Roaring Winds and Rising Tides: Kith and Kinby vortex123ChaptersBlood MoonAwkward first encounterMagical influenceClosure and game mechanicsBlood MoonAuthor's Note For anyone who's read Roaring Wind and Rising Tides, a decent amount of the prologue was taken from that story, specifically Zoey's last interaction with her family before displacement. Sure I changed or got rid of words here and there, but not enough to where a lot of people wouldn't mind reading again. So for them, I put in a way for them to skip that part more easily. The big "Start" is where you can start skipping or skimming, and the big "Stop" is where you can stop skipping or skimming, this is in case you don't feel like going through a slightly altered recap. Hope you enjoy reading. Blood Moon Jack's POV Start “Hey sweetie, when did you get home last night?” Mom says in an obviously fake calm tone, which told Zoey all she needed to know that this isn’t going to end well. Mom was wearing a button up purple shirt, her and Zoey's favorite color. She was also wearing light blue jeans and black flip flops. Zoey was about to answer but…I beat her to the punch. “1:30 in the morning, I was going to the bathroom and saw her come in." I say with that stupid sweet tone I used to use. She was already agitated so that was the tipping point. “YOU PEACE OF SH-!” She started to yell before reeling back in pain as the loud noise makes her head hurt. Mom takes notice and drops the act. “Are you hungover?” She seethes, Zoey looks conflicted for a moment, then nods. As mom lectures Zoey, which takes about a half hour, I smirk, imagining the 'fun' I could do (why couldn't I have just thrown her a bone, just that one time?). After she’s done lecturing Zoey about how dangerous drinking was, though we both know Zoey wasn't listening. I *sigh*…decided to see how far I could push her. “HEY ZOEY!” I scream, much to her agony. “What?” She asked with a glare so cold it could freeze fire, I powered through and continued. “How’s your boyfriend?” I asked in a fake curious tone, I knew about her break up with that scumbag. “We aren’t dating anymore, remember? I’ve got better things to do then deal with that jerk.” She says in a forcefully calm voice. “That’s a shame, but HEY, at least you don’t have to deal with him anymore.” I say with a stupid smirk. ‘I wish I knew back then just how much that hurt her, maybe I'd have been sympathetic enough to not yell.' “Can you not yell? Kinda have a migraine here.” She groans, mom huffs at that. “Well maybe that will teach you not to drink. God knows how much trouble you’ve gotten in because of it.” Mom says with a frown. Then comes the worst part, the last sentence my dumbass got to say to her. Well I’m sure you’ll find someone else to enter your temple.” I quietly say, just loud enough for her to hear. While searching the internet for things related to DDLC, we came across a skit with Monika and Natsuki, it wasn't exactly nice. “You know what? Fuck you, you little gremlin! I’m leaving.” She snapped, going to the front door. “And where do you think your going missy?” Mom asked, just as upset as she was earlier. “Out, that brat can eat a dick.” Zoey answered, not stopping. “Jees , sor-“ She interrupted me with a “shut up”, and I watch her go out that door, unaware that that would be the last time I'd ever see her again. Stop I sigh as I get up from bed, the same memory from 12 years ago haunting my dreams (more like nightmares). It was the memory of my last interaction with my…big sister. Getting dressed, I walk downstairs. “Morning Mom.” I greeted her. “Morning sweetheart.” She said back. She smiles, but there’s a tinge of sadness in her eyes. Zoey’s disappearance did a number on her. There’s not a second that she doesn't blame herself for it. “I should have went after her” she’d state, “what kind of mother let’s her hungover daughter storm out the house by herself” she’d question. It was always heartbreaking to see her like this. "Today's the day of the weird red moon phenomenon." "I know…." I say. Every three years, the moon would turn crimson red. Some people would even call it the "Blood Moon", it started the same day Zoey disappeared. Mom would even joke that it was Zoey's rage given form, and knowing Zoey, I wouldn't be surprised if that was actually the case. After eating breakfast, I started to head into the living room. "Jack…I'll be out pretty late today, so don't wait up for me." She tells me with a smile, but I see right through it. Whenever she says she'll be out late, it means she'll be searching the last place Zoey was seen before she went missing to try to find any leads. I wanted to tell her it would be pointless, that and 'leads' she'd find would be long cold after all this time, but I couldn't. Despite all her arguments, it wasn't her fault that Zoey left, it was mine. At the end of the day, I'm the one who pushed her enough to storm out, this is my fault alone. "…Ok." I say. Going over her routine for her investigation. I lost my sister because of my thoughtless actions, I'm not about to lose my mom too, so I make sure to tail her in her search. She suddenly sighed before giving me a slightly annoyed look. “You know, maybe you should have invested in acting classes. If it wasn’t for the fact that I knew you’ve been tailing me, I’d be suspicious as hell right now.” She says with a huff. I stare at her wide eyed, she just smiled at me. “I’ve been taking care of you since you came out my womb. You really thought I wouldn’t know about that?” She asked while chuckling, I just sigh in defeat. “I’m gonna follow you regardless of what you say or do.” I firmly state, she nods. “I know. Come on, let’s get everything we need.” She says, I nod, then we move to get the task done. It’s night time when we get to the area we’ve been to more times then either of us ever wanted too. Apparently Zoey was last seen walking in and out of a public bathroom, though the odd part is that everyone who saw her said her hair turned blue when she got out. Others say she was talking to some purple man in a delivery man uniform. I’m brought back to reality when some kinda rift opened up in thin air. After a couple of seconds, some weird mutant walks out. After a few more seconds, a…purple man walks out. Mom does a sharp inhale through her teeth, definitely coming to the same conclusion as me. “So how long do you think we have?” The mutant asked. “Don’t worry Juvia and Wendy will keep those two busy long enough for us to get done here.” The purple man says with a wave. ‘Who is he talking about?’ I question in my head. “Sure…as long as Zoey doesn’t set Juvia off…we should probably hurry.” The mutant says, causing me to stiffen and Mom to shake uncontrollably. Before I could stop her, she takes out a gun (which was shocking given her hatred of guns) and rushes to them. “Hold it!” She yelled, causing the two to look at her. With a groan, I take out my knife and walk to them, causing the two to look at me. “Can I help you ma’am?” The purple man asked, not at all worried about the gun. “I’m kinda in a rush here, so if you could make this quick, I’d really appreciate it.” “Where is she?” Mom asked, her voice dripping with venom. “Uh….” The man says in bewilderment. “You mean Zoey?” The mutant asked, Mom nods. “Uh…that’s kinda complicated.” “Well simplify it!” She seethes. “John could explain it better than I could.” He says, gesturing to the purple man (who’s name is apparently John), or at least he would be if he had still been there. “Wha-HEY!" The mutant shouted. "Sorry, we don’t have time for this." John says, though I can't make out where it's coming from. Suddenly a weird sword and book appears in the mutants hands. "Use these." "How's a book and sword gonna help me? She has a gun!" He yelled in bewilderment. Hearing no reply after about a minute, the mutant sighs before getting into a defensive looking stance while holding the sword backwards. Without warning, he swings the sword at Mom, and suddenly let's go mid-swing. The sword spins like a buzz saw and the (thankfully blunt) side of the sword hits Mom's hand, knocking the gun out of it, causing both the sword and gun to fly towards me. Unfurling his wings (which he apparently has) he dashed towards Mom, who was to busy nursing her sore hand to notice, and tackles her to the ground. I quickly grab the sword and gun, and run towards them (I would have shot him, but with how much Mom was thrashing around, I was worried that I'd accidentally shoot her instead). Since I'm not exactly being stealthy, he noticed me running towards them. I swing the sword at him underhanded (in case he would have dodged and let Mom take the hit), he grabbed my wrist with ease, stopping me mid-swing. I level the gun to his shoulder, but he dropped the book and grabbed my other wrist, then pushed it away with the same about of ease. It looks like he had to change his position to do so, because Mom now had enough room to kick him where the sun don't shine, which made him loosen his grip on my wrists and grab the wounded area on reflex. Seeing that he was wide open, I slashed his chest with the sword, then shot him in the shoulder with Mom's gun. The blood from the wounds splattered on the the book Mom just picked up in curiosity as she stood up, and dripped from the sword in my hand. Suddenly his body began to ripple and distort. The blood on the sword and book started to glow in crimson light. "Found it!" John yelled, reappearing where he was before he vanished. He looked at us, then sighs in aggravation. "Seriously!? Another accidental displacement!? I am really bad at this…" I gave him a confused look, he raised an eyebrow expectingly. "Wha?" I asked him. "Displacement, the same thing I did to your sister and some guy who I mistook for her brother. As we speak, your body and possibly your mind are being altered to better fit the world you're being sent to." He explained. "Though whatever world you'll end up in, I don't know." He added with a shrug. Before I could say anything, I had the urge to look at the moon, apparently Mom had the same urge (she was taller then me when she was standing, so I could see her in my peripheral vision). The last thing I see, is a sea of crimson light, then I black out, but not before I hear two shots and feel something hit my forehead. 