kamica, her peppy voice matching her bouncing, “The other two generals were wondering if we should follow the soldiers for when we attack Jump city tomorrow?”

“No, you three hold back and appear after I give the signal,” Count Logan said, standing up and walking away from the system, allowing his cape to billow behind him, “I need to talk to our other player in this game of mine.”

Kamica scratched her head, “So, me and the others just get to watch?”

“For now,” Logan said, walking to the door, “After all, we need something to unite the heroes as one.”

Terra awoke that morning with a long and drawn out yawn, stretching her arms above her head as the morning sun filtered into her bedroom. Looking around, she saw her two friends asleep on the floor, books on their faces as they snuggled up close to each other. Closing her eyes, she let out a sigh and rolled out of the bed before tightening up her nightgown and walking to the window.

Her small apartment had a large window that gave a view of the city and the ocean in the distance. As well as a direct view of Titan’s tower, alone on it’s island as a single citadel in the distance. Placing a hand onto the window, she found herself smiling at the warm memories from her past as they ran through her mind, “Having happy memories are we? And here I thought you wanted to run away and forget the past?”

“Who’s there?” asked Terra, turning around to see no one, only the bedroom.

“Just the whispers of the past. One that reminds you of your mistakes, and of your worst sin,” the voice said.

“Sin?” gasped Terra, backing up, her body shaking as the images of her betrayal flowed through her head.

“Of how you abandoned your friend, all because you wanted a normal life,” the voice said, “but don’t worry, I’ll make you pay for every moment of pain you have given me soon enough. But for right now, I have a game to begin.”

Terra growled and stepped forward, golden energy flowed through her as she began to channel her power, “You get back here and reveal yourself you...jerk!” she shouted, only to be met with silence.

Lowering her head, she let out another sigh and turned away. Brushing her hand through her golden hair, she gazed her blue eyes back out to the tower, “Maybe I should say something, anything to them. At least let them know I’m alive. And maybe even talk to-” she passed before shaking her head, “No, I won’t talk to my brother. I said this is a new start and I meant it.”

Taking another look outside of her window, she took a deep breath and walked away, “Onward to a new day.”

As she turned around, she did not see the swinging by body of a teenager as he held onto his grappling line. Said teenager, Robin, turned his head to look at the window, seeing for a moment the figure as she walked and closed the curtains. Smiling warmly, he turned his head to the flagpole that was near him and he let go of the line to grab the pole.

Years of honed gymnastics did not fail him as he grabbed the pole easily and spun around it in a circle, using it to launch himself into the air once more. As he flew into the sky, he performed a somersault while reaching into his belt, pulling out a birdrang with a rope, and throwing the weapon into an outcropping of the building. With its hold firmly attached, he swung himself up and into a handstand onto the roof of the next building. Racing ahead, he made it to the edge of the roof and sat down, resting his legs over the edge of the roof while reaching into his belt and pulling out a small bottle of water, “You know, you are tiring ME out with this little course of yours. And considering I’m mostly metal, that’s saying a lot.” Cyborg quipped as he walked to Robin, sitting down with him.

Robin smiled a little at this as his friend sat down next to him, and then looked back out at the city. Taking a deep breath, he began to relax his muscles and close his eyes, “My mind works better after a really good workout.”

“Yeah, and you are trying to work out where Gar is, aint ya, Dick?” Cyborg said, watching the clouds overhead. Turning his red eye to look back at Robin, he asked, “Still nothing?”

Robin said nothing, just allowing the soft breeze to blow through his black hair. After taking a few moments to collect his thoughts, he asked, “What would make Gar just snap like that?”

“I don’t know,” Cyborg said, shaking his head, “The way he acted, the way he yelled at us, you think we always fought with him or insulted him. Sure we’ve had our fights, but that happens, you can’t change that and besides, it’s not like families don’t have...issues with each other,” he then looked at his robotic hand, “I was mad at Dad for turning me into this thing for so long.”

“Yeah, I still have some problems with my dad,” Robin said, watching as a winged creature flew overhead, and for a moment he thought it was a bat, “but, I think the problems with our parents are a little bigger than his temper tantrum.”

Cyborg nodded, “Yeah, he acted like a little brat who didn’t get his way. I wonder if he was just possessed or mind controlled. You know in our line of work,” he then chuckled, “that is a common occurrence.”

Rainbow Dash stuck her head out the window as the van sped towards its destination, the wind billowing behind her in her wake. All around her, the cars swerved and moved out of the way to keep away from her oncoming speed, “Move out of the way slowpokes! Dashie has got to get to town!”

“Ok,” Applejack said, holding onto her hat as the van sped its way towards Jump City, “Anypony care to tell me who let Rainbow take the wheel?”

“I’m sorry,” whispered Fluttershy, looking down, “We were all tired and Rainbow wanted to try her hand at driving, and she asked me and I couldn’t really say no-”

As Fluttershy began to look down and whimper, Rarity put a calming hand onto her friend’s shoulder and sighed, “It’s all right Fluttershy, we all make mistakes. I am almost certain that Rainbow will not be getting us killed.”

“Hey, Twilight,” Applejack said, trying to ease the tension as they heard another person in the car swearing at them, “How much longer until we reach Jump City?”

“Shouldn’t be long now,” Twilight said, looking down at the map. “We should be-”

Before Twilight could finish her thought, a large tremor caused her to stop talking and take hold of the side of the van. Shaking her head, she quickly took a look outside of the window of the van and asked, “What the heck was-” she gasped when she saw a giant purple robot that landed next to the van.

The robot’s yellow eyes glared at them, it’s scanner reading over the data of the occupants within, “Multidimensional aliens detected. Prepare to be taken in.” a yellow triangular light glowed from within it’s blue breastplate as it moved its large hands.

“Twilight, what on earth is that thing?” asked Rarity, looking at the robot.

“I don’t know, but I think we need to find a place to park and then get ready for a fight,” Twilight said, looking at Rainbow Dash, “Dash, roll out!”

“GOT IT!” Dash cheered, flooring the van away from the robot.

Twilight smiled as she looked at the sentinel, “Look at the machinery, the movement! It’s so awesome!” she squealed, stars in her eyes.

“Twi! Marvel later, fight now!” Applejack said.

“Oh, right,” Twilight sheepishly said. Sitting up in the seat, she looked at the menacing robot as it aimed it’s sights at the vehicle. Lifting up her arms, she created a dark blue glow that telekically lifted a few cars to take the brunt of the twin laser beams that stuck them. Her eyes focused on the sentinel, she did her best to hold on as Rainbow Dash swerved and ducked behind and alley.

Jumping out of the alley, she used her magic to put on her costume, a sleek purple jumpsuit with her cutie mark in the neckline shaped like an amulet along with a mask and then turned to look back at the others, “You girls get your suits on, I’ll distract him!” Twilight said, flying out of the alley with her hands aglow towards the giant robot.

Keeping her eyes on the robot, she began to bob and weave out of the way from the bot’s laser blasts. Every so often she would try and send a firebolt or an electrical ball into one of the robot’s eyes to help stagger him back. The robot began to charge it’s body with shielding, blocking the shots and fired a long tendril at Twilight. The tendril was lassoed by Applejack, now in her outfit, and she began to pull on it, “Whoa nelly, this thing’s strong!” she grunted as the robot began to pull back.

In a single tug, the sentinel pulled Applejack up into the air, her flight was quickly slowed down by a gust of wind from Rainbow Dash. Turning he head around, she flew around the robot’s energy blasts as he struck out at her, too distracted to notice Pinkie’s blur as she found the rope and tie it around a fire hydrant. The robot turned to look at Pinkie, moving so he would tear the hydrant out and unleash a large torrent of water.

Lowering herself down on a carpet construct, Rarity held out her hands to create a large pink tube and redirect the spray at the bot. The water spray began to cascade around the robot, drenching it. On either side of the sentinel, Rainbow Dash and Twilight lowered themselves down to his level, hands crackling with lighting. In a direct burst, the two threw out their hands and striking it down with the power of a thousand lighting bolts.

Sparkling and crackling, the massive purple robot crashed to the ground with a loud thud. Rainbow Dash let out a chuckle and then cracked her head side to side, “Heh, way too easy.”

“I would say that you are too overconfident,” A voice spoke from the shadows. When the rainbooms turned their heads up to look towards the source, they saw Robin standing on top of the fallen robot. Looking down at the group, he said, “But I guess that confidence is earned. Not everyday you see a new group take down a sentinel as easily as you six.”

“Um thank you,” Twilight said, blushing a little and feeling her modesty kicking in.

Robin looked at the group, as the rest of his team began to come in right behind him, “The name is Robin, and these are the titans: Starfire, Raven, and Cyborg. And you are?”

“Twi-” Twilight gasped, and then backed up as she began, “Masked Matterhorn, and these are Saddle Rager, Fili-second, Mistress Marevelous, Zapp, and Radiance. We’re the Rainbooms, and we’re kind of new.”