2nd POV “Dude!” Mike says after John blasted the two in the head. “Relax, those were just memory altering spells. They’ll remember me, but as far as they know, you were some weird mutant they can’t really remember. I don’t know if they’ll end up in your Equestria, but better safe than sorry. Speaking of which.” John said before turning towards Mike. With no warning, John jabs Mike’s forehead. “You won’t remember any of this.” After he said that, Mike lost all expression in his face. His entire body ripples and distorts. “When you come to, you’ll ‘remember’ that I took you to a place to fix a problem in your body. And in the process, you learned an ability called ‘Void Copy’. The basics of this ability are being integrated into your mind.” Seeing Mike nod, John could tell Mike currently was completely under his influence. “Good, now lets get you back to the others, so this can be completely integrated into your real body.” And with that, they walked into a portal as the mother and son vanished from that world, not caring enough about what new look they had gained during Mike's mind being altered. Awkward first encounterCanterlot 3rd POV Deep in an alleyway, two individuals stirred from their slumber, and got up. One was a young looking male teenager, and the other was a young adult looking woman. Both of them had crimson red straight hair, with the teenager having short hair, while the woman’s hair went all the way down to her waist. Both had light blue eyes. The woman was wearing a purple sleeveless shirt, while the teen was wearing a green short sleeve shirt. The woman was wearing a long black skirt, while the teen was wearing black jeans, both had white tennis shoes on. “Ow….” Jack groaned as he got up. ‘My everything hurts.’ He thought. “Are you okay?” Nicole asked, as she looked at him, then stepped back in shock at his new look. “Yeah….” He trails off, now noticing her new look. After taking a moment to look each other and themselves over, they look around. “Where are we?” Nicole asked. “No idea, but considering what John said, we might be a long ways from home.” Jack says. Nicole fums at hearing John’s name. “The nerve of that guy, kidnapping defenseless kids just for his amusement!” She grumbled. ‘…Zoey's the last person that should be called 'defenseless', most of the time it’s the one she’s angry at that you should worry about.’ He thinks, remembering some of her many freak outs. "Come on Jack, let's try to figure out where we are." Nicole said, walking out the alleyway, Jack following right behind her. Maxilla POV 'This was a terrible choice, these ponies have everything they'd ever need or want at their fingertips. How can anyone so pampered be so devoid of any actual love?' I asked myself for the-I don't even know how many times. I had been here for about four months now, ever since I was kicked out of the hive. Don't get me wrong, I understood completely on why I was kicked out, it's completely logical to cut dead weight from a starving hive. I wasn't exactly the best hunter, infiltrator or informant, it was for the good of the hive, that's why I was so compliant with the dicision. After traveling a bit, I heard a couple of ponies talking about Canterlot. They said that if you get to Canterlot, then you've truly 'made it'. Now I'm positive they were talking about business, and not happiness, because I sure don't feel like I 'made it'. So here I was, disguised as a pony by the name of Maxilla (again, not the best infiltrater), a pony male that takes care of insect based creatures. I was light green with light blue eyes. My mane and tail were black. And I was wearing a white shirt and light brown pants. I was also wearing those flip flop things I've seen the ponies wear from time to time. And most importantly, I was a unicorn, so I could still use my magic if I need too. As I walk down the street, I noticed two weird looking ponies walk out of an alleyway. Noticing me, they walk towards me, causing me to tense up. Noticing me changing my stance, the woman raised a brow. "What's got you so tense?" She asked. I just deadpan. "Two ponies I don't know just walked out of an alleyway, and immediately walked towards me. Why wouldn't I get tense? Especially since you look like you're out for blood." I question her, noticing the agitation in her eyes. She nods, having seen what I was getting at. The dude decided to speak up. "We're not ponies, we're humans." He clarified. "Humans?" I asked in shock. 'I heard that Mike had been seen escorting two creatures called humans with him.' I think to myself. Seeing him nod, I shrug, it wasn't really that important. "So what can I help you with?" "I'd appreciate it if you could tell us where we are." She answered, I gave her a look before answering. "You're in Canterlot ma'am. The capital city of Equestra." I say. 'Wait doesn't everyone already know that Canterlot is the capital of Equestra? I really hope I didn't make myself look stupid.' I think with a sigh. "Ah…so let's say, hypothetically of course, that I didn't know what or where that is. Where would be the best place to figure that out?" She asked in a sweet voice. I…I can't even….And by the looks of it, the guy with her has a similar opinion, if the fact that he's trying to hide his face is anything to go on. "…You'd check the local library." I answered. Her face turned as red as her hair and she started to sweat. "And where is that?" she asked again, no doubt having figured out how obvious these questions were due to my undertone. 'Something tells me that just telling her won't work.' I mentally sigh to myself. "Come on, I'll show you." I said. Seeing her beam in gratitude, and seeing the guy give a appreciative and apologetic look, I guide them to the library. "Oh! We forgot to introduce ourselves, I'm Nicole, and this is my son Jack." Nicole said, Jack just waves. "I'm Maxilla, but most ponies just call me Max." I introduced myself with a smile. And with that, we continue our trek in silence, with the occasional conversation here and there. 3rd POV They had reached the library when the sun went up, much faster the the humans thought possible. “Did the sun just shoot up!?” Nicole asked in shock. “Yeah, everyone had been worried that something big was happening, especially after the moon flashed red for a few minutes. Glad to see that whatever it was, it’s taken care of. Anyway, here we are.” Max says with a smile before walking in, the others following behind, but not without sharing a confused look with each other. Author's Note I just wanna clear something, Nicole and Jack aren't based on any pre-existing characters, their descriptions are (as far as I intended) completely off the top of my head. Magical influenceOutside the Canterlot library 1 hour later Nicole’s POV When we reached the front desk, we came across the librarian, not that it was a surprise. After a little back and forth, we found out that we needed a library card. In retrospect, we probably should have known that, but Jack and I aren’t exactly in a stable mindset, for obvious reasons. Unfortunately, there was another problem, only citizens of this country could get those cards, which was something even Max didn’t know. When asked about it, she just shrugs, saying “until a few weeks ago, all knowledge was open to everyone. But apparently something changed”. And even more shocking, the ruler of this country wasn’t the one who made that law. The ones in charge are trying to figure out what happened, but until then, people HAD to abide by this law. Thankfully as long as the books stayed in this library, we could read to our hearts content. And don't get me wrong, that was a relief, but…we couldn't understand the language it was in. So we had to have Max translate what any of the books said. I don't know how Jack was handling it, but I was practically dying of humiliation inside. Look, it's nice if you liked or didn't mind having someone read to you, but I loathed it. I also hated having to rely on someone else for such a small task. But even if my pride didn't agree, we did need to learn about the world we're in. After Max got to a book called "The tale of the two sisters", Jack stiffened, I gave him a knowing hug. After a few seconds, I suddenly feel drained, not enough to where I couldn't move though. Looking at Jack, I see he's in a similar state. "You two alright?" Max asked, raising a brow. "We're fine thank you." I say, the draining feeling noticeable in my voice. "Maybe we should take a break, let's get something to eat, maybe that will wake you up a bit." He offered, I go wide eyed. "You don't need to do that!" I say a little too quickly. He gave me a look. "Ok? Well I can at least walk you to wherever you're staying." He said with a shrug. I sweat a little. We didn't have anywhere to stay, nor do we have any "bits", as they call their currency. And since we can't even understand the language, we couldn't really apply for a job, especially since we aren't even citizens of this country, or even world. He frowned, probably having guessed what I was thinking. "Homeless huh? I guess you two can stay at my place." He offered with a smile, before gaining a confused look, then shrugs. That makes me a little suspicious, and apparently, my son feels the same way. "Why go that far to help two complete strangers you saw walk out an alleyway?" He asked what I was thinking. The, what we now know is a pony, shrugged. "I don't really know to be honest. Normally I wouldn't have even walked you to this library, I don't exactly have a butt load of time to kill. But every time I look at you, specifically your eyes, I feel compelled to help you in any way I can." He answered. When he mentioned our eyes, I couldn't help but notice that his had a strange glow to them, only noticeable if you looked closely. The glow was a slight crimson, kinda like the blood mo-oh. OH! …Oooh… Well don't that just make you feel scummy, and by the looks of it, Jack came to the same conclusion. During Max's reading, he told us stories about evil creatures that used mind control to get what they wanted, after putting two and two together, it wasn't hard to figure out what we accidentally did. "Well…it's not like we have any other logical choice." Jack points out. Begrudgingly, I nod in agreement. "We'll take you up on your…'offer'." I say, after all, I'm well aware that this isn't really his choice. "Alright, follow me, we can stop by someplace to eat on the way." He said, walking towards the door. Once he was out of earshot, I speak my mind. "I don't like this…." I whispered. "Not to be disrespectful, but do you have any better ideas? I mean, don't you remember how hard it was to move to America? And that was when you had time to prepare, what with dad and Zoey helping raise money. This is literally our best option, and it's the only logical one at that." He argued quietly. Seeing no way to give a proper counter argument, I sigh in defeat, and we head to the front door. That leads us to now. Walking a bit from the library, I noticed a flurry of bright feathers near what seems to be a castle gate. After it's done, I see a brown pegasus stallion with black hair, and…two human looking girls with blue hair. Just then, I felt a familiar sensation in the back of my head, and immediately look to my left. I visibly flinch at his outfit, you must be pretty brave to willingly walk around dressed like THAT. The group and the gaudy pony seem to talk for a bit, then the pegasus gives the gaudy a card, then the gaudy pony walks off. I'm not sure why, but something compelled me to follow the one with the card. "It's not too far from here actually, we should reach it in…." Max started before most likely noticing me walking away. "Or we could go this way…I guess." I could taste the deadpanning in his voice, causing me to chuckle a little. "Sorry, but something is telling me to follow that pony, I hope you don't mind." I say, giving him an apologetic look, he shrugged before gesturing for me to lead the way. With an appreciative look, and a ping of guilt at the possibility of mind control being involved in his decision, I press on. Maxilla's POV After Mistr-er-Ms. Nicole and Sire-er-JACK continued walking, I followed while letting my mind wander off a little. While at the start, I was only trying to get some love to eat (and boy did I! I hadn't eaten that good in so long!), but then I started to want to bend over backwards to help them. I literally said they could stay at my place, I may be bad at most things a changeling is expected to do, but even I'm not normally that bad. But every time I look into their…mesmerizing eyes, my worries and concerns just disappear. I considered the possibility of mind control, but even I know the emotions someone has when planning mind control, and neither of them had them. Shame certainly wasn't one of them, not unless someone was forcing them, which no one was (as far as I could tell). I was brought out of my thoughts when Nicole suddenly stopped, then slowly looked around the corner we're apparently at. Looking at their body languages, it kinda reminds me of hunting practice back at the hive. I was pretty good at the first half of it, the second half of it, not so much. With no warning, the two dashed away. It took me a few moments to process what just happened, after I finished processing it, I groaned and chased after them. I managed to catch up with then quickly, and effortlessly keep pace, much to their shock. They seemed to be running as fast as they can, which is only 25 miles per hour. Kinda disappointing, but what can you do? After a few moments, we stop in front of an abandoned building…that I'm pretty sure wasn't here yesterday. Why can't this country just be normal for a change!? Just for one week, that's ALL I'm asking! Is that really too much to ask for!? After a few moments, we walk into the building that's obviously a base for an illegal business. We don't make it 5 feet in the building before the door slammed shut. Nicole and Jack snap their heads to the door, while I lazily turned my head towards it. By the door stands two well built ponies in the typical thuggish outfit, they also had the standard scars on their faces, and were pointing some weird object at us. The object was in the shape of an L, it was made of metal, it had 1/4 of a circle at the center of the L, and a weird curved piece in the 1/4 circle. "Well well well. What do we have here?" A guy(?) said, the mask covering his or her mouth made it hard to tell. "What are those things you're pointing at us?" I asked. "It's…some kinda enchanted metal banana called a goon. You point the end with the hole to what you wanna damage, push this…thingy in the center, and weird but painful holes magically appear on what you want." The other one (who was obviously a woman by the sound of her voice) explained. I look closer at the goons, but I don't see any hole, I just see rectangular outline. "Dude's right, this thing can take out a bear!" The masked one said, guess they must be good buddies. "I hate to interrupt your monologue, but that is called a gun." I heard a ladylike voice say, causing everyone to turn to the source. In a small cage sits a small, white cat with pink in the inside of her ears, and small brown eyes. She also has two whiskers on each side of her face. She's wearing a pink bow near the end of her tail. Her top consists of a mustard yellow and pink top with a pink bow tie. She's wearing a pink skirt with this top. "Did that cat just talk?" I asked, confusion clear on my face. The cat gives a little huff. "I'm an Exceed, not a cat! I would appreciate if you didn't call me a cat, thank you very much." She says to me, aggravation clear in her voice. "And yes, I did talk, is that really so surprising?" I didn't get the chance to answer. "How'd you get that gag off?" The masked thug asked, she just deadpans. "You neglected to tie my paws." She said, bluntly. "You have claws, and your wrists are the same size as your paws. Why would I bother tying them when you could just slip out of them or cut them?" He asked her, causing her to go wide eyed. "That response was…much smarter then I thought you could manage." She says in genuine surprise. "What about the gag?" "The straps were made of leather, so you wouldn't be able to cut them off with your type of claws, and it was on you in a way that you wouldn't have been able to slip out of it." He answered again, this time his partner was surprised with the Exceed. "Are you feeling alright? You don't normally think that far ahead." She asked in worry. I'm guessing he was normally just the dumb help, his voice certainly gave that impression. "I'm fine man, let bring them to the boss." The masked one says. His partner slowly nods, most likely still in shock, then they usher us to walk further in. Not wanting to get hurt by the goon (or Gun, as the Exceed called it), we complied, the Exceed being carried in the cage. "Nice to meet you, I'm Maxilla, you are?" I asked the Exceed. She's silent for a moment, then speaks. "Carla." She says simply. Without another word, we continue walking in silence. Author's Note To clarify in case some of you get the wrong impression, in this AU, for a Changeling: Mistress = Queen Lord = King Sire = Prince Lady = Princess Both versions can be used, but this is what Max is talking about. I'm clarifying in case people think Max is implying something…grosser. Closure and game mechanicsThe group had finally reached their destination, the thugs not bothering to put the gag back on Carla. She apparently gives a mean kick, having sent a number of the guards in this place to the infirmary. While the humans and the disguised changeling wondered how someone so small could cause that many injuries to people so big, Carla simply observed the area in silence. Jack had tried to strike up a conversation, but she wasn't interested. "Now is not the time for that. Not when we're about to meet the one responsible for what's been happening in this city, and many others." Carla said with a huff. "What's been happening?" Jack asked. Carla gives him a shocked look. "You can't be serious! The robbery spree, the kidnappings and the extortion. Along with many other problems. The man overseeing this town has done a lot of terrible things, and we're not exactly in a safe position, if you haven't noticed." Carla says, knocking on one of the bars of the cage. “We can sit down and have a nice conversation AFTER our situation improves, till then, I suggest you spend your time and energy thinking of potential solutions to our current problem.” She finished in a no nonsense tone. “Uh…yeah. Sorry.” Jack said, a little upset about being brushed off, but seeing the logic in what she said. Carla just grunts in acknowledgment. The doors open, and they enter the room. The room itself was something you'd see in an old, but still frequently used, study. The walls were windowless and red. The floor was dark brown, with a red mat in the center. And sitting at a mahogany desk, was a unicorn stallion with red skin, and white hair. He’s wearing gray glasses, so his eye color isn’t visible. He was wearing a purple fedora with a red stripe and a grey feather in it. He’s also wearing a purple open jacket with no undershirt, with matching pants. He has a yellow scarf around his neck. He has high heels, a belt with a star in the middle (which is yellow, but paler then the scarf), and black gloves. In two class cases behind him, were two objects. One was a flute, its size was nearly 50 centimeters in length. It has a skull with three eyes on one end, and an oval-like cutout in the skull's brow. On the other end, there are root-like cutouts. In the other was some weird black book, it had a weird green symbol on it too. It was a big circle with some tentacle creature in it. While both gave off bad auras, compared to the book, the flute might as well have been oozing positivity. "I see you've found my pet." The gaudy pony said to the thugs, as the feather in his fedora turned yellow. "Very good. Now leave us, I have some matters to discuss with them in private." The thugs nod and leave. "I'm not your pet Gaud!" Carla seethed at the gaudy pony, who's name was apparently Gaud. "And you know why I'm here!" "The flute and…book I presume." He responded with an unnerved glance at the book, as his feather turned purple. "If you're unnerved by the book, then it should be obvious why it should be locked…wait…" Carla paused mid rant and looked at the book in both surprise, and fear. "I only came for the flute, I wasn't aware of that book. What kind of book is that? I've never seen or felt anything like it." "I'm not sure to be honest. I found it while traveling and searching for my best clothes maker." He answered, which caused Carla to grit her teeth as his feather turned orange. "I found you on the streets, having no shelter, food or money. The site honestly broke my heart. And out of the goodness of my heart, I took you in. And all I asked in return, was a little help in my business, was that really too much to ask? For all I did for you? Honestly, you should be thanking me for giving you the skills I taught you in clothes making." He said with a dramatic sigh as his feather turned blue. "Ok first of all, it's called fashion designing, hence why you kept using them in fashion shows and contests. Second of all, I wasn't without food, money or a shelter. I worked as a waitress at a café down the road. I regularly visited pony joes, who I sometimes worked for if I really needed the money, and he even let me have the unsold leftovers from the days I worked. And I had enough money to eat out without working for a decent while. And I prefer to live outside in a tent, it's actually pretty comfy if you have the proper resources. Gems enchanted to produce heat or produce cold air aren't exactly expensive you know. And I didn't live that far from a public washroom, or the laundromat. Third of all, you kidnapped me.” She counters with a fierce glare. “Tsk tsk tsk, so feisty, no doubt because you misplaced your soothing bell. Don’t worry, I have a spare one right here!” He says with glee as his feather turned orange again and started to glow, taking out a white collar with a silver bell attached to it, both