“Oh, it is always so glorious to meet a new team,” Starfire said, clasping her hands together and smiling wide. “What a pleasure to see you all in action. Have you been active long?”

“Actually, we kind of wanted to talk to you about that.” Twilight said, stepping forward. “See, we were told to come here because of something that happened back in our dimension.”

“Dimension?” asked Robin, eye arched in curious.

Cyborg looked up from his scanner as he said, “Hey before we get into anything confusing, is anyone else wondering about this?”

“What do you mean?” asked Raven.

“I thought President Kelly ordered the sentinels destroyed years ago,” Cyborg said, looking down, “Why are they still here.”

“You be surprised at how some people are still able to obtain old tech. Some people still can obtain Lexcorp weapons and Tony Stark is still trying to destroy some of his leftovers,” Robin said.

“Yeah, I get that.” Cyborg said, “But why send only one?”

At that question, the sky was filled with the sound of three more sentinels flying in. With thunderous stomps, each landed hard onto the ground, “Metas detected, stand down now and be prepared to be brought in,” the sentinel barely had a chance to finish his ultimatum before an optic blast flashed out from the shadows and sliced it’s head off.

A thunderstorm struck and destroyed another senteline while a brown blur flew through the air and impaled itself into the third robots While the three sentinels fell around the two groups, a man dressed in blue walked away from the dust, “Robin,” Cyclops said, brown eyes looking at Dick through his ruby quartz lense, his voice carrying an authoritative tone. Around him he could hear the jet engines of several more sentinels arrive.

“Cyclops?” Robin asked, watching as the other members of the X-men arrived to join with the other two teams, “What are you doing here?”

“We heard a report of a mutant in trouble. We saw the sentinels attacking from the air and decided to join in on the fight,” Cyclops said, before turning his attention to the Rainbooms, “And they are?”

“Rainbooms, they’re new. They just took down the sentinel behind us,” Robin said, watching ass four more sentinels began to arrive.

“Do you think they’ll be up to fighting another round?” asked Cyclops.

Twilight stepped forward, her friends forming a v right behind her, “It might take me time to synch up with your teams, but I can manage.”

“Good, everyone watch each other’s back. Flyers keep the sentinels on the ground,” Cyclops said continuing his orders, “Speedsters stay close to the muscle. Any non combatants try to keep collateral damage to a minimum.”

“Plan A?” asked Robin.

“No, Plan 3. Plans 1 and 2 were if we were alone,” Cyclops said.

“Plan 3?” asked Rainbow dash.

“I always have more than 26 plans,” Cyclops said as the four sentinels made landfall.

Kamica smiled as she did a handstand, watching the battle about to take place, “Ohhh, this is so exciting!!! They’re all together now! This is going to be so awesome!” she squeed doing a cartwheel before jumping up, “The game has just entered the opening round!!”

Elec stepped forward, his eyes closed as he listened to the sounds of the city below, “This is no game. It's a war. We need to treat it as such.”

“Yeah but-” Kamica began, but was interrupted by Pyrus.

“I just want this to be over. We shouldn’t be here in this place,” Pyrus said frowning.

“FINE!” growaned Kamica as she leaned hack and growled, “This is an ultra serious war and we should all be ultra serious grumps who focus only on being eeeeeeeeeevil. Ther, you happy, you grump?” she asked.

“And why are you so excited?” Elec asked.

Kamica smiled a little, “Because...the world can be exciting and I want everyone else to see that.”

“On my mark,” Cyclops said, watching the sentinels approach, “GO!”

Storm raised her arms, allowing a tornado to arise between three teams and the sentinels. Once the whirlwind died down the three teams began to split up into their own individual groups, with Colossus grabbing Wolverine and throwing him straight at one of the four robots. Metal claws sinking into the robot’s metallic body, Wolverine began to claw his way up to the head and slash at it. Down below, Colossus grabbed a few lampposts, ripped them off easily, and threw them like spears at the bot. Rarity encased the poles with her diamond shards to turn them into pink sharp spears that embedded themselves into the bots eye socket making it stumble back. From within the shadows, a grappling line shot out and Robin swung out to throw a small device onto one of the open holes that Wolverine had made.

Above two of the robots, Twilight, Starfire, and Raven flew around the head. Each girl throwing an energy bolt of power or of fire at the two robots and keeping them busy. Down below, Applejack threw her lasso to Pinkie Pie who grabbed one end and began to run around the legs of one of the bots. Seeing her target, Rainbow Dash smirked and fired a lighting bolt to the rope, electrifying it and the robot. Twisting and writhing, it did not notice as Rouge picked up a manhole cover and held it in her hand. Gambit placed his hand onto the cover, charging it with kinetic energy. The cover blazing a dark purple, Rouge threw the manhole cover at the giant bot, letting it explode on impact. Once again, Robin swung by and threw two small bombs into the opening of the bots.

With one bot remaining, Robin waited in the shadows and allowed Cyclops to being his attack. Turning open his visor, he opened up a powerful stream of optic energy into the stomach and chest of the sentinel, opening up a large wound in its body. Using her telekinesis, Jean opened up the wounds to allow Robin to throw a few final charges into the robot. Each charge set, Robin deftly landed back down onto the ground, pressing a button that set off the explosives and devastating the robots.

As Rainbow looked on, she smirked and said, “Ok, that was awesome.”

“That, was easier than expected,” Cyclops said, looking down and putting a hand onto his chin.

As Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes at this, Beast stepped in with an observation, “If I were to guess, this must have been a test for us. An opening play in a larger game i you will.”

“That’s right!” Kamecia said, clapping her hands enthusiastically as she jumped from a flagpole. Following her, were pyrus and Elect. “Oh wow, you guys are so smart! I think this game is going to be so much fun with you in it!!!”

“Game?” Twilight asked, “What game?”

“The game that you are now in! Allow me to introduce ourselves, I’m Kamica. And the grumps behind me are Pyrus and Elec.” she said, clapping while looking at her two friends as they remained silent. “They don't’ say much. So I do a lot of the talking!”

“Who is your master?” Nightcrawler asked, teleporting in behind Dash, surprising her, “You were talking like you had one.”

“That would be me,” Count Logan’s voice whispered from within the darkness as he teleported in from a black hole in the sky. Landing on the ground with one hand on the floor, she slowly stood up to his full height. “Allow me to introduce myself,” he said with a bow, “I am Count Logan.”

“Logan?” whispered Robin.

“My word,” Rarity whispered.

“Yes, you must be fearful of my-”

Rarity shook her head in fear as she said, “Your outfit is more horrifying than I remember! It’s just so, blaise! Pure black, and nothing but? That’s just, so boring! Why not accunate the blackness with some reds or light blues to help it out. This pure black just screams last minute.”

Logan pulled back and his eyebrows raised in shock, “Well, I am evil!”

“Just because you are evil, does not give you permission to galavant around in such tacky attire! And that cape, while I do enjoy a nice classic call back to olden times, is just clashing with the rest of your ensemble. That collar is not helping, it says to me ‘I am trying to look hip with the youngsters’ rather than ‘I want to kill you.’ Rarity said, shaking her head, “And that top hat? Really? Are you trying to kill me with fashion faux pas or are you seriously thinking that is what is considered scary these days?”

“Well the collar is mean to show my intimidation and the hat,” Logan paused, looking up at his hat. “TOP HATS ARE COOL!”

“And I am sure they are sweetie...if you are in a high class performance, but in villain terms? No, no, and no. And that mask, while I don’t mind the facelessness, those eyebrows need to go. I laugh looking at it, Pinkie is laughing right now,” Rarity said, looking at Pinkie rolling on the ground, “And I doubt anyone above the age of three would really be scared by someone who wiggles their eyebrows like a mad scientist.”

Logan looked at the girl with a mix of shock and horror. Then he looked at the other teams of heroes, watching as they were all trying to hold in their laughter at how Rarity utterly destroyed his outfit. Letting out a small whimper, he breathed in and growled, “Stop MAKING FUN OF MY OUTFIT! My eyebrows are meant to show my emotion and how serious I am! My outfit is meant to show how dark, edgy, and serious I am.” he paused as he now heard the group breaking out in laughter, “STOP LAUGHING!!!!” he stomped his foot to cause lightning that silenced the group. Panting, he straightened his hat, only to throw it away in an instant to regain his composure, “If there are to be no further interruptions about my attire...”

“Oh no, go on ahead, I am all ears,” Rarity said, before snickering a little.

“I would like to welcome you to my game,” Logan said, holding out his arms in a dramatic fashion.

Robin looked at Logan, taking in his body type and the way he held himself, “Game, what game?”

“The game that begun when my three players had gathered. The game with everything on the line,” holding out his cane, he closed his eyes and began to concentrate a spell.Above the group’s heads an image of a dark vortex began to appear, “In four days time, I will unleash a dimensional black hole within the center of the universe that will begin to suck in all life around it. Slowly, it will begin to grow and grow until it consumes the entire universe. Then I will use the energy from that destruction to recreate the antimatter wave to decimate the multiverse.”