having strange runes on them. Seeing the bell, Carla backed up in fear, before steeling her nerves. “I’m not the same scared little Exceed I was before, this won’t be as easy as it was last time!” Carla said in determination. As Gaud approaches the cage, Jack pulls out his gun and shoots Gaud’s horn, making his feather shift between colors at random. He didn’t wanna break his horn, but he couldn’t let this happen. And to everyone’ surprise, it didn’t damage his horn, it just felt like it did. “Hey, what’s going on in there?” They heard one of the thugs say from behind a door. Without a word, Max rushed to the recovering pony, and took the collar as the feather stopped at red. He then rushed to Carla, grabbed the door to her cage, and ripped it off. Though when he touched it, his hand burst into small green flames. His hand momentarily turned from light green, to pitch black, and back again as he dropped the cage’s door. Carla filed that and his strength away for later questioning, not wanting to lose a potential ally at the moment. “Thank you.” Carla said with a grateful smile, as she stepped out the cage. “That cage was made of magic canceling materials.” After she said that, she was covered by a white light. After it died down, everyone was shocked by her new appearance. She looked like a 13 year old human girl. She still had the same tail, just big enough to fit her new form, the same with the bow. She now has shoulder length white hair with cat ears on top, even though she had gained human ears as well. The outfit she was wearing had changed sizes to fit her human body. After another moment, her feet flashed, and she was now wearing plain white shoes. Seeing her do all that, Max being able to tell it wasn’t Changeling magic, and Gaud having never seen her do that (his feather shifting between colors again), everyone besides Carla had one thing to say. “WHAT THE FUCK!?!” "What an interesting creature. While I doubt that silly little mortal knew how special the Exceed truly was, I do have to acknowledge his eye for quality in other creatures. Shame he'll never be able to capitalize on that strength, he lacks the drive needed for that. Who knows, maybe this fight could be the push he needs, though I won't hold my breath." It wasn't long before the thugs busted in, having gotten tired of not being answered, only to be blasted by a green magic beam. Carla looks at Max, as smoke came off his horn. "What, too much?" Max asked in confusion. Carla shook her head. "No, just not used to everyday ponies having the proper reaction time to attack something with no warning, rather then just stand there and gawk. Let alone being able to hit their intended targets while taking such small time to actually charge that much power and aim perfectly. It's a bit unusual, if I'm being honest." She answered with a raised brow. Seeing that Gaud had almost gotten back up, she ran towards him. She then jumped in the air, did a small spin, then kicked at the angle he was at. The kick had enough force to launch her towards him. Not having a good enough reaction time, her foot hits him square in the face, and makes him see stars for a moment. The back of his head hits his desk with a loud thud, causing his feather to shift between colors again, and probably giving him a concussion on top of that. “Hey! What do you think you’re doing, freak!?” One of the thugs said, charging at Carla. Once the thug gets close enough, Carla leaps, striking the thug upward with her left foot. Then she switches to her right foot and performs a half-spin kick, trailing her right foot across the ground while leaving a blue streak behind. “Hey, lady in the purple shirt.” Carla asked while keeping her eyes on the thugs. Her call gains Nicole’s attention. “Yeah?” She asked, a little shook-up about the situation. “My ‘intuition’ tells me that that book you’re holding could help you hold your own. Give it a quick read. Don’t worry, I’ll hold them back until you’re ready.” Carla says as she rushes a still standing thug. Max joins her as Jack stays behind, though it wasn’t by his choice. “Where’d you get that gun from?” Nicole asked him after grabbing his shoulder. “It wasn’t on you when we woke up.” “No clue.” He answered with a shrug. “I wanted to stop him quickly, but didn’t know if I could reach him given his magic. Then suddenly, red light appears around my hand, and the next thing I know, the gun was there.” He then concentrates for a moment, then all of a sudden, a sword replaces the gun. After experimenting for a little bit, he found that he can effortlessly switch between a sword (which he doesn't really know how to use) and a gun (that can apparently shoot none damaging bullets(?)). He decided to stick with the gun for now. He attempted to give the sword to his mother, but every time he gave the sword to her, it just reappeared in his hand. "I don't know what she was talking about, but you can't really do much without a weapon, so you might as well give the book a shot." With having said that, he rushed to the others, guns a blazing. Watching him run off, she opened the book, hoping she could find anything helpful. She was not expecting what she actually found. Party: |Nicole (Reed Katsumi) Smith [Leader]| |Jack (Reed Isamu) Smith| Nicole: LV 1 Class: Mage Artificial Therion (Non-Accessible) HP: 330 BG: 3 SG: 1 Exp: 0 ATK: 38.68 A. ATK: 43.68 DEF: 51.45 A. DEF: 23.11 Focus: 51.45 Jack: LV 1 Class: Fighter Artificial Therion (Non-Accessible): HP: 330 BG: 3 SG: 1 Exp: 0 ATK: 38.68 A. ATK: 43.68 DEF: 51.45 A. DEF: 23.11 Focus: 51.45 “As interesting as that is, it doesn’t really help me. A spell I could use would be much more helpful right now.” Nicole says with a frown, only to slightly jump as the book does a little pulse. The page then changes to show… “A fire ball spell?” She asked in surprise, then looked at the instructions closely. After a few failed attempts to actually make a fire ball, she eventually managed to make a fairly decent one (for a beginner at least). She looks back at the fight to see Carla spin kicking a thug in the head, her leg being covered in fire. Nicole noticed a thug rushing Carla, without thinking, she fired the fire ball at the thug. It sadly only grazed the thug, but it did let Carla know the thug was there. With one last punch to the stomach, and kick to the face, the last remaining thug went down. "Quite impressive, for your first few attempts at least. Sure it only grazed your target, but that's certainly better then most with your lack of experience. Now let's take that flute and book, then leave, there's a lot of questions that need answering, on both sides." Carla says with a small smile. Before Nicole could say anything, Gaud suddenly grabbed her by the hair, and puts a knife at her throat. "MOM!" Jack yelled, panicked, his eyes glowing red. "NO!" Max yelled, equally as panicked, his eyes gaining a green shine to them. Carla only glared at Gaud in pure, unadulterated, loathing. "So that's a flute, huh?" Gaud asked, his feather turning black. "Here's what's going to happen. Unless you want me to kill her, you'll stay right where you are. Understand?" He grins as he sees the two boys nod, and chuckles as he sees Carla's fists shaking, his feather turning orange. "Gaud, I only have one word for you." Carla says through gritted teeth. "Oh?" Gaud asked in intrigue, his grin getting bigger. "And what word is that, my cute little kitten, hmm?" He asked, as he watches her eyebrow twitch with amusement. "WULD!" she shouted, as she dashed towards him, much quicker then she was normally capable of. Do to how unnaturally loud it was, it caught him off guard, and he couldn't react in time. She grabbed the knife, then yanked it out of his hand, then punched him to the ground. Having been let go as a result of the punch, Nicole ran to the others, as Carla put that very same knife to his throat. "And for the record, don't call me a 'cute little kitten'!" She seethed as she pressed the knife harder on his neck, causing the feather to turn purple, and glow bright enough to where Carla had to squint her eyes. "And give me that!" She almost shouts, as she snatched the feather out of his hat. The feather turned white, and stopped glowing. In the corner of her eye, she noticed a card in his coat pocket. Taking it out, she gives a chuckle after examining it. "How thoughtful of him." She says as she brings his wrists together, then places the card on them. The card suddenly glows, and strange writing and lines burst out of it. After a few moments, the light died down, showing everyone what happened. Gaud now had energy bands around his wrists, ankles and horn. "What just happened?" Max asked. "That card was enchanted with three spells. One was a restraining spell. Another was a magic cancelling spell. The last one was an advanced disguising spell, to conceal the first two spells, which only people with a specific item can see through." She answered as she took out a weird looking mirror, which she poked a few times, making ripples that a mirror shouldn't be able to do. "There, I just called some co-workers to come and get these people, and anything else they might have. Now, we all have a lot of explaining to do. Not here of course, we can go somewhere else for that." Author's Note To clarify some things: 1: Those stats were based on Velvet Crow at level 1 (she started at 3, so I had to do some calculations to get the stats) without her default equipment. Their stats will increase depending on their class, job, and race (species). 2: 3 BG will allow 1 SG to be used, SG is a super attack. 3: Artificial Therions aren’t like the Therions in the game. Once they meet certain requirements, their Therion form will unlock. But before the can actually use it, they’ll have to make a choice: A: remain an Artificial Therion, and gain only half the benefits normal Therions gain in that form, but lose nothing. B: become a normal Therion, and gain all of the benefits of a normal Therion, but gain all of the drawbacks of a normal Therion. Which includes losing one thing about themselves at random (it’ll actually be random, I will literally put all the things they could lose on a randomizer, and take away whatever it lands on). Or C: The true randomizing option. With the unstable properties of their displacement, they can use this function once per person to trade their current species for another one at random (it could be literally anything). This option won’t vanish if any of them choose option A or B. 4: I’m going with The Rising Of The Shield Hero rules. Meaning they can't use equipment or abilities outside their class (at least until a specific individual changes that (and no, it’s not John. That being said, someone with enough power could bypass this requirement). These only apply to Jack and Nicole, it’ll work differently for others, depending on the person. More will be added to the “Menu Screen” as time goes on.
Blood MoonAuthor's Note For anyone who's read Roaring Wind and Rising Tides, a decent amount of the prologue was taken from that story, specifically Zoey's last interaction with her family before displacement. Sure I changed or got rid of words here and there, but not enough to where a lot of people wouldn't mind reading again. So for them, I put in a way for them to skip that part more easily. The big "Start" is where you can start skipping or skimming, and the big "Stop" is where you can stop skipping or skimming, this is in case you don't feel like going through a slightly altered recap. Hope you enjoy reading. Blood Moon Jack's POV Start “Hey sweetie, when did you get home last night?” Mom says in an obviously fake calm tone, which told Zoey all she needed to know that this isn’t going to end well. Mom was wearing a button up purple shirt, her and Zoey's favorite color. She was also wearing light blue jeans and black flip flops. Zoey was about to answer but…I beat her to the punch. “1:30 in the morning, I was going to the bathroom and saw her come in." I say with that stupid sweet tone I used to use. She was already agitated so that was the tipping point. “YOU PEACE OF SH-!” She started to yell before reeling back in pain as the loud noise makes her head hurt. Mom takes notice and drops the act. “Are you hungover?” She seethes, Zoey looks conflicted for a moment, then nods. As mom lectures Zoey, which takes about a half hour, I smirk, imagining the 'fun' I could do (why couldn't I have just thrown her a bone, just that one time?). After she’s done lecturing Zoey about how dangerous drinking was, though we both know Zoey wasn't listening. I *sigh*…decided to see how far I could push her. “HEY ZOEY!” I scream, much to her agony. “What?” She asked with a glare so cold it could freeze fire, I powered through and continued. “How’s your boyfriend?” I asked in a fake curious tone, I knew about her break up with that scumbag. “We aren’t dating anymore, remember? I’ve got better things to do then deal with that jerk.” She says in a forcefully calm voice. “That’s a shame, but HEY, at least you don’t have to deal with him anymore.” I say with a stupid smirk. ‘I wish I knew back then just how much that hurt her, maybe I'd have been sympathetic enough to not yell.' “Can you not yell? Kinda have a migraine here.” She groans, mom huffs at that. “Well maybe that will teach you not to drink. God knows how much trouble you’ve gotten in because of it.” Mom says with a frown. Then comes the worst part, the last sentence my dumbass got to say to her. Well I’m sure you’ll find someone else to enter your temple.” I quietly say, just loud enough for her to hear. While searching the internet for things related to DDLC, we came across a skit with Monika and Natsuki, it wasn't exactly nice. “You know what? Fuck you, you little gremlin! I’m leaving.” She snapped, going to the front door. “And where do you think your going missy?” Mom asked, just as upset as she was earlier. “Out, that brat can eat a dick.” Zoey answered, not stopping. “Jees , sor-“ She interrupted me with a “shut up”, and I watch her go out that door, unaware that that would be the last time I'd ever see her again. Stop I sigh as I get up from bed, the same memory from 12 years ago haunting my dreams (more like nightmares). It was the memory of my last interaction with my…big sister. Getting dressed, I walk downstairs. “Morning Mom.” I greeted her. “Morning sweetheart.” She said back. She smiles, but there’s a tinge of sadness in her eyes. Zoey’s disappearance did a number on her. There’s not a second that she doesn't blame herself for it. “I should have went after her” she’d state, “what kind of mother let’s her hungover daughter storm out the house by herself” she’d question. It was always heartbreaking to see her like this. "Today's the day of the weird red moon phenomenon." "I know…." I say. Every three years, the moon would turn crimson red. Some people would even call it the "Blood Moon", it started the same day Zoey disappeared. Mom would even joke that it was Zoey's rage given form, and knowing Zoey, I wouldn't be surprised if that was actually the case. After eating breakfast, I started to head into the living room. "Jack…I'll be out pretty late today, so don't wait up for me." She tells me with a smile, but I see right through it. Whenever she says she'll be out late, it means she'll be searching the last place Zoey was seen before she went missing to try to find any leads. I wanted to tell her it would be pointless, that and 'leads' she'd find would be long cold after all this time, but I couldn't. Despite all her arguments, it wasn't her fault that Zoey left, it was mine. At the end of the day, I'm the one who pushed her enough to storm out, this is my fault alone. "…Ok." I say. Going over her routine for her investigation. I lost my sister because of my thoughtless actions, I'm not about to lose my mom too, so I make sure to tail her in her search. She suddenly sighed before giving me a slightly annoyed look. “You know, maybe you should have invested in acting classes. If it wasn’t for the fact that I knew you’ve been tailing me, I’d be suspicious as hell right now.” She says with a huff. I stare at her wide eyed, she just smiled at me. “I’ve been taking care of you since you came out my womb. You really thought I wouldn’t know about that?” She asked while chuckling, I just sigh in defeat. “I’m gonna follow you regardless of what you say or do.” I firmly state, she nods. “I know. Come on, let’s get everything we need.” She says, I nod, then we move to get the task done. It’s night time when we get to the area we’ve been to more times then either of us ever wanted too. Apparently Zoey was last seen walking in and out of a public bathroom, though the odd part is that everyone who saw her said her hair turned blue when she got out. Others say she was talking to some purple man in a delivery man uniform. I’m brought back to reality when some kinda rift opened up in thin air. After a couple of seconds, some weird mutant walks out. After a few more seconds, a…purple man walks out. Mom does a sharp inhale through her teeth, definitely coming to the same conclusion as me. “So how long do you think we have?” The mutant asked. “Don’t worry Juvia and Wendy will keep those two busy long enough for us to get done here.” The purple man says with a wave. ‘Who is he talking about?’ I question in my head. “Sure…as long as Zoey doesn’t set Juvia off…we should probably hurry.” The mutant says, causing me to stiffen and Mom to shake uncontrollably. Before I could stop her, she takes out a gun (which was shocking given her hatred of guns) and rushes to them. “Hold it!” She yelled, causing the two to look at her. With a groan, I take out my knife and walk to them, causing the two to look at me. “Can I help you ma’am?” The purple man asked, not at all worried about the gun. “I’m kinda in a rush here, so if you could make this quick, I’d really appreciate it.” “Where is she?” Mom asked, her voice dripping with venom. “Uh….” The man says in bewilderment. “You mean Zoey?” The mutant asked, Mom nods. “Uh…that’s kinda complicated.” “Well simplify it!” She seethes. “John could explain it better than I could.” He says, gesturing to the purple man (who’s name is apparently John), or at least he would be if he had still been there. “Wha-HEY!" The mutant shouted. "Sorry, we don’t have time for this." John says, though I can't make out where it's coming from. Suddenly a weird sword and book appears in the mutants hands. "Use these." "How's a book and sword gonna help me? She has a gun!" He yelled in bewilderment. Hearing no reply after about a minute, the mutant sighs before getting into a defensive looking stance while holding the sword backwards. Without warning, he swings the sword at Mom, and suddenly let's go mid-swing. The sword spins like a buzz saw and the (thankfully blunt) side of the sword hits Mom's hand, knocking the gun out of it, causing both the sword and gun to fly towards me. Unfurling his wings (which he apparently has) he dashed towards Mom, who was to busy nursing her sore hand to notice, and tackles her to the ground. I quickly grab the sword and gun, and run towards them (I would have shot him, but with how much Mom was thrashing around, I was worried that I'd accidentally shoot her instead). Since I'm not exactly being stealthy, he noticed me running towards them. I swing the sword at him underhanded (in case he would have dodged and let Mom take the hit), he grabbed my wrist with ease, stopping me mid-swing. I level the gun to his shoulder, but he dropped the book and grabbed my other wrist, then pushed it away with the same about of ease. It looks like he had to change his position to do so, because Mom now had enough room to kick him where the sun don't shine, which made him loosen his grip on my wrists and grab the wounded area on reflex. Seeing that he was wide open, I slashed his chest with the sword, then shot him in the shoulder with Mom's gun. The blood from the wounds splattered on the the book Mom just picked up in curiosity as she stood up, and dripped from the sword in my hand. Suddenly his body began to ripple and distort. The blood on the sword and book started to glow in crimson light. "Found it!" John yelled, reappearing where he was before he vanished. He looked at us, then sighs in aggravation. "Seriously!? Another accidental displacement!? I am really bad at this…" I gave him a confused look, he raised an eyebrow expectingly. "Wha?" I asked him. "Displacement, the same thing I did to your sister and some guy who I mistook for her brother. As we speak, your body and possibly your mind are being altered to better fit the world you're being sent to." He explained. "Though whatever world you'll end up in, I don't know." He added with a shrug. Before I could say anything, I had the urge to look at the moon, apparently Mom had the same urge (she was taller then me when she was standing, so I could see her in my peripheral vision). The last thing I see, is a sea of crimson light, then I black out, but not before I hear two shots and feel something hit my forehead. 2nd POV “Dude!” Mike says after John blasted the two in the head. “Relax, those were just memory altering spells. They’ll remember me, but as far as they know, you were some weird mutant they can’t really remember. I don’t know if they’ll end up in your Equestria, but better safe than sorry. Speaking of which.” John said before turning towards Mike. With no warning, John jabs Mike’s forehead. “You won’t remember any of this.” After he said that, Mike lost all expression in his face. His entire body ripples and distorts. “When you come to, you’ll ‘remember’ that I took you to a place to fix a problem in your body. And in the process, you learned an ability called ‘Void Copy’. The basics of this ability are being integrated into your mind.” Seeing Mike nod, John could tell Mike currently was completely under his influence. “Good, now lets get you back to the others, so this can be completely integrated into your real body.” And with that, they walked into a portal as the mother and son vanished from that world, not caring enough about what new look they had gained during Mike's mind being altered.