Cyclops shook his head, “You’re insane. No spell or tech can do that!”

“Ah, Logan said, wagging his finger, “”But, that is the point of this game. For you to find out how I am going to do it, and how to stop me. Allow me to introduce my three pieces, my generals. They will gather the parts that I need in order to make my plan complete. You must stop them before the four days is up. When the time limit is done, I win the game.”

“And what is stopping us from attacking you right here and now before you start?” asked Rainbow Dash.

Logan let out an evil chuckle as he waved his staff, “Simple, a view of the world that is to come if you failed.”

As Twilight watched the spell begin to form, she shouted “NO! NOT- and with that, she and the other teams vanished into the vortex, leaving Count Logan to laugh for a few minutes.

“Now, this should get them started on the right direction,” he chuckled before vanishing into the night.

Canterlot, Equestria...
Starlight Glimmer walked into the throne room, eyes wide with both shock and surprise, “What do you mean by, ‘Don’t worry about Twilight!’ We’ve had to close the entire school for a week, everyone in Ponyville is worried for her,and you are saying she is fine?”

“It is exactly as I said,” Celestia said, drinking a small cup of tea as she listened to Starlight. “There is no need to worry about Twilight for the moment. She is just currently on an adventure in an alternate dimension and should be back home in four days. A least according to a friend’s estimate.”

“You can’t be sure of that!” Starlight said, shaking her head, “And what if something big comes out during that time. Like, I don’t know, Lothgarian the Unpronounceable awakes from his fifty year slumber to attack us all and Twilight isn’t here to stop him?”

Celestia sighed and put down her drink, “First of all, Lothgarian only awakes on the fortieth year of his imprisonment and I imprisoned him ten years ago, so we are still safe from him. Second, I know Twilight and she should have back-ups and contingencies if this should happen.”

“Princess! Princess! I found them!” Spike said, running in with a long scroll, “I found all of Twilight’s back-up plans.”

“You see?” Celestia asked. “Why not discuss with Spike about these plans while I hold court?” she said, turning to the group of ponies waiting outside of the throne room.

Starlight sighed and followed Spike out of the room, “Ok Spike, what are the plans?”

“Ahem,” Spike cleared his throat as he began to read.:

1, If I am kidnapped and/or mind controlled by the villian, Get Sunset and have her bond with my friends to use her own element to free me.

In the even that all six of us are captured, then get Sunset plus the other human versions of the girls and have them use the elements to save us.
In case of Sunset being unavailable in response to the above two scenarios, grab Trixie, get her to form a team consisting of a group of ponies she feels a close bond with (To help with the process, use Manilla envelopes that are alongside this plan and have her pick five of them) grab new sets of elements, and stop us.
In case of myself going nightmare, please see plans 1-3. If none of the above work, go to alternate dimensions listed in index file MV-3 and pick one of the top three universes. Those three are the strongest versions of me I could find.
In case of my untimely demise by assassin/god/monster/multiveral entity, find my heart who is me without my memories and my body whole lacks my emotions ASAP or when my heart has bonded with my five friends to restore me ASAP (Spike could only shake his head at this, “Wow, glad I don’t have to try and go through with this one. It sounds long, complicated, and weird.”)
In case of my replacement by a demon and/or magical construct, Get Sunset and have her handle it.
In case I were to be put into a mind spell where my mind is split into seven pieces, grab Sunset Shimmer ASAP and team hr up with Trixie. I do not want to risk six ponies lives.

“Ah, here we go!” Spike said, looking at one list.

In case me and my friends are sent into an alternate dimension where we have to deal with an evil being and save the world, do no panic. Let Sunset Shimmer know, have her, Trixie, and Tempest Shadow on standby in case a sealed evil-in-a-can awakes and needs me to stop it. Do not worry until then.

Spike rolled up the scroll and nodded, “Ah, there we are! See Starlight? It’s like Celestia said... don’t panic. Twilight has a plan for almost every occasion, including ones for when she doesn’t have a plan!”

“Um, Spike?” asked Starlight as she watched Spike walk away. “Where, am I in those plans?”

“Hmmm,” Spike looked back at the list and read over them as fast as he could. “Uhhhhh...It says that in the events of anything happening like the above? You, serve as back up To Sunset, Trixie, or Tempest depending on who I get.”

Starlight felt her ears droop as hr eyes widen and she screamed out, “WHAT?!”

Author's Note

Thanks to Zolt and Tom.

A lot of things about this chapter are explained in the blog. Long story short, trying to go for perfect will drive you insane.

A side note on Starlight scene? This was because I want to see if I can write a "What is Starlight doing" in Equestria scene. Because I never have actually written her for anything mroe than a cameo in any of my accounts.

to make new planS

When heroes fight, the villains win, but when heroes stand together then they can conquer many things. I know that battles are not always won with violence, but through the cooperation of friends.

Twilight opened her eyes, finding herself in a dark void and surrounded by bright white orbs. For a moment, she could hear faint voices, only for them to get louder and louder with a faint beat of ‘failure’. Panting, she began to look back and forth, trying to see where the voices were coming from, “Failure? Who, what is a failure?”

...

Friendship

Hope

Justice

Twilight looked confused, walking forward. With a shake of her head, she reached out and asked, “What do you mean. How is... how is friendship a failure?”

At this, the orbs began to come alive with imagery of ponies failing at their dreams, of hearts broken, and death. Everywhere she could look, she saw ponies in pain and in despair as they screamed in rage. Turning her head towards the voices, she said, “You think this means anything? How any of this is showing me that friendship is a failure? All I see are ponies willing who are willing to quit and run away. They are all trying to push away those who could help them and are the worst for it. Friendship is not the failure here, it’s them.”

You say that, you believe that; however, it changes nothing. Friendship fails so easily. War, hate, anger, and rage. Just look at the worlds around you.

Twilight stepped back and gasped as the orbs changed from the view of the worlds of Equestria, to the human worlds.

“Mutants go home!!!”

“They didn’t arrest Captain America, they arrested Steve Rogers.”

“Of course we’re criminals, we’ve always been criminals.”

“He was a good Green Lantern, broken by tragedy”

Twilight stepped back, watching as friend turned against friend, brother against brother. Looking behind her, she asked, “Did this all happen in this world?”

Not this one, but in the worlds close to it. But you see what I mean, in so many worlds, in so many ways, friendship fails. You cannot stop it, you cannot control it. All you can do is watch...

“You think I’m naive? That I don’t know how the world works? Of course, that can happen,” Twilight sighed and looked down, “If that wasn’t the case, then I wouldn’t fight with my friends once in a while, monsters like Tirek wouldn’t be walking my home.”

But you can change that. All of it, you have the power.

Twilight gasped as she watched her hand began to glow with power.

It would be so simple...to bind them and make them bow before you. You can change them, fix it and force them to all submit to friendship. You are a goddess.

“NO!” Twilight said, disengaging her power. “No one has the right to take free will away from someone!”

But you do. Just use your magic and-

“NO!” Twilight screamed, sitting up in a bed. Looking around, her mind tried to connect the previous events of the other day to her current location. Running her hands onto the white sheet, she said, “A bed?”

“Ah, you are awake,” Jean said, walking into the room and placing a crawfish omelet on the stand next to her. Smiling, she said, “Compliments of our cajun chef.”

Twilight looked at the plate and smiled. After nodding her thanks, she lifted the plate and began to eat, pulling away from the crawfish and focusing on the eggs, “Um, how did I get here by the way? I remember we were taken away by a time vortex and then nothing.”

“What you saw was an illusion. A very powerful one that was cast by Elect,” Jean said. “I don’t know how he cast it, but as the vortex appeared, I began to know something was up as I felt psionic energy ripple through the area.”

“I see,” Twilight said, looking down, “And where are my friends?”

“Enjoying the hospitality of the X-mansion, wich is where you are.” Jean said, closing her eyes for a moment, and letting a purple glow surround her head. “Although, one of them seems to be impatient for you to wake up.”

Twilight chuckled, “That would be Rainbow Dash. Are you psychic?”

“Why yes I am,” Jean said proudly, only to watch as Twilight came face to face with her.

“Oh my gosh, this is so interesting!” Twilight said, leaning forward with an excited look in her eyes, “When I saw your powers in action back furing our fight with the sentenels, I was so intrigued by how they work and how you activated them and how you could do all of those things and-” upon realizing she was blabbing on, she pulled back and blushed, “Sorry, I tend to babble on when I see something fascinating.”

Jean laughed at this and smiled warmly at Twilight, “It’s ok Twilight, we all get a little curious about new experiences. Especially when we come from other worlds, right Princess?”

“You knew?” Twilihgt said.

“Well, less of knowing,” Jean said, looking out the window as she thought she heard an excited yell from outside, “And more of one of your friends doesn’t know when to keep her mouth shut.”

Twilight sighed and said, “And that would be Pinkie.”

“Yes, she is an excitable girl,” Jean said, getting up and walking to the door, “When you are finished with breakfast, the other teams are going to have a meeting.”

Twilight nodded and waved Jean off. Then she began to eat, slowly remembering the rest of the illusion that she had seen that night.

Surrounded by desolation, a world in ruin. Any sign of life was but a faint flicker around her, with no one to answer her call. As she continued to stare at the end of the world, she could feel the cold tingle run along her spine. Alone, she tried to call out for her friends but found no noise coming from her throat. As she stepped back in fear, she heard a voice

“It will be all right. I promise. When you need a hand, come find me” a whisper sounded to her.

Twilight shook her head, and said, “That illusion spell... how did he cause it, and who was that voice. And why, if his goal was to show us what happens when we fail, did he show us a destroyed world and not a void?”

“So, let me get this straight,” Cyborg said, looking back at the six former equines as they sat across from the two teams in the living room of the mansion. Taking the time to look over each one and running his red eye over the girls, he said, “You six are all from a world where each one of you is a pony and all Ungulates can talk. Two of you are pegasi, two are earth ponies, one is a unicorn, and one is a winged unicorn?”

“Alicorn actually,” Twilight corrected.

“And a princess as well,” Starfire added, smiling at the group.

“And now, thanks to Count Logan, you are all stuck here with your superpowers, most of your magic gone, and are playing his game too,” Cyclops finished, his hand on his chin.

Applejack nodded and said, “Ah’m just shocked that y’all are taking this in stride.”

“Trust me,” Logan said, sharpening his blades, “Knowing that the new superhero team in town are a bunch of ponies in another world? That is probably the least crazy thing I’ve heard. And I can bet that is the least crazy thing the Titans had ever to deal with.”

“Indeed, our world is indeed a weird and interesting place,” said Beast with a chuckle. “Now, we should begin to deal with our three individual problems.”

“Three?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“My friend is missing,” Dick said, folding his arms over his chest, “Then we have to worry about Count Logan and his little game.”

“Plus, a book I was looking up has also vanished,” Raven said, looking around the small living room, “The Dark Prognosticus.”

“Isn’t that book from the Egyptian exhibit you were asked to look after?” asked Vic, wich Raven nodding in confirmation.

Cyclops put his finger to his chin and looked back at the small gathering, “Three mysteries, three teams. And for some reason, Count Logan picked us to play his little game. I believe that somehow, all of these are connected. And so, we should split up.”

“One of us should go to Massachusetts, if anyone knows about the truth behind the Dark Prognosticus, it should be Dr. Fate,” Robing said.

“Wait a minute!” Pinkie said, waving her hand, “Who’s Dr. Fate.”

“One of the most powerful mages on the planet, and has ties to Egypt,” Robin said, only to see Twilight run right up to his face with a big grin on her face.

“You mean that there is another powerful mage out there with a very large library with plenty of books to research and spells to examine without any limits whatsoever, oh please let me on that team!” Twilight said, before pulling away and putting her hand behind her head and giggling embarrassingly. “Sorry, new worlds and magic get me excited.”

Pinkie skipped over to Twilight and cheered happily, “I’ll go with Twilight.”

“I’ll head back home,” Raven said, “I need to see if I can find out what happened to the book from there, and locate Beast Boy.”

“Hey, if you’re heading back to the city, I’ll come with ya,” Rainbow Dash said, smirking, “Kind of want to practice flying around the city for a bit.”

“Well, someone better go and join her,” Applejack said, looking to Rainbow Dash, “If it turns out to be a scouting mission, someone will need to keep her feet on the ground,” she said, much to Rainbow’s annoyance. Dash stuck her tongue out in response.

“I’ll stay here with Scott and see if we can figure out Count Logan’s targets,” Jean said, before looking to rarity and Fluttershy, “Would you two care to stay here in the mansion while your friends begin to investigate?”

Rarity let out a small gasp, “ Staying here in a wonderful mansion for a little while? I would love that. Oh, the things I could do here, just think of it.”

Cyclops nodded and said, “All right, everyone, get some sleep and then we’ll start our missions tomorrow morning.”

“Now, why did ya call this little meeting Twilight?” Applejack asked, the group sitting around in their room as the moonlight shown through the windows.

“For the past few nights,” Twilight said putting her hands together and looking at her friends, “I have been subjected to nightmares. Horrible visions of things that haven’t happened or versions of the past where things went horribly wrong. I can only guess that-”

“Some idiot is attacking you from the inside,” Rainbow Dash said, “And wants you to go cookoo or-”

“Locco in the coco?” Pinkie finished.

Twilight nodded, and continued, “I think this is somehow linked with Count Logan. Someone out there is trying to manipulate my thoughts. Either trying to break e and turn me evil or break me and make me run away from my responsibilities or fall into depression. The trouble is, I don’t know who.”

“Well, there are a lot of suspects isn’t there.” Rarity said, putting a finger to her chin. “You haven’t given us much to work on.”

“Grrr! I know!” Twilight said throwing her head back, “I just wish more villains were obvious in their plans and make this easy to me! But nope, now I have three mysteries to solve and some person who may or may not have it out for me to worry about.” she let out a small groan and shook her head. “Just, be careful out there girls. If whoever is doing this is trying to destroy me? You guys might be in trouble too, or you might have to save my mind from being destroyed.”

“So watch out or any mental problems and be prepared to save ya,” Dash said, “A normal day right?”

The ease with which Dash said this made her smile and chuckle. Twilight then said, “Beyond that, girl...please be careful.”

The others tucked themselves in for the night.

Author's Note

Explinations about the missing time back on the blog.

Emergence of the heroes

“It is said that heroes come in all shapes and sizes, from the small to the big. Just the same, the ideals that they represent are just as vastly different. Hope, love, compassion, and justice are just but a few of the ideas that heroes can represent to the people who have need of one. One such ideal...is friendship. Friendship, for some is a failure, but, I would rather discuss how it is more successful than you think...”

Friendship is Heroism

“Please, save them. Protect my friends,” the voice whispered in Twilight’s mind.

“Who are you?” demanded Twilight as she looked at the tall masked figure standing before her. Using her magic, she tried to summon a spell to locate her friends, but found nothing. Growling, her horn glowed brightly, “And what did you do to my friends!?”

The man’s voice was low as he held up his hand, “Jump back and forth between cities you will go. To Apocalypse and back to Future’s Past, you will find your path to the End of Ends. Then, you will meet the Illusion of my facade, before knowing the truth.”

Twilight stepped back confused, “End of wha-AHHH!” she screamed as a white light eclipsed her, dropping her through a black void. As the darkness surrounded her, it quickly gave way to a multicolored tunnel filled with light and color. As she looked around, she began to hear whispers in her head. Weird names came to her head such as Xanti, Slugoth, Hogar, and more. Everywhere she looked, she felt like she was being told a new spell or was told of a lost secret that was being given to her. With the end of the portal approaching, she let out a painful howl as a wave of pain hit her and forced her world into total blackness.

When she woke up, she struggled to get over the wave of nausea that had come over her. Twilight then stood back up to her feet, “Ohhh, what in Equestria happened to me?” she asked herself as she looked down at her two legged form. A gasp escaped her lips as she said, “I’m a human again. Must be back in Sunset’s world,” she then began to step slowly out of the alley way. For a second, she paused and looked at the skirt and shirt she wore, “Oh, thank goodness for dimensional clothing transference.”

Looking around, she began to watch from he spot on the sidewalk the people walking by and the cars driving along the street. With a sigh she said, “Ok,definitely the human world. But this is definitely not the city with Canterlot High. Maybe I should call Sunset.” Taking a quick look around she found a small phone booth nearby. With a soft breath of relief, she ran to it and found some change within the change holder. Moving quickly, Twilight dialed Sunset’s number.

“Hello? Who is this?” came Sunset’s voice on the other side.

“Sunset, this is Twilight! I got an emergency and I-”

“Look, I don't know who you think you are,” Sunset said with a growl, “But my little sister is at her first sleepover ever with those five girls that she made friends with over the summer and she knows better than to call me before my college exams. So who-”

Twilight gulped and said rapidally, “Um, never mind, I’m just trying to stalk you, bye!” and then hung up the phone. Taking a deep breath, she said, “Ok, bad move. Maybe I just got this world’s Sunset. I mean, makes sense, there was another me, so there had to be another Sunset. I’ll just call Dash’s cellphone,” she said dialing up.

Rainbow Dash’s scratchy voice came over the line, “Hey, you got The Dash, what up?”

“The Dash?” asked Twilight, her eye arched a little. Shaking her head, she said, “Dash, this is Twilight Sparkle.”

“Sparkle? Dude, no, Twilight’s right here, sleeping like a babe. And she is too,” Dash said, looking back. Then she said, “At least I think she is. Yo, Rare babe, is our little angel asleep?”