Awkward first encounterCanterlot 3rd POV Deep in an alleyway, two individuals stirred from their slumber, and got up. One was a young looking male teenager, and the other was a young adult looking woman. Both of them had crimson red straight hair, with the teenager having short hair, while the woman’s hair went all the way down to her waist. Both had light blue eyes. The woman was wearing a purple sleeveless shirt, while the teen was wearing a green short sleeve shirt. The woman was wearing a long black skirt, while the teen was wearing black jeans, both had white tennis shoes on. “Ow….” Jack groaned as he got up. ‘My everything hurts.’ He thought. “Are you okay?” Nicole asked, as she looked at him, then stepped back in shock at his new look. “Yeah….” He trails off, now noticing her new look. After taking a moment to look each other and themselves over, they look around. “Where are we?” Nicole asked. “No idea, but considering what John said, we might be a long ways from home.” Jack says. Nicole fums at hearing John’s name. “The nerve of that guy, kidnapping defenseless kids just for his amusement!” She grumbled. ‘…Zoey's the last person that should be called 'defenseless', most of the time it’s the one she’s angry at that you should worry about.’ He thinks, remembering some of her many freak outs. "Come on Jack, let's try to figure out where we are." Nicole said, walking out the alleyway, Jack following right behind her. Maxilla POV 'This was a terrible choice, these ponies have everything they'd ever need or want at their fingertips. How can anyone so pampered be so devoid of any actual love?' I asked myself for the-I don't even know how many times. I had been here for about four months now, ever since I was kicked out of the hive. Don't get me wrong, I understood completely on why I was kicked out, it's completely logical to cut dead weight from a starving hive. I wasn't exactly the best hunter, infiltrator or informant, it was for the good of the hive, that's why I was so compliant with the dicision. After traveling a bit, I heard a couple of ponies talking about Canterlot. They said that if you get to Canterlot, then you've truly 'made it'. Now I'm positive they were talking about business, and not happiness, because I sure don't feel like I 'made it'. So here I was, disguised as a pony by the name of Maxilla (again, not the best infiltrater), a pony male that takes care of insect based creatures. I was light green with light blue eyes. My mane and tail were black. And I was wearing a white shirt and light brown pants. I was also wearing those flip flop things I've seen the ponies wear from time to time. And most importantly, I was a unicorn, so I could still use my magic if I need too. As I walk down the street, I noticed two weird looking ponies walk out of an alleyway. Noticing me, they walk towards me, causing me to tense up. Noticing me changing my stance, the woman raised a brow. "What's got you so tense?" She asked. I just deadpan. "Two ponies I don't know just walked out of an alleyway, and immediately walked towards me. Why wouldn't I get tense? Especially since you look like you're out for blood." I question her, noticing the agitation in her eyes. She nods, having seen what I was getting at. The dude decided to speak up. "We're not ponies, we're humans." He clarified. "Humans?" I asked in shock. 'I heard that Mike had been seen escorting two creatures called humans with him.' I think to myself. Seeing him nod, I shrug, it wasn't really that important. "So what can I help you with?" "I'd appreciate it if you could tell us where we are." She answered, I gave her a look before answering. "You're in Canterlot ma'am. The capital city of Equestra." I say. 'Wait doesn't everyone already know that Canterlot is the capital of Equestra? I really hope I didn't make myself look stupid.' I think with a sigh. "Ah…so let's say, hypothetically of course, that I didn't know what or where that is. Where would be the best place to figure that out?" She asked in a sweet voice. I…I can't even….And by the looks of it, the guy with her has a similar opinion, if the fact that he's trying to hide his face is anything to go on. "…You'd check the local library." I answered. Her face turned as red as her hair and she started to sweat. "And where is that?" she asked again, no doubt having figured out how obvious these questions were due to my undertone. 'Something tells me that just telling her won't work.' I mentally sigh to myself. "Come on, I'll show you." I said. Seeing her beam in gratitude, and seeing the guy give a appreciative and apologetic look, I guide them to the library. "Oh! We forgot to introduce ourselves, I'm Nicole, and this is my son Jack." Nicole said, Jack just waves. "I'm Maxilla, but most ponies just call me Max." I introduced myself with a smile. And with that, we continue our trek in silence, with the occasional conversation here and there. 3rd POV They had reached the library when the sun went up, much faster the the humans thought possible. “Did the sun just shoot up!?” Nicole asked in shock. “Yeah, everyone had been worried that something big was happening, especially after the moon flashed red for a few minutes. Glad to see that whatever it was, it’s taken care of. Anyway, here we are.” Max says with a smile before walking in, the others following behind, but not without sharing a confused look with each other. Author's Note I just wanna clear something, Nicole and Jack aren't based on any pre-existing characters, their descriptions are (as far as I intended) completely off the top of my head.
Magical influenceOutside the Canterlot library 1 hour later Nicole’s POV When we reached the front desk, we came across the librarian, not that it was a surprise. After a little back and forth, we found out that we needed a library card. In retrospect, we probably should have known that, but Jack and I aren’t exactly in a stable mindset, for obvious reasons. Unfortunately, there was another problem, only citizens of this country could get those cards, which was something even Max didn’t know. When asked about it, she just shrugs, saying “until a few weeks ago, all knowledge was open to everyone. But apparently something changed”. And even more shocking, the ruler of this country wasn’t the one who made that law. The ones in charge are trying to figure out what happened, but until then, people HAD to abide by this law. Thankfully as long as the books stayed in this library, we could read to our hearts content. And don't get me wrong, that was a relief, but…we couldn't understand the language it was in. So we had to have Max translate what any of the books said. I don't know how Jack was handling it, but I was practically dying of humiliation inside. Look, it's nice if you liked or didn't mind having someone read to you, but I loathed it. I also hated having to rely on someone else for such a small task. But even if my pride didn't agree, we did need to learn about the world we're in. After Max got to a book called "The tale of the two sisters", Jack stiffened, I gave him a knowing hug. After a few seconds, I suddenly feel drained, not enough to where I couldn't move though. Looking at Jack, I see he's in a similar state. "You two alright?" Max asked, raising a brow. "We're fine thank you." I say, the draining feeling noticeable in my voice. "Maybe we should take a break, let's get something to eat, maybe that will wake you up a bit." He offered, I go wide eyed. "You don't need to do that!" I say a little too quickly. He gave me a look. "Ok? Well I can at least walk you to wherever you're staying." He said with a shrug. I sweat a little. We didn't have anywhere to stay, nor do we have any "bits", as they call their currency. And since we can't even understand the language, we couldn't really apply for a job, especially since we aren't even citizens of this country, or even world. He frowned, probably having guessed what I was thinking. "Homeless huh? I guess you two can stay at my place." He offered with a smile, before gaining a confused look, then shrugs. That makes me a little suspicious, and apparently, my son feels the same way. "Why go that far to help two complete strangers you saw walk out an alleyway?" He asked what I was thinking. The, what we now know is a pony, shrugged. "I don't really know to be honest. Normally I wouldn't have even walked you to this library, I don't exactly have a butt load of time to kill. But every time I look at you, specifically your eyes, I feel compelled to help you in any way I can." He answered. When he mentioned our eyes, I couldn't help but notice that his had a strange glow to them, only noticeable if you looked closely. The glow was a slight crimson, kinda like the blood mo-oh. OH! …Oooh… Well don't that just make you feel scummy, and by the looks of it, Jack came to the same conclusion. During Max's reading, he told us stories about evil creatures that used mind control to get what they wanted, after putting two and two together, it wasn't hard to figure out what we accidentally did. "Well…it's not like we have any other logical choice." Jack points out. Begrudgingly, I nod in agreement. "We'll take you up on your…'offer'." I say, after all, I'm well aware that this isn't really his choice. "Alright, follow me, we can stop by someplace to eat on the way." He said, walking towards the door. Once he was out of earshot, I speak my mind. "I don't like this…." I whispered. "Not to be disrespectful, but do you have any better ideas? I mean, don't you remember how hard it was to move to America? And that was when you had time to prepare, what with dad and Zoey helping raise money. This is literally our best option, and it's the only logical one at that." He argued quietly. Seeing no way to give a proper counter argument, I sigh in defeat, and we head to the front door. That leads us to now. Walking a bit from the library, I noticed a flurry of bright feathers near what seems to be a castle gate. After it's done, I see a brown pegasus stallion with black hair, and…two human looking girls with blue hair. Just then, I felt a familiar sensation in the back of my head, and immediately look to my left. I visibly flinch at his outfit, you must be pretty brave to willingly walk around dressed like THAT. The group and the gaudy pony seem to talk for a bit, then the pegasus gives the gaudy a card, then the gaudy pony walks off. I'm not sure why, but something compelled me to follow the one with the card. "It's not too far from here actually, we should reach it in…." Max started before most likely noticing me walking away. "Or we could go this way…I guess." I could taste the deadpanning in his voice, causing me to chuckle a little. "Sorry, but something is telling me to follow that pony, I hope you don't mind." I say, giving him an apologetic look, he shrugged before gesturing for me to lead the way. With an appreciative look, and a ping of guilt at the possibility of mind control being involved in his decision, I press on. Maxilla's POV After Mistr-er-Ms. Nicole and Sire-er-JACK continued walking, I followed while letting my mind wander off a little. While at the start, I was only trying to get some love to eat (and boy did I! I hadn't eaten that good in so long!), but then I started to want to bend over backwards to help them. I literally said they could stay at my place, I may be bad at most things a changeling is expected to do, but even I'm not normally that bad. But every time I look into their…mesmerizing eyes, my worries and concerns just disappear. I considered the possibility of mind control, but even I know the emotions someone has when planning mind control, and neither of them had them. Shame certainly wasn't one of them, not unless someone was forcing them, which no one was (as far as I could tell). I was brought out of my thoughts when Nicole suddenly stopped, then slowly looked around the corner we're apparently at. Looking at their body languages, it kinda reminds me of hunting practice back at the hive. I was pretty good at the first half of it, the second half of it, not so much. With no warning, the two dashed away. It took me a few moments to process what just happened, after I finished processing it, I groaned and chased after them. I managed to catch up with then quickly, and effortlessly keep pace, much to their shock. They seemed to be running as fast as they can, which is only 25 miles per hour. Kinda disappointing, but what can you do? After a few moments, we stop in front of an abandoned building…that I'm pretty sure wasn't here yesterday. Why can't this country just be normal for a change!? Just for one week, that's ALL I'm asking! Is that really too much to ask for!? After a few moments, we walk into the building that's obviously a base for an illegal business. We don't make it 5 feet in the building before the door slammed shut. Nicole and Jack snap their heads to the door, while I lazily turned my head towards it. By the door stands two well built ponies in the typical thuggish outfit, they also had the standard scars on their faces, and were pointing some weird object at us. The object was in the shape of an L, it was made of metal, it had 1/4 of a circle at the center of the L, and a weird curved piece in the 1/4 circle. "Well well well. What do we have here?" A guy(?) said, the mask covering his or her mouth made it hard to tell. "What are those things you're pointing at us?" I asked. "It's…some kinda enchanted metal banana called a goon. You point the end with the hole to what you wanna damage, push this…thingy in the center, and weird but painful holes magically appear on what you want." The other one (who was obviously a woman by the sound of her voice) explained. I look closer at the goons, but I don't see any hole, I just see rectangular outline. "Dude's right, this thing can take out a bear!" The masked one said, guess they must be good buddies. "I hate to interrupt your monologue, but that is called a gun." I heard a ladylike voice say, causing everyone to turn to the source. In a small cage sits a small, white cat with pink in the inside of her ears, and small brown eyes. She also has two whiskers on each side of her face. She's wearing a pink bow near the end of her tail. Her top consists of a mustard yellow and pink top with a pink bow tie. She's wearing a pink skirt with this top. "Did that cat just talk?" I asked, confusion clear on my face. The cat gives a little huff. "I'm an Exceed, not a cat! I would appreciate if you didn't call me a cat, thank you very much." She says to me, aggravation clear in her voice. "And yes, I did talk, is that really so surprising?" I didn't get the chance to answer. "How'd you get that gag off?" The masked thug asked, she just deadpans. "You neglected to tie my paws." She said, bluntly. "You have claws, and your wrists are the same size as your paws. Why would I bother tying them when you could just slip out of them or cut them?" He asked her, causing her to go wide eyed. "That response was…much smarter then I thought you could manage." She says in genuine surprise. "What about the gag?" "The straps were made of leather, so you wouldn't be able to cut them off with your type of claws, and it was on you in a way that you wouldn't have been able to slip out of it." He answered again, this time his partner was surprised with the Exceed. "Are you feeling alright? You don't normally think that far ahead." She asked in worry. I'm guessing he was normally just the dumb help, his voice certainly gave that impression. "I'm fine man, let bring them to the boss." The masked one says. His partner slowly nods, most likely still in shock, then they usher us to walk further in. Not wanting to get hurt by the goon (or Gun, as the Exceed called it), we complied, the Exceed being carried in the cage. "Nice to meet you, I'm Maxilla, you are?" I asked the Exceed. She's silent for a moment, then speaks. "Carla." She says simply. Without another word, we continue walking in silence. Author's Note To clarify in case some of you get the wrong impression, in this AU, for a Changeling: Mistress = Queen Lord = King Sire = Prince Lady = Princess Both versions can be used, but this is what Max is talking about. I'm clarifying in case people think Max is implying something…grosser.
Closure and game mechanicsThe group had finally reached their destination, the thugs not bothering to put the gag back on Carla. She apparently gives a mean kick, having sent a number of the guards in this place to the infirmary. While the humans and the disguised changeling wondered how someone so small could cause that many injuries to people so big, Carla simply observed the area in silence. Jack had tried to strike up a conversation, but she wasn't interested. "Now is not the time for that. Not when we're about to meet the one responsible for what's been happening in this city, and many others." Carla said with a huff. "What's been happening?" Jack asked. Carla gives him a shocked look. "You can't be serious! The robbery spree, the kidnappings and the extortion. Along with many other problems. The man overseeing this town has done a lot of terrible things, and we're not exactly in a safe position, if you haven't noticed." Carla says, knocking on one of the bars of the cage. “We can sit down and have a nice conversation AFTER our situation improves, till then, I suggest you spend your time and energy thinking of potential solutions to our current problem.” She finished in a no nonsense tone. “Uh…yeah. Sorry.” Jack said, a little upset about being brushed off, but seeing the logic in what she said. Carla just grunts in acknowledgment. The doors open, and they enter the room. The room itself was something you'd see in an old, but still frequently used, study. The walls were windowless and red. The floor was dark brown, with a red mat in the center. And sitting at a mahogany desk, was a unicorn stallion with red skin, and white hair. He’s wearing gray glasses, so his eye color isn’t visible. He was wearing a purple fedora with a red stripe and a grey feather in it. He’s also wearing a purple open jacket with no undershirt, with matching pants. He has a yellow scarf around his neck. He has high heels, a belt with a star in the middle (which is yellow, but paler then the scarf), and black gloves. In two class cases behind him, were two objects. One was a flute, its size was nearly 50 centimeters in length. It has a skull with three eyes on one end, and an oval-like cutout in the skull's brow. On the other end, there are root-like cutouts. In the other was some weird black book, it had a weird green symbol on it too. It was a big circle with some tentacle creature in it. While both gave off bad auras, compared to the book, the flute might as well have been oozing positivity. "I see you've found my pet." The gaudy pony said to the thugs, as the feather in his fedora turned yellow. "Very good. Now leave us, I have some matters to discuss with them in private." The thugs nod and leave. "I'm not your pet Gaud!" Carla seethed at the gaudy pony, who's name was apparently Gaud. "And you know why I'm here!" "The flute and…book I presume." He responded with an unnerved glance at the book, as his feather turned purple. "If you're unnerved by the book, then it should be obvious why it should be locked…wait…" Carla paused mid rant and looked at the book in both surprise, and fear. "I only came for the flute, I wasn't aware of that book. What kind of book is that? I've never seen or felt anything like it." "I'm not sure to be honest. I found it while traveling and searching for my best clothes maker." He answered, which caused Carla to grit her teeth as his feather turned orange. "I found you on the streets, having no shelter, food or money. The site honestly broke my heart. And out of the goodness of my heart, I took you in. And all I asked in return, was a little help in my business, was that really too much to ask? For all I did for you? Honestly, you should be thanking me for giving you the skills I taught you in clothes making." He said with a dramatic sigh as his feather turned blue. "Ok first of all, it's called fashion designing, hence why you kept using them in fashion shows and contests. Second of all, I wasn't without food, money or a shelter. I worked as a waitress at a café down the road. I regularly visited pony joes, who I sometimes worked for if I really needed the money, and he even let me have the unsold leftovers from the days I worked. And I had enough money to eat out without working for a decent while. And I prefer to live outside in a tent, it's actually pretty comfy if you have the proper resources. Gems enchanted to produce heat or produce cold air aren't exactly expensive you know. And I didn't live that far from a public washroom, or the laundromat. Third of all, you kidnapped me.” She counters with a fierce glare. “Tsk tsk tsk, so feisty, no doubt because you misplaced your soothing bell. Don’t worry, I have a spare one right here!” He says with glee as his feather turned orange again and started to glow, taking out a white collar with a silver bell attached to it, both having strange runes on them. Seeing the bell, Carla backed up in fear, before