A very girly tone came from across the room, “Like, she totally is. But can you blame her? Considering the awesome shopping that we did, I am like so totes surprised that any of us could actually walk over to Flutters. I am only, like staying up right now, so I can like, call my boyfriend Spike on the line. I am just SOOOOO glad that Flutters mom lets us use her wifi.”

Twilight’s eyes opened wide in utter terror as she said, “Um actually never-”

“Rainbow Dash, are you talking to the demon phone again,” asked a high pitched voice.

“Ah, calm down, Pinks. Geeze, we need to get ya out of that brainwashing,” Dash said.

“NEVERMINDI’MACTUALLYASTALKERBYE!!!” Twilight said, changing up.

Then she began to take a few deep breaths, “Ok, so, alternate dimension where everyone is different. Friends are missing, I have no idea where I am. This is the perfect time to,” Twilight took a deep breath and screamed, “PANIC!!!!” and with that she ran out of the booth, down the street, and back into the alleyway, coming to a quick stop and panting.

Leaning her back against the alley wall, he began to take several deep breaths, pushing her hand away as she slumped to the ground, “Ok, Twilight, it’s ok. Let’s take in everything that we got here.”

Holding out her hand, she began to count on her fingers, “Our friends are missing. I am stuck on a parallel world where I never met my human friends. Stuck in a human body. Some man in a black outfit and the silliest mask I had ever seen in my life sent me here. So all in all,” she let out a sigh and leaned against the wall, “A typical Tuesday in the life of Twilight Elizabeth Sparkle, Princess of Friendship, Duchess of Barnes But-No-Bell, and Conqueror of the Unreadable Mountain.” holding out her hand, she did not notice the faint purple glow that surrounded it, nor a man screaming about his missing cup of coffee. “I wish I had a cup of coffee to help me focus.”

Just as she said this, a cup of coffee levitated into her hand. Her eyes opened wide as she looked at the hot beverage in her hand. Bringing it to her mouth, she sniffed and then took a small drink of the liquid, “Wait, what?” taking another long sip of coffee, she looked at the cup. “How did? When did I?”

Looking up at a discarded towel, she held up her hand and levitated the cloth to her. Wiping her lips a little she stood up and looked at her hands. Around them glowed an all too familiar purple aura, “My magic? I still have my magic! But I wonder if I can use my other-”

“Help! Tentacles!” shouted a civilian.

Another man ran by, screaming, “Hair tentacles! Can’t believe my hair-dresser predicted this!!!!”

A young man with a camera around his neck ran into the alley, brushing past her, “Oh excuse me.” he said, his brown hair waving in the wind.

Twilight looked out of the alley and watched as the green tentacles began to attack and strike out at innocent people. Taking a deep breath, she said, “Guess I’ll have to figure out how magic works in the field. Can’t ignore people who need me.” she said, narrowing her eyes and running out into the streets.

Pinkie Pie let out a small cheer as she looked at the cake she had made, “Ooohhh, Twilight is gonna love this!” she said, looking at her triple layer chocolate, coffee, and banana cake. Smiling, she added on last dolla of frosting that sadi, “Happy Princess-aversary Twilight.”

Looking up at the clock she let out a sigh and gently tapped her foot, practically counting the second with each tap. A small frown creased her lips as she could feel herself become more annoyed with each second. Looking down at the watch that she had put on her freleg, she said, “Come on you silly clock! Get to the time already so I can deliver this cake to the castle and give Twilight her surprise party!”

That was when her tail began to twitch and she could feel her knee pinch, “Pinchy knee and a tail twitch? But, how could something fall and be a bit scary?” Pinkie asked herself as she ran outside to see the darkening clouds over head. Before she could ask any more questions, a lone figure fell from the clouds and slammed his hand onto the ground.

Slowly rising up, the figure turned his head to Pinkie, allowing a voice to speak into her mind,

Please, give them hope. Keep their smiles bright.

Pinkie Pie looked confused at the voice’s words, “What?” she then looked to the man in his black suit and knee high boot. This combined with a long dark grey cape and collar turned up made it hard for Pinkie to not break down in laughter, “Oh, my Celestia! That outfit!!!!!”

The man was not amused as his featureless mask showed, his eyes eyes glaring at her before he spoke in a low tone, “Jump into the city, To face the futures of days past. You shall wander apocalypse before facing the end of ends. Then you will challenge my facade.”

“Well, that’s a weird rhy-” Pinkie said, before a flash of bright light enveloped her, sending her falling down a multicolored portal.

For a few moments, she screamed as she fell, her screamed of panic quickly turning into peal of laughter as she fell down the hole. It was not long after her descent that she felt a lighting bolt struck her, and again,and again, until her body was covered in lighting. Vibrating, she began to giggle, “Hey, this is making me sound silly!”.

Before she had a chance to enjoy the toes that her voice was having, she quickly found herself face first in a mattress store. After getting up, she slowly shook her head, alling her poofy mane to shake around her, “Brrrr, what a rush. Wonder what just happened to everypon-oof!” she squeaked as she fell out of the bed.

Looking down at her forelegs, she let out a gasp as she saw in place of her normal pony parts, she now had the body of a human woman,” Woa, what are these things, and,” she looked down at her chest, “Why are my funbags on my chest? Wait,” she said, standing on her feet, “Am I one of those human things that Twilight told me about? OMC! I always wanted to be one of those!!!”

With a squeal began to run around the store, her body becoming a blur as she did so, “Twilight! Hey Twilight! You’ll never guess what happened to me! Hey Twili-” she had to pause in her running as she noticed that she began to cause a flame trail in her wake. Holding up her hand, she watched it vibrate in place, little pink bolts of electricity flowing from her fingers, “”Super speed? EEEEEEE! This world is getting better by the second!” Then with a frown, she added, “Or it would be, if my friends were anywhere nearby.” she said to herself, racing off across the city, and doing a lap around the world before coming back to her original destination.

“OK Pinks, you are on another world, your friends are missing, and you got sent here by a big dumb meanie. Time for the plan!” she said, holding her finger up” First, find the others, and then group hug. Then, let Twilight do an explanation and a plan that I only pretend not to listen to, but in actuality hear every word just play dumb to make everypony there smile. Then come up with a new plan, and then beat bad guy. Then, big dance party!” she said, listing everything on a small piece of paper.

Her ear then twitched when she heard screaming from outside, “Hair Tentacles? This is what I get for using Nair!”

“How did my Hairdresser know this! HOW!?”

“I’ll never get a mohawk again!”

Seeing a piece of rubble about to fall on a person, Pinkie raced out of the building and picked the man up to save him. After racing away, she looked at the attacking figure in the distance, “That big jerk! What gives her the right to-”

“I am giving you one chance!” shouted a familiar voice, “Back down Mane-iac, or I will hurt you.”

Pinkie gasped as she ran and glomped Twilight, “Twilight! You’re here! Oh, I am so glad to see you.”

Twilight let out a gasp as she said, “Good to see you Pinkie, but bad girl, over there.”

As Pinkie let go of Twilight, she turned around to see a woman dressed in purple. Sprouting from her head were several green hair tentacles that struck out, breaking cars and buildings, “Oh, her.”

“Her? Do you not know who I am?” asked the woman, “I am Mane-iac! Hair queen and conqueror of the follicle! I am here to wipe out the good people who dare insult hair!”

“Used to work in a place hat made hair gel, fell into an experimental bath, and now her hair is alive and evil,” Twilight said calmly.

“How did you figure that out, Twilight?” asked Pinkie.

“She gave it to me in her speech,” Twilight said, rolling her eyes.

“And then when I was thirteen, I was bullied for...” Mane-iac shouted, monologuing.

Rarity let out a sigh as fabric began to fly around her, arranging themselves on spools or onto various ponyquins for later use. In front of her was a list of names, money, and expenditures. Another sigh escaped her lips as she ran her hoof down some of the names, “ Sassy Saddles has been with me the longest, so she should get a raise but then I might end up hurting poor little Coco and heavens knows she needs the money more.”

Another sigh escaped her lips as she lowered her head onto the paper, watching as her magic began to cut and sew fabric into six individual dresses, “Well, at least I’ll have the dresses ready Twilight’s anniversary. If only balancing the budget and work was so easy.” with a groan, Rarity said, “why does owning a business have to be so hard.”

That was when she heard a large explosion from outside and the sky becoming covered in black clouds. Curious, she put away her glasses and ran outside, just in time to watch as Pinkie vanished from sight. Gasping, her ignited her horn and ran to the man, “What have you done with my-”

Please, give them your nobility, remind them to give them a chance.

“Wha-”

Before Rarity could ask, the figure held out his palm and said, “Jump into the city, Past the days of your future, run through apocalypse, and face the end of ends. There, you will see my illusion.”

“What on earth are you talking,” before Rarity could ask more, her body was teleported in a flash of black light.