steeling her nerves. “I’m not the same scared little Exceed I was before, this won’t be as easy as it was last time!” Carla said in determination. As Gaud approaches the cage, Jack pulls out his gun and shoots Gaud’s horn, making his feather shift between colors at random. He didn’t wanna break his horn, but he couldn’t let this happen. And to everyone’ surprise, it didn’t damage his horn, it just felt like it did. “Hey, what’s going on in there?” They heard one of the thugs say from behind a door. Without a word, Max rushed to the recovering pony, and took the collar as the feather stopped at red. He then rushed to Carla, grabbed the door to her cage, and ripped it off. Though when he touched it, his hand burst into small green flames. His hand momentarily turned from light green, to pitch black, and back again as he dropped the cage’s door. Carla filed that and his strength away for later questioning, not wanting to lose a potential ally at the moment. “Thank you.” Carla said with a grateful smile, as she stepped out the cage. “That cage was made of magic canceling materials.” After she said that, she was covered by a white light. After it died down, everyone was shocked by her new appearance. She looked like a 13 year old human girl. She still had the same tail, just big enough to fit her new form, the same with the bow. She now has shoulder length white hair with cat ears on top, even though she had gained human ears as well. The outfit she was wearing had changed sizes to fit her human body. After another moment, her feet flashed, and she was now wearing plain white shoes. Seeing her do all that, Max being able to tell it wasn’t Changeling magic, and Gaud having never seen her do that (his feather shifting between colors again), everyone besides Carla had one thing to say. “WHAT THE FUCK!?!” "What an interesting creature. While I doubt that silly little mortal knew how special the Exceed truly was, I do have to acknowledge his eye for quality in other creatures. Shame he'll never be able to capitalize on that strength, he lacks the drive needed for that. Who knows, maybe this fight could be the push he needs, though I won't hold my breath." It wasn't long before the thugs busted in, having gotten tired of not being answered, only to be blasted by a green magic beam. Carla looks at Max, as smoke came off his horn. "What, too much?" Max asked in confusion. Carla shook her head. "No, just not used to everyday ponies having the proper reaction time to attack something with no warning, rather then just stand there and gawk. Let alone being able to hit their intended targets while taking such small time to actually charge that much power and aim perfectly. It's a bit unusual, if I'm being honest." She answered with a raised brow. Seeing that Gaud had almost gotten back up, she ran towards him. She then jumped in the air, did a small spin, then kicked at the angle he was at. The kick had enough force to launch her towards him. Not having a good enough reaction time, her foot hits him square in the face, and makes him see stars for a moment. The back of his head hits his desk with a loud thud, causing his feather to shift between colors again, and probably giving him a concussion on top of that. “Hey! What do you think you’re doing, freak!?” One of the thugs said, charging at Carla. Once the thug gets close enough, Carla leaps, striking the thug upward with her left foot. Then she switches to her right foot and performs a half-spin kick, trailing her right foot across the ground while leaving a blue streak behind. “Hey, lady in the purple shirt.” Carla asked while keeping her eyes on the thugs. Her call gains Nicole’s attention. “Yeah?” She asked, a little shook-up about the situation. “My ‘intuition’ tells me that that book you’re holding could help you hold your own. Give it a quick read. Don’t worry, I’ll hold them back until you’re ready.” Carla says as she rushes a still standing thug. Max joins her as Jack stays behind, though it wasn’t by his choice. “Where’d you get that gun from?” Nicole asked him after grabbing his shoulder. “It wasn’t on you when we woke up.” “No clue.” He answered with a shrug. “I wanted to stop him quickly, but didn’t know if I could reach him given his magic. Then suddenly, red light appears around my hand, and the next thing I know, the gun was there.” He then concentrates for a moment, then all of a sudden, a sword replaces the gun. After experimenting for a little bit, he found that he can effortlessly switch between a sword (which he doesn't really know how to use) and a gun (that can apparently shoot none damaging bullets(?)). He decided to stick with the gun for now. He attempted to give the sword to his mother, but every time he gave the sword to her, it just reappeared in his hand. "I don't know what she was talking about, but you can't really do much without a weapon, so you might as well give the book a shot." With having said that, he rushed to the others, guns a blazing. Watching him run off, she opened the book, hoping she could find anything helpful. She was not expecting what she actually found. Party: |Nicole (Reed Katsumi) Smith [Leader]| |Jack (Reed Isamu) Smith| Nicole: LV 1 Class: Mage Artificial Therion (Non-Accessible) HP: 330 BG: 3 SG: 1 Exp: 0 ATK: 38.68 A. ATK: 43.68 DEF: 51.45 A. DEF: 23.11 Focus: 51.45 Jack: LV 1 Class: Fighter Artificial Therion (Non-Accessible): HP: 330 BG: 3 SG: 1 Exp: 0 ATK: 38.68 A. ATK: 43.68 DEF: 51.45 A. DEF: 23.11 Focus: 51.45 “As interesting as that is, it doesn’t really help me. A spell I could use would be much more helpful right now.” Nicole says with a frown, only to slightly jump as the book does a little pulse. The page then changes to show… “A fire ball spell?” She asked in surprise, then looked at the instructions closely. After a few failed attempts to actually make a fire ball, she eventually managed to make a fairly decent one (for a beginner at least). She looks back at the fight to see Carla spin kicking a thug in the head, her leg being covered in fire. Nicole noticed a thug rushing Carla, without thinking, she fired the fire ball at the thug. It sadly only grazed the thug, but it did let Carla know the thug was there. With one last punch to the stomach, and kick to the face, the last remaining thug went down. "Quite impressive, for your first few attempts at least. Sure it only grazed your target, but that's certainly better then most with your lack of experience. Now let's take that flute and book, then leave, there's a lot of questions that need answering, on both sides." Carla says with a small smile. Before Nicole could say anything, Gaud suddenly grabbed her by the hair, and puts a knife at her throat. "MOM!" Jack yelled, panicked, his eyes glowing red. "NO!" Max yelled, equally as panicked, his eyes gaining a green shine to them. Carla only glared at Gaud in pure, unadulterated, loathing. "So that's a flute, huh?" Gaud asked, his feather turning black. "Here's what's going to happen. Unless you want me to kill her, you'll stay right where you are. Understand?" He grins as he sees the two boys nod, and chuckles as he sees Carla's fists shaking, his feather turning orange. "Gaud, I only have one word for you." Carla says through gritted teeth. "Oh?" Gaud asked in intrigue, his grin getting bigger. "And what word is that, my cute little kitten, hmm?" He asked, as he watches her eyebrow twitch with amusement. "WULD!" she shouted, as she dashed towards him, much quicker then she was normally capable of. Do to how unnaturally loud it was, it caught him off guard, and he couldn't react in time. She grabbed the knife, then yanked it out of his hand, then punched him to the ground. Having been let go as a result of the punch, Nicole ran to the others, as Carla put that very same knife to his throat. "And for the record, don't call me a 'cute little kitten'!" She seethed as she pressed the knife harder on his neck, causing the feather to turn purple, and glow bright enough to where Carla had to squint her eyes. "And give me that!" She almost shouts, as she snatched the feather out of his hat. The feather turned white, and stopped glowing. In the corner of her eye, she noticed a card in his coat pocket. Taking it out, she gives a chuckle after examining it. "How thoughtful of him." She says as she brings his wrists together, then places the card on them. The card suddenly glows, and strange writing and lines burst out of it. After a few moments, the light died down, showing everyone what happened. Gaud now had energy bands around his wrists, ankles and horn. "What just happened?" Max asked. "That card was enchanted with three spells. One was a restraining spell. Another was a magic cancelling spell. The last one was an advanced disguising spell, to conceal the first two spells, which only people with a specific item can see through." She answered as she took out a weird looking mirror, which she poked a few times, making ripples that a mirror shouldn't be able to do. "There, I just called some co-workers to come and get these people, and anything else they might have. Now, we all have a lot of explaining to do. Not here of course, we can go somewhere else for that." Author's Note To clarify some things: 1: Those stats were based on Velvet Crow at level 1 (she started at 3, so I had to do some calculations to get the stats) without her default equipment. Their stats will increase depending on their class, job, and race (species). 2: 3 BG will allow 1 SG to be used, SG is a super attack. 3: Artificial Therions aren’t like the Therions in the game. Once they meet certain requirements, their Therion form will unlock. But before the can actually use it, they’ll have to make a choice: A: remain an Artificial Therion, and gain only half the benefits normal Therions gain in that form, but lose nothing. B: become a normal Therion, and gain all of the benefits of a normal Therion, but gain all of the drawbacks of a normal Therion. Which includes losing one thing about themselves at random (it’ll actually be random, I will literally put all the things they could lose on a randomizer, and take away whatever it lands on). Or C: The true randomizing option. With the unstable properties of their displacement, they can use this function once per person to trade their current species for another one at random (it could be literally anything). This option won’t vanish if any of them choose option A or B. 4: I’m going with The Rising Of The Shield Hero rules. Meaning they can't use equipment or abilities outside their class (at least until a specific individual changes that (and no, it’s not John. That being said, someone with enough power could bypass this requirement). These only apply to Jack and Nicole, it’ll work differently for others, depending on the person. More will be added to the “Menu Screen” as time goes on.