Like her fellow ponies, she fell through a multicolored tunnel of magic. As she did, she began to scream in fear, pausing only to fix up her mane, and then she screamed again. Her screaming paused again when she saw a purple crystal began to crawl up her arms and body, covering it. Then, she blackout as the portal ended.

When she awoke, she found herself in the back of a clothing store, behind some long white gowns. As she stood up, she began to take in her surroundings, “Oh, my...that was, an interesting experience. One look around and she began to get a little used to her bearings, “Well, Twilight never did say that the magic that turns us into these... things would be so good at dressmaking.” she said, looking at the long white gown she wore. Looking at her pocket, she smiled as she looked and saw a set of small diamonds within. With a smile, she said, “Must be from that dress I was making before falling in. Now,” she looked at a mirror and saw the mess of her mane, and sighed.

“Wish I had a comb to fix my mane, plus some clippers to-” A soft gasp escaped her lips as she saw a purple image of a comb and clippers flying around her mane. Once she stopped her concentration, the images faded. “What on earth? How did I-”

“Run AWAY! Hair Tentacles!!!”

A young japanese school girl ran faster than anyone else,” Ara iyada! Kore ga watashi ga Nihon o hanareru riyūdesu! Watashi wa betsu no mono o motteinai! Ich,Tsu no shokushu no akachan wa jūbun ni arigatō!”

“Seriously! Is my hairdresser a mutant or something?” shouted another guy.

“What on earth?” Rarity asked as she saw a purple clothed person flying through the air, followed by a girl wearing a pink skirt. It took a few second to recognize her friends, “GIRLS!” without thinking, she threw out her hand and caught the two girls with a giant crystal hand.

Twilight looked down at what caught her, “Wait, what caught-”

“Rarity!” Pinkie said, jumping off the giant hand and running off into the dress shop, picking up Rarity and rushing back before giving her a hug, “Bad guy, need help, glad to see you.”

“Um, happy to see you as well, Pinkie,” Rarity said, smiling. Then she turned to watch as the woman slowly stepped towards the three, her tentacles holding her aloft while three more poised themselves to strike, “And I am guessing that is our bad guy of the day?”

Rainbow Dash sped across the fields of the mountain leading from Canterlot to her home in Ponyville on hoof, creating a small dust cloud all the while behind her. With a final grunt, she jumped into the air and did a somersault, letting her see where she had been. Giving out a small hoof bump, she said, “AW YEAH! Beat my own on hoof speed record. Canterlot to Ponyville in five minutes, who’s awesome? I’m awesome! Who’s the best, I’m the best.”

Turning around, she smiled and began to fly to her sky mansion. The wind blowing through her mane suddenly took a cool chill as the sky became dark around her. Frowning, she asked herself, “Clouds? But it isn’t supposed to storm.”

Looking down below, she saw a strand figure dressed in black with a top hat holding out his hands and zapping away Pinkie and Rarity. Growling, she dove down towards the man, “Hey, buttface! Leave my friend-”

“Stay with them, protect them, watch your friends.”

“Watch-”

“Through many cities you will jump,” the figure whispered, “Fly to days of future’s past and then through to the Apocalypse. Then, at the end of ends, you will face my phantasm.”

“What do you mean by-” before she could ask any more, her body was wiped out of existence.

For the next few moments, her body began to fall through the portal. Magenta eyes began to look all around her for a way out, only to to find herself surrounded by every weather type imaginable. Each one of these weather phenomena hit her body hard, energizing her, and changing her.

When she found herself on the other side of the portal, she found herself on top of a tall building. Another thing she discovered was that she was cold, and shivering. Hugging herself tightly, she said, “I’m cold? But, I’m a pegasus! I don't’ get cold.” and with that, she turned to look at the reflective A that was on top of the tower with her. A gasp escaped her lips as she looked at the tan body that started right back at her. Taking a step back, she asked, “My wings? Where are my? What happened to my-” she began to look over her body, looking at the bare back that her sports bra exposed, showing no wings.

Shaking her head, she whispered to herself, “Ok, this is freaky. I don’t have my wings and,” she looked down and watched as lighting began to crackle along her fingertips, “I have lighting in my hands!!!”

She shook her head, trying to clear it, while not seeing the small rainstorm that began to erupt right behind her, “Ok, this is getting weird. Where are my wings, why can I shoot lighting out of my fingertips, and where is everyone?”

As she looked around, she began to walk in circles along the top of the tower, taking note of the building with the large four on the top in the distance as a place to check out later. Continuing her walk, she began to get annoyed as her mind tried to come up with answers to her questions. Little did she know, her body began to levitate the more she walked along the edge of the building, “Grr, this makes no sense. One minutes, in Equestria, now I am stuck her in a weird body with no speed and no,” she paused as she began to take note that her head was now in the clouds. Looking down, she saw that she was in the air, “Flying? I can still...fly?”

With a bright smile and a childish glee, she shouted, “I can still fly!” cheering, she flew down into the city at top speed, allowing the gusts of wind to follow her, “I suppose if I was Twilight, I would spend time trying to figure out how, but...” she shrugged, “Egghead stuff later, fun now!” and with a shout, she was off once more, not hearing the people screaming or the one guy talking to his hairdresser, or even the purple dressed villain she barreled into,

“Rainbow Dash!” Pinkie, Rarity, and Twilight shouted, panting a little.

“Yeah, that’s me,” looking down, Rainbow Dash gasped as she saw her friends, “GIRLS! Am I glad to see you!” she said, swooping down and hugging them.

“Rainbow Dash, dear, not that I am not happy to see you, but we have a situation here,” Rarity said, pointing to the Mane-iac as she slowly rose to her feet.

“What?” asked Dash as she looked over her shoulder at the woman. Rolling her eyes, she said, “ Can’t you girls last five seconds without me? Fine. Just sit back and watch while I kick her ass!”

Fluttershy smiled as she looked at her animal shelter, seeing all of the animals work and play together. For her, this was a paradise and though she would occasionally had to make sure that the predators would stay away from the herbivores, she mostly was able to keep the peace. Nodding, she turned to walk away from the scene of relative peace and back to the castle. A small frown came to her lips, “You know, I wish everyday could be like this.”

Angel looked up at her, confused.

“Oh, don’t get me wrong, I am always there for them, always want to help my friends, but I,” Fluttershy shook her head, “Just sometimes wish the fighting would stop and I could live without worrying about helping my friends when they need me.”

Angel shrugged as he followed Fluttershy into town. Only to stop, gasp in fear and run away. Fluttershy looked at her bunny companion with worry, and then looked back up at the dark clouds and the strange figure that floated down from the heavens. Gasping in fear, she did the only thing she would do in this situation, run towards it, whispering, “Oh dear, oh dear. Please be ok, please be ok. Don’t let my friends be hurt.”

As she ran, she began to hear a voice speak in her mind-

Your kind heart, please, the world needs it. Keep it pure.

“What? My kind heart?” asked Fluttershy before she found herself trapped in a magical field.

The strange being glared his eyes at Fluttershy and began to speak, “ To face my delusion, you must jump into the city, face the days of future past, avert apocalypse, and then you travel to end of ends.”

Before Fluttershy could do any more, she was wrapped in a flash of light and sent through the long tunnel. As she fell, screaming in fear, her eyes began to see all of the anger, hatred, and pain that the other world had to offer. As she watched all of it happen before her eyes, a faint green glow surrounded her before finally flashing as she let out an animalistic roar.

Back in the city, Twilight and friends stood glaring down Mane-iac, “You are surrounded Mane-iac, now back off.”

“You think you have me? HA!” she laughed as she sent out four tendrils at the girls, “In one minute you will be begging me to let you live as I choke the air-”

That was when her tentacles were grabbed by a very large muscular hand. Then with a roar, the hand pulled the tentacles towards the woman, spun her over head like a top, and into a wall, “DON’T HARM MY FRIENDS!!!” she shouted.

As the dust cleared, a large woman of faint italian descent stood before the quartet. Thanks to her large muscles lining her form, she seemed to be a very large body builder. Her yellow sundress was slightly ripped thanks to her musculature, giving her the appearance of a monster. For a moment the girls raised an eyebrow at the identity of the girl, except for Rainbow and Pinkie who both shouted as one, “Fluttershy?!”

“Girls! Help!” Fluttershy said, running to them, “I just landed here in this huge and beefy body. I don’t know how to go back to normal and I am so scared I might hurt someone like this.”

“It’s ok, Fluttershy,” Twilight said, “We’ll figure it out once we-URRRK!” she gasped as a hair tentacle wrapped itself around Twilight’s neck, followed by four more that grabbed the girls, strangling them.

Mane-iac began to laugh as she rose into the air, using the tentacles as a means of lift, “Keep on multiplying, you pathetic fools. I will always be strong enough to destroy you slowly!!!!”

Applebloom lightly kicked a stone across the water, watching the ripples form from each landing of the stone, “Applejack, does it ever bother you that you are... not special?”

“What do you mean, Applebloom?” Applejack asked as she laid on her back, letting her stetson cover her eyes while resting against a tree, “Ah’m plenty special. Element of Honesty, owner of my own farm, and one of the strongest ponies you know.”

“Well, it’s just,” Applebloom sighed, “Rainbow Dash is a cocky speedster, Rarity is a noble lady and is so business smart, Fluttershy has a dang strong will, Twilight is like a magical god, and Pinkie is...Pinkie. You’re just, you.”

“A pretty strong mare?” Applejack chuckled.

Applebloom shook her head, “But everypony’s got their own problems, and are so strong. Don’t you get a little jealous that everypony else just seem so, unique while you’re just a pillar?”

“Apple Bloom,” Applejack said, smiling, “We all have something that makes us unique or something that only we can do. I just happen to be a pillar for all of them, somepony to hold the girls up when they need it. Ah don’t need to be egotistical, vain, or a little mad. Ah just need to be me.”

“If you say so,” Apple Bloom said, kicking another rock. Then she looked up at the darkening clouds over head, “Applejack?”

Applejack slowly got up, an adjusted her hat, “Apple Bloom, get into the barn, now!”

“Ok!” Apple Bloom said, running off while her sister ran towards the blackening clouds.

Applejack straightened her hat as she ran, narrowing her eyes as she looked on. If there was a part of her that was worried for the fate of her friends or ponies in the town, she didn’t show it. Instead, she had a look of indomitable will and strength that she usually carried with her. As she neared the center of the storm, she saw a mysterious figure standing in front of Fluttershy, wiping her out in a flash of light, “You!”

Please...

Applejack paused and looked confused as the voice echoed in her mind, “What?

Stay true to who you are, teach them the same.

The figure looked at Applejack and held up his hand, whispering, “Within the will-o-the-wisp, you will jump to the city. From Days of futures past, you will see through the illusion. In the Apocalypse, you will see the will-o-the-wisp, and at the end of ends, you will see through the Ignis Fatuus.” and with a wave of his hand, Applejack vanished within a second.

Her eyes looked back and forth at the tunnel that she found herself in, watching at the colors flew by her. Frantically, Applejack began to try and reach out for a way to either slow her fall or to stop completely. While she fell through the hole, she began to watch as a golden lasso coiled itself around her hips and then attached itself to her belt. Then with a final flash of light, she found herself falling into a small bit of rubble in an alleyway.

After taking a few moments to get her bearings, she slowly got back up with a grunt, “Ok, Applejack, let’s recap. Some jerk teleported you away from your friends, you are in some strange planet, body has been changed,” she then looked down at her impressive chest that now had moved up to her upper torso, “Yep, the girls are now up there, you got hands now, and you have no idea where everypony is.”

Slowly she reached up and patted her head where her hat rested, and smiled warmly, “Well, at least my hat is still here. That’s a plus.”

Any further ruminations was quickly interrupted by shouts from the street, “Why is hair tentacles the least weirdest thing in my life!”

“I swear, my hairdresser is a freaking mutant! She predicted this, the end of Naruto, the plot twists of my favorite manga, and my secret recipes!”

“So this is why my cousin said to run away from tentacles! No wonder she left Japan!!!”

Applejack looked perplexed as she ran out and stepped back in shock as she saw green hair tentacles striking, strangling, and attacking people. Before she could ask more, she heard five familiar gasps and chokes. Looking behind her, she saw her friends being strangled by the attacking tentacles. Narrowing her eyes, she reached to her side and brought out her lasso. Then, without a word, she threw her lasso around Mane-iac’s neck, tightened it, and swung her into a wall.

“APPLEJACK!” Pinkie said racing to her friend as the tentacle released it’s grip and hugging her. Soon she was joined by her other friends, each hugging Applejack tightly.

“Girls, as much as I do love affection and caring towards our friends,” Rarity said, hugging Applejack, “We are in the middle of a fight.”

“Shh, always time for a group hug,” Pinkie said, hugging Applejack one more time.

Applejack then turned to look at the Mane-iac as she pulled herself away from the impact crater, “So, what are we dealing with?”

“Alternate universe, bad guy was turned to that thanks to chemical, and we have no way to go back,” Twilight said.

“So, normal weird Tuesday?” asked Applejack.

“Sadly.” Rarity sad, looking down and sighing.

“More and more, you FOOLS seem to arise. Is there anymore that I should be wary of?” asked Mane-iac as she got to her feet, her tentacles sprouting out.

Twilight shook her head, “Nope, just us. Which is bad if Spike and Starlight did land here because there goes back up plan Beta for keeping Equestria safe while I’m stuck here.”

“Yeah, bad news for you!” Rainbow Dash said, cracking her neck, “Because you see, now that we are all together-”

“Standing as one,” Rarity said.

“We are now-” Fluttershy said, smiling as she looked from friend to friend,

“Invincible, and unbeatable!” Pinkie shouted.

“Now, no man, beast, or god can take us down if we tried!” Applejack said.

“So, basically...run,” Twilight said.

“Do I look like I care?” asked Mane-iac, “6, 7, or five! I will crush all who stand in my way!”

Twilight looked across from her, left and right, all the while taking in the sight of her friends. The sight of her friends turned on a computer in her mind that began to quickly calculate a plan to utilize her team effectively and then she nodded to the five. In perfect synch, the six ponies scattered and jumped out of the way from the assaulting tentacles. Rainbow Dash used her hot air currents to fly her through the tentacles, bobbing and weaving through the assault. Once she neared her opponent, she summoned a series of lighting strikes into Mane-iac’s body. This stunned her and allowed for Rainbow Dash to unleash three rabid punches into her stomach.

While in the midst of Rainbow performing a roundhouse kick into the chest, one of Mane-iac’s tentacles grabbed her extended leg and flung her up into the air and then slammed Dash hard into the ground. With a high pitched laughter, the villainess began to slam her down again and again into the ground. Before she could repeat the same attack, three buzzsaws flew through the air, cutting the tentacle into pieces. A purple comb and hair-dryer then began to pull back Mane-iac’s three other tentacles.

With a growl, she turned to look at Rarity as the girl continued to mess with her mane. Turning her three tentacles into bladed points, Mane-iac struck them out, hoping to plunge them into Rarity’s chest and throat. Seconds before her attack could be made, she gasped as a pink blur ran to each one of the offending tentacles and turning them into little bow ties. Then Pinkie ran right up to her and began to rapidly box her chin and then ran off.

Mane-iac only had time to gasp as Applejack and Flutter popped up and delivered a combined punch hard into Mane-iac’s stomach. Not willing to let them the chance to strike again, Mane-iac grabbed both girl’s arm’s and threw them into the building. However, this left her open to a giant pillar that was thrown into her body and into the wall. Twilight lowered herself slowly to the ground, turning off her magic as she did. Then she looked to the rubble where Mane-iac laid and waited. A few seconds later, Mane-iac rose from the rubble and looked to the six girls, “C-c-curse you.” she said, before finally fainting.

With the battle over, Fluttershy found her body returning back to normal from the overly muscled version, “OH, thank goodness. I was scared that I would stay this way.”

“Hey, that was a pretty badass look on you,” Dash complimented.

“Ah’m just glad we’re all together,” Applejack said, tipping her hat, “Now, how about we leave before we are-” Her sentence was cut off by the group of reporters and people talking to them.

“That was amazing!”

“Unbelievable!”

“Are you new heroes in town? A part of the Avenger’s training program?”

“No, they have to be Teen Titans.”

“Are you super-heroes for hire?”

“The lighting girl, could you bear my children?

Somewhere, on the side of a building, a red and blue suited man rested on the side of the building, “Guess I wasn’t needed,” Spider-Man said, his eyes watching the fight, “But still, a bad-guy with hair attacking the city? Why do the weird villains always seem to attack when I’m around?” he asked himself, before taking some photos with his phone and then swinging off.

“Excuse me, Sophie Jansen, of the Bugle,” the red haired reporter asked with a notebook in hand, “What are your names? Who are you?”

“Us? Well, um,” Twilight said, looking down and trying to get her mind to think. Over to her right, she could hear her friends whisper to each other.

Rainbow Dash smirked as she brushed her hair back, “Zapp.”

“Um, Saddle Rager,” Fluttershy gasped, hiding behind Rainbow Dash.

Rarity bowed to the group, “I am Radiance and this is Mistress Marevelous,” Rarity said, giving Applejack a look that said to let her do the talking.

“And I’m Fillisecond!” Pinkie said with a grin.

Nodding Twilight said, “And I’m Masked Matter. Together we are,” pausing, she looked back at her friends and nodded, an idea coming to her for a name in an instant, “The Rainbooms. Now we would love to answer more questions but we got to go and get some uniforms!” she said, her magic glowing bright and enveloping the group.

When the girls opened their eyes again, they found themselves in the alley where Twilight landed. Pinkie gasped in shock and amazement as she looked around, “Wow! Twilight, that is amazing! I didn’t know your teleporting was that good here!”

“It’s not,” Twilight said with a frown, looking down at the magic of her hands dissipating, “Truth be told, I’ve kind of been using my power on raw instinct. Not even sure how I’m casting some of my spells, it’s just coming to me.”

“Yeah, know the feeling,” Dash said, taking flight, “It’s like me and the weather, just...know it, you know?”

“Hmmmm, probably has either to do with our previous experience, or instinct,” Twilight said, walking from side to side in the alley, thumb to her chin, “Right now, I think we need to answer some questions. Like how did we get here, who sent us here, and how do we get home? I am also going to assume Spike and Starlight are home, so there’s that.”

So each girl began in turn to speak of their experiences and how each wound up in the world. Intensively, Twilight paid rapt attention and began to write down the similarities and the notes in her head. After each finished, Twilight began to speak, “Jump City, Apocalypse, Future Past, and End of Ends. Those words keep showing up in the spell. With the only thing changing is that last word, but what can it all mean? What’s the connection.”

“Maybe there is none, Twilight,” Applejack said, “Maybe he’s just a monster that decided the best way to take over Equestria was to send us away.”

“Then why not kill us instead? He should know we’ll find a way back,” Twilight said. Shaking her head, she groaned a little and slumped back, “Grrrrr!!!! I hate it when I don’t have all of the pieces of the puzzle!”

“Hey, I got an idea, lets just check out where this Jump City place is and start with the answers there,” Rainbow Dash said, hovering, “Better than just waiting here.”

Rarity looked up at Rainbow with a frown, “Brilliant idea, Rainbow Dash. Care to tell us how to get there? We don’t even know where it-”

“It’s on the west coast of this country we’re in called the United states of America. We’re on the east coast here,” Pinkie said, bringing out an atlas and pointing her finger at New York City, “and the city is WAAAAAAAY over there.” she then pointed to California.

“Pinkie, how did you get this map?” Fluttershy asked, looking at her friend with a quirked eyebrow.

Pinkie smiled, “Oh, I got it from this place called an airport when I ran there and then when I went over to the city I got their tourist pamphlets. I also got some for some other places too, like this place called the Mystery Shack. Can we go there Twilight? I know you love...”Before Pinkie could continue, she began to sway back and forth, holding her head, “Whoa, getting a little bit dizzy.”

Fluttershy gasped and grabbed Pinkie before she could fall, “Pinkie! Are you all right?”

“Just a little woozy,” Pinkie said.

Rainbow Dash landed right next to her, “Pinks, when was the last time you ate?”

“A few seconds ago, a nice cupcake,” Pinkie said, smiling.

Rainbow Dash groaned and facepalmed, “Pinks, you are a speedster now. Eating a cupcake isn’t going to cut it with you right now. Not even one as hyper as you. We’ll need to get you something a lot more substantial.”

“Awww, thanks for the advice, Dashie,” Pinkie said, looking up at her friend.

“Hey, I’m no longer the speedster of this team. Someone has to teach ya,” Dash said with a smirk.

Twilight sighed, “That leads us to the biggest problem. I’ve been in the human world four times before and I can tell you that we need two things to get to this so called Jump city. First, money, and then a car.”

Applejack looked confused, “Uh, Twilight? What’s a Car?”

“Um, think about the carts back in Manehatten, only except self propelled with an internal combustion engine. Sunset helped me to learn all about it and Flash taught me how to drive it,” Twilight said with a fond smile, “I really should tell you how it works. It’s absolutely fascinating...”

As Twilight began to discuss and describe all of the inner workings of a car, Rarity reached into her pocket and pulled out some gems, “Well, luckily I seem to be in possession of some gems from when I was working on the dresses. Perhaps they’ll get us some much needed money.”

Applejack shook her head, “Not sure Rarity. Ah mean, they are just some diamonds and sapphires, can’t be all that much.”

“Well, we’ll see,” Rarity said, walking out of the alley way. “Be right back!”

A few hours passed and soon Twilight was done talking, “And that is about it.” when she turned around, she saw her friends passed out with the exception of Fluttershy, “Well, it's nice to know SOMEONE paid attention.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I was actually on the lookout for Rarity,” Fluttershy said, hiding behind her hair.

Twilight paused and looked around, “Wait, where’s Rarity?”

At that point, a powerful engine reved up and drove to the side of the alley. When the five girls peeked out from there, they saw a lovely white van complete with decals of the girl’s cutie marks. On the front of the car had the license plate of ‘RBOOM1’ and seemed to sparkle in the fading sunlight. When the driver side opened, Rarity stepped out and took off her designer sunglasses, “Good news everypony. It seems that gems are a rare mineral around here.”

“Well, yes, that’s what Sunset told me,” Twilight added as she looked at the vehicle, “She said that it isn’t like Equestria where you can dig up gems in an instant. Some people have to dig a long time in mines to find them. So the fact that your gems were worth hundreds-”

“Thousands darling, close to two hundred thousand. So what you are looking at is Wayne-Auto brand new 4X4 custom. It has a GPS, cushion seats, minibar, storage space, and a wonderful sound system for my...smartphone is it?” said Rarity. And then she threw each one of the girls a smartphone, “Here you go. I signed a personal contract with six lines, the man tried to cheat me can you believe that? Oh and there is a few random bags of food for Pinkie.”

“Yum!” Pinkie said, running into the backseat and chowing down on the food.

Slowly, each one of the girls began to get inside, leaving Twilight to be the last, “Ok, since I’m the only one of us who can dri-” she paused and looked to Rarity, “Rarity, how did you drive this car all the way here?”

Suddenly, out from the car stepped out a large man who seemed to be made of orange moving rocks. He turned to Rarity and said, “Ok, I got yas to your friends, Miss Belle. That’ll be a hundred.”

“Oh, sure Mr. Grimm, thank you so much,” Rarity said, handing the money to Ben.

“Thank ya,” Ben said turning away, “Oh, and thanks for the offer. Alicia said she has more than enough offers for her wedding dress.”

“I understand, but please note, Mr. Grimm,”

“Call me Ben, lady,” Ben said, “I don’t take to any formal stuff.”

“Right, but I’ll have you know that I can do tuxes as well. Especially one for your unique size,” Rarity said, smiling.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Ben said, walking away from the group.

“Uh, Rarity, who was that?” Applejack said.

“Oh, him? He is Mr. Grimm. Apparently in this city he is a famous superhero, and it seems he was taking odd jobs for his upcoming nuptials. When I bought the car, I offered him quite a hefty sum to help drive me where I need to go and give me lessons.”

“Well, good,” Twilight said, getting into the car, “This means if I get tired you can take over and we can make sure Rainbow Dash never drives.”

“Hey! What’s wrong with me driving,” asked Rainbow Dash.

Twilight’s eyes opened wide as she began to imagine Rainbow Dash driving...

All around her, many people laid dead in the streets. Tire marks lined their bodies and blood ran through the streets. Fires touched the sky while the towns burned and babies cried. All the while howls of “WHY DIDN’T ANYONE STOP THIS!” echoed through the area.

“Nothing!” Twilight said as the others go into the van. She had a smile on her face as she started the car, “OH, can’t wait! This is going to be so exciting! And while we’re on the road, I can help train all of you in your new powers!”

“Training? Come on Twi,” Dash grumbled, “What kind of heroes need training in their powers?”

Somewhere in New York, in Manchester, there sits a large school for those with a special gift. Though silent now, soon the day will begin and students will start their classes. It is also in this school...

That a Phoenix, roars.

Author's Note

*Announcer voice* LADIES AND GENTLEMAN!!!! LETS BRING IN TODAY'S LINE UPOF EDITORS!!!! First we have the always fantastic Wyvernseeker! Then the amazing Zoltanthemagificent! And joining them today is Tomhur! Lets hear it for these thee!!!

Phew! New fic and new story all line up. So, how did this come about? Well, after riffing a certain author's story for a bit, I started to come up with an idea for a story where I could explore the themes and ideals that the author set up and then present my own argument about it.

So, here it is.

Notes about this world.

Yes, DC and Marvel exsist at the same time. Kind of using the same logic here that a lot of classic Marvel and DC crossovers use. I.e, these have alwas exsisted together, they just rarely interact. Superman stays out of Gotham you know.

The Teen Titans will be done as their cartoon selves along with the JLU side. Yes, they are in the same world and don't try to convince me other wise. I will also use the continuity and ideas from the cartoon comics as well.

The X-men are their 90s incarnations along with the Jim Lee costumes. More on them when we get there.

The news lady that interviews the ponies? HEr name is based off of the actresses that played Jean Grey.

For some reason I wanted to think of Dr. Doofensmirtch with Mainaic, don't know why.

Oh, and can you guess what I am deconstructing with this? Bet you can. :raritywink: